jaybee

They sell it at BWC. In fact the sales guy told me the grower's daughtre, Chloe, works for them, so they get a good supply of his best wines.

Oh, I was reacting to "she adds a lightly beaten egg". I am a recipe robot sometimes, so I took you very lliterally. Thanks.

Wow, MSP, does your grandmother deliver? Great recipe. Thanks I'm intrigued by the low egg to matzo ratio. Interesting.

Bought six bottles @ $43. Plus a terrific Rose for the summer. Good stuff. Thanks Beachfan.. BWC is a great store.

Hot diggity, a raft of new techniques. It seems the basic divides here 1) soaking in hot, tepid or cold water and 2) pancake vs broken up style. I like the boiling water concept and the broken up version. What about matzo brands? I have found big differences among store-bought brands. Horowitz and Margareten are the best, and Manishewitz the worst. Any opinions on this? Speaking of B&H, remember Steinberg's Dairy Restaurant on B'way and 84th? They made fantastic matzo brie. Artie's Deli makes a pretty good version. And lots of it too. Thanks all.

That's a result of marketing and chic-seekers (hey cool, you could describe someone as a "chic-seeking missle). I remember when sushi was a real oddity (early 1960s). Whenever I took friends to Edo on W 48th Street they thought I was weird. Now sushi's way cool in urban-contemporary setting.

That's the kind of food eaten by people who tune into 101.3 easy listening FM. In our pareent's day, they would have eaten while watching Lawrence Welk. a one-a two-a. See Tommy, I din't miss it. I was just locked out from eGullet for three hours. pant, pant, I think an anti-semantic stopped me from posting---so much to say, so little time.

When you say "ceam rises to the top" do you mean the best tasting versions of a genre, or the version with the most luxurious ingredients? Sometimes these are the same but othertimes, not. Chuck makes a tastier hamburger than filet mignon. I think that, as Steve and others point out, some dishes began out of necessity, limitations and needs and evolved into more refined versions. The French/Alsatian dish Baekoff (sp?) was designed to be marinated then placed in a sealed casserole on top of a baker's oven on Tuesday night to cook slowly at very low heat, since Wednesday was wash day and the femme could not prepare a meal. The villagers created unique casseroles so they could identify theirs when time came to collect them. This version of a slow cooked casserole is rarely found on restaurant menus, but boef bourgingon is a revered dish in the best of bistros. Part of this "advance" is economically driven. The wealthy always look for ways to separate themselves from the hoi polloi and the merchants who sell to them are always alert for ways of separating them from their money. Recipes that originated with course cuts of meat are superceded by finer cuts, common vegetables are replaced by rarer ones, common fruits by out of season fruits, etc. This evolution is perceived by the class just below the upper, and adopted in a form they can afford, and the merchants who serve them, being more numerous than the ones who serve the wealthy, create a vast market for the items. Technology also plays a role in this process. (refrigeration, freezing, speedy transport, etc.). The anthropology of recipes is fascinating. Is there a definitive book on this?

If I recall correctly, Raquel Welch as a cave woman in 10,000BC was able to start a fire any time she wanted to. And she wasn't Jewish.

So? I'm not anti-semantic.

My point precisely. But the connection of fantasy to the perception of foods affects the way we experience them today. You are saying that an unsentimental assessment of foods we ate as children will, for many, reveal the culinary shortcomings of these foods compared with what we eat as sophisticated adults. I agree. For some, that is an unwelcome revelation. For others, it represents growth and broader experience. That was the point of Jean Shepherd's story. His experience with escargot cost him a certain measure of connection with his parents. He was no longer part of their world and had now moved into another that they could only deride because of their limited experience, attitudes and finances. This was both sad and exciting for him. (What a great thread! Thank you, John).

Re-reading John's original question, I realize I went off on a tangent and did not answer it. In my eGullet bio, which I called the education of JB, I described the point at which I realized there was a world of foods and tastes "out there" far beyond my limited experience. That occured in my 20s. Circumstances and finances made this new world available to me. Once the door was opened, there was no turning back. A wonderful story by Jean Shepherd, a radio story-teller from the 50s-70s (that I still listen to today via tapes and mp3 downloads) tells yarns about his childhood in a middle-class blue collar home in Hammond, Indiana. His mother made meat loaf and red cabbage most days, and his parent's awareness of anything resembling cuisine was limited to an occasional trip to the local chop suey house. He describes them talking with amused derision about people who actually eat frogs, birds and snails, ugghhh. As kid he accepted his as the way "normal" people ate. Then he met a wealthy girl in college who invited him to dinner at her parents lavish home. Seated at the table, he looked in amazement as dishes containing strange looking little shells that looked suspiciously like snails were served. He watched as people extracted small dark objects from the shells using tiny forks and holding the shells with a kind of fancy looking pliers. He broke into a cold sweat., "Omigod, they're eating snails." "Do you like escargot. Jean" the blonde goddess asked him. Nodding feebly and croaking "yeah" he forced himself to pull the small worm-like object out of its shell and quickly popped it into his mouth. He held his breath for a moment, then began to chew....."Holy smokes," he thought, "this is fantastically good! Delicious!" He quickly demolished his dish and enthusiatically accepted an offer of seconds. The next course included some sort of roasted duck. Duck!, which heretofore he had only seen paddling about in the local swamp while he was fishing. He had no idea people actually ate those things. He describes finishing this meal and realizing that "out there" was a whole world of experiences he was yet to have. He said he went home and could never quite feel the same about his parents. From that night on, he could only pretend to laugh when his father would say "imagine, there are people in the world who eat snails...uggghhh."

