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I'm a jam aficionado. I buy new jams all the time and sample them. I had a Polish friend over for lunch today, and we chatted about Polish jams. She mentioned a rose preserve I need to try. Not rose hips, rose petals. Apparently it's a special type of rose that has a bitter pithy "white" on the petals which must be removed before putting the jam by. She spreads a thin layer on her homemade cheesecakes. I told her about the Aronia jam I'd picked up recently at the Polish deli in the next burb over. (Here's a thread about the deli: http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?ac...4bda8f21e659963 ) I purchased some ginger preserves at a "gourmet" market some time ago and we cracked it open on Thursday when I broke in my new waffle maker. Heaven is a hot crisp waffle slathered with ginger preserves. These were made by Wilkin & Sons. The cubes of ginger were gorgeously yellow-gold-translucent on top of the brown waffle. My favorite jam of all time is the black raspberry from Ferry Landing Farm in Virginia. The farm owner sells at my local farm market. It's dark and sour and just sweet enough and really thick with crushed fruit. The season is kicking in and he says his wife will start cranking it out soon. I can hardly wait. What are your favorite jams? Why? Where do you get them?

My friend Pearl, who loves peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, recommends bread and butter pickles, not sweet pickles. She sez there's a difference, but she doesn't know what. The sandwiches are terrific. Anyone out there know?

One of my favorite dinner party dishes is a wonderful, robust chicken curry. I like to display an array of condiments. It's really fun and rather impressive to go along the line, picking a little of this and choosing a little of that. What condiments do you usually offer?

The James Beard Foundation is hosting a 2002 Chef and Champagne Event on Saturday, July 27, 5-8 pm. The venue is the Wolffer Estate Winery at Sagaponack, NY. The cost is $150/person for JB Foundation members, and $200 for guests. The honored chef is Boulud. I am uncertain what champagne or food, if any, will be available. If eGulleteers are interested in attending and are sure about their attendance, I could consider purchasing guest tickets on their behalf. I will post additional information as it becomes available.

I found this interesting: http://www.ryerson.ca/rrj....to.html

I was there yesterday.. they were packed. Does anyone know of them? What do you think?

I've posted this is "General" instead of "Cooking", because at least at first I'd like to talk about Mustard as a commercial product instead of as a spice or cooking additive. I hated Mustard as a kid. My mom's a wonderful woman, but was far from sophisticated in this department. I eventually figured out that my hatred of mustard stemmed from exposure to nothing but French's, and occasionally Gulden's Mustard. As a legacy of this, to this day, I STILL put only Ketchup onto my hot dogs. Am I the only middle-class trasher who was almost ruined on mustard by consumption of bad examples of this fine condiment? In my dottage I've learned to love the stuff--especially the more exotic varieties. Grey Poupon is the first mustard I ever tasted that I liked, but this many years later I consider it very pedestrian. Here are a few current favorites: Honeycup - much immitated, rarely surpassed... eat it with a spoon, eat it with a fork, eat it on bread... just eat it already. Westbrae Asian-Style Mustard (with Wasabi) - not shown, but some of the other fine Westbrae Mustards are. I haven't even tried the other Westbraes, but its mostly because any time I see the Asian-Style I just pick up another of that type... :) Bone Suckin' Mustard - the name says it all, and nothing at the same time. Maybe this quote from their website says it better: "Brown sugar, molasses, paprika & jalapenos make Bone Suckin' Sweet Hot Mustard so good you'll want to eat it with a spoon" So what are some of your faves? If the thread slows down we can always switch to talking about what you make with your lovely mustard...

I really enjoy Indian condiments. As I was mentioning on the flatbreads thread, I often find myself in Indian restaurants here (New York) just eating naan and spooning condiments onto it -- and skipping most of the food that is supposed to be the meal. When I wander into an Indian grocery, I'll sometimes pick up some random condiments even if I can't understand the labels on the jars (and sometimes this is the case even if the label is in English). They're invariably good. So, two issues come to mind: 1) I think it's interesting that condiments -- added by the person eating the food -- are such an integral part of Indian cuisine. (Or am I mistaken there?) In the French high cuisine tradition, by contrast, you'd be considered a very bad man just for adding salt to your food -- no less condiments. The Western model seems to be: The chef made it perfect for you, now eat it and shut up. The Indian model seems to be: Here's the food, and here are a bunch of flavors you can weave into it; now enhance it however you like. 2) I'm sure I've not experienced Indian condiments at their best, especially since I've been exposed hardly at all to fresh condiments (most everything I try is preserved). What are some of the signature regional condiments of India, how are they used, and are there any I can whip up easily at home?

