docsconz

FWIW I loved Sant Pau and thinks Ruscalleda definitely deserved her third star. I say go for it. Another place that you might consider for january given that game should still be in season is Aligue in Manresa. Llorenz Petras, the mushroom man in La Boqueria told me that he and a number of chefs love to go up there during game season as that is something that Bembi Aligue apparently does particularly well. I dined there during late August. While game was not in season, I had a marvelous meal nevertheless.

I'm not a member of IACP. James Beard and the Association of Food Journalists, but not IACP. ← BTW, one does not need to be a member of the IACP to go on either Marilyn's or Rick's trips - at least not Marilyn's Culinary Adventure tours or Marilyn and Rick's trip with the CIA World of Flavors Program. I am not sure about other trips that Rick may lead.

Liz Yes, try to get to Azul y Oro. This is Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's resto and even though it's on the UNAM campus and does only comida, it is incredibly good. Ricardo is a certified master chef trained in the U.S. and Europe. He's written several excellent cookbooks and the Enciclopdia Culinario which is a seminal work on Mexican cuisine. I had Mexican hot chocolate there one morning and it is without a doubt the single best cup of hot chocolate I have ever had in any country.........and it was made with water. I notice by your sig line that you are a food writer, are you by any chance a member of IACP? If so, Ricardo works with Marilyn Tausend on her tours and with Rick Bayless as well. ← In addition, Ricardo is a very warm and friendly fellow. When i return to Mexico City his restaurant will be a must for me.

El Bulli 2003-2004. This continues the documentation of what may be the greatest chef and greatest restaurant in the world. While I may not be personally making much or any of what is in the book, it has continued to inspire my culinary passion.

we went last night and i am happy to say that we considered everything you had but, having to make a choice, went in a complete opposite direction and also had a no-miss meal started with the crispy poached egg with caviar and brioche. deelish--with a tangy horseradish sauce and fresh dill. competes with 'inotecas truffle egg toast for most savory egg dish ever. my wife had a snapper sashimi with a nice bright citrus touch. quite frankly, i barely tasted it...i was still swooning from the egg toast. for entree i had the snapper with caramelized radishes, tarragon, and grapefruit. absolutely amazing--creamy fish, tart citrus, a little spice from the radishes--very complex and delicious. touched all parts of the tongue. my wife had the chicken, which was a sort of reconstructed whole chicken. on top was a thin crispy skin fried between two skillets. underneath was a very clean, juicy poached breast. on the bottom were small well-spiced (cumin? pepper?) grilled pieces. served with roasted baby brussel sprouts. quite nice. dessert was a slightly nice quaint pear tart with root beer ice cream. absolutely loved the marshmellows too! it was my birthday so it was very special...but still, might win as my best meal of the year ← It sounds like a very differrent menu than when I was there in September. While the menu I had was great it is nice to see that they are not resting on their laurels.

Thanks for your excellent report. i'm surprised the Balbo was the wine that impressed least. I take that as a good report on the wine program.

My problem commenting on the Mexico threads including this is that my experience is limited. I can not say that one place is better than another because I have been to too few places. Nevertheless I do feel that the experience I have had was good and can discuss the places that I have been to. In that context Pujols and El Bajio (the original) were both well worth dining at. As for breakfast I love the Yucatecan scrambled eggs with black beans. I will prepare them every once in a while when I have a pot of black beans available here.

Silly me, I should have thought of that.

...as for Mexican near Saratoga, you should have asked first

Great job, Daniel. I haven't been back to Montreal since Joe Beef opened, but I loved what David McMillen was doing at Rosalie. Joe Beef is a must next time I'm back there. it has been too long. APdC is great too. Montreal is such a wonderful food town. Jean Talon may be the best market in NA for meat and dairy though it is not as good with seafood as some west coast markets and can't touch top California, N.Y. or Mexican markets for veggies.

If you come back in January, come up to Snowbird and I'll feed you!! I ship a lot of food out there (meat from Ottomanelli's, fish from a guy up in Port Washington, Wa.) I think its Wegmans, they have an online service and will deliver groceries to your condo. The restaurants up at Snowbird are not so fantastic, mostly we eat in. ← Judith, that is a truly tempting offer, but alas, I will not be able to take you up on it this time! I do like the idea of Wegman's though. I will look into that. Thanks. ← I looked up Wegman's online and they do not appear to have a store in Utah. Might it have been some other store?

