Jenni

That's a bit reductive, isn't it ? I mean, you could always shunt them all into a big hole in the ground and bury them. Or reduce healthcare cover and let them die of their "self-inflicted" health problems. Or any number of other things. It's fair to say - as I know from the hard-won experience of a mis-spent youth - that one surefire way to render yourself unable to shit is to eat all or mostly McDonald's for a week. Does the medical profession have statistics for the link between coronary seizures and constipation ? Ultimately, the best way to influence people's eating habits is to fix in their minds that link: McDonald's... and shit. I didn't mean it to sound as if nothing at all can be done. What I mean to say is that getting rid of McDonalds or berating McDonalds to serve healthier food will not stop people from eating crap. The only thing you can do is repeatedly remind people that there is a better way to live that will make them feel better. Now you can do that by telling people McDonalds is terrible for them and will make them fat and have heart failure. That's one way. Or you can say to them "Look how great you will feel if you eat this instead". That's another way. Or you can gross them out with nasty but true things that happen when you eat a lot of fast food, as you suggest. These are all ways to educate people about the real risks of a poor diet and the benefits of a good one. And this, I feel, is the key point. It's about education. Give people the knowledge to make good choices. Even better, give them the knowledge and skills to eat healthily most of the time and still be able to enjoy less healthy foods in small quantities every now and then without it impacting on their health.

Well, I'm far from an expert in these matters but I am a member of the public who likes going to restaurants so maybe you may be interested in that view! I don't think your website is bad at all. I can easily find phone number, opening times, menus, etc. and that makes me happy. In terms of the menu, the italics could be annoying but it doesn't really bother me in this case. The menu looks interesting and it's clear what everything is (except perhaps for that assiette which is getting so much attention - I would have to google it I think!). So I don't think you necessarily have to change anything about your approach to the food itself. However, it is clear that you need to really up the marketing. I would recommend: *Putting links in your signature on any website you post on (including eGullet! Don't be shy!) *Setting up a facebook page and posting about promotions and events on there. *Keep trying with newspapers, radio, etc. *Holding promotional events and special evenings where possible - why not try some seasonal food "festivals" to celebrate times of the year when certain produce is around? *Can you get yourself in any restaurant guides? Others here will be more knowldegable about the physical-book ones, but I can tell you that there are plenty of online sites that people use to look up food places in the UK. Would toptable.co.uk be suitable for you? Overall, keep trying! Don't be afraid to talk about your restaurant to people who you meet who are interested in food/cooking/eating out. You never know when you might meet someone with good connections who might be very impressed by your food. It may be a bit embarassing to keep telling people that you have a restaurant and they should try and pop in some time, but actually as time goes on you will feel more relaxed saying it and it will come out more naturally, and then you may be surprised to find that many people actually quite like to find out about nice little restaurants they haven't been to yet.

Gah, what a complete waste of time. Let's break it down: McDonalds, along with many other kinds of food, does not represent a healthy balanced diet. However, people have free will. They are entitled to eat whatever they damn well want. Ergo, berating McDonalds will not stop people from being unhealthy/fat/basing their entire diet on fried food and fizzy drinks. These health groups would spend their time a lot more constructively by trying to come up with some kind of educational campaign that people will actually listen to. Personally I think it needs to be non-irritating, non-condescending and positive. I don't know, reminding people how awesome they would feel if they ate a tonne of veggies with their meals everyday. Letting them know that they don't have to give up burgers and fries, but how about going for a regular size and making the next meal after the burger something light and tasty like soup and salad? Even if McDonalds suddenly throw up their arms and go "That's it - we are causing all these people to be fat! So we're stopping as from now and you can only by salad at McDonalds!", there will still be deep fried foods, fizzy drinks, cakes, pastries, ice cream, etc. in the world. You have to change people's mindsets, because you cannot force them to eat things they don't want to. You can only suggest to them things that they might like to try, because it could make them feel a lot better.

This morning's breakfast was masala dosa with sambar and chutney. Sorry the pic isn't good - Got to the last dosa before I remembered I was going to take a photo, and then I rushed a bit and tore it a little putting it on the plate....it tasted great though!

^^ Sure, I love talking about Indian food! It is a South Indian breakfast, popular in all of the Southern states. Idli are steamed little cakes/dumplings. The batter is made from rice and urad dal that has been soaked and then ground to a fluffy batter. It is left in a warm place overnight to ferment until it has a fermented aroma and is full of little bubbles. This makes the idlis light and gives them their distinctive taste. Then spoonfuls of the batter are put in to idli moulds like theseand steamed until cooked. Good idlis are light, fluff and perfect for dunking in sambar. Sambar is a spicy gravy dish (in India, gravy means a saucy dish, not actual gravy!) based on toor dal. The dal is cooked until tender and then vegetables and tamarind paste (freshly made please - no nasty jars of tamcon!) are added and cooked until tender. Then sambar podi (masala) is added and it is cooked a bit more. Sambar podi is a spice powder based on coriander, dal, chillies and some other spices. A final tadka including mustard seeds and curry leaves is added when it is all cooked. A must have with idli-sambar is coconut chutney. Freshly grated coconut is ground to a paste with chillies, a little ginger and some fresh coriander. A little salt is added, and then a tadka of urad dal, mustard, cumin, dried red chillies and curry leaves goes in. This is just one version - there are many many coconut chutney recipes and they are all worth trying! Hope this helps a little!

