tony h

What about the vomit man in the Monty Python film - sorry - I don't remember its name? That was pretty disgusting & possibly more suitable for the A Balic thread. PS - I used to live in Hoboken

Jay - the next time they are over make sure the wine flows then say "let's play truth or dare".

Is it me or does anyone else get annoyed when couples turn up with one bottle of cheap white but only drink vast quantities of good red?

It still feels a little unfair judging on one visit particularly if its new. A new restaurant is a new business haemorrhaging money on all sides. The business is founded (hopefully) on the abilities of the chef - of second importance is their ability to manage. When have you ever gone to a place where they say great management but OK food?. It can easily take a month for things to settle down & a routine to establish. Also - you've go a bunch of people who may not have worked together before and teething troubles will happen. If they unbelievably awful & experience tells that they're never going to make - fine. But restaurants can die with a bad review and it seems only fair to give them a chance to put right any wrongs. You are playing with livelihoods whether you like to admit it or not. On a slightly separate note - it is good to know about new places & roughly what to expect but I'd often be more interested to know if an established place has deteriorated or if they are maintaining or increasing standards.

I hate butter - taste & texture - on sandwiches. When growing up my mum never put it in our sandwiches & so we (my sisters & I) never developed a taste for it. Now when presented with a butter laden sarnie we do feel a bit nauseous. We are also treated with some disdain when asking for a butter free sarnie - a butter persecution, if you will. I can just about put some on toast & eat it when melted but I have to be pretty hungry. In cooking its essential & I always use unsalted - just can't eat the stuff raw.

Girolles - absolutely wonderful - easily my favourite. Until recently I wasn't keen on porcini or shitake because of their texture but I've discovered that if you put them into an oil free frying pan and roast them for a few minutes to get rid of the water, if you then add a little butter & season well they take on a whole new dimension. Great with spinach on a pizza. (spinach - place collander; pour kettle of boiling water over them then refresh in cold water; squeeze; drain on kitchen paper to dry; season; use: alistair little method - never fails).

Suvir / Hasmi This really is beyond my ken. I have no knowledge of immigration patterns or anything like that and I am embarrassed to admit that I couldn't name but a handful of Indian provinces or cities. I wasn't really paying attention when I was in Scotland (12 years ago) - food was just something you ate. As I was mostly vegetarian and curry houses were one of the few places where you could be guaranteed decent, cheap food. A pakora is a little, spicy, moist bundle of joy, deep fried & served with a sauce to die for. Haggis curry? I'm sure it exists but I've never eaten haggis - in any form. As for regional differences in the US - yes I was aware that "curries" over there were different to those in blighty - probably for the same reasons. It could also be something to do with availability of spices & other ingredients. Lets face it, Scotland isn't high on anyone's list of must visit food places and it certainly wasn't known for its abundance of exotica. Another difference I noticed when I moved to Southampton (mid 80s, PhD, unfinished) - meat was different. I can't really explain it but cuts of meat in England differed from what you'd get in Scotland - and it tasted funny - less meaty and thin tasting. I don't have any notes (I'm not that sad) but it is a distinct memory.

This could be complete nonsense - but my understanding is that different parts of the UK attracted people from different parts of India. The cuisine differs quite markedly throughout India & the anglophiled notion of Indian cuisine, adapted to the UK palate, also developed separately. When eating in Scotland the "curries" bear little resemblance to those in England (Welsh curries bear no resemblance to food). Its been a long time since I've eaten a curry in Scotland but I remember it being more buttery & creamy than those in England. Also - Scottish pakora & nan breads are a genuine delicacies* and there's nothing I've seen in England that come close. The English onion bhajee (spelling?) is the closes thing I've seen to a Scottish pakora - expect there are also fish, vegetable and meat varieties. * - from a scottish point of view

I'm still waiting to have a decent meal in Rasa, Stokie. Been a few times & on one occasion they actually ran out of food - it was 1.5 hours wait and by that time v. hungry & v. drunk. (Also - is it just me of are vegetarian hangovers worse than non-veg ones?) Oh, and I also leave hungry - v small portions. Red Fort - I like the basement - very interesting coctails (a bit loud, 'though). I don't remember anything about the food. Veraswammy (spelling?) - felt ill afterwards (wasn't drink - I didn't have any). I have noticed a huge difference in what I think of as english-indian and scottish-indian bastardisations of indain cusine. There is quite a distinctive variation & having grown up with it I much prefer the Scottish version. In fact, since moving to London I've all but given up trying english-type indain places.

this thread is making me feel quite ill.

me

Simon - fantastic post. How about setting a weekly/fortnightly diary so we can follow you adventures? Signed: chef wanna-be but is too much of coward to take the plunge

I was really enjoying this thread, until ...

