badthings

In a 21-year study of farming systems published last year, swiss scientists found pretty significant differences between "regular" organic and biodynamic. (they are more focussed on the difference between those two systems and conventional agriculture, but you can tell from their tables): [CONxxx are conventional farming systems, BIOORG is organic, BIODYN is biodynamic]. Mäder, et al., "Soil Fertility and Biodiversity in Organic Farming," Science 296, Number 5573 (31 May 2002), 1694-1697 [abstract]. The ram's horn and all that sounds like a load of crap to me, but I've been hearing about a lot of farmers -- particularly grape growers -- who are impressed with the results. I figure they know more about plants than I do.

please do.

shit, there goes next month's paycheck. thanks everyone, and keep 'em coming.

Should anyone wish to make cassoulet with fresh shelling beans in the future, I should clarify something. I did manage to guess correctly that 3.5 pounds of beans in the pod would equal two pounds when shelled, but this was not equivalent to 2 lbs. of dried beans. Since the fresh beans were already hydrated, they are probably roughly equivalent to beans that have soaked overnight. So for a more precise conversion, someone will have to take two pounds of dry beans, then weigh them after they've soaked. (this is why seven people were able to polish off the cassoulet without any crises de foie).

exactly. We had a Moulin-à-Vent with dinner the other night, first beaujolais in probably a year, and it was like magic -- everyone started grinning. Just thinking about it is making me smile like a moron right now. I think it was $21 at the restaurant. Of course bad beaujolais is profoundly depressing.

I disagree. The point of it is the flavor of the cannelini. If you don't like beans, why make bean soup? Just my opinion.

Happy birthday and thanks for the excellent review. Haven't been for many years, but you brought back memories of some damn good food. I think you're right on about the hamachi. Mina is opening (has opened?) a place in San Jose.

oh, you mean romeo?

to fan the flames: Some self-proclaimed "smart mobs" guys reaches this conclusion: The problem with democracy is that it perforce includes opinions such as this. On the other side of the argument, I remember laughing out loud when I read in an old Larousse Gastronomique that "the world's three great cuisines" were French, Chinese, and Moroccan. (I don't know, maybe it's still in there). When one makes absolutist pronouncements, it helps to know what you're talking about.

I love "intelligent mushrooms".

Just went for the first (or second? -- my memory is becoming embarassing) time on fri. Good food, good deal ($100 for 5 before tip). Nice people. We'll be back. Triple Rock? I'm glad someone mentioned Café Rouge. My favorite restaurant.

A decidedly un-italian college roomate made an inauthentic version with calamari that was delicious. But probably superfluous.

What he said. Everything he said. Some people are more attuned to the joys of legumes than others. Perhaps you don't really like them that much? (Though it is impossible to tell from the canned variety). I would only add that the spanish are also conoisseurs of dried beans, many of which make a good substitute if you cannot find satisfactory cannelini. Jim, where do you find zolfini in the U.S.? I almost exploded with excitement when I saw some at a (now-defunct) fancy food store, only to recoil in horror at the price: something like $25 for 300g. Even I cannot justify spending that on beans.

By the way, in that article Steingarten claimed that the only two steakhouses in the entire country that actually dry-age their beef 4 weeks were Bern's (in tampa) and Peter Luger.

If you are in Alameda, go to Speisekammer right now!

I wasn't trying to blow anyone away with my big words. I like the word not as a fancy synonym for indigenous, but in the literal greek sense of "sprung from the soil itself" (which is just a more emphatic or literal sense of indigenous). OED (for autochthon the noun): This probably isn't making me sound less pedantic... EDIT: though apparently I pronounce it wrong! (I defy anyone to say that word with the stress on the first syllable). And, Jwagnerdsm, aren't there edible squash varieties native to the U.S.? Plus, of course, the temperate corn that was domesticated here well before the Europeans arrived. I guess wild rice isn't a major crop. Have you read Sophie Coe's America's First Cuisines? Very good, though she doesn't go north of the Aztecs. Also, Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Helen, thanks. I found this article: H Takahashi, et. al., "Genetic relationships among Japanese native breeds of chicken based on microsatellite DNA polymorphisms," Journal of Herededity 1998 89: 543-546 (There are other varieties of Jidori; however, the authors say that Iwate-Jidori and Aizu-Jidori are closer to Shokoku than Jidori.) So it sounds like in Japan now, Jidori is used to describe free-range chickens of one of these breeds. I wonder what it is supposed to mean in the US. And what those "primitive chicken characteristics" are.

