Scottf

And I couldn't get out the house quick enough

There's an interesting letter in today's Sunday Times re. Hibiscus.

Jinmyo, photos have been taken so we'll try to get them on. Macrosan, we were always struggling without a neutral judge, and to be fair both were very good. I don't think it's appropriate for me to judge a winner Steve, I hope The Fat Duck was worth it, you missed a spectacle

Cook off is over! Dinner is complete.................. The competition was cleanly and honourably fought. Competitors chose a Maris Piper from Waitrose and both Sam and Tony used similar methods of par boiling before basting with chosen fat. Competition for oven space was fierce but fair in the end. Both sets of potatoes were very crunchy whilst maintaining a fluffy interior. Big difference was flavour. The goose fat had a distinctive taste as I'm sure everyone suspected. Tony peppered his potatoes after par boiling as well as salting which certainly increased their flavour. Result comes down to personal preference of flavour as both methods created very good roasties. So we settled on an honourable draw. Both sets of potatoes were demolished amongst a spread of Rib Beef, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, swede, peas and yorkshires and a fine time has been had by all, in fact so fine Tony is snoring away in a chair as we speak

Now, now. Next you'll be insinuating Simon visited The Connaught before it opened

Surely Simon will be first to give that the once over

In a moment of inspiration Sam's remembered the missing dish from the above account: Tartare of langoustine with vanilla, and very nice it was too

It's funny because they certainly didn't = death whilst he was tucking into his Chicken and CHIPS at St John

I basically forced Sam into having the tasting menu as there was a few dishes I wanted to try from previous threads. Ironically none of these were on the menu Sam struggles as she gets full just looking at food so when presented with a series of dishes, she's done after 4 or 5. I tend to find the most enjoyable dishes are those served in the smallest quantity so are gone after a few mouthfuls. We also noted a couple of dishes in, that the courses were all from the carte, so we started to pre empt the service hoping for this or that over the other - and of course it didn't work out that way Plus we'd been drinking (slowly I might add) since around 12, and only got to see the 1st half of the football, so perhaps our mindset wasn't right for 31/2 hours of eating either.

As promised a ballsed up version of our meal at Hibiscus. Really liked the dining room and we were in the 2nd half that I'd liken to a cave! Service was a strong point, we struck up a rapport with Claire straight away, and the other French server was also good, however we felt the gaps between the main courses were far too long in relation to the rest of the meal. The meal started with canapes which we took with the Pol Roger. Amuse was lentil soup with shards of bacon presented in a broken egg shell. From this point onward I've forgotten a dish somewhere along the line and I'm sure the order is wrong. For some reason I can only really remember the main ingredient of each dish too, a great report eh Scallop with peanut butter froth - scallop cut so thin slightly overcooked to our tastes. Sam wasn't keen on the peanut butter flavour with the scallop. Frog leg macaroni - 2 macaroni filled with a creamy frog leg mixture. Very tasty but would never have guessed frog legs unless told. Crispy galette of pigs trotter - Can't remember much about this one Brill - The main fish course and a very nice piece of fish and I remember saying how much I enjoyed it at the time. Veal, puree of Mucavado sugar, confit shallots and carrots - Veal was bland which was disappointing. Glass of Celeriac jelly with apple puree and hazelnut cream - An interesting mixture of flavours that I thought worked very well. Roasted Pineapple, vanilla ice cream - fine Espresso sorbet, Whisky creme anglaise - Pity I don't like coffee in pudding form, and I don't like Whisky either So that was that. Claude likes to get his flavours from different purees rather than solid substances or actual sauces which suits a lazy eating style. Most of the cooking was of a high standard, but I wonder if we as a couple aren't suited by multi course menus which is maybe why we don't appear as enthusiastic as other members who've dined there. However we will definitely return when back in Ludlow, but to eat off the carte.

When Sam and I went a few months ago it was £27.50. I now believe it's £30 in line with Chez Bruce and The Glasshouse.

Nothing wrong with that. I'm always covering my roast beef with HP.

Nowhere has it been mentioned I'm doing any roasting Andy However if Heston provides a technique suitable to our kitchen I may give it a spin, though it sounds like the oven's going to be overflowing as it is

Another potato question Heston. On one of the Kitchen Chemistry programs you made what you considered the perfect mashed potato. Does this mean you consider every other version of mash, even in 3* kitchens, as inferior to your own?

Hi Heston A few of us are having a roast potato cook off to decide on goose fat v olive and sunflower oil. What is your method for the "perfect" roastie, as we could also use that i the competition!

Tony might, he's the olive oil man

Right. The address is my house. The contestants are, in the red corner Tony Finch roasting out of East London, and in the blue corner Sam Friar roasting out of Kent. Judges tableside are my esteemed self and Tony's missus (so no bias there then!) The points raised are good ones and rules will need to be determined before roast off, to keep competition fair. However this is not a competition to judge what is the correct or best way to roast potatoes. It's purely a competition of Goose fat v Olive oil as done week in week out by said opponents.

