alexw

personally would like 2 gadgets Heston is playing with Reveo, like a vacuum tumbler where you can lock liquid within a solid, possiblities for self saucing meats, also infuse lamb with vapour of garlic and rosemary, which leads me to..... the vapour captur thingy he has, where you can heat up whatever (garlic for example) and hold at a certain temp (40c for garlic), then the vapour condenses leaving pure notes without and bitter astringent aftertastes. would have to re-mortgae and set up an account with the fischer scientific catalogue, don't know if my darling wife would understand. as for frix-air, have heard things about this like not as smooth as a pacojet. so really what is the point, if you are going to go to the extremes of utilising a piece of equipment such as this, why only go half way? Alex.

you're welcome, I cook in London, so a little far away from you. was going to suggest you hit this 4 times (wiping out the pans and preading out the weighty stirring process, enough to give you forearms like popeye), but if you are going heavy on the cheese better stick to one batch per pan cos wiping out after will not be a 2 minute job. wish you all the best and am sure will be fine, if you have any other Q's then just PM me. cheers, Alex.

You can do this ok, just make sure you have enough flat area or trays to put the rice onto once you have got to your 85% stage. generally 1/2 cup is around 100gms of rice so you should allow at least 7.5-8kg of rice then some 15 litres of stock. dont forget around 1-1.5kg of shallots, 1/2 litre of olive oil and 1/2 kg of butter. I squezze a little lemon into my base for a little sharpness but optional, also think about a box of wine to kick off the cooking process. when you have achieved 85% mis-en place, get it out of the pan pronto and spread as thinly as you can on trays or equivalent to stop the damn thing from cooking. when you reheat, caress as mentioned before and add your flavour stock/sauce, then finish with (obscene) amount of grated parmesan and butter. I generally prep some 150-200 portions of basee every 2-3 days but I have an industrial kitchen and a team of 16 chefs to help me out. you are brave to voulenteer(sic) and good luck to you. you may find help in a book called rockpool by and Australian chef i think by the name of Steven perry (could be wrong there but the title is correct), his book's first recipe is mushroom risotto for 500 people) one tip I remember from this is if you can, split the batch into 2 (you have 2 pans if I remember correctly), and begin the second one 10 to 15 minutes after you have started the first. this means you can then start serving the first and by the time you have run out the 2nd should be just ready without the overcooked stodge at the bottom of the pan. hope this has been of some help. Alex.

have a pumpkin and ginger soup on my menu at the mo, the soup is peeled, seeded and diced pumpkin, double bagged (vacuum) and boiled in the bag till tender, sweat about 10% shallots with a little garlic and butter, add the pumpkin from the bag and cover with a veg stock. bring to the boil, blitz and pass. for the ginger i use 1 part ginger juice, 1 part lime juice and 4 parts stock syrup, allow to cool add 1 heaped teaspoon of lecithin and blend with a hand blender, pour the soup into a bowl and spoon the foam on top (not too much cos it's very powerful), the lecithin in the foam will keep the bubbles stable for quite a while. Alex.

Sausage and mashed potato - a great British delicacy only improved by the addition of onion gravy. ← not to mention the odd slice of white bread to mop up said gravy. hmm know what's for dinner tonight. cheers for the inspiration Andy.

Hmm onions in daupheniose, never done it myself. Will somebody please stop ramsay from stripping on tv, personally I think his kids must cringe somewhat. anyway I was toying with the idea of applying for him to come to my home to help my wife back into cooking (she has just started her own business and is struggling for time but she can cook fine), but I could bring 20-30 kg of spinach from work and stick him in the corner to pick it while we get on with our dinner. as most weekends I spend cooking different things with my kids anyway (bread pasta etc, however the best turn out of enthusiasm is always for ice cream making, I wonder why) as for the foie gras debate, when you are one of the biggest purchasers of non-stick top of the range pans that Gordon is then you can easily put your foie in with no fat and achieve perfect results, and seeing that he was on a new tv show, the kit was high end all the way. even his courgette provencale was coloured in them before being transferred into bourgeas sautee pans for tossing the balsamic in, (he didn't want to add the acetic acid to the teflon pans). have to admit that the funniest thing I found was the look on his wifes face as he was digging up her landscaped garden for his turkey run. as for naming them after chefs with the exception of Ainsley "hands that do dishes" Harriot, the others have all had their contributions to the industry whether we like them or not. rant over, too late now and back to work in 5 hours. Alex. PS, Rector (does Gordon live in matrix time or what?) I can barely make time for my responsibilities as it is and my life is pretty full with 5*hotel, wife (with business ah well someone has to do the books, and 3 kids)