Wrap them in mulsin so they impart the flavour - remove them at the end - no grit. Good when making veg nage - also use 2 star anise - using more over powers the stock.

What were you making it with - beef or lamb? I find that with lamb you have to drain off the fat before you anything else otherwise its grey food time. The fat leaves a dank, musty aftertaste which is quite unpleasant. As for the thai dish - the only think I can think of is that something's gone off - perhaps the oil has spoiled. Also, too much fish sauce could ruin it.

What about shape? I have both round and square plates plus little rectangluar sushi-like ones that are prefect for desserts. Although, I do find it harder to arrange food on square plates. I also have long thin rectangular & oval plates which are also great for starters & desserts. All white, of course.

It depends what you're serving. If its a light casual dinner, lunch or supper then use whatever you want. If, however, you've just spent 4 hours making a stock, reducing it, reducing the wine, coaxing a sheen out of it, talking to it, telling it that its the best sauce in the world, telling it that it has a depth of colour you've only ever seen in a 3 starred establishment, well then, the only colour is white.

The secret of a good red wine sauce is white wine. Sounds daft, I know, but if you cook with red wine early on it can discolour. You really need to make your own stock and use white wine - veg nage doesn't work too well so its got to be chicken or lamb (beef/veal is a pain). Use any standard stock recipe. I always reduce it further & have been experimenting by adding additional gelatine leaf recently (sounds disgusting - but results are encouraging). The red wine goes in at the end - take 1/2 bottle of reasonable wine (5-7 pounds range) and reduce by half. I also use mixtures of port, maderia and red wine to give it extra body - cheap red wine reduced can take on a metalic taste. For the sauce - fry some shallots, optionally garlic, in some butter (plus a little oil to stop the butter burning). When caremalised add the herbs (rosemary, bay, star anise, parsely stalks etc. - whatever you want or have at hand). A little honey can also be added but not too much or you'll get a disgusting sweet mess. Now add the stock, deglase, then the red wine reduction - half first. Taste & add more if you need. Boil for 5 min then pass through very fine seive. Add cold butter and incorporate - don't boil or it will split. Only add salt at the very end or you'll get a red wine salty mixture which is quite unpleasant. If you over salt - throw it away & start again. On saturday I'll be using the cooking liquor used to prepare the oxtail. Another tip - if the sauce is a bit cloudy & dull at the end add a couple of bones to the sauce for a minute or so - it'll put a sheen back into the sauce.

I'm off my soapbox now. Yours, humbly

I've got one next saturday. This is what I'm doing: home made seeded loaf safron & fish soup (fish to be decied on next friday but probably bass & mullet) fillet beef with oxtail potato & mushroom terrine red wine reduction whilte chocolate ice cream (home made, of course!) dark chocolate fondant

Technically you are correct when you say that all restaurants in Britian are British - but its hardly a helpful distinction to make. I don't know of anyone (except of this board, that is) who separates cuisine type from its cultural/racial home. If we need that kind of precision then everything would be anglo-this and anglo-that - eventually everyone would just watn to beat you up. To say that Petrus is British doesn't help (me) identify what type of food they server - French or French-like is good enough. But as everything would have "-like" we can drop the like bit.

That's a bit of a narrow view. It implies that only an Indian national can claim that their restaurant is Indian & that families who have been here for generations lose that ability. Wareing can call his cuisine pretty much what he wants - you choose to agree with him or not - but its really his call.

But is that with or without chocolate?

Is this what you call an eGullet moment - where a simple innocent thread leads something quite wonderful?

Please explain more.