WHS

Concord doesn't have much of a food scene. I've heard good things about a place called 55 Degrees, and the Capital Grille will do in a pinch. There are more interesting restaurants in Manchester, Nashua and Portsmouth--if you like diners, the Red Arrow in Manchester is a classic. The Puritan Back Room, also in Manchester, is nothing to look at, but is a local institution (every politician dines there during the NH Primary) with good steaks and ice cream. Also, the restaurant at the Canterbury Shaker Village reopens this May--the food there has always been wonderful. New England "cuisine" tends to be plain, but there are some creative chefs doing interesting things at Michael Timothy's in Nashua, Baldwin's on Elm in Manchester and Lindbergh's Crossing in Portsmouth. Let me know if you have specific interests.

It's called Hydromel--see www.hydromel.com Try these websites: http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/Loisirs/route/route5_gb.asp http://routeducidre.free.fr/ I think you will need a car to do the route, but if you are travelling far in Normandy, you'll probably need one. Beuvron-en-Auge is a pretty town with a great little place that sells local food products, including a fantastic honey-based liqueur and afore-mentioned rillettes. ← ← ←

I'm checking for you--waiting to hear from the traveling companion who brought it back. Try these websites: http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/Loisirs/route/route5_gb.asp http://routeducidre.free.fr/ I think you will need a car to do the route, but if you are travelling far in Normandy, you'll probably need one. Beuvron-en-Auge is a pretty town with a great little place that sells local food products, including a fantastic honey-based liqueur and afore-mentioned rillettes. ← ←

Wow, I guess I'm a cheap fuck. Do you leave 20% to the server at Applebee's who keeps calling you "you guys" all night and who says everything is "wicked awesome", and 20% to the well-informed server who makes excellent wine recommendations and knows something about the food? Not that I've ever been to Applebee's...

I finally stopped by Hannaford's tonight (I usually hit Demoulas, Shaw's or Stop & Shop on my way home, but I needed to pick up vermouth at the Exit 6 liquor store). You are in luck: they carry Klinger's, who make a very good Jewish-style rye bread, Ecce Panis, When Pigs Fly--a local company--not crazy about their bread but they have their advocates, and there are baked in-store varieties like garlic mini baguettes, focaccia, etc. The produce department looked good too--I noticed things like Jerusalem artichokes (what do you do with them?), white asparagus, the little Italian eggplants, bok choy, fennel. The meat department looked OK--they have a butcher's window where you can presumably special order. They were having a sale on sirloin--$4.99 a lb. The best part--you can check out 14 (FOURTEEN) items in the express lane!!!

In New Hampshire the meals tax is 8%, so we usually double it to calculate the tip we leave. If the service is above average, the amount goes above 16%.

We had palm beer in India last month. The guy climbed up a palm tree and poured some liquid out of a clay pot where it had been fermenting in the sun. It tasted like spit. After the initial gag reflex and a couple of glasses, the buzz was quite nice.

Try these websites: http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/Loisirs/route/route5_gb.asp http://routeducidre.free.fr/ I think you will need a car to do the route, but if you are travelling far in Normandy, you'll probably need one. Beuvron-en-Auge is a pretty town with a great little place that sells local food products, including a fantastic honey-based liqueur and afore-mentioned rillettes.

If you take the "Route du Cidre", there are little places where you can pick up calvados, pommeau, pear cider, home-made rillettes (you may have to sneak those into the US in your underpants), pont l'eveque and livarot cheese. It looks just like Vermont, only the houses have thatched roofs and are from the 1500s. There's a great place to have lunch in Pont l'Eveque called "l'Aigle d'Or.

And the bathrooms are labeled "Hung" and "Split"

For that real Boston flavah, go to Kelly's in Revere (pronounced "Rah-vee-yah") Beach and have a roast beef sandwich...if you have a car, a trip to the North Shore for fried clams is always nice. Clam Box in Ipswich...or is it Essex?

Supermarket bread has gotten MUCH better--if you're living at Hollis Crossing, you'll probably get it at the Hannaford's at Exit 6. I'll check and give you a report. There are also some good freestanding bakeries--The Dutch Epicure on 101A in Hollis has killer Rosemary Olive loaves and nice baguettes. Patisserie Bleu on Main St in Nashua is also good. An FYI--the NH Liquor Store at Exit 6 has the best wine selection in the state, if you are a "serious" wino. And the Hollis Country Kitchen at the Four Corners has been given a rave review in the Telegraph: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.d...3160015/-1/FOOD

Go to www.templeofthai.com and you can order fresh chilis & kaffir lime leaves, etc.

