docsconz

I just spent the better part of a week in East Hampton without eating out once. The seafood and produce is so good that it is more fun just to eat in, especially if there is a great kitchen as there was at the place that we stayed. This is the perfect time of year to do that.

Fun blog, Kathleen. I am looking forward to a little catching up from May and getting more of a sense of Madrid, a city that I haven't been to in over thirty years! That Ecuadorean chocolate was from Cacao Sampaka, one of Barcelona's best chocolate makers. They were one of the first (and best) to make chocolates with exotic flavors, a trend that has become much more prominent everywhere chocolates are sold.

I'm fortunate that I live in farm country and can buy eggs and chicken for most of the year directly from farmers that raise their chickens in a way that I am comfortable with. Unfortunately, both products are somewhat seasonal. Whether or not it is for objective reasons, both eggs and chicken taste better to me. I grilled some fresh-killed, pastured chickens the other night. They were very flavorful and extremely moist. I will still buy supermarket eggs and poultry when I have to, but fortunately I don't have to too often. The supermarket eggs do have one quality advantage, though. One can purchase them based on their grade, something that can't be done with eggs fresh from the small farm. Of course, if one doesn't use that advantage to buy recently laid AA eggs, that advantage is worthless.

Thank you, Carolyn! I take it that there is no feud then if that definition applies.

The fact is pasteurization was a major public health breakthrough. To say anything otherwise would partake of major historical revisionism. Pasteurized milk, of course still needs to be treated properly after the fact. While I would drink raw milk and certainly eat raw milk cheeses , I would only do so with knowledge and trust of the source. A raw milk producer near where I live recently stopped selling it because their milk was found to be contaminated with listeria, a potentially very dangerous bug, especially for the very young and otherwise health compromised individuals. That being said, I am not at all against raw milk. One should be cautious with it though.

They certainly are covering their bases with their various trendy niche restaurants. I like the fact that they are opening with discounted tariffs at this one.

Although they are not likely to ever achieve the cache of their counterparts in Champagne, this is great news for makers of sparkling wines from elsewhere. I particularly like the cavas from Catalunya as an alternative of fine quality. Like many other top name wines, they have succeeded in pricing themselves out of my budget.

Que? I am not familiar with the term.

Cool. Unless I hear any resoundingly negative reports I will check it out on my next visit.

This 100% arbequina? Looks intriguing. And thanks, mrbigjas. ← Here is a link to a Dauro merchant with a photo. Their most widely available olive oil is not 100% arbequina. It also has hojiblanca and koroneiki olives in the mix. It is 100% Catalan from Girona though. I've been to their olive groves and production facilities. The roves are beautiful and the facilities top notch. It is made by the same family that makes Roda wines in the Rioja. I have bought it in the past at Fairway in NYC.

We love Dauro.

They may, but one of the reasons salt has managed a bit of a resurgence is that current medical data does not support it being a major issue other than for a small subset of people who have specific health issues with fluid retention or certain types of high blood pressure. Are you aware of any particular anti-salt movement?

Although it takes a quite a few of them, they are great for margaritas. They are also wonderful for any Mexican recipe calling for lime. They are the same or very similar to the limes one gets in Mexico.

I am much more likely to buy and use a product that is actually used by someone I respect than to buy a product with some celebrity's name endorsement on the actual product. Though certainly not a universal truth, it is rare that the name endorsed products are anywhere near as good as products made to sell strictly on their inherent merits.

I think the trend towards local and artisanal food production is picking up more and more steam. Farmers Markets have never been more popular or with a greater variety of produce. I am also (finally!) starting to see more artisanal milk producers along the lines of Ronnybrook in New York's Hudson valley. Within the past couple of weeks I have become aware of several producing in my area and am even seeing a greater availability of raw milk. While creative high end cooking is still a favorite of mine, I think the techniques are stepping into the background more than they have been, while still in use. They just aren't being flouted quite as much as they were a couple of years ago. This is true even in Spain, the center of modern new technique driven cooking. Even elBulli and Can Roca seem to be more ingredient driven then they have been in the recent past. That is not to say that new techniques are not still of paramount importance or that ingredients hadn't previously been important. There does seem to be a subtle shift though along with a renewal of interest in traditional Spanish regional cuisine. A number of the more Vanguardist chefs are doing more with traditional cooking either in their main restaurants or satellite additions. Fat and salt have made major comebacks with pork belly being a particularly popular ingredient nowadays in many restaurants. The premium salt industry seems to be thriving with a lot of competition and variety of products available.

It's disheartening (as a consumer) to see the price of lobster so high making it essentially unapproachable for most. I just returned from a few days in the Hamptons, where lobster prices were even higher (go figure!). We had to make do with local clams, oysters, squid and line caught striped bass along with a variety of local vegetables, eggs, chicken and breads. I sure do love visiting the shore!

Looks great, but clearly more likely to be a General Anesthetic than a local. Great blog, Johhny! I particularly enjoyed your fish(ok, lobster) tales.

I just posted a roundup with photos from my trip a couple of weeks back. You can find it by: CLICKING HERE ← Great timing. Very nice report!

Excellent report, thanks! Don Emiliano looks like a must and Rossy is certainly on my list. Were the grasshoppers in the guac or were they an addition for a special dish? How were they?

I will be heading to S.F. on business this fall and one place on my potential hit list is ˙Kokkari Estiatorio, however, a search of the California Forum resulted in very little information and none in over a year. Has anyone been recently and what are your thoughts?

Percy, what did you think of Kokkari? I am heading to S.F. for business this fall and that is on my list of places to try.

Time to bump this up again. Will be in Cabo for a late autumn family reunion. Any recent experiences? Has "C" improved? What's the best for Mexican regional and also high end cuisine? Anything really special currently? Any good places to buy food to cook?

Another vote for L'Atelier. Bouchon was ok, but ultimately disappointing. L'Atelier was worth the tariff.

It may be for the same reason that I think all things McD taste worse.

Katie, thanks for all your great work as a fellow host. I'm looking forward to continuing to read your posts and to see you and break bread with you again in the future.