Almass

Hey, wait a second. What did Ramsay contribute to the restaurant? The summary of the whole episode is the closing minutes of the program with Ramsay and the owner discussion. Ramsay advises to cut on expensive raw material cost and gives as an example the Scallops! The scallops are not the issue and the example chosen by ramsay is daft. The owner explained that the scallops are the wrong example as they dont have problem selling this item and he needs more concrete example than cutting down on scallops quantity and primeurs quality. It seems that this restaurant has a good cellar. Why Ramsay did not take advantage of this plus point. Why not offer cellar tasting like zillion of other restaurants and why not offer wine/food pairing at special prices? So what did ramsay achieve. The owner lost a star and instead of Ramsay putting in place a financial/commercial model to keep or regain the lost star, he advises to cut cost!!!! and turn the restaurant into a "me too" restaurant. And he bans the owner from the kitchen?? No human psychology whatsoever. You seriously beleive that banning the owner in public view is a constructive move. You want to ban him, which I might understand, but you can do it in a tete a tete or is it nicer to do it in front of the kitchen staff and cameras rolling! The challenge is not to lower the restaurant level but to sustain and increase the existing level. Was this achieved by Diva Ramsay: NO The objective is this type of restaurant with a 40 years legacy. Hell, I suppose if they knock down the place and have appartments for rent/sale, they will be swimming in money. Ramsay does not seem to understand the restaurant legacy and objective because he simply is not capable of doing it and the reason is Ramsay does not have the professional background to do so. He might be a "lucky" TV chef but he is no restaurant entrepreneur wizard. Typical scenario: Ramsay goes in and admonishes everybody. Do we see him offering practical advise. Hell no. All matters are dealt with in a superficial manner. Oh you pay too much for the Chef: P45'em. Next move, shout at the young kitchen staff, next move go to the town centre and blabber around. Next step: Oh you did not follow my advice and therefore you die! Wait a cotton pickin minute. Where is the peering on the financial reports of the restaurant. Many mistakes start in the financial domain and can be rectified with proper planning. Where is the culinary advice and training for the kitchen staff. Where is the dining room set up. where is, where is, where is??? To my knowledge, each restaurant must have a Matrix which deals with finance, dining room, kitchen, supplies, personnel...etc Where is Mr Ramsay Matrix? I am yet to see a program where he does not advise downgrading! At least this time round we were spared the sight of his pectorals!

Nice write up and sorry about the cat. Maybe you already did that but clothes and shoes in your type of work are crucial. 1- Chef trousers are available in different design, different fabrics and elasticated waist. 2- Shoes are the MOST important item for all people I talk to. Apparently proper comfy shoes can make the difference for back pain or plain sailing. If my memory serves me right, the prefered shoe is not a shoe but an open heel Clogs of some oerthopedic signature like Dansko or other. Get the CLOGS and tell me more about the Baba au Rhum. Which Rum do you use and what recipe?

Almass, I for one I'm interested in reading your arguments which make you thing that Parma ham is superior to Ibérico. And if no argument other than experimentation, that's it buy them and compare them, is offered, then I'm afraid that we would have to be far more specific about what's to be compared. Are we talking of making a comparison of the very best of each products, a random selection, or what? Just the fact of having 5 official D.O. for Ibérico, each one with its own nuances (feeding, climate, aging periods, . . .), makes the whole comparison process quite difficult. ← I missed your post and hence answer only now. Myself and many like minded people think that "in general" Parma ham is superior to Serano ham. Now this is not only a personal palate judgement but translated in sales figures among delicatessen food shops and a small chain of restaurants belonging to the same group in both the UK and France. I assume Serano ham would fare higher in Spain and Parma ham would fare higher in Italy for obvious reasons. Of course we can sit and debate what type of delicatessen, what type of ham and selling to which type of customers and same for the restaurants. Irrelevant of the customer profiles, the sale of Serano ham is eclipsed by approx 3.5/1 v Parma. Such facts are hard to digest if you are a Spanish ethnic person or very much entrenched in your own opinion. But unfortunately this is how the dice rolls. You say potatoes and I say tomatoes. Maybe you like to go to a restaurant to enjoy the entertainment and I like to go to a restaurant to enjoy the food. You may like Adria and I like Roux. You may drink Rioja and I drink St Emilion and coke in the can to that matter. You say potatoes and I say tomatoes.

