PatyGirl

Monkfish! In the Uk it only because popular in the last decade or so. A fishmonger near where I lived said it was because they were so ugly that the fishermen were scared of them. I thought that was quite funny.. lol!

Hi, I've just arrived in Bali and am looking for places to eat. Any recommendations? Thanks!! Pati

When I´m prepping, I really like music. Especially if I start really early and its freezing, I´ll make some coffee and put `Good day sunshine´on and it really brightens up the cold. Or when I´m late and there´s loads of stuff to do still and I need to hurry, I think it´s great to have really fast music playing. I like having a soundtrack. I also think it minimizes chattering a bit. If there´s no music playing, people tend to be talking on and on and on... Drives me crazy. I like silence or music, no talking.

From the BFG, the "Grobswitchy cake" "Hornets stewed in tar" - from James and the Giant Peach "Pickled spines of porcupines" and " boiled slobbages" also from James.. "Pishlets" and "plushnuggets" - from the Giraffe and the Pelly and me "Toad in the hole", from Danny the Champion of the world Oh this is so exciting! I though the leg of lamb idea was great!!! Lamb to the slaughter is one of my all-time favourite Roald Dahl stories!! Or remember Quentin Blake´s drawing of Mr. Twits´beard, with the piece of stilton, cornflake, fishbones etc... errrghhh... So gross and so funny. You could do something horrible with that. Or make a cool brown-coloured drink with along the lines of George´s marvellous medicine... Or the "recipe for concocting Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker" from The Witches. Oh what a great party!! Do post pictures and tell us what you made!!!

One method I learned from a chef I worked with was the following: Add cut potatoes to a pan and cover with oil (at room temperature). Turn the heat up and when you reach a specific point (we didn't use a thermometer so I don't know the exact temperature - very hot but before any bubbles appeared), the heat was turned off, and the potatoes were left to cool in the oil where they partially cooked, ever so gently. After they were cool, they were fished out of the oil and drained. They had to be handled very gently, otherwise they would break. They were then fried in hot oil. They were the most perfect chips I've ever tasted. Really crispy and dry, very golden, nice and soft in the middle. And they always came out right, we had really consistent results.

How about caramel cupcakes? They´d be good to take into the office. And they´re soooo good...

Wow, my head is spinning after 8 pages of beans... I´m laughing out loud,- you people are mad! You´ve been talking about beans for 4 years now!! Right, well, I just read all those years worth of beans because I´ve been looking up recipes for falafel and I have a question, maybe you guys can help. All the recipes I´ve read say you should soak the beans overnight, discard the water, and process the chickpeas with the spices and whatnot. No extra cooking in water. So, how come? Do the chickpeas "cook" in the hot oil through frying? Is this possible? Or is the crunchiness of the falafel due to the, er... slightly uncooked beans? Thanks..

Wow, this is so impressive! I wonder what the kids think, especially about the deserts,- I noticed they always serve fruit.

I'll second that! He's amazing! I think it's pretty hard to get a reservation though, you might want to book ahead.

Hey Daemon, I just saw your posts, so I don't know if you've been to Rio yet... Roberta is open tuesday - saturday for dinner, and lunch only on thursday and fridays. Friday and Saturday nights are the best nights of the week (although they are also the busiest) because the prix fixe menu has more courses than during the week. If you need any help, feel free to pm or e-mail me with questions. I hope you have a great time!! beijos, Paty

Alex, I'm not saying Veja Rio and SP are not good references (they're what I use on a daily basis), but I just don't think they're "independent", in the sense of what HM was inquiring after - ie: small scale, less widely published. They are both widely published magazines, with huge circulation numbers, that discuss a variety of topics, one of them being food. Guia 4 Rodas is also huge, but seems to be more along the lines of what HM is looking for. As you said, it’s similar to what Michelin started out as. I agree Danusia Bárbara isn't perfect either, but when she started many, many years ago, she was independent, and I do believe she still is. She seems to handle her position very seriously.

Aw, Ronaldo has good tips..: filé oswaldo Aranha, I'd say got to Hipódromo in Gávea, or Filé de Ouro in Jardim Botânico. And Bracarense is great! Have the bolinho de bacalhau (codfish cakes) with your chope. And JB Taxi IS the best for getting around. Very reliable.

HM, for Rio you could take a look at Guia de Restaurantes Danúsia Barbara, published yearly.

