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I've seen many books that make claims of turning you into a master chef or teaching you michelin star quality food for your own home and on looking through them i often find they are not that great. I was looking for some opinions of people that have read and used it (rather than the often rash ill considered reviews that grace amazon). Have you found the book particularly useful? Do you have any favourite techniques recipes that you learned from this book?

Has anyone read 'Formulas for Flavours' by John Campbell, it looks like an interesting read but i suspect it may fail on its promise of teching restaurant style cooking at home. Has anyone read it or is anyone familiar with the author? Link to book on Amazon

Ate here at the beginning of July, and it really is outstanding food. The hot cold gin fizz is a real delight, the very seasonal betroot risotto was something i would never have considered ordering but was simple and delicious. Highlights for me were the salmon poached in olive oil, the roast quail and the deconstructed tiramisu. Ths is easily one of Bristol's finest restaurants An update on their website and via twitter tells us they are ditching the a la carte and offerign just two tasting menus. I wrote a full review of this restaurant for a local restaurant review site so dont want to repeat it here but if can you see it by clicking here

I thoroughly recommend Casamia - Bristol's only michelin starred restaurant. I visited earlier this month for their tasting menu and loved it. Highlights were hot/cold gin foam, salmon poached in olive oil, beetreet risotto and deconstructed tiramisu. I believe they have just changed their menus and now offer only two tatsing menus and no a la carte. Definitely in Bristol's top five http://www.casamiarestaurant.co.uk/

for the ultimate in salty snacks - you can't beat a big pack of salty pork scratchings. delicious, (almost) entirely natural and pretty cheap. They do tend to pack half you daily salt and fat into a small pack though.

Haven't tried this one yet - i do love cola. i have tried Pepsi Raw which sports a similar list of natural ingredients as red bull cola. I found it tasted a little like the cheaper colas - like shop own brand in comparison to coca cola. Im not sure using coca cola as a taste benchmark is that appropriate though as its tase is essentially sugar and not so many traditional natural cola ingredients

In addition Paul Gaylor wrote the sauces section of the Cook's Book.

I have just purchased this book from Amazon after a direct recommendation from Market Kitchen (a UK TV channel) via a social network so i will be able to give you more infor once it arrives but from flicking through it in a local bookstore it looks pretty good. It covers sauces by region including classical French and this section seemed fairly thorough, other regions included Asia and Pacific Rim and a final section on dessert sauces. There is a small primer on theory covering roux, emulsions etc and each recipe seemed fairly well written with suggestions of what the sauce would accompany. The only potential issue i see is the reciped are only ordered by region and not by main dish ingredient - so you would not for example be able to find a sauce to pair with chicken without searching through the book. That said - it seems a fairly good intro and covers a large amount of sauce recipes.

Hi All, I want to make frico cups (shaped cups from cooked italian cheese) which act as a bed for a fig and parma salad. The recipe uses montasio cheese, which i have been unable to find locally. I have never come across this cheese, can anyone suggest a similar cheese in taste and consistency?

Certainly does seem to be a kohlrabi. I think it's destined for a stirfry. Thanks all.

A mysterious vegetable has come into my possession. It looks like a cross between a fennel and a beetroot. What is it and what should I do with it Click here for picture

Thanks lapin d'or - that's a great help and the roux book will be one of the ones I pick up, that and probably Peterson.

Very happy to provide more detail if you have specific questions about what recipes it contains. Lapin ← If you wouldnt mind as i havent been able to find this in local bookstores and amazon doesnt have 'look inside' for this book. Is it generally a 'recipe book' rather than theory / technique - does it mainly base itslef on classical sauces or are there modern sauces too. I'm looking for a good mix of french / italiain/ asian aswell as some theory on how to vary sauces and tips on matching them to foods. It's a lot to ask for one book i know. In your opinion how much does Roux Sauces meet this? Thanks for the help

The Foodie Handbook from the author the popular Chez Pim food blog Pim Techamuanvivit. The Foodie Handbook on Amazon

Last night, a little experimentation with sauce: Pan fried duck breast, Marsala and Tarragon velouté, Anya potatoes and asparagus. Presentation wasnt upto much - hunger demanded it was served as soon as possible Picture here

Thanks for the replies all. Peterson's books is certainly looking like a good option, though from the reviews i have read here and on Amazon it seems a few people disagree with his general philosophy of cooking. I will try and pick up a copy in a bookshop and have a good look through. Another book that looks quite worth a read is Michel Roux's Michel Roux - Sauces has anyone read this book?

I'm looking for a decent book on making sauces, i can knock out a basic roux and veloute and vary these but would like to learn more techniques and a good range of sauces for various meats / veg etc. Can anyone recommend a good all round sauce book.

Hi All, I'll be spending an evening in southampton soon and am looking for restaurant recommendations. Any suggestions?

At the risk of submitting a sensible suggestion i would vote for Scallops with quail eggs, Sea Bass with Cep Veloute and then raspberry compote with tarragon cream. This makes up the 3 course meal i cooked from his 3 star chef book and i would like to see how it is intended to taste.

Bristol of course. Bells Diner, Moreish, Culinaria, Bordaux Quay, Goldbrick House and our latest Micehlin starred Casamia. There's three food festivals every year indlucing the organic food festival and the bristol food festival and lots of small artisanal delis plus specialist eastern food stores. As well as it's generally a great city to live in, head for the Clifton district. Only a few hours from London by train

I store my black truffles in olive oil in an airtight jar in the fridge. It's kept my truffle fresh and you end up with a nice truffle infused oil too.

Hi All, I bought some ancho chillies from a Mexican foodstore and am looking for suggestions where i can use them.

We decided to have 4 (small) courses this Valentine's Day: Proscuitto, Fig and Gorgonzola Salad Spaghetti al tartufo nero Roast lamb with olive, rosemary and pine nut stuffing, served with caponata Strawberry compote, rose water infused whiped crea, amaretto biscuit

griddled lamb with rosemary butter, asparagus tossed in cumin seed and black pepper, truffled mash. [no photo - i remembered only after i had started eating and no-one wants to see my partially eaten lamb ]

Here in the UK tipping is entirely optional so i imagine not leaving a tip ihere is not as frowned upon as it is in say the US. I wil leave a tip if i get good service, if the service is bad - no tip. If a server or restaurant manager called me on how much i left as a tip i'd tell them why and then tell everyone i knew. It's not acceptable behaviour towards a customer.