Deryn

Anyone who shops at farmer's markets regularly is accustomed to produce that doesn't always look perfect. 'Perfect' is in the eyes of the beholder anyway. I am in Canada and don't quite get what all the hype is about - but yes this new 'thing' is being widely advertised here. I don't want overly bruised fruits and limp vegetables usually (though I have bought those which were marked down when I had an immediate use for them in some dish where they would be fully cooked with other ingredients anyway) but I don't much care most of the time if my produce is pretty or ugly - as long as it tastes good. I also don't want diseased or potentially disease spreading produce - even if it looks perfect and supposedly has been carefully washed 20 times before being bagged. But, if the carrot has 3 roots, I might buy it - all other things being equal - just because it is unique. Reading what you wrote though about how 'ugly' fruit is being priced higher than 'beautiful' (one presumes - though I am not exactly sure what that means) fruit, I am not surprised but I am sorry to hear it. There are also other good ways for stores/distributors to use 'ugly' produce - by sending them to food banks - and many do or used to (before regulations in some places stopped them from that practice).

One pack serves 3/4's OF a person? Or 3 to 4 people? It looks as though there are 6 in a pack - would that not serve 6? I am sincerely hoping though that what you meant was that a whole package would be better for someone like me when I am on a binge and want to rationalize that I only ate 3/4's of a serving (while devouring the whole pack)?

Yes, interesting. My warped mind though goes to the future and thinking that PETA will get on the bandwagon (especially if we all have 'bug farms' in our personal kitchens) and demand we treat bugs 'humanely' and also to thinking about the prospect of scientists breeding giant bugs so that we get more protein in every bite/for our buck, etc. On the other hand, I can imagine mealworm popsicles for the kids - will they delight in that special treat someday?

Next cookoff - Cioppino, David?

Thank you, Nina. Very interesting. I grew up catching and eating greyling in the Yukon (which does have clear and clean, cold lakes and streams) and while it was delicious, it was ubiquitous up there (and I was young and naïve) so I guess I didn't 'appreciate' its 'thyme-ly' nuances till now. The first fish I ever caught as a kid was a greyling. The final dish looks amazing. Wish I had been there to try it. I am sure char (which I also love) works just as well as greyling.

paulraphael - Your pizza looks wonderful. Question for you though .. you can't even slide your pizzas off a peel if you 'grease' the peel first with a bit of cornmeal?

I think the orientation of the picture confused me, nina - at first glance it looks as though you are showing off a hanging 'wall' of fish squares. Is the picture sideways (i.e. is that slab of fish on a flat surface or hanging from the hand at the top)? The article Anna linked to (thanks, Anna) says that the technique (which I think you are using to 'cook' this fish) is to heat the beeswax to 84 degrees for a barely warmed fish. You say you warmed only to 75 .. pretty sashimi-like? What form of beeswax did you use? I hope you come back to fully explain what you did, etc. because just posting that picture and saying it worked when it is not a common household technique - at least not in my house - is a bit cruel. This enquiring mind wants to know more. Did you all eat the results of this experiment and like it? Was it served as shown? How did you 'remove' the wax before serving - did it peel off completely ... did it leave any residual beeswax 'fragrance' that somehow enhanced the flavour? How thick was each piece of char and how large are those squares (about 2 x 2 inches?) What else did you serve with them? Was the fish seasoned in any way?

Pretty picture but I am interested in exactly what you did, presumably with beeswax, to actually (I gather) cook those pieces of char (without melting the beeswax?).

rotuts ... I think whatever is in your milk may be affecting you adversely, but, I will be polite and ask what that post was all about?

I am not sure this is the place to discuss that sort of thing (though I am guilty of responding - twice now - this time just to clarify what I meant though). My concern with GMO feed is not really the genetic manipulation aspect so much as the pesticides that are being sprayed on the grains, and the fact that more and more pesticides are apparently required every season to do the same job that previously took less. In most cases, from my understanding, a primary reason for the genetic manipulation was to make them resistant to pests and weeds, but, sprays are being used on the weeds around them and will fall on the grain plants as well. I don't think anyone can guarantee that those pesticides are not on the grain and eventually getting through the cows' systems and into the milk.

While perhaps that isn't the idyllic scenario you described, none of that bothers me as much as the hormones and antibiotics fed to those cows - not to mention the GMO feed - that ends up in the milk.

Scones.

Kerry, thanks for trying that experiment even if the results were not what one would hope they might be. I think, if diabetics (like my neighbour who I am always trying to find these no-sugar chocolates for) would just start slowly trying unsweetened chocolate they would come to love it and to shun anything with a sweet taste. I know I started eating small bits of 70 and then 80 then 85 and then 95% and now find that 70% is way too sweet for my tastes. I am not diabetic but I truly cannot stand the taste of any fake sweetener or even the natural 'lo carb' ones like stevia, etc.