Interesting observations on Hunan. I did not try it yet but will probably do so shortly. It is a well established fact that food in London as well as anywhere else is split in three type of restaurants: 1- Where you go to enjoy the food 2- Where you go to be entertained by the food 3- Non discript The ethnic restaurants do have a tendency of reading the customer and it reflect in the food served. And you you do get an enterily different experience if you are a regular or know the boss or belong to the ethnic group. As for the other Ivys/Bruces/and vulgar ramseyesk eateries, they are simply for eye and wallet candy. Three stars for a starched napkin and hand towels in the loos oh sorry I meant toilettes!

Big SIGHhhhhhh. We had to endure little jamie oliver and now vulgar ramsay agaiN. I wonder why I bothered try his food and restaurants? Rehearsed dishes ad nauseam and where is the genius culinary sparkle? What did he add to the culinary world besides being rude and oh so vulgar!!! And why OH WHY do we have to puke over his ridiculous torso? I suppose a perfume for men (allegedly) is in the works with ramsy laying on the back naked with the caption: A passion for ego! Michel come back, everything is forgiven. Pleassssssse.

Last night dinner: She started with a Cuba Libre and I enjoyed some Caipirinha followed with Champagne accompanied with Nirvana blasting on the boxes. The menue hand written on the inside of the silkish napkin with her name on the outside was: - Asperges et Fraises sauce Balsamique. - Pate de Foie Gras au poivre du Szechuan. - Beef Carpacio et Champignon nature. - Fajitas Spring Rolls with Guacamole Medley. - Potatoe skins with sour cream and spicy tomato jam. - Rondelles d'Ananas poivree au chocolat fondant. Followed with a duo shower and wrapping in fluffy bathrobes. And the rest was history...

The Syrian version is called Yabrak and is with Lamb. The Lebanese version is the vegeterian one and is called Warak Enab bel Zeit (EVOO based). ********************************************* Originally such dishes were very much seasonal and of course you can use the preserved stuff now. Caveat: 1- Green leaves=more sour and therefore decrease lemon juice 2- Layer bottom with Lamb chops and potatoes. 3- Add as many full garlic bulbs as you can fit in the pot. 4- Press down on wrapped leaves in the pot with inverted plate or clean stone. 5- And most importantly, this dish is to be enjoyed after 24hrs. So eat it the second day when all the juices would have mollified the rice and the garlic is reduced to sheer cream petals. That's if you can wait for the next day!!!

In addition to the above suggestions, let me comment as follows: 1- Any particular reason to marinate both chicken and beef for 8 hrs? The meat is almost cooked by this time!!! 2- Are you packing the chicken or the beef solid to sit on the skewer! You must pack the meat (chicken and beef) in a solid and dense manner so that the heat DOES NOT PERMEATE to the inside perimetre. 3- Is your Shawarma grill/roaster hot enough? Is it spread on the lenght of the skewer? Beef Shawarma is essentially marinated in vinegar and only cooked/roasted on the part to be cut for serving. You never cook the whole thing continuous! 4- Have you considered splitting your shawarma on two skewers to be grilled concurently.

I know some German but don't think I've had this. My best guess is a farina (Cream of Wheat) pudding? Is this close? Do you have a recipe that you like to make? Thanks, ludja ← The German Griesbrei is for me a children breakfast and goes like this: 1 cup semolina to be lightly dry colored (roasted) in a pan. Lift from pan and add to pot with 2 cups milk (full cream) and sugar to taste. Stir constantly. Lift when paste consistency running from spoon similar to honey stickiness. You can add milk for more fluidity or boil more for less fluidity. Brown a BIG knob of unsalted butter in pan almost to burn point and dress on top of Griesbrei. Sprinkle tons of Cinnamon and dig in with fresh cut bread. I like to be mean and add Ricotta. If you drop the milk and replace with water it becomes a Syrian dish called Mamouniah. In which case you brown the butter with pistachios and add the equivalent of clotted cream on top and watch the butter and clotted cream ooze and cascade around the mound. Cinnamon again is a must. Both recipes are part of a controlled extra slimming diet as you can hardly eat anything else during the course of the day. LoL

