slkinsey

I wonder whether this means that they run a custom blend exclusively for White Manna. Given WM's price point, I rather doubt this is the case. But it's entirely possible that the meat distributor has various options (e.g., 80/20 or 90/10; chuck or sirloin; coarse, medium or fine grind; etc.). That would offer a reasonable amount of customization in a "choose an option from the menu" kind of way.

Most likely you'll need to run it through a Büchner funnel filter if you want it to be clear.

I think this is all dependent on whether his intention was to have a blockbusting gourmet dinner or whether it was to have some people ove rand have some fun. I will have to disagree as to whether it's necessary for Alan Richman to be an accomplished gourmet cook in order to be a good food writer or to be a good restaurant critic. Plenty of amazing cooks are crappy writers/critics, and vice-versa. How many art critics are accomplished painters? How many opera critics can deliver a rousing rendition of Nessun dorma complete with full-voice high B? Not many, is the answer. Closer to none, in fact. Many of these people have a good understanding of what goes into painting and singing, but that doesn't mean they can do it themselves.

The recipe David linked to is still very heavy on the arrack. [NB. Lists of ingredients are fair use]

Doesn't look like rocket science. Mixed greens, Tuscan beans, oven-dried tomatoes and a Chianti vinaigrette. Plenty of recipes for Chianti vinaigrette around on the internets.

Heh. It's a mystery, then.

I hasten to add that I have not seen, much less done scientific studies of this. But I started doing it one particularly hot summer when I was having problems with my syrup (2:1) growing mold: out of 3 or 4 batches, at least two sprouted disgusting black flecks when stored at room temperature. Subsequent batches, prepared with a little Everclear, proved perfectly stable. Hence my suggestion. Interesting. Questions: How did you add the Everclear? Were you mixing the Everclear in completely, or were you topping the bottles with Everclear? Also, was this simple that you were using that went bad, or were these more or less "storage" batches? Open containers (e.g., with pouring spouts) or closed? I suppose it's possible that such a low concentration of alcohol would be enough to inhibit certain fungi, but I rather suspect that the answer is something else. I wonder if this has more to do with making sure the bottle is sanitized than anything else. . .

The beauty of sugar syrup is that sugar is a preservative. If you make the simple syrup concentrated enough, it will preserve itself. I've had extra gomme syrup sitting around warm in bottles for over a year, and nothing bad happened. I didn't add any alcohol to this gomme, but I did wash the bottles out with high proof alcohol before pouring in the gomme. This may have a greater effect. I've also been known to top thick simple syrup with a thin layer of high proof alcohol on the theory that it will act as a barrier to any airborne nastys getting into the syrup. Probably fanciful thinking on my part. Your instincts are good -- increase the sugar concentration and you won't have any problems. I make mine only around once a year. I do a 4- or 6-fold reduction of pomegranate juice, melt in as much sugar as the hot liquid can possibly take, let it come to room temperature and then dilute it down to the approximate sweetness of 2:1 simple syrup with fresh pomegranate juice (I use POM, because it's the easiest to find). This provides a nice balance between sweetness, a concentrated "cooked" flavor and the zip of fresh pomegranate. I never add alcohol to this, although I do keep it under refrigeration.

Well, let's do the math on a hypothetical example: Let's say that you have 15 ounces of simple syrup to which you add 1 ounce of absolute ethanol (in reality we are adding less alcohol than 1 ounce of 100% but this makes the math easier). You now have around a pint of liquid at 6.25% alcohol / 12.5 proof. Considering that all kinds of nasty things can grow in 6% beer, I have to believe that the addition of alcohol won't do much. As for the history, the first person I know who recommended adding booze to simple syrup in writing was Dave Wondrich. Not sure whether this was an original idea of his or not. I note that Esquire Drinks does not contain a recommendation for added alcohol as a preservative, whereas Killer Cocktails does (". . . add 1/2 ounce of grain alcohol or 151-proof rum to deter mold.").

That's certainly true. You also have to account for the fact that many of these fruits bring other things besides simply sugar, moisture and aromatics. Most fruit contains a certain amount of acid, which will change the impact of the resultant infusion's perceived sweetening power.

Doesn't it depend on what you mean by "dilute"? Unlike limes, pineapple juice is sweet. Is there more than one meaning of "dilute"? As far as I know, "dilute" means "to lessen the strength of a solution." To clarify what I wrote, I mean "dilute" as in: "the addition of juices from the pineapple chunks to the simple syrup will result in a pineapple-flavored simple syrup that has a lower concentration of sugar and lower 'sweetening power' compared to the uninfused simple syrup." Pineapple juice is nowhere near as sweet as simple syrup. The label on a can of Dole pineapple juice says that there are 22 grams of "sugars" in one 6 ounce serving. Six ounces of 1:1 simple syrup would contain around 106 grams of sucrose. Six ounces of 2:1 simple syrup would contain around 168 grams of sucrose. What this means is that any liquid that comes out of the pineapple will reduce the concentration of the simple syrup. If shelf life is desired (although, as above, I don't think it's really possible) this argues against infusing into a 1:1 simple syrup. 1:1 simple is already a little dicey when it comes to spoilage, and 1:<1 would be even more susceptible. Then again, if you use it up within a few days, as I recommend, it's probably not worth worrying about preventing spoilage.

How do you mean "drying your lasagne noodles"? Is this for long-term storage, or is it just keeping them ready for more or less immediate use?

