Chelseabun

I agree with you totally.

I would love that! I have always thought it was an anomaly that I can ferment wine and brew beer but not distil. I have always understood that it is for public health reasons. However there may be a case for competent amateurs to distil their own. Certainly, White Dog should be possible to distil at home.

Many thanks for explaining. I have not seen white dog here in the UK yet. We have many distilleries of course but if it becomes successful in the US, then we might see it marketed here. I would buy it.

Correct me if i am wrong please but does 'white dog' refer to any whisky/whiskey that has not been aged? If so, surely this is basically similar to vodka? Could this not be transformed into a Gin style spirit by infusing with Juniper or other spices (pepper even)? or is that not the point of white dog?

Chopperreed: Have you made any attempts at tempering yet?

I would say it depends upon who has compiled the list. For me, i prefer recommendations from people i know who have visited the restaurant (locally, which i have a possibility of visiting). Otherwise it becomes like a Letterman top ten list.

Here is your very own personal (virtual) tour of the Per Se kitchen: It looks clean and well organized but does it lack hand washing facilities?

I dont work for NYC dept of Health or any form of food hygiene enforcement. It is not something I would consider doing. However, I should declare that I had food poisening during the mid 1980's. I was very seriously ill and although i was very fortunate to make a full recovery, it is not something i have forgotten and would not like anyone else to suffer the same. Although my experience has made me (generally) pro food legislation and pro food law enforcement, it has also made me anti corruption. However, there was nothing in the press report of the original story to indicate corruption in this case. Futhermore, the information published on the NYC webpage would indicate they had a (presumably) unannounced inspection during 2011 where they also had a similarly high score but subsequently (in 2012) improved (presumably on the follow-up inspection). I am 'reading along the lines' (and stand to be corrected) but it looks like they have had previous food hygiene issues raised by the NYC department of health. There is nothing to indicate corruption in either case. I appreciate it is difficult to believe this of Keller. I had a favourite restuarant local to me that I thought was brilliant and the owner was a lovely lady who i thought was fantastic. However, the Local Authority Food Inspectors closed the restuarant down. The shutters were down with locks and notices all over them. It was such a shock. However, with the Keller case, it is very different because it does not sound as serious but (from what i can gather) serious enough as to require Per se to improve.

The hygiene issues that gave them the high score on the (presumably) unannounced inspection sound fairly basic. The NYC department of health inspectors are merely doing their job to ensure public health. It is important that people eating out in NYC have confidence in the food safety of the restaurants as this safeguards the interest of all NYC restaurants and food businesses. Calling into doubt the honesty and integrity of public servants who provide such an important service to NYC isn't fair. Their value should not be underestimated and if they did not exist, everyone would suffer. If you are a professional food business operator, achieving A or B grading should not be difficult. Certainly, if you have a Michelin star, I would expect a very high standard of food hygiene.

Hand washing and food storage temperatures would seem to me to be basic food hygiene issues. For a three star michelin restaurant i would expect excellent food hygiene.

Gordon Ramsay did an episode on Crayfish in the UK:

I stand corrected.

I guess your butcher should have been clearer in how it was described. I wouldn't be too sad though because it looks like a nice rasher. Try frying the loin - you might find you like it!

In the UK, the rasher in your photo is what we call back bacon. It is normal (traditional) here to buy bacon like that. There are different ways to cure bacon too. Normally, it would be brined but can be dry cured in salt. So, yes what you purchased is called Canadian bacon in the US or back bacon in the UK (because it has the loin attached). As for the colour - I am assuming the pancetta is dry cured and the back (Canadian) bacon was brined. This might account for the colour difference. However I stand to be corrected. Either way, that's a very nice looking rasher of bacon - would get the frying pan out and make up a bacon sandwich!

I think a general plethora of electrical kitchen tools is pretty much unavoidable. It is a nuisance storing everything though. My storage space is so limited but I have a love of kitchen gadgets. I have gone the route of using only a small blender and in the past, I used a stick blender only. So probably it might be better to have a stick blender to replace the vitamix/blendtech than the other way around.

