YKL

this is probably too simple an answer but for me - an apple and blackberry crumble is one of the greatest home made puddings in the world. It just makes the fruit part wonderfully jammy as well as tart and zingy from the apples. Have no idea if it is apple season in the US right now - but berries will freeze really well.

don't really have anything new to add so thanks for highlighting this issue. When away on hols or business and faced with dining alone, I always find lunch much less intimidating than dinner. and having a book or newspaper is always a bit of security blanket for me. Maybe i should take more heed of what's being said here and be more bold - after all I am offering them my stomach and wallet - and that's a pretty good deal for them! Yin X

hear hear! this way we can all practically taste the food through your reports without the calories or possible hangover ..... cheers Yin

am flying to the Costa Brava on Saturday from the UK on one of the new budget airlines, whereby you can "pre-book" your meal for £5 extra. I'm quite glad that I will be saving £5 off the cost of the overall ticket to not have to eat foul plastic sandwiches or dishwater coffee. Instead - will take my own large bottle of mineral water (it's the dehydration on large flights that makes me suffer) and some nice fruit and maybe a home made sandwich. That'll keep me going. Having said that, I do have hazy memories of various flights at ungodly early morning hours, which meant checking in at 6am - in which case you want a greasy breakfast fry up in Heathrow before boarding!!

hmm ... I thought I was unlucky when I tried tiffinbites in the Bull Ring in Birmingham but seem to have got off lightly! The lamb was a bit tough but the rice and pea masala (I think) was okayish - but nothing more. Shame really since I was really looking forward to it. But they have been quite successful though .... should I give it another whirl? edited since I can't spell this late at night - need my dinner!!!!

has anyone been to Paris restaurant over at Calverley recently? I did try and look it up in my original post but all the weblinks were broken. But the sign is still there on the ring road when I whizzed past this weekend. Or there's the Olive Tree at Rodley I guess. Cheers Yin

reminds me of when I was in California for a wedding last year, having being introduced as the random visitor from London. I tried to explain that I was actually from Leeds which is about 200 miles or 3 hours drive away ..." oh! so that's really close then?!" .... suppose it is really! has anyone tried that new Oliver Peyton venture in St James Park - Inn the Park? isn't it supposed to be very much based on best of British? and how naive of me is it to suggest Rules for the game and apparently very good puddings? or is it only me with my tourist friends that visit there? could be a good pre- or post-theatre option perhaps?

received my latest copy of Olive magazine last night, and there was another glowing review from Garrey Dylan Dawson - think he is the head chef at the Fat Duck? Can Anthony do no wrong?! Can't get a weblink to the article though cheers Yin edited for my stupidity ...

Thought I’d have a go at this as well. Horsforth is a nice part of town, but despite a high street crammed full of eateries – not sure any of them stand out as gastronomic destinations. Your best bet would be Fat Francos or Horsforth, but to be honest, think you’d be better staying in Headingley and going to Salvo's if you want to try Italian. Agree with Bertie Wooster that gastropubs are scarce on the ground in Leeds, In addition to his suggestions, you could try the General Tarleton up the A1 which used to be linked to the Angel at Hetton . Have also heard good reports of the Boars Head at Ripley near Harrogate - web link. Am possibly going to the Devonshire Arms this weekend so may have a report then, On a different tangent – surely there could be nothing more Leeds that an visit to the original Harry Ramsden at Guiseley? Actually for a graduation lunch, still think he should indulge at No 3 York Place or at Anthony’s … he’s worked for it hasn’t he?! OK - will stop rambling now ...

I'd started a related thread in the UK forum a little while back - and there are a few ideas there: Picnics - tupperware or crystal Am going to the concert this weekend with friends, and right now the "menu" stands at: good bread with dips / spreads like tapenade, humous, home made tzatziki, and salsa maybe some hot falafels - wrapped in foil for more substance we have either chicken drumsticks or parmesan breaded lamb rack cutlets, roasted veg, puy lentil salad with feta and roasted peppers, carrot and orange salad and bulgar wheat salad with tomatoes, spring onions, and herbs. Dessert with probably be chocolate brownies with fresh strawberries or other fruit. All washed down with champagne, and a flask of hot tea for later. Can't wait! Yin X

turns out it was label anglais after all! sister is in cambridge so found it quite easy to get from various butchers. so sorry, no new info to offer, only another voice that it was delicious! Cheers Yin

didn't Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall do something similar as part of his River Cottage series - whereby he came up with his own cross breeds for a taste test? Was certainly amusing to watch .. I seem to remember having some very good chicken for Xmas a few years back - was so flavoursome it was almost like guinea fowl. Will go and see if my sisters have a better memory than me ..

