paul o' vendange

Hello everyone - Hope you're looking forward to spring as much as I am. Let's just say this winter, in particular, ready to say goodbye. Odd question, but it's bugged me for as long as I've had their book. If anyone has it or has seen it, in the Troisgros Bros' book, they call for doing a chicken stock "making certain to keep it at a full rolling boil for 45 minutes" and "skimming the fat off the top." "These two things are important if you want to ensure a crystal-clear stock." I've never tried it, though I should. As it stands, I do keep stocks at a brisker simmer than some, probably, as I find I get better clarity with enough simmering agitation to better dislodge impurities from the meat and bones, not anywhere near a boil and emulsifying. But rolling boil? Trip. Anyone?

Very cool. Thanks, robird.

Can I give you a counter-example? An inspector who "followed the letter" on opening requirements. Hot water, based on peak capacity. Part of that calculation was a hot water sink for washing lettuces and other vegetables. A hot water sink. For washing lettuce. It tipped us over the edge in terms of total capacity needed, and we would have needed to get a new hot water heater, to the tune of, as I recall it, over $10,000 we didn't have, to start up. Thankfully I fought, and argued before the state, that you don't use hot water to rinse lettuces. I won, and so our existing hot water heater was enough. What if it wasn't? How many businesses can't open, or fold, because of ridiculous laws like this? I really loved the requirement that there could be no exposed silver in the restaurant. A French place, expected to keep our tables covered in plastic during service. We, and I think mostly everyone, kind of winks together....we put the plastic on for inspection, the inspector inspects, knowing the second she leaves, it comes off, and we move on. How much sense does that make? It's important to think of these, too. And in terms of this French cheese issue, I think it's very relevant. OK, I already posted my Abondance cheeses. Here's some tommes, and reblochons. I only came to them because I was gifted to taste the real thing, nurtured along masterfully, from France. I find this incredibly wrong.

Hi Rob, I'm sorry, I'm not following the stat. I think you'd probably need to do something else, like total dairy, per capita, and so forth - right? We own 13% of the nation's total dairy, but we're a ghost town compared to some places. The concentration of farm capital is large, and expanding hotly. And that concentration exerts its influence on laws in my state. One example only - again, anecdotal though it's easy to look up. We, for example, are the only state in the union requiring cheesemakers to undergo state licensing. To the tune of 240 hours of official apprenticeship, and required courses from one sanctioned place only, UW. The sum cost to the would-be cheesemaker is about $3,000. I can tell you from what little beginnings I did, the curriculum is heavily slanted to large production. Raw milk cheeses are the devil - a point on which I didn't make any friends among the speakers on a given day, actually. They literally refused to countenance studies - FROM UW itself - showing, for instance, the beneficial effects of flora on wood cheese shelving. And much more. As jaded as I've become, I was stunned. But I felt I knew the environment I was throwing myself in to. I abandoned the plan, like many other cheesemakers, actually (abandoned, or moved out of state). Is the cheesemaker's licensing requirement reasonable? Not in my books. How about chefs? I believe it, like many other laws on the books (trust me - the "on farm" law was scratched from the state, only with the state kicking and screaming. I know a small, Amish farmer, who had his farm shut down on multiple occasions. And he fought).

Can't speak for all states, but in Wisconsin, things like that were originally successful, then the state argued before the courts these were all just end runs around the prohibition against raw milk (Ha....truthfully, wasn't thinking Prohibition when I wrote that .... same brilliant conception, right?) and the state was initially successful. Now, we have "for farm consumption." Just what that means is the whole ball of wax. Most states that are on the fence play like this - the state hates it, the lobby hates it, and they'll do what they can to shut any producer down. But there are vocal supporters of an individual's right to choose what they consume, and so we have our middling, cumbersome, silly laws (feel like owning part of a cow? You're golden in many states!).

I can tell you it's a war here in Wisconsin, and I believe that is squarely explained by the huge corporate dairy interests that inform our state's policies. The definition of "farm consumed," "club" etc., get to the silly. Testament to the fact that those who want it, like Paul said, should be able to consume it.

