Sackville

I can't believe no one else has thoughts on this? Am I just hopelessly behind the times? Perhaps frothing milk was "so last year"

If this has been asked and discussed endlessly before, someone pour some cold milk over me and point me in the right direction What's your best technique for frothing milk in a hand-powered frother? We've found semi-skim milk, heated just until it's too hot to keep your finger in but NOT boiling, then frothing for a minute and leaving to rest works pretty well. But I was in Bodum the other day and the guy there said he froths cold full-fat milk and then heats it. I know skim milk is no good but I'm not sure which wins out over semi-skim vs full-fat. I thought I read in a science book that semi-skim was best but perhaps I've gotten muddled? And I'd never heard of frothing it cold and then heating. Any other techniques out there?

I think most people are very unaware. Sea Bass is a bad one, but equally if not worse is cod. Hello, people, this fish was made nearly extinct in Canada 10 years ago. How long before fish 'n' chip shops find an alternative?? Why are we still selling it in supermarkets???

Great, so if I pick something and post for early next week that would be okay? I'll get right on it ;)

With pleasure :) But first you have to tell me the rules as I'm rather new here.

L'ancienne Cure 2003, AC Bergerac Sec You can read more about this winemaker here. We discovered him at an independent wine fair in Paris last year. Now, on to the wine. A golden straw coloured wine, which is clear but with a few crystals in the glass. Floral and ripe fruit smells jump to the palate, perhaps a bit of honeysuckle. The wine is dry, of medium acidity and fairly full bodied. Late summer fruit like peaches come to mind when I drink it, along with the floral notes found in the nose. This is a cracking "hot day" drink or possibly with fish. For the price (about 4 euros by memory) this is excellent value wine. You can certainly get it if you are fortunate enough to attend one of the Vignerons Independants fairs in France.

I think it's great you gave it so many chances. If it wasn't completely undrinkable, I might try it with different foods to see if that enhances the wine at all. That area used to have the reputation as one with a large quantity of poor quality wine. That has changed somewhat in recent years, in my understanding from what I have read is that the area still produces its fair share of not-so-great wine. Perhaps you just got one of those bottles.

Thanks on both counts. I was aware of the spelling but sometimes dragging out the special keys to type that umlaut is just too much trouble ;) I suppose I could have gone for the extra 'e' after the u.

This is a guess on my part, but would a full-bodied red wine do the trick? In a recipe I'm sure it would do just fine.

We just got back from a holiday in the Italian Alps where it was very hot and sticky and nothing went down better than some prosecco, with a bit of local ham and melon on the side.

Thank you! It is an excellent course, highly recommended. The teachers we had were very approachable and all had a slightly different style of describing and rating wine, which meant it never got boring. Just when you thought you had it figured out someone would come along with a different view on the same type of wine.

It is actually a fairly easy 10-week course. You definitely have to put in about 1-2 hours of studying a week but if you like wine this is not hard at all. I am just so pleased I passed "with merit". When I came out of the exam I thought I might have failed it or at least cut it very close to the line. The next stage is harder. I'm not positive on the length of it, but you have written questions and a blind tasting in addition to the multiple choice paper. I will be spending much time here "studying", no doubt. Hope you'll have me ;)

I just got my WSET results and I passed the intermediate exam with merit. I'm very happy and plan to take the advanced course this autumn. Drinking a very nice Austrian Gruner Veltlinger to celebrate. What are you drinking tonight?

I am reassured to discover that you'd all recommend at least one visit. I'll definitely be back to tell you all what we thought. We did eat at Heston's Riverside Brasserie and very much enjoyed it. The steak with marrow sauce in particular was a favourite as well as the salmon infused with beetroot. I presume the Fat Duck is a different experience altogether but am looking forward to it, even if I probably know the contents of the tasting menu off by heart after hearing so many people describe it!

What else is there if not the food?? I mean, isn't the whole point of a restaurant in the food? If the food doesn't impress then...

let me guess, it wasn't the best meal in the world? ← You guys are depressing me. We've wanted to go to the Fat Duck since it first opened and never got there. Rather late to jump on the train, husband just booked a meal for my birthday, which took some doing since we waited until it was named "best in the world" to go and now after reading all of this I'm just not so excited any more. Maybe we should just save our money but after waiting so long....

Is it worth it for a keen amateur? I did the level 2 (still waiting for exam results) and really liked it. Now I'd like to learn more but for £600 I want to be sure it's worth it.

I did a Google search for this place. Is it on just "Paul Street", near Old Street tube? Or is there another Princess gastropub on St. Paul Street that I'm missing?

Thank you for the suggestions. I forgot to mention that I also have Captain Morgan dark rum. We are away for a few days but I will return later next week with pics of any cocktails we make from your suggestions :)

I admit to knowing very little about cocktails, yet I find myself with a rather stunning and space-sapping collection (much of it vodka). Can you suggest cocktails that I could make from the following, without buying any more alcohol? Cointreau Smirnoff Vodka Bacardi Lemon Vodka Finlandia Cranberry Vodka Wyborowa Orange Vodka Polish Currant Vodka Baileys Creme de Cacao Creme de Menthe Grappa (sample size) Famous Grous (sample size) Scotch Whiskey (sample size) Sake Plus: Rose Champagne Lots of wine and beer of all varieties

What have I started ??? I hope you post pics of the food for us, to tempt us into the Jello way ;)

Thanks for the recipe but do you really think it was tempura? I am ashamed to say I don't remember which restaurant it came from. It just didn't have the quantity of batter on it that I associate with tempura. In fact, I was not sure there was batter at all or if there was it was very slight.

Thanks :) Yes that squid is amazing! How do you think they made it? I was thinking maybe they tossed the squid in a bit of oil, then added the seasonings and fried in a very hot wok? It didn't seem deep fried, even though it was crispy.

Here are my pictures from Friday night's session. Not as professional as OrigamiCrane's but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless: We started with crispy duck: Then we went to Gary Rhodes stand and I wanted to try Pork Belly as I have some to cook. This was okay (pork and applesauce in a bun) but definiately not the "wow" experience I expected given Rhodes' reputation and expensive compared to the other dishes. We then did a wine tasting on Tempranillo wines: Samosas, one filled with goats cheese and cashew and the other with a mushroom filling: Sushi from Moshi Moshi: Potato Cakes from Mela, with a spicy green sauce and a more mild yogurty one: Crispy Fried Squid -- my favourite of the show. Spicy and salty! Back to Mela for a Kebab. I think this was the best value: filling, full of different flavours and only 6 crowns: We ended with some tiramisu and some ice cream (which I did not photograph):

On a more serious note (after my Jello post), anyone have tips for a first-time Pork Belly cooker? I am thinking braised in some sort of citrus sauce or possibly something oriental but am open to suggestions.