Bux

How can you trust anyone's palate? I don't smoke. I don't like the taste or smell of tobacco smoke and I'm personally thrilled that I no longer have to endure smoke in NYC restaurants. One chef I know gave up smoking and told me that his palate was receptive to a whole new range of tastes, but does that prove his palate before he gave up smoking was not superior to mine, or that his current sensitivity to flavors is better than some other chef or critic who smokes? Would the horse with the lightest jockey always win the race? Don't bet on it. I'll agree that the reviewer in question is operating under a handicap, assuming I knew for sure that the reviewer smoked. I can't open that link by the way.

I've never been there, and can't dispute any comment made that this is the best, or most creative chef that's ever walked the face of the earth, but for him to have been influential, let alone as influential as Adria, for the past two decades would mean that he's affected the work of other chefs and that his influence has been international. I'm curious how this can be if he gets little or no mention in the international culinary press and I've not heard much about him. Mind you, I'm not disputing the groundbreaking aspect of his cooking, it's just that claims of his influence seen exaggerated. Where might I taste the fruits of his influence in the US, France or Spain?

I'm not sure what I found matched the image I had from the first press releases, so I'd like to add some comments. For one thing, I rather expected a much more vast operation. The scale of this operation is far more manageable than I had expected. The second photograph gives you a good idea of the size of each of the four storage rooms. There are two racks of shelves with an aisle between them. Each room must be no more than seven or eight feet wide and maybe ten or twelve feet long. Although cheeses may fall into a myriad of categories, for the sake of storage conditions here, the four rooms are each optimized in terms of temperature and humidity, for one of four broad categories. As I recall, there were the hard cheeses and tommes, the generally soft ripening cheeses with a "bloom" on the surface, cheeses with washed rinds, and goat cheeses. How long a cheese is likely to remain in one of these rooms is likely to have a lot to do with the condition in which it arrives and how well the type of cheese is likely to mature outside the environment in which it's made and how well it keeps in general. From what I could see, there's no attempt made to "make" cheese or even to exert an influence on how the cheese develops by continuing to wash the rind for instance. Having seen this operation, I'd now be curious to see the storage conditions at some of the best affineurs in Paris or Lyon. My only experience has been in touring one of the massive production operations such as the Bee Society in Roquefort or the garages of artisanal producers of chèvre in France. Although popular mythology conjures up an image of cheese made in limestone caves with mold from the walls delivering wild spores to the process, it's far from the actuality of the laboratory conditions under which the mold is cultivated on rye bread and under which the cheese is inoculated. All of this occurs in rather sterile conditions to eliminate the chance of contamination by wild spores. The cheese is aged in caves deep under ground with elevators accessing the different levels, but the walls are made of stone not mold. Nevertheless, there is no need for air conditioning. I forgot to ask here, how they fared during the blackout. Those well insulated rooms should maintain a level temperature for some considerable time, but I wonder if they had, or have thought of installing back up generators. In spite of growing interest in cheese and the rise of artisanal producers in the US, I think our laws as well as our traditions keep us a relatively cheese deprived nation. One of the problems is that even the cheeses that are legal to import are often so poorly stored and handled on their way to the retail level that it's no wonder we don't have more cheese connoisseurs in the US. I think Brennan's facility is a large step in the direction of remedying this. Meanwhile in Europe, where making cheese has long been an art and a craft, the E.U. bureaucrats are busy making laws that have already had negative affects on the quality of cheese sold there. I was fascinated to hear that Valdeón, a blue cheese made largely from cow's milk in Leon, but not all that far from Asturias where they make Cabrales, is traditionally wrapped in sycamore leaves and that the E.U. prohibits it from being shipped between the various members of the union unless the leaves are replaced by foil, while we permit importation of the original cheese. That we can get a Spanish cheese that's closer to the one the Spanish eat, then the Belgians can, is hardly reason for me to stop traveling, but there's some small satisfaction there. That, and Gamonedo, were the two highlights of the cheeses for me at Gerry's tasting. Gamondedo is also a blue cheese, but the veining is naturally acquired, unlike Roquefort or most blues and doesn't reach far below the surface of the cheese. Few of the slices cut, revealed any sign of blue. The Gamonedo had a thick crumbly rind and if I recall correctly, it was smoked. It had the distinctive taste of meaty bacon to me.

Even the real people came across as scripted and from central casting whether they were playing themselves or a fictional character. That's what makes it so easy for many not to treat them as real people with real feelings. It's like Seinfeld--Jerry played Jerry, but George was played by a guy named Jason.

I am nor so disciplined that I would do that, but it's a great book. And it's a great book for understanding charcuterie as much as it is for having decent recipes.