I can do that bit 2 glasses of Pol Roger @ £7 a piece and a bottle of Triennes Viognier 1998 @ £25.

Sam's in Amsterdam at the moment and I can't remember all the details without her help as I made a conscious effort not to get embroiled deeply in notes or analysis to the detriment of the meal. So as soon as she's back on Wednesday evening I'll try to at least post what dishes we had, hopefully in the correct order

I have only had the opportunity to work in Shaun's kitchen once about 6 years ago. It was a very enjoyable afternoon/evening which I spent peeling potatos, making canapes, gossiping and generaly getting in the way. Shaun made a lovely goulash for the staff meal which I was lucky enough to be asked to join. The most memorable moment for me realising that in the 20 minutes or so I had spent concentrating very hard wrapping slices of fig in parma ham in a rather cack-handed manner, Shaun had finished all the sauces for that evenings service, including a hollandaise. Amazing skill and speed of execution. Whenever I have been back since it has been to eat, but I do usually nip next door to the Unicorn pub and get a round of drinks in, then stand in the kitchen, quaffing lager like the complete heathen I actually am until Shaun turfs me out and I stagger back to the B&B. I hope I haven't misquoted Shaun there Andy Bapi, Hibiscus details to follow once I've made my mind up how it went, though I can tell you we had the degustation menu. Charlene, we booked retaurants around 1 mth in advance and accomodation soon after. It's not hard to understand why they're so full with such limited space at each. We stayed at a guesthouse called Mirabeau in a quiet street called Linney behind the church. It is run by a very camp man called Ken who was entertaining to say the least. It's a 4 storey townhouse built around 1810 and it was absolutely cluttered with antiques, paintings, silverware, china etc. Both Shaun and Claire Bosi knew of Ken's reputation as a chef in the 70's, and both had a giggle when we told them where we were staying

Are you able to air Henry's views here Andy?

Friday was dinner at The Merchant House. We had a pre dinner drink at the pub next door (Unicorn) and were seated in the restaurant at 8.30. As mentioned in previous posts and threads the dining room is small with just 7 tables and all unsurprisingly were occupied. The menu is £32 set 3 courses incl. service and was the following: Calf’s sweetbreads with potato and olive cake Sautéed scallops with lentil and coriander sauce Pike quenelle with shrimps and dill Roast quail with parsley risotto Roast turbot with lemon and mustard sauce Wild duck with celeriac and morel mushroom sauce Rack of lamb with herbs and red wine sauce Saddle of venison with foie gras Panettone bread and butter pudding Somloi (Hungary’s version of trifle) Muscat crème caramel with prunes Iced passion fruit parfait Cheese The meal began with an assortment of canapés and fresh warm breads. Sam had scallops and the wild duck. The scallops were halved into 6 and cooked perfectly rare. The sauce bordered on a very light, subtle curry flavour, which I enjoyed mopping up with the excellent white bread. The Wild duck was served pink breast sliced on celeriac mash with both legs having been roasted in perhaps honey (slightly sweet and sticky). A potato rosti and a bundle of assorted veggies completed this rather large main! The morel sauce was simply meat juices and stock and was exceptionally tasty. The breast was tender, much darker in colour than farmed duck and tasted much gamier, more to Sam’s preference. I had quail and venison. It’s probably very easy to overcook such a small bird but this baby was cooked with an assured hand and was beautifully tender. The risotto was a good foil and to be honest reminded us both of fresh cut grass. The venison. Superb. Even better than La Trompette and two divisions above Daniel (NY). Gloriously pink, meltingly tender. Sat atop some mini garlic roasties with a pile of mixed vegetables the other side of the plate. And a not insignificant piece of foie that Sam couldn’t keep her eyes off. It’s the one ingredient I can trade in small amounts for rather larger gains! Desserts were the bread and butter pudding for Sammy and The passion fruit parfait for me. The b&b pudding was comparable to the Rhodes’ version I had earlier this year whilst the parfait was well flavoured and came with banana ice cream. We drank a 2000 Pouilly Fume (forgotten supplier), which was very nice (£23.50). Total bill was £87.50, a true bargain. We both really enjoyed Shaun’s style of cooking, nothing groundbreaking, but beautifully prepared and cooked ingredients not overcomplicated with froths here and jellies there. He took some time at the end of our meal to talk about Egullet and Keith Floyd (!), and we thanked him for his earlier q&a which he really enjoyed doing. I was going to begin a new thread titled “The chef fucker gets fucked” following Shaun’s next comment on Andy – “I love it when Andy periodically comes to work in the kitchen as I can bully him”, but didn’t think it had particular mileage so I’ve added it here instead as it did need repeating! We’ll be going back to Ludlow especially to eat at The Merchant House again.

Of course we shall Basildog, especially as Shaun's done a Q&A, however the best drop is Andy's name - it's got us comps all over the place

Simon does

How about Pierre Koffmann's Pig's Trotter.