bethesdabakers

Go to Cardiff. It's only about 10 mins on the train. Come out of the station, turn right, walk up to the traffic lights (200yds). Across the road on your left is the aglomeration of Champers, La Brasserie and Le Monde. Go to whichever is open at lunch time (only one of them used to be but they are all linked. They kept me sane a few years back when I was spending two nights a week in Cardiff. (How can their be a Newport, Gwent when there is no Gwent?) Best wishes, Mick

Dear Mrs Woman, ‘tis a noble thing you have done starting this thread. When you live in a food desert everyone should share their crumbs of information. I was cynical but have already got new leads from the first few items. We live just inland from Bangor and don’t drive so depend on the axis formed by the North Wales railway line with (Increasingly for us) Dublin at one end and Chester at the other, with Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and, yea, even London beyond for more serious forays. The Bull in Biwmaris is our local, the Brasserie that is, not the restaurant upstairs. Where else would you have to cross the water to another county to get a decent meal? Bangor doesn’t have anywhere even for emergencies. We have eaten at the Brasserie dozens of times: it is relaxed, the room is spacious, light and airy, the staff are friendly, and the food, if not spectacular, is consistently good and achieves what it sets out to be, i.e. relatively simple, mid-range, scoffing food. Tafarn y Bont, mentioned by Richard D above – which used to be Jody’s before the current conversion from snug olde worlde to uPVC double glazing showhouse – needs to have improved. Shortly after opening they managed to find reasons for NOT serving me food on at least three occasions so I gave up on them. On the other hand the food has to be better than the Antelope on the Gwynedd side of the bridge. A few hundred yards from Tafarn y Bont in Menai Bridge is Ruby which I was going to say is our other restaurant. After last night I’m not so sure. Ruby was part of the Ruby Rock chain which has a branch in Hoylake, was connected to the owners of the Marsh Cat in Parkgate on the Wirral and was excellent when it first opened. We usually do lunch (it seems more decadent); Ruby don’t do lunch (‘cept Sunday); i.e. have not eaten there anything near as many times as the Brasserie. Last night we took my mother and sister, who were visiting. While there was nothing wrong with it, it was nothing special and was pretty pricey. It was flavours of the world time, e.g. Carnaditas which turned out to be a tortilla stuffed with duck on a bed of diced fruit with a hint of chili (which is more than the cheese-stuffed jalapenos had) – about what you might expect of Wetherspoons’ wrap. The mains were sort of one of each – one fish, one beef (steak), one pork, one lamb, two veggie (to show they’re right on). Flavours of the world continue – I had Cajun pork fillet, a mountain of meat with a sprinkling of Cajun spice rub. But, if you are going to do this pseudo ethnic thing, why does every dish come with a mélange of steamed veg on a poncey little side plate? And the platter of Welsh cheeses? Three little wedges of cheese with bits in colour-coded wax skins – red, black, yellow – ginger!!!, chives and plain (I think). Off to the Brasserie for lunch today (don’t let me down .....). Mick

Fai Jackson said: Ethnically diverse here it ain't (North Wales). After weeks of St George's Cross flags (England) some locals flew one English/one Welsh flag on their cars, while those really making a point just flew the Welsh dragon (Wales not having made the draw). Me, I don't even have a car. Todays anti-world cup food, bara planc - Welsh skillet bread -for those knocked out before the Germany trip: Mick

It's amazing how similar today's photo is to yesterday's: But to quote one of football's many cliches, it's a game(bird) of two halves. Today the anti-world-cup tagine contained the second half chicken a la Murray, a recipe donated years ago by a friend from Barbados. Preceded by Irish smoked salmon and followed by Pakistani honey mangos. Soon be over. Mick

As one who believes sport, especially football, to be a negative influence on society, at the appointed hour of 2.00 p.m. on Saturday I was sitting smugly at the bottom of the garden cooking chicken and chestnut tagine over a wood fire. Don't even know if Morocco is in the World Cup. Mick

