Bux

A couple of my French friends have lived in Vancouver, where their French was probably useless and in Montreal, where they become trilingual. The number of UK born participants on this site is rapidly making me bilingual. ;)

If nothing else, they were reliable.

Civilians in France use "restau." Then again the French all think they're professional tasters whether they know anything or not, so maybe they're a militia rather then strict civilians.

Faggots? Are they not similar to traditional French gayettes ( I suppose there's chuckle there too) and crepinettes? Why you might as well feign shame at eating andouillette or fromage de tête. The rest of you are fired. ;)

TL, have you tried the garment district. Years ago, I used to love Rinconcito Mexicana on West 39th Street. I won't swear it was authentic, but the guys dropping in for beers after work seemed to be at home. The last lunch I had there was so uninteresting that I didn't care if it was authentic or not, but maybe it's come back or maybe there's some other place in the neighborhood, assuming that's a neighborhood. The place on the Avenue (9th?)--I forget the name, never appealed although I've been in a couple of times.

Good choice. Your life and this site are the better for it.

Today's NY Times has an article on the risks of eating raw alfalfa sprouts, among other raw sprouts. Salmonella is the prime concern. The article notes with some sarcasm that among the sufferers of at least one outbreak are those who were eating the sprouts for what they thought were the health benefits. However, if you are neither very young nor very old and your immune system is in good shape, salmonella is unlikely to kill you. I don't have so much a problem with governmental bans as I do with the substitution of bans for action that could help eliminate or at least reduce the risk at the source. Some locales here in the US have banned the serving of runny eggs rather than insisting that egg farmers clean up their end of the business.

It doesn't directly relate to France at this point, except that if you look at the precautions the two countries are taking rather than the cases discovered in the past, it may make French beef more appealing than American--or should I say American beef less appealing then French. This came up in another board on eGullet.com and I posted the link in your Jan. 12 message in a thread on sweetbreads.

No, he didn't put on any weight. He ran the marathon and came in among the top 4 or 5% although he had never run before and was never an athelete. But he is a Breton and they're very stubborn and persistent.

That's boo-ye as in bouledogue.

Yes. As I recall observation was that his taste buds/palate improved slowly for some time after quitting.

That gives you about five days. It depends if you want to add a train or plane trip to your drving or just drive out from Paris and then how far you like to drive. You could get to Nice and back in five days, but why would you? If you are driving and the weather is not a big concern, I'd go no further than Burgundy or the Loire. the Solonge is sort of between those two areas. It's all good eating as is most of France although it's not like the old days when it was hard to find a bad meal. It's still game and truffle season and most cheeses are good in the winter. We were in the northeast in November and we ate well enough when you consider this is an area of France least known for its gastronomy. Anything you really want to see in the way of sights?

This link has a rather large list of articles written more recently about the US and may be of interest. It was first posted in the France forum by franklanguage. Few people seem to believe that the US ban on animal parts in cattle feed has been 100% effective. That combined with the fact that our testing seems not be as rigorous as that in Europe should be of come concern. Most scientists believe vCJD is related to eating beef from BSE infected cows. They are not the same. One is bovine and the other a human disease. A related disease is fairly rampant in game in the far west. Scary as reading the links on the web site can be, vCJD is probably not the most serious risk we take when eating. Wilfrid, just checked an English/Spanish dictionary and they list both mollejas and lechecillas as sweetbreads. I've read of a ban in France, but sweetbreads were on the menu in some restaurants in France this past November.

As an Englishman living in the US and with a native speaker of Spanish, you should know that neither English nor Spanish speaking people ever use the same word for the same thing in different places. ;-)Forced me to my files. It was only a matter of time anyway. From my menu at La Cocina Aragonesa in Jaca: Lomo de Cordero Relleno de sus Lechecillas We were told "Lechecillas" was a reference to the fact that the gland disappeared after the animal was suckled.