I have heard the stories about Master Joel Robuchon's excellent cooking in Jamin. Although it's sad that I will never able to eat his cooking. I would still like to the restaurant - Jamin. Is there anyone who have eaten there and can give me some advice? or you think there will be other resurant who I can sample better about Robuchon signal dish? ( the dish I want to try most is Robuchon's mashed patato) thank you in advance.

There seem to be several hundred varieties of soy sauce available out there. I have some basic idea of the differences but does anybody have the capacity to instruct us fully?

Got a mango-black bean salsa today at Whole Foods in Edgewater and it reminded me of our older thread where we were debating the differences between Salsas and Chutneys. Has anyone dug up any further info on if there is any major difference. Take out the black beans and today's salsa was chutney. I swear.

Pickled Shrimp This recipe is at least 50 years old. I remember eating it at my Aunt Audrey’s house where we went every Christmas Eve. She was old enough to be my father’s mother so there is no telling how old it is. My sister got this recipe from her before she died and it has been handed down in my family ever since. It is truly terrific and I find it fascinating that this was around so long before recipes like this were trendy. Think of it as a very early escabeche. I have no idea where she got the capers back then but she did use them. I remember wondering what the heck those things were. 2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 3 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced 12 or so whole cloves 6 or so bay leaves 1-1/4 c salad oil (Canola or other light vegetable oil, NOT olive oil) 3/4 c white or cider vinegar 1 large clove garlic, finely minced 1-1/2 tsp salt 2-1/2 tsp celery seed 2-1/2 tsp capers and juice Boil cleaned shrimp. Do not over cook. Arrange shrimp and onion rings in layers in a glass bowl or jar. Sprinkle with cloves and tuck in bay leaves as you go. Cover with marinade made with the last 6 ingredients. Let stand in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Can be kept for 3 days in a jar with a good lid. Pretty served in clear glass. Notes: I tend to increase the cloves, bay leaves and capers. I think it makes it better. I have marinated blanched asparagus in the left over marinade after eating all of the shrimp. Fabulous. You could do other vegetables as well and serve on top of greens as a terrific salad, including the onions. Fresh shrimp are always best but you could get pre-prepared shrimp from the grocery and it would probably still be good. At least that might inspire you to make this. Alternate cooking method for the shrimp: Instead of boiling the shrimp, brine them for 30 minutes in ¼ cup Kosher salt to 1 quart of water. Drain and rinse. Steam the shrimp until just done. Reduce the salt in the recipe by about half. Keywords: Appetizer, Easy, Shrimp, Snack, Hors d'oeuvre ( RG838 )

Pickled Shrimp This recipe is at least 50 years old. I remember eating it at my Aunt Audrey’s house where we went every Christmas Eve. She was old enough to be my father’s mother so there is no telling how old it is. My sister got this recipe from her before she died and it has been handed down in my family ever since. It is truly terrific and I find it fascinating that this was around so long before recipes like this were trendy. Think of it as a very early escabeche. I have no idea where she got the capers back then but she did use them. I remember wondering what the heck those things were. 2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 3 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced 12 or so whole cloves 6 or so bay leaves 1-1/4 c salad oil (Canola or other light vegetable oil, NOT olive oil) 3/4 c white or cider vinegar 1 large clove garlic, finely minced 1-1/2 tsp salt 2-1/2 tsp celery seed 2-1/2 tsp capers and juice Boil cleaned shrimp. Do not over cook. Arrange shrimp and onion rings in layers in a glass bowl or jar. Sprinkle with cloves and tuck in bay leaves as you go. Cover with marinade made with the last 6 ingredients. Let stand in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Can be kept for 3 days in a jar with a good lid. Pretty served in clear glass. Notes: I tend to increase the cloves, bay leaves and capers. I think it makes it better. I have marinated blanched asparagus in the left over marinade after eating all of the shrimp. Fabulous. You could do other vegetables as well and serve on top of greens as a terrific salad, including the onions. Fresh shrimp are always best but you could get pre-prepared shrimp from the grocery and it would probably still be good. At least that might inspire you to make this. Alternate cooking method for the shrimp: Instead of boiling the shrimp, brine them for 30 minutes in ¼ cup Kosher salt to 1 quart of water. Drain and rinse. Steam the shrimp until just done. Reduce the salt in the recipe by about half. Keywords: Appetizer, Easy, Shrimp, Snack, Hors d'oeuvre ( RG838 )