Duvel

Lazy Sunday lunch and comfort food for a German-Catalan family in Hong Kong: Nürnberger sausages, Bratkartoffeln (home fries), onion beer gravy and fried eggs with runny yolks for the Catalans to dip the potatoes. And while the little one refuses to eat anything he doesn't now - if it looks remotely like a sausage and comes with his favourite curry-scented ketchup, it's always a winner ... Japanese seasonal beer, just because ...

Maybe you can have a look at this: http://m.slate.fr/story/69247/meilleure-bouillabaisse-france-paris It has been a while that I lived in Paris, but given that the city receives the best seafood from all over France you will find more than one decent place for Bouillabaisse. Le Dôme -as quoted in the article- looks pretty good to me ...

"Cart noodles" in a traditional (read run-down) and very local HK place: Strong broth, ho fun, duck blood, wiener sausage, daikon and cuttlefish balls. Smear of hot curry paste. Soooooo good !

An off-dry Riesling, diluted with equal amount of Mescal and a lime garnish. And some ice cubes ...

Brew you own Ginger beer ...

Please think about it: the customer showing up at the restaurant is the reason for him having to put in more hours. Essentially, he (or me for that matter) hates the situation having to cook after hours, with a clean kitchen etc. The "extra work" cited. The customer is just the vehicle to project the frustration ... yes, it could be the owner, it could be the dull knive, it could be you for that matter. It does not really matter what is the root cause. It's a vehicle to deal with the situation. And "hate" needs to be taken with a grain of salt here. I assume it's not the same feeling that you would harbor towards a root canal treatment, racists or overcooked steaks.

I think it's a very healthy attitude. You know that you need to and actually want to do a good job by preparing an excellent meal. And you do. And when the circumstance really annoy you (because of unnecessary extra work) you still do it, but complain to yourself - instead of spitting in someone's food Sure helps your mental health, keeps your blood pressure low(er) and most importantly does not spoil the customers evening. So what's sad about it ?

... aka MSG ? I find the combination of MSG, chili and Sichuan pepper (oil) simply the best addition to anything savoury

You lucky girl - you have better personnel than me. If both cook and maid are absent, George struggles even to prepare my morning Martini in time. I might need to let him go ...

I find this intriguing ... it's a great idea for one of these days when your maid has a free day, while your cook is on sick leave.

There is a similar event at the technical university of Clausthal in the Harz mountains in central Germany. Contestants have to sprint 100 m, then drink one liter of beer in one go, then sprint back. It's a feared competition and only the chemical faculty is able to raise three teams ...

As a rule of thumb I use 1000 mL water, 100 g of (dried) pasta and 10 g of salt (regardless of grain size) ...

While I (partly) understand your wish to create this elusive blue broth without "artificial" dyes, I'd rather go with the tiniest pinch of methylene blue and be done with it. Used for decades, even for infections and gives the loveliest blue hue with miligrams. No impact on your broths flavor, viscosity, mouthfeel ... Plus a surprise, when you use the bathroom the next day

You are a sharp observer of the human condition ... but as English is not my mother tongue, my puns tend to get lost in translation

I am going to stay in Sydney for a couple of days over CNY. As this thread is rather ancient, is anyone willing to share his/her current recommendations for some nice options for two adventurous eaters and one three-year old with a preference for white crustless bread ? (Chinese/Japanese not required, as the options in Hong Kong are plenty) Thanks!

Yeah. There is nothing worse than if it promises cracked black pepper and then you only get the dull milled pepper flavor ...

That it does not live up to its name ...

I am too scared to try ... But the only context I could imagine eating this would be snacking while reading egullet

I think that depends where you are located ... if in France I'd say look harder If in a country that does not allow import of unpasteurized cheese maybe you will never get a proper one ... I could go on, but maybe you give me a hint first.

Thanks! I'll search for that on my next business trip! And no worries: my Mandarin is lousy, but will get me those mushrooms on a market. My Cantonese would not even get me to the market ...

Is it easy to get dried Matsutake in China ? I have failed to do so in both HK and Korea ... What would be name and where should I look for them ?

Not having heard heard of "affogato" and being too lazy to google it, how should I know ... If so, plus one on that from my side !

Wow ... no bite marks on the thinner rindless end. What self-control you have ...

if you can make a decent espresso (or something "short" along the lines), that combined with a scoop of "nutty" ice cream does work very well too. It's like a half-molten ice coffee ... Häagen Dasz Macadamia Nut Brittle and a double shot of espresso is my to gi dessert if I don't have any ingredients in the house and need to impress on short notice. Needles to say that a glugg of Whiskey does complement the taste (for J and you) ...

Vanilla ice cream with pumpkinseed oil is very tasty and looks spectacular. Not quite Baileys, but hey ... Come to think of it, toasted sesame oil would have the same direction. But then again sesame ice cream is probably not as "exotic" for him ...