Hope it's not too off-topic, and it certainly is arguable, the group's aim, but if interested in more information on raw milk, you can go to the Weston A. Price Foundation, or RealMilk (I think RealMilk is associated).

I agree with you here, Weedy. Unfortunately, I think that's the problem. A good many regulators from the USDA are actually drawn directly from the upper management of agribusiness companies. Here in Wisconsin, heavily oriented towards dairy agribusiness. The rules - cumbersome as they are, and becoming even more so - are therefore being designed by the former heads of large agribusiness companies. Those rules - such as the boards I mentioned above, costing upwards of $100,000 for some - actually put smaller, artisanal producers out of business. I can tell you truthfully, the primary reason I begged off continuing the process of putting the first Abondance production in Wisconsin, is because it's ridiculous to try and be an artisanal maker in this state. Hard not to see a connection between how outlandish and ill-founded the rules, and who stands to benefit by their imposition. It ain't the craftspeople, doing traditional work.

Absolutely agree, Paul. I feel the same way. My experience as a maker is in Abondance, which if folks don't know is more or less a smaller cousin of the alpine giant Beaufort. The process is virtually the same. I do love this family of cheeses, but I'm also drawn to them by the simple fact they've been around since at least roman times. (I think it was Pliny the Younger who first chronicled Beaufort). Millennia of production history, millennia of insanely good, healthful cheese, all on raw milk. Don't touch it. With you, Paul - that's how I feel.

Weedy, with respect, my "anecdotal" thing was a joke - as in, I'm alive. Guess it fell flat. I wasn't using that as any basis for my argument, and never would. I understand your point of view. Yes, in an era when sickened cattle were in tightly cramped urban lots, fed leftovers from distillers grains, their milk combined into tanks and shipped to points far and wide, pasteurization was necessary. Just as now, when milk is gathered from large farms, under only slightly better circumstances, with cows stuffed with antibiotics, the farms' milk again combined; yes, pasteurization is necessary. It is not only unnecessary, but less healthful, if you're drinking raw milk from known small producers using known practices, with healthy cows fed on food they should be eating (grass - pasture) as I do. Pasteur's germ theory of disease was a landmark development in the history of medicine, but as with all models, it has it's limitations, and here, I'd say, is one. Just an illustrative example. Vacherin - named d'Or in Switzerland, du Haut-Doubs in France. In France, raw milk. In Switzerland, pasteurized. There has been a history of listeriosis with this cheese - a soft ripened cheese, gooey and stinky as all get. Raw milk, of course, even more dangerous because of the limited aging time, high water content, and soft paste. Right? Except it has been the Swiss, pasteurized version, Vacherin Mont d'Or, that has had the history of outbreaks - even deaths, tragically. To this date, as far as I know, none of the cheeses from France - all, by French law, made with raw milk - have been tainted with listeria. This is just one example. There really is an entire scientific body of evidence that supports the notion that it isn't so much the presence of microbes - wonderful, delicious, living yeasts and bacterias - in our foods, but rather how well they take over an ecosystem to prevent or contain the growth of pathogens to acceptable or lower limits. The above Vacherin story merely illustrates this. Another, somewhat related. The fertilizer theory of agronomy. That without fertilizer, you cannot have good growth. So, we've killed our growing fields, now, to the point where the farm's earth really is a kind of dead fiberboard, there merely to push the sticks of plants into, a substrate to drown with fertilizers. Doesn't it make sense to allow the microbes that transport oxygen to plant roots, to thrive and let them do their job? All without the cost and detrimental effects of fertilizers? Anyway, big subject. I've studied it quite a bit, as I love natural food, make it, hunt for it, as I love the earth, so I want to know what drives it all. Not saying anyone is incorrect, but I'm convinced by what I've studied, and know my personal choices. I drink milk from a farm of 4 beautiful girls - and I'm grateful for the gift.

Thanks, Shelby. What a fine machine!

Late to this, saw it on the main page. Wonderful blog, Shelby - thank you for doing it. Can you tell me what model grinder you have there? Beast is an understatement - very nice! Edit: Just doing a little digging, it appears Tor-Rey is discontinued and is now rebranded as ProCut. Stout grinders, whatever the name...!

