fresco

Thanks, alacarte. Trillin is a treat, no matter what he chooses to write about.

Congratulations on that huge diploma. Your pieces have been great--certainly lots of room for a return to a writing career if cooking palls.

Chilled tomato with potato, onion, cream and lots of fresh sage. From, I think, Cucina Fresca.

In the case of Loblaw, they have gone to some lengths to refine the process and build their President's Choice brand. If they come across some outfit in Italy, for example, that is making pretty good olive oil, they might approach them and ask them to produce a President"s Choice line. Other stuff, like "The Decadent" chocolate chip cookies (a monster seller in Canada) was, I think, developed either in house or in conjunction with a contract manufacturer. Once they had the formula right, the cookies were made by the custom manufacturer. I do think you are correct about major manufacturers producing house brands in other instances. Certainly this is the case for things like Whirlpool, which markets stoves, fridges etc under a lot of department store private labels and is probably the case for off-brand corn flakes, etc.

Isn't the test of a chef or a kitchen the truly simple dishes -- roast chicken, omelette?

"fucking sheep." Playing with your food should be a firing offence.

Tonyfinch, The operative word was "purport."

Sure, blame eGullet for ruining your life. Typical junkie.

Not that I want to promote the use of tobacco, but studies exist that purport to show that cigarette smokers are more productive employees than non smokers. If productivity is a major issue, should you test for nicotine in the urine and fire those who come out negative?

Sounds like the start of the "whose kitchen bitch are you" thread.

That's it. By Mary and Vincent Price You have to admire the guy a) for playing it perfectly straight b) for giving his wife top billing

If the Golden Arches ever topple, economists the world over would mourn: http://www.oanda.com/products/bigmac/bigmac.shtml

Couldn't this whole disagreement be settled over a...forget it.

Anna N May be way off base here, but I wonder if you might have failed to elicit responses simply because of the item you mentioned--round steak. I'm sure there are all sorts of things you can do with round steak, but off the top of my head, none of them sound too exciting. I do like the idea of a discussion around whatever is cheap/bountiful and agree that there is a ton of expertise just waiting to be tapped. What seems to appeal to people is novelty--I noticed that an inquiry from someone who had come across a pound of monfish liver generated a fairly lively discussion. Is there some way to reframe the question to get people intrigued--maybe a thread called something like An Embarrassment of Riches, What do to with weird windfalls, etc--?

If people want to experience this level of authenticity, they are better off going to a museum than a pizzeria.

"All of this is making me want to get my shovel sized razor blade out and snort right on the line. " Spencer snorts in disgust.

A rigid adherence to "authenticity" sounds like a dubious sales proposition for pizza. It may have been invented in Naples, but who's to say they got it right?

"Governments are (and should be) notoriously awful at modifying human behavior." The frightening thing is, governments can be extremely effective at modifying human behaviour (see China and its rigorously enforced one-child policy, for instance). But they are notoriously bad at modifying human instincts and desires (many Chinese abandon or murder unwanted girls so they can try again for a boy.)

"The fact that yes, there are a disproportionate number of partiers in the industry, I think, belies a lifestyle choice, not a demographical statistic based on some governmental report. " How can this be? As soon as I finish posting I am going to insist on, demand, a government report--and some pretty bloody stringent regulations while I'm at it. You guys have had it your own way for too long, and we, the taxpayers, are not happy.

Loufood, You can pick your own country. My two sets of grandparents landed on the frozen Canadian prairie from various inhospitable parts of Europe and the US, but I have always thought it as inadvisable to attach virtue to humble beginnings as to do so for aristocratic descent.

Or they can just make an all-out appeal to gluttony with an enormous burger: "We've put the Big in Big Mac"

Loufood, If I can believe everything that I hear and read about drugs emanating from your country, opiates have become the opiate of the masses.

I'm certainly no expert on drugs, but don't people keep insisting that war, poverty, imprisonment, torture, etc., are all the reasons that the US has such a huge drug problem among its inner city underclass? And according to Bourdain et al, the kitchens of America are staffed largely by people escaping the horrors of poverty etc back home.

Certainly agree that drugs (and booze) are no spur to creativity, or effort, for that matter. I heard enough bullshit about the mind enhancing qualities of pot, acid, etc. back in the Seventies to last a couple of lifetimes--and did not observe any flowering of genius in art, music, literature. In, fact, people like Ken Kesey seemed to stop doing their best work (or much of anything) once they hopped on the bandwagon, or bus, as the case may be. But kitchens, like most places people work, function around personalities. And some of the most engaging and creative personalities, in my experience, do enjoy a drink or a joint or both. You just have to get the quantities, proportions and occasions right.

Thought so. So booze and drugs add a certain piquancy to kitchen life, no?