OK. Now for the Tomeya, LoL. This is a garlic dip and means "the one from the garlic". Toum is Arabic for Garlic and in Egypt they pronounce it "Tomm' by dropping the "U" while in the ME they pronounce it "Toum" The Toumeya recipe is a tricky one because the Egyptian version is a poor imitation of the original Lebanese version served with Shich Taouk (here we go again back to the original topic). Anyway, it is a mix of garlic pounded with salt to a paste texture mixed with boiled potatoes and EVOO. Quantities are really to your taste as it depends on the sharpness of the garlic. The only proviso is to add EVOO very slowly while mixing to form an amalgamated paste. The purist insist that no potatoe should be added and it is only garlic and EVOO. Some other add Mayo but this should be a nono.

Hummm, I don't like sharing, actually I hate sharing more specially when another fork pokes at my dish. And if I wanted to taste the other dish then I would have ordered the other dish. M'enfin! It simply disturbs the decorum! I even get put off by people crunching on their Crudites and double dipping after taking a bite or the unknown fingers rummaging in a bowl of Salaisons. Yuuk

- Plain cooked beetroot straight from the pot. - Plain cooked truffles straight from the pot. - Griesbrei.

Alkemia = Alchemy = Chemistry = Alkemia the Arabic original word for Alchemy.

OK, got it. So avoid Shumi at all cost or make sure you are plastered at the bar before taking the escalator by which time you would not give a monkey as to what you are served! Which brings me to another rant about London restaurants. By the time you make up your mind as to which restaurant to dine, the restaurant would have changed hands three times and if you are lucky to find a seat before the next leap year, you still need to use your imagination to comprehend the menu which is a mix of fusion/molecular/lowcarb icecreamhotdogsandlychee. Yuuuk. Then, by that time you would have received your advance from your friendly bank manager and got a divorce and started dating your old schoolgirlfriend or her brother or something and then you open your own joint and live in another city to avoid seeing campion/mashler/pownall et co. So this is an executive summary: 1- Pretend you see notin. 2- Get your own fottbaler restaurant 3- Write a java program where you feed in what you want to eat and you will receive an sms telling you where to go!

chefette hit it on the nail. Anticipation is key.

Yesterday was DVD dinner and we had the following: - Fried eggs topped with Gruyere. - Fresh cut saucisson. This saucisson is unbranded but had a small label saying: Saucisson Sec Maigre au Jambon. - And Heinz baked beans!!!! As no Cassoulet on tap All washed with Bellinis! And no I don't live in France.

STOP PRESS The Mystery deepens Forget the Moutaffa or Em'taffa bit. The restaurant name is not "Tabbouleh" but "Taboula" and the menu list the following chicken dishes: - Chicken Fatteh - Shish Taouk - Chicken In Rosemary Taboula is Lebanese based cuisine. You might have ordered Chicken Fatteh as no Moutaffa or Em'tafa is on the horizon. The problem is that Chicken Fatteh does not marry with the description of the dish you enjoyed at the place! Fatteh is bread, chickpeas and yoghurt based and is usually lamb. This does not fit your description. It was a bit of a surprise to find out that the big gonzo is called Nisha Sursok and last time I talked to him he had long hair, specs and drifting in and out of focus. Nisha has now around a dozen restaurants in Egypt and the phone number for Taboula in Cairo (Garden City) is:+202 7925261 Taboula menu: Cold Appetizers 1. Vegetable Platter 2. Homos 3. Homos Beiruti 4. Motabbal 5. Babaganuj 6. Labneh Kishkeh 7. Tabboulah 8. Fattoush 9. Rocca Salad 10. Arabic Salad 11. Vine Leaves 12. Shankleesh 13. Mixed Pickles 14. Aleppo Olives 15. Mohammara 16. Tahalat 17. Kubbeh Nayyeh 18. Batarekh Hot Appetizers 19. Homos With Meat 20. Foul Modames 21. Felafel 22. Spinach Rolls 23. Cheese Rolls 24. Meat Fatayer 25. Hallomi Cheese 26. Fried Kubbeh 27. Chicken Liver 28. Spicy Sausages 29. Sausages 30. Mushroom Provenscale 31. Chicken Wings 32. Fried Calamari Soups 33. Vegetable Soup 34. Soup Of The Day Lebanese Fattehs 35. Homos Fatteh 36. Chicken Fatteh 37. Eggplant Fatteh Main Dishes 38. Minced Meat With Bread 39 . Shawerma 40. Kofta 41. Kofta With Tomato Sauce & Spices 42. Kofta With Yogurt 43. Lamb Cubes 44. Lamb Cutlets 45. Shish Taouk 46. Boneless Chicken 47. Mixed Grill 48. Grilled Shrimp 49 . International Dishes 50. Escalope Pane 51. Filet Steak With Pepper Or Mushroom Sauce 52. Chicken In Rosemary Chefs Dessert 53. Kishta With Banana & Honey 54. Mohallabiya 55. Chefs Special Dessert Tabboulah Special Meal 56. Homos, Baba Ghanoug, Vine Leaves, Fattoush, Labaneh, Mixed Pickles, Spinach Fatayer, Cheese Rolls, Kubbeh, Sausages 57 . Mixed Grill (Shish Taouk, Kofta, Lamb Cubes), Sweet Of The Day 58. Number Of Pax: 4 People & Above 59 . Price Per Person But then again, you had your meal one year ago and it might have been a different menu then. So Em'taffa still stand or does it? LoL. You can call and ask or wait until I see Nisha again but usually he cannot remember anything beyond 72hrs and I am being kind here! Gulleters of the worls unite and solve the riddle.

