Adam Balic

Watching Jamie last night reminded me that the show immediately after him is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series. Hugh tends to kill a great deal of animals on this show and I have never seen a word of complaint. One wonders what makes the attitude towards Jamie so different? Is it the man or is it the lamb?

This year we are doing a joint effort with some friends, for my part I will be doing: -A raised game pie -Turkey (I prefer goose, infact I don't really like turkey, so this is the Meleagris sp. last chance at glory in my mouth ever). -Mlinci with wld mushrooms, pancetta and shallots (mostly because it is traditional with turkey in my father's family, but also because of the horrific effort in making them that was seen on Full on Food). -Yorkshire orange jelly, cowberry jelly. -Cloutie Dumpling Plus some other extras Can't decide if I should get a ham or not.

actually, despite the name, this is made with golden syrup. As is treacle tart. Why is that? But treacle scones + treacle toffee are made with actual treacle. ← Golden Syrup is light treacle. It was developed in the late 19th century. Technically Treacle, Black Treacle, Molasses, Golden Syrup and Blackstrap are all treacles.

You could make "Tocino del Cielo" which is a Spanish dessert (imagine a very rich creme caramel). The name means "Bacon/lard from heaven". This way you get the pork with out the puke. On the otherhand, I would make this, but put pieces of sugar infused/candied bacon in the caramel layer. In Malaysia you can get candied pork to eat as a snack. It's a great taste that can't be beat. A really nice anti-pasto in I had in Tuscany was thin layers or lardo on warm crostini with Chestnut honey.

A really great foodblog, very interesting and everything looks terrific. Regarding molasses and treacle, these links have much infomation and then some. golden syrup English Puddings But to give a quick summary. Sugar refining is basically a crystalization process. Cane (or beet) juice contains numerous sugars, sucrose is the stuff that forms cyrstals. These are removed by filtration or other methods. The crystalization process is done several times to remove the sucrose, the more times this is done the lower the concentration of sucrose and the higher the concentration of non-sucrose sugars and other stuff. Light treacle (mostly = golden syrup) is still contain a fair amount of sucrose and is a light colour as it is from the early point in the process. Dark treacle (called "Treacle" or "black treacle" mostly) has had more sucrose removed and is a darker etc. This is the equivalent of Molasses. If you take the process further you get the black strap molasses. Different produceers will most likley produce slightly different products, based on the exact process used, but basical UK treacle = USA molasses. This only applies to cane sugar obviously. I'm not sure if food grade molasses is made as a by-product of beet sugar production, but the non-sucrose sugars and other stuff will be quite different to cane sugars, so I imagine the final product will have a different character.

Actually, I think that the corn crepes would be really good with Mole. I hope you both post more on your experiments.

Yes I guessed so. The program was also heavily promoted for a week and these adverts indicated that Jamie was going to 'get his own meat' as it were. I think that in the UK there are always going to be a vocal number of people who are "outraged" as a hobby. I think that this thread has jumped about a bit and maybe difficult for those in the USA that haven't seen the program to follow, but I don't think that there was any suggestion that you should take little X to the slaughterhouse to 'teach them about life'.

There was a warning.

Is a Turducken a specific style of stuffed bird (I have read that it has Southern USA or even cajun origins) or are people simply using it as a synonym for "Ballontine".

Yeast has a fair tolerance of high concentrations of sugar and grows in solutions containing 40% sugar, beyond this point osmotic pressure is an issue and there is a synergistic relationship with alcohol concentration. So honey doesn't spontaneously turn into alcohol, but dilute it a bit and you can produce mead etc. Pomergranate Mol, may contain other factors that inhibit yeast growth.

Actually, Dodo didn't tasste very good at all (finished off by introduced pigs and rats) and the Moa (actually numerous species of) was the only large food animal on NZ, so it was always going to be a target. My fantasy world ideal bird in the UK would be a range of great tasting chickens for roasting, boiling and frying that are raised and processed in a humane manner. No need for blue feet either.

It helps a great deal thank you and you have solved a minor mystery for me. I have a Anglo-Indian cookbook published in Calcutta, 1900 and in some of the curry recipes it refers to the use of bay leaves, which seemed a little odd as most other ingredients were local. Cheers I have some photos of some other Cinnamon species which I will post when imagegullet is up.

The raising agents in self-raising flour are a 19th century addition, I agree that they add extra lightness, but the point of using the suet in the first place is to give a light textured dough. Suet doughs are definately rich, but if they are well made with a gentle hand they should be light. If puddings are made in a cloth are lighter then those made in a bowl, but it takes skill and practice to make the complicated recipes.

The way in which society is structured isolates kids from the realities of food production. I do not think that parents "shield" their children - the disconnect from what goes on behind the scenes is simply the way it is. Why should it be salutary for kids to be familiar with the gory details? Any more than they should be familiar with what an aborted fetus looks like? ← the simple answer (and please let us not get into anything other than food) is because that's where food comes from. Period. There is nothing wrong with it, but both modern society, in the US and the UK apparently, and parents want to protect the "innocent children" from it. I say there is NOTHING to protect/shield/distance them from. ← I guess another issue is that is that the attitude of the complaints is a little bit Western-centric and middle-class (not that there is anything wrong with that). I imagine that there are lots of people all of the shop for whome this debate would seem rather bizarre .