Most people go to India and buy...silk?...handicrafts?...antiques?...drugs?... We bought cookbooks. We schlepped back 5 books on South Indian cooking after a three week stay. To top it off, we just ordered and received another one: "La Porte des Indes", which looks at the French influence on Indian cooking (yes, we visited Pondicherry).

Doh--how could I have forgotten Trader Joes?? Though things haven't been the same since they discontinued garlic pistachios. Yes, Hippo Press is a free alternative paper that has good food coverage for southern NH. They have Manchester and Nashua editions. The Nashua Telegraph's food "critic" is a joke--they seem to review the same 5 places in rotation. Farmer's Markets are springing up all over. The one in Milford is quite good, and the one in Amherst has locally produced wines(!) and a fish vendor with very good product (all grown locally--just kidding). They open quite late in the summer--remember how short the growing season is up here? Also, the Milford Fish Market is very good. Some more restaurant ideas: Lucia's Tavola on Rte 13 in Brookline NH is very good--Italian homestyle cooking. Also a new Lebanese "bistro" called Mezza has opened in Nashua on Elm St. Lastly, don't forget the Hollis Strawberry Shortcake Social, on the Common in late May--hope you are here to enjoy it.

Welcome back. When we moved to the Nashua area in 1994, our big challenge was trying to find a restaurant that was open at 9pm. Things have definitely improved, and you'll enjoy Michael Timothy's, Surf, and Fody's. Butchers: there are 2 good ones in Bedford on Rte 101. Mr. Steer is on Rte 102 in Londonderry. The only one in Nashua is called Bare Bonz and I wasn't that impressed. Another eGulleteer recommended a place in Groton called Blood Farm. Cuban: there's a restaurant in Manchester called El Quijote which supposedly has Cuban food. Here's a link to Hippo Press which lists some Latin American spots: http://www.hippopress.com/food/food051229.html There are a couple of Brazilian places, and I can recommend Sabor on Canal St. La Carretta on DW Hwy has decent Mexican. Grocery Stores: The usual array of Demoulas, Stop and Shops, and Shaws. These now have sushi bars and better veg and cheese departments. You can always drive down to Whole Foods in Cambridge. There are several Indian groceries, a few Asian (Korean/Thai/Japanese) markets around town. Chinese: The two "best" Chinese places are Chen Yang Li and Lilac Blossom, though if you're looking for the funky, i.e. intestine, you may have to go to Boston Chinatown. You You Bistro at Exit 6 off the Everett has very good Asian/fusion food. Liquor stores: State-run and the selection is cheap and varied. Hendricks gin is available for around $20 ($34 in NYC). There's also a place called the Wine Society in Tyngsboro and on Amherst St that has tastings and rare selections. Delivery: pathetic for anyone from a big city, though Domino's and maybe a couple of Chinese places will do it. If you need any other info, let me know.

OK--my sources in Lowell recommend these places-- Owl Diner for your greasy, filling breakfast experience Olympia--no atmosphere, good Greek food Elliott's for hot dogs and Mrs. Nelson's in Chelmsford for chocolates

In Billerica there's a great South Indian restaurant called Masalaa--authentic veg dishes like dosais, iddlys, utthapams, etc. Very reasonable. In Lowell, there's a place called La Boniche which is highly recommended--French bistro style.

Just returned from Chennai yesterday--there's a new restaurant in the Taj Connemara hotel that features a Japanese teppanyaki grill and Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian food. We had the Thai--very good, and a palate cleanser after eating dosais and "meals" for two weeks.

I will be in south India from Feb 2-20 and will investigate Chennai for you.

← Cool! I'm making the article recipe with the cottage cheese tonight. It's in the oven--I'll let you know how it turns out. ← The recipe calls for pureeing cottage cheese with whole milk and some seasonings, adding a pound of grated cheddar and uncooked elbow macaroni and throwing it in the oven for an hour. This gloppy, unpromising mess turned into a crusty beauty that's going to make some tasty leftovers...

This is why I love eGullet.

← Cool! I'm making the article recipe with the cottage cheese tonight. It's in the oven--I'll let you know how it turns out.

Are you sure you have saffron and not turmeric? In India they sometimes use the term interchangeably. Is it a powder or thin pistil threads? If it's the real thing, you might try it on rice instead of potatoes.

Every year we're invited to a Christmas dinner at a friend's house. Every year she goes to the best butcher in town and spends a fortune on a beautiful boneless rib roast. Every year she says she loves rare roast beef. And every year she manages to cook it to a dry, grey hunk. Next year I'm staging a kitchen intervention.