Pan

Actually, acar with curry paste sounds fine to me. Why not?

Only if it faces you . ← Seriously. I ate the head of the garlic-roasted chicken at my father's 75th birthday banquet. Had we been Chinese, would he have had the honor of eating the head, or would no-one have eaten it, or what?

Yeah, that $59 tasting does sound doable to me, for a special night out.

I knew "jeruk" to be the Indonesian word for "orange" (the fruit), but that wouldn't seem to apply.

Wait: You're not supposed to eat the head?

Pan, The closest "other" vegetable to salsify is burdock root (gobo in Japanese). Salsify has a somewhat more delicate flavor. It's sometimes called "oyster plant" because of its flavor. Both salsify and burdock are crunchy, but dense rather than watery or juicy. ← I'm not that familiar with burdock root, either. Lucy's right: I'll have to try it myself.

Tupac, did you have wine with the meal? I'm thinking of possibly going for a pasta tasting menu myself, but I noticed that the wine pairings raise the price of that menu by $45, so I'm thinking it might be a better value to share a bottle of wine with a friend or even just get a wine or two by the glass. Actually, I've never had wine pairings with any meal in my life (no, the dessert menu at Chikalicious doesn't count). But I think I also have had only one tasting menu in my life so far (at the Li Family Restaurant in Beijing). Is there anyone who thinks that even someone who's a bit paranoid about spending over $100 per person for a meal really will have such an awe-inspiring experience by ordering the wine pairings that it would be worth $90 (plus what that adds to the tax and tip) for two?

Good morning, Lucy. I missed you. What flavor is that beautiful confiture?

Not only that, but also an eastern end, which is where the Levant is. What silly judges.

At one point, I started what I hoped would be a broader look at variation of dishes in the region (look here), but it's probably better to discuss each dish separately, as you're doing.

That's bergaduh (same in standard Malay -- you can look it up here), not menggado. A search of the Indonesian-English dictionary linked above produces the same result, too.

Shiewie, the thing I'm thinking of is white and crackly and has a funny off taste to it but is still moderately OK to eat. I wouldn't search it out, though.

I haven't been to Landmarc yet; I don't make it down to TriBeCa too often, except sometimes to sit in with friends who play jazz at Dekk, a very pleasant place with noteworthy atmosphere (soundless classic movies playing on large screens on either side of a spacious room) and food that's fairly priced and quite acceptable but, in my opinion, not by itself a reason for a trip that involves a 35-some-odd-minute walk. I think "non-fancy" is a category that's still open for discussion, and we don't have to all agree on what is or isn't fancy. There was a lot of discussion about what does and doesn't belong in that category on pages one and two of this thread.

Eh? Rich? You can buy a workable one for less than $10 CND ...and a not so bad one for less than $20 ... worth every penny! ← What's an immersion blender and how is it different from a regular one? (Please address this elsewhere if it's not an appropriate question for this blog.)

Yeah, someone who was four hours late without having been in the Emergency Room would no longer be my friend.

I'd be really curious to read about what they cook in oases, too. In Salah, for example, is so far south. Is the food there very much influenced by tastes most of us think of as West African?

Yes, they really do, if you clearly ask for it. With or without a bowl of soup (the split pea soup is pretty good and I prefer it to the matzo ball soup, which isn't bad, either).

I've been to Cacio e Pepe and Lupa once apiece so far, and had excellent meals at both. I think both restaurants probably occupy a middle position between informal and fancy, as is true of many of the Italian restaurants in the East Village and environs, with prices to match. Cafe El Portal is a place I'm unfamiliar with, and I'd love it if you would tell us more about it. What dishes do you recommend, etc. I got the following information from menupages.com, which also has a clickable menu for the place:

I agree, David. I prefer Indonesian krupuk udang somewhat to Malaysian keropok ikan. Shiewie, I don't remember the name of emping but do remember the taste and texture, if it's the same thing I'm thinking of. It's got some kind of seeds in it, right? If so, I was eating some in PJ on the first or second night I was there in 2003.

As long as it's firm and looks good, put its bottoms in water a couple of hours or so before you eat it. I don't think that's a panacea, but it helps.

Such beautiful produce! I'm unfamiliar with salsify. Is there anything else its taste or texture compares to? Is it a starchy root? Is it crunchy and watery like jicama?

Read the rest of the story here. I could have posted this in Food Media and News, but I think this is such a significant event for the US wine industry. I'd like to see some discussion of my question in the subtitle: Is this the start of terroir certification in the US? Do you think it's likely that other major wine-growing states in the US, such as Oregon, Washington, and eastern Long Island will follow suit with similar laws? Also, now that there is a law limiting the use of the "Napa" designation, what about the "Sonoma" designation? If that wasn't limited by the 2000 law, wouldn't that be the next name for unscrupulous wineries to appropriate? Or do you think that all of this isn't actually very significant at all?

Those of you who weren't here last year or missed Lucy's first blog (linked above in Post #1) really owe it to yourselves to read through it. The reason we're so excited that she's blogging again is that her first blog set a new standard for excellence in writing and photography in a foodblog.

That looks beautiful! Do you know how they get the red and yellow? From commercial food coloring, or do you suppose they use ingredients like turmeric (a little darker yellow, though, I think) and tomato juice or something? And was the food tasty?

I would disagree that Katz's is a long walk from SoHo. But I guess that's a matter of perspective. It would probably take me about 15 minutes to walk from Ludlow and Houston to Broadway and Prince.