Hi Nicolai. he did mention the stock but all his recipes were a bit vague, boulangere being the most accurate he gave. why he didn't mention the crumbs I've no idea seeing as he used half a bucket of them. as for the turkey scene, was a bit long but would be more concerned about the language his kids will be using out and about, I often bring my kitchen dialect home with me and have to be very careful about using the odd kitchen phrase in their presence otherwise I am called in to scholl to comment on my 3 year old calling one of his nursery classmates "b******s" the show is more geared up for the nigella market compared to his previous efforts and am leaving it at the mo as to whether I actually enjoyed it or not, I would probably have liked it more if TV wasn't sturated with him recently (3rd show I've seen him in this week) jesus I've seen him more than his staff. will try and settle to a verdict next week. nice to see Giles as a total billy no mates jammed up against the wall though. Alex.

having just got back home from a hellish week, (menu change and all that) have just opened my restaurant magazine and stopped at the front cover and one question immediately pops to mind. Aren't most (not all I agree) the chefs who grace the cover, the actual owners of the restaurants? and therefore worthy of this recognition. because as we are all aware one person does not a business make (well Shaun Hill had a pretty good stab at it but no-one complained when he got the limelight over who served his food) and anyone worth their sodium chloride knows that all great teams have figureheads and that is the name you wish to grace your CV as you progress through the industry.

I have been in this industry for around 18 years now and am totally with you on the fact that it is not a kitchen alone that makes a restaurant, however you only go to a restaurant to eat and not just to be served, this is not intended to take anything away from the fantastic front of house teams that do exist, just merely stating a fact. For many years I read the Caterer every week and only in the last year have I jumped ship to Restaurant magazine, "why's that", because I am a chef and the caterer over the last 18 months has grown in it's published diversity and good on it, it just so happens that really all I want to read about is food, so we had to go our separate ways. I do get it on occasion but only when it is having a food heavy issue. Restaurant magazine however (to which I subscribe) has stuck with it's scene and I seem to recall over the last few months articles and covers dedicated to Robin Hutson (more group busness than service but not at all kitchen) and the ledbury front of house to name but two, so whilst probably the magazine is a little food heavy (I still subscribe, which will cease if they go the same way as the caterer) I find there is quite a lot of room devoted in the magazine beyond the kitchen. I do also totally agree that front of house teams could do with a lift to promote a higher status, therfore encouraging more good people into the fold, and would welcome any move to help promote this. Alex.

Fluked mine at 10am GMT on the 14th, first time I haven't got the textbook reply, so here's hoping have asked for anyday, anytime. good luck Alex.

For home I use bag rolls from Rusco vac, 01367 252754 Fax:- 01367 253406 I use these to boil in, you can get the occasional burster but have found quite reliable, I cut my own from 20cm rolls, hope this helps. Alex. OK - I now have vacuum sealer & spent weekend playing with it (yeh, yeh - i need to get out more). Big problem - when cooking various foods - the bags melt. So - where can I get bags that don't melt? :sigh: ←

Sunday nights can seem to be a bit of a chore, you are stuck with a choice of chain restarants or hotel restaurants. what kind of meal are you after, one thet is just good cooking but doesn't distract from you conversation, (after all you will be catching up with your friend), or one where the quality of meal & service will affect your conversation (and wallet) for the evening?

the lower the chocolate %, then the higher % of fat and sugar which will improve your texture but have a detremental (if you go to too low a percentage) effect on the chocolate flavour. personally I use the highest % choc I can find for nearly all my desserts, if something different is required then I look to use a high quality milk choolate.

I seem to recall that he was planning to close for the 2007 season, not 2006. I'm sure there would be some info in the blanket "please try again at the end of the season" e-mail that you get should you try and book too early. Alex.

