nbaines

Ringwood Brewery, which have a brewing plant in Boston USA too, have an Autumn ale called Huffkin, slightly spicy, goes great with pork. Also Badger Brewery does an Autumnal al called Poachers which has berry flavors and goes brilliantly with strong cheeses.

I've just got wind of this magazine. Its so refreshing to see a magazine that doesn't read like a cookbook. That has features and essays that I can relate to. I wish Mr Hayward every success and hope to see Fire and Knives for years to come. Thank you Mr. Hayward. We needed this.

I have two favorite utensils when cooking, both handed down from my mum when I first moved out. One is a wooden spatula and the other a simple wooden spoon. My mum has always had a big jar full of wooden spoons and spatulas and the ones my mum gave me where not particularly well worn at the time. Since then the wooden spoon has been worn down a bit and taken a slight bend to the left, and both are super smooth from continuos use. I have tried silicon spoons but I just can't take to them.

When I get a new cookbook I have it on the coffee table for about a month, I'll spend a good few hours carefully looking over every page, I read all the ingredients to see what flavors they have paired or complimented each other with and read through most methods of the recipes that intrigue me. I often spot ingredients used with one another that I can use to adapt my own recipes or personal favorites from other books. Once the book has gone to the shelf it is brought out when I go on a splurge at the shop and buy whatever looks good, then when i get home I'll scour all my books for aubergine or artichoke recipes.

My wife and I ate at Le Bernardin on a trip to NYC last August. I still think about the meal we ate even now. It was astounding. I've yet to eat seafood since that has taken my breath away so much. I only wish I'd asked for a copy of the menu to take home as It inspired me so much at the time. My starter which was a long thin crouton with Foie gras, covered with the thinnest carpaccio of tuna (and a dressing which which has escaped me sadly) was sublime! My wife has an annoying habit of ordering something that, once arrived, I wish I had ordered. This time Neither her pan-fried red snapper with a tomato consommé, nor my poached Halibut with pistachios outshone the other. I can't wait until my next visit, I do wish I had gone for the tasting menu though but I had eaten a large breakfast and snacked all day so I would definately take MarkisCooking's advice and not eat all day.

ZenTaurus thank you so much for starting this thread. I am 24 and live on the south coast of England and have been wrestling with ideas and looking for ways into working and being connected to food in some way as a living for a long time now. I have a few commitments which has made decisions and ideas sometimes difficult due to mortgage etc, but I do have hope that it is attainable. The comments of other avenues within the food industry is one that intrigues me also. I was Editorial Assistant on a snowboard magazine for some time and would love to make the transition to food writing but i've found it to be a very competitive market compared to that of Snowsports. Through it all and even after reading all of Bourdain's books, MPW's Devil in the Kitchen and many many other chef memoirs and Foodie books I'm not entirely put off by the professional Kitchen. Mattsea - i don't think i will ever be 100% about anything either but im 99.99% sure I want to work somewhere within the food industry or very closely to it. Thank you all so much for your comments and points, I hope to read many more.