CalumC

I can recommend this place, haven't been for a year, but its maintained fairly good reviews. http://www.thegoldenheart.co.uk/dining.asp

Well. Firstly, £115 seems a looooot of money for 7 courses. Matthew: Was it the French on the menu, with an English translation with it, or did you translate it. I think Apple Composition would be a suitable candidate for another certain thread in this forum...

Whered the programme go guys? I didn't remember seeing it last week, then realised it was autumnwatch. Its not on this week either. I was enjoying it as well, i've been reduced to Ramsays knobbers on a tuesday now. Pah.

As i know it, its a fillet much like a tenderloin, running up the neck. I have used it with great success in a tagine, cooked for a long time, and it worked out great. Lots of flavour from the muscle usage and a lovely texture as well. I could certainly see it being cut into fillets in the same way a beef fillet steak is, as you said, cooked quickly on either side. Hope you have luck finding and using it.

The difference is that most chefs would be able to tell you what galangal is, but you could watch Ready Steady Cook and a few times a week hear that someone is sealing in the juices. As I understand it, he hasn't really called himself a chef, he is a scientist who cooks with his understanding of science. Maybe i'm not getting the jist of what you're saying.

Also, on the size of the grains point, would the size of the grain dictate how many grains you gather, and therefore be roughly the same amount in weight as if the grains were say smaller?

I'd take that as what you can get in between your thumb and first finger. Then again, that depends on the size of your fingers.

I just made the caramel. Joy of joys. Its like liquid orgasm. Hurrah. I'm off to finish eating the scraps off the spoon. Thanks!

Not at all, nothing wrong at all with taking an interest. Since then, the main difference is that things have been made less bad for you, not particularly better for you yet. All sandwiches are now brown bread, no more chocolate or sweets sold. No fizzy drinks. That kind of thing. The range of food at lunch now goes from chicken curry to fish and chips (chips are only once a week), pasta is common, tomato sauce or bolognaise. The kind of thing i take in is things like cous cous and pasta. I'll either make a sauce the night before, or chuck in whatever is in the fridge, cold meat, vegetables. Sometimes theres leftovers from the previous night that i'll use. Food culture doesn't seem to have evolved to this for everyone. I expect its the way i was brought up, to some people it matters more than others. I guess thats why i'm here (im 17) as opposed to my friends who aren't quite as obsessed with food as i am. If thats what tastes good to them then who am i to argue, i just prefer to eat things ive prepared myself.

I was personally very lucky to have the lunches i did in the latter part of my secondary education (11-16), as the new rules had just begun coming in. The catering improved greatly when I was 15, and i enjoyed the food they provided. However, i'm now 17, in my A2 year, and had to move on to a different school/college. When i arrived at my new school, the food was pretty shocking, chips available at break and lunch, so you can imagine how many people took that option. The problem was how badly it was all made. Since then, a new head of catering has come in, and things are looking up. Which is a good sign, and hopefully representative of British school lunches as a whole. I still bring in my own lunch whenever possible, as good as the school might get, i prefer making my own food.

That's just taking the piss.... I ← Jonathan Ross mentioned last night as well, showed a a picture of the finished product on the screen too, looked good. He went on to make a joke about Ritalin Ravioli...

What kind of prices are we looking at these days? Wish i could hop the pond :-(

ElBulli would be an immense experience for you. Pierre Gagnaire as above. Or of course, the UK is in europe, you could go somewhere else in the UK.

Supermarket, in a Tesco it'll be with the rest of the dried fruit and nuts stuff. I'd imagine decent delis might have it, or ethnic food stores.

Or i would if they had an email address.

The website listing for iberico says they only sell whole legs, which are 7-8 kilos, £50 a kilo. I wish i was a richer 17 year old... I'll email them anyway, thanks for the link MG.

Could you slightly heat the edges of the pate, perhaps softening the fruit a little, so that the sugar than adheres. Seems a tricky situation, maybe a very slight brush of water to the sides would do it.

Hullo all. I'm cooking a lamb tagine tomorrow, but have found out tomorrow is the day planned for my girlfriend and I's new cat. I can start at 10 a.m. but have to leave at 1 p.m. and back home around 7 p.m. If i wanted to serve at 8 p.m. could i start the process, browning the meat and vegetables, and add the spices and liquid (chicken stock from a carcasse), and leave it in the oven at say 150C for the rest of the day until serving (apart from cooking the couscous close to serving). Presumably the liquid would reduce over time. Any ideas welcome.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota, in the UK by mail order anyone? In Gloucestershire if possible if its a shop.

Well i filled out their app. form for a free trial, had to say N/A to virtually all of the questionnaire, dont see why they cant have an option people outside of the industry. Ta for the help

Hi all, Anyone know whether Restaurant Magazine is available to those outside of the catering business. From what people say about it on here, it seems a good read, but i looked into it on their website, seemed an industry only publication. Cheers me dears, Calum

I'd have to say i agree with dockhl, looks a bit funky to me. Hopefully someone will reply with a reassuring answer, itd be a waste of what looks like fantastic meat otherwise.

Pah, pretty poor list really. Maybe if it was called a list of places to visit, i'd just about allow it. But the lack of french places does seem to challenge its claim to be the best in England. No LCS?...

Hi, I'm trying to find a silpat in the uk, and i'm having no luck at all. Anyone know of any places? Calum

If you want some ideas, theres always www.frenchlaundryathome.com which is excellent. Using that kind of idea, you could try out something like the Essence book by DEM