Sackville

If I promise not to be tardy, can I come for dinner? Please, please, can I???!?

I'm going to the one in Lille on Saturday. Can anyone recommend good stands we shouldn't miss? I can recommend Famille Estephe for their Pineau de Charentes from Paris last year.

WOW!! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that for me! I can't say how much it is appreciated I am running out to Waitrose tomorrow to get a shoulder of lamb so I can try this for the first time. Big thanks again

I just roasted my first lamb shoulder and it tasted wonderful but was a pain to carve. How would I go about boning it before cooking next time?

The Turkish Food Centre in Lewisham have them at £2.99 per Kg. I would imagine that their other branches would have them too. Gethin ← You are a star! Lewisham is very convenient to get to I assume by your post they have them at the moment? I should also add that the kind folks at Solstice.co.uk inform me they will have olives fresh from Italy within the next 2 weeks, if anyone is interested. I don't know the price yet but judging from previous orders they should be top quality.

I've asked this before but "tis the season" so... anyone seen fresh (raw, unbrined) olives in their local ethnic delis, grocers? Somewhere in London would be good. I have seen them in Palmer's Green before but am trying to find somewhere a bit closer to central London (we are now living in Canada Water). Thanks for any tips.

Well, when in Lille definitely check out Trois Brasseurs (24 Place de la Gare). Their specialty is tarte flambees and they also brew their own beer. I first got to know them in Strasbourg France and I've been a fan ever since.... I don't know if you can read French but if you can have a look

Thank you, this has provided more of the kind of tips I was looking for! I was planning a trip to Chrisp St Market this week so I will look out for the shops you mentioned. Also thanks to the person who gave tips on Bermondsey/Elephant area I have cautiously dipped my toe into Waitrose Canary Wharf and while it's okay as supermarkets go I do find it very expensive and still, well, a supermarket with everything I dislike about that.

That's a good idea. Do you have a favourite recipe?

One of my friends and I get together every Thursday afternoon for a little chat and to cook. Next week she wants to make things she can serve at a party on Saturday evening. That's 2 full days things would have to keep and I am having a hard time thinking of "nibbly" things I could make that would keep that long without being kept in a fridge/freezer (in the UK we do not have big fridges and with a new baby their's is already stuffed!). We could fit maybe 1 dish in the fridge or freezer but that would be it. The majority has to stay out. To add to the fun, she is vegetarian. Not everything has to be vegetarian but some or most of it should be. I was thinking we could make some sweets like brownies or cookies and maybe also some spiced nuts but beyond that I'm stumped!

Thanks! I hadn't heard of Conran's shop. Will check it out. am a big fan of the Wine Wharf and everything around Borough market. It's great, isn't it. When I am there I think I've died and gone to heaven I guess what I was looking for were more "staples" shops. Where I am now I can get cheap but good quality fruit and veg (not to mention olives and other delights) at my Turkish supermarket. I need a replacement for that and I refuse to go to Tesco, which is just my personal crusade against supermarkets and I won't get into that here!

Okay, so I know about Borough market but are there any decent ethnic grocers or a good butcher or little weekly markets in the east London or docklands area? Greenwich would be good too. We'll soon be moving to Rotherhithe and it'll be great to be more central but living in North London I've become very attached to the Turkish shops around Palmers Green and the joys of Highbury. I really do not want to succumb to the Canada Water Tesco. Thanks for any help you can give.

I have a recipe for Crab and Prawn Ravioli in a Seafood Bisque that I learned to make during a Leiths course. It is wonderful, if time-consuming.

Yup, sainsburys organic chicken which frankly is not all that marvelous (but streets ahead of their bargain chickens) is about £9. In comparison an organic bird from the nice meat lady at our school is closer to £15, however hers is really delicious, none of that vile, wet mushy flesh. Dont even get me started on chicken breasts £14.99 a kilo is not an uncommon price for them, happily my family have learned to love thighs ← I can't remember the last time I bought just organic chicken breasts. It's just not an option, they're so expensive. What going organic has meant for us is that we eat chicken as a rare treat, a Sunday lunch maybe once a month. I will sometimes pick up some of the cheaper cuts like drumsticks and thighs too. And when we do eat chicken every last bit of that bird gets used. A small one (about a kilo or just over) makes a good meal for the two of us, then all the remaining meat gets stripped off and used in casseroles, soups etc -- usually for at least 2 more meals. Then the bones are made into broth. If I'm getting 3-4 good meals out of it and maybe 1-2 lunches to take to work then I feel I can justify the price. Needless to say every bit of meat is treasured and there is a fair bit of "padding" that goes on so our meals are veg heavy, not meat heavy. I work on the principle of about 125g/meat per person.

