What do you think of eGullet?

[Jonathan Day]

John, you've spent several days with us.

Now we would appreciate your view of internet food sites in general and this one in particular. WHere does this medium fit into the world of food writing?

What impressions have you formed of eGullet? What's good, what's not so good?

What could we do to improve the site?

[John Whiting]

I must sneak in a reference to a photo I remember from a little book of Fernandel's facial reactions to various questions. One of the most politely equivocal was in response to the question, "Have you tasted our California Champagne?"

[John Thorne]

Quite honestly, in it's largest sense, I don't really have an answer. As the "webmaster" of my own site, I know how hard this is to do well and I've found eGullet as easy to use as it is pleasant to look at. The quality of the posting is very high and I'm impressed with the range of participants, from what my nephew would call /\/00|35 to old pros. Beyond that, I haven't given it much thought, except that -- for me, certainly, my first thoughts are rarely my best, and this has meant my postings have not always left me feeling very good. Time and thought would have kept me from making a fool of myself regarding Kenneth Lo's book, which did not result from his travels in China but his extensive (and admitted) borrowings from Chinese chef publications. In my defense, it's been over decade since I read through the book (this information is in the introduction), and I forgot. But still. I probably could have saved myself the embarrassment of translating "red bean-curd cheese" as "red bean paste", but I don't feel so badly about that, since this is just the sort of thing the home cook has to struggle with, and can't hope to always get right. "Write in haste, repent in leisure." But the positive side is what is most enjoyable here: the spontaneity. I wish you all happy postings.

PS: /\/00|35 = "noobs" = "newbies"