Andy Lynes

I think I'm right in saying that tommy was being a sly old sarcastic dog when he made that comment.

Chosen at random by my wife (just to ensure a completely independent process) the winners are Swissmiss who will recieve a signed copy of "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" and Dumpling who will recieve a signed first edition of "World Table". Congratulations to them and thanks to Paula for offering two great prizes.

Thanks for the kind comments Chad. There has been some really great stuff in the eGCI and I felt a bit nervous about presenting this. I haven't participated in a competition sponsored by a food company. The closest I have come was a recipe competiton run by something like the Port promotion board (if such a thing exists) and I knocked up "Plum Crumble Tart with Port Sorbet" which sounded good, but which I have never cooked to this day! I tend to either cook completely from scratch or buy foods that need no further preperation so am not too skilled with the "100 great things to do with a tin of mushroom soup" school of cooking. The secret I am told is to feature the sponsors product heavily, possibly even to the detriment of the recipe itself. Fondant potatoes are thick slices cooked in butter and a little water. You put raw potatos in a pan with raw butter and some water or stock and allow it to melt. The potatoes must be completely covered by the cooking liquids. You then cook them over a slow heat for 30-45 mins until tender. In theory the water will evaporate and the potatos will then brown in the remaining butter. They are "fondant" because of their meltingly soft texture. The recipe was developed by the Roux brothers I believe. Bruce Pooles version uses only butter though and works just as well, but it requires a hell of a lot of the stuff.

I would second Providores, lovely room, great service, not in love with all the food I ate there but some really stunning stuff to be had. We were a party of 8 I think and were fitted in no problem.

I think that has been proved beyond all doubt to be incorrect and is best left at that.

I rang Shaun at the restaurant the day after the competition and asked if he could talk me through the judging. I was smarting from the defeat and somewhat in denial and couldn't get my head around why I had lost (although I have to say I thought the other comeptitors were very good, and in fact the winner of the semi final went on to win the competition overall). He very kindly explained the thought processes, and was very complimentary in general about my food so there was no reason for him to feel guilty. Eating Shaun's food and reading his books has deeply influenced the way I think about food, the way I cook and to a certain extent the way I write, so I am grateful to him for that and have therefore nearly forgiven him for Masterchef.

How about Ma Cuisine in Twickenham. I tried to get in there the other day for Lunch but was too late, but it struck me as a wonderful place to spend a Sunday lunchtime with the kids. Food is very cheap (about £10 max for a main course) and the surroundings are very relaxed. You would have to check if they could accomodate a group of 10.

Bruce improved the dish hugely without losing the essential ideas behind it. We kept the "fish, chips, mushy peas and tomato sauce" idea and the concept of braising the fish rather than the more obvious roasting option, whilst tightening up the presentation. His ideas also meant the dish was far easier to execute on the day, which proved invaluable. It was very exciting to colaborate with Bruce on the dish, and we were both pleased with the final results. We debated the changes and developed the finished product together which was without doubt more "restauranty" than the initial recipe, but better for it in my opinion. I was involved in two televised heats of the Masterchef competition. The menu and recipe produced here are from the regional final which was judged by chef Alex Floyd, then of Leith's restaurant in London. I think he liked the menu partly for the reasons you stated, but also because I had used things like the parmesan crisp and deep fried leeks which he and many other London chefs were also using at the time. He was also impressed by the fact that I had made a vegetable stock on the day for use in the risotto and the sauce for the fish (he was one of the very few chefs that created a special vegeterian menu for his Michelin starred restaurant) and he thought my pastry work was excellent. Shaun was the chef judges for the Semi final round which I did not win. Although Shaun liked my starter and dessert, he felt my main course was unbalalnced. I served breast of pheasent with cider braised cabbage with apples, lentils and madeira sauce and he felt that the cider clashed with the maderia and that it was a little too sweet overall. I would say that the dish tasted fine, and that I would be happy to serve it at home to guests, but that it was not well thought through enough for a competition.

I would like to say a big thank you to Paula on behalf of the eGullet.com management team and everyone who has participated in this excellent Q&A. I have found it particularly enjoyable and enlightening. The winners of Paula's "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" and "World Table" will be announced very soon.

Thank you for letting us know what has happened, it sounds like the best possible outcome. You must tell us about that meal when it happens.

