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Food Thread: Truffles Have Ridges?

There is an upscale department store in Paris called Bon Marché. If you need a €3,000 pocket book, or a €400 men's manicure kit, that's the place.

It also has three floors dedicated to food! The bottom floor is an excellent wine store, the next floor is a mind-bogglingly marvelous food court, and the next floor is filled with kitchenware and cooking stuff and beautiful china and glasses and flatware and linens and....

Let's focus on the food today! That photo is a plate of rigatoni in a truffle-cream sauce, served at a tiny truffle bar in the middle of this amazing food court. It doesn't have a kitchen; it's more like a reheating station about the size of a small island in an American kitchen. But they managed to pump out this deliciousness, and my friends had equally marvelous stuff (one had risotto with truffles).

The cream sauce was perfect, with tiny bits of truffle that I imagine was the dust and small pieces left over from processing. Then they shaved that pile of truffles on top, and had sufficient attention to detail to make the pasta perfectly. The rigatoni's ridges were perfect for holding onto that rich cream sauce, and I vaguely remember having to resist licking the plate.

Was it expensive? Not by NYC standards! The food culture in France can be overwhelming, but aside from the restaurants that cater to those who wish to be seen, even the highly rated places seem reasonable by American city standards.

That food culture is distinct from ours, which I think focuses on the event of the meal even more than the food. I like that very much, and wouldn't give it up for anything!

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Can't we make it illegal for people to say incredibly stupid and ignorant things about food and eating? These academics with more time than sense keep coming up with utterly nonsensical suggestions to break us of our habit of eating good food. I am tired of hearing about how I am destroying the environment and the planet because I like steak.

Fine. I accept the responsibility for the destruction of the earth. Now shut up and let me eat my NY Strip.
Biohazards for Everyone! Academia's Gross New Plan to Take Away Your Steak

The bite of the lone star tick spreads alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a condition whose only effect is the creation of a severe but non-fatal red meat allergy. Public health departments warn against lone star ticks and AGS, and scientists are working to develop an inoculation to AGS. Herein, we argue that if eating meat is morally impermissible, then efforts to prevent the spread of tickborne AGS are also morally impermissible. After explaining the symptoms of AGS and how they are transmitted via ticks, we argue that tickborne AGS is a moral bioenhancer if and when it motivates people to stop eating meat. We then defend what we call the Convergence Argument: If x-ing prevents the world from becoming a significantly worse place, doesn’t violate anyone’s rights, and promotes virtuous action or character, then x-ing is strongly pro tanto obligatory; promoting tickborne AGS satisfies each of these conditions. Therefore, promoting tickborne AGS is strongly pro tanto obligatory. It is presently feasible to genetically edit the disease-carrying capacity of ticks. If this practice can be applied to ticks carrying AGS, then promoting the proliferation of tickborne AGS is morally obligatory.

These people are f*cking loons! They need to be committed.
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Here's another installment in the never-ending saga of weird foods from abroad.

I will admit that they did taste pretty damned good, and the younger brat who was visiting last week said they tasted just like my chicken with onions dish.

I guess there is no reason not to flavor chips with all manner of weird sh*t, but I have been acculturated to expect salty and spicy and vinegary, so anything other than that makes me pause.

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Did somebody sing bacon? If not, then it's about time!

[Hat Tip: Perfessor Squirrel]

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Wow...we are a weird people. Bacon Scented Gift Wrapping Paper is indeed a thoroughly amusing idea, but actually to execute on it is a bit obsessive. And that comes from someone who thinks that bacon is one of the four food groups, and if it isn't it should be. Somebody call RFK Jr. and tell him!

[Hat Tip: Kathy]

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I had that last week at a pretty famous Parisian bistro. And while it was good, the onions dominated the mushrooms. If I were to duplicate it in my kitchen, I would cut back on the onions, and absolutely caramelize them more.

But it is a good idea, and one that I think I will explore.

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Admit it...you love this!

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I thought France would have good garlic, but the Frogs seem to have the same problem we have in the U.S. At least they don't import filthy garlic from China. Pork is great here, but no game, so send all of your extra antelope to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

Who are those poor deluded souls We know who shakes their Manhattans! These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.

$1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!