Corinna Dunne

Kevin Thornton is rumoured to be considering a move out of the Fitzwilliam Hotel. This should make up his mind for him. And Michelin continues to have a complete blindspot when it comes to Chapter One.

Chufi... I'm interested in this comment. Is there something specific that you don't like, eg texture? The dish sounds great and I'd love to try it (my book finally arrived).

I don't have any first hand information, but it may be worth contacting the Dublin Institute of Technology which runs management courses for the licensed trade in Ireland. http://romulus.dit.ie/DIT/study/parttime/c.../dt488_prn.html. They should be able to direct you. Best of luck, it sounds like a very interesting study.

I'm just catching up on this now. What a wonderful blog... and belated happy birthday.

Well... JCN was on Irish national television this weekend (The Late Late Show again), to announce that he's moving to Dublin, looking for a house and taking a big interest in La Stampa, his "baby". The big news this time was his cookery school (or Academie as he calls it), which is to be run in La Stampa taking two separate approaches 1. demonstrations 2. cookery courses. The courses, apparently, will not be technique or knife skills based, but will focus on ingredients, and how to cook them simply and wonderfully. He was rapturous about the right way to cook an aubergine (with just a little sugar for 20 mins) and his overall pitch is towards cooking for busy people. Cash rich, time poor, I imagine.

Has anyone been to Rafa's for dinner and what time does it open at in the evening?

Corinna, sorry I saw this so late. With the food mill, you have to keep adding liquid during the process so that the peas that have been mashed pass through more easily, otherwise everything just sits there and clogs up. When using a food mill, I add the liquid ingredients (tahini, lemon juice & water mixture as well as olive oil) bit by bit into the food mill along with the chickpeas. It is a pain in the ass though, still. The bowl of water method works pretty well for me with some vigurous rubbing especially since, unless I'm feeling very kitchen fundamentalist, I just try to take a bunch of skins off even if I don't get every last one of them. In that case I just dump everything into the blender afterwards, so at least that part is easier. It's just a question of which type of work you find more tedious. ← Thanks for the advice Behemoth. I'll give this a go next time. Chefzadi, I can well imagine that the skins were left in for sustenance, and I do hate wasting food, but there's something really sublime about the "skins off" hummus. I'm interested in your method, mashing the chick peas in the liquid. What do you use to mash them?

This is a fascinating thread and your food sounds great. I'd be interested to hear a bit about dinner parties and formal occasions, if that's OK. Do you serve more elaborate dishes on these occasions? Do you make pre-dinner snacks / amuse bouche and serve petit four at the end?

The depletion of stock in the sea is a critical issue that needs to be highlighted more. Added to the problem of trawlers ripping up the bottom of the ocean, fish farmiing sees to it that the fish swimming at the top get stripped out too for feed.

I am interested in making an almond milk sorbet. Has anyone ever tried this / have a recipe they can recommend? I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone who has made a rosewater sorbet and a redcurrant sorbet.

I agree with this, but only after you have followed the recipe to the letter. In the past, I would often tweek a recipe as I go, changing things to suit my tastes. But I find that by adhering to a recipe for the first try out, I discover so much more and get a true appreciation of say, why a certain herb is suggested over another. Good cookbook writers have already played around with many variations and what they propose is generally the result of much research.

About 6 kilometers away is the village/town Emmsworth which has recently garnered a reputation as a foodie village a la ludlow. Emmsworth has a michellin starred restaurant (which i haven't been to, but Pres Clinton has) and also a gastro pub-wine bar which i reviewed for the portsmouth newspaper (it was rather good; fabulous gazpacho and a weird burger, very marin county california decor, but dissappointing wine-by-the-glass list. i mean, what is the point of a wine bar if you don't have the wines?). ← I spent 6 months in this general area about 6 years ago. And yes, the countryside and the walks are amazing. My husband was particularly taken with a pub (which I think was in Emsworth) that served wonderful real ales and an unbelievable selection of locally made sausages. Do you know it and is it still there? And picking up on what you've been discussing, as he is American, he introduced me to the joy of bagels and the joy of Mexican food. The bagels clicked with me immediately, and I’ve enjoyed making them using Claudia Roden’s recipe. But I was a bit reticent on the Mexican thing as I had only tried it in Dublin where it’s nothing short of abominable. I now know that it can be wonderful and am a complete fan. When is your book coming out, or can you say? Oh, and I’m so pleased to hear that we’re not the only ones who always return from a trip with loads of food. Once when my husband was returning from a business trip in the mid-west, he picked up a dozen ears of corn from a roadside stall, loaded them in his suitcase and brought them back. I know all about the sugar / starch thing, but if you don’t grow your own, these are the best you’re going to get… slathered in butter and crunchy salt and pepper. And wonderful Umbria… that definitely grabbed a part of my culinary (and cultural) heart too. Did you try the lentils they have there? They are the best I have ever tasted, so small, firm and nutty. Apparently they are a traditional food for New Year celebrations. Thanks for the very chatty blog.

