Carlovski

That will be 2 restaurants to go to then Gary

So - What was the wine? Edited to correct my Grammar!

For UK people (Who still prefer buying books from a bookshop) they are selling this at Sussex Stationers bookshops (Discount bookshop - don't know how far they spread) for £15. I'm going to get a copy as soon as I get paid!

The cider available in most UK pubs is pretty industrial stuff - does it's job, it's sweet (Even the so called dry ones) cold refreshing and fairly alcoholic. Scrumpy Jack has very little to do with real Scrumpy but it is a bit better than the competition. Some pubs will have more traditional ciders on tap - they will be either flat or only slighty sparkling and probably cloudy but will have a much more distinctive taste. 'Real Ale' type pubs might even have some from the cask - i.e hand pulled, especially if there is a beer festival on. Wetherspoons pubs (Although I am not a fan in general) do occasionally and have a few interesting brands in bottles. A better bet for good stuff is supermarkets and off-licenses, there are lots of traditional and single apple varietals available in bottles, both British and french ones. Farmers markets are usually a good place for locally brewed cider - and they will give you a taster! Be careful though - some of them can be very strong without tasting it. Try http://www.ukcider.co.uk/ for more info. I myself like the odd pint of cider - usually in the summer though, if it is really hot I am not even that fussy what kind as long as it is cold! At it's best though cider can rank up with the best drinks in the world.

Nope - no mustard, the only things I added after the curdling incident were the salmon and some green chile peppers

Just had the leftovers for lunch (Stinking out the office!) Not a trace of curdling in there - most strange. The only things I can come up with are 1 - Temperature, Adding the salmon would have dropped the temp fairly rapidly. 2 - Protein, could the fish protein have done something to stabilise the mixture? 3 - Some sort of enzyme - is their anything weird in Salmon? It was very tasty by the way - even better today (Didn't even overcook the fish too much reheating it!) Lots of cardamon and cassia bark in there - very aromatic but still with a good chilli kick.

Last night I was making an impromptu salmon curry (I had some salmon I needed to use, and fancied something spicy...) I fried some onions, added garlic, ginger chilli and spices and then added yogurt - which pretty instantly curdled horribly - I know there are things you should do - add it a bit at a time, use cornflour etc but I've never had this happen before. It's looking fairly horrible now but I press on regardless and slide in some cubes of salmon fillet. Two minutes later neasrly all the curdling has dissapeared Any clue why this happened? I've lent someone my copy of on Food and Cooking so couldn't try and look it up.

Don't you cook the fish in the sauce? That's what I do when I cook something similar.

When we were on holiday as kids my Parents convinced my very picky eating cousin that fried Calamari were onion rings. He was enjoying them until my Nan let it slip.... Trying to trick wine snobs with cheap plonk can be entertaining. If they are adventerous to try oysters then giving them your special rare 'Mountain oysters' could be fun

Does the pork remain tender like this? First off - I know nothing about Congee, but if I tried to do any other sort of slow cooked dish I would not use such a lean cut of meat.

Anything fried works particularly well with lemon - calamari, whitebait and good old fish and chips.

Typical - looks like my best bet in the UK is now Red Chilli in Manchester, and I don't live in Manchester any more Have to give it a try next time I'm up there though

Just to broaden things out - it's not just restaurants. Most people, if inviting friends over, either informally or a full blown dinner party if having a vegetarian guest or guests will provide a vegetarian option. Whats wrong with cooking everyone the same thing? I am not vegetarian, and probably never will be, but I don't actually eat a lot of meat. I'd be quite happy having a vegetarian or even vegan meal, and then maybe it might be more than an afterthought, or a bought in vegetable lasagne.

Strange isn't it - swap the greens and the salted fish for anchovies and this wouldn't look out of place in the italian forum. Greens and salty fish - match made in heaven!

Looks more like a sautee pan than a frying pan... have you always used this type of cookware? hzrt? ← I often read on the Internet forums that someone gets really interested to learn how to cook Chinese food. You know what's the first thing that they do before they even buy a Chinese food cookbook? They go out and buy a wok! LOL! To cook "Chinese" food, it's in the ingredients and the process. Yes using a wok is nice, but it's not an absolute requirement. What you see in these pictures is what I have used in the past 20+ years to cook Chinese food. Yes I am a Chinese. Yes I have used a wok. No I don't current own a wok. I do all my stir-fried dishes with two 12-inch frying pans or sautee pans or whatever they are called - from the set of utensils we received for our wedding. I have been using them and I love them. They are easier to toss and to clean. Someday I might get myself a 12000 BTU or 24000 BTU stove. When that time comes, I will then buy a cast iron wok to make "proper" Chinese food - with "wok hey" and the whole nine yard! As long as I am using these tiny stoves, I am not going to bother. (And Tepee... I envy your equipment! ) ← It's very true - I've seen so many people think - Oh we are having 'chinese' (Usually straight from some jar or packet) and reach for the (usually overly heavy and non stick!) wok. Which they then set to a gentle simmer.....

And what on earth is a 'slow poached egg'?

I always used to use my cast iron griddle pan and just sparingly oiling the meat. Pan red hot and optionally finish in a hot oven for thicker steaks. Recently I have been experimenting with the lower temperature frying in butter then finish for longer in the oven - can't remember where I read that method - think it was eGullet somewhere. I'm still not decided on my favourite yet, I'd say the butter method suits the more tender delicate fillets and the griddle is better for rib-eye and similar, but that might just be a load of rubbish.

I've really got to get out of the public sector

Back when I was at university (A few years ago now!) my Sister came up to visit me. She took me out for dinner and she ordered a Martini. She expected, as you say a vermouth, but what she got was a full whack Martini. Now my sister (unlike me) is petite and not much of a drinker. We had already had a drink earlier and we also had a little wine. Net result has my big sister was absolutely hammered. As someone who was brought up in a pub and has worked in several I'd say in 95% of licensed premises in the UK you are unlikely to get a decent Martini. In my opinion the things are fairly overrated (Maybe I've never had a good one) and supposedly 'extra dry' ones are nothing but a fancy glass of cold gin. And I like my cold gin with tonic ice and lemon thank you (Fresh tonic, from an individual bottle, Lemon -NOT lime thank you, a large measure of gin, Plymouth for preference or Tanqueray at a push if you are asking). In fact in most pubs even asking for a Gin will leave them wondering why you have bought your wife a drink but you aren't having one....

I sometimes make a fairly plain dal with red lentils (Mainly as they don't need soaking and cook pretty quickly) but pour on a tarka made with a finely sliced small onion, copious amounts of garlic and chilli. Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli I end to make extremely antisocial by using at least 4 cloves of garlic (And lots of chilli). I've never tried skordalia - sounds right up my street. I might try it with some garlic from the Isle of Wight - one of the farmers is normally at the farmers market near me.

Cool - thanks for the link. I might try popping in there next time I'm in London.

Marry a Frenchwoman....

The UK edition has an appendix containing suppliers - doesn't the US edition have an equivalent? Strangely in the UK sichuan pepper is fairly easy to find, the tricky things to track down is the right kind of chilli bean paste (Lots of looking at ingredients on jars in chinese supermarkets) and the right kind of chilis (Never managed, but found a reasonable compromise)

The yeast one can be a pain - I have a friend who is allergic to yeast. I never knew how many commercial food products contain yeast (For no obvious reason I can think of)

You might need a bigger smoker for camel!