I agree with Alexandra, $75 for a truffle menu is way too low for it to be meaningful in a degustation. The price of truffles is insane. For one dish recently at the French laundry in California there was a $60 supplement because it had truffles! The cost of the meal was already $210 if one had the other choice. For $75 I'm surprised that they didn't just use truffle oil! Of course none of this excuses the service gaffs.

Nice report, Alexandra. It was interesting to see that he is now using "earth" in slightly different ways than he originally used it. Was your photo of Roca and Adria from Madrid Fusion? I am planning a trip there in the spring and very much looking forward to trying it for myself. It is my understanding that the restaurant may have a new home by then.

Sounds like an outstanding deal. The food is very creative and tasty, just a little more zen-like than J-G. That is to say it is a bit more austere and simple in its presentation, yet very delicious and satisfying.

That looks like a satisfying and delicious meal! What happened to the sausages, though?

See this interesting article about balsamico. Maybe the real story is that the 100-year-old balsamico is 50-year-old balsamico with a few drops of 100-year-old balsamico. ← I do not doubt that there are not large quantities of 100yo balsamico. In fact, I agree that therer can not be large volumes of legitimate product, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist at all or is totally unavailable as has been implied on this thread. It also would not surprise me if there were some out there misrepresenting product. That too does not mean that legitimate product does not exist.

Thanks for the explanations, Caarina. I learned something.

Caarina, this is getting better and better. I even learned a little more about relleno negro! The gardens look to be a particularly special delight. Your story about the waiter and the tamales is one of those little things that makes travel particularly worthwhile, fun and memorable.

I love markets! Caarina, can you please tell me more about recaudos? I am not familiar with what they are. I take it from your post that they are a mole like sauce, but beyond that I am completely ignorant. "Recaudo de relleno negro" does not make sense to me. Thanks. I am enjoying this.

Lovely beginning.Very much looking forward to it, as the Yucatan is an area of Mexico that I am particularly interested in visiting some day and I know that your knowledge of Mexican cuisine is deep..

Having gone thru customs/TSA/etc the other way last night, I overheard a conversation between agents where voices were raised about what was allowed/not allowed, and it was clear that the rules are (to be generous and no pun intended) fluid. That said, as a host I cannot encourage anything that borders on the illegal, but better than zip-locking 3 x's is shrink-wrapping, then zip-locking cheese (my Quatrehommes will do it free.) ← Since dogs have sensitive noses and the producer wrapping the package may be handling other items besides the legal ones being shrinkwrapped, an additional step that one might wish to do so as not to raise any red flags would be to wash it with soap and water to remove any traces of proteins that the producer might have left traces of on the package as he or she prepared it. edited to add that I somehow missed this in Froggio's post above.

First of all, I am sorry if I "dishearten" you. I am not sure what "facts" of mine you are calling "incorrect". Over fifteen years your name traveled from a larger barrel to a smaller one. That is how it should have been. In the course of those fifteen years though the liquid was mixed with older vinegar that was left in the barrel. The barrels are never fully emptied. Each year each barrel has some vinegar poured off either for bottling depending on where that barrel is in the cycle or into smaller, older barrels for continued admixture and aging. A good description of the process is given by Pamela Sheldon Johns in her excellent book Balsamico! How am I confused? It is you who I think is confused. 36yo balsamic vinegar would not have been in "large barrels" during the war or at any other time. In addition, why is it so hard to believe that some balsamico would have been protected by the people who invested so much time into making it? Did the industry start up completely anew after the war? Show me some solid evidence of that and you might have a point. Besides at that time balsamico was a mostly local or regional tradition with mostly local or regional importance. It was really only late in the twentieth century that balsamico developed much of an audience outside of E-R. It's value would not likely have been great to outsiders bent on destruction, though undoubtedly plenty of good stuff was wasted or ruined. As for my comments that "disheartened" you, I was conceding some to your skepticism, but the more I think about it the less I feel I need to concede in that regard. What my son and I tasted that day out of the tiny barrel in the barrel rooms of the Acetaia del Cristo was a truly magnificent and special syrup even more than their other vinegars, which were also delicious. I have no reason to doubt that it was what they said it was. So unless you have some real "facts" to add instead of anecdotes about your friends inability to differentiate wines tasted blindly, I consider this element of the discussion for me closed.

Michael, the menu looks awesome. Excellent blog. Will the trotters come out crispy?

The place I used to get my turkey is there, but it has already been a few years since they went out of business. Nice idea, but like so many things on the internet, difficult to keep current.

Looks to be a very ambitious itinerary! I expect you to be rolling onto the airplane Enjoy!