sheepish

@Chris Hennes : By commercial pig nuts I mean processed feed sold for pigs in a nut or pellet shape. They have a specific protein % depending on what you are feeding. Farrowing gilts, weening piglets, fattening/growing. From memory the ones I buy, just because they are what my local feed merchant stocks is about 16% protein. They're mainly derived from soya. And yes 500g / pig/ month old / per day - although when they hit about 4 months I tend to hold it static so for 3 growers never really more than 6Kg/day. It depends on the breed. Modern, improved breeds grow quickly and won't put on fat very easily. If you want good back fat look for older breeds. In the UK that would be stuff like Gloucester Old Spots, Oxford Sandy Blacks, Berkshire, Tamworth. They grow slower and get fatter than the modern stuff like Durocs. @JonDick - I've always been told raw potatoes are, if not poisonous, not good for pigs, so probably best yours wasn't keen. Ringing noses does stop rooting, but rooting is natural behaviour for pigs and personally I'd hate to stop that. Plus when I was young and rebellious I had a ring in my nose and it was sore for weeks!

I have a few pigs to grow each year. They run around in 30-40 acres of mixed grassland and woodland. They are a bit leaner than I'd prefer but it's the only pork I ever see with a bit of marbling. I would prefer fatter piggies but if that means penning them for less exercise, which in my experience leads to them having nothing but bare earth after a month or so, I'd sooner let them roam and have less fat. Just my opinion and conscience. A lot of pigs penned into a nice pasture are going to make a mess. You wouldn't know where mine had been 3 months after they hit the freezer. As for what they eat affecting flavour, sorry, no idea. Mine eat what they can find supplemented by 500g of commercial pig nuts per head per month of age. It's illegal in the UK to feed them kitchen scraps, although you can feed crops that haven't been in a kitchen.

LA You know I completely misread your first post and thought you were saying you were booked in the LMQS for this trip. I was in two minds whether to mention it because I'd hate to put a downer on anyone's bookings, and just because I thought recently it had slipped to very mediocre someone else may love it. The first time we ate there about 4 years ago we had 10 stunning courses and I can still name every one. The times since have drifted away significantly. I've purposely not mentioned anywhere I've got The Square booked in April - first proper meal out we would have had in a year, small children and farm animals taking precedence. But as you've mentioned you liked it, and I still haven't found anything particularly ordinary written about it, I'll tempt fate and mention it now!

This isn't what you want to hear but I think Le Manoir is seriously over priced for what has become fairly ordinary food. Reservations aren't that hard to come by because the restaurant is huge for a 2 star place with I'm guessing 100ish covers. I'd be very interested in how you find it because I've heard they have cycles of great and mediocre, and it's where I first took my wife before we were married and had our honeymoon and first anniversary. I want it to be good again. Both times I've stayed the rooms have been beautiful, and for the money they should be. My cousin lives in East Hendred, Oxon and we had a very good meal in the Wheatsheaf there. Would certainly recommend that. It's not Michelin Star but very enjoyable highish-end pub food. We were there in October and they had some lovely game specials.

Just to close the loop. After starting with those salmon tartare cornets from the French Laundry cookbook (and burnt fingers from rolling them cornets) I went with the goat's cheese on some toasted ciabatta. I really haven't got the hang of photographing food. That is toast, it just looks like bread. The soup was a Raymond Blanc recipe. Just watercress, spinach and water really. It was a bit fiberous for me, despite pushing through a tamis. Reminded me of nettle soup. The goats cheese really lifted it though, as Mrs Sheepish liked it. Followed it with scallops. Totally unrelated to watercress but they were my best attempt at pretty food so far, especially when I cropped out the cauliflower puree which was too firm to slide across the plate. Interleaved with Ras-al-hanout caramel. Hand pounded rose buds and other goodies to make the spice. Then bubbled the caramel to graininess twice when trying to heat it and watch Wales' unbelievable come back against Scotland in the rugby. All that for a couple of shards of caramel on each plate. My daughter loved the rest of it though and has now added "eat glass" to her two year old lexicon. Recipe is from "Essence". Followed that with Fillet of Roe Deer with Lapsang Souchong and Orange from the same book. Tasted very good. Didn't look quite so pretty. And ended with Lemon Roulade which was pretty ropey.

A good tip I learned recently is you can make a good "second stock". After making your stock and straining it into a new container, just pour in more water a do it again. You wouldn't use this as a soup base because it doesn't have as much flavour, but good where a recipe says stock or water. Good as a base for something with it's own strong flavours like a laksa or szechuan braised dish. And I saw it first as a base for your next stock, although I get through too much stock to have that luxury. I often throw in a pig's trotter to add more gelatin. It seems to carry more flavour like that.