The sugar solution should draw some liquid out of the pineapple (or any other fruit). This is important for a few reasons: First, the pineapple liquid has lots of pineapple flavor in it. This isn't like infusing lime zest into simple syrup. It's more like infusing whole lime slices into simple syrup. We're doing more than simply taking aromatic oils into solution. Second, the higher the saturation of the original simple syrup, the greater the volume of flavorful liquid should be pulled out of the pineapple. Third, as the flavorful liquid is pulled out of the pineapple, it will dilute the simple syrup. So a 1:1 simple syrup into which pineapple chunks are infused may end up as a 1:<1 simple syrup. All of these things argue in favor of a fairly concentrated simple syrup. One could, of course, simply cover thin pineapple chunks with dry sugar and let the sugar draw liquid out of the pineapple until the sugar is dissolved. Using a syrup may be easier. In the end, it's about finding the fight balance between flavor extraction and sweetness. It's possible that very concentrated syrups can't pull enough flavor to stand up to the sweetness. With respect to preservation. . . A very rich syrup should remain free of spoilage in the refrigerator because sugar in sufficient concentration acts as a preservative. As to the shelf-stability of the pineapple flavor -- even under refrigeration, I can't imagine that it keeps its nice flavors for very long without some losses due to degradation. This argues in favor of simply doing an overnight infusion of pineapple chunks into whatever simple syrup you happen to have around, and planning on using it up within a few days. Adding grain alcohol or overproof rum. . . I am not convinced that adding a half-ounce of 150 - 195 proof spirits to a pint of sugar syrup will have any increased preservative effect whatsoever. I'll ask a few microbiology types for a more definitive answer.

I could be wrong but I thought I remembered noting Caramel Color on the label... Not on the label of mine... (ETA quotes for context, since this post starts a new page.)

I have the Zwack Pecsétes Barack Palinka, and it's not all that fire water-like. For what it's worth, Pescetes comes in a nicer-looking bottle then Kecskeméti. Having done some digging: Kecskemét is a city in Hungary. I have seen translations of pecsétes meaning "something with a seal" (pecsétel = "to seal"). This makes some sense, as Pecsétes Barack Palinka comes in a special round bottle with a red seal. Other translations have pecsétes meaning "stained or greasy." This might also make some sense, as the slight coloration ("staining") of the spirit comes from aging in used oak.

Can anyone explain what diffrence there is between Pescetes Barack Palinka and Kecskemeti Barack Palinka?

We also had a "new old school" applejack punch (kindly provided by a friend who just so happens to be Phil Ward of D&C) that was a huge hit. I'd definitely recommend a bowl of punch.

jsmith: Rather than having a free-for-all open bar, I would suggest that you come up with 4-5 good-but-not-too-challenging cocktails, batch them and have a list. Then you only need to have a little beer, wine and vodka around for the die-hard anticocktailians. This is what I did for my wedding party, and it worked like a million bucks.

Just to clarify a bit... This sentence might be interpreted to imply that White Manna grinds their own beef, and potentially to order. To the best of my knowledge -- and I would be shocked if it weren't true -- White Manna gets its beef pre-ground. I suspect that it's not pre-formed in any way when they get it , although I couldn't say for sure that this is the case. What you see is the burger cook reaching down into a refrigerated compartment and bringing out what seem to be pre-formed hunks of ground beef that are already portioned. There does sometimes seem to be some brief balling of the meat before taking it to the grill, which has sometimes made me wonder whether they were simply balling up beef that had been pre-made into slider-sized patties. regardless, there is no indication of the digging around, measuring and forming that would indicate that the beef is being taken out of a larger store of undivided ground beef -- and the balls of ground beef are absolutely equal in size. Whether this forming/portioning is done at White Manna or perhaps by their supplier, I don't know. It's a fun place with great sliders either way. And I like the excentricity of the ordering system (don't ask the burger cook for fries!).

I think what I love most about the appetizing/deli counter at Fairway is when it's three deep of people waiting for a chance to order their cold cuts and you get to listen to the 300 year old woman in line in front of you engage in a lengthy monologue about whether she wants the grilled salmon or the poached salmon (why people wait until it's their turn to make up their minds about what they want is beyond my ken) and then argue with the counterman about how he isn't packing her cole slaw dry enough. Oh, and it's really awesome if people with grocery carts bump into you every 5 minutes while you're waiting through this.

Egg yolks freeze quite well, and I use the yolks leftover from stock clarification and other egg white uses (cocktails, etc.) in fresh pasta.

Interesting. Two questions: 1. Where do you get Clayton's 2. How do you think Clayton's would balance with an equal amount of sirop de citron (assuming that this is more tart/bitter than lemon syrup)?

Er... that's a typo. It's 400 grams of sugar, not 400 kilograms of sugar. The 400 grams of sugar (roughly 1.75 cups) are macerated with three whole sliced lemons, which give up their liquid into the sugar, then the whole works is boiled for 5 minutes and the syrup strained off. Doesn't seem like it would be much more concentrated than a regular 1:1 simple syrup, and of course would have the bitterness from the pith as well as as the acid from the lemon juice to balance the sweetness. Seems easy. I've got some extra lemons around, maybe I'll make some.

Erik, that is assuming that the historical Kola Tonic is identical (or similarly sweet) to the Rose's product today, yes? If it were more similar to what Doc describes as perhaps "an aperitif beverage" it wouldn't be so sweet, no? More like a sweet vermouth? I'm not really sure what the deal is with respect to the Filmograph. Just speculating. Doc's update for modern tastes and ingredients is 2 oz : brandy 3/4 oz : lemon juice 1/2 oz : kola tonic

Hmm. Is the Savoy version the first in print? It seems unlikely to me that there would be a drink from that era calling for equal parts brandy and flavored syrup.