origamicrane

well I only been to the Carter Lane branch but they pretty much got everything you could imagine! For £2.95 you get to choose a nice thick chunk of freshly baked house bread out of a selection of about 15, the rosemary foccacia or the garlic and herb ciabatta is good, then choose a condiment from a selection of again 15 salsa, pickle, chutney, mustard,etc and then a muliltude of fillings from chorizo, turkey, ham, mexican tuna, cumberland sausage, spinach, rocket, salad, etc. Freshly baked, healthy, organic (i think) and delicious. I recommend cumberland sausage, rocket, mango mustard on toasted rosemary foccicia The Honey mustard ham ciabatta nice thick chunks of ham smothered in wholegrain mustard and honey! The Beef steak sandwich looks gorgeous too but yet to try that. The piri piri and honey mustard chicken are good too but i find the meat too salty. They also do soup, pasta, salads and pizza breads Degustibus kicks the carp out of every other sandwich shop in London. Another place i have to praise is Beigel Bake in Brick Lane open 24 Hrs 365 days. Smoked salmon and cream cheese beigel for £1.00?? and salt beef begiel with half a cow and a half a bottle of mustard in for i think £2.50

Sandwich?! i have come to bury the pret sandwich!! degustibus is who i praise!!! best sandwiches are degustibus eat them and weep:) www.degustibus.co.uk St. Pauls 53/55 Carter Lane London EC4V 5AE Tel: 020-7236 0056 Fax: 020-7236 0057 Marylebone 53 Blandford Street London W1H 3AF Tel/Fax: 020-7486 6608 Borough Market 4 Southwark Street London SE1 1TQ Tel: 020-7407 3625 Fax : 020-7407 3632

http://www.auxilloubeachsuites.com/CoconutMilk.html nice concise explaination of coconut water/milk/cream

hi all finally tried that satay recipe from packo's recipe website www.malaysianfood.net it the best satay i've made , just like the real ones you get back in KL. Although the satay sauce recipe is on the large scale!! ended up with a massive saucepan of satay sauce!! also thought the sauce was slightly on the salty side but apart from that its a perfect recipe:) thanks packo

hi all lucky ole me has got a break between jobs and thinking of doing a short cooking course at Leiths cooking school. I'm considering doing the two week intermediate course or the one week advanced course. Just looking for anyone that has been on either course to give me a rundown of what you did on it and what you thought of the course. Anyone have any recommendations for cooking schools in london apart from, cordon bleu and leiths ? Also does anyone know if the butlers wharf chef school is still open?? as i can't seem to find its website. ta :)

oh another peeve !! Haagen Dazs ice cream!!!! its way too sweet nowadays!! 10 years ago it was really nice and delicate now its like eating a spoonful of sugar!

I think the sweetness thing is a valid point. Sugar is cheaper then getting better flavoured ingredients and better cooking.

yeah traditional recipes don't have the sesame oil i just like the smell of sesame oil in the morning it smell like victory

:) well as they say if its not broke don't fix it:) No sorry must not have made it clear, you cook the rice first before you mix in the vinegar seasoning. Cooking rice for sushi 3 cups japanese rice 3 cups water wash the rice, soak for 30 minutes in water. drain off the water and then cook in 3 cups of fresh water in the rice cooker. I've seen some recipes where you stick a 1 inch piece of kombu (seaweed) into the rice cooker i tried this but didn't notice any dramatic change of flavour. Vinegar mix 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional) gently heat the above mixture and sprinkle on the cooked rice. DO NOT ADD THE VINEGAR MIX INTO THE RICE COOKER as vinegar is acidic and most rice cookers have metallic bowls the acid can damage the bowl and leech out the metal into the rice.

lorea i'm with on that one 150%!!! being chinese i find myself constantly threatening my non-chinese friends with gbh if they dare pour soya sauce on their egg fried rice before they even tasted it. silly side story here: I was in a very busy chinese restaurant and the couple on the next table asked for light soya sauce, the waiter came back with dark soya sauce which is the normal dipping variety. Light soya sauce is used for cooking as its more salty then dark soya. The waiter explained this to the couple and then they went into a fit with the waiter that they always had light soya sauce and how were they expected to eat chinese food without light soya sauce???!!! The waiter looked a bit miffed and did return with the light soya sauce at which point the couple complained that it wasn't like the normal soya sauce they had

