Edible Rock

Meat glue, xanthan and liquid nitrogen — hardly the ingredients that make mouths water. But you’d be surprised how often they can be found in the fancy meals you order in New York restaurants and how terrific they make those meals.

Read more at Elements of the table – NYPOST.com.

Quinoa traveled a rough road from the Andes across the Rio Grande and into America.

via Quinoa: The Story of a Cursed Crop – The Atlantic Food Channel.

Techniques to know:

– Measuring

– Shaking

– Stirring

– Straining

– Muddling

– Making a citrus twist

– Using herbs

– Rimming glasses

– Chilling glasses

– Rinsing glasses

Read more about each bartending technique at How to be a superstar bartender.

Sea urchin, soba and a melt-in-your-mouth omelet—on a stopwatch

via Some of the Best Places to Eat in Tokyo – WSJ.com.

The Ancient Secrets Behind Spain’s Finest Ham, pork from Iberian pigs,
Journeys – On the Trail of Spain’s Acorn-Fed Hams – NYTimes.com.

Encouraged, I made duck confit again, salting and curing the meat as I did the last time. The next day, I seared the duck legs in a pan, letting the fat render out until it was a quarter-inch deep.

via A Good Appetite – Duck Confit, and Hold the Fat – NYTimes.com.

Whether out or at home

during good times or bad

what’s the single best meal

that you’ve ever had?

via Best. Meal. Ever! People find joy in everything from filet mignon to fried chicken – KansasCity.com.

Unlike the Medoc, which is best known for its big estates, Saint-Émilion has 800 mostly tiny wineries crammed into two-thirds as much vineyard space as Santa Barbara County. Merlot is the dominant grape, with most wineries also using Cabernet Franc and some adding Cabernet Sauvignon.

via Amid winemaker strife, deals in Saint-Emilion wines – latimes.com.

FIRST SERVICE

Les Hors d’œuvre

*

Chocolate fashion

Royal ballotine of pheasant

Petit pâté en croûte à la bourgeoise

Fresh deep-sea oysters

Lobster aspic chaud-froid

Les Potages

Beef madrilène with gold leaf spangles

Pureed chestnut soup with truffles from the Court of Italy

Bisque of shellfish from our coasts with a boletus infusion

Pumpkin soup, fresh from the royal vegetable garden

SECOND SERVICE

Les Rôts

Scallops with oyster liquor

Wild duck cromesquis à la Villeroy

Hare stew

Roast beef, carrots and smoked eel

Wild salmon au sel

THIRD SERVICE

Les Entremets

Green and fresh herb salad in gold leaf

Rice salad à la royale

Morel soufflé

Iced cheese

Hard-boiled egg

LAST SERVICE

Fruit

Edible candle

via A banquet for Louis XIV, recreated at the Palace of Versailles – Telegraph.

“The chefs write the music and the menu becomes the lyrics, and sometimes the music is gorgeous and it’s got the wrong lyrics and the lyrics can torpedo the music,” said restaurateur Danny Meyer.

Restaurants Use Menu Psychology to Entice Diners – NYTimes.com.

Featuring food of Mexico, Brazil, and Peru, from the Culinary Institute of America: Center for Foods of the Americas.

Rounding out my kit is a pair of bamboo tongs, a small Microplane grater for cinnamon and nutmeg, a channel knife for doing long strips of zest and my desert-island tool, the clam knife: a dull, short, pointed blade I employ for everything from opening blister packs to prying off stuck bottle caps — in short, all the tasks you don’t want to dull your good knives with.

via Case Study | Stocking the Bar – T Magazine Blog – NYTimes.com.

Pisco is certainly gaining in popularity in the United States, and it's about time. The spirit's ties to this country date back more than 150 years. During the 1849 California Gold Rush, ships rounding Cape Horn picked up supplies from the Peruvian port of Pisco, including the local aguardiente, or liquor. It became the spirit of choice in San Francisco, where the legendary Bank Exchange & Billiard Room served Pisco Punch, a potent mix of pisco, gum arabic, and lemon and pineapple juices.

via U.S. sipping pisco again – latimes.com.

Inside Hagen’s Fish Market, the city’s last smokehouse :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Food.

Mexican chorizo is now accompanied by many other kinds in the refrigerated sections of bigger, more mainstream stores: Argentine, Colombian, Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Honduran chorizos have arrived.

via More chorizo to love – washingtonpost.com.

In 2002, federal officials were trying to remove E. coli from hamburgers when Beef Products, Inc came up with the idea of injecting beef with ammonia.

via Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned – NYTimes.com.

Burgers made with turkey, beans, mushrooms, tuna or salmon are healthy alternatives to ones made with beef.

Recipes for Health – Burgers Without the Beef – NYTimes.com.

There is more to his expertise than flawless technique. The chef was always tasting, smelling, touching, looking, and then adapting to the situation at hand.

via The Good Teacher – Saveur.com.

Typically between 15 and 20 people are involved just for the culinary elements of a basic cooking show.

Read more at: A look at TV cooking shows – chicagotribune.com.

By the Middle Ages, sausage was a mainstay throughout Europe. And no wonder. It could easily be adapted to the climates and ingredients of the area. In the mild climes of Italy, Spain and Southern France dry and semi-dry sausages emerged. In Germany and Austria where cooler temps prevailed, fresh and cooked sausages were the norm.

via Sausage packs spicy food history.