Tonyfinch

Well even if you're right I can't see it as a negative. We thicken sauces using a starch all the time because they're more appetising that way. I love the texture of Spanish hot chocolate-ideal for dunking churros and other breakfast cakes. I find L'Artisan's very sickly and far too thin.

What's yuk about arrowroot? It's a perfectly natural product. But anyway how do you know this?

Nah-that's girlie hot chocolate. Far too milky and sweet. I still don't know where you can get that thick, dark, viscous bitter-sweet hot chocolate that's worth moving to Spain for alone.

Well are we talking about dislike or disgust? They are not the same thing. If you choose to take the line that your child will eat what it's given then they'll eat green vegetables if they're hungry enough. It's just that they'd prefer to eat something else and so PRETEND disgust in order to get you to give them what they want. To me disgust implies a deep seated revulsion to the point where you'd almost rather starve than eat that particular foodstuff . I'm told that this is how many Eastern Asians feel about cheese. To them it is non-food. I have felt that way about some of the dried and fermented fish sauces and pastes that are used in aspects of East Asian cookery. These can only be cuturally induced reactions but both foodstuffs depend upon attaining a degree of "rottenness", whether you call it "maturity" or anything else, before they're considered ready to eat and it's those types of foodatuffs which are taken to the edge of decay which are most likely to engender widespread disgust. Having said that there's a thread somewhere where people posted foodstuffs that revolted them. I remember clearly someone posting that the mere smell of honey made them want to vomit. HONEY for goodness sake! Maybe for every food that exists there is somebody somewhere revolted by it.

Clearly I remain in a minority of one.

When you say they are "very strong" do you mean deep and visceral? If so I don't agree. They are knee jerk reactions that would evaporate quickly if those people were living with different culinary norms. People who go "ugh" at the thought of eating horse or rabbit or frogs legs would be tucking in to all three happily after a couple of weeks of being exposed to these foods. So I don't count those reactions as "disgust". More it is to do with a sentimental perception of animals learned from nursery rhymes and anthropomorphism which is more prevalent in Britain than, say, France because a far smaller percentage of the population is brought up with animals in rural settings on a day to day basis.

Fat Guy you'll know. What is the law about someone accusing a restaurant of giving them food poisoining on a web site, re the post above? Can the restaurant sue? Secondly, what is egullet's policy towards such allegations? I'm just interested is all.

Too late for your question but Matthew, are you going to be the one person in the world who disliked Mr Peng and Hunan as much as I did?

Well Port is a wine that has been fortified so it is definitely more robust than table wine. However, unlike spirits, it is still a living product and it can and does go out of condition if improperly stored for any length of time. Also it deteriorates rapidly once opened. There's no reason to store port any differently from any other good wine and every reason to drink the whole bottle once you've opened it.

I'd amend that to most people. No-one should be drinking vintage port that is younger than 1985 at the moment, and they will still improve with keeping. 1983s are the best value around in vintage port right now with many commentators rating them higher than 85s, although they are generally cheaper. 77s are wonderful. They are drinking beautifully but they are pricey. I recently tasted several 63s and they've moved on to a new level of maturity,making up in subtlety and elegance what they lack in power and vigour. The label can be confusing. Ignore "Vintage Character". if buying "Late Bottled Vintage" look for one which says "traditional unfiltered" on the label and decant it. It's worth the faff for five times the quality.

An Old Burgundian Introduction translated, (not by me) from the local patois. Come here, boy so I can teach you What you need to do to taste wine. Are you ready? Knock the bung out. First of all, and this is important, You put the silver tastevin on your finger Whose ring as it were betrothes you To the metier you will stoutly undertake. Plunge your pipette into the bung hole. Right. Pour out the juice a bit askew. And then look at it a moment. Is it clear, hazy, or at least thick? Halt there! I saw you starting to drink You're hurrying like a horse dealer Contemplate it in all its glory Has it the colour of onion skin? Before tasting it , it should please you You should see it moving about, lively Watered silk to the eye, like embers You'll know the rest when you drink it. Wait! You've still got to smell it Let that great nose of yours have a look at it! How does it appear? Does it smell of grapes or vinegar? Now yes, take a mouthful Without swallowing it of course Make it turn, make it move around As one might say: Rinse your teeth! There! Now swallow a mouthful so as to know What it'll have to say when it's down below. The merchants who pass, spit it out You-drink it-it's not poison That's not all.So there's no possible doubt You let a moment slip by You say nothing. You reflect! You listen to it Afterwards you'll know how to talk about it. It's not a question of saying, after that pause Oh, it's capital!, what a bouquet! For you to say that or anything else You really must be full of your subject. At the start you must have your wits about you Pinot-Passe-tout-grains-Gamay? Here I know you're no fool, That you've an honest nose, and free, But if it happens to be a bit sour? Or if it needs resting Or if it's young or if it's thin... Lack of tannin, you say: that's a crafty one ! If it's good you clap your tongue And say: this is good, loyal!... There you are boy, out of mould And from private soldier promoted Corporal!

