bethesdabakers

Thanks Gareth not just for the tip but for the perfect timing (substituting partridge in Moro pheasant recipe). Neighbour brings partridges. Spouse does not like partridge. Partridges get cleaned and put in freezer. Tip appears in egullet. Spouse goes away for weekend. Partridge thaws. Lone dining bliss. One partridge still in freezer ....... Best wishes, Mick

Well I forgot to add, every kitchen should have a large calculator (mine came free from a Brit mail order office supplier) wrapped in cling film. Could have been a concert pianist. Best wishes, Mick

If you intend converting the recipe to using a naturally leavened starter (sourdough), this is the way I do it. It assumes you have a starter at 100% hydration (equal quantities of flour and water) and refresh it twice before mixing your dough. This calculation assumes a starter at 15% of dough weight (not baker’s percentage). You might want to increase that as high as 30%. Take your yeasted recipe and add up the total amount of flour and the total amount of liquid, add the two together and call that the dough weight. Assuming you want to use starter at 15% of dough weight, calculate what 15% is, halve the amount and deduct that from the flour and from the liquid. For example, say the recipe has 1000g flour and 600g water – dough weight = 1600g (forget about salt, etc.). 15% of 1600g = 240g = weight of starter (which is made up of equal weights of flour and water). So deduct half of this, 120g from the weight of flour = 880g, and the same for the water = 480g. So your recipe becomes: flour 880g + water 480g + starter 240g = 1600g. Then work your starter back two refreshments. If you use the same method as me - 1st refreshment = 1 starter + 2 flour + 2 water; 2nd refreshment = 5 starter (total of 1st refreshment) + 5 flour and 5 water = 15. Divide the starter in the final dough, 240g, by 15 = 16g. So it works out as: 1st refreshment – starter 16g + flour 32g + water 32g = 80g. 2nd refreshment – starter 80g + flour 80g + water 80g = 240g. Bloody brilliant that – I worked it all out myself (took a week to recover). Go on, tell me you were after a yeasted preferment after all that. Best wishes, Mick

I suppose this is the right section as sorrel is mixed with rum. A friend brought me a pack of dried flor de jamaica (sorrel or rosella) back from Mexico. So I ran up a batch of Trinidadian Sorrel Drink which basically is just dried sorrel, sugar, orange peel and cloves with boiling water poured over, strained after a few days, a small amount of rum added, and bottled. I've discovered that the first bottle to be broached has started to ferment after being open a couple of weeks. I'm not worried about it exploding - the cork is not too tight - but am I on the verge of creating a super-alcohol liqueur or does it have to go down the sink? Best wishes, Mick

Of course there's always the possibility that this is a trivial article from a very trivial, celebrity oriented magazine, i.e. a wasted opportunity. Are only French women (of a certain age and class, judging by the photographs) affected by this phenomenon or are all French men slim too? It gets very boring when global generalisations about food in France are held aloft as self-evident truths from which conclusions can be drawn. I spend quite a lot of time in France and people look much the same to me in terms of shapes and sizes as they do elsewhere. And I know that the featured women would not be buying their knickers (can I say that?) at Monoprix, but the brand-name of that store is DIM. Best wishes, Mick

There’s not much mention of ethnic cuisine in France despite the fact that certain parts of the globe are still Departments of France i.e. classed as being part of the country. I have a fondness for La Créole, 122 bd Montparnasse (01 43 20 62 12) a busy, friendly Martinique restaurant between bd Raspail and Place du 18 Juin 1940. It’s not just the rum. The bits that come between the rhum arrangée to start and the vieux rhum to finish are also quite good with plenty of salt cod and fresh fish dishes, with the wonderfully named sauce chien to accompany. Don’t think I would go for the pigs tail casserole again though – bit on the chewy side. Best wishes, Mick

Whilst truffling through boulangerie.net I came across this link to organic restaurants and markets in Paris http://www.vivrebio.com/f_restaurants.asp?rayon=18 I was actually looking for refractory bricks ... Best wishes, Mick

Almost exactly a year ago I found time to buy a couple of bannetons from Dehillerin in the course of our aniversary celebrations. I think it must have been relatively early in the morning. They only had oval ones in stock, about 12"x9" (external measurements) for about 1k of dough. They cost 6.5€. Best wishes, Mick

I forgot. The saddle should be served in tandem with (yellow) Jersey Royals. The only cocktail I can find is Velocity (slice of orange, 2 x Italian vermoth, 1 x gin) but Lance should look out for the Rusty Nail. Best wishes, Mick

You have to serve a saddle (lamb/hare). Also two quiches/pizzas/pissaladieres with asparagus/dough/anchovies for spokes. Best wishes, Mick

Dear Roger, Because we were taking the celebrations seriously, the research was sketchy to say the least. For most of our stay Chez Espuno was closed so we never saw the bakery operating. The only time we bought bread we grabbed a baguette at the end of the day (not the best time). I'd have rated it as bog-standard supermarket. On the bottom of the bread you could see the perforations from the metal racks - they had never rested on an oven floor. I am familiar with Eric Kayser's bakeries. We had a flying visit to Paris in February to celbrate my birthday (always something to celebrate) and stayed on the Rue Monge between Dominique Saibron at one end and Eric Kayser at the other. Staggered back to Wales with a big bag of bread and a copy of Eric's book 100% Pain. Anyway, it's good to have an excuse to go back to Nice. Best wishes, Mick

Errm - I'm afraid I've got to admit that the boulangerie research took second place to the celebrations. Thanks to everyone for contributions - we had a great time and at least it means I can contribute a little to the thread on restaurants in Nice. Roger - we didn't get as far as the station never mind North of it so le Fornil Borriglione will have to wait until next time but, because we hardly moved out of the old town, we were forever walking past Chez Espuno on the Rue Droite. Unfortunately we also walked in. As you say, there is indeed a masonry oven behind the counter but do they actually use it? The bread we bought there hadn't been anywhere near it. Is this what you were implying? Thanks again. Mick

Thanks to you both. We shall certainly have fun although no seigle - home by Friday. Best wishes, Mick

Thank you for that - anywhere worth visiting will be reported back. Whilst we hope for good weather, celebrations will occur regardless (life in North Wales teaches us this). Best wishes, Mick

Off to Nice for a few days next weekend for important personal celebrations. Inbetweentimes I would like to visit any artisan bakeries of note. My particular interest is natuarally leavened bread baked in masonry ovens. I should be grateful for any suggestions. Best wishes, Mick

Thank you for an instant and knowledgeable reply. I can now stop accosting bar staff with American accents with demands for an explanation. Best wishes, Mick

Now that I have found you people, can it be that someone will finally be able to tell me what a Mad Dog Margarita (as in Guy Clark's Dublin Blues) comprises? Best wishes, Mick