jango

Tuna tastes better and has a more buttery mouthfeel 24 hours after it's been killed anyway. My family are seafood exporters from Sth Australia - we've had lots of practice getting it just right and we always let it rest overnight before slicing it up. Someone in Tasmania is growing fresh Wasabi - I remain eternally hopeful that one day I'll locate the source.

Ok - thanks for this and the whole course.

I have a question about s/s lined copper cookware. If copper is tops in even heat conductivity, and stainless steel about the worst, why is it that if you bond the best with the worst one still comes out with a really good pan?

Maybe, but I think being an island continent has a lot to do with the ability to control the supply.

What in the world is this?

From Victoria, Australia: No worries here. Just that our relatively low beef prices are now set to skyrocket because of increased exports. Here we apparently don't have the practices that led to the disease in the first place. For instance, none of our animals have to be kept inside during a winter and fed meat-meal. There have been pretty stringent controls in place since the 80's. Every animal is tail- or ear-tagged with full information on its parentage and state of health contained in the tag. We have full track-back accountability on all heads and this is extending right around the nation. The guy I got this information from is Rod Polkinghorne - he's one of the industry's main activists and growers here and patiently explained everything to me (an ignoramus where anything beefy is concerned). He said that the DNA of every piece of meat is recorded and that they can trace even a half-chewed piece of beef to the date of birth of the animal. It would take 2 1/4 hours to track any problem meat back to the paddock where the cow was last grazing. You can bet your booties that beef producers are doing a pretty good job at raising healthy cows with all this accountability hanging over their heads.

Indeed. They are the best I have ever had, bar none. When you combine the precision of a scientist (which she is) with culinary wizardry and invention, the result is very special.

It was dumped after that first episode with no chance of return. We may have been spared some pain.

My 7 packets of Sichuan Peppercorns were waved through customs at Los Angeles airport a couple of weeks ago. I even declared them as such on my quarantine form. (True, true, true). There's definitely something screwy going on.

What a gem.

Reading this, I had to get my Furi onto the surface to see what the problem is. I have the 21 cm chef's knife. The blade lies flat and slightly downwards - so this isn't one of the dangerous ones. I love this knife. It seems made for my hand and hasn't slipped yet.

We have no trouble finding Sichuan peppercorns here in Aussieland. I'm supplying all of my American friends. Since we have a valuable citrus crop, and Import/Quarantine regulators like Rottweilers, I can only presume that ours are irradiated before entering the country, as fifi suggested. Just sampled and they are definitely Sichuan. (Thinthse my thongue ith now numb). Have never seen these Tasmanian Peppercorns.

Ta da! Americans hate it because they slather it on like peanut butter.

Go to Philip Johnson's restaurant E'cco in Brisbane. I haven't eaten there yet, but I know a little of his style through a visit he made to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. http://www.eccobistro.com/

Fresh, green peppercorns in little bunches. I found them in the Prahran Market (Melbourne) on Saturday and smashed up some for a tequila sauce for BBQ steak that night - now have to find other ways to use them. Wow, what a zing they have.

Thanks for responding. Can I bug you with another question? Do home cooks make sheets of nori themselves? And if they do does it taste better? - in the way that homemade pasta sheets taste better than storebought........ and homemade tortillas etc etc.

Is nori always sold already roasted? Are there some kinds which are simply dried but not roasted? If nori is green, but there is no mention of "roasting" on the label, do we presume that it is roasted? Thanks for any enlightenment - I'm all googled out.

Back to sinks....I had a Franke steel/nickel/chrome sink. It was huge - the biggest one they sold, undermounted (granite countertops). Best thing about it was that when we went to sell the house 7 years post-remodeling, this sink looked so brand new that the buyers felt like they were getting a new kitchen. The finish on it was amazing - a bit like those chrome fenders on old 50's cars. Nothing ever stained or dented and I gave that thing hell on a daily basis. It must have paid for itself 1000% in the resale. Loved that sink.

Is there room for one more chopping onion trick? - Position the cutting board just to the side of the extractor fans so that the fumes from the onions are drawn away from your face.

Yes, I know what you mean. The first time I did them they were tough. Firstly I didn't spread them thinly enough, and secondly I had quadrupled the recipe. Unfortunately it's not given in weights so scaling up may have been the problem. When I do small batches using just the original recipe size, taking great care to spread the mixture thinly and evenly, the results are very light and crispy. Best of luck - they are worth it. - Jane

Oh, I can think of many, many better ways! I think. Pillowy? And you eat them at the end of the meal, like dessert? Are they sweet? Is this one of life's essential culinary experiences? - Jane.

My most recent batches of tuiles have all been savory ones. They are based on Vongerichten's recipe for Szechuan and Black Pepper tuiles (they have coconut milk in them). I've also subbed cumin for variation. Sensational taste. Think I breach copyright if I post the recipe but you can find them in his book Jean-Georges - Cooking at Home, under Three Unusual Tuiles p. 166.

Well, I won't talk about hasma then! Well, yes, please do - have you actually eaten hasma?

87-91? I'm a decade older. No, that's too kind to age. I'm a generation older than you, youngster. I was there in the 70's (St Ann's), the only real shining light to that being that I got to taste Cheong Liew's cooking as he went from a being the bottom of the heap cook at the Iliad to Moos (only place you could take a vegetarian because he did vegies so well) to Neddy's . I think you would have just missed out. Yes, the Old Lion was just a rager. I doubt that anyone knew what food was. It looks amazing now. You wouldn't recognize the whole street. And as for O'Connell St. Wow. Rows of restaurants and coffee bars. People just seem to eat, and eat, and eat. If you go back, do your darndest to go to the Grange. It will blow your mind. I've been there twice now, and think that it's the best restaurant in the world, and I've been lucky enough to go to some great restaurants. - Jane

Jango: I also like Hanuman in Darwin - a nice place. But what about Sailors Thai in Sydney?? This is the best Thai food I have eaten outside Bangkok. And can you remember where the Seattle hole-in-the-wall was? Roger, I don't know about Sailors Thai since I haven't eaten in Sydney for years. Sounds worth a trip. I may be able to track down this Thai restaurant in Seattle presuming it's still in business. I was there last October '02, BUT - it had only two good things on the menu that I remember. The "little bites" - Mieng something, was to die for. The kitchen plated it which was unusual - I think it's traditional for diners to assemble them , but in this case it was the right decision for the kitchen to make - fabulous balance of flavours. Second dish was lamb in a red curry sauce - as we took the first bite, there was total silence in a usually noisy table of about 14 of us - and then one lady whispered, "I think I've died and gone to heaven". We all agreed. All of us have been trying to recreate it ever since. I visit there in a few weeks so will report back. How come you are able to travel about so? I've heard you on radio I think, but are you solely in the food business?