[Who’s Coming to Dinner?]

four people no longer 'with us' at a dinner party?

Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel

Che Guevara

Florence Ballard (of the Supremes)

Kevyn Aucoin

i have no idea what they would eat...

[Oysters: The Topic]

In Japan it is almost impossible to find oysters in the shell, I have only seen the twice this year and only at upscale markets. They are normally sold water packed on trays and are labeled either for cooking use or as ok for eating raw. Thus I have never seen an oyster knife in this country...

hi torakris--

it seems an interesting anomaly that in a nation known for seafood (Japan), you never see raw oysters (in the shell). maybe the demand isn't there.

but as budrichard said, watch your hands. gloves + towel = indispensable.

glad you enjoyed them!

an oyster knife just looks like an awl with a flattened blade, but you should get one.

[Oysters: The Topic]

and the biggest question will they keep until dinner tomorrow night? my husband won't be here for dinner tonight and I would like to share them with him That is about 32 hours from now...

This is what they look like!

hey torakris:

i can confirm what others have told you, and add:

--store them in dampened newspaper, in a plastic bag, in the fridge.

--32 hours, if you know they were delivered "fresh", would be fine, but would also be my personal limit for fresh storage. any longer, cook them.

--if they are bad, you can tell because they'll open/smell bad, but that is only the worst case scenario.

--*definitely* protect your hands with gloves, towels, whatever.

--even with the best 'shuckers' (and yes, that is a word: people who open oysters ), you get a tiny amount of shell, sand, etc.

--not bragging, but i could probably open an oyster with a dime if i had to. as people have said earlier on this thread, there is a place around both sides of the 'hinge' where, once you've found it, the oyster's yours.

enjoy!

[meringues]

he wants it to be crispy on the outside and sort of chewy on the inside. so, i made a pavlova type of meringue. he then said, no, that's not right it shouldn't be marshmallow-y in the middle. so i made more and baked them longer. he said, still not right, they should be almost hollow in the middle.

hi alanamoana:

i asked a similar question at the eGullet Culinary Institute, and the (i think correct) answer was lower heat, longer time. i have not tested it yet.

the link for the meringue course @ eGCI is here. it's part B; part A is omelettes.

but it sounds like you know what you're doing, and meringue is capricious, reacting to temperature, humidity, surfaces, oils, etc. or perhaps it's your Chef that's capricious.

that said, i'm no expert, and i have yet to make a meringue that i am 100% satisfied with. but good luck anyway, and let us know if you find the key.

[Storing Miso]

My miso keeps forever in the refrigerator-it's very high in salt, which acts as a preservative. Just keep it airtight, and it'll outlive you.

what Katherine said.

seriously, to keep it airtight, i use one of those little "bulldog" clamp things used to hold office papers together. you squeeze the air out of the bag and put the clamp on. alternately, i suppose you could move it into a glass jar and cover it with a thin layer of flavourless oil--canola?

in my limited experience, the best "everyday" miso (for soup, for marinating, for making dressings), is red miso. i have bought white miso, and it seems it would be good for more 'refined' preparations, like maybe fish, or a more delicate soup (?)

that is the limit of my miso expertise. good luck!

[Montreal Area Ethnic Markets?]

Good thread!

this _is_ a good thread. and thanks carswell for your informative post.

chickenlady: even if you just walk st-laurent from sherbrooke to mont royal, you will encounter about 5 Eastern-European charcuterie places, Nino (spice and kitchen supplies), a Spanish food store just above Roy (Librairie Espagnole?), La Vielle Europe (cheese, pate, coffee, chocolate, etc.), Schwarz's and The Main (smoked meat), CoCo Rico (bbq portuguese chicken and egg flans), frenco Vrac (bulk spices, health food).

in other words, don't fret. Montreal's got you covered for ethnic grocers/foods.

[Montreal Area Ethnic Markets?]

Although I live in NY, Montreal (about a 45 minute drive) is my closest real shopping opportunity. I'm looking for the good ethnic markets in the area.

