GC++

Have a look here: http://www.fatduck.co.uk/book.html and there: http://www.penguin.co.uk/Book/BookFrame/0,...l?id=0718144368 Good luck, GC++

We just came back from a great week-end at San-Juan Island. Had good diner at the Friday-Harbor house (same place as the Friday Harbor inn). Very good local oysters and clams. The chefs is a CIA graduate and you can sense it - not your regular island restaurant.

Thanks prasad2, I am going to try this shortly. I thought the best way to keep the seekh from getting rusty is to oil them then before using I wipe the oil off - in order to make it "bone dry" I think I will have to wash it - is there a better way? Does the high heat makes the meat contracting to the seekhs so it won't fall? or is it somthing else? With the bread - I still need that pillow-like thing and fire-prof hand cover to use , what about the Tandoor walls brown sugar sirup to prevent the bread from sticking? what ratio of sugar water ? is this important/must? I will keep you posted.

Suvir, Thanks for trying to help (little me ) Until now I have made the first try with the tandoor (not counting the time that I just burned fresh woods to prepare the tandoor - which also was kind of strange as it ripped some of the tandoor wall's coating?!?) I followed two recipes of "Tandoor" book (1) 'Quick fix' Tandoori chicken (one full chicken skinless) and (2) Green Sabja Chicken (which I used Chicken thies boanless and skinless as needed). I started with half a kilo (about one pound) of coal and burned it for 25 minutes. I got my Tandoor oven from a friend that came back from re-location (that's the word high-tech people here call when their company asks them to move to another country for some years) in India. Also I got some 30 Seekhs (rusty which I tried to clean and oil) - two lengths all are with hook at the other side of the pointed edge. In the book I saw the other Seekhs for the breads (sorry I don't have them - yet?). This first try was very close to catastrofic - at start I tried putting the Seekhs with the pointed side down and the chicken fell on the coal after not a long time. Then I tried to get it out and put it in another Seekh with the hook down and the pointed edge sticking out from the tandoor. I think That the major mistake was that the heat wasn't sufficient to "close" the meat. It turned out that those three seekhs were some 40 minutes in the tandoor and weren't ready - we ended taking it out and putting it in the home oven under the grill for 5 minutes and it came done. I don't have any instructions with it, I don't know the vendor (as it was given by a friend who took it from India). Now the questions: a) If you use full chicken - do you tie it (the legs). b) how do you keep the meat from falling down either on the coal (if the pointed edge down) or stack on the hook (if the hook is down)? c)without a thermoprobe(?) - what is the way to know if the heat is sufficient? d) I don't have lids (not for the down part and for the top part) - what should I use, when should I use it? I think this is enough with the sharing of a traumatic experience.

Thanks for the relpy pan, Is this close to mulassa or brown-cane-sugar sirup? I live in Israel where there are just few Indian shops (maybe I can count them on one hand - or even less). I need another expert advice - with the tandoor oven is the thermometer a must? any other tips?

Thanks Suvir for the info. It will be very difficult to get "Mustard oil" and "jaggery" (what is it?) in here. - If I would to make the coating with the mulasas sirup - any idea of the ratio? What about books - is the one that I mentioned is good? what about "Indian Grill by Smita Chandra"? Another thing, I saw in your web-site lamb-chops recipe, is this the same one that I was eatting in Hemant Mathur's restaurant last time I was in NY (they were Superb!!!), Are they done in a tandoor?

So I got myself a tandoor in my back yard. Now it's the time to start explore the Indian BBQ land. I had a brief look at the book called (hope I'm not mistaken) Tandoor by Ranjit Rai Also the guy hwo gave me the tandoor said that before using it fot the first time I should make a sirop-like coating inside the oven ?! - Does anyone know what kind of sirop should I prepare (Molassa + Water 50/50 - or something else?) This is to prevent the breads from sticking to the walls of the tandoor. Then I should fill it with fresh (= not charcoil) woods and burn it for several hours. - Also - is this the way to do it?

Small place but great one. La Regalade - 14 Ar. 49 Av Jean-Moulin Had one of the best (simple - not haut-cuisine like) pigeon. or their cold pot-au-feu (which is kind of imposible).

As I said we are going to have small visit through some parts of France, and just one day before going to Disneyland Paris we will visit Le Chateau de Chenonceau. Regarding going to one castle (true and historical) and another ("magical" and kid oriented), I would say that there are two types holidays: with the kids and without them - this one is with

Thank you both. As this visit to Disneyland is going to be the end of a small tour-de-France I think the food is not going to be the best part of it. BTW is it possible to reserve a table at the restaurants you mention? (Annettes, Rain-forest)

Planning a visit to DisneyLand Paris (=EuroDisney) next month. Has anyone been there? Which are the better restaurants within the resort?

Also very nice: d. I'm using Vanilla flavored olive-oil - simply put some (used vanilla pods + maybe fresh one) in a bottle of your not too powerful olive oil and that's great for salad-dressing Q.E.D.

I buy them in 50 units batches. a. I keep them in an air tight bag (Zipped) in my Deep-freeze - then let them come back to "life" and they shines again. b. Vanilla sugar is used as vanilla flavored sugar powder (Pâte brisée/sucrée/sablée etc.) c. You may use it in an alcohol to make your own vanilla jus.

Did anyone taste either of Aalto wines? (http://www.aalto.es/e_wines.htm) ?

stefanyb - great report , makes me counting the days (or hours) until my next NYC visit in mid Feb. Awaiting going to Diwan myself. G.

I must agree with you all re: trends and fashion. Regarding spiciness of food in Israel, I would say that most people that would go out to restaurants in Israel don't care for hot food, as opposed to spices that are used in eastern cuisine (which Israeli food is very much influenced by) which use sharp/hot spices but to a lesser degree. Another point is the economical issue (as I mentioned before) - buffet lunches are good but tend to be more of a main-stream food and not so inventive. Me - I do miss an intelligently prepared Indian meal.

I will try my best here. 1. Also from that page - Her mother is an Iraqi Jew. 2. The page is advertisement to her restaurants. 3. Emm, this is not an easy one to answer - I would say that I like many dishes, But as my wife doesn't care for hot food (Indian or any) she prefer dishes like Corma. Me - on the other hand - I am more open to tastes also hot. 4. I ate in two of her restaurants lunches and some dinners. There use to be a veggie. Restaurant in South Tel-Aviv where I've been some years ago - it was good also. Now, as the economy is down, many restaurants try to pull clients by using "business lunches" which makes the food less then it should.

Good questions. 1. As written in her web site (Sorry only-Hebrew http://www.rest.co.il/tandoori/index.html ) - she was born in Delhi and came to Israel in 81. Basically she introduced the Indian cuisine to Israel. 3. Yes, Mostly in London - there you may find it more refined, exact and fresh. As a general rule when there is demand the food is better. 4. You may start looking at the menu while eating some breads (nahns of all sorts and chapati), you may find on the menu Samusas, Pakora, regional dishes like Tandori dishes, Curry dishes and more. 5. As it is for some food all over the world it is more of an exotic food for Israelis.

The time here is week-end morning. There are some Indian restaurants in Israel. Most are under the wings of Mrs. Pushkarna. She has some restaurants all over the country (Tel-Aviv, Herzelia, Jerusalem, Eilat). The food there is OK. I would not compare it to good restaurants in Indian-populated cities (like London and others). You may find there classic Indian dishes.