Mistinguett

Maggie, is $5.31 the delivery fee? In Queens $5.31 would buy me either 3 lbs. potatoes, 5 lbs sugar and 3 ears of corn, or 26 limes (sometimes fewer). Or 2 lbs tomatoes (on the vine) and 4 cucumbers (that's about 2 salads worth). I usually spend that much on fruit every 2 days, however today I was surprised to buy a pretty big seedless watermelon for $3 and change at .19/lb where the seeded one was advertised on sale (?) for .39/lb.

Must try the seafood soup - the one without the noodles. I could have that every day. I didn't have a disappointing dish there so I'd say go with with whatever you're craving at the moment.

You can watch the CBS spot here - click on the video link on the right of the page, next to the article. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/11/...ain558139.shtml

For a very long time i tried to like cheese. I haven't had any cheese for years until I went to Paris for the very first time. Now I can enjoy soft cheeses mostly, but still no stinky cheese. One thing that my friends think it's weird that I don't like is pasta. Italian food or pastries in general I don't like (with a couple of exceptions - manicotti and tortellini). I'll eat rice noodles though. You don't want to hear me talk about pasta sauces. Pizza a couple of times a year only if a craving strikes and it has to be thin, crusty, with fresh tomatoes. Dislike hamburgers. A lot. Had maybe 3 in the last 10 years. Mayo only when is an important ingredient in a dish. I don't get the artichoke craze. I do like any and all: fruit, meat (including offal and I love tripe, legs and feet) but I draw the line at insects and worms. I dislike licorice/fennel, not crazy for thyme (I'd rather use oregano instead). Edited to add (how could I forget??) bread. Same as with cheese, Paris was the first time I liked it - ever, in my life. I avoid bread unless is crusty, fresh and tasty in that artisanal way.

Cabbage rolls, especially if made with sour (preserved) cabbage.

This is what I do: Soften a regular onion cut in quarters and then in thin strips. Add equal parts of garlic greens and scallion, cut in 2 inch pieces. Saute until they soften. Salt and pepper, add dill and parsley (lots). Goes great with lamb and chicken.

I've heard that you should rinse the pan with *cold* water first. Monica, I've heard about the cold water, too. I actually called a friend that boils a lot of milk, and this is what she said. However, she never boiled the milk longer than 5 minutes after the boiling point.

The dogs are gone for the most part. There have been some good things happening in the last 2-3 years, mostly in Bucharest.

Only if you mix it with some bargain places to stay (if you remember ) OTP is on my to-do list.

It's an old subject, but I figured my 2 cents might be useful somehow, who knows? I lived in Romania quite a few years, and last year I spent almost 5 months in Bucharest, and I found myself going back over and over again at the same restaurant, called "La mama" ("Mother's")- the only one serving more than the usual grilled fare. Extraordinary white bean soup with smoked ribs; "bulz" - layers of polenta with ham and feta cheese, topped with an egg sunnyside up; pretty good steak (ok, it's grilled meat ); huge sundaes and my fave, fresh raspberries topped with whipped cream. As far as I remember, nothing on the menu more expensive than $2. Other than that, grilled meats everywhere, as it was said before. Many bad restaurants. A few good ones - if you like meat, indeed. The basic restaurant fare (and that includes the romanian restaurants in NY) is a couple of soups - sweet or sour (which is an aquired taste, but I find it delicious once aquired) including a tripe soup that can be a treat if made well (the best of it it's in NY, btw), mezzes like a diced vegetable salad held together by a bit of mayo and mustard), bean or eggplant puree , and for main course grilled meats with green lettuce and tomatoes, a stew ("tochitura") made with thin sausages and diced meat that comes with polenta, and sometimes, cabbage rolls (really good). Oh, and I shouldn't forget the amazing "mici" - small sausage-like but without the casing (like a turkish kofta but much more savory), that's best dipped in a bit of mustard. There's a cute story behind the creation of the "mici", and it does not include turks. For sweets, crepes, ice-cream and the forementioned donught-like "papanasi". I could write a short list of favourite places in Bucharest if anyone is interested - not only romanian fare, but belgian, german and japanese also. Must try while in Bucharest: the pretzels they sell warm at a miriad of kiosks in the city, and the romanian doghnut (not the "papanasi", this is a round fluffy thing, deep fried and dipped in sugar, kinda like beignets but bigger) The home cooking: Romania has a pretty long history (it goes way back b.c.) - and the cuisine over the first few centuries was basically roasted meats (oh, the lamb cooked on coal underground! it's called "haiducesc", very seldom found in the mountain region nowadays) and whatever vegetables. Besides, the romanian cuisine was influenced by all it's invaders (romans and turks being the most notable) and each region has specific foods that were adapted (or adopted? ) from their neighbors. There's also a french influence (shown mostly in stews) dating from the times when Bucharest was called "Little Paris" (between the WWars) - that's when french culture made it's mark on Romania. And then there's the Ceausescu days, when meat (and eggs, and everything else but produce) was a black market item. I'll try to make a short list of foods that romanians cook in their homes on a daily basis, and that they would never-ever serve their guests, because they find these foods to be too "common". And it's a shame they think this way.(So, magnolia, if you read this, yes - they were putting on the Ritz for you) Fried fish, served with polenta and garlic sauce (there's also a salt-grilled fish with garlic and hot pepper sauce that is notable) Vegetable stews - with or without meat, one or multiple vegetables, and I'll mention here a pea stew that I love (I have the recipe), but there are so many: leeks with olives, green beans, cabbage (sweet or sour), potato stew (poor man's food)..........Many of them have the same base: softened onions, a bit of flour, tomato sauce (or fresh tomatoes), herbs. mushrooms in a flour-based sauce (also a chicken in this kind of sauce), goes well with polenta eggplant, kind of greek style dried white beans stew with sausage or smoked hocks/ham (this is considered the poor man's food also, and it's sooooo good) pilafs, several kind - chicken pilaf, tomatoes and bell-pepper, mushroom (risotto-like) For desserts, there's a number of pies, many of them regional, a flat fried dough that is much like a cross between naan bread and doghnut (sprinkled with confectioner's sugar) and much more. I'll stop here, I don't even know if it's of any interest. However, I'm open to questions. Forgot to mention: you'd be surprised to see a romanian cookbook: 500+pages

Highly recommend Polidor, 41 rue Monsieur le Prince, in the 6th, as a tucked away treasure. One of the oldest bistros in Paris, authentic atmosphere from the white lace curtains to the checkered tablecloths, inexpensive and very good food. And surprisingly, not mentioned a lot. (Memorable beef bourguignon and roast chicken)