I've found Chinatown, but that's about it so far. I've heard rumors of culinary delights galore, including an Italian market that also sells guns.

hi chickenlady--

--Chinatown, as you say, is wonderful (st-laurent below rene levesque, de la gauchetiere)

--in La Cite (Parc and Milton) there's an amazing Korean/Japanese store

--at Sherbrooke and Victoria (westmount), another amazing Korean/Japanese store

--and at Decarie and Sherbrooke (across from the KFC and down), yet *another* amazing Korean/Japanese store

--around the Plamondon metro (kind of cote-des-neiges) there's a lot of Caribbean/West Indian stores

--at the Cote Vertu metro, there's a wonderful Vietnamese/pan-Asian store called Epicerie Pacifique

--the Italian store you mention is probably Dante, near the Jean-Talon market (search archives)

--amazing dried goods, spices, chocolates (bulk Callebaut), etc., at Anatol, again st-laurent near Jean Talon market

--if you have the courage to go to Cavendish Mall , there's a few stores in there that have great Kosher food

hope this helps!

gus

[Foods To Eat When You Have a Cold]

I use Tiger balm - both as a chest rub, but also smeared on a cloth or kleenex...

Did I mention taking chicken broth with garlic and cayenne?

Amen to Tiger Balm--i cracked ribs when falling on the ice this winter, and Tiger Balm applied to the area made it somehow bearable.

also, i *love* spicy food, but is there any science to the belief that it "burns off germs"?

[Artichokes]

There's a restaurant in Pescadero, CA, that serves cream of artichoke soup that I really love. Don't have a recipe, but would love to get me hands on one.

is the restaurant called "Duarte's"? if so, this recipe purports to be "similar" to their cream of artichoke soup:

quick search--cream of artichoke soup recipe

sounds good!

[Artichokes]

almost always, i just trim artichokes, steam until a bottom leaf is slightly loose, and serve with butter and lemon wedges.

but i've also had tempura'd (battered) articoke hearts, and i love the bottled, Italian marinated ones in salad, or solo.

i have never tried one of the preparations where the leaves are stuffed--while the artichoke is still whole--with breadcrumbs/forcemeat, etc.

how do you like them? any ideas?

thanks in advance,

gus

[Non-treyf foods Jews just didn't eat]

Stuff that is or isn't kosher is not arbitrary, that's true. What is completely arbitrary is the stuff that IS kosher that many Jews won't touch anyway because it's somehow, well, "spoiled" is the good rabbi's word.

thanks Cakewalk--that was my original question.

and thanks everyone else for detailed info. illuminating.

[Lobster recipes]

if you're feeling ambitious, you can make Cantonese lobster.

*delicious* yet somewhat complicated, re: ingredients, preparation.

quick web search found this recipe for Cantonese lobster...

[Can you make fruit cookies?]

herbacidal:

have you ever had sultana crackers? they're like Fig Newtons kind of, but a *lot* less sweet and mushy.

they rock. the outside is like a mildly-sweet soda cracker, but richer. and inside, they're chopped raisins?

unless you don't consider raisins "fruits".

[Japanese foods--menrui]

You can sort of make your own {mentsuyu} (for use as an all-purpose shortcut seasoning) by...

Filling a largeish kitchen shoyu pourer with equal amounts of mirin and shoyu, until about two-thirds full.

Putting in 2-3 chunks of konbu and 1-2 dried shiitake, maybe a chunk of green ginger. You can also put in katsuobushi etc but that really makes it hard to pour, so if you want to do that, you might want to leave it for a few days and then strain the katsuobushi out. I prefer to add the katsuobushi to the recipe separately if needed, and think the basic mixture keeps better without it anyway.

thanks torakris and helenjp--that was exactly the info i was looking for (with recipes!).

[Non-treyf foods Jews just didn't eat]

http://www.egullet.com/?pg=ARTICLE-ribeye011604

Rabbi Ribeye's discourse on this is an interesting start.

that *is* an interesting start. thanks.

so would i be right in saying that the interpretation of what is "not treyf yet not eaten" is a little arbitrary?

thanks for other historical info in this post too.

and i am profoundly sorry they didn't eat Rabbi Ribeye's rib roast rare...

