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eG Foodblog: slkinsey - (also Asher, Zebulun and Issachar)


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It looks like I've been tapped by Soba to do the next foodblog in this thread, so here goes...

Lunch was wonton and roast pork soup with udon noodles and truly first rate cold sesame noodles at "Spade's Noodles, Rice, & More" on 37th and 3rd. A very cheap, surprisingly good Chinese restaurant for a quick lunch in Midtown East.

Dinner was my version of pasta puttanesca: tomato, lots of oil-packed anchovies (there were no salt-packed in the house), lots of capers, gaeta olives and Sicilian colossal olives (pitted by me using the "whack with the flat of a knife" method), onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and plenty of fresh minced parsley. As I sat down at the table, I realized that I didn't have any pecorino -- my grating cheese of choice for this sauce -- and so I grabbed a chunk of bottarga di muggine... That sent it right over the top and into another category of deliciousness entirely. I probably would have made a salad, but was busy playing with the ferrets and didn't have time.

Dessert was Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch -- my favorite.

Tonight the ferrets are having a little bit of a whole chicken (including bones, skin, fat, giblets, etc.) that I ran through a grinder and lightly cooked. Perhaps I'll give them a whole gizzard or two as well so they can tear something apart.

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Tonight the ferrets are having a little bit of a whole chicken (including bones, skin, fat, giblets, etc.) that I ran through a grinder and lightly cooked.  Perhaps I'll give them a whole gizzard or two as well so they can tear something apart.

Again, pictures?

Ferrets are adorable. Shopping for cat food there was a large cage of these little darlings at my local Pets Mart. Melted my heart when they were all curious and peering out of these little, brightly coloured fleece hammocks.

Bottarga di Muggine. Describe this cheese! I've never tried it and may look for it at my fav Italian imports store! :smile: They ordered up some robiola cheese for me last week. :wub:

Edited by beans (log)
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Ferrets and gastronomy dont mix.

I used to own a ferret. I agree.

Humph. I say they mix just fine. Maybe you're just not hanging around with the right class of ferret. :wink:

Anyway, the trick with ferrets is that they "imprint" on what they think of as "food" at an early age, so it is very important to get them started on a wide variety of appropriate foods as soon as possible. Unfortunately, what most people think of as appropriate food for ferrets is some kind of kibble. The thing is... ferrets are primary carnivores and really don't have any grinding teeth, so there are all kinds of issues that crop up if you get your ferrets to imprint only on kibble -- which is mostly carbohydrates anyway, and thus not so good for a primary carnivore. What the domestic ferret's wild cousins (fishers, weasels, minks, wolverines, polecats, etc.) eat is mostly whole small animals... skin, bones, feathers, fur, organs, stomach contents, etc. So ferrets should eat many different kinds of meat, have plenty of raw bones and a limited amount of kibble as a stand in for the fur and stomach contents. I have never known a ferret who was imprinted as a kit on a wide variety of foods, includiing meat, to choose kibble over meat. This is, unfortunately, fairly common for ferrets who were raised on kibble.

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A little correction: bottarga di muggine is grey mullet salt cured roe. Tuna roe would be bottarga di tonno.

:huh:

Thanks! I would have never known without asking!

Very tasty, magical stuff... salty, vaguely musky(?), a little fishy... I enjoy it grated over pasta (secca, not fresca) that has been barely dressed with a tomato/olive oil sauce and sprinkled with a touch of red pepper flakes.

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I have never known a ferret who was imprinted as a kit on a wide variety of foods, includiing meat, to choose kibble over meat.

The same applies to cats, or, come to think of it, any right-thinking carnivore.

Mustelids have been pets for a long, long time:

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Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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I've known a lot of singers. Admittedly, only a couple performed at your level, but every one of them had voice preparation/preservation/performance rituals that involved beverages and/or gargles: lemon, honey, tonic water, Listerine, you name it.

Will we be seeing any of that in your blog?

