Steve Plotnicki

Will it be anything like those webcams in sorority houses I keep getting emails about?

John - But the point of the hamburger is to be decadent. They aren't exactly hiding that fact. I have to say that the DB burger is one of the more clever dishes I've ever tasted. It is the perfect mix of french cooking strategy, simple plus luxury ingredients (remember there is short rib in there as well) and presented in a distinctly American way. It's the evidence on a single plate of why Boulud is so successful. In general, I think that since the sandwich is so pervassive in American lunch cuisine, it's strange that more chefs haven't elevated various sandwiches it to a higher level like Boulud did. My guess, is that Boulud might have started a trend here. Let's wait and see.

"This is another move up-market of a formerly unpretentious dish. " As was Paul Bocuse''s Truffle Soup which was originally Auvergnyat peasant soup. Or Verge's truffle stuffed zuchini blossoms in a beurre blanc wasn't exactly how the Provencal peasant stuffed their fleur de courgettes. All haute cuisine started out as peasant cuisine. To eat a DB burger and to compare it to a real burger misses the entire point of the dish. It is supposed to be upmarket. DB Bistro Moderne is not a hamburger stand. I always wonder why people single these things out? I truly believe that if boulliabaisse just came with the langouste and you weren't charged extra, nobody would ever raise the issue. Same with Boulud's burger. If he didn't call it a "hamburger" and serve it on a bun, nobody would find a basis for a negative reaction. Mind you, Marlene's reaction isn't that it tasted bad, she just doesn't like her "burgers" that way. What if he served a combination of chopped meat, short ribs and foie gras, would anyone notice it could be a burger?

Here is exactly the info you want for Bordeaux Gravelier/La Tupina There is a more extensive review of La Tupina on the Patriciawells.com site

Stellabella - If people in Georgia do not know about B&B pickles, nobody does.

Round Swamp Farms on Three Mile Harbor Road in Easthampton makes a mean jar of Bread & Butter Pickles. In fact, everything they make there is great, especially the jams. We use their B&B Pickles in the Plotnicki household all summer, great with everything from tuna salad to burgers and dogs. As for the secret recipe, I think it's the same as dill's (not garlic though) with sugar added. But their version is different than what you would get from a commercial pickle manufacturer like Vlasick. They cut the pickles very thin, which makes them very "buttery." Jarred B&B pickles are the same size slice as jarred dill slices.

I was biting my tongue on that one. Figure Wilfrid had to bring it up and couldn't let it die. Now I'm going to have to say something about boiled food that is all grey.

Yvonne - You're almost there. All we have to do is get you to stop liking pie . I actually love the concept of huevos rancheros but have to admit that I never had a version that was much good. Mexican restaurants ( I mean ones run by real Mexicans) cook the eggs in lard, which I think gives it a funny flavor. And I have yet to understand the appeal of beans and eggs? Eggs cooked in butter, doesn't really go with salsa and the rest of the condiments. I also think that tortillas (made from either grain) are not the most complimentary texture for the eggs. Something like a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs and fixin's ain't bad. Or Mexican scrambled eggs with cheese, onion , jalapeno etc. salsa can be done well occassionaly. Doidge's on Union Street in San Francisco (my favorite breakfast place in the country) does a good version. And there's a place in Amagansett, a little grocery store called Chiquita Latino that makes good scrambled egg with salsa in a tortilla.

Bourdain - Thanks for the show of support. I read in your book that you dad used to work for Columbia Records. What did he do there? I'm an old record biz guy myself.

I just read Fat Guy's review and it makes no sense to me. I always thought they served meat and your review supports thats. But FG says "Though Barney Greengrass sells excellent smoked fish and produces some decent omelets, it's hard to imagine this place would get any business were it not for its no-longer-deserved reputation." Well all people really go there for is smoked fish and omelets (at least besides you Jaybee.) And their Nova and eggs is one of the cities signature egg dish. In fact overall, Greengrass is probably the single best breakfast in the city (in a city with poor breakfast choices IMHO.)

phaelon56 - The type of tortilla used in Mexican food is dependant on what region of Mexico you are in. Much Tex-Mex food used flour tortillas because the northernmost regions of Mexico have access to wheat flour. But elsewhere in Mexico, a Huevos Rancheros are over easy eggs on corn tortillas. It's the same with quesadillas. They use flour tortillas in the north and corn in the southern provinces.

Gavin - You should private message David Russel who is a member of eGullet. He is by far the most knowledgable person on Burgundy, both the wine as well as the region, that we have on this board. I once saw him respond to this exact question on one of the wine boards with maybe 30 rcommendations.

Adam - As a matter of fairness, and in my opinion quite an important issue of globalization, is our willingness to give protection to those who bring products to the marketplace in a way that benefits consumers. A country like Greece needs every little bit of help it can to be part of the wordlwide economy. Just like it is important for India to be the exclusive producer of Basmati rice. It gives them a foothold in global markets. How else do they properly integrate into the global economy if they can't get this type of protection?

Adam - Just to be fair in my statement about the biggest buck theory, consumer confusion is really at the heart of the issue. It's just that it gets extrapolated into biggest bucks. If consumers in the U.K. expect their feta cheese to come from Greece, they don't want them fooled by ending up with cheese from Bulgaria.