I would definitely advise the breakaway pans if you're doing anything en croute. On the other hand, you'll want one that's one piece and doesn't leak otherwise. If you're unmolding a terrine it really doesn't matter if it's enamelled cast iron, porcelain or some metal loaf pan although it may affect the cooking time. If you're serving it out of the terrine, it should be a terrine (clay or porcelain oven ware) or a Creuset just for the esthetic value. The material and the cross section of the pan will affect the timing. Otherwise I see no reason why you can't adjust the rest of the recipe, or at least the measurements of the ingredients to suit the size of your terrine. Use a meat thermometer to check that the pork is cooked to the right degree. A terrine or Creuset pan will hold the heat and continue cooking a bit after you remove it from the oven.

I have found that even wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator, it can appear to have an indefinite life span, but it can dry out and it can lose flavor. I imagine vacuum packing would be an improvement to just plastic warp, even the really sticky kind, but I'd prefer to eat it as freshly cut as possible. Ideally, as one can do in Italy, I'd hope to buy it in small quantities from a shop that sells at least a wheel a day. Outside of Italy, that may be hard to do, but not impossible.

I don't know that I would have braved oysters or steak tartare with 100 degree F. temperatures. You're a brave soul. I think we recently had a thread somewhere about a rise in gastrointestinal incidents in Paris this summer. Perhaps pastis is the best medicine.

We're up to 49 pages (on my screen) and I'm not going back to find Fat Guy's comment made earlier in response to Tony Bourdain's quote of something Eric Ripert said, but basically he reminded readers that the French idolize Jerry Lewis as an intellectual for his comedy. The Rocco Restaurant show should go over bigger in France, dubbed in, than Iron Chef did here. I'd love to have Ducasse, Jean George and Daniel post on this.

I find much of the new cusine in Spain, and elsewhere, not an easy match for wine. To a great extent, it's led to a more relaxed approach to selection however. I often see the wine as another taste at the table and something to drink between the little courses as much as something to complement the individual courses. As a first time diner in many of the restaurants, without first hand experience with the food served there, it's hard to match wines to the style of the chef, let alone the food. It would be nice to see more pairings perhaps. When I've dined at El Bulli, I've been reminded of a dinner in Tokyo at a friend's house. There was a progression of foods, both western and Japanese. New foods would arrive at the table often before other dishes were finished. At times during the meal, plates were cleared, but there was not quite a rigid sense of courses. Of more relevence was the "wine" service. Wine, beer, sake and other libations arrived at the table and with each came a special glass. From time to time a bottle was finished, but there was no strict sense that it was time to switch beverages and we all drank from the various glasses in rotation. That's not at all how it happens at El Bulli, but it might be a way to way to consider in the future as this style of dining evolves.

There's no question in my mind that those coming from a background of dining at starred restaurants in France and those who've done most of their dining in Spain will have very different perspectives on what's expensive. I also think it's fair to say Santamaria is not pushing the envelope in the way some cutting edge chefs in Catalunya are. That's a plus and a minus and each of us will have a different balance. However much I may rave about any restaurant or chef, I know the restaurant may not have the same appeal to every single diner and I welcome any information I've not included that will help guide the right diners to the right restaurants.

I suppose it's all subjective, but when we ate there we thought it was far from an ordinary experience. Either one doesn't prize this sort of food at all, or I'd like to know where I can eat that would make Can Fabes look ordinary by comparison.

Bread charges or cover charges seem achronistic to Americans and even to those who have traveled in France in recent decades. Look at the price of the whole meal and compare it to what you might pay in another country or elsewhere in Spain. The tasting menu price includes the bread charge in most restaurants.

My guess is that Lou's free time may be close to nonexistent at this point and her concentration is on getting all she can from being a kitchen slave. I suspect she's got her mind on not screwing up during the first week as well. The rest of us have either got to be patient or get ourselves a stage in Ducasse's kitchen if we want to know more quickly.

From Guajolote's Pimentón link:

Amy, you have no need for artificial kindness from me, unless it's to chide you for thanking us for reading your post. I thank you for that post. Well at least I thank you for providing an interesting post that confirms a good reason for our interest in covering the coast between Bibao and Galicia. I'm less happy to have that interest heightened as we're solidifying reservations that will take us to la Rioja for a few days rather than on into Asturias after the Pais Vasco, but life is full of little disappointments. I don't know what league you take us to be, but dining and talking about food is a noncompetitive sport and eGullet is a place where we play for the love of the sport, not to win or lose. I could give you a dozen reasons why we welcome posts at varying levels of knowledge and even appreciation. I think your post has added a real dimension to this thread and I hope we hear more from you, because I sense you belong here and will enjoy the exchange of opinions as well as benefit from participating as I do.

