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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.

Great site, Hickory, and the translations are precious. "Recettes de grands chefs" becomes "Receipts of Large Heads". Nevertheless, the site is very informative. It concurs with Lucy's description of how to cut a bleu cheese.

Lucy, Welcome to eGullet! Nice posts. As much as I love a good upstate NY Cheddar, the best I've ever had is a ten year old aged cheddar from Ontario, Canada that I buy from Chaput in Montreal. One of the benefits of living in eastern upstate NY is being relatively close to Montreal.

Anchor O'Reilly's Chip of the Month Club. Click for the link.

The most thinking out of the box "unique" restaurant I know of in Montreal is Les Chevres. I've never been to another restaurant like it anywhere.

It is often very difficult (and expensive) for a small farm doing everything in an organic fashion to get an official "Organic" designation. this is one major problem with the term. All else being equal, I prefer supporting local quality over distant quality, but overall I like to support quality over non-quality no matter where it is from. I like the slogan.

How many Thomas kellers are there? Montreal has nothing to be ashamed of. It is one of the best food cities I know in North America. as for star power, it will even have its own Ducasse. Nevertheless, with restaurants like Toque, les Chevre, Rosalie et al. Ducasse is not even necessary for it to be a fixturen on the North American food map.

Cape Cod Dark Russet's and Terra's Blue and White kettle chips are my favorites. David Rosengarten recently did a chip tasting. He particularly liked a particular chip of the month club, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

A truly fresh simply grilled sardine is one of my favorite foods. How did you come by them?

Eye fight Great imagery!

Many of these farmers also sell their produce at the Greenmarkets now. Flying Pigs Farm, I believe, sells at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, while 3-Corner Field Farm sells their lamb (awesome!) at Union Square.

I am sorry that I was not clear. What I mean is that if Slowfood becomes much more successful inachieving its goals which are antithetical to those of big agribusiness, big agribusiness will start pumping in a lot of money to fight Slowfood and all it represents. I do not think that will be a good thing. Big agribusiness is big business and it has a lot of money and political clout behind it. This does not mean that I think Slowfood shouldn't continue to do what it is doing. I am an ardent supporter of the organization and the movement and truly hope that it continues to make a bigger and bigger impact because I do believe that it is important for the future quality of life on this planet.

Methinks that there would be much more money to fight it if it became more of a mainstream voice.

I would imagine that you have already been in contact with Winona LeDuke, one of this years finalists for the Slow Food award? She is in Minnesota and affiliated with The White Earth Land Reclamation Project. She is a very interesting and well-spoken individual.

I will add that I think it is a different story if one is photographing professionally or even for eGullet. I have asked when my intention was to publish here, even though it is an amateur effort. If I am photographing food for my own personal purposes, I do not believe receiving permission from the restaurant is an issue. I do, however, think it courtesy if the photos are intended for publication of any sort, especially if the subject is in any way identified or identifiable.

Any idea where they are from?

I especially love the quote from our own vserna

William Roach of Putnam Wine Market in Saratoga Springs is so good I can't go in there anymore! I would always come out of there several hundred dollars poorer (but much richer in wine). His recommendations are generlly spot on with good values and hard to find collectibles. I don't have the willpower to resist.

Any eGulleteers amongst that bunch?

Especially in a way that is level headed, balanced and not sensational. Thanks.

They are not mutually exclusive. Having an interest in the food beyond simply putting it in one's mouth is part of what makes dining fun. The ability to share the experience better with like-minded individuals also helps enhance the experience, which is one reason many of us enjoy eGullet.

Woodburner, thanks for the link. Anyone who has a chance should try the pork from Flying Pigs Farm. It is pork with character, very much unlike typical supermarket pork. It is the equivalent of heritage breed turkey to butterball. To think, Jenn Small and Mike Yezzi, the proprietors of Flying Pigs Farm do this in their spare time given that both have full-time jobs outside the farm.

I think that one way to look at this is as a major compliment to Montreal. It is a confirmation that Montreal and Quebec are major players in the international food scene. I don't think Ducasse would have chosen there otherwise. Lord knows, it is one of my favorite culinary cities. Any Ducasse restaurant makes it that much more likely that a city will be considered as a destination for foodie travel. Given that most travelers go to a city for more than one meal in a visit, the likelihood is that other high-end restaurants will benefit as well if someone has chosen Montreal to travel to because there is a Ducasse restaurant there. Does it mean that it will be better than Montreal's best? Not necessarily, it just raises the bar.

Fortunately, I can imagine it because I've had them too. They are indeed wonderful. Do you have any thoughts as to how the Slow Food Movement can gain more momentum in this country?

I think the aim in the US is to try to protect everyone from every possible consequence. While laudable, I do not believe that is possible. In medicine I believe in the informed consent. I am not God and so cannot predict the future with one hundred percent accuracy. I can, however, assess probabilities and the potential risk vs. the potential benefit. I then convey that to my patient as best I can and ultimately the patient has a decision to make based upon that information. I believe this should also apply to products like raw milk cheeses. Sure, there is risk, but there is also potentially significant benefit. I would feel very comfortable if these products were made available with warning labels if necessary so that people can choose for themselves what risks they are or are not willing to accept.