Adam - Unfortunately everything is the biggest buck theory. Personally, I side with the Greeks on this one. They did the heavy lifting in promoting feta to the rest of the world. But for the same reasons basmati should be exclusive to Indian grown rice. Look at Gruyere and Comte. The name Gruyere is so much more valuable.

Wingding - How do you feel about the famous dessert made by the pastry chef of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem honoring Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel? It was a cake of a pyramid and the Wailing Wall I believe connected by a bridge. I am just making a joke but, sometimes architectural desserts are appropriate. If I was at a place like Le Cirque, and my dessert came out looking like the NYC skyline, I would find that appropriate if it worked as part of the dessert. But forced aesthetics are bad in any dish, or come to think of it, any thing.

Adam - Well without knowing the derivation of the word "feta," it's common usage is associated with Greek cheese making. At least in the U.S. Other than educated food consumers, I would think that of people who have heard of feta cheese, if asked, a significant majority of people would say that feta is a Greek cheese. For the purposes of trademark laws, and how trade names are assigned, this is the important distinction since trademark law is based in common law, or in common usage. I am sure if there is an attorney who can give more specific details who is lurking around they will jump in here. Burgundy, is either pinot noir or chardonnay, by law. And they grow pinot noir and chardonnay everywhere in the world. But you can't call your wine Burgundy. That is something that was commonly held by consumers as being distinct. And it's on that basis that they have a protected trade name. So whether Greek feta is distinct as a matter of process, and regardless of the derivation of the word, it's distinct in the minds of consumers and that's why they recieved trade name protection.

Cabrales - Art is all in the name. Of course that's an exageration but, a large part of it is. Switching to art, and that painting at the Sensation exhibit that caused such a ruckus with Giuliani, if the artist didn't say it was the Virgin Mary who had the elephant dung on it, most people wouldn't have been able to tell. Of course certain things are more obvious than others, like Keller's Coffee and Donuts. It would be whimsical without the name. But the Pourcel's Bonbons are not obvious, and need the title to help us get there. Would the bonbons be whimsical without the name?

Robert - I like drinking white Burgundy with my langouste, especially if the sauce is butter based. For the tubot though, the summer truffles (probably grey in color,) I would look for a riesling. Chris's suggestion of the Deiss isn't a bad one, and would probably go well with both.

Jin - No. Wine has a tremendous concentration of fruit that holds up through aeration. But sometimes you get a mature bottle that has nearly lost its fruit. In those instances, aeration can kill whatever fruit is left so it's best to pour directly from the bottle. Winot - I wish I still had that office but I don't. Itb was a wraparound office on the corner of Broadway and Astor Place in Manhattan. It also let me check the new releases at Astor Wines & Spirits every day. Liza - Do you mean Tribecca Wines or Chambers Street Wine Merchant. Haven't been to the former but the latter is the greatest.

Robert - Sorry I didn't see you original posting. When you sat GT, do you mean Gramercy Tavern? And can you be more specific about the spicing in the recipes and include any ingredients like garlic?

Jason - Well if you go into a market in NYC and ask for feta, you could get it from almost any country. Some markets desiginate origin, but many don't. Some carry multiple fetas and label tham all. This has to be a big hit for the cheesemakers from countries other than Greece who make the same type of cheese. It's like winning the trademark to anything where your version has control of the generic name. Could you imagine if Idaho potatoes got exclusive use of the word potato? It isn't unusual given how they allow people to label cheeses in the rest of the EU. Camembert can only be made in France. The Belgian version is called something else, though I forget the name.

Freida L - It isn't really a peasant meal, unless you want to call fishermen peasants. As the folklore goes, it was a boiling pot (hence the name) that was placed over a wood fire made directly on the beach. As the fishermen came in with their catch, they would toss their lunch into the pot of boiling broth. It's just another version of the "one pot cooks all" way of dining. So what goes into a BB is anything Provencal fishermen happen to catch. The only reason langouste isn't natural is because it isn't indiginous. Story has it, and I get this info from a British friend of mine who worked in the area of Bandol, there is a women who makes BB's to special order right on the beach in the traditional style, and serves them outdoors on a table set on a small pier. Supposedly this women makes the best BB around, and serves it with Domaine Lardiere Bandol Blanc, a particularly fruity bottle of white wine given the region, and one I might add that Robert B. & Susan, Cabrales and I drank when we were at Jacques Maximin in April. But I look forward to trying Maurin des Maures when I get back to the area in the fall.

Anil - You know it's one of France's great embarrasments that they lost the court battle which tried to stop Gallo from calling their best selling wine "Hearty Burgundy." I can't remember the details of why they lost, but it pains them to this day.

As I suspected, here is the link to th EU Feta ruling This isn't any different than the type of protection the French have for Champagne, or the Spanish have for Serrano Ham. Sparkling wine from elsewhere in Europe is called by a different name, like Cava or Proseco. And though you can make the kind of ham they call Serrano Ham anywhere, it has to come from a certain region in Spain. Just like Prosciutto can only come from Italy. I wonder if the labeling edict holds is enforcable in the U.S. (any lawyers out there?) or can the Bulgarians call their cheese feta here? Or can American stores still advertise it as Bulgarian feta even though the Greeks have exclusivity on the trade name?