paul o' vendange

Man, I want to find this so we can all sleep. Or cook. I wanted to recall the name for a private dinner I cooked last night - a couple, guy proposing to his girlfriend. They both hail from Chicago, though she is a local news anchor. He drove up from Fox & Obel with halibut in tow (we cannot get sources up our way - the one thing I've hated since our restaurant closure). He was really happy to go to F & O again, since when he produced for NBC he was a block away... At any rate: Amuse, a mushroom veloute and accompanying ragout crostini, made with locally harvested and farmed mushrooms (along with a "chip" - thank you Thomas Keller): "Halibut Provencale" - pommes anna, a trio of red pepper coulis, basil oil, balsamic glaze, with ratatouille: And, as she loves figs, walnut crepes with port-poached black mission figs: (a bit of valhrona chocolate all over the plate): Oh, and she said "Yes." **** I had always thought Trou Normand was a liquer or liquor serving this purpose, and once sorbets came into vogue, the liquer or alcohol-laced sorbet was a bit of a historical bridge (I tend to prefer granités - the ice "shaves" the palate better, imho) - non? Where is Restaurant Faude? My family and I are likely moving next year to Paris for 9 months, and after, we hope to comb the countryside for food, food, food...and wine, wine wine. The petit will have to be content with juice.

Hahah - I'm on it - there are a few issues on my shelves.... Edited to say, man, I'm batting a 1000 - not Food Arts, but Art Culinaire.

Good point, Carrot, very aptly said - yes, this was a word I saw in practice - the operative word being "practice," as in my experience in N. American restaurants. I wouldn't know whether it is used in France, but you keenly point out that it may be something used in the restaurants of the States, so my looking through LaRousse, or French language sources, for example, may be barking up the wrong tree. I have been searching the web for the former restaurants where I worked in L.A., but, alas, they have now all closed. (Anyone from Val's, Toluca Lake, Fama, Russell's, the Wave, - hello, and...what the heck is the word called????)

The Daniel speaks in mysterious ways. We all know that there is *much* life and many words dehors l'Academie. ← It is just odd to me that this word was used so much in the restaurants I've worked in, and it is not screaming out...

Well, that may be, and given the preponderance of evidence, I have rendered up my sword. But as Carrot Top has alluded, there is a word out there - my wife shares my nagging thought, as we both worked in restaurants where the word was used - myself, in Los Angeles and Chicago, herself, in Chicago. The frequency with which it was used, and the fact I used it myself in my menus, makes it all the more troubling. I will continue to mole under the surface, and return, like the Hohenstauffen, with a monumental "AHA!"

Well then, it might be a case of mass hallucination or something of the sort, for I *still* think there is a word such as you describe, as does Mark. But that may be just because of your persuasiveness. I dunno. I still expect that sometime, maybe several months from now, the word will just jump into my mind. It is definitely in hiding at the moment, for sure. Till then, I'm off to take some Ginko Biloba, ← Hahahah - you and me both, Carrot. I used it on my menus, even - and am starting to get scared.

Hahaha. Well, on this note, I will yield, and enjoyably so. Thank you, Daniel, Gifted, Racheld, everyone. I may have just been on a complete brain warp - I hope this doesn't augur future forgetfulness. Thanks again, everyone. Paul

Thanks. I will.

all I found on releve was that it is a ballet term .. nothing culinary showed up in my search ... ← Actually, this did come up originally - and I was almost certain it was the word. However, My wife, who is similarly consternated, said it was not. But releve - "remove" - is used. See Food Courses - see under "France". Racheld, thanks - this may be the one I was thinking of. I am now totally flabbergasted, as this word was in such common usage that it should be leaping off the page at me...

It isn't the word.. I gave up on that about midnight ... I know that a true tru normand is appropriate as well but that is more than one word ... you know, in the end, I think that the answer is here but Paul has confused it with another term .. and, in the end, he'll smack his head and say, "yeah, that was the word I was looking for" and I will collapse in a fit of laughter ...ironic laughter at that ... ← Oh, there is no doubt that a big "d'oh!" is coming, followed by my hiding my head in a dark closet for a goodly length of time. Just surprised that entremet didn't leap out. What's really weird is that I've used the word on my degustations....and as I usually float fairly well in French, this would be a big gaffe if wrong...

OOOHHHHHHH no - wait a minute, I do not YET yield the field. I am trying to find a chef from Val's, Toluca Lake, of nearly 20 years ago...then, and only then, do I yield the feuilleté. I mean field.

I don't think it's the term Paul's looking for, but are you thinking of amuse guele? ← No, this is during the degustation, prior, usually, to the main course. Equivalent to entremet (and I may just be having one collosal brain dropoff, and entremet is what I am thinking of).

