Having worked in kitchens since 1995, with innumerable Mexicanos borrachos (some of the best guys I’ve ever worked with), I can refine your last point, with absolute confidence, to either Tecate or Modelo Especial that’s been packed in ice water for an hour (and served over ice). Not Corona, not Dos Equis, and…

Maggi is so much more than “Mexican soy sauce” - it’s super-popular in Germanic and Slavic countries (my Polish grandmother used it in damn near everything, and so do I) and the flavor is almost, but not quite entirely, unlike soy sauce.

Taco Bell is global, though. They aren’t nearly as pervasive as McDonald’s, but they definitely span the planet from the UK to Korea.

Wife is from Louisiana, dad has lived in a major shrimping port in Southern Gulf Florida for a decade. Unless you personally know a shrimper who runs a dayboat, one that comes in every single night...your “fresh” shrimp has been frozen on the boat. Even a small-ish commercial shrimper will stay out days on end; you…

Um...like the DFV? Far and away the most successful F1 engine of all time?

Have you ever had monkfish? A breaded slab of it would be instantly distinguishable from any other fish I can think of; it's texturally much more like a crustacean than a fish, ain't no way you're getting it mixed up with a nicely flaky hunk of cod or pollock.

Am chef with an interest in historical cookery - Eliza Acton’s 1845 “Modern Cookery for Private Families” was the first cookbook to include precise measurements, times for cooking, procedure-focused recipes, and other such things we take for granted these days. After that I’d say The Joy Of Cooking was the next major…

Mmmmm...no. Patina is, by definition, “a surface coating on a bare metal surface formed by a chemical reaction”, it usually also has the added benefit of protecting the metal from further degradation.

Just to nitpick, Cajuns are predominantly white, descended from the displaced French from northern Maine/Canada who got booted to LA 300 years ago; Creoles are much more mixed and diverse, later descendants of the mixing of Cajuns, Natives, enslaved Africans, and just about anyone else who lived in the region. It’s…

Ph, amateur hour over here. When the Rum ham first appeared, I was working in a kitchen with a proper chamber vacuum sealer; they’re great for insta-marinating meat so we figured it had to work for Rum Ham and it sure as hell did - put ham in pan, cover with rum, and cycle 3x at 100% vacuum, and enjoy. It's absolutely…

Lance Casteau from Archer, S4E7 “Live And Let Dine”. Possibly the most accurate fictional dysfunctional chef I’ve ever seen; opinion based on having worked back of house since 1995.

Lance Casteau from Archer, S4E7 “Live And Let Dine”. Possibly the most accurate fictional dysfunctional chef I’ve ever seen; opinion based on having worked back of house since 1995.

While I’m not gonna disagree on SUV rollover-ness, I think this is more a case of their excessive mass. Two and a half tons rocketing broadside into *any* vehicle would probably send it a-tumbling no matter how stable it is. Even a Tesla.

The Black Label is a mix of brisket, short rib and dry-aged prime rib that’s cooked on a plancha (fancy griddle) while being constantly doused in clarified butter that’s had dry-aged beef fat rendered in it.

I’m fine with not jailing him, just as long as he ends up with a felony record and possibly is never permitted a driver’s license again. Fines, restitution, community service, yadda yadda, should of course happen, but that's my low-bar.

Acela is Boston-DC, stopping at most major points along the way (e.g. Providence, New Haven, Newark, Philly, Wilmington Baltimore). It’s a fantastic ride, buuuuut it’s only ~30 minutes faster between NYC and DC at 33% more cost than a business-class seat on the Northeast Regional. It's been cheaper since pandemic, but…

Protip - Glad Press-N-Seal makes an excellent smoke detector cover if you’re doing smoky cooking and your kitchen ventilation isn’t up to the task. Just remember to take it off afterwards!

Lye+vegetable oil is a true soap (salt of a non-sulfated fatty acid) as well, it’s just a different balance, e.g. lard is predominantly stearic and palmitic acids while olive oil is mostly oleic with a splash of linoleic. I took up soapmaking as a quarantine hobby, in the process I’ve managed to taste soaps from quite…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Imperial_Street_Circuit

Had a rental Impreza in upstate NY a few years back; a grey autumn day on drizzle slicked pavement with an abundance of fallen leaves it did the same thing - an apologetic chime and a “lane keeping/auto braking disabled” message. Infinitely better than any alternative I can think of.