It came out pretty good. Goat leg isn't overpowering in flavor. Most people compare it to Lamb but I don't think its quite as pungent. I'd compare it more to a veal shank. The recipe called for rubbing it first with the juice of 2 lemons to reduce the gaminess. Maybe it would have been a little more overpowering if I hadn't done so. It has a reputation for being a tough meat but after braising for 4 hours, you could cut it with a spoon.

That sounds all kinds of righteous.

And I'm with Dr. Dumbledore: I'll eat a fucking pigeon as long as it's well prepared and tasty (and locally sourced)

Not sure if this is the right place to mention this but the No Reservations episode on the closing of El Bulli was fucking fantastic television.

We watched it.

Straight food porn.

That should be their Emmy submission.



I watched it and have it DVR'd for femdisco to watch. I openly salivated during the episode even though I've never even tasted half the flavors Adrià dreamed up.

I realized I missed it while we were eating dinner on my daughter's birthday. Just caught it on You Tube this a.m., and damn. There's a message in there for success at a level way beyond dictatorial, machiavellian, and other general memes of success that have been around for decades. Something illuminating.

I'm about 5 eps of No Reservations behind but have it in my tivo. I did catch an episode of Unique Eats on French Brasserie food that had Pigs Ears from the LA rest., Church & State. Damn, I need to get there and try those. It also had cassolet and some other stew done up in Charleston restaurants. I had to check this thread to see if it was from where Derris ate but it wasn't. An upcoming ep on winebars has a segment on Cochon - looking forward to seeing that.

Skip the backlog and go straight for the goods on El Bulli, Bill--you won't regret it.

I revisited the first time No Reservations meets him in 2002 as well. A good complement if not only for revealing more of a progression towards his Japanese affection.

I enjoyed their passion for food and I would have never passed up the opportunity to experience El Bulli, but none of the food really made me want to eat it. And I think Ferran Adria is a genius. I'm not against modernist cooking per se, I'm really not for the gimmicky stuff like "it's looks like coffee but it's actually chocolate rabbit soup." But modernist cuisine has breathed life into a somewhat stale art.

That's why I watched Bourdain's first visit to El Bulli in conjunction with the closing episode. Bourdain himself held reservations of the "modernist cuisine" on his first visit and left doe eyed in admiration. I think the food gets clouded in the modernist approach, but in the end value Ferran is trying to get to the flavors of a plate. I noticed [I think he admits]he never seems to go beyond 2 or three flavors in one plate, sometimes only one flavor. I cook but I am no chef, however, I get that he seems to be completing the essence of flavors or slight combinations to effect perfection of them. That was my take, and yes his passion for it is hypnotic.

Worthy to check: Achatz(a Michgan native) from Alinea fame was on Fresh Air a while ago and similar to Ferran has a passion to create experience with food in new affecting ways that comes over well in his discussion.

In reality, I am most definitely not a fan of what you are calling "modernist" cooking and molecular gastronomy and all that; I just thought that this was the rare episode of the TV show that lived up to the chapters in Bourdain's books where he'll describe an evening at the French Laundry or some other over the top experience. Like you say, it's about the passion.

Something he pointed out in Medium Raw that I'd never really considered was A. the level of actual preparation that one must do to endure one these several-dozen-course-tasting-menu experiences and B. that you are basically hammered thanks to all the wine pairings involved. Like falling down drunk.

Bingo. This episode was all about passion and the attention to details, and that brought me back to Bourdain's books as well. I've watched it 3 times now, and I'd have to say my favorite part is how Ferran Adrià reacts when eating his food, as well as the responses from Bourdain and others. Food is an experience, and how being present in the moment is so important for the experience. This episode truly captured that.

Also, I would never call Adrià's food "gimmicky".

for those interested, here are the trailers for his El Bulli: Cooking in Progress documentary. Seafoam, there's a date in Ft. Lauderdale.

http://is.gd/pBXKy9

I'm not really disagreeing with either of you. I think he is unquestionably a genius and I enjoyed the show. But I do think modernist cuisine and Adria can be gimmicky. I thought his food looked it's most tempting when it veered traditional. Gastronomy is definitely a better place post-Adria. And Bourdain is really great at what he does.

