Bux

Your boss is wrong. Cry-o-vac and sous vide doesn't even sound very appetizing to me, but it evidently works if done right. Sous vide is just about the chef getting more control over how he cooks his food. We had a long thread about home chefs using the technique successfully.

I'm almost certain they serve the public for lunch and dinner. I suspect much if not most of the lunch traffic is from diners not staying in the rooms. I'd tend to doubt that too many guests took both lunch and dinner. It's not much of a resort and I'd guess that those who were staying several days, would be out sightseeing away from the town and the inn during the day. On the other hand, I've just had dinner and stayed one night, so I don't know from first hand experience, but I've not heard of any three star restaurant that served only the hotel guests.

You're welcome, but no kidding, foreign travel brings one in contact with an array of confusing terms and I have a mind like a sieve, but at those prices, I ought to have some idea of what I'm buying. I'm grateful to Victor and the other Spaniards on the site for straightening much of that stuff out for me. Which is not to say I still don't need more lessons than I can give. Edit to say: I see Pedro's just been giving a lesson while I was posting. I'll take a seat in the back of the class next to Pim. In terms of slicing, die hard aficionados of fine ham believe mechanical slicers run too fast, heat up the meat and ruin the taste. Certainly for art and a sense of place, nothing competes with seeing the entire ham behind the bar and watching an expert slice it by hand. I would assume those prepacked offerings, even at better shops are all sliced by machine. In any event, I don't think Robuchon is the place to enjoy Jamon. Even in Paris I suspect there are better places. I've defended the quality of the food at l'Atelier de JR and the value of a meal there, but I don't think ham is a good buy. A bit off topic, but Bellotta-Bellotta on rue Jean Nicot has been recommeded to me for Spanish tapas and ham in Paris. I never made it there. It was not so surprising as I was on my way to San Sebastian when the recommendation was made.

I'm reminded just a bit of the torta santiago, a Galician flat almond cake. Brittany and Galicia share a Celtic heritage. The music and use of bagpipes is a strong part of that heritage, but Galicia doesn't get it's use of almonds from that. Outside of a common interest in simple seafood, there's not much shared in the way of gastronomy between the two areas. Each owes more to the larger country of which it's a part when it comes to food.

That "not all iberico hams are created equal" is very good and very important advice although I don't ever recall having bad ham in Spain. Jabugo, Bellotta and Joselito are not all brands however and thinking of them as different brands or grades is bound to casue some confusion. It's unfortunate that someone seems to have trademarked the term "jabugo" in the US. It would be like trademarking the name "champagne" or "roquefort," unless that someone happens to be an association protecting the rights of those who raise pork in Spain. I don't know that is the case as the web page for jabugo.com has been taken by a web source for Spanish products. Jabugo, to the best of my knowledge, is the name given the ham from the "black foot" pata negra breed of pig. Bellotta is the Spanish work for acorns and when applied to ham it signifies the pig from which the ham is made was fed on a diet of acorns. Joselito is a brand name and its generally agreed they make the best ham in Spain, but even they make more than one quality. A jam bearing all three words should be of the highest quality found. Such hams are very expensive, even in Spain. That real jamon, cured in Spain from pigs raised and slaughtered in Spain, has not yet been available in the US may be the reasons some are shocked by prices brought by top quality ham in Spain. I'll look for one of our resident experts to edit and amend my definitions.

Raw lobster is not tough the way raw beef may be. For the most part, lobster, shrimp, scallops, etc. turn rubbery and tough when over cooked. Cook them long enough after that and they weill begin to tenderize again. Squid is something I've had just quickly sauteed, or stewed for a long time. In between, it's rubbery. If the lobster is coming out rubbery or tough, I suspect it's being over cooked because raw lobster shouldn't be rubbery. I don't recall the lobster I had at Per Se being at all tough. As I recall, it was claw meat and it was fricasseed. I thought many of the "composed" meat, fish and salad dishes at Per Se were not as vibrant as the simpler dishes which were absolutely brilliant. The less complex the dish appeared to be on the plate, the more complex it seemed in my mouth. Why would I rate the meal worthy of a four star restaurant if every dish wasn't the best of its type I've ever had? Simply it's because if one restaurant served an eight or nine course meal in which every single course was better than any thing I'd ever had before there woudln't be any other restaurant in the four star division. There were no "bad" dishes. The least exciting dish was still flawless. The best dishes were as good as I've had. While I'm loathe to say Per Se is the best restaurant in NY, I'm not sure there's one other I'd honestly give the title. If I did have a favorite it might be based on subjective aspects. I'm not sure I'd honestly believe it should be everyone's favorite. The concept of absolute best is not one with which I'm very comfortable anyway.

From what I've seen of Breton pastry, they yellow could have come from the amount of butter used. Bretons love their butter dearly and it's wonderful stuff. Sometimes I think they bake and make caramels simply as a way of preserving the butter with sugar.