N. ← I'm sure you're all right - I may be using some weird colloquialism. What's weird is that this word I'm looking for was used in at least 3 restaurants where I worked, across many years.

Well, I of course could be wrong. But the word I'm thinking of is not entremets. I will bite the bullet and call a former restaurant...

Thanks, Behemoth, but Gifted Gourmet suggested that yesterday. For the life of me, I can't remember the name. I'm sure I'll remember it about 20 minutes after getting to sleep.

No, but thanks for the valiant efforts! Not the actual thing (like a liquer, sorbet, etc.), but a one word term for the course or "break."

Man, this is driving me crazy - no, a one word term, French, usually served before the main course. Usually sorbet, granite, yes, but the term itself eludes me - though I regularly wrote it on my degustations. Uh, yep, better lay off the Gigondas for awhile!

Yes. This is nuts, as I've cooked French food for, oh, 30 years, and served it nearly as long, but for the life of me, I can't remember the term - French equivalent to intermezzo....arggggggghhhhhhh.

Hi all - I've only been around this term for 20 years. Palate cleanser. French term, not intermezzo...absolute brain meltdown. What is it? Let a guy sleep tonight!

Confit was usually stored in jars in the root cellar, or anywhere the temp remained cooler than normal. If the confit was properly stored with the simmer-hot fat on top, allowed to cool, and the solid fat cap was not broken by the 60F temp, then it would undoubtedly be safe. And I would agree with Pielle's points 3 and 4 above. If we're talking a few hours, it is safe. One thing, though - the 4 hour benchmark is obviously not an either-or threshold. That entire time, you're food is gathering pathogens. While you may not get sick, you may be feted with a host of off tastes (though, likely, not enough to reach sensory thresholds). Personally, I would toss and start over. Sorry - I know how painful this is.

Interesting discussion, Alex. I have a different cold smoker - "Le Smoker," which we used at my restaurant. I would agree that Alder is a great wood for smoking, and particularly marries excellently well with salmon. I used a mix of hickory and applewood (hickory, very little, to add a very small "bite" of pungency; applewood, for softness and sweetness - echoes my gravlax below, with a citrus, tarragon and cognac cure; if I were only serving the cold smoked, I would likely use alder). I cured my salmon for 5 hours only. I usually dried in the refrigerator before the fan, for anywhere from 12-18 hours. The pellicle was present, but not heavily so. My salmon plate was a duo of salmon - one, a citrus and tarragon based gravlax, the other, the cold smoked. Slices were translucently thin, so I wanted to retain enough oils in the smoked salmon to make for a nice mouthfeel, while dry enough to cut well. I do not like dryly smoked salmon. I did not serve the tail section of either my cured or smoked salmon on the above plate. The muscular structure is tougher, and although I cured this section more gently, it will tend to pick up the cure disproportionately. I would, however, use the tail section in a tartare - chopped, or brunoise on the bias, serving it with something else that tends to pull it back down a bit. Interesting discussion.

One of my favorites is a braised pork shank, with a jus of cider, a touch of verjus, aromatics, and a late harvest riesling-braised red cabbage and bacon. I find marzens, with the malty sweetness and just a nod of hop bitterness, go great with the meal.

I don't use any one make, but rather different makes for different knives and uses. My chef's knife is an Eberhard Schaaf. I like the heft and balance, the edge is the finest I have come across. It just suits my hand. Because I do a good deal of butchery, I depend on my F. Dick cleaver as well - it has held up to countless lamb, duck, pork, guinea hen, beef breakdowns. My flexible boning knife is a no-name. Served me well for over 5 years running, and that through heavy production. Generally, I buy one or two high quality knives - usually, my chef's and paring or utility knife; for specialty knives, I burn through low end knives that will take but not hold an edge, although as I've said, my flexible boning knife, which likely saw as much work as my chef's, has stood the test of time and use.

Bond Girl - I humbly submit your financial acumen is light leagues ahead of mine, but in terms of a startup arrangement, it sounds reasonable to me - I presume you are building adequate management compensation into the arrangement, though, so you have a regular salary (presuming your active involvement in the company)? I'm no lawyer/accountant, but we organized as an LLC as we intended on taking nominal, consistent, "guaranteed payments" monthly in lieu of any presumed profits at the end of the year (hahahahah). Such an arrangement results in a better tax situation, as I understand it, than in a S corp or the like. We were careful, however, to draw only a nominal amount - what we absolutely needed only, as Chef (me) and Front of House Manager (my wife). Many months we drew nothing.

Sorry, double post. Bond Girl, if you're still out there, care to revive this fascinating thread?