Stone

How kosher to you get for Passover? Obviously, I don't keep kosher, and neither do most (almost all) of my friends. Yet when Passover comes around, not only do they keep "Kosher for Passover", they also get Kosher-Kosher. That is, they want my brisket to be kosher, not just wheat free. I always found this illogical. If I eat bacon and eggs the week before Passover, why can't I eat bacon and eggs during Passover, as long as I eat them with Matzoh? Passover is about no leavening, not about the other Kosher rules.

There is no other name for your dog, except Momo. Pehaps Shmoo, but that's just a thought. Tibetan food just aint that great. Momos can be terrific, but they're not a cuisine. I also doubt they even approach the variety or (he he) complexity of Chinese dim sum. Tibetans also make some good soups, but frankly most of the examples I've had wouldn't be so great if not eaten after hiking 8 hours in high altitude. Tibetan food gets a great boost because its often served by Tibetan people, who are, on the whole, terrific. Other than that, what? Some fried noodle dishes? I've been to at least three Tibetan restaurants in the states. They all served bland food that was little more than boiled potatoes in butter, stir fried gristle in butter and butter tea (which is, with all respect to cultural relativism, gross). Sure, these may have been terrible examples of Tibetan food, but on the whole, it's not much of a cuisine. Let's not even start talking about tsampa. Oh, and to answer the original question, "with guns drawn and a-blazing."

There's a Yank Sing in the Rincon Center and another (the nicer of the two I think) on Stevenson Alley (half block off market betwixt 1st and 2nd). They do dim sum (although I think you can get entrees). Basic varieties of steamed and fried dumplings; breaded fried crab claws, sea bass stuff, good chinese broccoli, sauteed tofu. Good stuff, but the bill runs up faster than . . . things that climb trees very fast. I don't think either location does dinner, and the Stevenson Alley location is not open for lunch on weekends. (There was a third location which lost its lease a while back.) Ton Kiang out in the Avenues (Geary & 22) is supposed to have great dim sum, but I've never been there. Here's the deal on my favorite, Jasmine Tea House. I've never been to the actual restaurant, so I have no idea what the ambience is. It's probably not what you're looking for in terms of an authentic SF Chinese location. But the food is amazing. Also great is Shen Hua in Berkely (College Ave?). I've never been to Brandy Ho's, but it gets mixed reviews from friends.

Tibetan food is pretty bad. Sorry, but true.

Are you serious? Really? Budweiser beats Becks or Heineken? Try comparing them when less than ice cold. Budweiser is flavorless and over-processed crap. The perfect match for cheap frozen pizza. Oh, dear me.

Having recently purchased "The Professional Chef" and Peterson's "Sauces", I think there must be a consipiracy to hide the food. Where are the pictures? I thought TPC did a better job, although Sauces has a nice photo section with some techniques and recipes provided in a series of pictures. But even for the section on kitchen implements, photos would have been very helpful.

Soba: Shame on you.

I'm guessing that Ben Pao is the restaurant you go to when you can't get a reservation at Trotters?

Gotta love that happy, cute little fish sign advertising the slaughtered whale beneath it. :) Fish love being slaughtered for food.

You didn't really think people were eating Flipper, did you? I'm curious if anyone knows, would porpoise (Flipper) meat be more mammal-like or fish-like?

A lot of this stuff had to wait for advances in plastic technology, although probably not the upside down bottles.

These are the ones purchased from the company? I assume you can't use any jar.

18 pounds! That must have taken days. I took out the remaining pork last night, chopped it up and threw it in the Lodge with some diced onion. Got it good and crispy and added a few T of bbq sauce (store bought). Took it out and laid the open bun in the remaining fat to toast. Makes a nice sandwich. A nice sandwich.

A scroll on CNN this morning said that the Georgia House is considering a bill to require sweet tea to be served at any restaurant serving regular tea. What the hell is sweet tea?

I remember going into a Korean restaurant years ago and they refused to serve me something because "you wouldn't like it." You know, as much as I wanted to experiement, they're probably right -- for most Americans. (Not that they shouldn't have given it to me anyway.) I wonder if it's just because the majority of Americans (another blanket statements) probably aren't interested in offal and it's not worth it for the restaurant to have it on the menu (may it will even scare away Americans who are already worried about cleanliness and felines). Or maybe it's that "authentic" Chinese food won't appeal to the average American. The experts here refer to "dumbed down" Thai food, etc., but maybe that's what they have to do to sell it to the market. (I have to add, that having spent a few months in Thailand, I don't think the food here is necessarily "dumbed down." There's some pretty bad food in Thailand also.)

Damn. I think I just became a better cook, without entering the kitchen.

T-Man -- I'm just flipping it around. Wilfy makes two reservations, leaving one restaurant crying by the phone saying, "but he said he's show up. I saved him a table." Or the restaurant makes two reservations, just in case, leaving poor W high and dry, jonesing for some offal. Sure he can go next door and find something else, but how many places know how to make a good pizzle?

Can you describe this more? I think it may be what I'm missing. I always find that chicken, for example, has a much different . . .sheen? from a restaurant than when I stir-fry at home. It that velveting?

Hey, that's right near me. Dude, yet again, you rock.

The Foodsaver. Do you have one? Which one? How do you like it? How much do you use it? For what?

Damn. Costco in SF stopped carrying brisket last year. I had to go to Whole Foods -- $5 lb.

Sorry I didn't warn people eariler. But we don't discuss grilling here.

who says? where is that written? putting your made-up definition aside, i would say that wilfrid is *not* bad. at least not for that reason. sometimes. depending. I just did. Look ! I wrote it down. That makes it legit, surely Apart from other considerations, anything that proves that Wilfrid is bad must surely be credible So Jerry and Elaine to in to pick up their rental car: Agent: I'm sorry, we have no mid-size available at the moment. Jerry: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? Agent: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation. Agent: I know why we have reservations. Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them. How would you feel if you showed up on Friday night and was told that they booked two reservations for your table and decided to give the table to a more attractive couple?

I was kind of joking about the wine. However, at my last smoked meat festival, I served Ballantrae Shiraz, 2000, Australia, which the wine folks loved.

Sounds like when I've seen pico, it was being used interchangeably with salsa. My guess is that some want-to-be-different restaurant just called their salsa pico.