The huge pork ribs were just as delicious cold, with cornbread and salad, as they were hot. But they would not meet Suthun standards for tenderness, requiring full exercise of the teeth despite being very thoroughly cooked.

Not sure about why. Perhaps something to do with fat content of the meat? Age and/or breed of the donor pig?

I have never eaten shad roe, living as I do more than a thousand miles from the Atlantic coast. Is it one of those delicacies that is available for two or three weeks of the year, and does not travel? (Like smelt used to be, until the invention of flash freezing ...)

Elk are farmed here in Ontario, and we have become depressingly casual about dining on elk rump, which makes the world's best sauerbraten by far. Yes, I know it's not supposed to need all that marinating, especially when it's from a farm, but it sure tastes great.