Andrew Fenton

I'll often get an upset stomach if I eat a big meal of fatty food. That's doubly true if the food is spicy. I didn't find TSJ to be especially spicy, but fatty? Oh my, yes.

Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia makes a terrific bourbon-pear sorbetto. The sweetness of the bourbon works great with the pear.

Olive oil and rosemary ice cream would be really good. Ditto ice cream made with a nice goat cheese.

Word to that. I just bought a five-pound bucket for all of $5. Fry them up with the appropriate flavorings, then chop 'em and you're eating pâté on a peasant's budget.

How much oil does an egg hold? And what does it mean to say that an egg "holds oil"? I thought that most eggs held, well, egg. ← It's a little like holding your liquer, maybe. How much oil an egg can hold when making mayonnaise? ← Aha, that makes sense. Thanks!

Wow. I guess that when one is looking for "authentic", one isn't looking for Marshal Tito's Magic Pan...

Ah, but that "fish" keeps the Jessica Simpsons of the world from confusing it with chicken...

My hypothesis has always been that bad Chinese food is super-salty, and it's the salt that causes headaches. Of course, you don't hear people complain about headaches after eating a salty burger and fries, so maybe it's psychosomatic.

How much oil does an egg hold? And what does it mean to say that an egg "holds oil"? I thought that most eggs held, well, egg.

Yeah, I remember when my mom would buy a twenty-pound burlap sack of Starbucks beans and share it with friends; it was the easiest way to get the coffee. As a child, I was, um, fascinated by the logo and its naked mermaid boobies...

I'll see your tautology, and raise you a "chai tea".

Actually, "biscotti" as a singular, English word doesn't bother me. It's become thoroughly Americanized. Similarly, I wouldn't ever order a "cannolo". What cracks me up is seeing "French Dip with Au Jus" on a menu. Hee!

Sign @ Capogiro says that, starting in January, they'll be offering Italian lessons. Which, when you think about it, is a brilliant idea. (Although I really start speaking Italian best after a couple of glasses of wine, not ice cream...)

Hey, I'd totally go. Been meaning to get back at my arteries for some nasty things they were saying 'bout me... Also, I'd love to see the servers' reaction to a half-dozen people bearing bread.

Here's the problem with Maoz: they're massively inconsistent. The differing treatment that Katie and Holly had points to that inconsistency, I think. I've noticed that the quality of service and food oscillates violently between "awesome" and "horrible" depending on who's working, how busy it is, and, for all I know, a complex astrological formula involving the phases of the moons of Jupiter. My guess is that there is no policy, or that the people there don't know what it is. The worst-- and this, I think, is enough to put me off the place-- was recently when we went in on a busy Saturday. They were out of fries, so we had to wait for freshly-fried potatoes. No problem, thinks I, they'll be nice and hot and crispy. No such luck: the worker took them out of the oil maybe a minute too early, and the fries were flabby and pale. Bummer. A bigger problem was with the falafel sandwich: when I've been there in the past, they've cut maybe a third of the pita off, leaving plenty of room to stuff your sandwich. This time, however, they were cutting them in half. That doesn't leave much room for anything other than falafel. Not such a big deal either, except for the guy who, as he ate his sandwich, kept going back to the salad bar and adding more stuff, smearing sauce on his half-eaten sandwich with the spoon that he then put back into the bowl... There are times when I wish I could carry around a dehydrated health inspector; this was one of those times.

You should do it. I imagine they'd be fine with it; the servers all seemed pretty nice when I was there. And if I'm wrong, don't worry: eGullet will put up your bail.

I'm sitting here with a belly full of fettucine that I made using the Kitchenaid pasta roller that arrived in the mail yesterday. Sure, I could have made it by hand (I've done that) and I could have made it in a hand-cranked pasta roller (I've done that too). But this is way is markedly easier and faster than either of those ways; it makes a better product than I could get by hand; and, unlike the hand-cranked machine, it only takes two hands, not three, so I can do it by myself.

The horror, the horror, Purpledingo! Glad nobody was hurt; and it sounds like you pulled out of that disaster with style.

I'll still go to the local supermarket, because I can walk to it and am too lazy to drive. Also, it's clean, friendly and relatively efficient, unlike the horrifying South Philadelphia Wal-Mart. Turning to your other point, a random thought: it occurs to me that a good example of blending high, middle and low would be Philadelphia's Italian Market.

This seems unlikely; I'm not likely to shop at the bottom-rung markets if I can avoid them; and I wouldn't buy plastic wrap, for example, at Whole Foods. Unless I really wanted organic plastic wrap imported from Nepal, that is.

Hmm, that makes sense. I didn't use much stock (a couple of spoons of reduced stock); on the other hand, not much butter, either. I'll try further reduction...

Failure! I used five or six onions, with some butter and a little bit of turkey stock. Put them in the slow cooker on low, right before going to bed. Checked them in the morning: they'd sweated, but weren't at all caramelized. I turned them up to high and let them go for another nine or so hours... They're kind of caramelized, and very sweet, but even after almost 24 hours, haven't collapsed into the sort of oniony sludge that I was looking for. V. disappointing.

Ah, it's not so bad, at least for those of us in SE Pennsylvania: the twin promised lands of New Jersey and Delaware are right next door, their cities shining with good wine stores. But it'd be a real drag to live out in central Pennsylbama or wherever...

Why would this phenomenon be bad? Status anxiety will always be with us; and if this manifestation means that I can more easily get good cheese and interesting kinds of vegetables, I'm all for it.

Does any restaurant in Philly ever serve pepper pot soup? I've never seen it; I get the sense that it's a dead food tradition: blame the tripe, I guess. Alas.