I have it on pretty good authority that the food at Harry's is very good indeed. It is also very expensive indeed and a private members club, so maybe should be excluded when identifying good italian restaurants in London.

I think all TV chefs become a caricature of their initial TV personas over time, which is one of the reasons they should really only do a couple of series. They are not trained performers, but learn on the job. They therefore have no technique to fall back on, and instead compile a series physical and vocal mannerisms which they come to rely on and trot out in front of the camera over and over again. So you have neither a polished performance, nor the "real" person that one hopes is still there beneath all the accumulated artifice. Having said that, I find Stein quite watchable and particularly enjoyed his straight to camera pieces, especially the one about Matthew Fort's hairy brawn. I think it is wrong headed to suggest food heros plagiarises Henrietta Greens work. Chefs and writers have championed artisan suppliers for many years. Matthew Forts book with Paul Heathcote includes articles about the chef's suppliers for example. The Rankin's Gourmet Ireland TV series included a number of filmed sequences spotlighting Irish artisan food producers. I don't think its an idea that can really be claimed by any one person. In addition Henrietta Green is not a broadcaster, but a writer of guides and cookbooks and is a pioneer of farmers markets in the UK, which is really quite different from what Stein is doing with this series. In fact, iwouldn't be surprised to see her pop up in a future programme.

Sounds like I'm making myself unpopular with GFG lovers (I like the guide a great deal as well I have to say) so I'll say no more and I'd rather not repeat specific incidences that have been mentioned to me. I do think a guide like the GFG should be bothered to get all the details correct, and check that they have as complete, accurate and up to date information as they possibly can before they publish. How can they expect people to rely on them if they can't even do something as basic as fact checking correctly?

Interesting the way this restaurant divides opinion as it doesn't strike me as a "love it or hate it" kind of place in the way that The Fat Duck might be. I like the desserts that I have tried, but would agree that those I have tried are in a more simple vein than the rest of the menu. I'm hoping to return in the near future to try the game menu.

They call themselves philatelists. Gourmet or gourmand would do for me. Or fat greedy git.

Well, Tom Aikens has been open since May I think and they printed the website address on their business cards, but it has not yet been launched. The GFG might well say that they are only reflecting what they have been told and that it may well become active during the life of the guide, and they may have checked with the restaurant and been told that it will be launched soon. However, it is still true to say that it is not unknown for GFG to go to press with inaccurate and out of date information.

The GFG also say that Tom Aikens have a website, which is still not up and running, so it looks like they have failed to check their facts which is not unheard of I am told.

I seem to remember my wife screaming something along those lines only the other day. I can't remeber exactly what she said as I was a bit busy at the time dodging the various household items she throwing at my head.

I'd be very interested to know what his response is.

I think it would be unfair to second guess the sommeliers reasoning for handling the order as he apparently did, but I think Basildogs suggestion is a reasonable one. This may not really be a meaningful comparison, but often in 2 or 3 star restaurants the waiter will offer a glass of champagne as an aperitif before a wine list has been offered. Because of the circumstances I would not feel comfortable asking how much it would be. I have to trust that they pour the house champagne and that it will be around a tenner a glass i.e. the going rate in London. I would be upset if a bill arrived for vintage champagne at say £25.00 a glass. Here, it would seem there was a similar moment where it might have been awkward to discuss price, a moment of trust and reliance on experience of how things are usually done in these situations which has in fact turned out very differently.

That has certainly been my experience. Sometimes the sommelier will give a range of alternatives that are both a little below and above the original choice.

Sandra, its always difficult to comment in these situations as only the 3 of you know exactly what happen at the table on the night , but given your account of the events, it appears you demonstrated amazing composure. I'd hate to think how I would have reacted in the same situation: tantrums, tears and forcible ejection being the most likely outcome. I hope you'll let Marcus Wareing know what happened. He may of course do nothing, but at least he will have been presented with the opportunity to investigate the incident and give you his opinion on it.

Paula, I would be interested to know how you go about selecting recipes to include in your books, both your own recipes and those that have been shared with you by other cooks and chefs. Is it a matter of applying certain criteria to identify those that will make the cut, or is it more a case of finding enough great ones to fill a book?

Reviews have been fairly poor so far, apart from Circeplum's. Maschler was hard on Wareing wasn't she, going so far as to question his talent, which seemed pretty extreme.

We'll look forward to hearing all about it.