I get the impression from this page that jidori chicken ( or at least Hinai-jidori) is both a breed and a (delimited origin-type) local product. Presumably "jidori chicken" is that breed raised elsewhere? What does it mean in the US (googling it will show its appearance on quite a few menus here). Are there production methods associated with it aside from the free-range mentioned? All explanations much appreciated.

last night I made butternut squash and chile poblano. It was a keeper.

This is an instrumentalist understanding of wine, that learning techniques is more significant than where the grapes come from. I doubt I'll get much argument here that this is horseshit (though unfortunately in my price range it is too often true). As Mark said, Californians are still trying to figure out their terroir (or at least they should be), even if they go about it oddly. Anyone else noticed all those vines on the napa valley floor? I do believe that there are grapes that can excel here, but we have to figure out where before we can change to a more meaningful labelling system. I think "varietal vs. place-name" is a falsely agonistic dichotomy. At some level, at least ideally, they should be the same thing. If grapes aren't actually autochthonous, they have evolved over thousands of years of natural and human selection in the place where they're grown. I mean, I'm sure that UC Davis could engineer an exciting cab. clone that would thrive on Hermitage. (Ha -- I bet some of you just recoiled in horror). But of course that would be stupid (I leave it to others to speculate on the merits of planting that same clone in the Maremma). What we need to do in california is the opposite. And, returning gracefully to the point, until that is done, I can't think of a better way to label wines here (except to require full disclosure of all varietals and vineyard sources).

Now Craig, your palate is much more sophisticated than mine, and your experience far vaster, but there are in fact some pinots out here in Cali (and Oregon) that aren't total shit. The Saintsbury Carneros is the only one I can remember, since I don't normally bother with this kind of stuff. It's not a great wine of course, but it tastes a lot better than an ordinary bourgogne rouge at that price. In the guy's defense, although we all agree (I assume) that pinot's not even worth the bother until you start dropping serious ducats, I imagine that article becomes a tough sell to the Post's food editor after a while. That's not the point. It's not like they're starting a price war in a huge market or anything. I believe, naively, that a word should mean what it says, and I wish that that they would just call their "grappas" what they are (whatever that is), but they are pretty damn good drinking. (I have refrained from judgement on this because I was given a sample [of the Germain-Robin merlot (I think) "grappa"] at a restaurant after my Calvados, so I was not in a position to taste much). And for those of you who like congac, I think you'll find the Germain-Robin alambic brandies a pleasant surprise. They are made by Hubert Germain-Robin, who came west after his family sold their congnac house to Martell... blah, blah blah -- you can read their spiel here. I'm not pushing their product, except insofar as I think it's well made, but I want people to realize that we're not just talking about E&J here. That is the longest defense (if you can call it that) of new world alcohol vis-a-vis the old that you will ever get out of me.

I had a chicken-based version at Bocuse's Nord in Lyon last year. Not nearly as heavy as Julia's version which is what I make, more or less, but the aftereffects were comparably benign.

Thank you all for answering every question I could come up with on this grappa. Just to make things more interesting, Michael Franz calls Pinot Noir Spatburgunder in today's Washington Post. Also, for posterity's sake, I should be clear that I believe the California "grappas" are probably excellent products -- I was just trying to determine the legal status In Italy of the difference between grappa and eaux-de-vie/acquavite. Obviously no such distinction is enforced here.

The Fodor's (I think) winecountry guide is useful for orientation. what's where, how much they charge, numbers, hours, etc.

I went at least five years ago and was not impressed either. I seem to remember the service was atrocious too.