arrr... looks like you need a start to finish sushi guide:) ok first of all how to cook the rice:) Cooking rice for sushi 3 cups japanese rice 3 cups water 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional) How to Cook: Wash the rice thoroughly and let the rice soak in water for about 30 minutes so all the grains are uniformly white. Drain of the remaining water add the 3 cups of water and cook. It is easier if if you have a rice cooker. If not put the rice and water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and simmer the rice for fifteen to twenty minutes or until it is just tender. Rice cooked for sushi should be slightly harder in texture than for other dishes. Remove from the stove and let it stand covered for ten minutes. Put the vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil into a small saucepan, bring to a boil and remove from the stove. Make sure that the sugar is dissolved but careful not to burn the mixture. Put the hot rice into a large non-metallic bowl. Pour the vinegar mixture evenly over the surface of the rice. Mix it into the rice with quick, cutting strokes, don't stir the rice like it was a sauce, rather use a spatula and fold the rice to mix the vinegar in, this help retain the shape of the grains and doesn't turn the rice into a pulp. Fan the rice at the same time which cools the rice quicker. how to roll the maki :) 1. Place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat, shiny side down. 2. Keeping your hands moistened, put two or three tablespoons of sushi rice in the center of the nori and spread evenly over the seaweed. You may want to use the back of a wood spatula to spread the rice as it makes it more even and less messy, spread it like butter on toast but be careful as the nori sheet can break easily. 3. Use the palm of your hand at the side of the seaweed to form a firm edge, and leave a one-inch margin at the top of the nori to seal the roll. Spread a streak of mayo across the middle, then add layers of fish and vegetables across the center of the rice. Fillings include sweet egg - tamago, cucumber, advocado, sweet fried tofu - inari, mixed peppers, or crabsticks, tuna prawns, just cut the vegetables into thin strips the length of the nori. 4. To roll, fold the bamboo mat so the filling is enclosed in the center of the nori. 5. Press the mat around the roll for about thirty seconds to shape it, then moisten the margin of seaweed and seal the roll as tightly as possible. 6. Remove the mat from around the roll, press in the loose ends and place it on a cutting board, seam side down. Slice the roll into one-inch rounds, using a wet, sharp knife. Do not saw, but cut firmly, straight down.

yep you best off getting hold of japanese short grain rice. And definitely don;t use any of those horrid non stick rices I have used thai fragrant rice before but you need to add more water then normal when you cook it to make it more sticky. Give this a shot 1. wash 3 cups of rice 2. soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. 3. then cook the rice in a rice cooker with 3 cups of water. once rice is cooked and cooled used it as you done previously. also one of the other reasons you roll might be loose is you have to have an even layer of rice on the nori and you filling might be too chunky. Also once you finished rolling it is a good idea to hold it in its shape for a few seconds usually the residual heat and moisture from the rice will cause the nori to stick to itself and give it a gentle squeeze to compact the rice and filling together. good luck next time.

well i don't want a menu to list every ingredient and preparation method but i also don't want a menu where i need a culinary dictionary !! yep some food can be a work of art and yes i'm not against naming a beef carpaccio a carpaccio rather then calling it 3 slice of raw beef and a dollop of mayo but i would also like a concise description of what it is. just that the most absurd entry i seen in a menu was Sky Juice after asking the waiter what that was i was informed it was water.

hmm... wouldn't the ultimate culinary crime be excellent ingredients in the hands of an indifferent chef? personally one of the things i hate is when the menu reads like a damien hirst art piece

This is a really good thread as currently I am in Paris in front of me now is a macaron from Laduree and one from Pierre Herme. haven't been to fouchon or helvin but will try and got there before i leave on friday. But first lets have a head to head with the main contenders!!!! In the left corner is the Legendary Lemon macaron from Laduree!!!! In the right corner is the new contender thats been produced by the tender loving care of Pierre Herme!!!! let the fight begin. ding! ding! Round 1. FIGHT! although they look like yellow coloured mini hamburgers they are in fact the king of macarons that were bought today at their respective outlets in Rue Bonaparte. As we can see on the left the Laduree on look less tidy and more crumbled and the Pierre Herme one is more well formed. ding! ding! Round 2. FIGHT! So the first bite of the Laduree macaron it is lighter, creamy and very crumbly with a melt in the mouth texture almost sublimating on the tongue but when you start to chew you find that there are little bits of crushed nuts inside which adds to the texture and then the citrus flavour start to kick in from the creamy filling. Now a bite out of the Pierre Herme you notice that the shell is thicker then the laduree one which would explain how it managed to mantain a excellent shape on the metro back to the flat where as the Laduree one started to crumble a bit. Biting into the crisp shell there is slightly more resistance before it crumbles and then you hit the rich dense filling this one isn't as creamy as the Laduree but the lemon flavour is more deep far more intense. I would compare it to the difference between fresh fruit juice and that made from concentrate. With PH being the fresh juice. This is a lot more flavour and sweetness to this one and the fact that the shell is thicker and the shape is better suggest to me that PH macarons have a more loving creator. As you can see from the top view the Laduree has started to disintegrate while the PH still looks round and together. ding! ding! Round 3. FIGHT! final round 2nd bite and the Laduree has all but crumbled and the PH still has good form. So end of the match and it down to points. enjoy that? i know i did yum!! Ok so which one is better in my opinion? both have their merits and this is down to my personal tastes. So feel free to disagree with me. But right now i prefer the Laduree one as its lighter less sweet and less complicated. To make you understand my reasoning i'm going to do some other comparisons. Think about the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate one is simple while the other is complex, same with these macarons. The Laduree is the simpler one uncomplicated instant satisfaction and complete disintegration in seconds you could quite happily go through a dozen of these and not notice. Where as the PH one is something to ponder on to be eaten slowly and analysed bite after bite, if we are tallking height of culinary excellence, PH wins hands down. But the PH one is too sweet in my opinion. I know that it has better ingredients, has had more tender loving care in its creation and it truly is the finer macaron. But unless you had eaten Laduree macaron first you wouldn't understand or appreciate the thought and work that gone into the PH one. If a PH macaron was a restaurant it would be a 3 Michelin star restaurant but as such you couldn't eat there everyday, you would go there for a treat once in a while. anyway lets see if i can get to fouchon and helvin tomorrow

