Ask the Profussor – I Lost November Again

November is apparently a tricky month. It’s not short like February, but this is the second time in which there has not been an AskTP during the month of Thanksgiving. Perhaps it has something to do with the travel and holiday preparedness. I’m not sure.

But November was a great month for the FLB. It saw new readers, year over year readership growth, complements, criticisms and questions.

Longtime readers will know that if you give me enough time, I answer all questions. If they don’t get answered right away, your questions will get wrapped up in my periodic Ask the Profussor posts, which I aspire to write every two to three weeks. The only caveat is that if you want an answer, your question must use appropriate punctuation.

Oh, and one other thing. The links that begin each question below all go to the same place. It’s the mystery link of the day. Go ahead and click one, and see where you end up. But now, without further ado, onto the questions.

KB @ Home-Baked Happiness is always up for some fun:
I still haven’t been to the Jonesville Store yet. Now I wanna go, though. Group pancake outing?

You know, I’m awful at organizing stuff like this and my personal schedule is a mess. But if you wanted to try and rally a few other readers, I might be able to join you all some Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday. Or you all can do it without me. May I suggest that the FLB Facebook page might be a uniquely good place to try and work out the logistics?

jenh718 may be a little crazy:
So what does that (long winded comment) say about perfection? Am I crazy for thinking I had a perfect night out?

It says that a perfect evening is different from a perfect meal. Also that an imperfect meal can still be part of a perfect evening. Whether you are crazy or not isn’t for me to say. But I do think we are all a little crazy. Some maybe just a bit more than others.

derryx chimes in on the use of plain ricotta in calzones:
Am I becoming a stickler for basic seasoning?

It certainly sounds that way, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I was in an otherwise great Italian market recently where they had undersalted a pasta dish, and it just killed me.

Wendalicious, having received an answer on calzones, had a follow up:
Now, how do you feel about stromboli?

I’m not going out of my way to get a stromboli. They aren’t redolent of my childhood. But in college a stromboli was occasionally a special treat. That said, if you direct me to a superior or notable version of anything, I’ll give it a go. I recall hearing once about some joints that were deep-frying stromboli. That would be worth a shot.

Ellen Whitby has a funny way of using a question mark:
You forgot to mention Pain de Chocolate?

That’s not a question. You know full well I forgot to mention it. But thank you for bringing it to my attention. I was certain that I had left something out on the list of breakfast sweets. And I’m sure there are even more that were carelessly excluded.

Ken Kozak was not dissuaded by my rant against expensive banh mi:
Did I miss the mention of where I can find this sandwich in Albany?

The new place for banh mi in Albany is a joint called Pho Yum on Central Avenue, not too far west of Wolf Road. I still haven’t had the sandwich.

James chimes in on the subject of good espresso:
Who in the area besides Cafe Vero is really doing it right? Makes me think that a tour de espresso might shed some light on other great places and open some people’s eyes to good coffee. No?

You want to know a secret? Good espresso isn’t about machines or beans. It’s about people. The former will make the difference between a good drink and a great drink. But a committed individual who is serious about honing the craft can make a respectable drink even with lesser tools.

I know Kater at Crisan has been working on her skills.

The Tour de Espresso has been percolating in my brain for a while. But my working version has a much tighter footprint than any previous tour. Maybe we can tackle this in the early spring. Stay tuned.

I’ll take –R’s bait as he talks about cost-to-value ratios in sweets:
The apple fritters from Bella Napoli are quite divine as well, albeit the fact they are roughly the same size and shape as a catcher’s mitt; at $2.25 each, who’s complaining?

That’s one big fritter. Here’s my complaint. Sometimes I’d like to get a fritter, but I don’t want the whole thing, nobody will share it with me, and I can’t abide waste. So I either eat more than I would like and feel nasty, or skip it and miss out on the treat I want most. Satisfied?

Mr. Dave is apparently not an Adonis:
I did not mean to imply that I am an Adonis as I have a respectable Upstate New York, wintertime abdominal bagel. You wouldn’t want me to freeze, would you?

No. I don’t. If you froze, how would I learn about incredible store-bought goodies like lard chips?

Valerie MacMillan is asking a food history question:
Weren’t Cheetos the first big thing to hit the market with GMO corn back in the day?