Daisy, I also recomend Roberta Sudbrack, but I work there so am very biased.. It is the best restaurant in Rio. In Rio: If you are looking for not fancy food, I suggest Pavão Azul or Caranguejo. You can just have a beer and a nibble at either, or have a proper meal. Both have been around for ages, are what we call "pé sujo", but are also really highly rated. There's a great place called Bira, but it's quite a trek. You can make a day of it though... It's like, an hour and a half away from ipanema, but you drive down the coast so can stop at all the beaches. It's a great day trip. I'd also visit the street markets,- there's one everyday somewhere close to where you'll be. If you like, I can e-mail you a list of addresses. An interesting place to visit is also the Feira de São Cristovão,- day or night. In my opinion, Rio is good for either top of the line restaurants (Roberta Sudbrack) or the ... mmm... I want to say dirty-looking, but that may put you off..., well, the other extreme of "top of the line". The in-between restaurants aren't really good at all, always a let down. In SP, to add to what has already been said, you should stop by the Mercado Municipal. Have a fantastic trip and if you want anymore advice or any help even when you're in Rio, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Hello hello all! I can hardly contain my excitement! I was just grumbling to myself thinking "where are all the brazilians on egullet" and so on, when I stumble upon this magnificent thread! The descriptions so far given by Le Peche sound very accurate to me and I am looking forward to someone posting a recipe for us to get started! Last week I made black beans for the first time,- not feijoada, just the beans, with some pork in it, but not the real stuff.... and I tell, it's an art in itself. Feijão. And there are so many wonderful little foods tha go with it,- the orange slices, the ***perfect*** white rice,... aw... Very excited. Hurray!

hi guys, i'm French friend of Patygirl, and i found this topic while visiting this website. Jean luc Poujauran sold his bakery rue Jean Nicot to Secco a couple of years ago now (2004 as far as i can remember). Although Jean Luc Poujauran has nothing to do with these two shops anymore, he has auhtorized Secco to keep the blue sign "Poujauran" which was above the bakery window, which is why you can still see it hanging today, but secco and Poujauran don't do any business together. Now Poujauran is engaged in the wholesale business only: he still has premises on the rue Jean Nicot, which are not open to the public, and which are next to the Secco bakery.

Thanks guys. Right well, that certainly explains a lot. I was quite puzzled... I've only had about 4 days to plan for this trip so I guess I just overlooked the name changes and didn't find them. Anyway, I went to L'Astrance today and it was absolutely fabulous. Totally took my breath away. Thanks for the advice!

John, I have been using "Paris e-guide", which is both a book and a website, www.eparis.dk.com. There's a lot of info on restaurants, streetlife, art and architecture, hotels, bars, clubs, etc. I found it very helpful. I've also been using the TimeOut Paris guide, but found that the information isn't always that accurate. I heard TimeOut has a weekly column in the Pariscope with good tips too. Good luck!

I've read some good reviews about these restaurants, but they never appear in more traditional restaurant guides, like Michelin. L'Astrance opened about 3 years ago, and is run by people that previously worked at L'Arpege under Alain Passard: Pascal Barbot and Christophe Rohat. One guide book I have says: "This 3 year old, 25 -seat dining room near the Trocadero is arguably the most exciting restaurant to have opened in Paris this century". Praise about Lucas Carton alike, very enthusiastic reviews. Has anyone been or heard about either? I'm in Paris at the moment and there's so many good places to go...! I've been to L'Atelier de Joel Rebouchon, and Alain Ducasse's Spoon, - both were amazing. I'm having some trouble fine-tuning my list... Thanks!

Guys, what is solanine?

I don't like it very much when people 're-define' classics. The other day I had a chocolate clafoutis, which was a chocolate chip pound cake. You just can't get away with something like that It's embarassing! How they had the guts to put that on the menu is beyond me. You just shouldn't meddle with classics like that. Having said that... the creme brulée you describe doesn't sound that off to me. When absurdly well made, the custard may feel as light and fluffy as a mousse/cloud. And they did include a crunchy maple caramel shell, right? So both elements were technically present.

All sauces make me want to lick the plate! I have to contain myself in public so as not to embarass the people I am with. I often find sauces to be the best part of the meal.

I definately agree about complaining in a friendly, positive way.

I think its important to be honest because I strongly believe in positive ciritcism. Having said that, I hardly ever say anything,... more out of being uncomfortable. However, I think it is often the case that the server doesn't really care if the food is ok when he asks, and is just being polite. The other day I was at a restaurant and a friend I was with ordered a dish that was just awful, it was seared tuna with sautéed vegetables and passion fruit sauce. The sauce was so overwhelming that not only did it not taste good on its own, it completely smothered all the other flavours in the dish whish were probably very good. It was positively horrendous. I totally egged her on to say something because she literally didn't want to eat any of it (my dish was delicious!), and so when the waiter came by and asked, she said that well actually, the sauce is a bit overpowering... HINT HINT,- please could you do something about it... and the waiter was very matter-of-fact about it and said that that's what the sauce was like, and my poor friend insisted a bit about how really, really overpowering it was, extremely acidic, and how she couldn't taste the fish at alll,- and in the end the waiter (who was actually the maitre'd) did nothing whatsoever about it, did not offer to bring her anything else and she was stuck with the dish, hated it, and never went back. And the restaurant was almost empty,- he wasn't rushed off his feet or anything, - he just really didn't care. His attitude totally discouraged me from speaking out, which is awful because I really think we should! (complain, that is).