Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I am going to be looking for this today (I live in Tokyo and you have no idea how hard it is to get a proper pizza). I'll probably put up some pics on my blog once I get it done. Thanks for the heads up :D

Doesn't slice/serious eats have a genius grant from the Macarthur Foundation or a nutrition grant from the National Institutes of Health to obtain one of these and conduct a true scientific study on this product? It seems as if Slice would be doing a service to the public health if it had one shipped from Japan, then invited readers to participate in a blinded, controlled study comparing the pizza produced by this product with a control pizza: an identically topped and sized pizza produced by, say, Dom or Mark and had the readers decide. I'll bring the vino.

Into the oil. Sadly, the softened garlic and shallots are to be disposed of - I usually love the two, but in that mushy state (especially 2 cups worth), I needed to say "adieu."

Hoo boy - I made it last night and it's sure stinky, but the good kind of stinky.

I think the addition of fresh bean sprouts helps. I didn't have any sherry vinegar on hand, so I used some water - it didn't seem to affect the outcome, because it was still tasty.

Also, I think the amount of oil is a little absurd - reducing it down to 5 or 6 ozs. wouldn't hurt it.

Sounds good to me, would like to read more, wink, wink, nudge, nudge...

The single most important ingredient is shopping -- or sourcing. Finding really great quality... or unusual ... spices or condiments or whatever you want to put together. Eventually. So for me, I have a pantry of exotica... that I use to augment the freshest basic ingredients I can find.
You can't improvise if there are no ingredients to improvise from. And if the ingredients are second rate, the results show up on the plate.
You can have great technique, but if a box of instant oatmeal is all that's in your pantry, you're not making anything much more exotic or interesting than oatmeal.

I feel the most important element, other than that quality of the food you purchase, is your attitude towards it. If you love food and love to cook, it shows. If you are having a bad day and you are frustrated, that frustration will turn up in your finished dish.

Techniques mean nothing if there is no love.

Love & Caramelization.

It's about balance, contrast and composition within each dish, and of the dishes in an entire meal.

A balance and contrast of:
1) taste - sweet, sour, savory, spicy, etc;
2) cooking techniques - sauteed, poached, broiled, fried
3) texture - crispy, tender, chewy
4) rich/light
5) temperature - cold, room, hot

The most important element? ENJOYING IT! If you aren't having fun and expressing yourself through your food...you shouldn't be cooking. That's not to say there aren't bad days/nights/shifts/ingredients/bosses/customers/co-workers...but you should still enjoy it because if you don't...it will come through in the food.

cheers!

Consistency is the soul of cuisine. It means nothing to make a great dish if you can't make it consistently.

TASTE, by far, is the most important element of cooking. How will you know if it will be good to anyone else if you don't taste it first? (I never understand people (chefs or amateur cooks) who don't taste their own food before sending it out to the table----only way to see if the seasoning, texture, etc. is right!)

Control the heat