thanks to everyone for their advice - it's all very much appreciated. Think I might start off by being cautious and doing brownies but without butter or nuts in. Suppose we could send a test packet of nuts and shortbread (bought) and see what happens ... However, andiesenji's cake looks amazing and I now want to bake that for myself. Could I double check a couple of things re: UK "translation" am not sure we have Dutch process cocoa over here - would it work if I put in a bit more baking powder? Also - I may have misinterpreted the tin sizes since e.g. 2 10 inch square pans sounds like a lot of cake - are they very deep? Is is possible to convert to round tins (which I have more of) or will that affect the final product? Or could I e.g. halve the proportions and make a smaller traybake? I hope I don't seem too impertinent - just want to try and understand what I need to do. Looks like a great way to christen my new Kitchen Aid! I imagine it keeps pretty well? in which case would be perfect for the concert picnic next week! Thanks again Yin X

hmm ... it's true that I am still not fond of cheese, and could never drink that milk that used to be handed out at school ... but strangely can always cope with ice-cream and cream cakes! You're quite right about dairy habits though. anyway - have googled and found this link - scientific stuff and a direct quote is: "An example of genetic variation is shown among Asians. Here, alcohol metabolism is impaired by a nonfunctional form of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Adverse reactions to even small amounts of alcohol include facial flushing, nausea, heart palpitations, and dizziness Research suggests 25-40% of Japanese, 25% of Han Chinese and 15-30% of Koreans are affected." Heck - that makes me sound like a whole barrel load of fun! no, wait! come back I didn't mean it!!!

I don't think it's genetic. People in my family are big drinkers, lots of red wine with dinner. And tons of scotch busted out after dinner, Johnny Walker, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Macallan.... Drinking is encouraged, hehe.

nice thread!! As a Chinese Brit (born in UK to parents who emigrated from Hong Kong / China in the late 60s), I am completely sure that my culture and ethnicity have strongly influenced my eating habits. The other significant elements of my childhood were that we were a big family (9 kids!) and my parents also owned and ran a Chinese Take away. So, I think the most enduring food memories and perceptions I carry to this day are:  Vast quantities of food on the table at dinner time. In fact my whole family still over caters!  Home food was always very traditional – typically boiled / steamed rice with steamed fish (e.g. grey mullet with lemon, spring onions and ginger, mackerel with black beans, sea bass with ginger and spring onions), various greens (probably home grown) with oyster sauce, home made soup with pork bones and dried pulses and veg, casserole of chicken with shitake mushrooms (still love this!!), stuffed peppers, steamed egg dishes. Also the other dishes people have mentioned like congee, jongzi, and noodles in soup or fried. Live away from home now so only get my fix when I visit my Mum!  I was also a curious mixture of being quite adventurous yet horrendously picky as a child – so that I would eat fish eyes, suck fish bones, eat chicken feet, congealed chicken blood, liver (in soup or with veg) and other internal organs of various animals yet would not eat fish skin, leaves of greens, or even grey meat (on fish or chicken). Have no explanation for any of this – but I promise I am a much better person now!  Also saw a big difference in style between what we ate at home and what we served / sold to customers which I guess was my early insight into that old question – what is authentic chinese cooking. I was quite fond of some of the sweet / sticky / gooey stuff that was sold. Now I’m older and wiser ..  Eating as a family was always really important (well actually, we couldn’t always all fit at the table, especially if we had visitors so the kids got to eat at the little table next door or on our laps!)  Also tended to go for Dim Sum each Sunday in Birmingham – which was fab. Am very grateful that eating out was introduced as something yummy and routine, rather than an imposing formal occasion.  My parents didn’t drink much, and I still don’t really do so now. Have never developed a much of a liking for the taste– and besides, it makes me feel so ill so quickly – that’s genetic right? However, I didn’t really get much exposure to other forms of cuisine till I was older, maybe teenage years. Think the big catalyst for me was going away to college, where there were no self catering facilities (well, apart from a kettle and toaster in your room!) and so you either ate was available at college, or go hungry (was living on a budget). Fortunately the food was pretty good, and so I got to eat more traditional British or European (when they were being fancy) food. I hadn’t realised it at the time, but I must have been really interested in food already because that’s when I started buying my monthly food magazines despite lack of kitchen to play in! Once I finished college and moved from home, that’s when I started to have to cook for myself in a shared house. Didn’t often do Chinese food (felt I needed to do at least four different dishes!), but I do remember being sniffy about people who used jars of ready made pasta sauce – USE FRESH!! I would shout! It was better, tastier, cheaper and just as quick! Fortunately all the above has combined to make me a bit of a food nut who enjoys cooking, eating and sharing food – for which I am very grateful!! Oh dear - didn't mean to go on like this - but thank you for indulging me!

