Now that's glâcé

The June issue of Food Arts arrived today, and the article on ice cream has got my creative juices flowing. It is time to break out the ice cream machine and whip up a batch of something interesting, perhaps lychee and shiso or honeydew and rose.

Also interesting was the reference to pre-modern savory ice creams. Apparently they were being served at Delmonico's over a hundred years ago and are in fact not the creation of the contemporary avant garde as some more flat-footed "traditionalists" might suggest.

Apicius, the Barcelona-based quarterly devoted to documenting nuevo Spanish chefs and cooking, has redesigned its website and added a forum. The site includes a limited number of recipes from previous print editions, some articles on ingredients and tools and recommended books published by Montagud Editores. The site is entirely in Spanish, but translates fairly well with Babel Fish.

Unconch my cocoa

For anyone who was intrigued by The True History of Chocolate and wondered just what chocolate was like prior to Rudolph Lindt's conching machine, Don Puglisi handmade chocolate is now available at Fairways in the New York City area. I will admit to attempting to make a traditional cold, unsweetened cocoa drink from roasted cacao nibs ground with a mortar and pestle. I do not recommend it. I think it was with good reason that Europeans added sugar and heated the drink.

Well, it looks like I will be sticking around at my current position a bit longer than I wanted. Why is it so difficult to find good kitchen help? I mean, 90% of the job is just showing up and 5% is being responsible enough to call when you can't. I guess the difference between a cook and a chef really is apparent from day 1.

Excuse me while I grumble over my lost vacation.