Corinna Dunne

Well… the first programme in the second series of Gordan Ramsay’s “F Word” went out last night. I think the time slot may have changed, as it now straddles the watershed (8.30pm – 9.30pm), and there seems to be more swearing and yelling this time round. So plenty of bleeps before 9pm, and “F” not standing for food in the second half. It’s a shame, because I had to pack my 6 year old off to bed and she missed the Hugh FW and GR kids’ segments, which she loved the last time round. This time, GR doesn’t have chefs in the kitchen, but a handful of amateur cooks. The butchers got the knife last night. I missed the beginning of the show, so I have no idea what “Lawson” did to incur the wrath of GR, but he seemed to be getting a disproportionate amount of abuse. Now, I think it’s one thing for GR to yell at chefs, because whether it’s right or not, it’s his trademark, and they’re in the business and they have decided that it's worth it. But yelling at “civilians” who have never cooked in a professional kitchen before, and are not trying out for a GR trainee position strikes me as completely out of line. The guest diners are asked whether they would be prepared to pay for each dish they’re served, there’s a tally at the end, so obviously the idea is to have a league table to see which “amateur group” manages to cook the most money making dishes. Very Top Gear. In stark contrast, GR Mr Niceguy trotted over to junk food eating lads in Clapham in the “civilian without a palate” segment; he got them cleaning the kitchen, making a curry paste, they all sat down to dinner and lived happily ever after. He really wants to get people back in the kitchen, he says… well, except for the butchers, who obviously know nothing about food.. The “I can cook better than GR” slot still stands. It was a lasagne challenge last night, GR lost again, and it’s much more tightly edited than last time, so we don’t have to sit through the sterility of a taste test. The Hugh FW segment was really interesting, but I wish it had been longer. The focus this series is on pork, so HFW prepared Chinese crispy pig's ears, and GR landed 2 pigs in his back garden to slaughter and cook on the last show. To summarise; more HFW please, and Gordon… you’re being a meanie guts.

Those oysters look amazing. I love the Italian area in Boston. One of my favourite spots is The Daily Catch... I can't believe they have a website, it's so small. The Lobster Fra Diavola is really good.

I had this as a breakfast dish in Japan. It was served in a bowl, was barely coddled and was described as "cream egg".

It will be interesting to see how a restaurant at this level does out of the city centre. Richard Corrigan will be welcomed back home with open arms, but for a lot of potential customers, Celbridge will be an expensive taxi journey. On the Shelbourne, rumours abound. Most recently, I heard that it was behind schedule and looking shaky for Ryder Cup completion. Have you any idea what is planned from a restaurant perspective if Nobu is completely out of the frame?

From a risk perspective… I think a well established restaurant owner would be mad to lock horns or look for GR mentoring on TV. Even though Ramsay has shown a much softer side before the watershed on the F Word, and he clicked with a number of the people who genuinely wanted to give it a go on the last Nightmare series; it is a programme driven by sensationalism and he holds all the editing cards. But I agree… if anyone good has the guts, it would be great, and it would be very interesting to move things on to the next level.

Loved it Tiim. Maybe it's because there's so little community glue anymore... and you just burst their opium bubble. Mediocre neighbourhood restaurants are frequently treated with the same baffling reverence. "But I, being poor, have only my dreams, I have spread my dreams under your feet, thread softly as you thread on my dreams" - WB Yeats

I absolutely agree. For most people, there are so many books to read and so little time to cook. Do you have family or a set of friends that you can cook for regularly? People who will enjoy the successes as well as the failures? Even if you are already quite an accomplished cook, there are plenty of complicated recipes to challenge yourself. And if you are looking for that cheffy finish, you could perhaps focus on plating. There's an eG thread on it, and there are plenty of cookbooks with great shots. It would make a very interesting thread in the Cooking Forum.

That's terrible. Add Marseilles and Paris to the list... I had my passport stolen twice in France... but I think you have to be careful in any country these days.

I haven't followed this thread for a while because I was waiting for Steve to pick up the book in the US. I've got it now, so must get busy. Maybe I'll start with the clafoutis. My kids love it, although the cherries here are not the sour black ones that are traditionally used. Busboy, when you say it "broke", what exactly do you mean? Just looking at the recipe, I see that warm milk is specified, which I haven't seen before. Do you think that maybe your milk was too hot, or did it split when it was actually in the oven? I really like the idea of the sugar and butter on the top after 20 mins which I'm sure gives it a wonderful crust. Another new pointer for me. Klari... your food looks incredible!

