Of course there's no such thing as totally fatfree
meat unless one uses solvent on it, but I'll say that
anything under 10% fat tastes kind of weird at best.

I'll take your word for it... hadn't ever considered how one would get totally fatfree meat, nor really why one would want to... ;)

Of course, there's the cultured animal protein that
people are talking about, which opens up the possibility
of fatfree meat in our blighted future.

on down the line. I frankly prefer at least a quarter fat,
up to (as some of you have seen) almost all fat. Except
raw, where lean is perhaps preferable. I never saw the
point of wagyu sashimi, for example.

Depends on how much one likes the taste of raw fat...?

I like the taste of it, but the texture can be a
bit much. Being curious, I looked it up and discovered
that the Ethiopians eat the raw fat separately - a
wrinkle that has not yet arrived in the restaurants
here in the US.

For the longest time I preferred meat with a considerable
chew, so chuck was ideal for me, though round if raw, and
truth be told, there's seldom any kind of beef I'll turn down.

So I've noticed.... :)

Things like well-done burger I'd prefer to further
process, but my tolerances are otherwise pretty high.

My mother would always take the fat and gristle with an
air of self-abnegation, and it was a while before my
sister and I discovered that those parts were at least
as tasty as the sirloin and definitely more so than the
tenderloin, which at its best tastes sort of like liver
and at its worst tastes sort of like nothing.

Looks like your mother had at least that good inflence on you... :)

Some good things, especially culinarily, but in other
arenas of life, mostly not so good.

And so you've related....

To be fair, you'll admit that I've also discussed the
few good things she imparted.

Reminds me of the tagline (which probably isn't on this computer) about 90% of lawyers give the other 10% a bad name.... At one time in MEMORIES we had a lawyer (presumably one of the good honest ones) as a regular poster, so I was careful not to use my derogatory lawyer taglines... generally still I avoid using them... snag them, still, though... ;)

I suspect that an honest lawyer will at least chuckle
at such, the same as most competent viola players will
snigger at viola jokes.

Probably... :)

players, My bud Ella Lou (principal at Cape Ann and Symphony
by the Sea) was a huge fan and Susan Bill (principal at
Cape Cod) a vocal foe. I seem to recall Patty McCarty was
publicly against but would tell the occasional viola joke
during our get-togethers, presumably when her students were
being particularly irksome.

Depends on whether one is secure enough to laugh at perceptions... ;) I

Yeah, but we're talking about people at the top of
their profession - Neubauer and Vernon being principals
at New York and Cleveland (or was it Chicago?) and McCarty
being the de facto principal (nominally Burt Fine was) in
Boston.

remember that when we'd hear the Baltimore Symphony broadcasts that
there used to be an almost regular supply of viola jokes, David Zinman
being, IIRC, a violist before becoming a conductor... He'd share them
with the announcer (who now has moved to announcing the Chicago Symphony broadcasts)... And a very good friend was at one time the principal
violist at the RPO when they were still here.... She'd tell some of them herself.... :)

And I endorse them. We had a violist friend over a
few nights ago (Marcus Thompson's former stand partner
at Music and Art), and he brought another M&A alum along,
and we spent hours swilling cheap red wine and telling
viola jokes.

If you tot them up, the rule probably has more
exceptions than adherents. Speaking of all these
things, you know that whether something ends in
-ent or -ant depends on the conjugation of the
Latin original, with one signal exception, that
being defendant, which evolved because not only
are lawyers liars, they don't know their Latin.

Interesting theory.... :)

That the spelling depends on the Latin conjugation?
That's demonstrated. That lawyers don't know what
they're talking about, that's demonstrated too.

The latter.... but, yes, true....

Funny thing is I've dated two of them.

Hot stuff
category: condiment, sauce, mine
yield: 1 batch

3 Tb red pepper flakes
1/3 c neutral oil
1 garlic clove, minced fine - more to taste
2 Tb cayenne
salt
splash white wine

In a deepish pot that seems much too large for the task,
dry-toast the pepper flakes until fragrant over medium heat.
Off heat, add oil and garlic. If you are going to use this
as a sauce, use lots more garlic. Return to low heat and let
simmer until garlic just begins to color. Add cayenne. Salt
to taste. Turn the pot 45 degrees and add the wine, so the
wine gets covered by the maximum amount of oil. Off heat,
return pot to horizontal. If used as a sauce, heat over high
heat until very hot and pour over pasta. If to be used as a
condiment, let cool to room temperature before using.

Source: moi
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