badthings

Anyone know why the old-world beans benefit from soaking? The new world beans mentioned here so far are all Phaseolus vulgaris. But I am wondering about Limas (P. lunatus). I bought some "italian butter beans" at the SF farmer's market a couuple weeks ago. I asked the guy what they were, and he said "italian butter beans," which was not particularly helpful, but which I took to mean that they were a variety of P. lunatus (even though they looked like giant cannelini). His wife (or coworker) told me to soak them. After reading Russ's article on the subject, I just ignore this advice, but now I wonder if "butter beans," like the old world beans (which are different genera) respond differently to soaking. I cooked them without soaking and they were fine, but the way.

I just got it yesterday -- the Whole Hog section is more about using every piece of the pig than cooking a whole one. (Every year the restaurant has whole hog week, featuring trotters, ears, etc.) Interesting that you bring this up, because Steingarten got his pig from Bertolli.

Pending further suggestions, I'll just have to fall back on the Osterie d'Italia, if Slow Food ever delivers the damn thing. I'll post some kind of a report -- it appears I may "have to" go to some business dinners... at Cibreo and Pinchiorri. (the non-work part will be considerably lower rent).

Get the February Vogue. No, seriously, it contains Steingarten's report on the caja china (also in the NY Times and Saveur last month.) You could order the pig from Niman Ranch, or you could ask them to put you in touch with one of their farmers (doesn't make much sense to ship it from Iowa to California, then back to you).

Anyone have food/hotel suggestions for Ascoli Piceno? we're doing the florence/siena/umbria thing in April, and I wanted to go somewhere a little more rustic. Thinking the drive from Norcia to Ascoli Piceno would be picturesque -- but maybe it is just harrowing?

well, I don't know how authentic it is, but one of my favorite restaurants makes a very cool bergamot sorbet, which would be easy enough to do (or transform into a granita). The flavor is very perfumy, verging on a kind of soapy effect, so you might want to combine it with a more substantial flavor (berries would be good, but not in season obviously) -- maybe some nice sweet tangerines if you can still find them. I imagine that the zest would be interesting in savory foods.

granita? so are they bergamots, or bergamot x orange hybrids?

Marian, although this is hardly a revolutionary idea in 2004, I am stunned by the number of self-identified "food people" who still resist it. But I think you have done some great work to this end -- and you know, writing for the Times is not exactly a low-impact proposition. Thanks.

Thanks for the link. Definitely looks like mail order is out of the question for now. I'm sorry that you still have to live in Boston haunted by the memory of real coffee. For the record, I have found two west coast coffee roasters that are acceptable: Batdorf & Bronson (Olympia -- it's the water!) Peaberry's (Oakland, no mail order) Neither, of course, is up to CC's standards (though I fear my obsession may have exaggerateed their virtues as the memory receeds). But this is by no means a thorough survey -- as I said, I was so broken by the demise of CC that I stopped being a coffee snob entirely. Now I just drink shitty Tader Joes coffee and waste my money on wine instead.

I read in the last Art of Eating that the guy who founded Coffee Connection has started a new business after his noncompete agreement with Starbucks finally expired. I grew up on his coffee, and frankly stopped caring about good coffee after he sold out -- I've never found a source of comparable quality (to my taste; don't even get me started on Bay Area roasters). The thing is, we ran out of coffee this morning, and I'm not fully recovered from the freakout that ensued, and I want to order some RIGHT NOW, but I can't remember the website (it was publishished in AoE). Anyone know what it is?

TESTIMONIAL: A couple weeks ago, I flew into a rage at the unbearably dull edge of my Chef's Choice chef's knife, and, more importantly, the inability of the (manual) Chef's Choice sharpener I bought with it to improve the situation. So I ran to the HW store, bought a cheap combination stone, and sharpened it "for real" based on my (faulty) memory of this tutorial. Now that I've re-read it, I realize there were some flaws in my approach, but the edge is, if not beautiful, sharp enough to take off some hair with a little encouragement, after only about 10 minutes of work. Thank you so much for the inspiration, Chad; I can't wait to repeat the excercise (following your instructions this time). QUESTION: There is probably a better thread for this, but since I have your attention, does Shun make a left-handed chef's knife? I was admiring the truly beautiful 10" chef's knife the other day, but the Sur La Table salesman saved me some money by pointing out the offset handle.

I just (randomly) discovered an 18th-century chicken from the Zen Temple in Kyoto: The english page for the whole exhibit (with more poultry) is here; I'm sure there is a Japanese one for Kanji readers.

I see your wine guy works with one of my wine guys. North Berkeley is very into Burgundy, and they work closely with the producers on cuvées uniques, which are unfiltered, and may be made from special vines. I don't drink these wines, so I can't tell you if they're worth it.

I just talked to the Kennedy farms guy (great citrus, esp. page mandarins) at the farmer's market, and he said that sweet lemons only grow in "region 16" and hotter. That means Fresno-south. Big in Ventura County. The trees die at 30º F. He also mentioned a pink lemon that is too frost-sensitive to grow up here, for fellow connoisseurs of citrus exotica.

Yeah. I mean, why do you care if I like foie gras or not? Or glands, or okra or whatever? You don't, or you shouldn't, unless I have something interesting to say about it (as you may have discovered, I usually don't). On the other hand, it is perfectly legitimate to say, "well, I like shitty BK food." No one should be dismissed for that. But if you want to argue that it's somehow objectively not shitty food, you better have a better reason than the fact that you like it. This is a good site because more of you have better reasons for your opinions than elsewhere. Even the New Yorkers.

