jaybee

Didn't a Kyoto Doctor Heimlosan invent a technique for expelling mochi balls stuck in old Japanese men?

If I send you my Fedex # will you send me an Arpege Egg?

See, that's just the kind of "little detail" that can make a huge difference that PW might have left out or not been told about.

Sometimes, Her Royal Wellness omits some little trick or thing that is in the orignal recipe. Or maybe the eggs won't be farm fresh. But only someone who ate the "real thing" will know. Really fresh eggs (as in laid that day) are noticabley better. The yolks are, well, eggier, and the white is like a thin clear liquid, not mucousy. The taste is more pronounced too. Sadly, farm fresh eggs are hard to come by in the big city in winter.

Ain't it the truth? The idea that good things come to those who wait seems to have gone in the rubbish bin. Instanter the better. Young 'uns drive the same way. They'll run you off the road for ten feet of tarmack. I wonder if they're as fast on the trigger in other endeavors?

Have you made this, Lizziee? Is it difficult to do? (I mean cutting the egg shell without breaking it)

Gertrude Jeykle would disagree with you. (Are you including landscape design and execution in your definition of gardening)?

My impression of Macrosan is that he is a kind and good man without malice for whom the benefits of faith are real. If it works for him, why should he not make it part of his life? I'm sure he is not personally cutting people out of his life because of their dietary restrictions. You (and I) are more willing to recognize the societal harm done and the hypocrisy behind what poses as righteousness. I discovered a book on a search of kashruth that exposes the extortionary aspect of selling the seal to food companies, and how it is a huge con game. I'll see if I can relocate it.

I can't get a Handel on that.

This part is cool...

No dietary restrictions here, eh? Glory be to the BG.

Four members of the Egullet cabal lunched at Shopsin's today. After consuming Sloppy Joe, Malasian shrimp soup (I forgot its real name), a soup of sweet potato, and another dish the name of which escapes me, a dish of freshly baked cinnamon jelly donuts and a bowl of bread pudding were placed on front of us. A milkshake made with white chocolate was also slurped down by one of our number. The jelly donuts and bread pudding are worth the trip to Carmine Street. Please note that the former was a "special" so may not be available on any given day. The pudding is a standard. It is covered in a perfect caramel,with just the right level of sweetness, and has the consistency of noodle pudding. The cream melts from the warmth of the bread making a wonderfully rich soup. I will leave it to others in the cabal to describe the meal. This is a fun and tasty place to lunch. It is a wonderful place to bring out of town guests.

I suspicioned that too much woodcock was a bad thing. That's why I restrain myself.

Quaffs, Jon?

There was a time when I was totally bonkers over sushi and sashimi. I ate it several times a week. Then curiously, a couple of years ago, I fell out of love with it. Oh, I still enjoy a good sushi meal now and then. But I no longer crave it. I don't know the reason for the change. It just happened. Are there any foods that have worn out their welcome with you?

Ditto LXT. I'm glad you've weighed in here. Regarding sausages or starvation, did you read the earlier link about food distribution in Florida during a hurricane and the refusal of kosher folk to eat what was available?

Damn right. There was all that slewing and smoting, blinding and stuff. Didn't Abe kill his brother because he didn't pony up a good enough gift to Him? Some of the lyrics to The Messiah are about smashing non-believers with rods of steel, breaking them like potters vessles. That's very inspirational, i'nit? I'm for pork, camel burgers, catfish pie and apple pan dowdy and enough of this hypocritcal baloney from whatever pulpits you like.

I believe catfish are verboten too. There's no prohiition of eating gill-netted dolphins. But there is against swordfish. It's all very rational, you see. Camel meat is a no no because they were the primary means of transportation. Now there are automobiles, they should be put back on the eat list.

Macrosan, your acceptance of God's law as it applies to dietary constraints is certainly one explanation of why some people behave that way. However, there is an underlying truth to much religious "law" that is not as idealisitc or altruistic as you make it out to be. If G. Johnson's post about the origins of the Hindu proscription of beef eating is accurate, it is typical, I'm sorry to say, of much religious "law." That is, it is designed to serve a particular person or people's needs for power and control. It is fundamentally political. I think the fundamental argument here is between those who seek some sort of nobility or devine-ness in religiously based dietary rules, and those who see them as perverse and hypocritical devices. It is particularly repugnant when people who claim to be "holy" in their designs and desires turn out to be merely exploiting others who are prone to believe. And by creating artificial barriers between people, harm is done. Humans are, by nature, tribal animals. We seek out those closest to ourselves, since they present the least risk and the most comfortable familiarity. For organized religion to create rituals and behaviors that further separate people and mark some as the "other" is, it seems to me, destructive to the whole, however beneficial it may be to individuals.

The comparison of dietary prohibitions across religions or cutures is interesting. I wonder what the commonalities and differences are, for example between the Hindu prohibition of eating beef and the Muslim and Jewish prohibitions of eating pork; or for that matter between the Jewish and Muslim pork prohibitions?

Schneering at those who violate Jewish law is common practice in Brooklyn. Schnorring, on the other had, is encouraged. Schmoozing while schnorring is necessary. Schneering at a schmoozing schnoorer eating traif is de rigeur.

What they said. Is there somewhere in Ivan's review where he says what he thinks of the food?

Spit (my own).

As a kid, I used to favor non-pareilles while watching the strippers at the Empire Burlesque in Newark. As I got more sophisticated, I switched to chocolate trufffles with liquid centers. I liked bursting them with my molars at just the right moment in the perfomance. Erthereal experience. ....(That was the name of my favorite bump and grinder).

After watching the large fellow in History of the World Part 2 finish his "lot" I too have a craving for a small thin "waffer."