[Knock your socks off]

I don't understand the advocacy of mixing horseradish with mayonnaise, partly because the idea is so un-Jewish and I associate horseradish with Passover.

here's the part i'm not 'getting':

mayonnaise isn't dairy, right? so why is it so "un-Jewish"?

simply asking 'cause i don't know.

It's just like white bread is un-Jewish. There's nothing treyf (forbidden for being not kosher) about white bread; we just don't eat it. I actually can enjoy mayonnaise made from scratch, but I've never had maror (bitter herbs, usually meaning horseradish) with it.

hey Pan--

i don't like white bread either--but my reason is that you can smush the entire loaf into the space that a Skittle takes.

if we are ever out having a meal, you must explain the fine points of what's treyf and what isn't. and why. because i'm still not getting it. is it because it 'looks' like dairy?

[Q&A - All About Eggs - Cooking with the Pros]

thanks, Ellen Shapiro--

beautiful images. and Tavern on the Green does huge volume.

going to the grocery store now, as i need an excuse to eat hollandaise sauce.

[Knock your socks off]

I don't understand the advocacy of mixing horseradish with mayonnaise, partly because the idea is so un-Jewish and I associate horseradish with Passover.

here's the part i'm not 'getting':

mayonnaise isn't dairy, right? so why is it so "un-Jewish"?

simply asking 'cause i don't know.

[Smelt!]

as someone who hails (hales?) from Nova Scotia, i'm going to ignore the negative stuff here said about smelts. as with mackerel, you either like it or you don't.

done in a coating of cornflour, cornmeal, black and red pepper they can be excellent. i would compare the best prepared smelts to the best prepared salt-and-pepper calamari.

[Knock your socks off]

DRColby:

i had the same experience this summer at my Mom's farm. i decided to dig up some horseradish. i'll spare you the tedious details of how hard it is to dig and clean and prepare, but the oils are volatile and can irritate skin, eyes, etc.

bottom line: the stuff you already have--let it sit out as mrbigjas says, or add mayo or yogurt, sour cream.

my one experience with 'cultivating' horseradish was enough to convince me there's a reason it's sold in bottles for 2$. now i buy the bottles.

[Japanese foods--menrui]

i was having trouble finding mentsuyu (noodle soup base), and i'm thinking of improvising.

can i mix a litre of good soy sauce with a sachet of instant dashi? would i be even close?

thanks!

[Q&A: All About Eggs --Omelettes & More]

thanks FG for the amazing course!

this is the tutorial where meringue is mentioned at the end, right?

question:

if you make meringues, and they always come out chewy-crunchy, instead of crunchy enough to make, for example a pavlova, what might be the culprit? and they also frequently have droplets of caramelized sugar on them.

i'm guessing underbeating of whites, or not enough time in oven, but await your advice.

[A trip into bizzaro world]

...and to keep this food related, Apu 'chiliing his loins' in the Quickee Mart ice cream freezer when trying to impregnate Manjula.

this thread = hilarious.

a) i have never been to said restaurant, but the "Alice in Wonderland quality" reminds me of a bar across the street from me. i went in for a beer one friday eve, and there were 6-8 Hasidic (sp?) rabbis standing around watching a big-screen tv football game on the sabbath!

b) i have also never eaten at an IKEA, but i have multiple friends who insist that the meatballs with lingonberry sauce are the best. and who make it a "destination restaurant" for those meatballs.

c) The Simpsons is hands down the best show on tv, IMHO. every time Matt Groening renews the contract, i silently thank heaven.

...and to keep this food-related, remember the "sacrilicious" pancake (is it a pancake?) in the fridge, that (doh!) Homer eats?

[Howdy folks!]

Looking forward to talking with you all.

Rusty, in El Paso, now simply known as Rust.

hi Rust! is it true you never sleep? (reference to Neil Young album... )

if you'd like, you can ask a board admin to move this post to Member Bios.

welcome to eGullet!

gus

[Each City's signature dish?]

Edit: OMG, this is the coolest thing. You can chat live with a librarian. Susie the Librarian said that she knows the Western History Department has received this question before, but they're closed today. They'll email the answer within two business days....