confiseur

Indeed...these shows and in particular the experts are far more informative and professional than the recent ghastly creme de creme show with its judges straight from central casting..the comedy Frenchman, the pushy Asian lady and the inane frumpy woman who is obviously more than partial to a lardy cake or 3.

http://en.magic-temper.com/le-magic-temper-fonctionnement/ This piece of kit has been on the market some time in Europe , since 2013 I believe and is widely used by professional artisan chocolatiers ...both large and small..in France and Switzerland.

Much preferred the second Swiss themed restaurant tbh. Very friendly service staff, excellent value,well presented food with a refreshing lack of foams which seems to be sadly still en vogue in the 2* restaurant.

I used to really enjoy reading Jonathan Meades reviews... lived in CH then so my very expensive Saturday 'Times' was read cover to cover. AA Gill is a good writer in general who writes about food quite well. Mr Rayner?,perleeze...straight from central casting... pompous and more than a little too convinced about himself.

Good site and thnks for posting, just a pity that there seems to be rather a large minority of non-British chefs on it ...I thought it was going to be great British chefs? Oh...and before the PC brigade start waving their guardians and shrieking racism can you really imagine any British or any other foreigners for that matter appearing on say 'greatfrenchchefs.com'?

Went on Saturday with other half, early sitting ( 6.15 pm ). Not very discretely let them know I used to work together at Browns with their Shanghai offshoots head chef, him in the larder, me in the pastry. 2 glasses of Nyetimber 2006 immediatley arrive..result lol... Mrs, well pleased to see the man himself on the pass. Me , scallops and beetroot to start, wife had some-such with a quails yug, enjoyed immensely. Both had angus beef for mains, asked for medium, both came rare but the quality was superb. Wonderful side dish of celeriac potatoes, only criticism is it was not enough for 1 person let alone 2. Nice pre-dessert with frozen pear/pear espuma Dessert of Apple tatin with a smoked whisky ice cream for me, the wife had a the chocolate ganache. Both quite heavy but very tasty indeed. The bill came with some warm rhubarb madeleines....I liked that. Less than £100 per person with 2 glasses of wine and another 2 Nyetimber. B****y good value indeed imho and so much more than 1*cooking . Been to Maze ...not so long ago...and this was better.

This book is now out of print.. Does anyone have an idea if the English version is going to happen or will it be reprinted in Spanish? Any input/information much appreciated..

Many apologies if this question has beeen answered on the thread, if so please point me to the right page as I cannot find it! Here goes then: ( sorry, no picture) I have sprayed cocoa butter into the molds and then have no problem molding the chocolate and releasing the chocolates from the mold: ..however,the cocoa butter finish is really dull and not beautifully shiny as on the pictures on this thread.. Am I using the (PCB)cocoa butter too warm or too cold? I spray it at about 32c as instructed. Do I have to temper the cocoa butter before using? Any assistance much appreciated!

Cru sauvage is imho one of the worlds great chocolates,I must have tempered a hundred kilos of this either by hand ..table, vaccine and microwave methods...and by machine and have never had a significant problem.. As with all felchlin chocolates important to go up to 50c to melt, prechrystalize this one at 28c and work with at 32c. Simples

A friend of mine will probably be willing to sell his Rev 2 .. still in original packaging, never been used and sat in his store room for the last 2 years...at a very reasonable price indeed if you are interested.

david goodfellow Oh btw did I mention its a certain Michelin star. ......................................................................................................................... Indeed.....but unfortunatley ( or fortunatley )he's not French, so nothing sure there by any means.

No doubt if '....ee iz a fameuz chef Francais... ' then Michelin would pile straight in and give him top billing in the 2012 edition,but seeing that he is English with a German name things will probably be not that simple...

Indeed Edward...and 3 years,thats a proper apprenticeship, I was 2 years Fachlehrer Konditorei/Confiserie in Lucerne...I squirm with embaressment when people say they apprenticed with me, a very talented lady worked 6 months 3 days a week for me before opening her own place in NY and I cant bring myself to ask her to take her quote down off her web-site as I really like her. I have even known people claim they where 'apprenticed' after doing a 3 day Callebaut chocolate course...sad istnt it!

...four of us had a very nice pre-theatre dinner on Friday evening, terrific value too...only gripes are the room is a bit boxy and bizarrely the only pudding (which was very good to be fair) on offer was rice-pud with squash and ginger, bizarre because one of the 2 main courses was risotto. Good service if a little too 'French' and some of the best bread I've ever had in London.

Patronising, pompous and tedious....and thats just Jay Rayner.. 'Likewise are we really in a world when the beige, by-the-numbers, shoot-me-now tedium of the relaunched Petrus does get elevated?' My God its a hard life as a restaurant critic lol... To be fair though his article is mostly correct,it does seem that being a French chef is a pre-requisite to appear in the Michelin guide.

It is geared to the Notting-Hill-ladies-that-lunch set and is a seperate cost centre within Waitrose. Neither a charity or a college so the prices are pretty tasty.

Was at the Bingham in Richmond between Christmas and New Year....very decent lunch...as it should be at £240 between the 4 of us excluding drinks. Food not a patch on La Potiniere in Gullane near Edinburgh though. I doubt if the inspectors could even find Gullane on a map let alone bother going to visit.

There is still an inherent anti-British bias in Michelin....and whatever Michelin 'officially' say the 2 and 3* are only given the go ahead on Paris's say so.

This year I have been (often more than once) to many 1* in the UK (though in Scotland and London only) where the food was not only very well presented, but also bloody good and in acceptable amounts (because I agree with you that excessively small portions become detrimental to one's ability to properly taste the food). So I strongly disagree with your main point. To detail in case anyone is interested. In Scotland The Peat Inn is is my favourite 1* in this respect (he 'sous-vides' what benefits from it, such as a loin of hare, and cooks 'properly' the rest, with lots of deep sauces), The Kitchin is a close second, and the Plumed Horse comes third (to complete my Edinburgh picture, Martin Wishart impressed me technique-wise but less palate-wise and appeared to be striving too hard for the 2* in the direction you criticise, but I've been only once, I know that many disagree, and I need to try again. I found 21212 pretentious and self-centered. And I think 63 Tay Street in Perth should have a star.). In London, Apsleys ................. patisserie section must be one of best in the UK - it is really 'haute'.

Indeed..What a numpty...wonder if he'd think it was so funny if someone did a runner with his laptop.

....patience ladys... If you order it from Callebaut direct you will be able to buy it for a lot less than over chocolate distributors/book shops/amazon etc.

Oh come on Bertie, you cannot be serious...Shakespeare it is not but the criticisms were pretty mild..and as for pedantic and over written,check out AA Gill and Mr Coren or the King of Pomposity himself, the one and only Jay Rayner.

I am sure Mr Wareing is extremely generous and forgiving of his staff when they make an error, perceived or otherwise

The book has been released internally at Callebaut (JPW is a Callebaut mensch) and has been given to a few top professionals...I first saw it when judging at a recent World Chocolate Masters event. It looks very good indeed and will be released for general distribution probably just before or just after Christmas.

I am a professional and so are the other guys...will be about 6-8 of us all contributing 10 recipes. It is aimed at the serious amateur/commis-professional audience. It will also be stocked by an upmarket supermarket chain in addition to the usual outlets. The publishers are heavy hitters. Published in Engish only.