Aparagus in the Tarn are now in season and although the Tarn speciality is the "Respounjous " however they have some green, violet, and white as well. We had warm white asparagus dressed in a "hollandaise" and the stems together with the shavings went into a cream based soup. Mummmm. I am not sure about Cavaillon, but why not? Usually you have a better chance on Friday morning in the local market of peripheral villages than the main town. But we don't want to hijack the thread and I am going to cut more of the saucisson with more Claret. Did you try to add feshly cut saucisson to a Cassoulet? Mummm.

Luv all saucisson. Just had some before lunch yesterday picked up a week ago at a local village market in the Tarn. No name no brand simply asked the stall guy what to go for and he picked up (as it so happens) the most expensive and cut a piece for tasting which was dry, spicy and heavenly. There is simply too many brands and types to waddle through and the best is to taste and buy. I have the same problem with French cheese bought in the village markets where the cheese is unbranded as it is very artisanal and the quantity is much to small to be able to make it to a supermarket or delicatessen store. In other cases the cheese is so fresh, delicate and seasonal that you cannot even buy it after couple of weeks in the same market. I asked him to cut me up a piece of fresh bread and top it up with six saucisson slices and ate it on the spot in the market while looking to buy some white fresh Asparagus which are not as good as the Tutonic variety but quite nice. I like to cut the saucisson as you are eating it and lay with butter on a piece of white crusty bread with a Claret and olives before hitting lunch. But most of the time I miss the bread and end up eating it nature. Nice pics and must try the hazelnut one day!

Yes, you are right the "t" is to be pronounced as although born in France, Claude Moet is of Dutch origin.

Moet & Chandon is Dutch?? ← Sorry, I'm wrong. I was thinking Jouet, and got carried away. And with Jouet I'm only going on the word of someone I trust, so maybe that's not wholly true. Retracting, retracting, retracting. . . Moet is FRENCH. Has NEVER been Dutch. Named after Claude Moet. But the "t" is still pronounced. ← Both Moet et Chandon and Perrier Jouet are French Champagne. As matter of fact any Champagne appelation is French. As for the "t" in both names, unfortunatly it is not pronounced whatsoever.

