badthings

This is perhaps a regional problem. Here in N. California there are several local "factories" that make fresh nixtamal, fresh masa, and fresh tortillas every day. They cost something like $1 for 5 dozen. I found that most people in Mexico seem to get their torillas from a similar if smaller finca. They are not the same as a tortilla fresh of the comal, but the difference is much much less than that between "real" bread and BK "baguettes." Well, we have an uncountable number of taco trucks here that are invariably superior to and cheaper than a place like BK. I know not everyone's so lucky. Having driven across the country several times, I really do understand the joy a Burger King can bring. Regardless of this, I personally feel that Rick's promotion of BK is incompatible with his promotion of sustainable agriculture. But that was not my point; my point was to agree with our own celebrity chef and many other posters that better, faster, and cheaper fast food is not an impossible dream, it's a reality in much of the world including parts of this country.

Fowler (2nd ed.), p. 213 However, I am as amused by yokels as anyone. eXpresso is perhaps even more grating than eXcape. Occasionally, I become a yokel myself -- many of you would have been quite amused at my attempts to procure a Mont d'Or from a cheese tray in France last year. On a more serious note, I find that if I'm not paying attention I mispronounce some words that I actually know how to say in the same way as my father. Aside from the disturbing oedipal implications, this means that sommeliers sometimes catch me inserting a T into Montrachet and mock me accordingly behind my back. (Just kidding: if I could afford to drink Montrachet I wouldn't give a shit how I said it).

Protocolo red has just resurfaced (in N. California) for $5.50/bottle. Tasty, unpretentious 100% tempranillo -- forget the region, but it's no d.o.c. obviously.

I think this argument is flawed, because tortillas fresh from the local factory are both good and incredibly cheap. Part of the point of tortillas is that you make them in advance. Not unlike bread, but it's a lot harder to make shitty tortillas than shitty bread. I suspect that one reason Rick's defenders here seem to be so angry is that there is -- or was, 20 or so pages ago -- a hint of glee among some of his detractors. I certainly got the impression that some people found him hypocritical before the ad, and were happy to watch him prove it on TV. I was never particularly fond of Rick Bayless, the personality, but I have always been, and will continue to be, happy to turn off the TV and read his books, which I believe are an incomparable gift to english speakers who are seriously interested in Mexican food.

Your mother is wrong every time. (I know because I grew up in Boston). As long as we're going to make fun of yokels mispronouncing things, can we all take a minute to spell our posts correctly? (It would be nice to have spell check on the new eGullet). How about learning how to form a possessive? Thank you.

ewww. Mignonette (without cilantro) is the ultimate dilemma, though, because it is so good, except that oysters are so, so good that they don't need it. I always want to save the mignonette and put it on something else. I don't know how "hidden" it is, because it's always packed, but Duarte's in Pescadero is pretty awesome. Imagine "normal" american food from 30 years ago, except it doesn't suck. (Maybe it didn't suck here, but I was trapped in New England until a decade ago).

One solution is to genetically engineer (farmed) Atlantic Salmon with the growth hormone gene from Pacific Chinook so they grow 4-6 times faster. A/F Protein, Inc. has done just that. What, you don't like that solution either? EDIT: Russ, If we all ate a Chez Panisse every day Chino Ranch would turn into a monstrous polluting agribusiness conglomerate. Then where would we be?

get ready for more of the same:

I leave the health claims to others. Yes, chemicals -- and lawyers -- are everywhere. But they have absolutely no bearing on the obvious qualitative inferiority of farmed salmon. Compare for yourself. The other relevant point is that fish farming actually exacerbates the depletion of wild seafood.

In addition to Bruce's excellent links, this article, though it focusses on the dire situation of wild fisheries, succinctly explains why farming makes things worse: D. Pauly, et al., "Towards sustainability in world fisheries," Nature 418 (August 2002), 689-95: [if the Nature link doesn't work, Mr. Pauly has a pdf of it here] At around the same time (last August), Melissa Pasanen wrote an excellent article for Art of Eating that looked at the problems with fish farming more from the "wealthy consumer" perspective. People worried about the price will be interested to see what alaskan fisherman get paid -- 55¢/lb. for Copper River Coho, for example. EDIT: Here's a SalmoFan. Here's a convincing argument from Sysco.

The "base model" Germain Robin is ~$35/ bottle. Better than most cognacs I've had -- but I'm not a big cognac fan. Shareholder's Reserve is very good too, I think $10 more a bottle. Another excellent California distiller is St. George in Alameda (the guy is alsatian, and he makes a kickass Williams Pear). There is a guy in Portland too, I think it's called Clear Creek.

or butter.