I suspected that the restaurant was there before Brasserie Flo inherited. But I ate there in 2004 and my previous time in in Nice was c1968 sleeping on the beach. I was working on a building site in the UK and not short of readies but I had my wallet, passport, etc. stolen on the first night and my only memories of "restaurants" was a kitchen where nuns served a dodgy sort of stew to the homeless, and more interestingly, a working man's restaurant which I was told was subsidised by the town. Very good basic food at basic prices. Bet that doesn't exist anymore. Mick

I think that has to be Brasserie Flo click here. Had lunch there two years back. It was fine but there's a lot more to Nice. Best wishes, Mick

My sourdough pizza dough recipe is lurking here. I also add a whack to wheat tortilla dough and into batters. Best wishes, Mick

.... and not a mention of Clonakilty black pudding. Mick

I've been meaning to start this thread for ages as I'm just across the water from Dublin. In Sandycove, just South of Dublin there is Cavistons which, as well as the wonderful fish restaurant and deli, has its own bakery. The only other Dublin bakery I know (and haven't managed to get to yet) is Bretzel Bakery. Newspaper article here. I'd be interested to hear from someone more knowledgable about other good bakers. Mick

Couldn't find any reference in Le Guide de Boulangeries de Paris but a quick search on Lycos.fr threw up GlutaBye, gluten free artisan products, with a list of suppliers in Paris here Mick

Another site doing small regional books of locally collected recipes is Les editions du curieux You can view several pages of each book on their web site. Decidedly unregional is "Cuisiner les Coquillages" in Editions Jean Paul Gisserot but I never go to France without it. It is pocket-sized, comprehensive and costs a mere €5. Looking at their site here they also do cheap regional books. Mick

Dear Jack, That is really useful. I saw it last night and put it to good use this afternoon. Formulas and recipes are fine to learn from books but when you bake of your own it's the handskills that are hard to pick up. A class with Dan Lepard last month and just a short video from you and I feel I have really moved on again in the last few weeks. Couple of questions. What hydration was the dough? Is your couche just heavy canvas on two thick dowels? Best wishes, Mick

Dear Jack, I'm sure this is a naive question - but if you don't ask you don't learn. If 30C is the optimum temperature for yeast and lactobacilus activity (which I suppose means lift and flavour) why do we prove loaves at a lower temperature - sometimes even in the fridge? Mick

Dear Jack, I've been meaning to ask for a long time now why you insist on the importance of 30C for starter fermentation. The accepted wisdom in sourdough baking is that fermentation takes longer at lower temperatures but still happens. Is that too simple a position? Best wishes, Mick

I really had to dig through old polaroids to find this masterpiece. This is my attempt at being romantic. On Valentine's day several years ago I attempted to make something heart-shaped as a starter to an intimate little dinner. Apart from the fact that the main ingredient is red pepper cut into heart shapes with something cheesy (very cheesy) sandwiched between I can't remember what I did. When it came out of the oven they bore at startling resemblance to those sugar false teeth you get at seaside resorts. Mick

Check out creme de cassis here Mick

"Crème" just means cream. I don't think it has a precise technical meaning when it comes to liqueurs. But then crème de cassis is an alcoholic cordial rather than a liqueur. You can buy (or make) crème de mure but that is made with blackberries. (sadly down to the last bottle of cassis and hoping my neighbour has a bumper crop of blackcurrents coming to fruition.) Mick

