Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Chinese food in NYC used to be amazing... why is it not still? Statistically there are more Chinese-born inhabitants in New York than any other major metropolitan area... but it seems to be universally agreed that the food is on the decline.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/DataHub/FB_maps/State_Metro_ACS2008_Chinese_FB.pdf

i ate head cheese. i regretted it.

Dinuguan, because all my relatives told me it was chocolate stew.

Grasshopper, cow brain

Snake, abalone, sea cucumber, durian, alligator, moose, kangaroo.

When I was young I ate my parasitic twin.

@chefrobert--I bought my food mill in an antique store in fantastic condition for $12...Canadian.

gluten is also found in rye and barley

@ChefRobert
"The way this tool pushes out the potato prevents it from developing too much gluten and thus becoming very gluey."

Not to be a jerk, but I don't think potatoes can develop gluten. I think gluten is only found in wheat ...

Oh my, I have just delurked in order to defend the Buffet!

Yes, for some the buffet is an opportunity for gluttony (and that's their choice). Though, I think my mom taught me to eat as much as I could without puking at buffet from an early age, not out of gluttony, but out of good old fashioned thrift and getting-your-money's-worth. She did grow up poor, after all. So yes, she did take us to the pizza buffet quite often and tried to get us to eat as much cheap, warmed-over pizza as we could cram in our stomachs.

Of course, this backfired on me when I went to college and live on campus, when ALL my meals were all you can eat buffets. Ah, The Freshman Fifteen.

The great thing about buffets, if you don't happen to be a person who's worried about getting enough calories and need to put on some fat to last you the winter, is the variety. I love going to Chinese buffets and getting little dabs of all kinds of different stuff. I also consume quite a bit of soup and jasmine tea, which are a couple of things a true buffet-glutton would avoid, since all that water will fill you up, but I really like Chinese soups and jasmine tea! Last time I was at a buffet I had one bowl of every kind of soup they had: egg drop, wonton, AND hot and sour. Yum! If I was at a regular restaurant I would be limited to only ONE soup, and I always have so much trouble deciding..

Not to mention limited to only one entree, instead of little dabs of ten different things. To me, that's the fun part. I guess I've changed my buffet strategy from "eat as much food as you possibly can" to "eat as many different things as you possibly can." Though, I suppose it does help if the food at the buffet is actually good. That's why I don't go to bad pizza buffets anymore, but I miss living near a Fresh Choice or similar salad buffet (Do you folks also frown upon someone who gorges themselves on a buffet of salads and wholegrain breads?)

As someone else mentioned, buffets also help when you are unfamiliar with the cuisine. Just last night I was talking with my boyfriend and the conversation turned to food. He's not as much of an adventerous eater as I am, but he said once his sister took him to an Indian buffet and he "actually found something [he] liked". He said he didn't think he liked Indian food, but he liked being able to try a few different things to find out if there was anything that agreed with him. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember what that was, so he's not ready to go to a regular Indian restaurant again, but he would be totally down with another buffet so he can sample around some more.

So yeah, I do think all you can eat buffets have some redeeming qualities, and also the potential for being "abused". The article was hilarious, though, and I've bookmarked it and am sending it to my mom. I also have a craving for Chinese food now.

@Pook_: That's a good point: I can't imagine how anyone could be opposed to buffets if they've been to the same ones I ate at in Taipei. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of them, Boooo.

Having tried the as-seen-on-tv product that i linked in the above article, I know that it's not that much different. That gadget isn't specificially for potatoes, but the design is basically the same.

The fact that professional kitchens do not use this tool is not the issue. there are many tools that both professional chefs and home cooks use. Granted, the average home cook doesnt need to go out and buy a robot coupe or a 400 watt immersion blender, but a good standard masher or potato ricer are not that pricy. The three things that bother me about the tool in this article is the enclosed circular base, the lack of multi-functionality, and the high cost when something that costs $1 does the same thing, albeit faster and better with multi-functional properties.

@nikki... Whatever works for you :) But you will never find that tool in a professional kitchen. We use standard heavy duty mashers, potato ricers, or food mills. The As-Seen-On-TV type of masher/cutter has no business in a respectable kitchen.