yvonne johnson

I continue with the Campari experimentation and have made a liquid Rothko in the process. Last night I followed Katherine's recipe for the sweet martini. In a narrow 4oz measure I placed the gin, sweet vermouth and the little drop of Campari. Three distinct layers of bronze/orange, red then clear on top. Very pretty. Tossed this into shaker with lots of ice. Poured into cold martini glass. No cherry in the house though. I liked this more than I thought I would. Not too sweet--the Campari gave it an edge. I might have one tonight. The ingredients don't separate into those lovely layers once shaken, however. Something about the rules of physics my consort (I wonder whether Regina Schambling even knows we're taking the micky) tells me.

I have a few questions for the group. Here's the background: After reading this discussion I ordered what I thought were two different used (but in new condition) copies of Mrs Balbir Singh's books from amazon.com. Around three weeks ago, the first arrived, "Indian Cookery", hardback (brown, white and orange cover) and in good condition. From it, I have made Shahi Korma (Mutton Curry) which has almonds, yoghurt, saffron, red pepper, garam masala and other ingedients. Bear in mind, I cannot get mutton in NY, and the butcher gave me "butterfly leg" cut in small peices. My main finding, and my spouse agreed, was the dish was not very flavorful. The nuttiness was evident, but I found it a little bland, but not in a subtle nice way. I also made Pork (as it should be, I believe) Vindaloo. This was more successful. Generous quantities of garlic, onions, green chili but I coudln't find the brown cardamoms--must go and find them. Q1: Does the above seem strange? For example, are green chilies hotter in India than in US? Q2: Is it possible that Ms Singh, by writing for Westerners, altered the dishes in some ways? The meat dishes in Madhur Jaffrey's, Invitation to Indian Cooking which we've used for many years are much more satisfying as is the Vindaloo in Charmaine Solomon's Asian Food. Something I do like about the book is the listing of all the ingredients and the Hindustani equivalents. Now to finish the story, the second book I ordered was I thought titled "Mrs Balbir's Indian Cookery" and by Balbir Singh (and different from "Indian Cookery"). Turns out this is the paperback version (red picture and white print on cover) of the first. It arrived in an envelope that looked like it had been round the world twice, hardly looks new on the outside, but it's quite presentable inside. If anyone would like it it's yours.

My immediate answer is no. Philosophy of food, or of anything couldn't exist without words. Concepts have to be used by the person to convey to others the ideas and principles they are using. When you ask "Can a chef have a philosophy that he expounds just through his culinary creations without words", my take would be that if the chef couldn't articulate through words what the philosophy was, then he/she didn't have one. That's not to say they weren't a good, skilled cook. An unrelated point is: Can you be a good cook and not use words? I'd say yes, of course, as others could learn from the cook just by imitation. If a chef had a philosophy what might it be? Simplicity is good? I guess Colicchio has a philosophy. I wouldn't call it deep in the philosophical sense (no offence meant), but it's hardly Kant (then again, some might say he didn't offer a deep one either). But to go back to the wordless philosophy in your post, if Plato's pure forms exist, would the philosopher king be rendered speachless if they grasped one? If jminyo, for example, came across the ideal pie what would she say . Could it be conveyed? (Above are crazy thoughts of feverish person in 100 degree heat, and who read undergrad phil over 20 years ago.)

We got some Woodchuck Granny Smith cider this weekend. Quite a nice clean taste, with light greenish color. Overall, my favorite remains Magners because I like it's sourness.