dallardice, I think I support your interpretation, as modified by Alex. They're certainly not pushing the wine and the cava they recommended to us was most reasonable, although I also recall a red that was less reasonable and a bit too heavy for the food in my opinion, but maybe at that time they read us as serious about wine or maybe they thought a heavier wine would lead us to drink less quickly. My wife drinks at least as much as I do, and one of our friends, with whom we've dined twice at El Bulli drinks at a far more rapid rate than we do. I don't recall if glasses ever went dry, but if they kept up with our friend, I'd say they were really on top of things. Yes, the policy, or the service, if you will, is 'makework.' Isn't that the essence of good service? It is a pair to the cooking. At our first meal, the comment was made that this may have been the most labor intensive meal any of us had ever eaten. I think it's also food that's best taken with wine in moderation. Dinner at El Bulli is not a Rabelaisian experience, which is not imply that those evenings are not equally welcome in my book.

I don't find that wine serving policy exactly unusual, but I think you answer your own question in the next paragraph. Few places are so attentive as to offer this level of service. If the truth be told, I'd just as soon most restaurants left the wine on the table and allowed me to pour my own wine if they can't do it as it's done at El Bulli. There are few service offenses for which I have little tolerance--having an empty wine glass, and seeing an unequal amount of wine in the glasses at the table, particularly when the bottle is empty and we are not finished with the course.

Need you really ask? This is eGullet. El Bulli 1998-2002

I wonder if we haven't already exhausted all of the places by the water in Marseille in this thread.

Hey that new waitress got more on camera time because of her heels. Makes me want to ask about the last bar she worked in however. It's kind of interesting how she appears out of the blue in the last episode and apparently clueless about waiting tables (the shoes did it for me). She's an attractive addition to the cast and it makes me wonder if someone high enough up in the production got lucky, so to speak. This is show biz after all. Speaking of getting lucky, the article on Rocco, Get Real in the September 2003 Gourmet co-executive chef Tony Acinapura is quoted talking about set up situations. Is he referring to what we saw on TV from the wrong side of the powder room door, does some camera man have an entertaining "home movie," or is there a DVD version to come--brought to you by the guys who did "College Girls Gone Wild on Spring Break?"

Then go to his restaurant, it appears there's not much chance he's cooking. I certainly have no real information and the way the show is edited, we have no idea of the sequence of events, but it appeared as if several people slipped on the wet mat over the course of the show and they never got good coverage. It also appears as if they soaked the rubber pretty well with a very soapy solution and then set up a camera with a good view to catch an accident after which they could rollout the non slip mats. There's just no entertainment value in having experienced restaurateurs (between Rocco and Chodorow, how many restaurants do they have?) understand the need for non slip mats in that location from past experience and a good fall is always good for a laugh. You would have thought Gideon's fall would have been enough, but maybe they weren't happy with the camera angle and he wouldn't do it again for the cameras. For all I know, the last waitress to fall was a stunt girl hired specifically to take the fall. I have a distorted image of reality. I'd love to hear a lawyer's eye view of the liability issues invovled. I'd love to see the release forms the waiters had to sign and wonder if all the clauses would hold up in court. It's hard to believe that if there was more than twenty minutes of reality in the whole show that there aren't a dozen law suits already filed against someone involved in the restaurant/TV show. Hmmm. Now that you mention it, that would explain a lot.

Apparently they kidnapped the first group. Did anyone else notice that it was a Campus Bus parked in front of the restaurant, but a Hamptons Jitney bus on the road?

Many years ago at Arzak, the hostess heard us discussing the tasting menu and commenting that there were some dishes on the a la carte menu each of us wanted and she suggested we each order three dishes each a la carte and that she would have each dish split and brought out as a progression of six courses. We were delighted to find each dish plated as if it were intended to be served as a half portion. We've never thought to order half courses, but we have asked to have dishes shared in Spain since. Sometimes they are plated and sometimes they are brought out and placed in the center of the table in a serving dish with a clean plate for each of us to use--sort of family style. We've noticed that sharing of dishes at a table to be common in certain restaurants. We've seen tables of six order three or four appetizers to be shared. Not infrequently, we've found three half courses and dessert more than ample for two in hearty local restaurants. Not a lot of restaurants in France are amenable to this practice, but Lion d'Or in Romorantin in the Loire, encouraged diners to compose a tasting menu by noting which courses could be split and shared.

It surprised us as to experience it as well. We don't confuse Spain with Mexico or Puerto Rico, but we generally think of it as a more relaxed culture that northern Europe and one that enjoys the pleasures of the table along with France and Italy. "Rushed" is a relative term of course, but it sometimes struck us that in a starred restaurant where they were clearly not going to turn our table, the service struck us as too efficient at times.