Adam_Balic

Pasta, tossed with new Olive oil (now getting a bit old, but still good), ripe tomato, basil, thyme and mozarella. Just enough heat in pasta to soften the cheese and tomato.

Toby - those meals sound terrific! I must go down to my local pig uterus emporium and get some! I was interested in uterus as food, as a large proportion of the high status food described in Roman literature I have read is pig's uterus. Lacking any Roman recipes, maybe I should try something south-east asian (at least the fish sauce would provide continuity). Chewy is OK, I like chewy, but good chewy not tough chewy. My favorite Vietnamese Pho is Beef tendon with beef balls, all chewy, but so good.

Toby, Hmmm interesting recipe (do you do anything with those pig wombs you can also get?), but some people (Simon) may find the thought eating the dish offensive because it smacks of cannibalism. Tony - can I just say how much I have enjoyed your comments on this site. I am now kicking myself that I didn't come and shake you hand like a giddy schoolgirl when you were doing a book signing in Edinburgh.

Oh, I completely agree on protection, I'm just unsure that Greece deserves the protection in this particular case.

I don't know Steve, such issues are beyond me! But, on this topic, for whatever reason Greece is being favoured over Bulgaria (as an example), so how are they to integrate into the Global economy?

Steve, point well taken and I agree with you, it was just in this particular case I thought it was a bit unfair on the other countries that had just a strong cultural/historical claim to the product as Greece. I tend to be fussy about such products and so check out where they come from (especially important in the UK), but I guess that isn't the issue is it? I always try to buy Comte, rather the Gruyere though!

Oh, I see it's a "biggest buck" issue. Reversal of the Basmati/Texmati case. Nice http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar98/basmati.html

Sounds great, but what is "gomasion"? Also, all this incredible food for you and yours or is there a professional side of this (Sorry, no Jinmyo Bio., so I am a little nosey ).

I don't agree Steve. The name "Feta", isn't Greek in origin and neither is the cheese specific to Greece, which is way different to somebody calling a soft red wine "Burgundy".

Robert FYI on Summer truffles. http://starchefs.com/truffles/article.html

Honey, may have bacterial spores, which means you shouldn't give it to children less then one year of age. But, it lasts indefinately (I think that some people have eaten honey from found in Aegyptian tombs).

Haggis with Boiled cabbage & bacon, Neep mash (UK. "Swede", USA "Rutabaga"). Bottle of Chianti.

Slight clarification. Honey is rarely associated with allergic reactions. Actually, the opposite is true, in that is has been shown to suppress some types of pollen associated allergies. There is an immune phenomena know as "oral tolerence", basically so you don't develop immune responses to everything you eat, the immune system "deletes" cells that react. Obviously, this isn't 100%, but it is thought that the small amounts of pollen present in honey, results in the deletion of pollen reactive immune cells, so therefore decrease in allergic symptoms. This will only work if you have honey whci contains the same type of pollen as what you are allergic to, so it is best to buy localy made honey. I think that Macrosans two component system hits the nail on the head. I would just add that a great many people confuse "allergic" with personal preference due to experience. I once ate a sausage roll as a child, which gave me terrible food poisoning. It is my first ever memory of vomiting. The thought of eating a sausage roll made me feel physicaly ill for years after this. However, I wasn't allergic to them. This confusion seems to be pretty common with seafood. Some people are allergic to some types of seafood, but many just don't like seafood and say they are allergic. Then in people that are allergic to seafood, mostly it will be against one type (eg. Shrimp), but they will say they are allergic to all seafood.

I'm glad you enjoyed the PX. As a matter of personal preference I would drink it un-chilled, but this means that the wine has to be ultra-good, if the acid isn't there to back up the sweetness, then it is pretty horrid. Great vinegar is made from PX, it is an excellent way of dressing red pepper or tomato salads.

Well next time you are Scotland...... I have a set of terrracotta Catalan creme pots, which flavour the custard slightly. I rather like the flavour.

Yes, while inner surface of the "bottom' is glazed, the inside of the pot isn't. As it heats up you can smell terracotta. I saw the Tagine cooked on direct flame, but it was not as intense a flame as what I have on my cooker, so the diffuser seemed sensible. Also of have Spanish and Italian terracotta ware to use it with.