When a new story based on a journal paper comes out, I usually just go read the journal paper. The problem is that very few papers in the country have "journalists" capable of understanding the simplist scientific papers (not that they bother to read anything except the journal's press release). Forget TV -- those people are illiterate. It is actually not that hard to read the real studies to see how full of crap they are (or not). In most cases, they are comparable to those USA today polls -- i.e., not relevant to the real world. The real tragedy is the way normal people are separated from the scientific literature by ridiculous subscription fees that not even libraries can afford. If you don't have access to an academic library, you're forced to depend "journalists" for your information. Your best bet is to read the Times or Post online with a good bullshit detector.

bingo! I'm getting Hormone Replacement Therapy right now. The relevant quote, from the other salmon thread:

Because chefs in fine restaurants have made them popular. Yep. And cookbooks. Seen what they're charging for skirt steak recently? At my fancy butcher, hanger steak is almost as expensive as dry-aged prime t-bone.

Please don't be offended if I say that all your suburbs look the same to me. Seriously, I was lost most of the time, but it was NW Houston, out by the Willowbrook mall, I think? Off of 290? I was escorted by I native so I did not drive. The freshness of the romeritos was not particularly impressive, but their presence was. The Fiesta itself was as clean as a normal supermarket. I was disappointed that the butcher counter had neither fresh lard (though they had fat shrinkwrapped to make your own) nor cow heads for barbacoa, but maybe that was after the mad cow. Rice Epicurian also had what I consider a pretty good produce section for a supermarket, but at California prices. Speaking of which, Rio Stars (my favorite grapefruit) seem cheaper here (4/dollar) than in TX. What's up with that?

The relevant numbers from Science's news story: I'm generally inclined to take these kinds of risk numbers with a grain of salt, but whatever you think about that, the difference between wild and farmed salmon is striking. Of course, there are many other reasons not to eat farmed salmon, like the taste.

Yep. I wish someone would write a clear overview of portugese wines, because I'm finding great stuff there for significantly less than the (already good value) Spanish wines (or languedoc for that matter). Personally I would extend the Swiss secret to the other side of Lake Geneva: Savoie. I just found a great Gamay from Bugey, and there are other secrets there. Personally, I think underatedness is hard to define globally, as so much of my judgement, anyway, is colored by the predilections of my local wine merchants. E.g., in N. California, Languedoc is so 5 years ago. Also, as long as I'm offering opinions, I have never had a California wine I considered a good deal, except relative to other California wines. The caveat is that I don't often spend more than $20/bottle (and certainly not on California wines).

I just spent a week in Houston and San Antonio and ate great food. Highlights included Whataburger, the Fiesta produce section, carne guisada tacos at a number of Houston strip malls, and of course, barbecue, particularly at Williams Smokehouse in Houston and Luling City Market: You can see that I went after a rib before I could be bother with the camera. Washed it down with a nice Big Red. These were the best ribs and sausage ring I have had; the "sliced" is tied in my mind with a long-ago trip to the Salt Lick. (Williams's brisket was also excellent, though they are famous for their ribs). We tried Schulenburg City Market, but by 1:30, their 'cue was long gone, so we had a good lunch at Franks. Went through Lockhart on a Sun., so Smitty's and Kreutz were closed, but we had great 'cue at Black's (if not quite up to the standards of the first two places). San Antonio was devoted to Tex-Mex; we ate at Mi Tierra, Rosario's, and Los Barrios in a single 24-hour period. This (washed down with margaritas) did indeed precipitate significant intestinal distress, but I soldiered on in the cause of science. Los Barrios was probably my favorite for food, but Mi Tierra at 2 AM has to be one of the best dining experiences in the country. This is the Los Barrios enchilada sampler: Visitors are advised to stick to the authentic local specialities instead of "authentic Mexican": the puddle at the top of the plate is the incomparable Tex-Mex enchilada. Judging by the "enchiladas mexicanas," Texans tend to have a heavy hand with the traditional ancho sauce (cofirmed at Rosario's as well). The mole tasted of Swiss-Miss. The salsa verde was also excellent, as was the one at the right of the plate, whose name I've forgotten (give me a break: I had to get nachos and a puffy taco too. Mmmm... puffy taco...). The only bad meal occurred at the Cheesecake Factory in the Galleria, which is of course not native, but was equally exotic to me as we don't have one in N. California. I cannot imagive what the Olive Garden is like if C.F. is considered good chain food. And really, thinking about your concurrent thread on TX fast food, how can people eat at these places, much less the frighteningly common buffets, when there is so much great, cheap, fast food? Also, the Mesnil Collection is my new favorite museum. There was so much that we didn't have a chance to eat, I can't wait to come back. Taco Cabana, Kreutz, Fredericksburg, that Portugese place in Houston, Vietnamese in Houston, a certain tamale factory, not to mention the elusive romeritos spotted at Fiesta, but uncookable in the hotel room...

Personally I just mix the ingredients in the processor, pulsing for maybe a minute, then knead by hand. The dough gets very hot. (I have the new Cuisinart, not the Kitchen Aid). I don't mind kneading, but if you do, you could test it by doing one batch by hand and another entirely in the machine.

A great article on these from PPC was reprinted in the Wilder Shores anthology.

Yes, there are new Penguin pb. editions of these. Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking, and Summer Cooking are collected in the hardcover Elizabeth David Classics, published by eGullet Partner Jessica's Biscuit.