I didn't mean to imply that it was a higher level, but then what I like best about being online is that I can talk with my tongue firmly in my cheek without fear of biting it.Sweetbreads are restaurant food, not because they are perceived as restaurant food, but they are perceived as that because they are perishable and not widely sold (in NY) at the retail level. I suggest it's the perishability rather than the demand. They are also perceived as restaurant food because our mothers didn't cook them. Unfamiliarity is exotic. Exotic puts them at a distance. Or you can read this backwards if you will. All things are relative. Is there an innate value to food except what's printed on the side panel of the label in regard to nutritional content? (Edited by Bux at 3:11 pm on Jan. 14, 2002)

I sense there are great palates among smokers because some great chefs smoke. I nevertheless believe they are handicapping that great palate by smoking. I've told of one chef who quit, and said he was tasting new flavors in the same food after quitting.

I hadn't bought a manzanilla in years and was surprised at how little it had increased in price. Definitely a bargain now, at least here in NY.

It looks like France is a new month to me. ;) I assume you'll be there in the beginning of February or March. Nasty months for weather, at least in the north, but no worse then Philadelphia. Belgium certain has it's attractions and it's no further away than much of France from Paris, but you know Belgium. I could spend a week in Brittany eating crepes and oysters, although there are a couple of exceptional restaurants as well. I can't guaranty much in the way of weather, or should I say you're probably guaranteed to get a lot of weather in your face. The warmest spots, if this is a consideration, are probably the Riviera and the Basque Coast and then the valley north of the Pyrenees running from Perpignan to Bordeaux or Bayonne. The Riviera is just so [raised eyebrows here], well you know, everyone goes there. I've found the Basque region quite interesting. The beaches and the resort towns in the mountains will be a bit dull, deserted and perhaps the more pleasant for that. Before I get too carried away, in which month are you going? How will you travel from Paris and will you have a car while you're elsewhere in France.

You may mislead, confuse and walk me in cirlces, but if you are clever enough to keep my attention, I'm unlikely to tell you to shut up. Even if you veer right as you point me to the left, we may meet if we both go in circles. Okay. Sweetbreads may (or may not as I think about it) be a constant, but preparing them yourself and eating them in a restaurant are two different things. They are perishable and supply lines to a restaurant and to my kitchen are quite different. The talent in my kitchen (I'm a good cook, my wife is better) is no where near that of a very good restaurant let alone a great one. For the most part, restaurant prices rarely reflect the full difference in price of the ingredients. The cost of the dish is determined by overhead more than materials. Thus the difference in price between chicken and sweetbreads may be very little in a restaurant and the difference may be greater in a butcher shop, assuming both are readily available in my community. Therefore the sweetbreads are the bargain in the restaurant and the chicken a bargain at home. We may cook chicken all the time at home and that may make it boring, but it also makes it easy and requires little thinking and less effort. I'm not sure what this says about value or if I'm approaching the subject at your level.

I think we all vacilate between naively expressing the desire for a perfect world and a need to show how wise and skeptical we are. Most of us are able to post from one exteme or the other depending on mood or topic. At the same time a post from one pole is bound to bring the other out in us. There's been some discussion of the profession of food/restaurant reviewer elsewhere on this site. One thing that's been mentioned is that few publications afford a reviewer the budget to make return trips and that few reviewers ever make the four or five visits that are required to get a fair opinion. Few reviews are written with enough knowledge of a restaurant as is. It's just not that important to a newspaper and I assume to its readership. With that in mind, we can ask, as you did, how much can we expect from the field. My guess is that we're underserved but can't expect much more. My guess is that straight vodka or alcoholic cocktails would not be part of Shaw's predinner habit unless he was reviewing a Russian restaurant. I'm not sure if that makes him a better critic, or just one that's subjectively interesting to me. As I mentioned, if the average reader is one who has a martini before, or during, dinner, he's served well by reading someone with his tastes. If you believe a reviewer's job is to instruct as well as write about what he eats, that's another story. Maybe we should go back and review that other thread where I believe one poster said a reviewer's job is to sell newspapers. He's hired on the basis of appealing to the readership, not improving their taste. I think your reviewer is failing in some objective way, but not enough people care and in the end, if your taste is better than the reviewers or your standards are higher, you're on your own, or dependent on a subcommunity of friends and local food lovers you trust. My recollection of your posts here gives me the impression that you've been to NY on several occasions and have traveled abroad. How are the local restaurants and do they warrant closer inspection than currently given? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy traveling and am saddened that eating out is much less fun when I leave NY. I wish every interesting region could match S.F or at least Seattle, but it's rare to come across pockets of restaurants that can make my day. In many places, one is lucky enough to find the Anthony Boudain ideal of good company and lots of alcohol.

