lamington

"Gnocchi" is essentially an umbrella term for a wide range of small (and not so small) dumplings. Most of these also have a local or more specific name. Those made of potato are the default form of gnocchi for non-Italians, but varieties include ones made of pumpkin/squash, ricotta, bread, semolina, or chestnut flour. It's worth noting, too, that the potato gnocchi are a more recent dish than some of the others, especially those made with root vegetables such as pumpkin/squash. Duncan

I have used batches of frozen uncooked gnocchi --- take un-boiled frozen gnocchi from the freezer, boil until they have just started floating, remove and coat in a little butter or oil, add sauce/cheese/etc and bake. Best to use a sauce that is not too wet. I have never had my light fluffy gnocchi dissolve to mush during baking (though I haven't tried baking beyond about 25mins). The recipe I use includes some egg and a little flour. The egg helps the gnocchi hold their shape better, without necessarily compromising texture.

I've cruised the menus of as many as I can of the recommendations above... I must say that Boulevard, SlowFood, and the Ferry Building look particularly promising... though I wonder how a burger can cost $14+ at Boulevard -- anyone had one? and how dressy is the place?... I mean, we won't be power dressing for an 8-hour tourist fly-by. The pork at L'Osteria del Forno sounds fabulous, and I'm tempted by so many other things too. It was amusing looking at Ma Tante Sumi -- the menu could be modern Sydney! So, sounds good, but too Pacific Rim for us;) Where's the best place for foodbooks? :)

Wow, it's times like these that eGullet shines! Fantastic suggestions -- thank you so much. I think, on reflection, we will have to avoid places that are toooo Italian/French/Spanish, cos we'll have been a few places in Europe beforehand... USAmerican styles of food and ingredients, perhaps with a touch of the traditional, are probably more interesting and I can see potential interest in a number of places that you have all referred to. Mind you, some of the SF French and Italian menus had my mouth watering too, but I have to discipline myself! Your various touristy tips have been great too:) Duncan

We're going to be in SF on a Monday in May, staying a mere 9 hours... enough time to take BART from SFO into SF, eat lunch, do touristy things, eat dinner, take BART back to the airport. No car, just public transport... So... in search of interesting US food/cooking... one light meal, one heavy, compulsive snacking if necessary . We want to come away smiling, and convinced that good eating/food can be had in the US! (yes, I'm being provocative ) What would the locals suggest for essential dining, and what shops/provendors to visit? Not really interested in Pacific Rim fusion per se (we're Australian, so have quite enough of that at home!), and one of us doesn't eat seafood. Had a look at Chez Panisse, but it is a little out of the way on such a short visit... haven't ruled it out completely... All wisdom appreciated:)

I wonder if one of you lucky visitors to Delicabar could give an idea of price for a few of the things devoured on site or off? Thanks!

Great tips, folks! Thank you. I enjoy John's site, but was afraid that inflation might have pushed most of the places he reviews so wonderfully into the very upper end of the price range...

I'm off to Paris after Easter for a few days, with a companion. It's a big trip and the budget is fairly tight, and our friends in Paris are students with limited spending power. So... although 'cheap' and 'reasonable' are very relative terms here on eGullet, this post really is looking for tight-budget solutions. A prix fixe of EUR 25.00 would be hard for our friends to pay for more than one special evening, so I'm looking for suggestions of reliably decent food in the range of EUR10-25 for a prix fixe or two/three-course meal, not including drinks. Our interest is traditional French fare, and good desserts/patisserie Staying near Bastille, but happy to travel. I've already taken note of the valuable tips of eGulleteers regarding cafes, etc, and more expensive options for when we're not dining with friends. Anyway, suggestions gratefully received!

Maybe it's time schneich got down off the offensively high horse and accepted that other people know things too. Adam Balic is, of course, right about the '00' flour, and it doesn't take much looking at the websites for Italian flour producers to realise that '00' varies considerably in protein/gluten content. So schneich, go to the source, and learn.

I didn't see mention of Alhambra anywhere above, and it just happens to be in Manly too! CLose to the ferries. Can't remember the address (West Esplanade?) but the tourist office know it, and it's in the phone book. Good Moroccan.

I thought a long black was what I've seen called an Americano in London (not that I trust London when it comes to coffee ): an espresso shot with water added, rather than a large cup of espresso (ie, multiple shots).

I've seen the Green & Black in Melbourne recently, but where, I can't remember. The Maya Gold is very nice indeed -- it was one of the earliest flavours they produced.