I'm just catching up on this blog now. It's fascinating, particularly the pictures of your kitchen. I can't believe that you manage to produce such wonderful food in such a tight space. You must be so organised, and it's so nice to see that you have such great support from your husband. Just a few questions: is porridge a typical Japanese breakfast, and do you vary what you mix it with? Do you make sushi at home or is this normally bought? All your food looks wonderful, particularly the tempura and the octapus dumplings. Thank you so much for this incredible insight into Japanese life and cooking.

Bryan... I just caught this thread. Fascinating and great shots. Thanks for taking up the egg challenge. It looks really good, runnier than the one I had. If you can get your hands on some black boudin type pudding, it will go really well with them if you embark on the project again... although sambos with truffle oil sound pretty good too! Good luck with your studies... my husband's alma mater... now famous for amateur chefs as well as basketball!

Corinna - I think that the fish refered to will be This fish Anarhichas lupus, which is common in the North Atlantic (Scotland, rather then Egland and Wales). It is a type of giant blenny, and eats crabs and lobsters etc. Good flavour and a firm boneless fillet. In older cookbooks it is called "Sea cat". ← Thanks Adam... wow, he's fierce looking, but I like the sound of his diet. Have you had the chance to try some yourself? ← I've just remembered that "bar" is the other word for sea bass in France. From what I remember, "loup de mer" is mostly used in the med, so it figures that it's quite different from the "Atlantic sea bass" or "sea cat". Would love to see a good close-up of its head!

Do you know of a Spanish website that sells this mail order?

Corinna - I think that the fish refered to will be This fish Anarhichas lupus, which is common in the North Atlantic (Scotland, rather then Egland and Wales). It is a type of giant blenny, and eats crabs and lobsters etc. Good flavour and a firm boneless fillet. In older cookbooks it is called "Sea cat". ← Thanks Adam... wow, he's fierce looking, but I like the sound of his diet. Have you had the chance to try some yourself?

Mmmmm... this is what I call feeding your habit. Nice going getting it wholesale at that price! And while we're at it... let me throw my hat into the Fleur de Sel ring. So sweet and delicate, definitely not emperor's clothes in my book. Not all salts are created equal.. in my opinion.

You could easily be right. To be honest, I'm not well enough informed to profess the benefits of one over the other... I hope I didn't sound pedantic. And in fairness... the Iranian saffron I've bought has been inexpensive, whereas the Spanish saffron was picked up on a trip there earlier in the year.

Saffron is wonderful in Spanish seafood stews and especially good in mussel soup with cream. I think it takes on a slightly different personality in Indian / Middle Eastern dishes where it is more in the background and somehow more closely related to the other spices. I know it is described as slightly bitter, but I find it to be more sharp tannic, with a fragrance that gets you in the nose and an ever so slightly musty headiness. I too have found the Spanish saffron to be the most potent, although I can pick up the Iranian variety fairly cheaply in a Middle Eastern shop near me. The packaging is generally covered in a tinted (red or orange) plastic wrap to keep out the sunlight which will speed up deterioration. My mother once brought back a sizeable bag of it from Israel, but it was a ruse, and barely coloured the liquid, not alone had any flavour to impart. Obviously the fake one!

Atlantic wolf fish sounds like sea bass, which is called loup de mer (wolf of the sea) in some parts of France. If this is the case, it is on the protection list and should only be line caught (under EU regulations, I think). Most restaurants here serve farmed sea bass, which is not near as good as the wild variety

I missed this post. Any chance of a link... if you've got a moment? Thanks.

Thanks... actually, I must be losing my mind, because I was thinking about the latest book... and happily, have discovered that a copy of "Slow Mediterranean" is slowly making its way to me from UK Amazon. I am really looking forward to trying out a few of the recipes.

It was on my Christmas "Suggestion" List that I gave to my husband, but hasn't been released this side of the Atlantic. As we have had bad luck with US Amazon before (ie non-arrival of books), he gave it a miss. Does the current version have metric and imperial measurements as well as US cups?

I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Way better than "Full on Food" in terms of format and watchability. It may not have been completely focused on food, but it was good entertainment and I think achieved what it set out to do. And my 5 year old loved it.