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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I've known a lot of singers. Admittedly, only a couple performed at your level, but every one of them had voice preparation/preservation/performance rituals that involved beverages and/or gargles: lemon, honey, tonic water, Listerine, you name it.

Will we be seeing any of that in your blog?

Eh...? The gargle stuff is mostly bunk and superstition. Although I do find that I prefer seltzer water because I feel that the bubbles help stimulate saliva production.

On a day-to-day basis it's all about getting enough sleep and keeping yourself properly hydrated. If the mucous gets a little thick... that's what Humibid is for. It is important, however, to make sure one isn't eating too much too late in the evening, as sleep is prime time for acid reflux (which, for a variety of reasons, is something that is fairly common among classical singers). For this reason, I always dose myself with Gaviscon before I go to sleep.

On performance days, I like to eat protein around 4 hours before the curtain. Of course, after the show I'm always ravenous -- but that comes with the territory.

Apples and pears are a great way to keep the mouth moist because they stimulate the production of saliva and the juices are fairly similar to saliva chemically.

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Apple pectin is apparently also very good for the throat, although that may be just superstition as well. I like it.

K

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live

Lobster hamster worchester muenster

Caviar radicchio snow pea scampi

Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert

Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe sheep shanks

Provolone flatbread goat's head soup

Gruyere cheese angelhair please

And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claws.

--"Johnny Saucep'n," by Moxy Früvous

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Apple pectin is apparently also very good for the throat, although that may be just superstition as well. I like it.

K

As Sam alluded, there's a lot of superstition. The singer I know best, a rock and roll guy, was quite fond of a slug of beer between songs (or verses). When he realized he was an alcoholic, he quit drinking, and switched to tonic water. It was my opinion that he was still looking for the carbonation -- but also a little gin. Couldn't belt it out without at least the thought of an alcohol buzz.

(Eventually, he quit the tonic, too, because of the sugar. Last time I saw him, he was on club soda.)

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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This morning: got out of bed late; staggered through the three Ses and took off without eating.

Lunch: chocolate milkshake, French fries and a bacon cheeseburger at Scotty's Diner in Midtown East. They make quite a good bacon cheeseburger, and now that they know me I always get it done just the way I like it and with extra bacon.

Dinner: had a late rehearsal and the GF had a performance, so I threw something together... salad of endive, julienne of Granny Smith apple (done on the mandoline), crumbled Cabrales cheese, evoo (Frantioa Barbera unfiltered Sicilian evoo -- 12 bucks for a liter, and really tasty), vermouth vinegar and Maldon sea salt; sourdough bread with a nice, ripe Reblochon; and an appley Reinhessen Kabinett Riesling. In honor of Craig's article on amari I am sipping a small glass of Fernet Branca as I type this.

The ferrets had some more of the ground chicken earlier in the day. At the moment they are noshing on bowls full of ~0.75" cubes of chuck steak briefly deep fried in hot oil to kill any bacteria on the surface while keeping the interior as raw as possible (most bacteria in large cuts of meat is on the surface). This is their first taste of beef. As usual, Issachar went right for it immediately, Asher took a few exploratory nibbles and declared it "good" while Zebulun is taking a more cautious approach.

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A few weeks ago I came down with a nasty stomach virus. My nephew brought me a bottle of Fernet Branca. It saved me. After sipping a bit of that wonderful elixir, I could actually keep water down. I intend to keep a bottle in my liquor cabinet, for medicinal purposes, of course.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Sam, are there foods that you totally avoid to protect your voice?  Is dairy a no-no (based on the milkshake and cabrales consumption, perhaps not!)?

Not really, no. If there were certain foods that triggered a notable allergic reaction or gave me serious acid reflux, I'd probably avoid them. So far, so good.

In re to the dairy, I have never experienced the alleged congestive effects many people claim. Besides, it's not as though I was drinking a milkshake 10 minutes before I started singing. I don't tend to eat anything (except, as previously mentioned, perhaps a few nibbles of apple or pear) for an hour or two before singing. There are certain temporary physiological effects in the throat that result from eating that are not so great for singing.

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