Through serendipitous stumbling eight eGulletarians (Stefanyb and Aaron, Tommy and Mrs Tommy, Wilfrid and his Beloved, and Lurker and I) found Fleur de Sel, 5 East 20th Street (b/w Broadway & 5th Ave), 212/460-9100 last night. I am not exaggerating when I say that the meal was one of the most agreeable I’ve had in years. Agreeable sounds a little bland, maybe, but after the seven-course Spring degustation, that was the word that fit my experience best. I didn’t feel bloated as you often do in this city. At the end of the meal I simply felt well fed in a settling way. For most of the menu there was a choice between two dishes. I've put the dish I didn't have in brackets. 1. Suckling pig and foie gras terrine with aged balsamic This had a range of very soft (aspic, and foie gras) and meaty (distinct stands of pig) textures. I liked this very much. My husband and Wilfrid thought it needed further seasoning. Points given to restaurant for having salt on the table. I think the dish could’ve been enhanced by something crunchy, say, cornichons—but this is a tiny thing. [OR Goat cheese ravioli with beat mustard reduction and sevruga caviar.] 2. Diver sea scallops, parsnip foam and chestnut and white truffle ravioli. This was my favorite dish on the menu. I know there is a debate raging on another thread about whether cooking is an art, well, in my book this combination is art. Large, top-notch scallops from Maine surrounded by parsnip soup (yes, a little foamy), and the surprise ravioli at the bottom. [OR sesame seed crusted salmon, mushroom licorice emulsion, and white asparagus.] 3. Pompano, aromatic glaze, French radish and Portobello mushroom. Pompano is a fish I love, and mushroom isn’t something I’d think of an accompaniment for it, but the skinless fish and mushroom melded together very naturally. [OR Potato crusted black bass, broccoli puree, Malbec wine, and maple sugar reduction] 4. Maine lobster with Scottish lobster emulsion, harrisa and asparagus. For me, this was the weakest dish. It felt a bit tired, and the lobster meat was a little chewy. That said, it was still quite good. [OR Sullivan country seared foie gras, dried fruit puree with rose water] 5. Rack of lamb with juniper and orange and vegetables. Two medium large chops, lamb-y, juicy with crispy fat at the edges. A little portion of carrots (that tasted of carrots for once), celery and tiny potatoes helped mop up the reduction as did the hearty brown bread (points too for leaving the bread throughout for mopping). [OR tenderloin of veal, spinach and black truffle sauce] 6. Raspberry feuillete with, on this night, dulce de leche maybe (?). This was a miniature dish with fruit on bottom, thinnest of pastry in middle and spoon of the dulce de leche on top. Absolutely delicious. 7. Chocolate tart soufflé with vanilla ice cream. I could only manage half of this. I like chocolate, but am not a fan of chocolate desserts, and I’ll leave others to judge this warm tart with oozing chocolate. The tasting menu was $75 per person and I thought it was well worth it. With wine, including a several bottles of a nice Gewürztraminer and reds, it came to around $130 per person. As you can see from the website http://www.fleurdeselrestaurant.com/, it is a small restaurant, with minimal decoration, and, though all wooden, very comfortable chairs. Cyril Renault, the chef, said hello at the end as we were leaving and he seems like a diffident, friendly fellow. Service was efficient and professional. (None of that over-friendly nonsense.) I will definitely return and that will be sooner rather than later. I see Wilfrid isn’t active today, but thanks for suggesting Flute (where we met for drinks) as well as Fleur de Sel in the first place.

My father taught me how to make mustard using Colman's powder when I was around six or seven. Sometimes we used water, other times milk. Anyway, it became a couple of times a week ritual. I've always liked mustard especially with pies and stews, and on sandwiches. I still make Colman's mustard, and I sometimes add a little of the powder to salad dressings. As for ready made, I like Maille Dijon, Grey Poupon Dijon, and Grey Poupon Country Dijon which is quite grainy, and goes very well with Toad in the Hole (my husband puts some in the actual batter). An aside really, but is there a significant difference between, say , Maille http://www.maille.com/us/savoir_faire/fab_moutarde.html and Grey Poupon? I didn't realize till inspecting the jar just now that Grey's is made by Nabisco, in New Jersey. As for flavored mustards, I'm in two minds. Laurent du Clos' Tarragon Dijon is a little unpleasantly sweet. A couple of years ago, I came across a Marks & Spencer's Mustard with Dill, and it was lovely with smoked salmon.

Feeling under the weather after only 5 martinis and 3 pints. Wuss. By the way, are the chippers serving the sweet chilli sauce? --haggis and chilli sauce sounds cosmopolitan for Scotland, mind you the curry sauce with chips is an old favorite--or was that something you added at home?

I'm no breakfast person, but the photography is so good (More of Ellen's work?) that I could go that surf and turf and egg custard. North West Florida here I come. I'm enjoying the reports Fat Guy.

