Dan Ryan

There's a marvellous trattoria/gostilna called Devetak in Friuli that does a tasting menu (actually two) with wine. They bring you the bottle with each course and leave you to help yourself. I like this approach. Particularly for dessert.

Good things to do with salt cod: croquettes (with potato) brandade (better without potato I'd say, albeit more expensive) any combination with chickpeas, such as chickpea gnocchi with salt cod sauce, salt cod quenelles with chickpea sauce good herbs to get involved in this endeavour: rosemary, bay, parsley

Nice, Adam. Like the look of the meat. I wonder if the prosciutto is really necessary with all that other good stuff in there. Your point about the fat medium encouraging Maillard reactions is very valid I think. I definitely seemed to get some of that action going on my last ragu, and got a notably smoky/savoury taste. A good technique might be to take it from the hob to the oven, maybe cooking it at 140°C or 160°C for many many hours (adding a little moisture every now and then of course). I think Blumenthal has recommended this approach. Anyway you've definitely put me in the mood for ragu this weekend. Pork and horse it will be. Great pictures, as ever.

Is Le Champignon Sauvage in the running for a third? Hopefully I can get to eat there before that happens.

Over-rated: lobster, balsamic vinegar, salmon, out-of-season tomatoes, anything but the freshest fresh peas, quail's eggs, baby sweetcorn, pork tenderloin, starfruit Under-rated: crab, sherry vinegar, sherry, perry, tinned plum tomatoes, frozen peas, dried chickpeas, herring, kippers, pilchards, anchovies, cultivated mushrooms, ham hocks, shin of beef, pork belly, horse, pink peppercorns, lovage, lettuce, grapefruit

Did the Vilnius markets not have a certification system? In Ljubljana all wild mushroom sellers must have their wares identified and certified at the market. How was the season there, anyway? I know in Slovenia the bolete (penny bun, cep, porcini, jurcki) harvest has been declining for a few years. Over-picking and the evil practice of not using a straw basket for your bounty (to scatter spores) have been blamed. Apparently Montenegro is the place for them now, as the locals don't eat them (too lazy to pick them would be the Yugoslav joke). As for the black radish (correctly identified): it's not particularly good. But a great thread, cheers mate.

Shin of beef. Fantastic flavour and texture when stewed.

Yeah, infused sugar syrup. Salt it. It adds an extra dimension.

Well, my two immediate thoughts were vanilla or cep. But reading through and seeing as how the missus is allergic to fungi, maybe vanilla is the way to go. Tarragon is good too, love that flavour. What you could do is combine the reduction with another flavour to make the foam, and then drizzle on a flavoured syrup. I've been using them a lot recently to garnish pasta. Example: tortelloni, langoustine and saffron foam, vanilla syrup. O swap the vanilla and saffron. Important question: how are you finishing the pasta (flavoured butter, just butter)?

I'd try and keep the high chocolate content if you're making dark stuff. What are your base recipes? And then, of course, we can talk flavourings...

Perfectly legal in Slovenia to distill your own. The trick is not poisoning yourself with fusel oils, methanol and other nasties in the early and late distillations (heads, tails, whatever you like to refer to them as). As I'm sure you'll read. Good luck. What's your base, anyway?

When are you free exactly (days, dates)? I'm in Ljubljana at the moment and will be in early October. I can give you any information you might need. Just let me know what sort of itinerary you have in mind, and I'll recommend something, interesting winemakers, good restaurants, whatever.

Made a very successful arancello (with Moro blood oranges and a little lime, finished with mild cinnamon syrup) using 95% Nardini. I didn't think the end result was too harsh, and it wasn't over sweetened either. The infusion was done for two weeks, plenty in my book. I'm currently infusing with a 60% grappa. Got some limes on the go (as well as a strange attempt to make peach bitters). I'll report back. All in all, I'd say the 95% gave a very good result, but the Italian stuff might be a lot better than Everclear.

Don't discount the loaf tin version. Once pressed overnight under another weighted tin it slices perfectly (obviously you discard the end pieces). And cherries Jack? Surely more heretical than blackcurrants... I also like to add a good slug of booze to the fruit. Creme de mure is my favourite, but cassis, framboise and grand marnier could all do a job.

Vestri, chocolate shop that also does superb gelato. Beats Vivoli and Neri for texture and flavour, although the range is much smaller. Which is a good sign. And the stuff is actually kept buried in the chiller. Which is another good sign.

Thought the grassy stuff was monk's beard. Also the fractal veg is a type of broccoli called romanesco, as opposed to calabrese. Agree, cardoons mostly seemed to be done as a flan at the moment. Taste good, mild artichoke flavour. As a resident of Florence I'm sorry to have missed you and Ore last weekend. Really must post more often.

A convenient time to restate my idea of using grapefruit juice instead of orange juice in a blood and sand. Works out very nicely.

Now would be a good time to mention caffe corretto, or the Veronese habit of rinsing out the espresso cup with grappa. Both good.

Thanks Andy. Where on earth did you dig up that bilge from? Actually, don't answer that. I don't need to waste more time looking at bits of the Guardian I don't want to read.

Keep It Simple is my favourite. Good choice. For a similarly inspiring book, have a look at Simon Hopkinson's Gammon and Spinach. The Moro cookbook is also full of simple but enthusiastic ideas. And John Campbell's Formulas for Flavour takes a more professional approach that is still interesting and engaging.

Gary, I noticed in some of your early visits that you left the choice up to Anthony Jr. Do you think this would be a good way to do it?

I'm going to be in the UK in early August, and I've decided that a trip to Anthony's is just what I need. I fancy nipping up for lunch, probably on Thursday 5 August. Anybody fancy a meet-up for then? Failing that, any recommendations from the regulars for the best things to go for? You know who you are. The types who stay till dinner.

Make jelly. Get raspberries and make summer pudding. In fact I'm going to start a thread on that very subject.

A friend's recommendation for Split is Šumica (pronounced shoo-mits-ah) on Put Firula. He also says that Dubrovnik is a gastronomic wasteland, but there are good restaurants a-plenty on the small island of Trogir and indeed in Split itself. I know there are some good places on the islands of Hvar, Korčula and Vis, but I haven't got the names to hand now. Be careful with your choices - many places are rip-off joints that serve frozen fish. Good fish to try are zubatac (dentex) and any of the breams, which all have about fifty different names. You should also try some good home-made travarica - a herbal grappa/schnapps.

Of course, a screwcap would guarantee that your octopus was untainted.