Nayan Gowda

Slices work best as it allows the flavour to be released. Personally I think that those skiny Indian finger-chillies are best, but jalapenos work well too. I've left the seeds in, but if you are particularly sensitive to capsaicin you may want to remove them.

I have a friend that serves her G&Ts with fresh green chilli and a sprig of fresh coriander (and also a wedge of lime). Works really well; but drink with a straw to avoid getting an inadvertent full-on hit of chilli.

A classic pairing with port is fresh (or rather bletted) medlars. Fresh medlars will probably be hard to come by, but you may be able to source some medlar jelly that you could use to make little tarts.

Nice manicure! (menu looks good too; can't wait to check it out)

Personally, I've been disappointed when I've tried this with a white truffle as the rice didn't take on a huge amount of flavour, and the truffle dried out. It was much more successful with a black truffle. One thing to point out though, is truffles do not have an infinite amount of aroma/flavo(u)r; so using them to infuse eggs, rice , cheese, or whatever, means that you are actually reducing the flavo(u)r in the truffle itself. As far as how best to showcase the truffle, there are some great suggestions above; do let us know what you end of doing and how it was (and take photos!)

Hannibal Lecter? Fabulous blogs so far; really looking forward to the next one.

How about http://www.kimbythesea.com/ It's quirky, but fun. Food's not bad either.

Helen, The Marmite you get out east is made by Sanitarium and is not the same as the Marmite made in the UK (or South Africa). It has a increased amount of sugar and caramel added. It's foul stuff, IMO; and not a patch on the original Cheers, Nayan

I know they do sell knives in Australia. I just want to take care of as many thing as I can while I'm here so I can concentrate on all the things I need to get done once I'm over there. Fair enough. All the best with your move, and enjoy your new life in Oz. It's a fabulous country.

I'm confused; they do sell knives in Australia you know. Why do you want to buy some from the States to ship to Oz? Check out the Peters of Kensington website. The Furi (Australian-made) are pretty good basic knives, and their sharpener is surprisingly good.

Shelly, Try posting some images on the UK Wine Forum. There are a lot of history buffs and the like on there. In fact, why not post some images here too? Cheers, Nayan

I wonder if I can ask the brains trust a question. Where is the best place for a fry-up in the City Centre? I'm doing a quick trip through town between Ukraine and France and have a craving that needs to be satisfied. Thanks in advance. Nayan

Jenni, A grilled cheese sandwich, could just as easily be described as a pan-fried cheese sandwich. Dangerously addictive they are too. Cheers, Nayan

Stephen, Glad the meal went well. That menu looks great! Cheers, Nayan

Try my Nihari recipe... This is my version of a Lamb Nihari. Not sure how authentic it is, but it tastes great. Nihari is a slow cooked curry from North India. Traditionally the ingredients were combined and left on a low fire overnight. It was then served for breakfast the next day with rotis. Whole spices 1/2tbsp coriander seeds 1tbsp cumin seeds 1tbsp fennel seed 8 black peppercorns 2 sticks cinammon 2 black cardamoms 6 cloves 2 dried bay leaves 1 leg of lamb, trimmed of most of the fat 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 3 teaspoons chilli powder (or more or less, depending on your preference) 1 tin chopped tomatoes 200mL yoghurt (I use the Greek stuff) 1 brown onion, finely sliced 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 good knob of ginger, grated Water Salt to taste To serve: matchsticks of fresh ginger fresh coriander chopped fresh green chillis, sliced Preheat oven to 180C Toast the spices in a dry pan until they start to smell fragrant. Remove from pan, allow to cool and grind (you might need to use a sieve to remove any large pieces) Heat oil in a pan (I use a roasting tin), and brown the leg of lamb all over. Remove lamb and set aside. In same pan add onions and cook until lightly browned; then add ginger and garlic and cook until they lose their rawness. Add turmeric, chilli powder and ground spices and cook for about 5 minutes, taking care as the mixture has a tendency to stick and burn (if you find it sticking add a splash of water) Add tomatoes and yoghurt and salt and stir to combine. Add lamb and about 500mL of water. Cover with foil and put in over for 2 hours. After two hours remove foil and turn leg of lamb over in the sauce. Cover with foil again and put back in over for another two hours. After this time the meat should be falling off the bone (in fact you should just be able to pull the bone out). The sauce should be fairly thick, if not gently reduce the liquid on the stove top. Garnish with green chillis, ginger matchsticks and coriander and serve with naan or roti.

One common way of using habaneros is to put them whole (or with a little needle hole poked in them) in to a dish with a lot of soupy sauce. At the end of cooking, you remove the chilli. This adds flavour and a little heat without blowing anybody's head off. Having said that, I love habaneros and can enjoy their heat and their flavour! You could try soaking the chillies in full fat milk. In theory, the capsaicin should dissolve in the milk reducing the heat in the chilli.

Yelp has given me some unexpected gems in London; though I don't know how useful it is with the rest of the country.

Just as an additional afterthought, if you do have a car then Baba Jaga in Soave came very highly recommended by a number of people; though I did not get the chance to try it on my last visit.

Bottega del Vino was very good when I went in November last year. Hearty local food, and a phenomenal wine list (the staff provided excellent recommendations matched to the dishes and budget we had). If you have a car, then I'd recommend the Enoteca della Valpolicella in the heart of the wine region for lunch on Sunday. Really lovely food and great local wines.

And here was me hoping he meant this: http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Honor-Grayson-Brothers-Book/dp/0312982836

Torture? (on a more serious note, can you give us a sense of scale?)

I know the answer (as I was at that particular cellardoor a couple of weeks ago); but as an aside an ex-cellar bottle of the wine in question was recently sold to a collector for $11,325. That collector now has one bottle of each of the 20 Judgement of Paris wines. He's been buying wine for 7 months...

How about make a savoury tomato meringue base? Google throws up a few ideas as to how this could be done.

After putting the mixture in the earthenware pot do you put it in the fridge or leave it out?

I'd suggest that by now they'd be past brined and more "pickled"; and maybe you should now treat them as such. Google would be your friend here.