Here you are. I was waiting down in Adventures to learn about the trip. We stayed at Planters Inn a few years back (rooms sparsely decorated, a little too much of a modern nothing for me), and I'd completely forgotten--we had dinner at the Plantation Inn (in Planters). I wish I kept a food diary, because I do not remember what I had to eat, though it was quite good. Sticky Fingers really stands out (as I said below in other thread) as does the Fish and Chips place that Wildrid mentions (a few doors down from Sticky Fingers). We were happy with the food in Charleston, but, overall I preferred Savannah because of its ragged-at-the-edges beauty.

My consort recently told me Fat Guy and Mrs Fat Guy liked Sticky Fingers. What? Where did he read that? Silly me has been waiting here on this thread to learn more about the trip, and it's all going on upstairs http://209.197.224.16/~egulle....5;st=30

At least the goverment replies! I received this last week in reference to my inquiry # 089141910 Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 12:50:57 -0500 From: "USEPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline" Organization: BAH To: yvonnejohnson8@yahoo.com Subject: Re: (089141910) Dear Ms. Yvonne Johnson, The Safe Drinking Water Hotline, operated by Booz¥Allen & Hamilton under contract to EPA, has received your inquiry. Your question was as follows: 1. Would New York be able to save a significant amount of water if restaurants served only bottled water rather than tap? 2. What about if everyone in NY drank bottled water. Would that significantly help? We hope you find the following information useful: Thank you for your comments. You may want to consult your the New York State Bureau of Public Water Supply Protection to find out if using bottled water would pose a significant savings/conservation of water. The New York state office can be reached at (518) 402-7713. I contacted the NY State Bureau of Public Water Supply Protection, and spoke to very nice fellow, a research scientist. He did not have statistics on the % of tap water injested by humans, but assured me that the % was very, very small when compared with other uses. The above confirms what has been my thinking all along.

Malawry, Quiddler I must get. I love most word games, though funnily enough I’m not a Scrabble fan. Bizarre I know. I know this is off topic but since we’re at it, have you tried the game “Ex Libris”? In this game, where you need at least 3 people, the leader takes a card and on it are the opening and closing lines from works of literature. The leader reading from the card tells the name of the book, and a brief summary of the plot. All players write down what they think would be an apt opening or closing (this is chosen in advance) sentence to the work. The leader of course writes down on piece of paper what is on the card, the original sentence. All pieces of paper are collected and the leader reads all of them out. Then each player votes on what sounds the most convincing line. If you choose the original you get extra points, and the winner is the person who receives most votes for his/her entry. Interestingly, often the original line does not get the most votes. Yes, games are difficult to describe succinctly. Back to tongs. I like the nonstick ones. Nice and light. I used our microplane again last night. It has the word “Mircroplane” written on the black handle. Duh….never saw it before. Our one must be the version with the smallest holes, as the Parmesan comes out all airy, almost dust. I think we’ll get the next size up.

I stir my mashed tatties (once they've been through the ricer) and sauces too with my spurtles. Mine are the thin, round stick type. I'm not much of a porridge person, but people use them for stirring that. There is, I recently learned, another sort of spurtle which is flat-bladed and used to turn oatcakes. I just love the word. Spurtle grup = sudden pain. Spurtle leggit=having skinny legs that resemble porridge sticks.

We have a microplane and I've used it, but I didn't know what it was called till today. Very informative place, this eGullet. Of course, my consort (still can't get over that) knew what the thing was called. Things I like at hand are wodden spoons, spurtles (wooden sticks) --they all hang on the wall, easy reach and easy find, rack, and good Irish linen dish cloths. All of these items belonged to my granny and my mother so they've been around a bit during their long lives.

The other day I came across Blue Moon Grapefruit-Campari Sorbet in Balducci's (NY, Village--this store is pretty sordid now, but if you treat it as a warehouse of packaged goods, there are some finds). Anyway, after all this talk about Campari and juices I had to get it. Turns out, it's pretty good, it has real Campari in it, and for good measure I've been pouring some extra on top.

