jaybee

Margaret, could you point me in the direction of a web site that sells this brand?

I once had a goat in Jerusalem, just outside the walls of the old city, in the Arab quarter. But I was young and lonley, and that was long ago.

I just received my copy of Jean Ducloux's book. The preface refers to him as one of the master cuinsiniers in France. Cuisiniers is a word that we have not in English, and it captures more of the art and skill that we have been taliking about than any word we have. Chef, culinary artiste, cunniliguist, cook....none of these descriptions do justice to the level of skill and art you are debating.

"Curly parsley looks like shriveled up bugs and tickles my tongue. It's also very untidy. Flat parsely is so neat and uniform. It has real leaves and lays nice and flat on my cutting board so I can make neat even little slices, all the same width--about .2 centimeters. I can line up all the leaves, one on top of another in an even pile, then slice through them in exactly the same place each time. All in all, I'd say flat leaf parsely was tidier and easier to clean up after." __the Anal Rententive Chef

I guess Ben hasn't seen those segments on the Antiques Roadshow where the expert meets the hopeful owner of some old sword he has been using as a doorstop for twenty years: Expert: "Well, this is a fine specimen of an 1861 Southern cavalry sabre, used by the 3rd regiment, second division of Col. Bartholemew Jeremia Coburn's Army of the Housatonic. Very, very rare, there are just two known to have survived with the beveled hilt and engraved blood channel. Do you have any idea what it is worth?" Hopeful and slightly dazed owner: "Well no, not really. But a neighbor told me it looked old and might be worth a pretty penny." Expert: "Well, in it's original condition a sword like this fetched $475,000 at auction last year. But unfortunately you've had this sword sharpened and cleaned, and that reduces its value to a collector to about $11.99." Owner faints.

Wow, Fish, that was a very bad thing you did. One look at Kramer's knives and I am immediately in the "have to have one of those" moods. I have several very good knives that need sharpening, so II'll start slow that way. Meiji or European? I wonder. That 6" Chef's knife looks like a beauty.

"Pre-existing reservations"--is that like having second thoughts before you've had your first ones?

My all time favorite candy is Viennese Butter Crunch. I can never go through O'hare withoout buying a bagful at one of those Aunty whatever candy shoppees. Commercial candy bars I avoid, but Almond Joys will get me in a pinch.

Impressive! No, the ad agency business!

Absof**kinlutely right on target, Mr. P. Couldn't 'a said it better. And also why we bemoan other things that are occuring in France of late.

22 so far: France England Germany Holland Italy Belgium Denmark Switzerland Austria Spain China Japan Israel Mexico Canada US Argentina Brazil Puerto Rico Gibralter Monaco Hong Kong

Thanks BLH for that report. Our experience with GS was not as expansive as yours (that is expansive) but very enjoyable. We watched them prepare a duck for a very very old woman seated at a nearby table. It was the bloodiest rare duck I'd ever seen and she tucked into it like a trencherman. The place is intimate and comfortable. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post.

FG, the knives I bought at Dehilleron that I've been very happy with have the brand "YANIP" on them. I think this was the "house brand" years ago, but I do not see it in their catalog on line. They are INOX or a variation of stainless steel (I think). I'm not sure of the brand of carbon steel. I will check this weekend.

When I started this thread, I imagined the eGullet folks would have good stories to tell. So far they have exceeded my expectations. What fun and what inspirational reading. I second Suvir's comments. Liza--here's an idea for a great "reality" show for FoodTV--"My Proudest Moment in the Kitchen" Recreate the event using cinema verite technique and supply recipes. Amateurs achieving high culinary art.

Lima beans. not then, not ever. ugh.

Snowangel, that is a wonderful story. What a delightful experience for your daughter and your family.

