Simon Majumdar

Cod Cheeks deep fried in a Tempura batter. Dipping sauce of tamari, chilli, ginger and mirin salad of mustard leaves and cress S

I think the figure for books being translated from a non english language to an English edition is very small indeed. Perhaps about 5 % for cookbooks. So much is produced in English by the UK and America and sold for translation and Co-edition that it makes it hard to work the other way. The real problem France and the rest of Europe is facing for the sales of cookbooks is the "category killing" that happened at the end of the late 90's. A number of publishers ( the main one being Koenemann ) produced huge volumes of cookery books which they sold at ludicrously low prices and made work by selling enormous numbers and printing incredibly cheaply in Eastern Europe. A 468pp 11 x 9 cookbook which should have cost $40 at market value was sold for $10-20. Other publishers rushed to follow suit or their lists would have died. Hachette created the Marabout list to compete and Grafe & Unzer in Germany did the same. They began selling books at stupid pricing. The big SR BBQ Bible for $6 anyone? And all the big stores were filled with piles of "promotional books" The bubble burst last year and Koenemann went under leaving a huge vacuum. Customers wont pay what they were paying before as they have become used to paying such low prices and the books are now in their mind worth that ( bear in mind that we are at the end that buys a huge number of cookbooks, but we make a very small part of the cookbook audience ) sales of more expensive books have plummeted and the pressure is on to keep the prices of books down. A book that I could have sold to a european publisher at a price for them to sell at c£25, I now have to sell to them at a price so they can publish in their country at a price equivalent to £10-15. Less books are being published and commisioned as a result. It will recover, but at the moment, the category in France, Germany and most parts of Europe is stagnant if not dead. S

As I mentioned in the other thread, my last visit was a few months ago. I didn't like the room particularly, the service was efficient but charmless. some of the food was very good indeed, but, even by my tastes, the reduction with the sweetbreads I had was fierce and smothered the meat. In the end, the good ( ish ) food was not enough to compensate for the poor room and the service to make me want to return. S

I want to hear more from both of you about Thorntons. I have not been in a long time but remember having a really great meal there and am in Dublin in a few weeks time. S

come on Simon, that is unbelievably tacky! I expected more of you (you see, one month of marriage and I am already a cynical old witch ) No kidding - how could anyone marry a guy who thought it a good idea to dilute a perfectly good champagne cocktail? I suspect there is a little green monster at work here. I don't see no ring on your finger honey S

damn, I thought Chicks dug "tacky" But then I thought that Chicks dug being called "Chicks" so what do I know? Yours Alone again or S

The Capital does a very good value lunch for around £30. Sam & Scott put me on to this and it is a real bargain. The food stalls at Spitalfields are not up to Borough. There are some of the same people who show there, plus there are some good organic stalls, the bread stalls at Spitalfields are better than at Borough. There is the Square Pie Factory which is quite fun and there is a much better juice and wheat grass stall than anything at Borough ( although the woman who runs it is one of the most charmless haridans I have ever encountered ) and there is a German ( Austrian?) stall which sells the best cheesecake I have ever had ( the poppy seed one is worth the trip on its own ) I am not sure where you live but a short trip around the area including a stop off at Apostrophe for one of the best hot choc's in London plus a potter through ripperesque London is no bad way to spend a Sunday morning S

Actually, I was going to mention AE, but was not quite sure that it fitted the "destination" need I really like AE. The room is comfy and cosseting. The food is good and it has one of the bargain wine lists in London. It is certainly one of the more romantic places in town. If you like that sort of nonsense. The last time I was in there there was a couple at the next table. At the end of the meal the restaurant brought them a champagne cocktail with an ice cube in it. In the woman's ice cube when she finsihed a drink was the engagement ring that the chap had brought in before hand ans asked them to present at an appropriate time for him to make his proposal. While I am not alone in thinking that marriage is a profoundly stupid thing. I did think this was quite sweet. It was a few months ago, so I am sure they are married and divorced by now and the poor sap is living in a bedsit in Croydon while she she bathes in pink champagne every night on his nickel S

I was just giving you a hard time You'll get used to it. Really don't like those places though. Do try Hakkasan, the bar is good but the food is excellent. I prefer dim sum on Sunday to their normal evening menu S

Karom - what the heck is that? Am I revealing some kind of embarrassing ignorance? And Wilfred has just managed to remind me of when I was last in Spitalfields - 26 1/2 years ago: a memorial concert for my mother in Spitalfields Church. v Karom is an Indian game of persian origins. It is best described as a cross between snooker and draughts. It is played on square board about 2ft x 2ft and with pockets at each corner. There are black pieces and white pieces which are potted using a small shooting disc It is hard to explain but highly addictive. I have played it all my life and in fact have a board in front of me as I type The market is pretty good fun on a Sunday. There are food stalls, a flea market and increasingly a wide range of high end stalls selling everything from clothes etc to art to furniture. It is very much on the tourist trail now and the whole area is packed fro about 11am. There is of course the lure of The Ten Bells where the ripper victims would spend the night drinking themselves into a stupour before heading to the Penny Hanger S