I wasn't paying much attention to the alcohol list when I went but Gary (as the expert here!) - am I right in thinking there was quite a range of beers to try? so that could be a bit different? also - do we know if they're thinking of doing a website? Cheers Yin

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I am allowed to post this particular query to this forum since I am pretty sure that someone out there will know a simple answer to my query. My situation is that my friend’s husband is currently serving overseas, but he is allowed to receive mail from home. Therefore we thought it would be fun to send him a home made cake to show that we are thinking of him. Normally my default cakes to post would be a batch of rich fudgy brownies. However, the temperature out in the desert gets up to 50 degrees centigrade, so am not sure they’re are suitable. So my question is – what could I make that meets criteria of:  Will keep in heat  Durable enough to post (e.g. no delicate meringues!)  Will not spoil within a couple of days – since am not sure how long it will take to reach him. Our thoughts were along the rich fruit cake tradition, or possibly that dense chocolate loaf from Nigella Lawson’s book? Any advice would be gratefully received – such as helpful hints to confirm my suspicions e.g. that anything with high butter content will spoil faster? Also, if anyone has done this already, advice on the packaging would also be very much appreciated. With thanks in advance Yin

was googling for something on the Leeds food festival and found this instead .. British Food Fortnight - runs from 18 Sep 2004. might be worth keeping an eye out for maybe?

ah .. roast beef! but doesn't that take us back to the Yorkshire pudding / popover thread? Think my first reaction was this thread was that to be truthful, am not sure I have a cohorent description or picture in my head of what the English identity actually is! Or at least, not without resorting to some awful P G Wodehouse parody or some reference to stoicism and creativity during rationing. However, if I try and ramble back to the subject of food, then I am in total agreement that the schizophrenic magpie end of the culinary spectrum can produce some real horrors (sort of curried peking duck pizza type thing) … but surely borrowing and trying to adapt to local constraints is not necessarily bad? If I were to try and find the silver lining in the (rain) cloud, could this trend be interpreted as a step on a longer journey (hopefully without sounding like a new-age food hippie)? I.e. that this painful “stage” is all about raising people’s general interest and awareness levels of what they are eating. Hopefully, once they start to take an interest in good food, then they will become more aware of how important seasonality and good basic raw ingredients are in cooking. If we are lucky, maybe they (or even me!) will then start to move towards the simpler home produced end of everything, and saving the theatrics for those who know what they’re doing. Or just try and go on holiday more often so that you can eat the real thing in the right setting! I’m sure that someone else can tell me when this mass media obsession with food started, but I seem to remember it was much less mainstream in the seventies? Yin X

I have to agree with Tommy. and me too! I want to agree with everyone else so far too! But is that so surprising given the spirit of eG? i.e. that not only do we love good food and are prepared to experiment?

hmm .. interesting thread since I think I agree with you in principle re: presentation of food if not the detail. Basically I am sure I eat with my eyes ... and for evidence I would like to refer any one of numerous amazing photos to be found on eG nowadays. One that sticks in my mind recently is the one from bleudauvergne in her amazing thread on montignanc - it's the very first one where just the raw uncooked ingredients, unpacked after shopping can make me salivate like mad. this one Come to think of it - I eat with my taste buds, touch, sense of smell and even hearing as well! Food and cooking is just a major sensory experience for me! so, yes I care whether the food is slopped on a plate, or whether it is well presented. BUT .. garnishes are a slightly different matter since to justify taking room on my plate, the ingredient (or other) must be there or flavour or interest. Otheriwse I just want more of the good food stuff. Would examples help? Let's see - random sprigs of crappy parsley on my cooked breakfast = BAD swirl of cream and snipped chives on home made soup = ok, nice even wedge of lemon (plain or fancy cut) to squeeze on fresh barbecue chicken or prawns = Yes please! Carrots cut into shape of flowers or dragons or whatnot = whoa there! getting a little bit too fancy pants for me. Sorry. Overall - simple presentation on white plates will pretty much win me over more often than not. Having said that, that's for home cooking. When eating out, I have room for theatrics, as long as food is good as well! Did any of that make sense? fear I may be rambling again .... Yin X

Think there's also a variant called Lady Grey? fab blog by the way - all this delicious food is going to make my hotel room service menu look even more unappealing!

As a Leeds lass myself (albeit with Chinese-Birmingham roots), may I suggest that the easy way to cup like puddings is to use Aunt Bessie's? the secret they never tell you yours with tongue firmly in cheek, Yin X