1- Chefs - Over rated restaurants thriving on the name of the Chef who is somewhere else counting the money! - Chefs throwing a fit when a customer ask for salt or any condiment! - Chefs failing to visit tables at the end of the evening. - Chefs with soiled outfit and silly hats. - Chefs PRETENDING to speak French. - Chefs who list their work experience at 2 or 3 Michelin without specifying what their role and tenure were! - Chefs who insist on displaying their pictures with the Pope-JLeno-Sinatra-Sophie Marceau... - Chefs who push their latest book yet to be released as the new life alteration experience. - Chefs who have signed up with supermarket chains and manage to rubbish their products. - Chefs who know EVERYTHING about ALL food. - Chefs who use testimonials from "experts" who nobody has ever heard about. - Chefs dressed up and eating at a table next to you!!!! 2- Wine - Wine not served at correct temperature. - Important wine not being carrafed. - Wine not uncorked at table. - Cheap wine glass. - Slow/fast wine service. - Customers who know the drill for wine tasting but do not have a clue as to why they are doing it. - Customers who try the wine and nod with a smile to the sommelier. - Customers who do not have the guts to return a bottle of bad wine. - Wine bottle upside down in chiller! - Sommelier who is trying to push an expensive wine without having ever tried it before. - Sommelier who goes around with a silly silver cup and never uses it. - Sommelier who does not give each bottle of vintage wine the respect it deserves. 3- Bread - Customers cutting bread with a knife. - Bread basket too big for table. - Non removal of bread plate for patrons who do not eat bread. - Crusty bread which needs a vacuum cleaner - Bread which is supposed to be dipped in expensive EVOO or Balsamic. - Cut "Pain Paysan" in classy French restaurants. 4- Menu - Items on menu finished/cancelled. - Well worn menus. - Small print menu. - Menus to be read in low light and need to be lit with a flame or a cellphone! - Very large size menus. - Restaurant not accepting off menu orders. - Amuse-gueules renamed Amuse-bouches - Amuse-gueules needing a photospectrometer to find out what your eating! - Mid meal sorbet when only a 2 or 3 meal course is ordered! - Water in weird glass bottle with unknown label! 5- Customers - People talking on cellphones - Customers who cannot pronounce foreign words and insist on scorching the language. - Customers who are clueless in front of a foreign menu and need the services of the waiter as translator. - Men who do not stand up when a lady stands up. - Men who do not know how to offer a chair to a lady at the table. - Men who order Champagne before the start of the meal. - Men who do not keep eye contact when toasting a partner. - Men who don't know how to sit guests at a large table. - Ladies who swirl a cocktail stick to kill the bubbles in a Champagne glass. - Ladies who are on a diet. - Ladies who laugh loudly. - Ladies with heavy perfume. - Ladies who do not know where to park their "sac a main" - Ladies who go in pairs to powder their nose. 6- MaitreD' - Pompous MaitreD' - MaitreD' who acts like an usherette! - MaitreD' dressed like a penguin. - MaitreD' who insist in cleaning the table from bread crumbs before the dessert to show off his new silver tray and spade even if your tablecloth is clean!! 7- Waiters - Poor students - Smelly waiters - Great designer outfit and they always forget the shoes! 8- L'addition SVP - Over ornate check wallets - Service charge and tip already on check. - Silly PIN number machine in a first class restaurant. - Silly mint candy offered with the check or at check out! - Pen missing in check wallet - Waiters grabbling with two three wallets at the same time! 9- Welcome and Goodbye - Although restaurants welcome and table seating is now an accepted norm. Very few first class restaurants accompany the dining patrons to the door upon leaving and this is a mark of top service. 10- Rant still in process...

Love all Madeleine. As 4 da tip: Forget brown or white sugar or the trillion recipes available. iTS da eggs!!! Are you using Extra Fresh Eggs? You must use extra fresh eggs for Madeleine as it does affect both texture and taste. Do not refrigerate or wash the eggs and use at room temp and ALWAYS extra fresh eggs. Try it. BTW. Nice pics

Noooooooo, don't throw out. Make a chocolate fondue instead and dip your strawberries, cherries and an angel´s kiss in spring... and don't forget the Kirsch or the Rum and of course the creammmmm mummm.

I am not surprised in the least and this is very typical of the iron fist of the Irish gentleman (name witheld) who runs the whole place. He is professional to an extreme and has no problem on calling on top professional people to sort out any problem. He is a man who spends more time on the floor than in his office and I remember him showing me around one of the hotels he used to run and as we went into the suites for a look/see, he had housekeeping follow us to redo each pristine room we simply visited. I would not be surprised if you get a follow up letter. I had a disagreable experience at Verre and yet to receive any acknowledgment of our complaint. I think Verre sucks. You know why, because the staff from Maitre d' to the plongeur simply work there and do not enjoy their job and this reflects on a restaurant without a soul and with cardboard cut out dishes. The dishes look nice, they pay nice so they must be nice? Hughh?