Bux, you must be referring to boquerones en vinagre. ← Si señor. I was searching for the spelling. I should never trust finding it on google. The web is full of misspellings. On the other hand, "bocarones" may well be the French spelling and an acceptable English spelling as well. I always ask for boquerones in my local shop, but it's an Italian shop and I have to correct myself and ask for the "anchovies in vinegar." The ones I get exported from Italy to the US, make it well worthwhile bringing them back from Spain. The ones I've found in NY are too acidic, perhaps to keep longer and not nearly as fat as the ones I will see in bulk or even in small jars in the market in Spain, or at least in San Sebastian and Barcelona. I should add Madrid as well though I miss the regional quality I don't find in markets in Madrid. It's the same way shopping in Paris. The quality is excellent, but it misses the atmosphere.

I have to wonder how disproportionately large a number of tables eGullet Society members will occupy at elBulli this summer, but the greater effect may be seen at Rafa's where there are even fewer tables. I wonder how many of the guests at elBulli are visiting the restaurant from the area as locals or even as vacationers staying in Roses or the nearby area, and how many are in town just for dinner at elBulli. Then I have to wonder how many have turned what might have been a one night stay in Roses to more than that just to drop by Rafa's. Rafa does take reservations a week ahead, but won't guarantee he'll have anything worth eating that day. We were advised to call confirm early in the afternoon to see if he has a catch for dinner. To tell the truth, a call a week in advance seemed to catch them off guard as if they've not yet come to expect that.

Of all the canned fish and seafood, I'd favor some nice plump anchovies. I favor the white bocarones over the standard anchovies one usually finds in the markets in the US, but they have a much shorter shelf life, even if they're not opened.

There are many who believed that Crayeres had not deserved 3 stars for a number of years. I would describe this as a deferred demotion, waiting for Boyer's retirement, rather than a perfunctory one. ← Thanks, I've not been to les Crayeres, but I've been touched by some of the comments others have made about the restaurant and about Thierry Voisin. While I've expressed the feeling that some gastrotourists stay away after a change in the kitchens in an often unfair, but predictable manner, I'm not unaware that many people build up a subjective love for a restaurant that allows them to overlook faults in the food and service. Even as I pass on comments or report on what I've heard, I take them with a grain of salt.

I would say my most frequent breakfast in Paris these days is an espresso accompanied by a couple of croissants at the bar. That's assuming I've risen early enough to grab a cup of espresso while the bar still has croissants. I've been known to sit at a table as well, inside or out. Invariably, if standing at the bar, I'm surrounded by locals. That's not always so at the tables, especially outdoor tables. The "real Paris" is sitting at an outdoor cafe, but tourism is one of Paris' major industries. The real Paris is a city of tourists as much as anything else. When in Paris, act like a tourist perhaps. If I am going to take a table and linger longer than it takes to down a small espresso, and it's cold enough to choose an indoor location where the doors are closed, I might well opt for a salon du thé where there are by custom, fewer people smoking and the coffee is often better as are the croissants -- usually. I don't ever recall seeing no smoking signs in salons du thé, but I rarely see people smoking in them.

That Thierry Voisin is not there is the bad news for some who knew what he could do and who loved his food. As for the rating, it's not abnormal for Michelin to demote a restaurant when the chef retires even if his number two man takes over and generally before they even get to judge whether or not he's doing as well as his predecessor. Fans of Thierry Voisin should see it as anything but good news that he's not had the chance to prove himself. Voisin not only worked at Les Crayeres for a decade and a half, but he was the chef for half that period even before Boyer retired from the restaurant, yet the restaurant has suffered a loss of a star and apparently a downturn in business only after Boyer retired officially. My suggestion is that the Boyer name brought fickle gourmands looking for the famous chef, not the restaurant's food. I'd love to hear from reliable sources if the quality of the meal decreased or if Michelin merely gave it a perfunctory demotion as is it's usual practice. (Usual, but not compulsory. Loiseau kept it's third star after the chef committed suicide. One wonders if Michelin was moved by the memory of a chef whose fear was to lose a star.) It's always good news when a talented chefs comes to command a restaurant kitchen, but that's always tainted when he replaces another talented chef and it should not be unexpected to see the old chef's fans register their disappointment Here's a post from a year and a half ago.

Is it a dialect, or a language of its own? In any event I'll get to that when we get to Asturias. In the meantime I'm busy enough getting a working knowledge of Catalan. Fortunately between Esilda's command of Spanish and our familiarity with French, Catalan is often comprehensible and I'd always expect a Spanish menu. I trust that expectation is not unfounded, but I have been running into web pages that are Catalan only.

I suggest the person who might know is Harold McGee himself. The e-mail address given on his web site to contact him is harold@curiouscook.com. As for translations of the 1984 edition, you should be aware that the 2004 edition is considerably larger and contains not only revisions to information in the 1984 edition, but whole new sections. It really renders the earlier edition obsolete.

I've had too many breakfasts of mediocre croissants and bad coffee to ever suggest one take breakfast at anything less than a good hotel. The problem with good hotels, and especially with one with a good buffet, is that it's several hours before I'm out on the street seeing Paris and it's hard working up an appetite for lunch, which means I'm then looking for some sort of snack late in the afternoon and ruining my appetite for dinner. A cafe with a good espresso and good croissants near my hotel is always a joy to find quickly. More often than not, my preference is for the bar rather than a table.

