jmacnaughtan

I wouldn't agree that the wars were responsible for the decline in British cuisine, but rather that the Industrial Revolution was the trigger. This generally served to eliminate much "local" produce and cuisine, driving people into cities and instilling a more scientific approach to food. This is still the case today, where much more emphasis is placed on nutrition, the diet and animal welfare than in countries such as France. You can also see it in many households, where many dishes are still indiscriminately served with a side of boiled vegetables, "because they're good for you". It also led to a widespread embrace of new technology in the food industry, which provided labour-saving processed food and generally turned the working population towards the notion of food as fuel, rather than something to spend time and energy over. Luckily, there has been something of a renaissance in local British cuisine over the past couple of decades, with a lot of excellent restaurants embracing local ingredients and dishes. Day to day eating can still be pretty utilitarian though - most meat is generally consumed in a heavily processed form, from sausages, pies and kebabs to burgers and pasties. Which I love! But they're clearly not for everyone.

Just keep the oyakudon as it is, and serve with a two-litre cup of Mountain Dew. That ought to do it.

I'm intrigued by the savoury recipes on this thread - it's a direction I've never really gone in. I have however given up trying to make a cherry dessert that is more appealing or satisfying than just eating them straight out of the bag. And yes, I have tried clafoutis many times. Just not my thing.

They rarely last long enough I'll try and remember next time

I've started to eat far too much grenki. They're fried bread soldiers, normally black bread, salted and served with garlic mayonnaise for dipping. Great beer food.

That's the only reason I keep it - to beef up banana flavours in desserts. A bottle generally lasts a long time...

When I heard bacon jam, my mind went to sugar and pectin, and recoiled. Luckily, reading @lindag's recipe, it doesn't seem to be a jam at all. It's pretty much just an onion chutney, and that makes a lot more sense. I can imagine this being good with a burger.

Good wine choices! I just discovered PP champagne last year, it's great stuff.

The height may be an issue. Generally, the ones I do and have seen are done in 4.5cm rings - this is plenty of height to get mousse and any inserts you want. If you double that and more, you'll need to really start thinking about your structural integrity. Maybe layer up sponge and inserts from the base, rather than have them supported by the mousse? I generally don't bother suspending anything in the mousse at all, rather just using it to encase the base and inserts. You might also want to look at what you're putting on the cake. Excess weight of decorations or thick glazes might be pulling it apart. Additionally, it may be the quality and/or age of your gelatin. For reference, here's one of mine from a while ago.

Thanks! When I'm happy with it, I'll put the recipe up on recipegullet 😎

Still working on my potato pie - this one had a butter made with Trou du Cru cheese (a mini époisses), and went with a ten-week Aubrac sirloin.

Interesting choice, I've never done anything with that cheese except eat it. Does it pair well with the tomatoes?

Traditionally, it has no cheese. But I can go either way

Excellent! Quiche is far too often overlooked these days. Cheese or no cheese?

So what did everyone else have? Sorry, couldn't resist.

That looks fabulous. However, I'm not sure I could handle being served four fries

This reminds me of walking into a bar in Troyes a year or so ago. One of the regulars turned and said, "hey, it's the giant of Flanders", to much amusement. Turns out he was referring to a rabbit. And no, I still don't get it.

So how was it (the wine, not the vaccine)? I've never tried an American wine with any age on it.

Great sauce! Although I've never seen it cooked separately from the chicken 🤔 My third run at a potato pie, this time more of a pithiviers. Next time I'll mould the filling before covering with pastry, the result here is a bit squat and lumpy for me...

I've checked out Le Ponclet's website, and they do sell their butter retail... for 60€/kg. I've almost certainly tried it in restaurants, though, but I never ask the name. Bordier seems to be a good balance of availability and quality, although Monoprix has been doing an excellent unpasteurised butter for some time too, for less money.

I've heard that you can only get Président over there, and if it's true you have my condolences. It is not the benchmark.

Excellent topic. Butter is very much a super-food In the morning, a fresh baguette with good salted butter is excellent paired with either soft-boiled eggs or honeycomb. Bread-salt-butter-honey in particular is outstanding, and I've been trying to come up with a decent dessert built around that for years. I've also wanted to host a bread, butter and champagne party for some time. This is a trinity that works very well. The closest I got was a vernissage in 2019, in which I smashed together a kilo and a half of Bordier salted butter into a pat and let people have at it.

Friday night is steak and potato night, but I'm running out of interesting potato recipes. I also apparently need a way to crowbar more carbs into my diet. So, what's better than carbs on carbs? Carbs in carbs! This potato pie is loosely based on the Tourte Bourbonnaise, and is essentially shortcrust pastry, potatoes and a shallot and sage butter. It's 16cm across and would probably feed 3, or a hungry 2.

If you want some of the heat from the mustard, add some in right at the end. The pungency gets destroyed by heat.

That looks really interesting. What do you think it means by "cooked through"? Just-cooked, or pull-apart tender?