I totally agree. I watched all of the first show and half of the second and As a journalist, I thought it wasa a very poor piece of journalism. In fact, it was more propaganda for the organic movement as opposed to a balanced piece of work (and I say this as a regular buyer of organic food). Some comments were just snide jabs at supermarkets (pre-washed salads, pre-chopped veg) for being expensive but if people want to pay those prices that is not the supermarket's fault. Other things like the shots of factory farming were accurate but just plain old and hardly groundbreaking investigative reporting.

I was going to suggest the English Tea theme we had at a baby shower I threw recently but between all the milk and the fact the mom was a vegetarian it's the total opposite of what you're doing!! Nevertheless, I do have a couple good punch recipes for the non-drinking mom and her friends: Quaker Punch Soft Breeze These are also so cute -- even if she's diabetic, others may enjoy them. Or you may be able to find sugar-free candy to make them with. Baby Pacifiers (shower favours)

I look at it from the other perspective, why is normal chicken so cheap? When you get into the details of that, the organic looks much more fairly priced. Actually, $8.50 for a whole bird sounds downright cheap to me. We can easily pay £10-12 here!

Google always has the answers, ha ha: Observer Food Monthly on Morocco and the Tagine/Pressure Cooker

Okay, point taken -- but in terms of modern Moroccan cooking the question remains. If someone is making a tagine... do they use a pressure cooker in their homes? Would the average person own one and use it daily? I was under the impression that the tagine was still a key piece of equipment but perhaps not...

I had always thought tagines were an authentic Moroccan way of cooking but I have been chatting with an American, who is married to a Moroccan and has lived in the country for some years, and she says not so. According to her, the pressure cooker is the real authentic must-have piece of cooking equipment and she has yet to "see a Tagine or be served a tagine in a Tagine in ANY home". Apparently this is just something for tourists. True?

I am very new to the world of wine compared with many of you, I'm sure, but the first thing that jumps to mind is the pay. I don't know how it works elsewhere, but in the UK the wages are pitifully low. Here's a search of current jobs going in the UK. As a journalist of just 4 years experience (in the financial arena) I am earning at least double what many of those jobs are advertised for. So where is the incentive for someone who's been in the trade many years to be a sommelier? You cannot live on love of wine alone!

I'm not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said but this was our day at the Fat Duck and I loved it. Would I eat there every day? No... Would I find a plate of sausage & mash well done just as enjoyable, although in a different way? Yes... Would I recommend it? Absolutely For a once in a lifetime it was amazing. The combination of flavours and textures was something I have not experienced before. The wines were well chosen and presented a wonderful range of vintages and types of wine I might not have otherwise picked. The staff were all too willing to answer our endless questions, particularly the sommelier. Everything was beautifully plated and perfectly timed. I really have no complaints and don't begrudge a penny. I would like to go back and try their lunch menu, which was also tempting and relatively affordable at £37.50 a head.

Thank you very much for the comprehensive feedback! I feel better about checking out the area now. Whatever the case, it's got to be better than Enfield!! Has anyone discovered good Indian ethnic shops in places maybe like Tooting and Southfields and are they quite accessible from there? We do have a Turkish grocers within striking distance and I love it so it would be great if there were a few "foreign" grocers to choose from aside from the upmarket shops.

We may be moving there. Any thoughts on what I'm in for? I don't really go in for supermarkets so I'm hoping you'll tell me all about the great, small independent shops and markets.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I mean the french-press type, where you have a picher shaped container that goes on top of your stove. You heat up the milk and then you have a plunger that fits tightly inside the container that you move up and down to froth the milk with. Someone else said you end up with froth and a layer of milk underneath and I have also found this to be the case, but the amount of froth can vary greatly and I have been trying to work out how to maximise it. A proper steamer isn't an option at this point!