Adam_Balic

*!@$% YOU. stay in freakin ireland, or whatever part of great britian you are. :wow: Huh, too late buddy, I am already here. See how I blend in, already as antagonistic as Plotnicki. Boy, oh, boy, are all those Irish going kick your butt. Possibly Wilfrid as well.

saying it loudly doesn't make it true. do you think a sprinkle of percorino romano (sp?!?!??) would mask the flavor of an oily piece of mackerel? Sorry, excited about coming to the States. Practicing being loud and brash to fit in.

Yeh, well I was kidding about it being the devils spunk - mostly . Tuna with cheese good, most every other fish with cheese, bad. MASKS THE FLAVOUR.

Nope, still in Scotland, will be leaving soon though.

Thank you.

MARGARINE IS THE DEVILS SPUNK. So, no by all means, don't use it.

Thank His holy name for that. . What is the fifth (meaty) taste called? Unami?

Add to those four basic tastes, "meatiness" as well (just been "discovered" bu scientists). Many of the other "tastes" or flavours (such as aniseed and coffee etc) are more akin to our sense of smell, infact you won't be able to taste them with a blocked nose. Chilli is different, the "hot" sensation is because the active ingredient actually stimulates the bodys heat receptors, thereby tricking the brain into sensation of heat. I think that several other chemicals work in an analogous manner (such as menthol, in mint), but I can't remember the specific receptors used off the top of my head.

SobaAddict70 - you're not Italian are you? I ask because when I visit my sister-in-law in Chianti, her partner goes to great lenghs to explain why only tourists add cheese to pasta. Cheese good and pasta good, but together, bad. Mind you he also has funny rules about which pasta with which sauce. eg. Spagetti No. 5 is for chilli and olive oil, Spagetti No. 11 is for clams. Don't get them confused or you will look like an idiot, apparently. Tommy, you could also use half olive oil and half unsalted butter, for the pasta with chilli/garlic. Popular in Chianti anyway.

Sure, "Andouillette en croute" would be fantastic, but you see this is French, so it is good by default. Now your typical English, intestine pie? Complete shite. Again by default.

How much for Humble pie? Actually, I have an English recipe for "Humble/Umble" pie. 16th C.-ish. Involves making a pie out of deer intestines (the Humbles/Umbles), it obviously isn't very nice, hence "to eat humble pie". I bit like eating crow really. I wonder if St. John's will start serving Humble pie, it's British after all.

Well said comrade Finch. Up the Proles .

Chaps, when the revolution comes you bourgeoisie types are going to be the first against the wall.

Charlton Who? Oh, the guy the 1920's dance is named after right?

I have never heard of this "Starch" concept until looking at the hotel menu for this USA conference I am going to next week. In that they say that "all meals will be served with appropriate starches". Sounds very strange to me, a bit like "all meals will be served with appropriate Solant Green", very clinical. Corn is a veggie. Most of the time. Except when it is a starch.

Take chicken breast (or what ever you like) or monkfish (any firm fish really) or scallops, cut into bite sized cubes, marinate for an hour in Olive oil/pepper/ salt. Pat dry place a sage leaf on meat, wrap with pancetta, thread onto a rosemary spike and then grill (broil?). Squeeze over lemon juice. Don't serve to the veggie.

Ah, all so clear now. I will have to try the experiment again. Miss J do you have the name of the UK supplier?

Adam - V&C may very well have it, but I rarely go in there (the place makes me angry, hugely inflated prices). I can't remember where I picked up this technique, otherwise I would quote the source, so apologies to all concerned. This is a non-tradional method, but gives you a good ricotta (lasts for about 3-4 days in the refridgerator). Take 2 litres of milk (best you can get, sheep milk if you can get it), 500 ml cream add juice of one lemon. Heat very slowly up to 80.C (about three hours), if it boils start again. When the mild reaches 80.C, you should see curds forming, skim these off into a perforated plastic container ( I poke tiny holes in the bottom half of a milk container). Keep skimming until there are no more curds forming. Allow ricotta to drain, place in clean container and refridgerate. If no curd start forming at 80.C add more lemon juice or increase temperature slightly. A flame difuser helps, but you can get by without one. True ricotta is made from the milky whey left over from the cheese making proper (after curds are drained off) this version is still very good and you can give it to Vegans and ilk.

Yes that's the shite I have had. I think that what I am thinking of is Salt Beef then (Corned Beef in Australia). Will an average butcher sell this, or would I have to a) find a Scottish Kosher butcher; b) make it myself (again, I had to make Ricotta the other day as the only stuff I get here is the commercial cude that comes in a plastic container)?

Steve - I'm very much afraid that deep fried Haggis is a bit of a staple up here in Scotland, as well as black pudding, pizza (yes battered and fried) and almost anything else that is considered edible. This Salt Beef, sounds like what would be called Corned beef in Australia (Silverside or rolled brisket, brined then boiled). Is this correct? I have bought Corned beed sandwiches here, but the "meat" is some type of gelatine bound meat mush, a little like brawn, but not very tasty. Should I look out for Salt beef instead? Do butchers here sell Salt beef to cook at home?

Ah thank you, so obvious really.

I'm so glad you had pie. Last night I was reading through my first edition of Jane Grigson's "Good Things" (found in small bookshop for a few quid = well chuffed). The is an entire section on PIE. Opening sentence "Most of us have a weakness for (meat) pie. Or should I say for a platonic ideal of (meat) pies?".Mmmm Platonic Pie, so full of Plato goodness. Did you make your own Lobster oil? Recipe sounds V. good, but is it Platonic pie? . I like Ziti. Especially, when made into that famous Sicillian Ziti/sardine/fennel/saffron/sultana baked pasta dish.

I read about these Sichuan peppercorns and their famous mouth numbing properties a few years ago, so I bought a pound or so. Tried several recipes, no mouth numbing, very sad. Maybe my batch was old and tired? I seem to recall that you are only ment to use the reddish husk not the black seed as it gives a gritty texture to the meal. This would be a complete pain in the arse to do, so I wonder if anybody bothers?

i found that interesting, so i did some quick research. if the results in this link are accurate, it seems that lots of stuff might have MSG. click here for someone's opinion MSG is only a slightly modified amino acid, so no big surprise that it is in other foods other then Chinese take out. It gives me a headache only if used in the extreme range. Mamster - Salt is a flavour enhancer yes, so if you adjust the sweet/sour balance then add salt later you could alter this balance for the better or worse yes?

Obviously, Gruyere, did I not say Gruyere?