Well as a kid, they always used to make me play left field to keep me as far away from the ball as possible. So out of left field, may I ask if an interest (or at least willingness) to pay high prices for fancy inventive food in good restaurants tied to the habit of buying peaches, chicken and olive oil by price rather than establishing quality sources is related to that of which you speak?

I just read the article in the Sunday NY Times Travel section, mentioned by Danielle. Penelope Casas is one of the experts in Spanish cooking. Her books are a good start for someone interesting in gaining some insight into the foods of Spain. It's interesting that some paradors are finally upgrading their food by returning to their roots and preparing good local cuisine. I have limited experience with the paradors. Many are in rather exciting buidlings of more than a little historical as well as architectural interest, but when staying in them, we've usually eaten elsewhere. More often than not it's been by having a large lunch along the road on our way in, or in town if staying more than a day. For many travelers--or should I say "tourists?"--dining in the incredible hall at the Hostal Reyes Católicos, a superb room in a superb ediface, would be a thrill. For me, to eat mediocre food in such a space would be depressing. For that reason alone I think, we left Santiago de Compostella after one night in the parador, to spend a night in a rather nondescript but one Michelin star restaurant with rooms in San Xulian de Sales about nine kilometers outisde of Santiago. After reading this article, I'm enthused about returning to Santiago and eating in the parador. I'am also relieved to hear that they've done away with the hokey and heavy handed theatrical dress that along with some heavy interior decoration reduces some of these historical sites to a Disneyland replica of the real place they are. I've found some of them to be breathtakingly not to my taste. I can say the same thing about fancy Relais et Chateaux places in France as well. ;-)

My guess is that she's more adept at reviewing martinis than meals and honest enough to let her readers know that. I have two thoughts on this. One is that some smokers and drinkers have better palates than some who abstain. At the same time, I believe those who smoke and who drink before dinner would have an even sharper palate if they abstained. Taken together, those would imply that she's not being professional. Then again maybe she understands she's writing for a public at large, most of whom probably take a cocktail before dinner and maybe through dinner. I don't know how sophisticated her reading public is, and I'm using my subjective definition (I strongly suspect it's yours as well, from your post) of sophisticated diner. Lest you feel I'm indicting your fair city, I'll remind you that the reviewer from the NY Times when asked about his qualifications just before beginning his job, responded that if the Times wanted the most knowledgeable person they would have picked a certain chef. This did not stop the reviewer from insultingly reviewing that chef's restaurant within a few months. Maybe the woman really knows food and feels she needs a palate handicap to put her reviews on a par with NYC reviews. Jinmyo's sarcasm about the "profession" is not unwarranted and where is Fat Guy's response?

Hmm. I don't know. The more I know about anything the more of a connoisseur I want to become and in turn, the more money I spend on that thing. I don't know that I can afford to appreciate really good sake. I do know that when I've been to restaurant where I've ordered a more expensive bottle, I've really noticed the flavor. I also remember Stephen Beckta, who was sommelier at Cafe Boulud in NY, and is now at 11 Madison Park, recommending a sake with one of the hors d'oeuvres at Cafe Boulud. I forget the particulat food, but it was a great match. There's certain no hard reason to avoid mixing and matching European and Asian foods and wines. Go ahead, start a new thread on sake. I'm all ears, or perhaps in terms of my monitor--all eyes (and an open gullet). I've been enjoying cold sakes. (Edited by Bux at 2:17 pm on Jan. 14, 2002)

I met a wine maker in the Cotes du Rhone. Parker had just given his wine a pretty good rating and he was pleased that his bank was pleased. He noted that winemakers in the area speak of "parkerizing" their wines. I.e., making them to Parker's taste. As for CAD empowering architects, it's hard to imagine Gehry's Guggenheim being built without a computer to put it on paper.