I'm certainly not a sommelier, but I like to drink :-) My limited experience of high-end places with scarey wine prices is that the sommeliers find a discrete way to warn you of prices. For example, the sommelier saying, "let me just check what we have on the list that would be appropriate" then point at the list when explaining the characteristics of 2 or 3 bottles at different prices. Bad matches shouldn't have to happen if there are a few choices by the glass. They may not be the most fabulous combinations but at least you won't be serving Pinotage with asparagus. What I do like about a sommelier is a willingness to chat about the wine. I'd single out Per Se in NY and Gordon Ramsay in London as examples where the sommeliers have enhanced the meal far more than just picking good wine matches. But I know sommeliers move about, so you can't guarantee they'll be there next time you visit.

Bit late on this thread, but a shout for thespicery.com based somewhere in the west of England. Very good for middle eastern spices. Just got some sumac, rose buds and mastic from there, plus a few other bits. Impressed with quality and value.

Thanks. Maybe try a different brand of bag. I use a Lava machine and bags. Just mentioned Food-Saver because I think it's the same principle, rather than one of those swanky chamber machines that don't suck all the liquid out. http://www.lava-vacuum-packing.com/

Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I've searched and can't find it. Made a cauliflower puree last night following the method in David Everitt-Matthias' "Essence". This involves placing cauliflower, butter and seasoning in a "sealable cooking bag", and extracting as much air as possible. Then cooking for 40 mins in boiling water. I don't have any kind of temp controlled bath, so this is as sous vide as I can get. I've got a vac-pack machine, just a heavy-duty food-saver type that uses ridged bags. I used that. After about 20 mins I noiced the bag had blown up - apparently full of air. When the time was up I found the bad had split on a side seam. It was still a better puree than just simmering in milk and cream, and the potential is there is persevere with this. I know trad sous vide doesnt cook at these temperatures, but should vac bags work? Do I just need to pack one bag inside another? Something else? Thanks

It's easy to find pretty much any cut of meat online delivered to my door. But if say I want some salsify, or even jerusalem artichokes, who delivers? Abel & Cole look good in theory, but I'm outside their area. Are there any online greengrocers who might deliver nationlly? Or any really good greengrocers between Swansea and Cardiff? Waitrose aren't bad for more unusal stuff, the indoor market in Cardiff is so, so. That's all I know of really.

I like that. And I like those savoury custard things in Japan. Sadly Mrs Sheepish couldn't even look in my direction when I was indulging on our trip, so repulsive did she find the idea of savoury custard. The repercussions of my ordering the "crab set" for two in some place in Osaka, which contained a little pot of custard hiding under a porcelain lid to snare the unwarey is still mentioned in one of those situations where women remember all past indiscretions the moment you try and win a current argument. Inline with the previous post the cheese (probably goat) sounds a good idea.

Mrs Sheepish booked a table for lunch at a local eaterie on Feb 13 to celebrate her birthday, knowing left to me no table would be booked. This is patently ridiculous because it's Wales v Scotland 6 Nations rugby at 14:00 that day, so in a romantic gesture I have offered to cook dinner that evening. Anything she wants. She wants watercress soup, followed by venison, followed by roulade. Venison is no problem. Lots of room for something suitably refined. Watercress soup? I don't do big bowls of soup. I wan't to serve it in little coffee cups. In which case I'd like to accompany by something small, or a foam ontop to continue the coffee theme. eg for pea soup I can use a parmesan crisp or mini croque monsieur. for chick pea soup a ras-al-hanout foam [1]. What *goes* with watercress though as a complimentary flavour? I just can't think of anything. TIA. [1] Blatant rip-offs from imaginative chefs.

I'm jealous. I was there about 10 years ago, before the last, err visit, from a neighboring airforce, and the place is fantastic. Some huge French style (owned?) hypermarkets in the north of the city. Really no trouble getting anything I can remember. And the Chateau Mussar is ridiculously cheap compared to what it costs in the UK. Not helpful for presents, sorry.

We're off for a night in London in March. Planning dinner at La Trompette, unless I suddenly unearth the cash and a reservation for La Gavroche / Pied a Terre. Lunch at Brindisia because I've never tried proper Iberico ham. Maybe squeeze in another lunch at the Harwood Arms the next day. Now, just need somewhere for breakfast. Not too heavy given the other plans. I don't want eggs / bacon / sausage. Any interesting suggestions? Thanks

I've read that too (re nori). Although I've only ever seen nori in sheets for making sushi rolls. Laverbread is boiled and when you buy it it's wet. I've got some in the cupboard so I'll have some for breakfast this week and take a snap. I'm a fan, and even I'll admit it doesn't look appetising. I also like natto, so my tastebuds are not to be trusted :-)

Agree with the post above. Laverbread is absent thus far from this thread isn't it? I don't mix mine with cockles, but I do mix with oats and fry in bacon fat or lard. I'm also very partial to it spread on toast and topped with a poached egg, but that's a different approach to the full fry up. Not sure how easy it is to get outside wales, but it's easy enough to find in tins in Welsh supermarkets, and even fresh from the deli counter when in season.