The way in which society is structured isolates kids from the realities of food production. I do not think that parents "shield" their children - the disconnect from what goes on behind the scenes is simply the way it is. Why should it be salutary for kids to be familiar with the gory details? Any more than they should be familiar with what an aborted fetus looks like? ← I think that the comparison of food to an aborted fetus is getting a little beyond the focus of this thread. I think that on these emotive issues it is very easy to offend without meaning to and any mention of an aborted fetus (I assume human) is sre to offend somebody - after all there was no content warning at the begining of this post. I don't think that there was anybody suggesting that child X should be dragged down to the slaughter house to prove an intellectual point, what would be the point except for scaring the crap out of them. Take it from me they are not nice places. In fact the point of the show that is under debate was about the exact opposite - respect for animals and food from pasture to plate. This would be similar to saying how dare Jamie show images of an animal being slaughtered on TV where the younglings might see them - without any reference to the fact that there was a warning at the begining of the program in question.

I would imagine that children get there clues from their parents. Infact on that particular show it demonstrated exactly that, with some of the Italian kids being exposed to the animal being butchered. I very much doubt that these children will be traumatized by the experience. Having grown up in a farming family and experienced similar childhood experiences, my memories of the events was that it is was fun and exciting. Having looked into the issue during the Halal/Kashruth slaughter v animal welfare issue in the UK a few years ago, I am quite happy with the method of slaughter (it looked very similar to what my family did/still does; cut the throat, break the neck) as it result in very rapid brain death in small body mass animals like sheep. Should it have been shown TV during prime time is another issue. Some people will be very upset by these types of images and to be honest, why wouldn't they be when the vast majority of viewers will be completely disassociated with animal husbandry and meat production. A warning would have been sufficient though I think. It isn't nice but as the man said, much better this level of respect for the animal that will be eaten then the complete lack of respect for the millions of animals that end up commercially farmed and slaughtered in the UK every year. I imagine that many of the distressed and vocal the viewers of this episode are also consuming large amounts bulk animal protein in curries, sandwiches, pizza etc, without giving a second thought to the animal welfare issues concerned. These are self-absorbed and willingly ignorant individuals that I have no respect for. (gsquared this rant was never intended to be aimed at you BTW). I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but you know I am begining to respect Jamie more and more.

I imagine tha items that are used in up-market omelettes would work well, with a few tweaks (Omelette Arnold Bennett for instance), but maybe this is a little too breakfasty. I would go for a twist on some other familar hearth-cakes, you know a 'burrrito', but filled with a light ragu etc. Are there not traditional Jewish recipes that could be altered? When I was in Vilnius there were many places that had buckwheat pancakes with fillings, especially smoked fish and wild mushrooms.

If you ever get access to deer suet, it seems to have an even higher melting point then beef suet. I was given a recipe for a Cloutie dumpling (similar to a light version of a boiled Christmas pudding) from a Stalker's wife that uses this fat and it does give a different character to the pudding. If you scroll down on this thread you will see a demo I did on suet dumplings.

Pâté en croûte de boeuf avec de la sauce "HP"? Maybe. All the examples I have seen have been made out of puff pastry and demonstrated some visual resemblance to the French item.

It was delicious.

Back in 1997 Donovan Cooke et al. in Melbourne's Est Est Est were producing these on a regular basis, either as a light meal or (in a smaller form) as a contrast on a larger plate. For instance a civet of hare fillet would be accompanied by a small Pithivier of the leg meat. Another excellent version they produced was of layered ceps, when the pithivier was cut open it showd a mosaic of alternating light and darker layers. Basically is is a fancy pie and as such could be used to play about with the them some British classics. Also you can make the buggers well a head of time and pop them in the oven at the last moment. They look well cool for all this.

This is my basic ragu from the food blog. I tend to change what it around quite a bit and I don't really think that there are any set rules as such, just some common sense things to consider and also some aspects of personal taste. However, these are my creations and are not really 'traditional' in any Italian region, although some times it is close. If I was going to make a traditiional ragu (from whatever region), I would hit the books and make some judgements based on that. Some observations: Red wine. Kevin says No. Is he an idiot then, no. I think that red wine can be very good in certain ragu, especially ones that have chicken livers or use a high proportion of milk or other dairy. White wine can be great with chicken livers, but I think that with the combination of dairy it is not so good. As I tend to use less tomato then most, I think that the contribution of acid by the wine is important, in some cases I actually use red wine vinegar. Meat. I think that with ground/minced/finely chopped meat ragu, pork is essential as beef and veal tend to fall apart after 2-3 hours of cooking, while pork keeps it's structure and provides texture. Also flavour obviously. Veg. These are just as important as the meat in a ground meat ragu. Items like carrot and onion provide a sugar source, which I think is essential. Often ragu that taste flat or 'not quite right' can be improved by the addition of a pinch of sugar. Less sauce more pasta. Ragu isn't a bowl of chilie. The origin of the word is french - ragoûter- "to revive the taste of", so I reckon it should allow the pasta to shine, not drown.

Hi Paula - so glad to see the new edition and congratulations as it looks wonderful. I noticed that you mentioned that in the new edition that you had removed a number of recipes, as 'they didn't stand the test of time'. I think that this raises some interesting questions about trends and the essential identity of the cuisine. I think that it is very interesting that the food in this region is able to undergo some quite radical innovations, but still retain it's essential identity. As you know I am very interested in regional cuisines, but sometimes it does seem that even very developed and delicious regional food can be stagnated or at least come across as museum exhibit, rather then a living-breathing thing. Given your abilities, the recipes that were removed were unlikely to be un-representative of the cuisine, so what do you think are the major changes that have occurred in the food of the region in the last thirty years and what do you consider to be the essential character of the regions(s) that threads these changing elements together?

Have you got three types of cinnamon here? The shards of the far right look like Vietnamese cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureirii), were as the middle stick looks like cassia (Cinnamomum cassia) and the left sticks look like true/Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum).

I will look forward to see how it turns out. My advise is to cook them very slowly, so that the moisture is driven out without the bottoms burning. Plus you get better holes.