Wikipedia says you are wrong. Actually, here is the salient quote I lifted from the GMO food page last night:

The first commercially grown genetically modified whole food crop was a tomato (called FlavrSavr), which was modified to ripen without softening, by Calgene, later a subsidiary of Monsanto. Calgene took the initiative to obtain FDA approval for its release in 1994 without any special labeling, although legally no such approval was required.

James will likely one day punch me in the face:
The reality is that people have been consuming GMO crops for over 15 years with no observed ill effect on their health of well-being. Why does everyone want to see GMO containing products labeled?

I’m not sure you can make that claim since the products are widely invisible to consumers. How can one reasonably expect to identify if increased rates of conditions related to diet, like allergies, obesity, food sensitivity are related to GMO foods if people are unable to say what GMOs they consumed and when they started to eat them? Yes, I’m pretty confident that we can definitively say eating GMOs doesn’t result in certain, immediate and painful death. But things like cancers from increased pesticide ingestion take time.

As a country we put labels on the most benign things. Balloons are labeled. You know how old you have to be to safely use a balloon, according to the label? Eight. Coffee is labeled, lest you forget it’s hot and you burn yourself. Yes, these are insane. But how much crazier is it that in  world obsessed with safety and information that these manufactured GMO ingredients that are labeled all over the world remain invisible to the average American consumer?

North Country Rambler really had two questions rolled into one:
Have you tried my favorite brandy, Cardinal Mendoza, from Spain? Wonderful stuff. PS ~ Boy that DerryX guy is a real smartypants, isn’t he?

No, I haven’t. And I truly am thrilled to have so many chemists read this blog.

North Country Rambler also had something else:
Bacon, the healthy alternative. I love that!. Compared to salted butter yes. But healthy?

I’m sorry. That should have read healthful.

squirrelfarts and I may have some ideological differences:
Booze and fire? What’s wrong with that? Let’s sip on some flame roasted alcohol.

Except for that one night a while back, I do not support spraying high proof booze into flames to create fireballs. Spirits should be consumed in moderation. I also do not support using booze as a cologne or dentifrice. Let’s respect the craft of the distiller. And remember, just because something can light on fire, doesn’t mean you should ignite it.

Mark Romano is another fan of Rolph’s Pork Store and wanted to know:
Was it the Black Forest ham at Rolph’s? Great tasting ham.

Dynamite ham. But the one I had wasn’t the Black Forest. I know because it had some unpronounceable German name. It’s really not that much of a tongue twister. Like most German words, it’s really long and foreign sounding to my ear. Which means I can never remember exactly what it’s called. Lucky for me, when I go into Rolph’s the hams are labeled, so I can just look for the ones with the longest German names.

Ellen Whitby also went for a twofer in one of her comments:
How about Nutella? Would you put that on a pancake/dutch baby/crepe without cringing?
Speaking of Indian food, I was just at LaZeez on Central Ave in Albany. I was very impressed. Have you been there?

I’m fine with Nutella on a true crepe, but on a pancake or Dutch Baby, the chocolate hazelnut spread seems wrong. And no, I haven’t been to LaZeez. When I’m in the mood for South Asian food, more likely than not I’m either making it at home or headed out to Parivar.

WrigsMac must have me confused with Harold McGee:
I love homemade pie dough and while I have a bitch of a time rolling it out, I have found one recipe that works better above all others – it calls for distilled white vinegar in addition to the ice water. Any idea why something like that makes the difference between dough that’s hard to work with and dough that’s perfect 100% of the time?

Here’s my best guess, but you should ask a chemist or a baker. The liquid of the vinegar helps pull the dough together, but its acidity inhibits gluten bonds (just like the fat you cut into the dough). In theory that should both make the crust easier to work with and nicely flakey.

-R tried to answer his own question, but I’m not convinced:
I too am blessed with a rapid metabolism.  However, is it actually a blessing?

Yes. Yes, it is.

I think Mr. Dave offered me a significant compliment recently with this quip:
Proud Upstate New Yorker, eh? I don’t remember teaching you the song of our people, or the secret handshake. You are still an outlander, even though you seem to be coming along a bit…

I do my best. It’s not that I don’t miss my California roots. But this is my home now and for the foreseeable future. I’m eating the food, drinking the wine and absorbing as much local culture as I can. What I’ve discovered is that people here are outlanders if their grandparents weren’t born in the region. But I look forward to learning the song one day, and singing it with you over growlers of Utica Club.

WrigsMac proposed cocktails versus wine on Thanksgiving:
Wine on Thanksgiving? No thanks. It’s a cranberry vodka with a splash of champagne kind of day.