Why not make your own crème de cassis - much better than the expensive bottles you buy over the counter. We use it for kir, kir royale when the piggy bank is full, with sparkling mineral water in the summer, with boiling water in winter to fight off colds, to top ice creams, to flavour gravies. This comes from Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book: Black currants 1kg Red wine 1ltr Sugar 1.5kg Vodka c 0.75ltr (or available spirits) Soak the black currants in the red wine for two days (you don’t have to be fussy about twigs and a few leaves). The easiest way I have found of carrying out the next step is to strain off the wine and then to process the black currants in batches with enough wine to lubricate the processing. Then, in relatively small amounts, squeeze the pulp through a clean tea towel. Add the resulting liquid to the wine. Measure. Pour into a large heavy pan and add 1kg of sugar to each litre of liquid. Heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Using a jam thermometer bring the liquid to what she describes as “above blood temperature but well below simmering and boiling points”. Not wanting to think about blood too much, that means about 80C to me. Maintain it at around this temperature for about 2 hours stirring from time to time until it is reduced a little. Allow to cool. Place a measure (cup, mug, whatever) of booze in a large bowl. Add three measures of the cool syrup. Repeat until the syrup is used up. Bottle (if you save your spirit bottles there isn’t even any need to wash). Ready in a couple of days; will keep for months – if allowed. In France I’ve never seen any ingredients other than cassis and wine or cassis and champagne for kir and kir royale, but last year our favourite restaurant in Pyla sur mer was serving different flavours using blackberry, peach, etc. by varying the liqueur used. Never catch on. Mick

and that the forum on his web site http://www.danlepard.com/ is like having an interactive book .... Mick

Try contacting Ye Olde Bulls Head in Beaumaris website I remember a news feature about them serving kobe some months ago although there's no mention on their specimen menu. Mick

Had a wonderful birthday lunch at the Mermaid Cafe a couple of weeks ago - will definitely be going back. It's almost true to say that it's our nearest decent restaurant (live near Bangor, Gwynedd). The bread was excellent too - a rare state of affairs even in good restaurants. Asked if they made their own bread our serveur(se) said "All the food is home made and the waiters' fresh." What more could you ask for. Best wishes, Mick

Last year whilst staggering from boulangerie to boulangerie we happened into Le Rubis, a wine bar at 10 rue du Marche-Saint-Honore in the late afternoon (Max Polane's shop was just closing). Patricia Wells describes it as "A classic, happy sort of bustling wine bar where lunch is a free-for-all as clients stand five and six deep at the bar dodging waiters and nudging neighbors." Maybe that's just lunch time because in the afternoon I would have said it met all your requirements. I certainly wouldn't have minded lingering with an old friend sipping wine there anyway. Says "closed for two weeks at Christmas". Best wishes, Mick

100% hydration. Mick

Don't know if you want sourdough but this is how I do it: This recipe comes from La Tartine bakery in Sydney (from Baker: the best of international baking from Australian and New Zealand professionals by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs. The original is confused to the extent that it’s not clear how many loaves the recipe is supposed to produce but I eventually concluded it was one. By now I’ve doubled the quantity to make two loaves and made so many adjustments La Tartine wouldn’t recognize it as their own child. You have to be prepared to adjust the quantities because it’s hard to judge the amount of water in the pumpkin. You need pumpkin (or squash) which you have peeled, seeded, baked at 220C until soft, cooled and pureed. The original recipe calls for wholemeal starter. Starter (twice refreshed) 240g water 200g pumpkin 450g plain flour 840g salt 20g Throw in mixer for about 4 minutes. Use the stretching and folding method. Turn the dough out onto the bench and after an hour stretch the dough by picking it up by one end, allowing it to stretch under its own weight and then pick it up by the other end so that it stretches evenly. I then fold the dough in three, business letter style, turn it through 90 degrees and repeat the stretching and folding. Repeat this at the end of the second and third hours and allow a four hour rise in total. Divide the dough in two, form two loaves and allow to rise in bannetons - about four and a half hours in my case. Slash twice North & South of the centre so that the loaves elongate a little. Bake in preheated oven Gas 9 (475F, 240C) for about 40 mins, reducing the heat after about 15 minutes. Wonderful yellow to shocking golden orange crumb depending on squash. Really nutty when toasted. Best wishes, Mick