Jon Tseng

I have vague recollections of something similar... a two (one?) star restaurant in France (Germany? Switzerland?) which burnt down in a fire taking the chef with it, in an apparent suicide. Again, the stresses and shenanighans of the Michelin men were cited. Last fifteen years, probably last ten Can anyone else remember this one? J

For fish Rick Stein in the UK has published a number of useful volumes. In particular "Rick Stein's Seafood", based on notes from his cookery school, has a lot of practical tips and an excellent gazateer of fish species in the back. I've also found James Peterson's Fish and Shellfish very useful Charlie Trotter's Seafood book is notable for being the only cookbook I know of where recipes are grouped by wine varietals, but like all his books the recipes are unmanageable unless you have several days and a cast of thousands. Haven't got a clue about game J

Pie & Mash place middling - remember camping out there a couple of years back while revising for some exams pie so so; gravy watery. i got the impression that, like fish and chips, its a meal more pleasurable in the anticipation than the consumption Anyone tried S&M cafe yet? J

Around a hundred Not enough - I put them all in a pile recently and was disappointed how small it looked J

I know Bernachon in Lyon do chocolate right from the bean Other than that Marcolini is the first one I know of - yes most of them do seem to get the couverture from Valhrona et al J

Actually the "authentic" version we make at home uses tinned pineapples and tomato ketchup Very important to use to use the juice from the pineapples to add the "sour" I think ketchup is commonplace, even in HK ;-) J

I met a lady from Siberia today! Not much on the food front - much of it seemed pretty Russian (I believe pierogi were mentioned) On thing they do have is a fish - sounds a bit like "omble" (but obviously isn't) from Lake Baikal which is very traditional J PS on the pierogi front went to Na Zarodwie near Holborn for vodka and Pierogi. Zubrowka and apple (yum) and Krupnik and lemonade (ick - like popsicles). On the pierogi front both boil and deep fried (do the latter as bar food) - potato, cabbage, meat (best). The boiled ones had a lovely scattered of deep fried little cubes of pork fat. Mmmm

Noticed Heston Blumenthal mentioned a dinner there in his Guardian column on Sat - 45 courses!!! My question is how the hell does he manage to sling those out in the middle of a service? (and find the time to do the prep???) - doesn't look as if he's got an hanger-like kitchen, or adria-esque bridage of thousand willing to work for free in exchange for cv points... Maybe his knifework is just speedier than average... J

Yep dried puy I think one of the advantages of the puy ones is no need to soak cuz smaller... plus i'm lazy Al dente rocks... unless you wear dentures! J

Moens good - though tear-achingly expensive (lamb shoulder three times the price of Sainsburys across the road last w/e). One nice thing is they have a stack of old cookbooks so you can look up recipe ideas while you browse Theres a good one near Steve Hatt, right? There's a decent place at the West end of the Smithfield market which does nice game. Have to be an early bird, though J

Mentioned this on the risotto/apple thread - Boil some puy lentils in the best fresh-squeeze apple juice with some bacon rashers and slices of fresh pineapple (apparently there's an enzyme in the pineapple which helps tenderise the lentils) - When they're done (20 minutes-ish) take out and leave to cool (very important as they're a bit icky fresh cooked). Remove the bacon and pineapple. - Finely dice some fresh apple and fry some bacon lardons (not too many as their taste is quite strong). Reheat the lentils if you want (good cold too). Toss in the bacon and apple, douse in your best olive oil (the really good stuff - I use an ultra-fruity one from brindisa in the Borough market) Yummy

Good excuse to buy that cooking themometer methinks and unlike Larousse our recipes actually WORK ;-)

I would agree that, on the whole, contrast and variety are the sine qua non of menu design. Hence there are various "rules" when diners choose a la carte e.g. don't replicate ingredients, sauces, cooking methods in your choice (I would add that such rules are very much made to be broken - at the end of the day I always order what I want to eat, rather than what some "rule" tells me!) Many of the same principles also apply to the construction of individual dishes too (and classic ingredient combinations) eg fatty meat - sour/tart vegetable; hot poach fruit - cold ice cream. Note that this is also a feature of Chinese menu planning, where you try to have a mix of cooking styles at the table (eg a braised dish, a stir fry, a deep fried, &tc. Having said that there are also examples where exactly the opposite principles are employed ie instead of contrast there is a layering of only one ingredient for dramatic effect. Ingredient-based (eg truffle) tasting manus are one example. The same can apply to dishes too (er, double chocolate fudge cake, anyone?) cheerio J

