docsconz

Do you know what breeds of pigs he raises? A number of rare heritage breeds are being raised and providing a little more variety to the agribusiness breed.

I had some Old Chatham Plain Sheepsmilk yoghurt over a baked potato the other night in place of butter or sour cream. It was an outstanding match.

Conservation is certainly a major aspect of the Slow Food Movement, however, the movement is not opposed to creativity in the least. While conserving traditional foods and methods is vital, even more so is the conservation of variety and quality. As such, creativity is welcomed and applauded. The problems with "modern" food production according to Slow Food is just that many "modern" techniques, such as genetic modification and ubiquitous fast food erode or annhilate those values of variety and quality.

If they are reasonably fresh they should keep well if stored in the refrigerator with moist paper towels on top. Keep them in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Do wash the shells before shucking. I recommend using an oyster knife and making sure you protect your hands during the shucking. I recently purchased a special glove, however,, I will use a dishtowel in which to hold the oyster and protect my hand.

Brains from a BSE infected cow.

Marco, it seems that your cuisine and cooking is the epitome of that espoused by the Slow Food Movement. Do you agree and what do you see as the future of that movement in the United States and the world?

Are most of your sources local or do you have product shipped from far away?

Chef Canora, Thank you for taking the time to do this Q&A. I am especially intrigued by your experience at Cibreo in Firenze. I have had the distinct pleasure of having dined there. What specific influences did you bring back from there? How does your experience there manifest itself in your cooking and approach to food?

It's a little more that you indicated you would like to spend, but db Bistro Moderne has a $39 prix-fixe pre-theater dinner that is actually a very good value. Another restaurant to consider might be Madeleine, good quality, reasonably priced French bistro fare.

Lutece and Gage and Tollner within a week. Wow.

Palermo - Pasta con Sarde - Pasta with sardines, raisins, pine nuts and wild fennel. Capri - Caprese salad - fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato with EVOO, S&P. Bologna - Bolognese sauce - pasta with chopped meat sauce Tortellini in Brodo- tortellini with chicken broth, parmiggiano and balsamico Milan - Risotto Milanese - saffron risotto Valencia - Paella Barcelona - Pan amb tomat - grilleed bread with rubbed garlic, tomato and EVOO. London - fish and chips Carcassone - Cassoulet Marseilles - Bouillabaisse Naples - sfogliatella - flaky pastry

A whole new thread can be started to discuss this behavior. At the very least I would hope she uses a clean fork.

Italian Food Artisans by Pamela Sheldon Johns is a fine book with good writing on specific producers of quality Italian food items. Her other books are good too and a bit more in depth. I particularly like Balsamico

I've had a couple of absolutely fantastic meals at UP and one so-so meal. Rocco happened to be in the kitchen for the fantastic meals but not for the so-so one. Could he have`spread himself too thin? It certainly has the capability to be one helluva restaurant.

The Farmer's Museum is worth a visit as well.

Any state that is home to a company like Zingerman's can't be that much of a culinary wasteland. Torres was probably a fine choice. I ordered chocolates from LA Burdick in N.H. for my wife. Vosges in Chicago is another good choice.

Cooperstown is a great town to visit. The food has been good, but not particularly memorable to me. If you enjoy a good beer, I would suggest a visit toBrewery Ommegang, a wonderful maker of Belgian style beers. They have restaurant suggestions on their website. The people of Ommegang are also leaders of Slow Food in the area, so they should be pretty knowledgable.

Nicely done, Andy. Thanks.

I say go for the tasting menu and enjoy. I agree with Tommy, let Suvir, Hemant and Bikky guide you.

Anothern interesting point about Rosalie - the perception of the spaced is very dependent upon where one is seated. I found the space much more attractive when sitting next to the wall than near the bar. I don't know why, but it was significant to me.

Rosalie is a restaurant with great food at a fair price - in my mind a "world-class" restaurant in terms of price quality. I've dined at many of the top restaurants in NY, Chicago, S.F., N.O, Dallas, Boston, Toronto, Spain, France and Italy and there are few restaurants that I find better values regarding price vs. quality of the ingredients and cooking (at least on this continent). It reminds me very much of a top quality Frenchbistro, but at a fraction of the cost of a bistro in Paris. Is it the most amazingly crafted and "beautiful" food I've ever had? Not by a longshot, but it is amongst the most flavorful.

The only Monsanto that I like is the Italian winery. http://www.clicquotinc.com/monsanto/. Hmmm, I didn't know they were bought by Cliquot. This is the Stealth fighter of issues. It is amazing how it manages to fly so well under the radar.

I don't think I can learn to hold a wine glass like that

Outstanding post, Lucy. You captured the very essence of epoisses!. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts.

