JosephB

Pan, If you have occasion to get your hands on some wild fennel from California, pleeeeeeeeeeease let me know. I once contacted Chez Panisse by e-mail to inquire about a source for the stuff in NY. They didn't know of one, but coincidentally Alice Waters was in NY at that time and had brought some with her for some French Culinary Institute function! I never got close to it.

According to Joe they were picked in Salaparuta. Salaparuta is in Sicilia, South of Palermo near Partanna. Since he was recently in Sicilia, I figure he got them there. You don't really expect me to admit that I picked and smuggled wild weed into the U.S.

Excuse me while I drool. This is one of the best dishes ever. I got ya covered Sam.

Thanks Suzanne, Actually, while retaining flavor is important, crispness is not an issue. Indeed, wild fennel is a bulbless weed. It is more akin to dill than to cultivated fennel bulbs. P.S. I enjoyed having lunch with you and alacarte yesterday.

I recently acquired a shopping bag full of fresh wild fennel, hand picked near Salaparuta. The wild fennel is the key to the magnificent dish from Palermo called "Pasta con le sarde" (pasta with sardines). There is no substitute for the fennel. (BTW, the other ingredients are fresh sardines, currants, pignoli, saffron, onion, anchovies, tomatoe paste, and olive oil). How do I store the fennel? I was thinking of blanching and freezing it, with the blanching liquid. The blanching liquid is used to loosen the sauce. Of course, it would be easier to freeze it fresh. Can I do that without damaging the fennel? Thanks!

Hi Suzanne, As you can see from the time of this post, we are in jet lag mode. I think I'll skip lunch today and focus on Saturday's event.

I'm very intereted in getting this going.

I'm glad to hear about your positive experience at Fairway. My last burger there was off, but otherwise I've always found the meat to be particularly good.

Kara, Yesterday in Alba the going rate for truffles was EUR 4,000! What are they putting those burgers?

I think when all is said and done, the Club will deem Clarke's burger the best in the land. BTW, greetings from Palermo.

Make 'em eat a soy burger . . . well done.

Elyse, Check out this month's Fine Cooking. They tested 12 hand mixers and found, in their opinion, that the KitchenAid 7-speed Ultra was the best.

It seems to me that the Burger Club is at bottom a social club. I don't think the attendance of a member's non-burger eating SO will diminish whatever serious dimension there is to the Club.

OK, now that just sounds dirty. You're silly.

Sherri, I'll gladly share my pickle with you.

We tried to get in to Pearson's on Friday night at 8:00 pm. Two hour wait! We'll try again some other time.

Yesterday my wife and I had burgers at Big Nick's "Burger Joint" on Broadway, one of the places on the list. We ordered two plain 8 oz. burgers: one rare, and the other medium rare. Cost: $4.25 each. The burger was tasty thanks to the nice natural charred flavor and juiciness. However, the meat quality was mediocre. I would say that the meat at Molly's was better, even if it was less juicy. As an aside I was wondering about the pickle. Don't you put sliced pickle on the burger? Why the pickle spears? In any event, I haven't had a good crisp dill pickle at any burger place. I think I'll bring my own next time.

The black truffles of Norcia are nothing like the white truffles of Alba, but are very good in their own right.

There was a two-hour wait last night. We'll go back when things cool off.

Bill, What I should have said was that I heard that Il Centro's Fritto Misto alla Piemontese must be booked long in advance.

Asimov liked another Vietnamse place very close to Bao much more. Asimov Review. I've been there a couple of times, and liked it.

You're on Suzanne. Just wait for me to get back from Europe - Nov. 6.

Don't forget, we're $20 in the black. That should bring your cost down to $19!

why would i be joking? i wasn't claiming it's the best burger in new york. but it is very delicious and everyone i know likes them. the meat is good and they're only $2. don't knock it till you try it. not destination food, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood... a mere five or six blocks from peter lugers. sorry, thought this was a more general thread about good burgers in new york and didn't fully realize the steingarten-esque nature of the quest. Sorry, bpearis, it does sound lovely and affordable and all, but it's just not what we're going for in the BC. We're doing the burger as a burger, not as a concoction. I mean, I might want to try a charcoal cheddar burger smothered in onions with a molten chocolate center, but it's just not right for here. (That is actually sounding tempting to me right now.) That lets me off the hook. In which way? I caved on the suggestion made by bpearis after bpearis suggested that I was acting like the taste police.

I think PM was always on the list in the guise of Burger Joint.