Borough is much better, but many of the stall holders who are at BM are also at Spitalfields on Sunday. Don't forget that Spitalfields is not just predicated on food, so there is a huge amount of interest apart from filling up on the good stuff. In the last few weeks, they have had a national Karom championship, a fashion show from the Guildhall Graduating class amongst others. It does get packed, but I like to potter down there on a Sunday morning when it is still quite quiet S

Nice idea I like Hakkasan but have not been back for ages. Might have to try and go this week sometime S

Welcome That's an odd mix to say the least. I would suggest trying Incognico ( just up the road from the "better than it has any right to be considering who runs it" Teatro ) which would suit. Also, congratulations, this is the first time I have seen the words "Mezzo" "Quaglinos" and "Oxo Tower" used together with the word "enjoyed" S

At no point in this thread have I seen any mention of adding a shot of Harvey's Bristol Cream to the mix. I am assuming that this is an oversight as hot choc without a shot of the good stuff ( Jamesons works well also ) is pointless. for the record, 1 or 2 bars Green & Blacks ( any flavour ) 1 small carton single cream 1/4 pint of milk 1 shot sherry or Jamesons ( or, at a pinch, Bushmills ) Melt choc in a bowl over water. When it is melted, add cream to desired consistency and then thin a little with milk. Add shot of sherry and then drink while watching re-runs of Morse, Poirot or Jeeves & Wooster. S

That is unkind, unfair, ageist, probably racist, certainly istist, and completely unacceptable on this site. Please keep your unwelcome opinions to yourself, Mr Majumdar, and let me know whether or not this means you're cancelling our commission arrangement. Well I will certainly miss the £1.75 I have made from your activities with the Denturfix crowd in the last two years, but if you feel so strongly that you have to hand in your arab strap.......

I think at your age, you just have to assume that the life of a gigolo is just not for you Mac' babes. Scott - nice review. I would be interested to see how the foie "three ways" differs from that at Lola's where HJ who was chef there now cooks. I remember it being sublime at foiliage. when I had it at Lola's last week it was bland and ordinary S

Roger In Calcutta you can still buy Luychee ( Sp?) which are small puri. They aserve these from streets stalls with two sauces. One is tamarind pulp and the other is good old fashioned Lea & Perrins. It works well splashed in dahls and other dishes and is a staple in my indian kitchen S

You can make it with a small amount of gin and bring it to the table with too much tonic already poured in it rather than bringing a bottle of tonic and letting the customer add as much as they want. That's how Oh, you can also serve it luke warm S

With most new openings you get a feel from the reviews and word of mouth about the worth of a place. But, with Racine, there has been so much variance of opinion it was impossible to pre judge. When a date suggested the new ( ish ) Henry Harris place for an early ( ish ) supper. I thought it might be worth a try. They are obviously doing very well as we could only get a table for two at 7.00pm and, although the place was almost empty when I arrived, it was packed by the time we left. I got there a little early and after navigating a rather bizarre assault course of curtains to get into the room, I was seated quickly and efficiently by the front of house. My first impressions of the room were not favourable. It is small and a little dingy. I also did not like the fact that the windows were open to the busy street and everyone gawped in as they passed. The tables were also too damn close together. Not quite measured in mm's in a Blue Hill style, but still uncomfortable. Some places give you early indications of their intentions and I took the appearance of good organic butter on the table as a very good sign. This was soon undone by the appearance of some risibly bad bread. I don’t eat a lot of bread as CARBS = DEATH But this bread abused the right to be called bread. It was also pretty alarming to find that the waitress had no idea what a dry martini was. In the end I settled for a ( very badly made ) Gin & Tonic. Not a good start. My date arrived and we ordered pretty quickly. She ordered from the set menu and I ordered a la Carte. There was a lot on the menu that seemed interesting with a lot of staple bistro ingredients like rabbit and duck, but I was pleased to see that, despite the location, the prices were more than reasonable. Hats off to them also for having Robert Carrier’s herb terrine on offer for the set menu, a lost classic. We started with a garlic and saffron mousse with mussels and a croute of goat cheese and leeks. My mousse was the better of the two, the mussels were very fresh and the mousse had a real taste of Saffron. The croute was poor. Very tough pastry, a salty goats cheese and a slightly nasty anchovy sauce. The sauces for both dishes had formed a skin, I think by being held under pass for too long. We had a glass of Vigonier with it which did not go well. Our bad choice and no fault of the restaurant. For main courses, we had a Confit De Canard and a Fillet of Gunard. The Gunard was over cooked I suspect as they crisped up the skin which was quite good. My friend said it was no better than ordinary. The duck confit was crispy and very tasty. The bed of beans on which it was served was overcooked and the sauce lacked any real flavouring. I had much, much better at La Pigalle Side orders of a cucumber and mustard salad and roast vegetables were microscopic in portion and not cheap. I felt quite ripped off by these To drink we ordered a Pique St Loup which at £15 was the highlight of the meal, served at the right temperature and good value For dessert we had a non descript poached pear and an entirely nasty liquorice Ice cream. I had heard good and bad things about this dish. The bad ones are true. We did not stay for coffee as we wanted to head to Salvatore’s for drinks. The bill for two came to £90. Not cheap for what I would view as very ordinary food indeed. The bill included service which was efficient but perfunctory and, I hate to report, entirely without charm to the point of being unfriendly. We felt processed not served. Henry Harris has run two restaurants that I liked in Fifth Floor and Hush, but this is not a good addition to his CV. I got the impression that it was no better than a Café Rouge without any of the financial advantages of being in a chain. Sorry Andy 3/10