Delicious Kerala meal tonight. From left to right: Parippu curry - moong dal with fresh coconut paste and seasonings Achinga payar mezhukkupuratti - dry long bean dish with coconut slices Mathanga vanpayar erissery - pumpkin and red bean in thick fresh coconut gravy Pavakka theeyal - bittergourd in "burnt" (e.g. dark roasted) coconut gravy Nenthrakkaya kalan - unripe plantain in coconut-yogurt gravy Plus rice and pappadam. So good, if I may say so myself. Beautiful spicing and lovely fresh coconut in every dish!

^^ To be fair, it's considered more of a medicine than a yummy sweet!

Idli, sambar and coconut chutney...my favourite breakfast in the world, if not my favourite meal!

For Trinidadian cooking, may I recommend the Naparima Girls' High School Cookbook. It is the cookbook for proper Trini cooking, as in what people actually make and eat at home. Trinidad has such a mixture of differnt cuisines, from Indian, African, Caribbean-fusion, Chinese, Middle Eastern, European, and all of these styles are well represented in the book. The book was originally published as a fund raiser for the school on it's diamond jubilee and the recipes were collected from the families who attended the school. It has become a Trinidadian institution and is a must have for anyone trying to cook Trini food. I have the old version with a pink cover that I brought back from Trinidad (it was a present from family out there) and also a newer version that a Trinidadian friend/distant relative visiting Bristol brought over as a gift. You can see both versions here. Looks like there is now also a website selling the shiny new version of the book, here. The old diamond jubilee edition (the pink one) hasn't really got pictures (a few drawings here and there and a couple of black and whites) but the new version has some colour pictures.

Sprouted moth fry with courgette thuvaiyal - recklessly mixing Maharashtrian and sort-of-Tamil recipes! To good effect, I might add.

Honey jars are always useful - nice size and don't have a pickle smell! I have a friend who always gives me her honey jars because we don't eat much honey in our house. Incidentally, I keep separate lids for savoury preserves (read: pickle) and sweet preserves/ghee. That way no risk of pickle smell in my jam/syrup/ghee!

That recipe sounds amazing! I will try and get the ingredients together and make it ASAP, thanks for sharing.

Moong dal with mooli, lauki ki sabzi (bottle gourd vegetable dish), stirfried greens (with ajwain and cumin) and rice. Delicious.

Wow, that was an amazing post. Would you consider sharing with us a few of the recipes?

Are calamondins the same thing as kalamansi limes? They are so delicious! My brother's housemate is filipino and he brought back a load from his last visit. Incidentally, the preserved lemons in this thread look delicious. Rather like lemon/lime pickle actually!

Thank you for a blog of such wonderfully vibrant food! I'm jealous of your citrus trees and your sunshine

Khus khus (white poppy seeds) are a pain to wet grind, in my experience. In fact, I usually dry grind them separately and add to other wet masala ingredients as this results in a less gritty masala. Of course, if you have a heavy grinding stone then you will have no problem making a lovely smooth paste, with a little elbow grease. I suspect however that you are using some kind of electronic grinder... This difficulty in grinding is probably why they are ground separately in this recipe...this is just a guess though.

Agreed, I just add them neither the end of the cooking time.

Would be interested to know your normal method...and also interested what the MC guys have to say about dosa!

My mum's fish pie says otherwise. Lovely stuff! I always thought this was an Italian "rule", not necessarily a world over thing.

Two reasons: First, in many cultures, feeding someone is a way of expressing love. When someone is suffering, maybe even dying, it is natural to want to give them comfort and pleasure even if it is only a small amount. Secondly, diet and health are intimately connected. Someone who eats well when dealing with illness will recover quicker than someone who picks at a spoonful or two of hospital food gunk a day and then leaves the rest because they don't like it.

Well this sounds fabulous and I will definitely be trying! I'm also imagining these thin shreds in an East-Asian style salad...

I've never seen it in France or Italy, but I will accept that I have definitely not explored these countries thoroughly enough to say that gloves are never used. Incidentally, I suppose this is a rather romanticised use of the word Europe which most definitely does not include the UK! For what it's worth, you will never stop me picking up fruit and veg to take a good look before buying. I promise not to maul anything and make it unsellable/unusable, but I like to look and feel what I am getting!

This reminds me of a number of persian rice dishes where a crust in formed on the bottom of a rice dish, which when the rice is turned out becomes the top. It can be made from pitta, potato or the rice itself and is considered basically to be "the best bit".

I second the call for some kind of salad-y thing. Either Western style salad greens or an Asian style slaw as Katie recommends. Incidentally, how much cream is in the recipe? I may have missed it but I don't think you gave a quantity.