fresco

What Jinmyo says. I'll just add that it helps if you don't get too fussed about losing a little pumpkin pulp.

Dave's essay is excellent. I agree that the DCS models are pricey, but managed to locate one (new) on eBay for $US 500, which, as it happens, should fit in perfectly once we pop out the shallow cabinet above the existing fairly useless unit. It means going to a larger vent pipe, but this is a reasonably minor alteration.

The range hood that's in the kitchen just isn't cutting it. We're looking at replacing it with a 30" DCS. Anyone have any experience with or comments about this make?

John, Thanks for all your research. Just picked up a bottle at Summerhill.

John, Thanks for the information and advice. The 15YO definitely sounds worth trying as well.

Walleye are usually called pickeral hereabouts.

Sorry for butting in here, but don't you have some pretty good local fish in Michigan? Walleye fillets would probably make a good substitute if they're available.

Food, and many other aspects of life in Canada, has been improved considerably by the addition of a million or so Chinese.

Have you read Visser's other book, Much Depends on Dinner? It came out earlier and I thought it was better than Rituals, but perhaps that's just me. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...294512?v=glance

I'm assuming that before too long, just about the only fish that is widely available will be farmed. And there is some reason to be hopeful--farmed mussels, for instance, are, in my experience, worlds better than the wild variety. It is true that there is a lot of bad (and badly farmed) salmon around (think a lot of it comes from Chile these days) but just as there is a market for premium beef, chicken, etc. I think people will be willing to pay extra for quality farmed fish, although I know some people will dismiss this as an oxymoron.

I was reading somewhere recently (Saveur?) about "double-smoked ham"--some guy has created a business wherein he buys Smithfield hams and then smokes them again for about 12 hours. Have you tried anything like this?

Malcolm, I've never tried Fiesta, but will check it out when I'm in the neighborhood. And to answer your question, can't say there are any supermarkets that I'm particularly wild about. What I do find curious is that Toronto already has more competition at the food retailing level than just about anyplace I've ever seen, yet more players are entering in large numbers -- Sam's Club a couple of days ago and soon, a big German-based discount supermarket called Lidl. Anyone have any idea why Toronto, with all the existing competition, is such an attractive market?

I agree that wild salmon is far, far better than farmed. But wild salmon, like cod, is being fished to the point of extinction--or at least, that is what biologists and other experts keep insisting. It's also generally true that many wild species are being overfished, while there is an increasing array of farmed fish, some, like salmon, not so good, and others, like tilapia, which have been improved (they used to have a muddy taste). Some of the fish farming practices give me pause, but the way beef, pork or poultry is raised is often quite horrendous. I wonder if it is possible to push for fish farming that is done responsibly and results in a fish that tastes better than some of the farmed stuff does now? (The alternative seems to be to eat a lot less fish, which is not appealing.) Is any country or company doing fish farming right?

Isn't there room for at least one mass market magazine that takes food seriously? Sorry, that was a plea, not a defence. No, on the recent evidence, Gourmet doesn't take food seriously. And in fairness, there might by a mass market magazine that does, but I don't read it. Any suggestions?

I've never tried the 15 year old version--not sure it's available here. But thanks for the recommendation on the 12.

Isn't there room for at least one mass market magazine that takes food seriously?

Markus, Thanks. The price is in Canadian $, so puts it very close to what you pay in Germany. Sounds like it is worth a try.

Fat Guy, I don't think we're ever going to agree on this one. Bayless never interested me much before, he seemed entirely too one dimensional. Now that he's taken a position on Burger King and the future of fast food, he's somehow seems much more human and appealing. I don't see it as hypocrisy and selling out his colleagues, but perhaps that's just me. Indeed, one of the most appealing aspects of Bourdain that he has worked in some of the shittiest, most dishonest dives around and still retained an appreciation for honest food and people. Bayless seems to be trying to find some redeeming qualities about fast food, which most people consume some of the time, and some people consume most of the time, and I can't bring myself to piss on him for that.

Well, they certainly went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that as many Air Canada destinations as possible were honoured.

It sure seems as if En Route (which is a big cut above most in flight magazines, IMO) did its damndest to cover the widest geographic area possible.

Mags, not true at all. I'm not. And many cooks and chefs would say the same. I can even say that now, adter many years, there is not a minute of my working life that is devoted to activities to which I see a downside. But I'm not Gunga Din 'cause I'm not a man. If I recall Bourdain's kitchen memoirs right, he spent most of his time behind a stove pushing out stuff that he absolutely did not support. And still, he came out of it whole, or close to whole. Think there's a whole lot of cooks and chefs like him. Sure. But not everyone is a whore for dollars. And not everyone has the same point of view of personal integrity as Chef Rick. If he donated his entire fee to charity, I can't see that he has become a "whore for dollars." And if he does indeed see this as a step in the right direction for fast food, can't see how his integrity is tarnished.

Mags, not true at all. I'm not. And many cooks and chefs would say the same. I can even say that now, adter many years, there is not a minute of my working life that is devoted to activities to which I see a downside. But I'm not Gunga Din 'cause I'm not a man. If I recall Bourdain's kitchen memoirs right, he spent most of his time behind a stove pushing out stuff that he absolutely did not support. And still, he came out of it whole, or close to whole. Think there's a whole lot of cooks and chefs like him.

Mags, All true. PLUS--Bayless has said he's donating his entire fee to charity. Think this guy deserves the benefit of the doubt--that he's doing this endorsement in the hope of encouraging a better way for fast food, and understanding entirely that it is a very, very small step.

Ontario's liquor board is bringing this in as a special release next month and touting it fairly highly. Opinions? 912402 'EL DORADO RUM' $ 35.95 12 Year Old 750 mL Superior Demerara Rum, with Gift Box (Demerara Distillers Ltd.) Tasting note: Copper. Lush tropical fruit and spice nose. Round, mellow, full-bodied palate with powerful fruit, tobacco, orange peel, leather, and toasty oak flavors. Hedonistic and well balanced. Exceptional. Score - 95. (www.tastings.com, July 2, 2001)

Does this mean he's no longer the devil?