Nayan Gowda

There's always lots of kids at weekend lunchtimes at The Ledbury. Really great atmosphere, and the staff take it all in their stride. You might struggle to get a table even this far ahead though.

You are evil; but in a good way

Cold smoking the chicken, then roasting it as normal would probably result in a crispy skinned chook

Boiled beef and carrots is a very classic combination. A fine dice of cooked carrot mixed in with the meat of the dumpling would work well; the sweetness offsetting the other umami characteristics. Or you could take some Bearnaise elements (shallot, tarragon, touch of vinegar) and incorporate that with the meat. Or perhaps a small, old-fashioned European style herbed dumpling?

Make that "steal an idea..." Thanks Mitch

How does one "steal a trend"? Surely you set one or follow one? Or is this a case of me not understanding the American use of the English language again?

Yep, sorry, I think I got the wrong end of the stick with what you were saying; but it's amazing how many people believe you can actually taste the soil in the grapes. I do realise that minerals are present in wine, but (to use your example) you won't get higher concentrations of calcium in wines from vines grown on a highly calcareous soil. That's not the way that porting and translocation of minerals works. What you will get is grapes that ripen later and have lower sugar level and higher acid content than those grown on a sandy loam (for instance). (mostly due to the alkali nature of calcareous soils and the affect it has locking some nutrients away from vine accessibility)

No you won't. What you will taste is the impact the growing conditions have upon the vines and the fruit, and therefore the finished wine. You might perceive that as the same flavour as the soil; and, in fact, growing on this kind of soil may give certain characteristics that are not found from the same variety and clone growing on other soils. However, what you will not be able to taste is the soil itself in the finished wine.

Chris, With what you have, there will be no problem. It would be best off boiling it down in as wide a pan as you have available. Speeds up the process with minimising loss of aromatics.

What infernooo said; chuck

Only been to two on your list. Euston Tap I enjoy, but they only do pizze as far as food goes (good pizze though). Orange is good with a solid beer and wine selection and good food, but nothing really out of the ordinary I'd definitely add The Admiral Codrington in Chelsea to your list; some of the best pub food in London (in my opinion). Also, if it is just beer that you are after then the Rake Bar (in Borough Market) and the Craft Beer Company (Clerkenwell) are definitely worth checking out.

Heading to the Istrian Peninsula at the end of this month. No real plans as to where to stay (more than happy to wing it), however I am looking for suggestions for places to eat. Please can you help a brother out? Look for places as local as possible; will then construct the driving and accommodation around the food.

Sorry, there should have been a smiley emoticon after my tongue-in-cheek post

It's at times like this I wish you Americans would find another word for the language you use and abuse. "Au jus" is not an English word (or even a word) it's a phrase...

That looks like Lahmacun to me. Or it could be manoush, which would definitely make it Lebanon

There's a Jamie's Italian in Guildford; they're pretty reliable

They remind me Slippery Jacks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus_luteus

I'm booked in for Tuesday week. It's been a long time since I've so looked forward to dinner.

Another 2 week trip to Bangalore beckons in the very near future. Anyone have any updates as to where and what to eat?

In Europe, at least, it is illegal to make Rosé blending; the one exception being Champagne.

When I worked in Hungary a few years ago, www.chew.hu was a good source of food and restaurant information (though I haven't looked at it for a while).

Bumping up a really (really, really) old thread. I'm moving to Kazakhstan next week for work. Does anyone have any advice on what to expect food-wise. I will be based about 70km from Almaty so any recommendations of restaurants and bars would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Nayan

Only one way to find out. Do a taste off and let us know which works best. (I favour guanciale, personally)

The traditional Salad Niçoise is made with canned tuna; not fresh. In fact canned tuna is a more pervasive ingredient around Mediterranean countries than fresh.

Excuse the ignorance of an Englishman, but what's a "saskatoon" (apart from animation from South/Central Canada) Very much loving the blog.