Omit needless syllables. I'm sure that's the theory there. - laura x

I like that theory...except "cioppino" only has three syllables. And, given the context, the person *had* to have actually seen the name on a menu no more than six hours previously. - walt crawford

I'd go for "fewer letters" but that doesn't actually work either. - walt crawford

I was assuming lazy pronunciation. - laura x

Oh, sigh, and I see the first Epicurious recipe calls for king crab. Because it's not like San Francisco restaurants would use locally-sourced Dungeness crab or anything like that...(In this case, Wikipedia gets it right.) - walt crawford

Laura: I think you're right, or just lazy typing. Or...well, given the content of that chat stream in general, "dumb as a rock" may be another option. - walt crawford

Well, those of us who live in large swaths of the country have no crab at all locally,* so we take what we can get. (*Donald Kaul did always think we should make Des Moines into a seaport, but sadly, like many of his ideas, that has yet to be realized.) - laura x

I understand that, but a regional recipe should *start* with the local product, then offer alternatives (that is: cioppino is properly made with Dungeness crab, but if that isn't available, use king or whatever *is* available). [The canal required to make Des Moines a seaport would be an interesting construction project...make the "snow pipeline to California" look trivial by comparison.] And now I have to look up Donald Kaul. - walt crawford

Walt, I think you'd like him. He's one of my all-time favorite newspaper columnists. - laura x

I am now slightly more informed about Kaul--including the fact that some of Wikipedia's high holies don't think he's notable enough to be included. Jerks. (I suspect if anybody here tried to emulate Germany in adding a modest Wikipedia entry for me--or the more notable Walt Crawford in the midwest, for that matter--it would be deleted so fast you'd never have known it was there. NOT suggesting anyone try it. Whereas Jeffrey Beall is not only Notable, his blog is now considered a Reputable Source. I LOVE Wikipedia's consistency...) - walt crawford

And, Laura, I suspect you're right. My favorite local columnist--who's always been considered too local to be syndicated--does a fair amount of modest satire (Jon Carroll) and is one of the few writers I know who've written extensively about their previous bottle-and-a-half-a-day alcoholism. That was a while back; he's been an abstaining alcoholic for decades now. And, to be sure, he's the editor (at UC) who told me I'm not funny, saving me a LOT of grief. - walt crawford

I've always liked Jon Carroll's column when I've read it, which is not that frequently, because syndication. - laura x

It's strange: The Chronicle *did* syndicate Herb Caen's ultra-local column, but apparently they think Carroll's too much of an acquired taste. They may be right. I suspect you can always get the column at SFGate, but that site's become such a hellhole that I'm reluctant to recommend it. Not sure what it is with newspaper websites, but it ain't promising... - walt crawford

Love Jon Carroll, I read him at SFGate. http://www.sfgate.com/columni... -- but he's behind a paywall now :( - Stephen Mack

Didn't realize they'd moved Carroll to their paysite. Probably part of making SFGate less useful so people will cough up the $5/month (or whatever). I read in in the Chronicle itself--er, the $6/month Kindle version. - walt crawford