Jared Ingersoll

Recently i was in Hong Kong and had the oyster cake a small place was serving around temple street markets, they use potato starch for the batter and poured it into a deep bath of oil and fried on both sides - hope this helps

I am very fortunate to own a restaurant with a cocktail bar, which means that i have the very difficult responsibility of sampling new product. I have a hard time keeping up sometimes! With that in mind i Always finish my night with 1 bottle of Caporal Pilsner from Belgium. It is the best pilsner that i have ever tried. Its greatest apeal for me is that it is not trying to hard - it is simply made by people who understand their craft and are able to produce a good beer consistantly. But if any of you are in Australia and feel like sampeling some of the our local gear I have also had in the last couple of days the 'Moo Brew Pale Ale' from tasmania, the 'Gippsland Brewery Natural Blond' (wheat beer) & Gippsland Brewery Black & Tan, a bottle conditioned blend of stout and ale which is fantastic for those who love a full flavored stout, but would like to be able to have a couple without feeling bloated.

Now i really enjoyed reading this piece for 2 reasons. You talk about tasting food - which is something that i feel anyone who has a strict diet denies themself, and secondly you talkabout enjoyment of eating and the way that it can enrich you life! I think that the good old fashioned enjoyment of your food goes a long way towards a happy life

I couldn't agree more! but here's the way to get beautiful - almost nutty slow cooked brocoli. gently fry 1 small finley diced onion in a geniourous amount of extra virgin olive oil (if you cook too hard you will kill the flavor of the oil) when soft add 1 clove of garlic simply smashed and 1 large red chillie split, i normally leave the seeds in as i like the subtle bite- but thats up to you. Then take you brocolli with as much stem as possible. Peel away any fiborous skin and then cut the brocolli lenthways in wedges into 6th's or 8th's. Place this on the onions, splash in a little white wine and a little water, season really well with salt and pepper and place on a tight fitting lid and cover and cook reeeeeeeeeaaaaal slow (through a gentle oven is easiest to control) for about 1 hour. Cook until it is just about to disentigrate. I serve this with eggs scrambled with cream and butter and a nice sharp crumbly feta on toast. I discovered this dish in America - and i love the subtle flavor, the trick is when eating it for the first time, try not to compare it to crunchy bright green barley cooked broccoli as this is something completley different. I have over time discovered some absolutley amazing flavors from cooking vegetables for a really long time - or to the point where it could be considered overcooked. When i Turkey i fell head over heal in love with green beans braised in a spicy tomato sauce (again for a couple of hours) which were often served at room temperature. Then there is a wonderfull recipe for celery hearts i discovered in England where they are cooked long and slow in chicken stock, butter and cream then finished with cheese. The Italians often cook raddichio by braising it in stock, sometimes even cooking it in a caramel or even on the BBQ. And finaly there is the good old faithfull 'petite pios al a francaise' or peas cooked with lettuce - delicious' BUT and this is a big but for me......... I absolutley deteste and loathe the smell, taste and texture of overcooked cabbage!! to many horrible child hood memories