No Balex is right. The only way not to get hit by VAT is not to spend. Since the less well off have spend a higher proportion of their income on goods and services they are disproportinately hit.

I don't know about France but in the UK VAT isn't "hypothecated" (ie specifically targetted). It just goes in the general taxation pot. VAT is the main weapon in any Government's drive to keep income tax rates relatively low in order to ensure that it doesn't alienate those on higher incomes.

It's from the Marches area around Ascoli.

I haven't seen The Pianist but on Polanski I'm one of the few people I know who thought Bitter Moon was a brilliant film-wry, cruel, poignant, wickedly funny- I thought it was a really engrossing tale of how male sexual obsession is bound up with mysogony and degradation. More themes that mean a lot to Polanski perhaps? There's a hell of a lot of yadda about pizza on these boards lately. PeterPumkino's even talked about organizing an egullet event at Pizza Metro. I've got a yen to go back to Il Bordello and have one this weekend just to see if I was right to decide that I didn't really want to eat them any more.

You're not supposed to eat that, stoopid.

Hey-great idea. You two and Plotnicki can taste and score all the wines and I'll hoover up what you've left just to make sure that you've made no mistakes.

Doesn't that "rule" strike people as breathtakingly outrageous? Anybody who disagrees with me is not just WRONG but CORRUPT. Can you think of one other critic in the field of food and wine that even begins to conceive of their subject in this way? Can you think of one other who is driven to stifle and kill debate and discussion, rather than welcome and encourage it? I don't know about Parker the person. It might all be part of the game of running a business to him. But I've read enough about him to think that he really believes in his own infallibility and clearly he has developed a monstrous ego which is now out of control. I hope for his sake that he's heard of the word hubris because the only way for him to go from here is down.

Christ, it's all getting a bit sad if the highlight of your day is being able to say "I had a chorizo sandwich at Borough market" especialy if you didn't really want one.

There's a guy who sells his farmed venison there and cooks venison burgers and sausages. The Label Anglais chicken man does chicken wraps with assorted ingredients. Last time I was there I had a reviving mug of steaming fish soup from one of the fishmongers there.

The tastiest main course I had in a restaurant last year was Osso Buco with Parmesan Risotto at Incognico on Shaftesbury Avenue in London. This isn't actually an Italian restaurant. It's more of a French brasserie, but this dish sung of Italian flavours- veal, olive oil, oregano, lemon zest, red wine, parmesan, abrorio rice. The meat was dark and winey and glossy and had been cooked so that it came peeling away from the bone without disintegrating. The risotto was wickedly rich and creamy, like a savoury rice pudding. This dish was the best Osso Buco I've ever had and it really opened my eyes to how good it can be.

I understand that.But its a very successful business plan and a very strong position in the marketplace. You'd have to be equally, if not more, strong and confident to offer alternative advice and be able to back it up with the gravitas that Parker deploys. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's a bit like a coup to overthrow a dictator. People mumble and moan and whisper in corridors and talk out of the side of their mouths but has anyone got the bottle to actually take him on?

Well he's a pretty intimidating figure, isn't he? I mean he doesn't exactly invite debate. He doesn't say "well in my opinion that's a pretty good wine-92 out of a hundred I reckon, what do you think?" His whole pitch is the anithesis of that. When he delivers that number it is a judgment from on high not to be questioned or discussed, at least with him. It's "Parker 92" and that's IT. In the world of wine he's a dictator not a debator. This makes him pretty formidable for anyone to go up against. You'd have to be really really determined to take him on in order to assail the lofty fortress he's built for himself. And obviously he is tremendously knowledgeable so it would be a tall order. But yeah it would be fun if someone did it.

Now THAT's a fine post Peter. And useful too. Without rehashing your views on Italian food in the UK........ where IS the best Italian food in the UK?

Porkpa, there are many who would disagree. But you're right in that probably not very many of them are wine consumers only.