I guess there are two ways to answer ths question. One has to do with tase and eating enjoyment and the other has to do with fantasy and nostalgia. On the level of taste and eating enjoyment, I've never tired of hamburgers and breaded veal cutlet, two of my favorite things my mother made as I was growing up. These are foods that can stand on their own. I'd like them even if I hadn't had them as a kid. Whether the exact hamburger my mother made would taste as good as the brisket/chuck burgers I charcoal-grilled on Memorial Day weekend, who knows? But why risk a comparison? On the track of fantasy and nostalgia, I am reminded of an incident that happened with my son when he was seven years old. Though not related to food, it does relate to the power of fantasy vs. reality. He had hocked me for weeks and weeks to buy him the Vol. 1 #1 issue of Mad Comics, which was for sale in a nearby comic collectors store. It was $125, (this was 1976) which I thought a bit steep for a seven yerar old whose "collecting" was questionable. Finally after much persuasive and guilt-inducing pleading I agreed to buy it. We went together to the store, carefull examined the rather dog-eared comic in its plastic envelope, I wrote a check and we left with the prize in his hands. In the cab he opened the bag and took out the book, leafed through the pages gingerly and put it back in the envelope. Then he said "You know it's funny. you want something so bad, and you think about it all the time, and then you get it...and.... it's just there." It's just there, a comic in a bag. His life was no different after he got it than it was before, except it's just there. The stunning insight and truth of that statement from a seven year old amazed me. Trillin's M&C experience not withstanding, the fantasy connected with foods from our past are so much more powerful than the reality of eating them today, and I wonder sometimes if fantasies are best left untested. Marylin Monroe and James Dean left us in their 30s. James Dean Would we want to see them as an eighty year-olds?I want to remember the Addy Valens hot fudge sundae as the most delicious one that ever existed. Best that, if given the chance, I shouldn't eat one today.

Butter's for me. or maybe........honey....eeeeeaaaaagghhhhhh...... What, no brownies? or does the second etc. cover that?

I decided to splurge, having never tasted it.

Where might the best place to buy Le Montrachet in NYC be? The La Guiche version is suposed to be the best, but are there others that are its equal? What years that might be available would be the best to buy?

I posted this a few weeks ago in another thread and got no replies. I don't know if that's because no one cared or no one saw it. One of the dishes I love for breakfast anytime of the day is matzo brei. My technique for this is sorely lacking and produces uneven results. I'd love to hear from anyone who's got a great recipe and technique for matzo brei, including which brand of matzo tastes best (I won't make my own).

I think you are right there, and for some that is the benefit.

On the making great coffee thread, I asked for opinions on home roasting. Click here

Or, as I posted elsewhere, shoot a stream of hot water and grounds halfway across the room! I've recently been talking to people who roast their beans at home. I'm intrigued by this. Does this produce even better coffee than buying roasted beans? Does it allow you to "customize" your roast to your own taste? Or is the main benefit lower cost?

Sounds very good. I'm interested.

Which of those wines, if any, really knocked you out?

I've had the '66 Richebourg DRC, It was very good! I liked a '59 Echezeaux even more. Now where can I find a case of '99 Nuits St. George Blanc for less than $48 a bottle?

Thanks Beachfan, that's a hit. $47.99 a bottle. A little pricey, but we'll see what they'll do. I'm waiting to hear from the Plot-man. He may have a good source!

Unless you went to school with Elvis... In the days of my raging hormones, I was turned on by a book written by Harold Robbins called "A Stone for Danny Fisher." (circa 1952?) It was about a teenager from Brooklyn who lived in a gang neighborhood. The Elvis movie, King Creole was based on this book. In the book, steamy scenes were written about a "loose" girl on the block who would let guys screw her under the stairs if they bought her a Charlotte Russe, which is: A cold dessert, similar to the original charlotte, and most likely created by Carême (1783-1833). The charlotte mold is lined with ladyfingers (usually soaked in Cognac or coffee liqueur) and filled with Bavarian Cream, chocolate mousse, coffee mousse, ice cream, or uncooked gelatin custard. Can I buy you one? Danny was killed in a gang fight at the end, hence the title "A Stone for..." Or was that more than you wanted to know about Danny Fisher?