They also have half-bottles of Navarro Gewurztraminer. Connie's right, La Pinata is good. From Alameda, it is a short drive to Fruitvale and its wealth of astonishing Mexican food. The taco trucks are where it's at, but for restaurants I recommend Torta Loca, El Farolito, and La Huarache Azteca. The only reason I don't recommend more is that I haven't been there yet. I should also mention Doña Tomàs, on Telegraph/51st for high-end Mexican food that is worth the often poor service. EDIT: Note that La Note only serves dinner Thursday-Sat. Breakfast is excellent, but like every breakfast place in this town, it is overrun.

Craig's piece is among the best things I've read about risotto. We should all thank him for making it available to us. Also, Janet Fletcher wrote a good article on the different rice varieties in last week's SF Chron.

Don't you see, it's the magnets. right again, damn you.

I hope no one thinks that there is a "supernatural" explanation for why biodynamic farming appears to produce better wine. I am merely trying to argue that there could plausibly be a scientific one, if someone cared to do the research. I basically agree with Sam's last post. He brings up one obvious explanation of why biodynamic may work with wine grapes -- reduced yield. Edit: Interested San Franciscans can taste the difference at Acme Chophouse 11/17.

Thanks to another thread, I finally tracked down a Mimi Sheraton article on Zagat I've been trying to find for months: Edit: Would I be muddying the waters to suggest that Pearl Jam isn't even as good as Soundgarden? Sorry.

Up here, workers at the Berkeley Bowl just voted against unionization.

It comes from a nut, and tastes like it. It is delicious, but it is hard to describe, because it tastes like what it comes from -- i.e., a nut that you haven't tasted. Walnut oil but not walnut-y? It is a delicate flavor, but quite noticeable (mixed 50-50 with olive oil in a salad dressing, for example). As with all nut oils, do not cook it. It is really, really good. Also, a friend brough me a bottle from Morocco, and it took quite a long time to go rancid -- several months, which is pretty good for a nut oil. Edit: Here's an article (in French) about Slow Food and the women's cooperative they support that makes it. Couldn't find anything in english.

No, I dismiss them because I've found that the wine clip works wonders. Seriously, I dismiss them not only because I doubt their claims, but because I am dubious of the desirability of an instantly enlarged penis -- and of "smoothing out the tannins" or whatever the wine clip is purported to do as well. Of course, you are right about the scientific method. I get it. However, the only "peer-reviewed scientific study" that I have seen on the subject found some pretty dramatic soil differences between conventional, "regular" organic, and biodynamic plots of land over 21 years. To my knowledge, no one has proposed an explanation for this. I, like everyone else here, am inclined to doubt that "sal and mercurious," or quarks for that matter, have anything to do with it. But until someone can explain why the quartz decoction (or whatever seems plausible) "works" but the ram's horn (or whatever seems implausible) doesn't, the jury is out. And it is arbitrary to assume that one bizarre practice is the cause while another isn't. They all sound pretty kooky. That was my (perhaps poorly-expressed) point. As Craig pointed out, I think this makes Sam's suggestion problematic: It's not like some shitty coop suddenly started producing Yquem from ugni blanc or something. We're talking about careful, dedicated and passionate producers with some pretty nice plots of land where people have been growing grapes for 2,000 years.

Presumably he has permanent wood. it's the magnets.

Of course -- and I am skeptical. Chapoutier is pretty amusing when he starts talking about quarks. I'm just saying that it is wrong to assume that the ram's horn is a priori bullshit just because it sounds stupid and no one's proven it yet. It's not like the USDA (or anyone else) is pouring a lot of money into figuring it out.

Just to make the argument a little more circular, why would a passionate grape grower like Joly bother to go the extra dynamic mile unless he (she) saw results? I certainly trust the farmer's judgement more than mine. I'm all for skepticism, but just because "science" can't figure something out yet doesn't mean it's not real. Michel Chapoutier discusses biodynamique in this interview. Includes the bonus quote that drinking Cali. chard. "is like giving Pinocchio a blowjob."

There is a pretty funny story in Ruth Reichl's book -- she was supposed to bring a "special" bottle of wine to some fancy dinner (in the 80's, in LA, with Colman Andrews and a bunch of fancy people). She forgot, and had to stop at a bodega on Sunset or something ridiculous like that, where she demanded the guy's most expensive wine. He pulled out something for $30, which she claims not even to have looked at, and everyone was blown away when she whipped out a '61 Cheval Blanc.

From their supplementary materials: Sorry, I couldn't bear to add the italics back in. The fungicides/pesticides are described as "plant extracts, biocontrol." I don't know what kind of chanting, sun soluting or whatever Steiner perscribed (if anything), but they don't mention anything like that, including moon cycles. If someone has specific questions I'll be happy to pass the authors' email address along.