last year for the launch of our Weber Grill book, we cooked two ( amongst a whole lot of other things ) huge turkeys on the Weber. We placed them in trays, rubbed with lemons, slathered under the skin with butter and then lots of seasoning. The insides were seasoned as well and we then popped the squeezed lemon rinds inside as well. We poured a cup of water in each tray and a head of garlic. They took a good four hours to cook but the taste was sensational and the water kept the birds really moist. There was a great gravy with it as well. I am going to do it again this year as a "Thanksgiving in the UK" treat for some displaced Yank friends. S

Tinned Chick peas Chopped tomatoes Quatered small lemon Cloves of of garlic cut into slivers Chunks of Ham Lots of Olive Oil Lots of fresh parsley ( thrown in at the end ) I chopped chilli Salt & Pepper Braise the whole lot in the oven for 15 minutes. Great supper ( have bread with if you must ) Also good with left over chorizo S

I have just got back from a few days in Sauve ( just South of Nimes ) where I was lucky enough to stay on the estate of a friend ( amazing place, 12 acres, olive groves, vineyards - which supply some grapes to la roque - high on the Cevengole hills - fabulous ) Anyway, on the Saturday, I went to the market in Uzes and strolled aound buying food for supper ( Meat - not great apart from the wonderful Poulet Fermier de Borgoine, Fish & Seafood - all exemplary, fruit - OK, Cheese - sublime ) and came across a factory outlet stall for Laguiole knives. I couldn't believe that they were genuine for the price ( 6 small knives costing EU10!!) but they were backed up by all the documents from the factory etc and this apparently is where they sell ends of lines. I bought tons of the things to bring back, but thought it was worth mentioning in case anyone else is travelling in that part of the world. Check it out. Main market sq, next to the fountain.. S P.S The weekend was also the scene of one of the more bizarre experiences of my life as my friend dragged me to take part in her "Bums & Tums" Aerobics class in a converted medieval barn in a nearby village. The class was taken by Aline Crumb ( Wife of R Crumb ) who lives in the village and the soundtrack to our workout was R on the bongo's Wierd, but strangely fun

I will add a little story by way of discussion of the perfect Martini ( and my life is a shallow search for said same ) The best I have ever had ( not counting those made by my estimable brother ) was at The American Bar at The Savoy. It was faultless, cold and dry as a bone. When I asked the elderly barman how much vermouth he recommended for the drink he looked at me and said "Sir, it is enough that the man delivering the Gin, had a mother who once drank Vermouth" 'nuff said The night was also memorable as during the meal a loud booming voice cried out " I have fallen off the wagon, Krug for everyone" I turned around and their in nothing but an ill fitting hotel bathrobe was Richard Harris, ciggie in one hand and bottle of Champagne in the other. Bottles of far better stuff than I could ever afford appeared in front of every one and he walked of into the distance leaving a bewildered crowd behind. S

I am at racine tomorrow night for the first time. Given the mixed response, I am not sure what to expect, but lok forward to finding out Will report back S

While I was more than completely whelmed by the company on my visit to Shriprphai, I was a little less whelmed with the food. Some things were, as the gentle Nina says, just like I had in Thailand. Other things were a real disappointment ( I remember a bbq lamb dish which I actively disliked ) My enjoyment may also have been tempered by the journey from Hell back from KC, Mo to NYC and finding the one cabbie in Manhattan who had not heard of Queens. I understand from one of the people I was with that night that it was "below par" so, given that I respect both them and the almost nun like Nina, I intend to try it again on my visit in December. I wish I could join you on the earlier visit S