CNLink. Thanks again! Damp wood and away from the sun shouldn't be too difficult here in Wales :-)

Thanks CNLink. I think step 1 will be working out how to ferment broad beans. Having a read of Fuschia Dunlop's Sichuan Cooking she describes the process in Pixan with beans being held in clay bots of brine and stirred daily for up to 2 years. No hint of the brine make up though. If you happen to see any detail around that I'd be interested. Anyway, I better plant some broad beans, they're absurdly expensive in supermarkets here compared to the amount of beans you end up with after shelling them.

Thanks for the comments. I'm not really surprised no one puts heads on their menu, but I assume any country that eats pork must have at sometime not been able to waste part of the animal. In the UK we have a tradition of brawn, which I've made a lot of before. Thats a head simmered for hours with some spices and stock veg, then shredded and packed into a terrine and set in it's own jelly. I know that's well known in France too. Even my local supermarket sells that, although in quantities that suggest they don't sell much! And where I live the supermarkets don't cater for very adventurous eaters. Without wishing to sound in any way condescending, I always thought of the Chinese as eating every part of the animal, so was just surprised there didn't seem to be any documented traditional preparations I could find. Recipes for ears, and tails and trotters are not difficult to find on the internet. I was just surprised there was nothing for heads. And although there isn't a lot of meat, the cheeks are superb. I've had them in some very high-end European restaurants.

Hi CNLink. I appreciate what you are saying about the problems with making paste yourself, but if you could provide even one recipe it would help those of us who like to try things just for the sake of trying. Thanks.

Well, I'm guessing there isn't much experience of this on the forum, so I thought I'd have a go. I've no idea how "traditional" this is, but I based it on a recipe for belly pork from Fuschia Dunlop's Revolutionary Cookbook. First take your pig's head. Remove remaining hair. I think a razor does this best, but a blow torch does it fastest. I use a blow torch. You really need to give it a good scrape with a sharp knife after that to remove as much bristle as possible. Remove the meat and skin in one piece. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it came off in a few pieces, but it's easier to handle later in a single piece. I did this at lunchtime and wasn't going to cook with it for a few hours so I popped it in a plastic bag with some crushed ginger, garlic, salt and shaosing wine. I'm not sure if that made much difference to the finished dish. Place head in pan of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Dry head on a towel. Rub with shaosing wine. Not too much - it's going to splatter you next. Fry in hot oil for 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Place skin side down and slice into approx 1cm wide slices. Nothing longer than about 8cm. Lay slices in a ceramic bowl with the skin touching the bowl. Sprinkle with 3tbsp salted black beans, 2tbsp light soy sauce and 2tbsp dark soy sauce. Place bowl in a steamer and steam for 1.5 - 2 hours. There's no hiding there is a lot of fat and gelatinous skin in this. Ideally I would have served with better pickled veg - something crunchy that had been in brine for a few days, but plenty of plain and pickled veg is going to be best for this I think. Here it's with some bean sprouts dressed with rice wine vinegar, chilli, garlic, light soy sauce and coriander. Green peppers fried in hot oil for a few mins and dressed with a little salt and rice wine vinegar. And some steamed brocolli tossed in hot oil and chopped ginger, with sesame seed oil drizzled on in the bowl. Get the snout before somebody else does!

Waitrose have them as part of their forgotton cuts range. I very rarely shop there but if I see they have cheeks I buy all they have! So they certainly are available. I have a few sheep I farm each year, and I can never get the heads back from the abbattoir, because I want the tongues and brains, so there must be a special arrangement going on somewhere!

Hare Biriyani is good. I made this last year and enjoyed it. My wife isn't a hare fan, so unfortunately I don't get to cook with it often. http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/594473 Wild rabbit I find dries out very easily. I like it marinaded with thyme, garlic, rosemary and olive oil and then barbequed. Another favourite is to combine garlic, paprika, tumeric and cumin - rub into jointed bunny and leave for an hour or so. Fry some onion, then add a few sliced preserved lemons, add bunny and some stock. Lid on and cook gently for about 20 mins. Serve with couscous. Mallard. I like plain and roast with all trimmings - bread sauce and game chips. Last week I confited the legs, fried the breasts, served with caramellised chicory and carrot puree (500g finely chopped carrots cooked in their own steam with star anise and tarragon, then add juice of 6 oranges and cook hard to reduce the liquid. Blend and push through a tamis). Veggie ideas nicked from Aiden Byrne's book - which he serves with roast Mallard.

I've got a few pigs heads I really need to use up because they are taking up valuable freezer space. I've made plenty of brawn in the past, but I want to do something different with these, and not as fiddly as TFL recipe for rolled head! I'm guessing there must be some good chinese style recipes for head? They seem to value pork fat, and let's face it, that's mostly what a head is. I'm thinking the steam and then crisp approach must be good, but would welcome any experience, or real recipes. Fuschia Dunlop has let me down for once :-) Thanks