Steve Martin

Home again, at last. The latest findings on umami suggest that parmesan is a natural partner for seafood - the opposite of the Italian rule. I flash fried some raw tiger prawns in a teflon pan with a smear of lardo. Lightly crisped some San Daniella prosciutto and dressed a salad of rocket and the green of spring onions (scallions) with warm olive oil and balsamico. A few shavings of old parmigiano, salt and pepper. My wife thought it went very well, I was not so sure. Main course was seared fillet of tilapia. Bashed new potatoes with spring onion, mint, basil, rocket and olive oil. A stock of prawn shells, tilapia trimmings, pink peppercorns and vermouth. Reduced down with a fecule of arrowroot. A few chives. Served with a very light rosé (gris). Some English strawberries with whipped double cream and a dash of maraschino.

Remember. With mise en place you can please en masse. Most often in my kitchen, not a single place has been mised.

Keep It Simple - Alastair Little

Tommy. It really is 'funny you should ask' about what we drank. I have some old clarets that should be drunk up and I always like red wine with poultry. The sauce would have gone well with a full bodied white, but we had a 1970 Chateau Beau-Site, Saint-Estephe. Very subtle, with some strawberry fruit remaining. The price of this old beauty? 5GBP I even took a picture showing one of my wine glasses. Much more of my amateur cooking and European travels on my website www.smartco.clara.co.uk

Thought I would try posting a picture. Joints of Guinea Fowl roasted with garlic and rosemary. Strips of parsnip and carrot roasted in duck fat and oil and sauté of spinach. Did not go for a proper purée of spinach, but did put some nutmeg in. Sauce of rich fowl stock, rosemary, cream, dab of mustard and fecule of potato flour. Steve Martin.

You may like to see some good photos of Annecy and Talloires http://www.smartco.clara.co.uk/rhone.htm You will find a review of Veyrat there and a better version here http://www.alynes.freeserve.co.uk/contents.html Pere Bise looked very enticing. Bourget de Lac is a fair way away, but I can recommend Le Grange au Sel (sp) there.

Steve, I have had the white Banyuls when I was in that area: I much preferred it to the red. The Pourcel brothers served foie gras with a reduction of Banyuls, so you can imagine how good that was :o) The red is good with chocolate though. “Of course, who has the control actually has little to do with creating a successful transition from savory to sweet and creating harmony and flow all the way to the end.” Flesh this out a bit, Steve. How is the harmony created, if not by the person in control? Steve and Bux, I do not often see the matching wine by the glass option and I am delighted when I do. The last time we found this rarity, we had a glass of red Santenay with the fish course and enjoyed both the combination and the fact that the chef was in the driving seat. Usually the two of us order a bottle of white (Condrieu is a safe bet) and a half of red. Then we often find we wish we had more white and the red is getting in the way of the subtle and varied flavours the chef is presenting. So yes, I think that a free choice from the wine list and the cheeseboard are equally troublesome anarchies. Don Alfonso presented a selection of cheeses and accompaniments on a plate, with an order of eating. The Voie Sacree, where we recently had the 'matching wines' served a cheese fritter and salad course - very daring for a French chef to neglect the cheeseboard. We love cheese (my wife, especially), but are not always happy to see the chariot of cheeses bearing down upon us during a 10 course meal. If we had only had the run of it with some bread and wine at lunch, but not now! We can't resist 3 or 4 and the whole discipline of the meal is out the window. I use the word discipline on purpose, because that is what makes the great chefs better than me. Power and lightness together – a balance easily toppled by the intrusion of cheese and wine. I can’t remember the dessert wine at Can Fabes other than to say it was a Spanish moscatelle and darker than usual. The second dessert was a sweet paella with nuts that went well with the wine. As I said, the foie gras was served with apple. I didn’t think it was an ideal ‘main’ course and was casting an envious eye over the roast goat on the next table. I would not have liked to miss the foie gras creation, but it could have been a smaller early course. Santi also managed to avoid another bugbear of mine. The presenting of daft little bread rolls as if they were the crown jewels. Here there was a breathtaking display of breads that were cut to order. Every restaurant should fire the pastry chef and get a real baker. (Joking).

I've got a bit of a thing about the sacred anarchy of the cheeseboard. I think it takes the control of the meal away from the chef, so I am pleased to see a chef grabbing the reins back. He had mashed up a light cheese and chopped nuts, forming a very small 'cake' (4cm dia by 2cm high). Centred on the plate and drizzled with a honey sauce. Three bites really, and not at all cloying. I have similar problems with a chef relinquishing control to his pastry chef and I am writing a little diatribe on that. BTW. My only regret about that meal lies in the choice of wine. As superb as the red Roija and the dark dessert wine were, I wish I had chosen a Sauternes to take us right through the foie gras, cheese and dessert. I find more and more that a red wine doesn't fit well into a tasting menu. At Don Alfonso, the sommelier recommended just one glass of red with the meat and for our forthcoming visit to Michel Bras, I will be casting a suspicious eye over the reds.

We had lunch there Feb 2000 and it remains our best lunch ever and the best service of any restaurant. We long for the day of our return :-) The sommelier chose some superb and economical wines for us and made sure that we had dessert wine and brandy at the end. He topped these up gratis and it's a wonder we weren't poured out the door. Chef Santimaria is a genius, or more probably a force of nature. We had about ten courses, including sea cucumber with sole, serrano ham, parsley oil and spring oinion. Main course of foie gras of duck baked in a salt crust with a caremelised apple. This seemed to keep making its own gravy as we ate. Our menu abandoned the cheeseboard in favour of a little cake of goats cheese and nuts with a honey sauce. I could go on, but suffice to say you are in for a treat. It is a model of how a small place can keep its three stars year after year. A model that Don Alfonso should study. We took the train from Barcelona, but for dinner you would be better to stay in San Celoni.

At Frankfort Gate, Plymouth, Chez Nous is a superb little one star restaurant. I can't imagine why this great chef stays in Plymouth - he says he is happy there. I am from Plymouth and I detest the place :-) An excellent fish restaurant is Piermasters, on the Barbican. The China Garden, Derry's Cross used to be nationally famous, but that is in the past.

I have been trying to think of a better name than 'Dinner Party' for when there are only three or four people. Any ideas? I cooked a meal for three last Friday. Olives and a bowl of tzatziki with sparkling Prosecco Seared scallops on slices of fortunella sausage and courgette with a red spring onion. Peperoni of Italian red pepper with flash fried squid and basil. Fresh crab mixed with a sauté of fat pancetta and dill. Small moulds set up with gelatine and served with a small, mixed leaf balsamic salad. Very crabby. Cockles warmed through in a cream and lemon fish soup. All served with a 2000 Sancerre. Breast and leg of guinea fowl roasted with potatoes, buttered spinach and a purée of carrot and celeriac. Sauce of fowl stock and morels, monté au beurre. Served with a 1975 Ch la Clotte Blanche, Côtes de Bourg - £5.00 Cheese board with a 1955 Warres vintage port. Sorbet of summer fruits with fresh raspberries. (Don't forget a pinch of salt in your sorbets :-) Home-made vanilla ice cream with Spanish strawberries. Desserts with a Canadian ice wine. Espresso coffee and limoncello. Did not take any photos this time.