We had our Tapas party last night. I must concur with all of you who praised Casas' book. The recipes were excellent. We had aspirations of doing more than we succeeded in putting on the table, but it was just as well since we had too much food as it was. Spanish canned goods proved to be up to the hype. I loved the ventresca , piquillo peppers, asparagus from Navarra and olives, was less enthusiastic about the mussels en escabeche and didn't even get to open angullas, pulpo or calamari as time ran out on us. My wife and I made a number of dishes from Casas. As I said the recipes were great and the dishes all came out really well with one exception, which I'll get to later. In addition to a good recipe, I'm a firm believer that good quality ingredients are essential. We purchased many of the Spanish products from Tienda.com with good results, but the fresh seafood we purchased from Browne Trading Co. in Maine was outstanding. Dishes: Uncooked: Wellfleet oysters on the half-shell with Meyer lemon wedges - extremely fresh oysters served on a bed of rockweed. They were delicious, but stronger flavored than the winterpoints I have previously purchased from them. I prefer the Winterpoints. Esparragos "Cojonudos" El Navarrico 6/8 muy grueso esparragos blancos de Navarra served cold with alioli. These were excellent with a very soft texture and delicate flavors. Ortiz El Velero Ventresca Tuna in olive oil . This is different. Very silky and rich. This is not your grandmother's canned tuna (unless she grew up inSpain). I had the little bit left-over for breakfast this morning. Yum. Spanish almonds. Great with sherry or on their own. Canned mussels in escabeche. Not my favorite. The testure was fine, although I wasn't crazy about the sauce which was sort of a sweet and sour. I'm generally not keen on this type of sauce anyway. This was my least favorite item of the night and the only one I don't particularly care if I have again. Canned green Spanish olives that we bought in Barcelona. For some reason we can't get them like this here. Manchego and membrillo. This is a sublime combination that mixes salty and sweet to perfection. The combination was bought from Tienda.com Cooked (most recipes taken or derived from Casas): Pan con Tomate: We used Rockhill Pane Paesano that is perfect for this catalan staple. We were able to get adequate tomatoes for this, so that not quite of August quality, it was still pretty good for February. Tortilla Espanola. My wife used Casas' recipe. It came out perfectly and was about as good as I've ever had. This is saying something, because this is comfort food for me. Perhaps because of Spanish influence (or the revers?) "Potatos and Eggs" is a dish common to Southern Italian/American cooking. My mother used to make it frequently, especially for picnics. Chickpeas and Spinach. A very tasty vegetarian dish Crab-stuffed Piquillo Peppers. This was one of my two favorite dishes of the evening. This was a stunner, a dish both beautiful to look at as well as delicious to eat. The colors were amazing. The peppers were stuffed with fresh Peeky Toe crabmeat from Browne. I wish I had time to take a picture of it to post it. Oh well. Shrimp al Ajillo. Delicious and simple to prepare. Stuffed Pork Loin. Good, but the most disappointing dish, primarily because it was overcooked. Beef Tenderloin Tips in Garlic Sauce. The best of the meat dishes. Lobster and Endive Salad. My other favorite dish mostly because the lobster was sooooo good. I bought the lobster from Browne and I can say that I have never tasted better, sweeter lobster. As good, maybe. The lobster was so good, that I picked the carcass clean while I was preparing the dish. I'm generally not a huge fan of roe and tomalley, but this was a revelation. While I am attributing the outstanding flavor and texture to the lobsters and their freshness, I suppose the cooking method might have been a factor as well. They were boiled/steamed in a seasoned fish broth that also had plenty of rockweed in it. Whatever the case, this simply served dish (lobster meat on endive leaves with a simple lemon-EVOO dressing) was outstanding. Chorizo in Puff Pastry. Very popular. Spicy Lamb Brochettes. Tasty. We used shoulder meat rather than leg. While good, leg might have been better. Anchovy Tart. Recipe from Sheila Lukens Around The World Cookbook that we have prepared successfully in the past. It did not disappoint. Wines: Lustau Jarana Light Fino Sherry. Solera Reserva Light colored, bone-dry and flinty. Lustau Almacenista Light Fino del Puerto. Solera matured by Juan Luis Gonzalez Obregon. A bit darker, but still bone-dry. Both were excellent matches for the foods served. Dessert: Meyer Lemon and Poppy Seed Ice cream/ Morroccan-Spiced Blood Orange sorbet and dark-chocolate dipped strawberries. these were all home-made. I got to use the ice-cream maker we got for Christmas. The citrus came from Riding C Ranch in California. It was a fun night, although the clean-up lasted for quite a while.