I don't think we were disagreeing, 'fish. Just chatting.

Made a lightly seasoned grilled HugoJumbo Shrimp on wood fire dressed with beurre blanc, Potato gallette, salad by guest
kids ate the home made bolognese diluted with home made tomato sauce, [left over sauce in those hermetic Ball Jars, great storage for later]

great eating made easy for 8,
shrimp ~30$ for dozen{1.5lbs, 3 each} only other expense was wine or by others

I still haven't caught this yet but did clear most of the backlog. I'm sure this episode is great and all but I really wanted to see the Cuba and California desert episodes first.

If you caught the Desert one, Tim Easton & Victoria Williams play every Sunday @ Pappy's & Harriet's (the first place Josh took Bourdain). I was really hoping he'd taken him there on a Sunday and got Easton a little TV time but that segment was really short. I was also pleased to see a Lamar Sorrento (he's the artist I got to paint a Gram Parsons death scene for me) painting on Homme's studio wall.

I went to a wine tasting with Peruvian food pairings yesterday:

1). Seabass Tiradito w/ lima beans, loveage oil, and leche de tigre.
2). Braised Oxtail w/ pipian, huesillo aioli, and chives.
3). Pork Belly w/ white barley, stewed tomatoes, and huacatay.
4). Cherry tomato Ceviche w/ whipped mascarpone, pluots, and herbs.

It was pretty awesome. I might go to a similar tasting at another peruvian restaurant on thursday.

Tonight, I'm making a big pot of Bobo de camarao: a Brazilian Shrimp Stew with 1.5 lbs of shrimp, heirloom tomatoes, Palm Oil, Coconut Milk, Onions, Peppers, Cilantro etc. which I'm going to feast on for a few days.

I'd say 'gimmicky' is not the right term, it's super concentrated and focused what el bulli produced. the thing is that even the optical appereance and the way the food (or better: the taste, the texture) is served had been completely thought from the perspective of the sensual experience.

Just want to say that I usually go for Al Pastor of sometime beef tongue or cheek, but I had the most delicious Tripe Tacos a couple nights ago. Great meaty taste with a bit of a crunchy/chewy texture while still remaining tender. I may be addicted to these for a while.

Turned out pretty damn good.

Recipe?

This is off the top of my head so I hope I'm not forgetting anything.

Peel and clean 1.5 lbs of shrimp, toss shrimp in juice of 1 lime and store in fridge until needed
Boil shrimp shells in 4 cups water for 10 minutes and then strain
Boil 1 lb Peeled Yuca in strained shrimp shell broth for 20 minutes (add water if needed to cover Yuca)
While Yuca is cooking, dice 1 medium onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 green bell pepper, 5-6 green onions (white part and 1 inch of green part) and peel and seed two tomatoes (about 1lb)
Sweat the onion for 5 minutes in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons dende oil (Palm oil)
Add the Garlic, Bellpepper, green onions, tomatoes and a couple teaspoons each of packed rough cut parsley and cilantro to the onions and continue to cook (turn down heat and simmer covered) for about 10 minutes
Mash the Yuca, adding some of the broth to get a thick paste like consistency
Add 1 can of coconut milk to the onion/tomato/etc mix and heat until its simmering
Add the shrimp and heat for 1 minute
Mix in the Yuca and bring it back up to a simmer
Season with Salt, White pepper, and Red Pepper flakes to taste
Serve over Rice

It's typically served with a hot pepper sauce made with malagueta peppers and yuca. I didn't have all the ingredients I needed so I used a commercial hot sauce that's flavored with passionfruit. I thought I had more fresh cilantro than I did so I skimped on that. I'm going to buy more and add it to the leftovers tonight.

I've had to dress a fish a few times lately for one reason or another, and I find it less difficult than I thought I would. But I don't feel like I'm getting all of the meat I could be off of the carcass. A girl showed me what to do at a party a month back, she was a culinary student and seemed to know her shit. She did the first fish and watched me do the second, and then said I did it very well (shrug). But the red snapper last night was more difficult - it was so firm, and one side seemed to be bonier than the other. I know there are tricks to it, but then I feel like I won't do it often enough to warrant getting good at it.

Wanda Jackson is playing here on Thurs 9/22 if you're interested.