I bought an orved fast vacuum off eBay rock solid at £400 (ouch) from a compay called frazer-mackenzie ( i think), and I use this one at work until my multivac chamber machine gets delivered. You can by foodsaver and others online in the UK for aroud £100+, rhinovac is one company that springs to mind, although you have to use the bags that have indents on one side so it can suck the air out and is useless for vacing liquid unless you freeze it first.

what I tend to do with braises, is to perform a standard recipe, and chill quickly, then transfer portion by portion into separate bags, with sauce. then keep this aside for service, then it's just a case of simmer in the bag, which retains juices aromas etc, I have only cooked the more lean cuts low temp (except for a piece of skirt steak once whih was quite frankly vomit enducing).

if you are using a foodsaver type of vac pac machine then you do have to freeze the liquid first, even then by the time you have got yourself sorted a little defrosts as you are doing it and a little goes a long way (especially into the pump of your food saver ). if you have access to a chamber machine (local butcher perhaps), and they have a liquid plate for their machine then there is less problem, remember though even in a chamber machine the liquid is best being fridge cold first as it boils at a lower temp in a vacuum.

Stocks can be made very successfully in a pc, but due to the increase in temperature (aroud 130+C) the fat effectively "montes" it's way into the liquid. Heston gets around this with a special filtration device which is non-protien attracting, so the protien rich stock pours through whilst all the other crap stays put. He has used this technique in short show demos, perfect quail stock in a half hour. Deep fry your quail, add boiling water and aromatics, put the lid on and cook for 25 minutes, pass through said filter and hey presto, clever but personally I like to watch my stock develop (a bit old school sometimes me!), but have done a very nice lobster stock in my pc and the flavour is incredibly intense. Alex.

talking of curds, Sam mason of WD50 has worked a method of making an eggless lemon curd with Gellan Gum. Not quite sure how, but possibly without heating as it thickens when cold same as guar gum, and is barely thermally reversible when boiled. (I have managed to pan fry the stuff) bit of a nightmare to get hold of as I think only one company make it (cpKelco), and you have to buy 250kg at a time. I'm sure they would probably let you have samples though. and a .5% solution usually sets well

I am using the same or more if the liquid in question has a low pH. however my main reason again is the price, the more I buy the cheaper per portion it then becomes and I can easily vac and store some also I will have some fresh for each service 7 days a week, and with my dinner service being 5 & 1/4 hours long quite often find I have to refresh a pot (1/4 to 1/2 litre each time) once during evening service. also if you overdose citrus fruit juice foams then there is a pleasant milkyness to the flavour and this again is used elsewhere. as for dissolution I am settling for initial blending then passing the millet-esque bits out pre-service.

Another way we produce fondant, is to cut into cylinders appx 3cm high and 2-3cm round, chanfer the edges so they dont catch. place greasproof paper on the bottom of the pan, cover with clarified butter and "confit" until tender, these can then be removed and refrigerated, and providing you haven't let the butter boil you can re-use it. when you need it colour on both sides (preferably in a non-stick pan) and warm through in a low oven, finish with a little fleur de sel.

Nimzo nas given me a route to try, will let you know how I get on. am currently playing with the granular stuff (got cheap on eBay) and whilst it works fine it doesn't dissolve that fantastically in cold liquid, and am loathed to heat up some of the juices I want to foam because I am after a pure flavour of foam. also need larger quantities basically for price but we are currently doing some 8000 covers a month (on average, brekkie, lunch and dinner), so with a couple of foams on the menu spread over restaurant and private dining we will surely go through it quite a bit. cheers. Holland and Barrat is where I got mine! Quite a large tub (500g?), not wholeslae I know but it's not badly priced. 2kg is a whole lot of Lecithin!!!!! Edit: whoops just realised - H&B stuff is Granules, not sure if they do powder as well, I would be interested to know if you find the powder in convenient sizes. ←

Am trying to get hold of Lecithin, I know MSK do it but I am a little bit loathed to pay their kind of prices. Also I am looking to use around 2kg per month (ish) so could do with more of a wholesale kind of place. I need to get the powdered stuff, I am using the granular at the moment and it's ok but not as convenient as I'd like. Cheers Alex.

Was that deliberate? ← no just subliminal....

I agree with not buying in "posh??" places as there are too many in the kitchen and the chef alone who accepts a drink for him/herself is shite really. Also a lot of the lager better places will plonk a service charge on, so if you have had a good time please do not dispute it as it goes into our salaries. If a meal is totally outstanding and I find I have need to discuss this, I will on occasion ask if the chef wants to go for a beer after that service to try and rob the odd technique though, but this then I suppose is just payment in kind. Alex.