Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

This is not meant to be snide but... what if you were to simply close your eyes?
I can sort of understand wanting to focus on the flavour of something, but it is also nice to get a look at what you've got on your plate. Also, have you ever tried eating without the aid of sight? Your question made me curious, so I tried this (alone; I had a feeling an audience would be... awkward), and I can assure you that the apron I wore as a precautionary measure while eating with my eyes closed was not altogether adequate :D

It sounds interesting, but I don't know about using the ends of the hair... if you were to pick the chili oil back up from the hair (e.g. by running your hands through your hair), then absentmindedly rub your face, the results could be pretty unpleasant.

Don't think I would.

I've read reports of missionaries/explorers in various places stating that the locals where they were posted/had travelled claimed to have eaten human flesh, and that it was delicious, but. . . you know, it was so common for many cultures (particulary Western ones) to consider others (particularly non-Western ones) to be completely lacking in either sense of humour or humanity, that the locals who allegedly reported this may have been pulling the missionaries'/explorers' legs, without the latter being aware of this.

My point is that there is no evidence we taste good (although most tastes are acquired), and there would be no way of knowing (without having actually having eaten human) that a synthetic product actually had the flavour and consistency of human (and I cannot imagine eating another human being, but then again, I've never been in the sort of situation where I'd need to make this decision). It also seems like the sort of thing Marilyn Manson would go for in a flash (especially if it were called, say, 'Pam', instead of 'SPAM') and make a big production of, which would make the entire act of eating human-like meat kind of embarrassing ;)

I have been known to avoid restaurants that describe their wait-staff as 'waitrons'... 'wait-person' is nearly as horrible and dehumanizing, and I remain stunned that those to whom it refers appear to eagerly embrace the term. 'Waiter' is pretty dam' close to gender neutral, so why come up with a term that makes the person serving me sound like a soulless machine?! Absurd.

Nut loaf. My parents became vegetarians when I was very young, so turkey did not show up on our table. Instead, there was 'nut loaf', or as my mum called it, 'nut meat'. Whatever. Essentially, it is like a meatloaf... without meat. Never could cope with the texture, leading to ugly brawls between my dad an myself every Thanksgiving.

The consumption of a still-living animal by humans, and the same thing being done by other species is not comparable, since there is no evidence that other species have an equivalent comprehension of the 'wrong', 'cruel', or 'suffering'.
To be human is to have an understanding of these concepts (or in the case of very young children, to have the potential for this), and to act accordingly.
Conflating the suffering caused by humans and other species by saying that 'Mother nature is cruel' makes no sense, since 'nature' is impartial; things occur in nature that we may interpret as cruel, but that's anthropomorphising.

Thanks therealchiffonade...I'd check it out, but I can't get a Frigidaire unit here (in Denmark) without importing it, which would be crazy expensive :(

I did belong the the CR website, but didn't renew, because the models that they sell in the US and EU are not the same.

I've tried almond milk now and again (I'm unpleasantly lactose intolerant, and spent a lot of time looking for milk substitutes, until I realized that I never liked milk all that much, anyway), and it works well in pretty much anything you'd use cow milk, UNLESS the behaviour of one of the dairy components is important to the dish (e.g. some custards and sauces), in which case, you may sometimes run into consistency issues.

As I said, I'm not a milk person, and my inclination to eat dairy hit bottom after I read a study that concluded that pasteurization renders the traces of pus in milk (evidently from mild but chronic mastitis caused by certain milking machines) harmless to consumers. Anyway, I can understand the many reasons for alternative 'milks', which is probably the best way of thinking of them; things you like for themselves, rather than as 'better' alternatives for something else (sort of like butter and olive oil; not interchangeable, but both--in my opinion--lovely; something I'm the mood for one, sometimes the other).

I use suet. It isn't easy to get here, because all prepared suet is exported from Denmark, primarily (I think) to the UK. So, I have to go down to the slaughter-house and get the blob of kidney fat, take it home, and render it myself.

Although not the most fun thing to do, it is very low tech: you just toss the blob of fat into a large pot, and liquify it over very low heat (this prevents browning of the membranes that are all through the kidney-fat blob, and which would contribute a flavour to the finished product). You can chill the blob first, and cut it up into smaller pieces, to hurry the process, but do not turn up the heat, unless you want a definite 'suety' flavour to be present. This takes quite a while.
Once the fat is liquified, just strain it through a clean cloth; I use an old white t-shirt that I'm going to toss, anyway (you probably will not be able to resuse the cloth, unless you're willing to take extreme measures, since the fat does not come out easily).

Then, pour it into the recepticle(s) of your choice (you might want to divide it up in convenient small portions), and refrigerate or freeze it.

You will then have at your disposal a very white, flavour- and odourless fat.

(Before anyone starts screaming about how unhealthy this is, I am not recommending it as a health food, nor is this something that I use in every dish I make; I make a couple of pies a year, a Christmas pudding, the occasional chicken pot pie. None of those in my immediate circle have any problem with their heart, circulatory system, or blood pressure, and when you consider the amount of suet actually present in a single portion of any of these things, the impact is minimal, at most).

I'm adding my vote for 'The Best Recipe'.

I've cooked for a long time, and am comfortable with most cookbooks, but really appreciate this book's clarity, conciseness, and focus on readily available ingredients; I've never had a failure, using one of its recipes. Best, from my point of view, is that they explain the science behind what takes place (which you can read as little or as much of as you like; you don't need to understand the science to make the recipes work), and when you understand that, you are well on your way to being able to make even badly-written recipes (e.g. recipes for delicious-looking things you find online, with partial/iffy looking instructions) work, and creating recipes of your own.

I feel shy about taking pictures of food (I don't know why, but I feel like some sort of freak, the only person on the planet to do this, which is obviously nonsense), and only do so occasionally, but as long as other patrons are being strictly omitted from the images, and a flash isn't used, I don't think this is a problem. True, food is meant to be eaten, but sometimes it is also so impressive visually, I want to show a few friends, and I'll take a shot. I usually only move myself or the dish I'm shooting in order to ensure that other diners aren't in the shot. As long taking a picture or two is a brief, low-key incident, it seems fine.

It seems strange that any restaurant would ban even the taking of photos of the diners at one's own table, as this has been a longstanding tradition, and I can remember seeing this done even when I was a small child (in excellent restaurants), by people celebrating some special event; the waiter was often included in the shot. And let's not forget all those photos of dinners at all classes of restaurants that go back as far as the existence of the SLR camera, at least

On the other hand, use of the terms 'food porn' and 'foodie' should be punishable by law ;)

Thanks everybody, and sorry about not replying sooner.
I'm going with reconstituting powdered whole milk with a reduced amount of water (I just happen to have a big bag of the stuff in the freezer). I'm also planning on browning a bit of the powdered milk, before mixing it with water, since information on evaporated milk (including McGee's OFAC) mentions that some caramelization takes place, and contributes to the product's flavour.

Aaaaargh!!!! Why is this here..? I have no problem with strip clubs (although one sounds unbelievably tacky), but posted advertising is so annoying!