Please, please tell me that “cranberry vodka” refers to cranberry juice and vodka and not some commercially flavored spirit. For the record, I would okay with vodka infused with cranberries in a closet at home. But really, you’re an adult. If you are making cocktails, they should be made with gin.

Darren Shupe came to the right place with his question about beans:
Anybody know if Honest Weight is the best source for dried beans in this region?

HWFC has some good beans, but they can also be a bit hit or miss. Plus some of their beans are outrageously expensive for what they are. Probably the single best place for a wide variety of interesting and unusual beans in one, two, five, and ten-pound bags is Parivar. Although if you plan to do a lot of bean cooking, you might also want to give Adventure in Food Trading a ring. You can buy ten pound boxes of gourmet quality beans wholesale.

Ewan seemed to be the one person who understood Angels, Unicorns and Elves:
TMBG fan, huh?

I’m a fan and now my kids are too. But we change the words at home from “Science is real” to “Science is socially constructed.”

RealFoodMom is playing a dangerous game tempting me with food:
Trendy Israeli bakers are getting creative and filling sufganiyot with all kinds of things in place of the tradition red sticky jam, with very successful results. Halvah-filled donuts, anyone?

Next time you bring some back, let me know. I’ll take four. And honestly even that’s probably way too many. Halvah is delicious, but it’s just so heavy.

ThinkAndDo probably realizes that the FUSSYlittleSTORE isn’t a viable business:
May I suggest contacting kegworks.com for all of your bitters needs?

As fate would have it, Keg Works actually does the fulfillment of the elusive Angostura Orange bitters that are available from the FUSSYlittleSTORE. I suppose you could go direct. But then I make zero pennies from your transaction, instead of two.

I want my two pennies.

tas303 is taking some leaps on her own about The Standard:
And, although not a chain, the Standard is in the mall, which means it is looking for a particular type of customer, no?

If you mean one that has disposable income, or at least enough credit to pretend they do? Well then, probably yes. But I don’t think being a mall restaurant means you have to be mediocre. Just like being a hotel restaurant doesn’t doom a kitchen to complacency. Good restaurants can exist anywhere, but the same goes for bad ones.

I seemed to have unleashed a flood against The Standard, including this from phairhead:
Also, why do they have a wait staff & separate food runners?! Some boob takes yr order & never ever returns again to yr table….HARUMPH!

As it just so happens, I worked in a restaurant where there were separate runners and servers. The goal was to improve customer service by making sure food didn’t die in the window, and guests get their orders immediately when the are done from the kitchen. If a server doesn’t return to your table to check in on you, that’s a problem. But it shouldn’t be the fault of employing food runners.

ajw93 might need a lesson from the pre-internet old-school:
Amen! I mean, how else are newbies like me supposed to find the good places?!

The old fashioned way. You ask people. Maybe you even go to the library and check out the microfilm of the major local paper’s latest reader’s choice poll. Or you could use my technique of driving by restaurants that look old and dilapidated, places that most likely should have been shut down years ago, but despite logic and reason seem to have parking lots full of cars at six o’clock every weeknight.

Lakeside just got in under the wire with an observance about the TU online community:
The TU had a positive review on Loca Luna this past week…it still sounds like a hidden gem for those of us in the Ballston Spa area. A very nice review, and not many comments on the Table Hopping blog. How often does that happen?

Three tacos for fifteen dollars? No thank you. It’s a hidden gem for those people who don’t know the most anyone should ever pay for three tacos is six dollars, unless of course they are made from sustainably raised ingredients, in which case I’m willing to go up to an upper limit of nine. But for nine bucks, I want hot, just-made hand-crafted soft corn tortillas, milled locally from organic corn.

irisira was as dismayed as I was when my Thanksgiving wine post was met by silence:
What?! No comments on this post?

The comment gods are capricious. I heard from Lenn of the New York Cork Report via Twitter. But it seems my readers as a whole aren’t terribly interested in talking about wine. And that’s okay. I know that some people are interested in reading about it, but they are just shy.

Thank you for adding your two cents. I’m glad I didn’t spoil your Finger Lakes wedding. It sounds like we are pretty much on the same page when it comes to wine, although you seem to have sampled a wider array of the offerings from our state.

I’ll get there in time.

Seriously, are you still here? Get back to work. But you do get bonus points for making it to the end. Thanks.