Insane. Anecdotally, as a drinker of raw milk (2 gallons weekly) and maker of my own raw milk cheeses, I'm well, alive, and writing this. Scientifically, it can drive you nuts, the absolute ignorance of the FDA on the topic. Not to mention the USDA - and the fact its upper management tends to come from agribusiness concerns. Until they understand the goal is not sterilization of all bacterias and yeasts, but rather the environmental encouragement of the microbes we want in order to outcompete the ones we don't want, we're lost as to millenia of food culture. It's so exasperating. Small case in point - don't know where it stands since I'm no longer considering taking my French-alpine cheeses professional - but a few years back, out of NY, a USDA inspector on her own decided wood shelving was "inherently unsanitary," and shut down a creamery until they retrofitted their aging room shelving with plastic or stainless. To the tune of 10's of 1000's of dollars. The idea caught fire, and all of a sudden inspectors everywhere were giddy with a new rule, completely unsupported by science (in fact, quite the opposite). I and hundreds of others flooded anyone and everyone we would with science proving that not only was wood a sensible choice, it was the safer choice. Why? It was loaded with good microbes, strong microbes we wanted in our cheesemaking, who out-competed pathogens exceedingly well. It's part of the larger issue - we don't need to rid the world of pathogens in our foods; we just need to make them unwelcome with the help of the natural, microscopic world.

Haha! Great. Hmmm....6 quarts of chicken stock, a small container of demi, 2 containers of fish fumet, some remaining leg portions of northwoods venison, 3# of duck carcass, some rendered duck fat, 1/2 roll of cod cake and.....a ton of Trader Joe's variabilia. Should be fun!

As a dog lover and a person who often even feels more canine than home sapiens, yes, this offends me to the quick. That said, I realize the hypocrisy in such a sentiment. I will say, however: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool hunter. Itself, a contentious issue. The most serious responsibility I take, whether consuming meat someone else killed or killing an animal and eating it myself, is that needless cruelty plays no part in the animal's life, nor in its death. I owe everything I have to kill the animal without suffering, and to treat its life, its death, and its flesh, with the utmost dignity and respect. I don't personally care if the image of that poor animal was "planted" by a protest group or not. The image of that tortured, sentient creature, is as bad as images I've seen from the worst of agribusiness crimes. Whoever did such a thing, whoever supports such a thing, in my opinion, should be deeply, deeply ashamed.

"Butter, more butter, always butter!"

I've abused plenty of starters while away, and am always amazed at their resilience. Keeping in mind that any change to any ambient factor will alter the balance between various strains of yeasts and bacterias, I've left things to "rot" in the fridge for as long as a month, with a viable culture on returning - just took deliberately under-inoculating the 12-hour ferments to encourage lots of young growth (i.e., lots of generational growth as opposed to mature, anaerobic fermentation) over the course of several days. The first, very little inoculation and 24-hour cycles, then as the culture starts exhibiting good strength, I go to greater inoculations and 12-hour shifts. Freezing will do the same. It will preferentially favor some species over others, and your balance will shift, yielding a different poolish and final bread. But if you return to your regular routine, on your return, eventually your population mix will re-adapt to your ambient conditions, and you'll be back in business.