Absolutely, just as soon as I run out of restaurants I have to try. I have focused so much on eating out in the province of Catalunya that I've hardly made a dent in my list of worthwhile Barcelona restaurants. My wife is always suggesting we rent a house somewhere in France or Spain. She keeps telling me that since I enjoy the market so much I would enjoy having a kitchen and I tell her it's enough to know what's in season so I know what to order at the restaurants. One of the things I most value about markets is the chance to put together the names with the foods. This is especially true of the fish and seafood.

Erizo de mar is sea urchin, but in fact, whenever I've seen sea urchin on a menu, it's just been listed as erizo. It may be that no one eats hedgehog, so the distinction is not necessary. I'm not even sure how many people in Spain eat sea urchin. We had it as part of a dish in Galicia once. After spotting it on the menu, we asked the waiter if it was a common ingredient in Galicia and he replied saying it's hardly eaten at all in Galicia, but that it's very popular in neighboring Asturias. In Puerto Rico, erizo is always sea urchin, but then they don't have any hedgehogs.

Not even a small mention of Frank Bruni for making it easier to find a seat?

I don't understand why it's inherently good to be creative and inherently bad to search for perfection. Moreover, I don't see why it's bad for a creative artist to change from a focus on creating new works, to a focus on refining old works as he matures. There's far too much subjectivity trying to pass as objectivity in some criticism and has been noted earlier in the thread, knowing what the dish is called on the menu is not the same as knowing how it tastes. That Hestom Bllumenthal doesn't strive to be Ferran Adrià of Daniel Boulud would seem to be a good thing, whether he's half the cook they are, or twice the cook they are. The reasons how and why a chef aquires a public reputation may, or may not, be related to why he is loved or despised by any group of connoisseurs who understand his work. I'm a great fan of local produce, sustainable farming and seasonal menus, but I have to grant that if I will only enjoy strawberries and tomatoes at the height of the local season here in the northeaster US, at what time of year may I enjoy bananas and coffee? I suppose that if I had a house in the Caribbean and spent a good deal of time there, I'd only eat locally grown bananas. They do taste better by the way.

I always enjoy a visit to the Boqueria market, but as a visitor to Barcelona, I don't have a kitchen. Sometimes, when I'm in the market, I really miss having a kitchen, but the feeling passes as soon as I find a place at a bar or a seat in a restaurant. I would very much enjoy reading about how others shop and cook from their purchases in the market however.

That's interesting. I've had some foie gras ice cream here in the states. It was part of a tasting menu in which Mrs. B and I received different dishes for each course. I thought it was excellent, but I only had a little bite. It was served to my wife and that's all she would part with in spite of her fear that she'd never be able to finish the entire meal. It was that good. Needless to say we didn't think the version served by Daniel in NYC was anything but excellent. Maybe a childhood of chopped chicken liver with schmaltz prepared me for the mouth feel. Maybe it's a second generation thing and maybe Daniel's kitchen is better suited to taking idea and making them work. I don't know. I don't mean to cast aspersions on the technical abilities of Blumenthal and the Fat Duck kitchen. I didn't find any technical errors when I ate there. The only ice cream I remember was the mustard ice cream.

It was certainly made to appear that way, though he exercised poor judgment in choosing that particular example. I mean, it's certainly legitimate to withhold stars if there's an overall lack of professionalism in the restaurant. But if the service issues rise to that level, is there not a better illustration than an isolated remark by the coat-check girl? ← Call it artisitic license for someone who's writing to an audience that's not made up of those obsessed with food. I don't know which is more frightening, that there are those who are more obsessed with food than I am, or that the majority of those eating out, even in fine restaurants don't care all that much about food. Seriously though, somehow that remark struck a chord with me. It's so out of character with the service I've had at any of the Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants that I have trouble believing it's representive of the restaurant's level of service. It did remind me of the time a waiter stopped to interject a comment in the conversation we were having at the table. The three of us at the table were dumbstruck. It was a relatively upscale hotel dining room in Manhattan, not a diner somewhere. Back to your point. That the isolated remark by the coat check girl doesn't stick out to me, actually reinforces the brunt of your argument.

You should be able to work in a small detour and a few hours in a redwood forest park on the ay up or the way down. I'll have to check my maps. And if she doesn't like nature, there's art. Hess, a Swiss collector of modern and contemporary art has a winery, aptly named the Hess Collection. In addition to the winery, he's built a museum that displays rotating exhibits of the work he owns. Much of it is quite noteworthy. In the meantime, we'll have to work on your other half.

Possibly an understatment as well. One of the remarkable things about elBulli, as I understand is currently the preferred spelling, is that for all its reputation as serving innovative and even outrageous food, (I don't think it's outrageous) it's a very professionally run three Michelin star restaurant with the polished service one should expect from the best restaurant in any country. Okay, they don't have a footstool for your handbag and they don't have a lovely young lady accompany you to the men's room and turn the door know for you. Yes most of the food is thoroughly enjoyable on all levels. What's not to like.