Like Dave Hatfield and John Talbot, my first visit to Paris was on an extremely tight budget, supplemented slightly by doing some street theatre and pavement drawings in Les Halles (before it was built up). It was a wonderful experience, and I lived on crusty baguettes, dripping with Camembert and sliced tomato, washed down with red wine and followed with melon. All you need is a knife, a glass and a corkscrew. So I would recommend at least one “picnic” day, which will allow your budget to extend to something more exciting on another day.

It sounds to me like the food must be vile, and Chef Simon and his customers must not possess a single taste bud between them. Synthetic flavours taste synthetic... I feel sick just thinking about this stuff being sprayed over food.

I had read a number of mixed reviews about Aqua, which I tried for the first time recently. It’s in Howth, which is a beautiful fishing village on the north side of Dublin, closer to the airport than the city centre. As I strolled down the West Pier, passing fish shops on one side, fishing nets and boats on the other, and a drunken Russian sailor swaying somewhere in between, I felt a surge of excitement and wondered why I didn’t hop on the train more often and travel the relatively short distance for this sense of escape. The restaurant is perched right at the end of the pier, on the first floor of what was once Howth Yacht Club; and two walls of glass look out onto what has to be the best restaurant view in Dublin. The room has a nice feel; crisp white table cloths, not too much formality and a buzz which is possibly a bit too loud. The early bird menu which is offered from Tues – Sat, is well priced at €30 for three courses plus tea or coffee. The service was attentive; and the menus, a jug of tap water and a plate of really, really good bread was brought to the table very promptly. We both started with the chowder. The serving was generous, the soup tasty if a little thick, but let down by the chunks of salmon which I found a bit too domineering. More shellfish would have been better. There were about six choices on the mains: hake, salmon, duck confit, steak, pasta and possibly chicken. We went for the pan fried hake with courgette Provencale, and the pan fried wild salmon with mash. The Provencale was very good, but the hake was disappointingly overcooked with a soggy, uncrisped skin. The salmon could have done with a shade less cooking too, but was good enough. A large dish of vegetables with boiled potatoes, broccoli, carrots and those ridiculous baby ears of corn was also brought to the table; so a good place for people with big appetites. There were three very pedestrian choices for dessert. We went for the tiramisu and warm chocolate tarte; the third option was Bailey’s cheesecake. The tiramisu was served in a slice and was well below par; but the tarte with a crisp pastry base was quite good, if a little too sweet. Our double espressos were dreadful and tasted more like strong filtered coffee. The food here could be better. There is nothing overly ambitious about the menu, so quality should be achievable and consistent. The servings are substantial, and there is a very generous air to this restaurant; but I was disappointed not to see more of a “fresh from the sea” focus, with perhaps large platters of shellfish and a few more interesting fish on the menu (the ALC also had cod and lemon sole). After seeing what was available in some of the fish shops on the way down, I expected better at the end of the pier, so it was a bit of an anti climax. But, balanced against what you can get for €30 elsewhere in Dublin; and given the incredible view, the warm welcome and competent service; I do think that it’s well worth the trip. Just be sure to hit in at the fixed price sittings. There is another restaurant halfway down this pier called Deep, which got a good review in Dubliner magazine, with mentions of generous helpings (obviously a hungry lot in Howth), so might be worth checking out too.

Maybe I'm naive, but I presumed that this was a PR stunt to get the name of the restaurant in the papers.

That would be great! Why not call if something like: Devouring the British Beast. If you keep a UK slant on it, it should work well in this Forum, (as opposed to the Cooking Forum), and everyone can chime in on what's local, seasonal etc. I look forward to it.

Unfortunately randalle, most coleslaw does not match your sparkling report... just as most burgers don't taste a bit like the ones you can make at home. And I love a NYC pastrami sandwich. You'll be glad to hear that I'm off to the US soon for some of that good wholesome food you're talking about... but further up north in Maine where I will spend my days eating Maine lobster, clams and sweetcorn. And the litlle tiny blueberries should be coming into season too. This is the sort of food that will never go "out of fashion". Please forgive the fact that I will not be seeking out coleslaw! Now... where's that copy of the Times I was reading...

I agree that buying good frozen meat is far superior to what's stocked in supermarkets. I'm lucky enough to have a good amount of flex in my day, so can pick and choose where I shop here in Dublin, but I still buy quite a bit of frozen meat at a farmers' market on the weekend from a company called Terryglass Organics. The meat is well hung, full of flavour and unbelievably good quality; and better still, it is cheaper than my local organic butcher... so I would agree with the posters upthread, buying good quality frozen meat should make life more interesting for you. Pigeonpie... I like the idea of getting a small chest freezer and buying half an animal. It would make an interesting thread, if you fancy posting how you work your way through the different cuts.