I thought I'd start a new thread, as the long Australian Posters thread is, well, long... and I want to focus on CHOCOLATE. Jango mentioned two new purveyors of chocolate in Melbourne, and I am curious about this new trend... is it happening elsewhere? With the demise of well-stocked chocolate sellers in Melbourne in the last 15-20 years, we've only really had the fancy sections of certain department stores, plus the IMHO awful Chocolate Box chain, and Haigh's. A more recent addition has been Max Brenner. Small exceptions here and there, sure, but suddenly there is Cacao in St Kilda, doing a decent job of patisserie and pralines and hot chocolate, and Koko Black in the Royal Arcade, with very nice interiors and general 'image', but Jango has already expressed some reservations here. Their hot chocolate had a lovely rich chocolate flavour, but the mouthfeel was too thin, I thought. What's going on elsewhere in Oz?

lol, indeed not... though maybe a mix-n-match would dilute things! I've broken a record this week and eaten five whole raw carrots without a hint of an itch. Rare event.

It's good to see this info, and other people's experiences! For me it started with sugar melons of any sort: quite strong swelling of the soft palate and pharynx, with itching. It progressed to raw carrot, tomato, avocado, banana, certain types of apple, nectarine, mandarin, cherry, hazelnut... that covers most of them. Only in their raw state, and when eaten alone. Even very mild heat treatment is sufficient to prevent a reaction from occurring, which is great! Un-heated, I react probably 60-70% of the time.

Exactly what I was trying to say. Emphasis was being put on the customer lacking the moral high ground, yet some people strangely didn't feel there was anything wrong with the restaurant's actions. Good luck Clerkenwellian! Keep us posted.

What a fascinating discussion! It's unfortunate that the moral high ground is primarily being considered re the customer's actions. rshorens's point about good will seems equally important. And levying an arbitrary charge for a booking, where the potential income from that annulled booking may well be derived from subsequent occupation of the table, hardly seems to have any positive 'moral' value (regardless of the value of the charge). I rather get the feeling that some people think it perfectly fine to screw over a customer if inconvenience is involved -- I would have thought a 2pm cut-off was pushing the deadline for 'timely' somewhat, and could presumably act as a disincentive to customers... which means the restaurant screws itself over too. Debate about the legal situation seems pointless, as the British position appears to be quite clear in this regard. As neither British nor American, I come away from the discussion feeling like I'm seeing culture-clash in action (though the divide is not entirely Atlantic )... which isn't to say my cultural bias isn't showing! Duncan.

Penguin Books India publishes a range of regional cookbooks. Is anyone familiar with these, and have comments about their quality?

Great link! There's actually a set of further links to culinary dictionaries of various sorts on that site, but many of these are very limited. Hopefully fellow eGulleteers know of some more sites...

If they're particularly perfumed they'll make a lovely marmalade with lemons.

A partial answer: Opera is absolutely scrumptious when done well. When done badly, the cream is typically too firm and often lacking flavour, leaving a greasy thick mouthful of boredom. If I remember rightly, Gary Rhodes has a recipe in his New British Classics. I would be surprised if it didn't turn out nicely, but haven't tried it myself.

My NSW parents think it's a NSW/ACT thing. And I must admit that I got used to it, and now almost miss than purple stain on the bun Enjoying your blog!

hi folks -- I have to add a beetroot comment... i grew up eating hamburgers in Melbourne and they didn't have any beetroot, then I went to study in Canberra and remember being utterly revolted when I discovered slices of beetroot in a hamburger... a small regional difference, I believe. Do other Victorians (the state of which Melbourne is the capital) concur?

The sheet of pastry is rolled up, then sliced across the roll, giving fairly thin discs of pastry (about 5mm thick). The disc is then pressed into its pan, becoming very thin in the process (the coils of pastry which form the disc are in effect staggered down the walls of the pan and pressed flat). Cooked at very high heat, the layers separate well and give a filo-like texture, especially around the rim of the tart.

Please, someone, correct me if I'm wrong but the nata I had at Lisboa Patisserie in London seemed to have more of a well-docked puff pastry crust than that of a flaky pie crust. The correct pastry is absolutely definitely a puff pastry. The method that Leite's recipe uses is used for some other tartlets in Portugal, but not correct for typical pasteis de nata (note that his recipe is from a book about food of the Azores). In my experience, the custard in most domestic recipes for pasteis de nata is heavier on the flour/cornstarch than the genuine articles. Portuguese Home Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins (Interlink Books, 2001) has a good description of method and produces a reasonable tart. I also have a traditional recipe from a popular cookbook in Portuguese, using an egg and cream custard without any flour/cornflour -- haven't yet succeeded in cooking the pasteis without the custard separating!