The Rest of Us

[Sneakeater]

4 hours ago, voyager said:

"Way back when", Waters developed a stable of foragers and farmers who collected and grew for her, in fact an impetus for California's thriving farmer's markets today.    To me, it's a no-brainer that restaurants, as regular and reliable consumers, get the pick of the harvest or butchery.    This is simply the market, just as in the antique trade, pickers find gems and save them for regular professional and collector buyers.    I never have thought that I have access to the best of the best as a "civilian".     And of course we have all had access to top quality product since pandemic closed restaurants.    It has to go somewhere and we get our chance.   A parallel is the 2008 recession/bust that sent foie gras down-market when top restaurants lost their clientele base.

Obviously I can't let this go, but during that discussion back on eG people would say to me derisively, "you think that farmers actually go to the trouble of sorting their produce by quality so they can sell different lots to different types of customers?"  And I was like, "you think they DON'T?"

[voyager]

2 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Obviously I can't let this go, but during that discussion back on eG people would say to me derisively, "you think that farmers actually go to the trouble of sorting their produce by quality so they can sell different lots to different types of customers?"  And I was like, "you think they DON'T?"

 

2 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Obviously I can't let this go, but during that discussion back on eG people would say to me derisively, "you think that farmers actually go to the trouble of sorting their produce by quality so they can sell different lots to different types of customers?"  And I was like, "you think they DON'T?"

We had a friend who retired to a "gentlelman's farm" and was early into organic gardening.   But he couldn't get the then current baby veg concept into his head.    He established contacts with a handful of top-notch grocers and restaurants and was adored for his huge, luscious Bing cherries, voluptuous vine ripened tomatoes and lush armfuls of lilacs, but turned away when he brought in radicchio the size of your head.

[joethefoodie]

4 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Obviously I can't let this go

Can we look a little deeper into this...

[Sneakeater]

Because I just want to eat what @joethefoodie does, brouillade aux truffes.  With toasted herbes de Provençe bread.  And cabbage salad (fucking February) with a Luberon vinaigrette.

Since (SPOILER ALERT) I was going to open a bottle of Champers (dear God don't let me be the kind of person who says "Champers") anyway, I started with some caviar with crème fraiche (not homemade) on crackers (not homemade).

I mean really, what are you going to drink with brouillade aux truffes?

N/V André Clouet "Qualité Superiore"

A Blanc de Noirs from Bouzey.

If I could bring myself to use the term "Champers", I suppose I can also bring myself to use the term "classy".

But earthy.  This isn't an ethereal Champagne:  it tastes of the soil.  Lots of toast and nuts.  And boy does it last.  (On the tongue, I mean.  The bottle is depleting all too quickly.)

[Sneakeater]

The world cares, but I really do love Blanc de Noirs Champagne.

[Sneakeater]

I mean like REALLY.

[Sneakeater]

I guess I've turned into what I started this thread as a corrective to.

[joethefoodie]

8 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Because I just want to eat what @joethefoodie does, brouillade aux truffes.

Hey, don't forget @Orik and erotic beef!!

[AaronS]

where do you buy the tuna heart? I must eat like sneak.

[Orik]

I know someone going to Sardinia soon, I'll see if I can get him to shuttle some back. 

[voyager]

2 hours ago, AaronS said:

where do you buy the tuna heart? I must eat like sneak.

Fit for a king.

[AaronS]

I found that, I was hoping that he got it at olmstead or somewhere local. I'll ask at the fancy park slope italian place.

[Sneakeater]

Sorry.   Caviar Star. 

[Sneakeater]

If you find it in Park Slope, please be sure to holler!

[Sneakeater]

Soon after my Gin Donabe arrived, so did some sablefish collars.  This was not a coincidence.

I got the $60 Gin Donabe from Korin after I saw that Mrs. Donabe's version cost $325.  I can now see why Korin's is so much cheaper:  there are many design features (such as anything creating an adequate seal) that are simply absent.  OTOH, I'm still not ready to spend $325 for a clay stovetop smoker.

So, smoked sablefish collar.  This unit smokes lightly; this doesn't taste like anything you'd get from Russ & Daughters (I should know:  I had some of theirs yesterday).  But it's nice.  And sablefish collars are the shit (next batch:  grilled) (well, not counting the leftover smoked one that will be consumed as a salad on a bagel tomorrow lunchtime).

As condiments, some Furikake mayonnaise and some Sichuan chili flakes (and a Meyer lemon for squeezing).  The collars were served on a bed of (you guessed it) raw cabbage.

Also, Uncle Nancy reminded me earlier today that I was going to want some Marcella Hazan smothered cabbage soup as a first course.

I decided that the slight sweetness of a Riesling Kabinett would complement the smoked fish.

2019 A.J. Adam Hofberg Kabinett

But I didn't know, when I decided that, how lightly smoked this fish would be.  A Trocken or GG would have been better.

That said, this is one of my favorite wines.   Adam just nails the interplay between the slight sweetness and the sharp acidity.  The wine is both extremely lively and extremely precise — but still kind of sweet.  I love it.