Bluewine, there was a little discussion of absinthe here http://209.197.225.1/~egulle....bsinthe It looks like a couple of egulletarians have tried it. And we lived to tell the story. I was greatly disappointed. I was expecting to see the unknown. Chiz.

Damian, I think a thread on drinks made by monks (do nuns do same?)--liqueurs and beers, any others?--would be very interesting. According to my bottle of Chartreuse, it's made by Carthusian monks, neat Grenoble, France. It's also interesting what you say about the associative power of the drink. I was thinking yesterday about the memories attached to simple things like cooking equipment in our kitchen. John, if you don't mind me asking, what price does the VEP go for?

Florence Fabricant has it right in NYT Dining section. It's spin. My thought exactly: "some restaurateurs have made drinking water seem downright irresponsible". Now this: "Off tap? That's right. FYI, Steve Hanson of BR Guest has declared a no tap-water policy for his NYC restaurants -- Atlantic Grill, Blue Fin, Fiamma, Isabella's and Park Avalon. Until the drought is over and the water ban lifted, diners who want H2O can purchase the bottled stuff for half-price. Save water for New York and money for yourself." http://www.dailycandy.com/candy/article.js...Id=18145&city=1 I guess they use bottled water to clean the Hanson kitchens. And will that be Perrier or Evian to flush the loo?

I don't mind water, but, right now I'd prefer another kind of drink. But look at this http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/waterrest.html Now if you scroll down to "Water in restaurants" it says that even under "normal, non-emergency conditions" in NYC, water is served only if the customer requests it. Apparently we are in Drought Emergency Satge 1 and there is no change from normal restrictions as far as I can see.

As I mentioned on the Romania thread of all places, I'm also reading Paul Richardson's, "Cornucopia: A gastronomic tour of Britain". Steve, I look forward to your review, as obviously Richardson finds some good food in Britain. Shock. :o

Christopher, thanks for the update on the city's mandates. As for being puzzled by customers' reactions I'm wondering if I can explain them this way: Those who always order bottled water will pay the usual price, no? By lowering the price and explaining it is because of the drought, the person who would not usually buy bottled water is put in the position of being encouraged to buy it, for the supposed good of the planet. I can't explain lowering the price, if the aim wasn't to encourage more customers to drink bottled rather than tap. Maybe the restaurants offering the special price have other reasons, but this is the manipulation I imagine others like me would feel. Steven when you write "people are not always motivated exclusively by money...Why else would some of the smartest and most talented people in the world be poor or of modest means? In most cases, it is by choice. In some cases, that has even been proven to be by choice." Are you referring to people of reasonable means opting not to be rich? My understanding is that half of the world's population lives on $2 (per person) a day, and that's not by choice, surely. Maybe I've taken your "in the world" too literally ???

I got the jaune in a little liquor store on 6th Ave b/w 10th and 11 St in Deluth, Wisconsin. Got ya. That's my April fools! New York, of course. Next door to Jefferson Market

I enjoyed that. Thanks. The thread has temporarily disappeared, but I ordered Paul Richardson’s "Cornucopia: A gastronomic tour of Britain" after your mentioning it and I find Richardson's writing to be very good. I never thought a description of the Kent apple would make me teary-eyed. That poor tree, heavy with lovely fruit and the cruel rejection of its produce by the supermarkets because of the apples' irregular shapes and rough skin.

Before this weekend, I don’t think I’d tasted Chartreuse. I bought a little bottle of the yellow (quite pricey, $28 for half a bottle). Quite nice on its own—reminds me a bit of Kummel which was my mother’s favorite liqueur. Also tried some with ice and soda—again, nice, herb flavor. My local liquor store didn’t have the green or VEP. I'm wondering if these are harder to get.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve experimented with the following: Campari and orange juice: I rather liked this. It’s not something I’d have often as it is on the sweet side for me. Campari and (ruby red) grapefruit juice: This was delicious. It looks tropical, lovely color and the tartness of the g. juice does it for me. Thanks for the tip, Christopher. I did buy some chartreuse this weekend, but have not tried your other recipe using the Campari. Negroni: I found this too sweet for me. Also, the viscosity I found a little cloying. So far then, my favorite Campari drinks are the simple Campari & soda, and Campari & grapefruit juice.