I have never seen (anything labelled as) A2 milk as far as I can remember. I wish it was available here - or rather, since I don't drink milk, I wish that A2 cream, cheese and yogurt were readily available. Reading up about it, it seems to me that even if some don't believe there is a beneficial difference with A2 milk, it would not hurt to use only A2 products, just in case. I will have to keep my eye open for these milk products in future. Apparently sheep and goats only produce A2 milk but again their products are not easily found in these parts unfortunately.

Yes, of course. Tomorrow is St. David's Day - a day that also always makes me nostalgic. My father always used to wear a leek in his hat and a daffodil on his lapel - and we used to attend St. David's Day celebrations for many years in Toronto and Ottawa.

I can't tell you how Welsh Dragons make me both cry and jump with delight (courtesy of my late father - our house was filled with them and I still have a few here now). To see a whole case filled with Welsh cheeses (presumably since the dragon was flying above) made me so nostalgic (and yes, I like the cheese too .. not just the red and green). That market looks wonderful, Tere - (and would even without the dragons) ... I am jealous. Thanks for the photo tour.

Vlcatko, and some cultures eat with their hands out of a common container as a regular everyday practice but I think the satire expressed by the video/song that Tere posted was directed at the plethora of efforts by western restaurants (particularly modernist establishments) to constantly 'surprise' with their tableware (or lack thereof) ... and how annoying that constant change/innovation can be and how difficult it can also be to enjoy one's meal when the method for eating it overshadows the food that is presented in it.

Haven't you ever heard of 'small plate' entrees?

Thanks, Tere! Very Noel Coward-ish. Loved it.

I was fed mostly porridge 6 days a week ... sourdough pancakes on Sundays. I think Cheerios may have crept into the pantry by the time I was a teenager. My older sons grew up with only Cheerios, Cornflakes and Rice Krispies as their breakfast choices - though I did serve eggs and other stuff like waffles on weekends. My daughter, a few years younger than the boys, had much more choice when it came to cereal but I really tried to limit her access to the high sugar ones (which was difficult with all the tv ads that were emerging on every kids program back then). So that takes us from the early 1950s to the late 1990s, from hot to cold and from bowl to cardboard lined with waxed paper (daughter loved those but I don't think they were around when the boys were little).

Welcome to eGullet, Felipe. I truly am looking forward to you telling us more about the foods in your region and especially about the fermented foods you make or are commonly obtainable there.

Just found this series (about 50 minutes each), which includes 4 episodes labelled "Fire", "Water", "Air" and "Earth". I thought the first started a bit slowly but it soon got to the 'food' part and I enjoyed most of the rest. It covers a lot of territory in the 4 first season segments - from how the use of fire is what makes humans human to barbeque in the south in "Fire", through using water to braise meats and vegetables (Water), the importance of natural yeasts in breads for our diets (Air) and finally deals with fermentation (Earth) and touches on cuisines around the world in the process, as well as food issues that are affecting our world today - processed foods and 'eating out' all the time being the major ones. But, that is just a real simplification - there is much more so if you have not seen these and have access to them, I think most people here would enjoy them. What kept running through my head though as I was binge watching these programs was that I really wonder at what point, with immigration/migration and the globalization of commerce, etc. escalating, will we lose all our individual identities when it comes to foods and culture. I love that things have advanced to the point that we can find ingredients so we can try to emulate some of the elements that make different cuisines special (from my viewpoint, from my cultural standpoint) and it is wonderful that we have people from all over the world 'televising' from places most of us will never have the opportunity to experience and some who are also writing cookbooks that allow us to peek into the food cultures of many different civilizations/groups - but I worry that 'fusion' will eventually make this world so homogenous that we will not have these wonderful culinary differences after a while. When I see people in India for instance, who used to cook at home, are now ordering KFC by cellphone every day of the week and eating mostly processed foods, I cringe. I almost hope I will not live long enough to see the day we are all 'the same' (with all the same bad habits) but I fear it is coming.

I usually use my Thermomix - it does the stirring for me. I have however made quite acceptable risotto recently in my IP with nothing doing the stirring. Prior to owning those handy appliances, I have used a wok, a saucier, a sauté pan, and even a dutch oven in a pinch.

pastrygirl .. I am by no means an expert macaron maker but have you checked the temp in that Viking oven vs what you used to make consistently good macarons in the Wolf? Sounds to me as though the temp may have been too high (causing the meringue to rise and bake before it settled back again). Each oven is different - to that I can attest - and that affects delicate things like macarons much more than it will say a layer cake or other sturdier mixes. The only other thing that might cause what you are talking about (that I can think of - unless you are suddenly using a different ingredient ... ie the sugars or have increased the ph somehow) might be the macronage itself but I gather you are very practiced at that so I doubt that is your problem. The macronage issue could be causing the cracking though but again, you sound much better at macaron mastery than I am so I am sure that is not the problem.

Aside from HST reporting back to us about how his presentation went and how he ultimately chose to address the core questions, I would love it if he would send his professor here to read our comments and (one hopes) also provide us with some feedback about the assignment and how he saw the results of that assignment manifest.