Suvir, I bought a tagine in Fez that looks the same as yours. Initially, because I was afraid of putting it onto direct heat I used it in the oven. Basically, this didn't work as the meat dried out. I now have a flame difuser, and use it on top of the stove, with much better results. My question to you is do you think that the dish tastes different if cooked in a conventional pot or is this just an artificial perception I have? I'm quite sure that food cooked in terracotta tastes "different", but I'm not sure how real this is.

Thanks Steve, after I have finished standing on Dante, I will check out the places around Santa Croce!

While a Tagine is anything cooked in a Tagine (ie. The name of the meal comes from the name of the dish it is cooked in), do you not think that the cooking vessel itself influences the way the dish turns out? The cooking of the dish ontop of a very low heat source, means that the water vapour condenses at the top of the lid and then drains back into meat. That part is similar to a lot of other stews but, it isn't a "stew" in the French/British sense as you don't add that much liquid to the dish itself, infact most of the liquid comes from the meat/Veg. If most Morocans are now cooking Tagine in other vessels, then does that now mean the character of the dish has changed? Let's face it for most people "Tagine" means a dish of spiced meat/veg with vague Moroccan connections (Tunisians also have Tagines, but they are a very different type of preparation). If you cook a Tagine in anything other then a Tagine then is isn't a Tagine it is a stew, but who is going to bother with that level of "correctness". It would be like telling somebody that their Paella isn't a Paella, just "rice", because it isn't cooked in the correct vessel, by a man out in the open.

Mussels with creme fraiche/pernod/shallots/white wine. Roast Guinea-fowl, green beans, rosemary roasted potatoes. Peaches bakes with mascapone and amaretti soufle.

The graduate English Department at Cal Berkeley used to have a Fairy Queen Club, consisting of those who had read it through to the end. There were, I was told, certain other prerequisites....At Berkeley's incorrigibly highbrow FM station, KPFA, I once produced a two-hour adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It became an annual Christmas feature: "Sex and Violence in Middle English! Only on KPFA!" Cripes, I new there was a reason why I couldn't finish it, too darn hetrosexual. . Once upon I time I collected stories of the Arthurian cycle, lots weird sex and bashing the Saracen. My favorite was "Fergus of Galloway: Knight of Arthur", which is a 13th C. piss-take on the genre. The most disturbed version was cycle by T.H. White, I have no idea what Disney was thinking when they used this particular version as the basis of their animation.

I got my Tagine in Fez so it is about as authentic as you can get. I can see no reason why the Le Creuset version wouldn't work, although cooking in terra cotta sometimes gives a certain "earth" flavour to dishes, so you obviously wouldn't get that with the Le Creuset version. There are a few Tagines that I like to make: - Beef and Prune. - Lamb with quince - chicken and preserved lemons. - fish (v. simple just cultlets with a few spices) - also several Medieval recipes (North African and European) which adapt well to the tagine. eg. "Duck with Figs" is a Medieval French recipe, which is very similar to some of the tagine you see in Morocco (does contain wine though). Comments: Don't be temped to cook it in the oven, the results just aren't the same. Preserve you own lemons, easier then pie. Ras el Hanout is a "must have" spice blend for this type of meal. Collected four different versions of this spice blend from different towns, all different, but reconisibly that from the same group. Actually, I may like it because it reminds me of being in the spice souks when ever I use it.

Robert -White Peaches, yes on of the great joys of the world. A pity they don't transport very well, I haven't eaten them in years, not sice I moved to the city ( we had a few trees back on the farm). Excellent, I will glut myself on them, any substandard fruit can go into the Bellini's! Ah, holidays and the sweet anticipation of white peach and stuffed zucchini flower joy to come. Jinmyo - did you have to blanch the cardooni first? Steve - part of my trip will involve staying at Gaioli in Chianti, which is quite close so I will have to drop in. Although, I just know when I say to my friends that there is some excellent Porcetta in Greve they will say "sure, but we have better Porcetta in Gaioli". John - that sounds like excellent holiday reading material. I was going to take "The Fairy Queen", which I have taken on every holiday with me for the past ten years, but still haven't managed to get past the first one hundred pages or so. The same with "Finnegans Wake".

Tomatoes? God in heaven what next!

Many of the Muslims went to what is now Morocco (as did some of the Jews as well) and other parts of North Africa. Some stayed behind and converted faiths. Hence, some of the Spanish dishes of today are old Muslim/Jewish dishes which have been "Christianised", by the addition of pork (the converts were forced to add this ingredient as I sign of their true conversion). I have been meaning post a thread on this topic, but just haven't had the time to give it the attention that it deserves. Maybe when I go on holiday next month