It will be interesting to see how much publicity this gets in the papers.

I absolutely agree with you. And it seems in this case, the "angle" has taken precedent over the message. So probably a particularly flawed way of hammering it home.

It’s a shame you had no meals of note in Normandy. We were particularly lucky in the Pont Audemer area because we stayed at a farmhouse called Le Manoir de L’Aufragere and ate there every evening. Unfortunately, this is not a restaurant, but a table d’hote for people staying at the house. It is not top end luxury, by any means, but it is a lovely taste of rural life in Normandy. Each evening, we all gathered to sit at the large kitchen table, Nicky's food was incredibly good, and the conversation with people from all corners of the world was always interesting and lively. She’s English, a Cordon Bleu cook, and runs a number of cookery courses at the house from time to time. Her husband Regis is French, and after a spell making goats’ cheese in England, moved back to Normandy. He makes his own Calvados (when the travelling still comes around) and Pommeau. They are the most gracious, engaging hosts you are likely to meet. They gave us great pointers on places of interest to visit and Regis even arranged for us to go out riding on a neighbour's Percheron horses. We found them, just by chance, in the Alastair Sawday Special Places to Stay guide, but there’s also an interesting piece on them here in the Telegraph.

Pre-promotion for this event has been hotting up in the print media. Saturday’s Irish Independent ran a series of signature dish booklets (featuring Chapter One etc), and this month, The Dubliner magazine's “food Issue” tackles some of the less palatable aspects of our culinary revolution ie ehem… let’s not be fooled, there are pockets of greatness, but there are frightening drifts of culinary wilderness; fueled by restaurants tied up so tightly in intricate legislation that they take the easy way out and serve primarily pre-prepared food; and of course, our changing lifestyles and demographics which have meant that there's a lot less home cooking and family meals going on. Some good frank pieces by Tom Doorley and Hugo Arnold; and Ireland’s top 20 food heroes from Ernie Whalley. There’s also a Richard Corrigan interview, and the low down on the “Taste of Dublin” event.

I haven't seen the show yet... but fully agree with Charlie O's point. Anything directed at the mainstream, that encourages people to think more about locally sourced product is a good thing. The change will only come about if it is from the ground up, not from the pontificating top down. I really hope that we're turning the corner. And it's good to see the media playing a rule in this... even if the execution isn't always perfect.

Is iceberg lettuce still doing the rounds in the UK? It still makes quite a few very unfashionable appearances over here in Ireland. And there have been a few dreaded coleslaw outbreaks, frequently in the company of something with frozen corn kernels… which used to make their way into a lot of things, including a "meals in minutes", chicken casserole abomination; made with Campbells mushroom soup and chicken pieces (leftover from the roast bird for a cooking with leftovers delight). Hmmm... and gamon steak. No recorded sightings of this - with its customary pineapple ring - for a long time. And now that goats’ cheese has been completely ruined for most by the plethora of substandard excuses served up in concrete tartlet cases, will it follow the sundried tomato onto the culinary has been heap? It’s sad, because a good grilled crottin on interesting leaves makes a great salad. And how’s the sell by date on balsamic vinegar and all its reduction dots? And… would someone please put truffle oil into Room 101? The one experience I had with good truffle oil in no way makes up for the synthetic poison that’s doing the rounds in a lot of mashed (crushed?) potato at the moment. Or is this attack just regional?

Welcome to the Forum cheekymunkey... I enjoyed your post, and am looking forward to more.

I had an incredible dessert with black sesame seed at El Bulli recently (yes, I'll be posting on it soon). picture here It was a hummingbird. The body and wings were formed from different types of ice-creams and jellies, fruit and floral flavoured. The head was formed from a bulb of caramel which extended beyond the edge of the plate into a long delicate beak. The bulb was filled with liquid sesame, and we were instructed to crack the head with our spoon and pour the contents over the dish as a sauce. It was spectacular. There were drifts of crunchy sesame seeds in two textures and a mandarin flower powder.

I’m very late in the day reading my May issue of Dubliner magazine… so I just noticed that they ran a piece on the JCN departure, which was due to “Irreconcilable differences”. More interestingly there is a comment on Gary Rhodes. His restaurant was scheduled to open on May 5th, so much like the W1 venture; there seem to be some delays in the works. So, not a great start, and I think the sceptical press over here will be expecting to see quite a bit of his spiky hair on the north side of Dublin before they are totally convinced of the value of his association.