Thanks, Eddie. This is the method I learned many years ago in Taiwan. I also learned that you don't just plop the dumplings in the pan; you start at the center and arrange them concentrically, and sort of tight together, so that when they are done, you can invert them on a place (and they are all stuck together) and have a nice, pretty pattern. When I make them, I made tons of them and freeze them. I've found it's best if you cook them still slightly frozen. And, for further clarification, when I learned to make them, the filling is raw when you assemble the dumplings -- not cooked as I have seen in a few recipes. Is there a prefered number of pleats on each side? Yes, that's how I remember it - sticking them in a ring and browning underneath. This method also works with little baozi made with a bread dough (like steamed buns) - so they rise a bit as they steam in the initial cooking re pleats i only put in two but thats cuz i'm lazy. I think received wisdom is the more the better J

Homemade chicken and sweetcorn, made with a big tin of creamed corn and draped in egg-white threads I've also had some excellent "house soups" in restaurants made with pork with slices of melting fatty pork belly in the dregs - when dipped in soy sauce they're the best bit! J

For bread The Village Baker is the best explanation of the craft I have yet seen. I think there's a sister volume The Village Bakers Wife which does cakes cheerio J

Coming home from ice hockey practice at 3am to a cold, wintry student house... A tin of HP All Day Breakfast with a couple of tablespoons of mascarpone stirred in... add a luscious richness to the tomato sauce, and turns the whole assemblage a sickly shade of puce. I think this recipe will also work the HP's Full Monty of Heinz London Grill ;-) J

Has anyone been to the Grand Hyatt in Shanghai Goes from about floor 50 to 90 of the Jin Mao tower. Again, architecturally staggering, especially the main atrium - but home to what looks a rather dull wannabe-posh-italian-fine-dining-joint... J

Far too obvious. Did you learn nothing from the A-Team? When they're locked in a barn do you break down the door and run to the sherrif for help? No! They weld together an invincible flame-throwing armoured fighting vehicle from a disused wheelbarrow and a spinkler can. Never take the obvious option when a stylistically sophisticated and technologically advanced solution will do! ;-) J

Slight techy question here. Have got a bowl of smoked salmon covered in double cream sitting in the fridge. The idea is the salmon flavour infuses into the cream, which is then seperated out, whipped and served in triumph (with other bits and bobs) for supper saturday night. Suspect, however, a bit of heat might chivvy on the infusion process. My question is if I heat the salmon/cream to a simmer, chuck the salmon and cool the cream can it still be whipped into a stable foam? I know, for example, warm cream can hold a foam but will heating then letting cool do anything to it? Thx in advance J PS and before you ask - I had this idea about seven years ago, long before ferran bloody adria was even a merest fried calamari in the great tapas bar of culinary culture. its just taken me that long to get round to it.

Andy who?

The Dine Online guy seems a nice chap, and fairly well-eaten Should we invite him to drop in here? (has he already been?) J

Yeah, it's near me on the Brixton road. Five mins south of Oval station. Always mean to go, but never quite managed it (the same applies to the Columbian place next door which lists fried pork belly an a starter) what's distinctive about eritrean/ethiopian cuisine? (the menu on the one near me seems to have a lot of curries) J

The best Chinese sausages were ones a Cambodian-Chinese friend use to bring from Paris - don't know if its the Indochinese influence out there, but they were juicier and more flavoursome. I agree best moist cooked - especially sliced and steamed which leaves them plump and juicy. At a pinch they can be sliced and sauteed though - very nice with scrambled eggs. Some of the sausages have a funny, slightly artificial taste which is not entirely pleasant. As well as the wax covered sausages its very common in China to find a kind of bastardised hybrid between a western banger and a chinese sausage - fresh and banger shaped by redder and sweeter. They sell them on the street grilled in little roller machines. Very nice but awfully fatty. J

Don't think there's any major holding. The article in this wk's Restaurant mag seems to imply he's an employ; words to the effect of "they chose me out of their shortlist of four cos they thought i was the cheapest on the list" J