chris-s

Try Le Formal in Aix en Provence if you like the Adria/Blumenthal approach to food. The Menu Expressionisme at 45Euros is incredible value. If you like truffles, the Menu Hédoniste has lots of them, albeit Tuber Aestivum rather than melanosporum, at 65 Euros. Check it out on Tripadvisor or at their own website www.restaurant-leformal.fr.

The chinese tenderise thin slices of tough beef cuts by stirring in baking soda (Bicarbonate of soda) dissolved in a little water: leave to marinate for half an hour, then rinse. Very good for stir-fries

I've never attempted this again! Many years ago, I had sheep's brains in a Turkish restaurant, which I enjoyed very much. I thought I'd replicate the dish, so I visited my butcher who didn't have any brains. However the spring lambs were due in in a couple of weeks and he said he'd keep a couple of heads for me. I collected them and returned home by bus with a carrier bag in each hand, each containing a lamb's head. Have you any idea how difficult it is to open up a lamb's head with ordinary household & kitchen tools? Several hours later I'd used a selection of saws, pliers, cold chisels & knives and I'd got the brains out. Blood spots & bone splinters were found in the kitchen for several weeks thereafter. Nevertheless, I braised the brains, sliced them into a dish, covered with fresh tomato sauce, topped with potato gnocchi, sprinkled with cheese and baked them. I thought they were delicious. My wife hated them!

My wife bought me a tube of Taste no 5 as a stocking filler for Xmas. As someone has said it is basically Italian umami-rich foods ground up with oil. It's added a bit of zing to something I made (can't remember what) but it's not very nice on its own. It got a reasonable amount of press coverage in the UK a few weeks ago, so at least more people are aware of umami. Blumenthal's "The Fat Duck cookbook" has a good section on umami; pp464 int al. As for MSG intolerance, I completely agree with JMillar and deliberately use MSG to flavour savoury dishes because I can use far less to MSG than salt to get a good flavour. I'd recommend everyone to read both of Steingarten's books because he challenges recieved wisdom, they're interesting, well-researched and often very funny. Anyone who has made sourdough bread will relate to his attempts to out-Poilâne Poilâne. And people now are beginning to talk about 6th & 7th tastes...