originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
Excuse me for interrupting, but I have to say "Nigel Groundwater" is a really cool name. Is it real or for Internet use only?
Yes, kind of like Putnam Weekly or Yule Kim or Mule Dog or whoever that new politburo-approved new sock-puppet is (I thought those were 'banned', but I guess it depends on WHO YOU KNOW).
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by SFJoe:
Nossiter's "Liquid Memory"Jonathan Nossiter's book is now out in English. Mikey didn't like at Slate.
I haven't read it, but the review seems all too plausible.
Any dissents from folks who've actually seen it?
You forgot to mention the Nossiter/VS smackdown mentioned by Mr. Steingarten. (I'm looking forward to reading the book review in Elmundovino) I can't say that, on the basis of my experience with 'Mondovino,' I'm going to run out and buy his book. Rather, I'm putting Mikey's "Au Revoir to all that" toward the top of the list of books to buy/beg for.
Mark Lipton
originally posted by VS:
Fundamentalist Catholic neocons that we are
That makes it even cooler.originally posted by nigel groundwater:
It is Orcadian [i.e. originally and uniquely from the Orkney Islands] and is an Anglicised version of Old Norse 'Grunna Vatn' where the Vikings came ashore and settled on the mainland of Orkney.
He writes about Romain's death on page 94. While he didn't exactly worship Coche-Dury, I do wish he'd slammed it some. The more bothersome producer nit was his constant slams on Joguet due to the estate's now being under outside ownership, yet he continually lauds Huet without seeming to know of Anthony Hwang's interest. But it's not a reference book and while nits like this are distracting they don't stand in the way of what the book is trying to do.originally posted by Alice F.:
Dogs aside, the book is sadly charmless, and not sure exactly what the screed is about. I have a hard time with a wine writer who swears by real wines and invokes as Godly the names of Lafont and Coche Dury. And is so out of the loop he talks of Romain Lignier as if he were still alive and didn't know of his unfortunate, untimely and tragic death. That mistake is one that makes me feel better about all of the many typos in my own book.
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
Amazing to me Suckling kept his job. And Rolland? The Boisset guy? Magrez? Michael Mondavi? Those Napa people? Wow, how could you make that stuff up?
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
That makes it even cooler.originally posted by nigel groundwater:
It is Orcadian [i.e. originally and uniquely from the Orkney Islands] and is an Anglicised version of Old Norse 'Grunna Vatn' where the Vikings came ashore and settled on the mainland of Orkney.
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
Excuse me for interrupting, but I have to say "Nigel Groundwater" is a really cool name. Is it real or for Internet use only?
Yes, kind of like Putnam Weekly or Yule Kim or Mule Dog or whoever that new politburo-approved new sock-puppet is (I thought those were 'banned', but I guess it depends on WHO YOU KNOW).
Vikings make everything cooler.That makes it even cooler.Vikings came ashore and settled on the mainland of Orkney.
originally posted by Tom Blach:
The Steinberger book is dreadful. His complete lack of understanding of french food is evident on every page, as is his preposterous political agenda.
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Tom Blach:
The Steinberger book is dreadful. His complete lack of understanding of french food is evident on every page, as is his preposterous political agenda.
So you vehemently disagree with the premise that French cuisine has been de-centered from the top of the global hierarchy?
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Tom Blach:
The Steinberger book is dreadful. His complete lack of understanding of french food is evident on every page, as is his preposterous political agenda.
So you vehemently disagree with the premise that French cuisine has been de-centered from the top of the global hierarchy?
To me that was just a tangential point and a natural outcome of the greater point which is the sclerosis in French society since Mitterand (and in reaction to 1968).
Over the last 15 years I have been traveling to France I have personally noticed a dip in quality at what used to be reliable sources of a good, reasonable, French meal. Just recently, revisiting my parents old neighborhood around the Rue Cler market, our favorite neighborhood bistro was closed. Our backup was dreadful. A meal at Champs de Mars, which would one would have expected to be fine, and was for a long time, was dreadful AND expensive. The market itself was much less impressive (with the notable exception of the affineur Marie-Anne Cantin) compared to what I have become accustomed to in the States. The best new discovery was a little Spanish place, run by two young guys selling some of that crazy ass jamon from particular pigs and a few other regional things.
The book rung true with my father, who lived in France in the late 60s and then again in the 90s, especially in terms of the climate for business. It also seemed to ring true to our French friends when discussed over dinner.
Tom-
Do you have any specific passages that indicate a fundamental misunderstanding? I didn't find any, but I'll wait until my brother reads it as he worked as a cook in Paris and staged at Arpege, Ducasee, and Maximin.
originally posted by Tom Blach:
There are two great cuisines on earth, Chinese and French, and everything else is a consequence of one of those two.