hi all currently in Paris now:) well haven't been to any of the restaurant on the above threads yet but intend to go to la Mediterranee and the Kitchen Galerie in the next few days. Well enjoying my time in Paris and never let it be said that i'm not a sandwich short of a fruitcake :) I walked from Belleville to Bastille to Notre Dame to Louvre to Champs Elysee to Arc de Triomphe to Effiel Tower this took me about 12 hours at slow tourist speed. Well went to the marche Richard Lenoir it was lovely thanks for the recommendation. Arrived there at 11 am and got the french feel that i wanted everyday people out on a sunday doing their food shopping. there are a lot of stalls here selling almost all things. I would suggest taking down a bottle of water and some napkins ;) Anyway i'm a seafood person and heres two photo for all seafood lovers Couldn't try everything but did just get a piece of rotisserie duck as it had just come of the roast and was good food on the go, quite nice and only 3 euros. For diner that night I went to this place on a recommendation of a friend Le Relais de Venise 271 bd pereire (porte maillot) 17th arrondissement This place is quite interesting as it only serves steak (encrotote) and frites. It doesn't take reservations as such get there early. I got there at 6.45pm and there was already a queue of about 30 people. At 7pm got in and ordered my steak apoint from what looked like a more mature and french version of Lisa Kudrow In under 5 minutes bread, a glass of white wine and a green leaf salad topped with crushed walnuts landed. 5 minutes later the steak arrived with a serving of crispy fries. The steak is already carved and coverd in a distinctive butter, herb, mustard, lemon juice and black pepper sauce. It was perfectly cooked and very tasty when i finished that, the second serving was served after this I was bursting. Dinner was finished off with a triple layer meringue sandwiched with hazlenut and vanilla ice cream and drown in a milk chocolate sauce and a coffee. bill was 33 euros quite reasonable in comparision to London. The food was enjoyable enough but the experience is greatly lacking as this meal from start to finish took 50 minutes!!!! Tables are squashed together, staff are efficient but this place is a pack them in get them out type place, you wouldn't want to stay and linger there. This is fast food steak house as an art form. But when i left at 7.58pm the restaurant was completely full and there was still 30 people queueing outside. Wish i could open a restaurant like this and have this number of customers. anyway todays task it to try the macaron from laduree, paul and fouchon will report on that tomorrow:)

cool will give that a try next weekend:) thanks for that all i need now is a authentic hawker stand bbq tray:)

hehehe i heard about that too:) but staying with a friend so should be fine ;)

very simple question how do you make the rice cake thats usually served with the satay?

thats a good site the recipes look the most authentic i have seen :) will try making the chilli crab and satay asap:)

thanks John and C&C i'm staying near the Belleville district so the Marche Richard Lenoir is perfect as it look like a short walk away:) Will probably go wonder down there this Sunday morning with and empty stomach and a fat wallet

Thanks all well i'm there for a good 2 days on my own so will get a chance to explore a bit btw is there a nice food/fish market open on Sunday in Paris?

actually maybe a little off topic but isn't it true that 75% of all new London restaurants fail within their first year? Does anyone know if that statistic has changed? As if that percentage has gone up maybe things in London are slowing down? Maybe the first sign of an economic slow down? See i think the problem is that most of the best restaurant sites in London are taken by all the large chains. And all the other destination restaurants have a massive PR budget so can afford to be in wierd locations. :)

hello everyone due to some airline problems i'm going to find myself in Paris alone for 2 days as the rest of my friends have had their flight delayed So was wondering if anyone could recommend some good restaurant in Paris where it wouldn't look strange for a person dining alone and where i can pretty much turn up without a reservation. I like most food but have a bias towards oriental or traditional european cuisine. Recommendations with names and address would be very much appreciated. thanks in advance regards sam

hi Actually i haven't been to Bambou in over a year but its was pretty good last time i went. The main thing that i would recommend is their raw beef salad i hope they still have it. Slices of beef carpaccio, marinated with lots of herbs and garlic, delicious. In fact that was the only thing i remeber eating there as it was a million times better then anything else. Ever had one of those meals where one dish just out shines everything else Arrirang is good although decor looks a little tired the food is great, go for the Kimchi, seafood pancake (parjeon), The rare beef stone pot rice (yuk whe beebim bap) the BBQ with beef tongue and fillet, and the chicken. As you can tell i like my beef still moo-ving I think a simple way to choose from the TO guide would be to just work your way through their red and green starred restaurants :)