Stone

Can you explain why this is? Also -- what size roaster do you recommend? I've seen from 2.5 oz to 8 oz, but I have no idea what that means in beans. Finally -- I've seen your kitchen. Where do you keep all these gizmos?

Maybe this is the right time to tell her she's not a very good cook.

That's what I thought also. But the pictures from the Apizza thread don't seem to have the wood in the oven. And there's this exhange:

That's what I couldn't figure out from the other thread.

This stems from a discussion on another thread. You often see a pizza place advertise "wood burning" ovens or "coal". Does it matter? La Nina points out that the much-ballyhooed DiFara's uses a gas oven. Seems that Mario went with newfangled griddle-pizza when he couldn't put a wood or coal burning oven in his place. I assume that if the wood or coal is in the oven compartment with the pizza, it will affect the taste and texture. But if it's not, what's the diff?

I tried to follow this conversation, but kept getting confused. My question is: if the heat source is not in the oven, who cares whether it's coal, wood or gas? (If you all agreed that the heat source should be in the oven, never mind.) Oh, and that CT pizza looks burnt to me.

Amazon is doing a big promotion on Reidel stemware. Perhaps other more intelligent folks can point out the real bargains (and make me regret my recent purchases of Speiglau). Oh -- and please identify yourself if you purchase the bordeaux maxi cru, for $173 per stem (cheap at 40%), and explain why you need a glass that holds four bottles of wine. (Unless you're tommy, in which case no explanation necessary.)

Any vegetable oil (and any vegetable product) is cholesterol free. However, palm, coconut and other "exotic" or "tropical" oils (as I've seen them called), have an extremely high percentage of saturated fat. I believe much higher than the fattiest cuts of beef. Many fast food snack companies were taken to task a while back for advertising the use of vegetable oil and insinuating (at least that was the claim) that it was healthier. (Of course, the pendulum may have swung back, and for all I know, coconut oil could be the new health food.)

I think his biggest problem is location. Our service was terrific. Certainly not French Laundry style, but who needs that? Since his offerings on Indian food differ so much from what most New Yorkers expect and he focuses on low-fat (lower fat?) tandoori dishes, I think he would clean up if he could open a place in Soho and exploit the rich and wannabies. I can't remember the name of that Thai place -- Kin Khao? -- that was certainly very good Thai, but not much better than most others. It got well positioned in Soho, threw in some trendy ingredients (for most of my friends, it was the first place they saw sticky rice) and became the place to see and be seen eating SE Asian cuisine.

I've been taught to fear coconut oil (and palm oil) for the high content of bad fats. Is this a factor for you?

Starbucks thoughts: People now call out the temperature for their milk (I assumed). (A 135 low foam latte.) I once overheard a kid on a date at an Indian restaurant order "Chai" at the end of the meal. When the waiter asked "masala tea?", the kid got snotty and said "chai!" The waiter asked again, "regular tea or masala?" The kid got rude and said, "I just want chai." A guy at the next table leaned over and said, "chai just means tea in Hindi -- this isn't Starbucks." (Repeated anecdote.) They don't have cashiers, they have register associates. Seriously. I ran into some Europeans (Swiss and Danish), who like Starbucks because they're allowed to sit and drink coffee as long as they want. They claim that regular coffee shops will force them to buy food or such. (Repeated anecdote.) Small, medium, and large was good enough for the boys at Valley Forge, why not for the trend-os at Starbucks? Or is $1.65 for a cup of coffee more palatable if they try to work Italian into the name. Off-topic -- I'm certain that Pete's puts herion into their coffee.

I haven't been there, but Plumpjack?

Yes, I was joking. Although not completely. I find it somewhat odd that a restaurant steeped in "traditional dining" would have a modern logo. It's not a criticism, just an observation. (Oh, if you're referring to the comment on the fuzzy print, that was all joking -- it's from the unfocused camera. The actual clothes pin is sharp and clear.)

I'm curious. Perhaps next time i'm in NY, we can arrange a test: Mixing grain alcohol with OJ in 5%, 5.5%, 6% and 6.5% batches and comparing tastes and time to get pissed.

My guess is that the difference in alcohol in most beers is negligible. Many rookies think strong tasting beers (i.e., stout) must have more alcohol, and weaker tasting beer (American Pale Ales) have less. In fact, my understanding is that the more mouthfeel a beer has, the less starch was converted during mashing, the less sugar fermented, and, therefore, thicker beers have a lower alcohol content. On the other hand, since alcohol is thinner than water (I think that's true), higher alcohol content makes for a thinner beer. Most flavor in beer has nothing to do with alcohol content (until you get to double bocks and barley wines with a significant content), but comes from roasted malts and other additives.

Good list, but what does 100 ml mean in civilization? Is that close to 12 oz? From the looks of the number, I'd say it's about 4oz. (Bud is 135 cal for 12 oz; Bud light is about 100.)

Is this it? The city on the bay has three good, casual seafood places, and one is only open for lunch?

Nothing can please everyone. It's all a matter of taste and expectation.

The most consistent mussels I find are at a place in SF called Plouf. Although it's French, they serve one variety mussels in a coconut milk broth. It's basically Tom Kha Mussles. It's so good that when they took it off the menu (because it wasn't authentic French), enough customers complained and they put it back on. I'd just figure out how to incorporate the mussels into a decent Tom Kha recipe. (But Jin's already explained it.) By the way -- wont whizzing the coriander turn the broth green?

I didn't mind the marinade at all, and I didn't expect much of a seared flavor from the tandoor anyway. I also didn't mind licking my fingers after picking up the bone. Hell, I licked my fingers after I used one to wipe clean my little butter-bowl of oysters and pearls at French Laundry.

I thought the chops were great, although I agree with Steve P. that there's more marinade left on than what I expected. But I liked it. It's different from the "sear it and bung it in an oven" style we're used to. The boar chops were cut oddly, but it produced a thick round, almost tenderloin type of cut. Made for a great mouthful of moist and tender meat. All the chops (lamb, boar and venison -- which was like butter) had a great balance of marinade and natural flavor. I took 7 others to Diwan last week and had the "eGullet menu". I've never said this before, but it was too much food. Next time I will fast for three days. Positively painful. To a person, everyone said it was the best Indian food they'd had. Probably because we all, myself included, are used to receiving only curries at Indian restaurants. Here, the focus was on tandoori cooked meats, and I thought they were great (I usually don't order tandoori chicken in Indian restaurants). I expect that Brits get more of this type of Indian cooking than we do in the U.S. Or it could be that I've never ordered the correct stuff.

I add a 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder or dry red pepper. But I think Shaw is looking more for stuff to enhance the physical texture of the egg, not just the taste.

I think anything at Farrallon would have been too ... dressy? Why is it so hard to find a good, casual seafood place in SF? Shouldn't there be oodles of them?

I still don't get this.

Good answer. I went there a long time ago. I thought the pieces of fish looked as if they were portioned by an accountant.