Just had a look at: https://www.vitamix.com/Find-Recipes/P/I/Pizza Their pizza dough recipe looks good actually. Notice they only pulse the blender when mixing the dough though. Seriously, i am going to try this because that photo of the pizza looks just so good! Is nobody going to mention 'will it blend' on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFP0IU4gpnmcLnVzDLUtfw)? - Mostly, their use of the blender is not culinary but it think they (famously) did a roast chicken with cola and also the big mac meal smoothie?

It is possible to mix dough in a blender though it will put strain on the blender so is not recommended. But if you don't mind risking your blender, it has some advantages (such as time saving and being able to use low protein flour).

Hi Kleinebre, Many thanks. I would not say that i have mastered the dough exactly. letting my bread machine do the kneading has been a great help and using only small quantities has helped too. I am now able to work on my noodle pulling technique though and it has been an achievement (of sorts) to get that far. Yes, i will read over the older posts. your posts were excellent.

dcarch: to be fair, I did say that I did not pull noodles on this occasion. however, I did extrude them through my (hand) noodle press. they have been blanched and seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and a few drops of hot sauce.

I have made up a dough using Andrew Wong's recipe from his blog (as above). I used my usual strong bread flour mixed with plain flour. An egg is incorporated as a dough improver (instead of the harsh chemicals). It was kneaded in my bread machine before resting for a couple of hours. This produced a workable dough (please see videos below). I now have a dough that I can use for practicing my noodle pulling technique. On this occasion, I did not pull noodles but it was close enough that with practice, I should be pulling noodles.

This is a link to another version of the Andrew Wong blog http://www.noodlepulling.blogspot.co.uk/ If you scroll down to the blog on 28 February, Andrew gives a noodle dough recipe that uses an egg to provide the alkali content.

Thats interesting because i pretty much agree with that. If you have noticed it and i have noticed it, why cant they? If i could make some changes, the first thing i would do is stop that mist nonsense. I would look at it's (morrisons) strengths such as the fish and butchers and strengthen them. I would reduce the range of the alchohol but make what is offered better. I would also make sure that the usual brands that people buy are stocked and boost the range of 'ethnic' and exotic groceries and vegetables. I cant always guarantee that i can buy corriander for goodness sakes! Lastly but most importantly, i would get them to focus on customer service. It shouldnt be 'them and us'. they should listen to their customers. Just my opinion!

Anybody who is seriously concerned with this issue should probably consider not eating in restaurants. I'm pretty sure what you're describing is the reality in the vast majority of restaurants in North America (and maybe elsewhere but I've never worked in restaurants outside of North America so I don't know). I'm not saying it should be... but it is. Hi, we all take risks on a daily basis. Food hygiene is about assessing and managing those risks. I love cooking and baking at home so never eating out wouldnt worry me but sometimes its just a pleasure to eat out. Food is big business and its a problem for legislators to get it right. If they tighten up enforcement or legislation, they get slated from the food industry for 'over budernsome legislation'. If they are too light with legislation, we get a food scare or food poisening outbreak that destroys confidence and damages food business too. Its difficult to live life by avoiding restuarants completely - and what about processed food? do we avoid that too for the same reasons?

We had a well known restaurant in the UK owned by a TV chef where about 30 or so customers contracted Norovirus (very forceful vomiting and diarrhoea) - for similar reasons that you have mentioned (staff coming into work when they should stay at home). The norovirus (as are many viruses) is spread by the 'oral-faecal' route, so bascically not washing your hands from the toilet / bathroom. Would wearing single use gloves assist in reducing the spread of such viruses? - maybe. Is it worth the legislation (on hygiene grounds)? possibly not. Judging food hygiene from a customer prospective alone is very difficult, we need the legislation (and enforcement) so we can have confidence in our food.

I think the issue (judging from the above comments) is whether this is necessary legislation and if it is placing a burden on businesses that might already be struggling given the econimic climate? Surely, food handlers wearing gloves still need to wash their hands (with the gloves on or put on a fresh pair of gloves) just the same as someone not wearing gloves? As per my previous post, food hygiene regulation is important with regards to consumer confidence (and is therefore economically important) and for me this legislation may make sense from that perspective (but not necessarily from a food hygiene perspective).