Going a bit cookbook crazy, old and new. Like Enurmi, on my (don't know how many) re-reads of Culinary Artistry; Pro Chef 7, starting over and working everything; Escoffier (had the crazy idea I'd start over here, too - but at 55, I think I need another 47 lives); Re-Reading Wells's/Robuchon's Simply French in a new light. Still ruminating on his true potato puree, and how close this book is to his working recipes. Dotting among: Bocuse's Cuisine Marché Troisgros bros Vergé Chapel (more a rumination on cooking, than a recipe book - which I love. The man was deep); Very recently acquired and loved already: Gault-Millau's Dining in France Jean-Louis Palladin, Cooking with the Seasons (Man. All I can say is, man). I know this book is as much the artful photography by Fred Maroon as it is the genius of the late Jean-Louis Palladin, but I still can't wait to do everything I can to replicate these incredible plates. I wish I could have known the chef. Recently acquired, and in the "not sure yet" phase: Robuchon's Complete Robuchon. I should have read the sub-title more clearly. Was hoping for a different book - a book going fairly deeply into his haute cuisine technique and outlook, not a compendium of bourgeoise and bistro classics. No hubris to say, nothing to be gained here.....riiiiiiiight. Was just hoping for a better "instructional" text from this grand-master, past taskmaster to Ripert and countless others. Suggestions, btw, welcome. Maureau's Recettes en Provence; Fisher's Art of Eating as well as Brillat-Savarin's book, a re-read as well. Coming and can't wait: Nignon's Eloges de la Cuisine Française Grand Masters of French Cuisine: Five Centuries of Great Cooking (Re-)acquiring Loomis's French Farmhouse Cookbook Anne Willan's La Varenne Pratique. Just got and briefly skimmed her Chateau Cuisine as well - a beautiful book. Have yet to dig in to see its practical value. Pellaprat's Great Book of French Cuisine.

The only reason McDonald's can sell what they call beef for $1 is because agribiz is subsidized heavily. Were the false economies to be rectified, I do suspect the $15.00 Big Mac wouldn't go over as well. And suddenly that $15 pekin duck might look favorable by comparison. I'm usually a horrible pessimist about the human condition. But here, I hold out hope that this attention to our food is not some chance of history, but rather a historical imperative. Whether by a Malthusian agony, or a more sane, conscious shift in policy, I don't think it's inevitable all we will see in the future are chains, and their associated depredations.

I too don't want to go astray. but I just wanted to hold this post up for special recognition; I feel it is one of the best statements of the problem that we have, and it's everywhere. Unless and until we refuse to see the earth as inert, dead material to stick things into to merely hold them up while they grow by false economies and long term devastation, we'll continue to see the world's living capacity shrink, all to cries of "we need to optimize more, and so....intensify production, pay them to do it!" - and agribusiness is only too happy to reap the false-market reward. There's a ton more, but that is definitely the subject for another thread. I live in a very farm-to-table community, with a strong farmers' market; but I will say, in agreement with IndyRob, small and local does not mean it's of necessity going to be top quality. There's a reason Point, Bocuse et al roamed the stalls to pick out the best for their respective place, because although they were all local, some produced better asparagus better than the others. I find it's the same here. In general, I think, the French have an appreciation for good food built into their collective unconscious; it's simply a happy marriage of land and history, and whether a chicken tastes like chicken actually mattered is different there than a good many places on the planet. But I also think that sadly, it's giving way to the same forces that have long shaped our world here in the U.S., and it all comes down to whether one works to create a living earth making living things that taste distinctive and good, or whether agribusiness, in collusion with regulatory personnel, continue to propagate the myth of concentration, "optimization" with modern fertilizers and their ilk; continue their literal stranglehold over production.

Not here yet, but really looking forward to it arriving - Eduoard Nignon's Eloges de la Cuisine Française. I suspect it will be a fantastic read. I'm intrigued especially by what I read somewhere (might have been in James Peterson's Sauces) - Nignon's approach to stock and sauce making; in some ways, anticipating today's reduction and gelatin-centric cuisine.

Personally, I do dry heat, then add oil, then watch for a kind of shimmer. There is a point just before smoking, or the tiniest whisp, before going ahead. If concerned, a blend of high-smoke point oil with olive oil or butter works, at least for me. I also use clarified butter. My entire line is Sitram Profisserie. Has stood me fine for years and years. I also use black steel, for pan-roasted meats and fish. A bit confused by your polymer comment, Paul. It's polymerization on things like cast iron and black steel that allows for seasoning and non-stick character. Can you go into it a bit more, what you mean?

Whoops, sorry all, I see I missed a ton of posts - see you cracked it. Looks wonderful! BTW - loved that Boddingtons when we had the wonderful chance to do a bit of a brewery tour throughout England, back in the late '90's!

This was what I was thinking as well. I don't know the method, but do you actually tauten and form the boule, prior to proofing?