"modom (palindrome guy)" <moc.etoyok@modom> wrote:

> (Victor Sack) wrote:
> >
> >Consider making basturma, the superior Armenian precursor of pastrami
> >(by the way of Turkish pastirma and Romanian pastrama).
> >
> I started with a brisket, not a tenderloin. And I'm not certain the
> air drying process you describe would work in what appears to have
> become a subtropical climate here in Cow Hill. Seriously. I've lived
> in Baton Rouge. This is Baton Rouge weather. Only it's moved up near
> Oklahoma for the season.

Maybe it will be different starting next week or the week after next?

> >BTW, traditionally-made pastrami is not brined either, it is dry-cured.
> >
> I got the recipe from this book:
> http://www.ruhlman.com/books/charcuterie.html
>
> Those guys know their onions.

Nevertheless, brined pastrami is non-traditional, no matter how good it
may be otherwise. It is a fact, not an opinion.

As to Ruhlman knowing his onions, I, too, was pretty sure of that until
a few months ago. I have started having some doubts ever since seeing a
video of him and Mario Batali making a travesty of risotto. That is, it
was Batali who was committing the actual crime, with Ruhlman just
hanging around, perhaps acting as a lookout. What Batali ended up
making was boiled rice. He kept adding what appeared to be huge amounts
of broth to the rice and letting it boil, not stirring at all. Ruhlman
appeared to be perfectly happy with the procedings.

I was very much surprised, as most every Batali recipe I have seen
appeared to be perfectly competent, perfectly traditional, perfectly
well executed. His culinary pedigree is respectable. He used to cook
at a trattoria in Italy for several years and he also used to work at
Marco Pierre White's restaurant. I do not know why he decided to make
his "risotto" this way. :-(

Victor