SG-

EGAD!!! checked the previous threads about smoking and it's like reading a phd thesis!!!! looks like I've got to do some serious reading before my first smoke. Anyway the 3 main suggestions WSM, Chargriller and New Braunfels were all great, though I'm probably leaning towards the latter two, the flexibility of a grill + smoker seems appropriate at this point. wish webber makes a flat version of the WSM. Between chargriller and new braunfels which is sturdier ?

After almost a decade of pent up smoking and grilling desires I finally find myself in a position to purchase a decent BBQ smoker. Not looking for a gas grill but a proper BBQ smoker / charcoal grill mind you. From my research appears to be two extremes, el cheapo flimsy low gauge steel ones for about a $100 or decent ones for a $1000 +. Not much around the $200 - $400 range, which is about all I have to spend for the moment. Checked out the webers but the shallow cover appears to limit the type of meats you can use. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

not exactly, does not cover malaysia, singapore, phillipines and indonesia. really more representative of indochina. still very enjoyable though.

Thanks! Is grilling the only way to serve them also when are they usually served ? meals with rice? What is a good fish to try?

How do you prepare the dried / semi dried butterflied vacumm packed fishes I find in my local Japanese and Korean supermarkets? And I'm not talking about tiny anchovies or shishamo but large fishes about 6 - 12" long. Also what are they called in Japanese?

Are you going to eat them both yourself!!!!!!?!?!??!?! Look forward to the report, this post has really got me tempted to try a few cuts from them. There was a little snippet in a Rosengarten report promo I received last week in the mail about lobels having the best steaks in the country.

do these qualify as sushi / sashimi or do they fall in a different food category altogether? http://www.city.aomori.aomori.jp/koho/shis...anako/main.html By the way why are some akami maguro much darker red then some others? Among my favorites are aji, hamachi, o-toro, akagai. botan&ama-ebi, uni, hotate, sayori, katsuo, kobashira, anago, kohada, unagi, mirugai, tai. and throw in some kujira and basashi (never tried them but would love to!) what the heck it's all good!!!!

Quite the opposite actually, pre-roasting is intended to amplify the aroma, just like you would dry spices.

Checked out their website and they're marketed as World Cuisine here in the US, a line carried by Bloomingdales.

remember seeing some french one's at the local viking culinary center (Phila.) don't remember how much but recollect that they were relatively inexpensive and looked quite sturdy. I think they are made by bourgeat. http://pans.com/series.asp?SID=2653

What about grass fed vs corn/grain fed chickens and the results on their eggs? :

Quite dissapointed too myself, really frustrating seeing all that food but not being able to sample any, talk about torture. Had to settle for Jack's BBQ which wasn't that great... $18 for 1/2 a rack and a chicken sandwhich

Finally made it to a wegmans this past weekend, the one in Bridgewater NJ to be precise. Huge, but otherwise a little dissapointed. Cheese section was not much better than whole foods. $15.99 for what appeared to be non-aged prime steaks, paid the same amount for dry aged rib eye from in an uptown market in NYC! Fondled some summer truffles, is it me or are the ones sold in the US odorless? They stock Pierre Herme chocs!!! On a tight budget so just settled for a trio of normandy, french and truffle butter, baguette and some macaroons. Overall not too many usual items, how does the one in downington compare. Strolled over to the nearby Home Depot subsidiary Expo Design Center after wegmans (http://www.expo.com/prex85/EXUS/EN_US/pg_index.jsp) and all I can say is KITCHEN NIRVANA!!!! DCS, DACOR, viking, thermador, miele, ge monogram, fisher paykel, bosch you name it they got it super high end everything all in the same place and with prices!!! They cheapest fridge they carried was $1800! Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area

Here's a nyonya acar recipe (uses cabbage too!) http://www.kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=208 usually eaten as a side dish kinda like kimchi to Koreans. Found this description online: "[ ah-CHAHR ] An East Indian word referring to pickled and salted relishes. They can be made sweet or hot, depending on the seasoning added... "

Does seem like it's about half the price in Japan, looks like I should get my clueless friend to get me a stash, hopefully he gets the right ones.!! Very confusing variety of metals and tempering styles....

looking to pick up a few knives to add to my collection - Nenox 9.4" Gyutou ($279 is the cheapest I've found here) http://www.nenohi.co.jp/you/you.sp/nenox.s1.htm - Masamoto yanagi (30/33 cm) Honyaki - ($700+ here) http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv? - Glestain 9.4" Gyutou (about $264 ) http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv? what are the prices like in Japan? Are we getting gouged here? If they are significantly cheaper I'll probably get someone to ship them over to me. TIA

Japanese, Thai, Scandinavian, South Indian, Cajun, Spanish.

Anyone been yet or will be going tomorrow? What's the best time to go? Feel sorry for those guys with all the rain we have been and will be getting.

HAs anyone tried this place for fresh seafood? http://www.catalinaop.com/

Yup same chain although I'm not sure which sibling this is an offshoot off. Like I said it's decent but not great, what do you expect I suppose, malaysian food is not exactly mainstream in the US food culture. Heck even Indian, Chinese and Japanese for the most part serve cookie cutter menus "moo goo gai pan, general tso, tandoori, tikka, teriyaki, dragon roll, etc" and they've been around much longer. They did sprinkle some lard cubes in my hokkien mee when they first opened but seems like they've done away with it. I'm sure they'll hook you up with it if you ask specifically, I'm usually too embarassed .. As for cincaluk, more misses than hits the last purchase was a foamer.. have since given up buying it altogether. Hey, how are oregon truffles by the way, any good? any cheaper than italian? You folks must get pretty good mushrooms etc..

Another find recently were "see hums / kerang" in some of the chinatown groceries stores, not sure where he would cook em though and probably recommend against shipping them back.

Here are a couple of places to check out: - Penang for some familiar straits fare, malaysian chinese really, decent roti canai, satay, curry laksa, hainanese chicken rice: http://www.phillychinatown.com/penang.htm - Indonesia, also in chinatown for indonesian food, gone a little downhill of late but gets the basic flavours down. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/philly/enter...ols/4246537.htm - NO South Indian to be found here, only the typical standard US northern indian moghul food. Still searching high and low for a south indian place. - I would pass on Susana Foo, fancified overpriced chinese food basically, anyone who tells you otherwise is LYING!!! Pasion is worth checking out for Latin. - Never been to Portland myself so not sure about the quality of chinese food but Ocean Harbor in chinatown has decent dim sum. - Chef Abu is African by the way, got some good reviews but have yet to make it myself. - For groceries head over to south philly along washington ave and 11th St, there's been an explosion of Vietnamese supermarkets and restaurants over the past few years. He can find a wide range of asian groceries (quite good waxed/dried meat products) there even spotted some belacan and somewhat questionable cincaluk!! Yeo's products from are quite prevalent too . Grab a quick bite at some of the vietnamese restaurants while you're there too, or stop by Geno's and Pat's for some cheesteak. Regards SG

Went to one of the phillywine events last year and thought that it was very educational, tasted about 12 wines from rhone. As for you young 'uns, the crowd was more baby boomer than gen x/y. Has anyone been to the tastings at Savona on Friday evenings?

In case you do feel likebeing an elitist check out this site for some super expensive and sweet japanese knives, you just can't beat the japanese edges sooooo sharp makes cutting anything feel like soft butter .. nenox is used by Morimoto and Sakai on Iron Chef. http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/me...tegory_Code=HNE also check out knifemerchant.com for better pricing in general..

likewise herb