Jon Tseng

pei mei #1 and #2 (pei mei #3 looked deathly dull the one time i saw it in the shop) fuchsia dunlop on sichuan... hopefully she will write more (last I heard she was off to hunan researching her next oeuvre) apart from that the cupboard embarrassingly bare :-( J

Some friends of friends did try it at mcdonalds once. Each. All in one sitting. I think they got to about the quarter-pounder before wussing out :-0 J

The ref from an even earlier book, his first one in fact. Its a custard tieh 500ml double cream, 100ml UHT, 4 egg yolks and 85g sugar (custard baked in ramekins at 120c). Says he uses UHT to "stabilise the custard mixture during baking and it also means that we can use fewer eggs" Looking at the desert book, actually, the coffee creme brulee on p141 also uses UHT. Presumably the reason is to keep the richness of the mixture down by limiting no. egg yolks. Am just curious because I haven't seen this anywhere else, and wonder how UHT helps... cheerio J

On a related note, I've seen references in one of Gordon Ramsays books to adding UHT milk to the creme brulee mixture. Something to do with it meaning it means you need less egg yolks Can anyone enlighten me on this one? Is it true? If so so/why does it work? cheerio J

Not in France, but Forchetta and Porchetta on London's Upper Street bloody confusing... asked to meet at one, turned up at the other... J

But Simon, as you well know, "Ingrate" is my middle name... ;-)

Oh I shouldn't worry about saying you were disappointed if your were disappointed. People like different things and - more importantly - have different expectations. In fact whenever I send my bosses off to my favourite standbys (eg Sutton Arms, Incognico) they always come back and tell me the food was terrible! Personally I find the bone marrow thing a bit nauseating after a bite or two - but probably because I have over-indulged in the past! And on that note, Andy - you better sort out a decent alternative starter (spelt N - O - T - P - E - A - S) cheerio J

I suspect it's a matter of whether the effort is worth it. The restauranteur usually presumes that 99% of the non-Chinese speakers wouldn't order the specials anyway (generally not to western tastes... funny ingredients like fish lips &tc) so it isn't worth his time translating them. ie the "greater chance" of the average punter ordering them isn't enough to make the greater effort of translation worthwhile. This, of course, is a stereotype - as is the view westerner all order aromatic crispy duck and sweet and sour pork. You, for example, are a notable exception, and as the (translated) specials menu at Mr Kong shows there is a lot of fun stuff going on that westerners would appreciate, and translating it can bring rewards (and extra custom). Then again last time I was there the table beside us /did/ order the duck... Jonathan: Maybe there is also a language element as well. NB many chinese dises have allergorical name (Buddha Jumping Over Fence; It Tastes Like Honey!; Ants Climbing Up A Tree; Tony In A Pie Shop (JOKE)) which make them an arse to translate) J

That would make it far too easy! And less entertainment value too... Anyhow, as any chinese restauranteur knows even if you give them a proper menu the laowai will always end up ordering crispy aromatic duck, sweet and sour pork and monk vegetables ;-) (look around next time you're in a chinese... this prediction is eerily true) J

Ha ha Good to hear they're still trying this sort of scam - at the Bayswater one they used to tout around plates of roast suckling pig - and then hit you for fifteen quid once you got the bill Having never been to the Putney one would be interested in knowing how it compares to other Royal Chinas in London - I understand they've been under seperate ownership for a number of years now cheerio J

Use it quick B'Dog doesn't keep for long when i sauteed it found it has a slightly mouth-puckering/dry aftertaste (tannin?). Did you find this? J

Isn't butter poaching just a riff on confit but with cow fat rather than duck fat? viz slow-poaching in olive oil, another variation on this gaining ground. Or does the water/protein content in butter add anything different in terms of chemistry and flavour? J

Probably two conversations going on here... on the one hand canteen food at colleges (as with canteens everywhere else) remains resolutely unreconstructed in the UK (think legendary BBC canteen tea? - has anybody had it?). For my part I remember scrambled eggs made with powdered egg in infant school - rubbery clots of yellow not reminiscent of egg at all on the other hand the conversation has touched on oxbridge college dining, which is actually a remarkable snapshot of edwardian style franglais dining which is very difficult to find anywhere else with the passing of the connaught; may be at some gentlemens clubs in london. Particular when it comes to college feasts think silver service, lots of stuff plated at the table, silly french names, soup, fish, meat, pudding, cheese and port courses (at the very least), maybe a savoury to finish things off... vast numbers of cut-price, top-notch booze... very much reminiscent of a different world cheerio J

Normally we use a simple flour-water mix for the dough For boiled jiaozi (chinese spelling - nb the japanese stole everything from the chinese apart from tempura, which they stole from the portugese ;-) ) you use cold water making the dough, for potstickers use hot water. Can't remember why - presume something to do with texture or elasticity (similarly the translucent skins for har gau dim sum are made with hot water) Can't remember proportions off top of head but home-made definitely the best way to go cheerio J

VACHERIN EATEN WITH A SPOON J

Indeed I was going to ask people to name the specific branch, but I'll let people off this time Beardy Boy: Only if you're cooking ;-) J

Yeah but you knoooooow its going to be goats cheese salad to start followed by grilled salmon fillet these special "bargains" always are... in fact I'd go far to say the whole aim is to entice you into a place and then present you with a selection so dire that you are forced to go a la carte in order to avoid the embarassment of having to leave... actually i suppose that's quite canny business! J

Feta cheese & pasta salad Grilled chicken flatbread Berry & yoghurt crunch ????

hmpf was thinking mpw (sauce cocktail) but and the pineapple, but was thinking "roasted baby pineapple" rather than caramelised oh well j

isn't this the whole is-food-a-trade-or-is-it-an-art debate viz the first section of Culinary Artistry? J

Fascinating again And thank-you, Louisa One question: when you plated the beef on top of the onions didn't that make them soggy as juices came off the dead cow? cheerio J

Bummer Does this mean I'm no longer the youngest person (apart from Magnolia, of course ;-) ) on the UK board? and welcome re rooftop views i believe most has been said. the restaurant at tower 42 is (or was, at least) on the 24th and had pretty okish random modern. J

I rate (or rather my mum does, which is good enough for me) Pei Mei Chinese cookbooks (esp. vols 1-2). Reliable recipes from the original Taiwanese superstar housewife J

Now now kids ;-) Having been able to benefit from her Dunlop-ness for a while in the UK I can vouch for the book; it is an excellent book and the one exception to my rule "never trust books about asian food by round-eyes" (actually David Thompson's Thai book would probably be the second exception) I think it can be had from amazon.co.uk - definitely worth it (they DO deliver to China - well Shanghai at least; dunno if that really counts as "china" though ;-) ) toodle-pip J

Aren't most sea bass farmed nowadays? Greece or something innit? I occasionally see "wild" seabass, so presumably the rest are house trained... J