My gastronomic excursions initially followed a path led by my brother-in-law and his wife who preceeded our Francophilia. Interestingly, we all reached the point of three star saturation in the early-eighties and turned to bistros and restaurants specializing in regional cuisines. This change in culinary focus prompted them to write A Guide to Paris Bistros, first edition, over ten years ago. The idea of spending upwards of $600 for dinner was a distinct turn-off, even if we could "afford" it. We try to fit a "starred" meal into most trips if the place offers us something new, but for the most part, places like Ducloux' Restaurant Greuze in Tournous hold our affections now, (though it too, owns two stars). Invariably meals at small, chef-owner places, many serving traditional or regional dishes are the most enjoyable and memorable of our recent trips. The average bill in such places is somewhere between $75 and $100 a person, for a no-holds barred meal. Rarely have the top places provided a better total dining experience, certainly not one worth three or four times the price.

I think Robert Brown has hit the nail on the head with his last post as regards the nature of the changes in the upper levels of restaurants. When I first began to travel and experience such restaurants (1963), pride of place was considered the most important form of psychic income for everyone who worked at them. Money was, at least overtly, the fuel that kept the place going, but it wasn't the "issue" unless there wasn't enough of it. Today, someone who has the opportunity to build a cash cow business in any field, restaurants incuded, is looked upon as a misfit if they don't. I think this started in the mid 70s when the taxes of France's Socialist government's began to drive many top chefs to seek business in the US. That was when La Coze came here, and I know that Jean Troisgros, had he not died prematurely, would have made a similar move. The great Jaques Manier was practically driven to a heart attack and his death by financiual troubles caused by the tax man. The combination of unfettered opportunity in the US, punative taxes in France and cash-rich investors looking to buy their way into the glamor of the haute cuisine restaurant business changed it from a metier to another form of commercial aggrandizement. The media hype added to this trend during the reagan years, and has continued unabated. At its highest level, restaurant dining has become part of the entertainment business, with all the attendant high prices. Modestly priced haut cuisine might suffer an image problem. Imagine getting Kristal for $25 a bottle. That is not to make any value judgements on entreprereneurial chefs who build businesses based ontheir skills and talents. (Bocuse showed the way). It's just a different business. I think Steve P has it right when he says they build up good will and leverage it to create a franchise. Branding works in this field too.

Mikey, Frank Centofante's work is great, but the prices of his classic folders are sky high. You are lucky to have one. I think the hardness of the steel (Rockwell #) is one of the factors in holding an edge, and the method of heat treating is very time consuming. I will probably concentrate on adding Damascus steel blades to my collection. Maybe one a year. They are incredibly beautiful. They remind me of the process of making mille feuille pastry that is folded over itself many times.

Learning to make a really mouthwatering roast chicken is one of mine. I use goose fat to baste and very good fresh chicken. I ordered the cookbook of Jean Ducloux, the owner/chef of Restaurant Greuze, who serves a roast chicken dish I would make journey for. I can't wait to try my hand at that one. A close second is the chicken dish with a sauce made from yellow wine, creme frais and morilles--poulet vin jaune avec morilles. Not yet up to Chez Maitre Paul but a few more times will get me there. I keep several bottles of Chateau Chalon hand in case the opportunity strikes.

I collect custom knives, or I did for a while. I favor folders, and have some real beauties. I have one lock-back folder made by Dervin Howard that I love to hold. It has a yellow bone handle. I use it occasionally to slice apples. The Custom Kniife show comes to NYC each year in November. The last knife I bought has a Damascus steel blade. The blade is only about three inches long in an African wood handle and a fitted wooden scabord. It is very heavy for such a small blade. They have kitchen knives there too, as I recall. maybe I'll pick one or two up the next show.

With a couple of exceptions they are all Dehillerin's own brand. They have held up very well in all respects.

Bon voyage and bon appetite, JW. I look forward to reading your dispatches.

About twenty years ago, I timidly squeezed my way into Dehillerin on Rue Jean Jaques Rousseau and bought a rather complete supply of knives. Both carbon steel and inox varieties. Large and small chefs' knives, boning knife, salmon and ham slicer, paring knife, etc. a set of 12 6"ers we use for steak knives They all have served me well since. A few passes on a steel before and after each use and they will make even Chef Tony happy. My Favorite Store

But if two alternatives were equal in all other respects but profitability, would you fault them for choosing the money? This fundemental issue keeps returning, like Nosferatu, from the graves of long dead threads. I have to say, Steve, that a $100 veal chop exceeds even my standards of self-indulgence.