Carlovski

Those OXO knives are surprisingly good - the handles are sooo comfortable (Possibly even too much - too tempting to give it a solid 'fist' grip, which isn't always good). Pretty good balance and weight too - can't vouch for edge retention yet though.

Could this place be at least a partial answer?

I thought I remembered seeing those at one point myself. But, I couldn't find them at my nearest "gourmet" store and they do seem to be absent from the roster at their web site as well. =R= ← I think they were a one off - or maybe they bring the stilton ones out at Christmas time? The UK is going a bit Crisp crazy at the moment - all the crisp manufacturers have come out with 'gourmet' varieties - with varying success (The usual story where they miss the point of better ingredients, careful preparation and go for 'exotic' flavours). Some good ones out there though - Walkers sensations sweet chilli flavour are like potato based crack.

It's all about the crispiness. Even Delia, the high priestess of British Food/football lout realises the necessity of not allowing toast to wallow in it's own steam. I don't actually own a toast rack - what I tend to do though is place the toast in the house of cards formation balanced over the toaster (quite tricky...) to allow it to release it's stema without overly cooling. The important thing is to ensure you get the correct rasping sound as you butter - it should be loud enough to be almost painful on a Sunday morning.

We tend to have a bit of a wider and wackier selection in the UK. I'm sure Kettle Chips (A more expensive 'gourmet' brand, but still fairly mass market) did a roquefort based one, and also a stilton and port flavour as a seasonal special. Neither was much cop as I remember (Not as good as their fine sea salt and black pepper or Salsa with mesquite flavours)

Always good to see another Nong Shim fan - I've been plugging them so much I'm sure people must think I work for them (I don't BTW) I have a bad habit of eating shortbread fingers from the work biscuit tin - very unhealthy. That or Worcester sauce flavour wheat crunchies (See the crisps thread in the UK forum for details...) If I've been out at lunchtime and the Olive guy has his stall out I'll sometimes buy a tub - but once I start on those things i can't stop, so they are no better. I had a brief Biltong phase too - not good on your breath if you have a meeting though! Pistachoes are good - the fact you have to shell them slightly slows down the rate of munching.

Arrggh, I've got the annoying theme tune stuck in my head now.

Any other ideas, or are just going to serve frog nuggets?

A lot of posts talk about buying pizza dough, either from a bakery/supermarket or from a pizza place - not something that is really available in the UK (Well I've never seen it)

I'd have to say if you are going to make that much of a change, why not go the whole hog - with the fruit substitutions you are halfway to a tagine, so why not do that? If you want to stay with the Provencal feel then maybe you could use lots of red pepper - you might want a splash of vinegar to introduce some sharpness though. I have a recipe for oxtail cooked with LOTS of grapes, don't know if it would work with chicken (And not with the olives I would think).

Olives - I went from no way, to "ok, I'll eat things with them in, I'll just avoid them" to "Ok, a little bit when hidden by lots of pizza/salad/pasta is ok" to my current full on olive addiction. Pork Fat - I was always a Jack sprat as a kid. I developed the taste for well frazzled bacon fat some years ago (I always buy streaky bacon) but the gelatinous stuff made me feel ill. Now, as long as it is well cooked - bring on the pork belly! Though I still prefer to see at least 50/50 meat/fat ratio. Things I am still not sure on Mayonnaise - It's more the fact it is used out of place that puts me off even when it makes sense. I don't know why people put it on every sandwich, and I can think of nothing worse to go with a green salad. Avocado - I like Guacamole just fine, but every other avocado preparation I have ever tried I found just didn't work. Maybe it was poor quality avocado - I guess guacamole is a little more forgiving

I feel slightly ashamed even posting this having seen the pizza cook off photos, but here goes... What do people think about ready made pizza bases? Undeniably most of them are awful, either thick doughy monstrosities or thin ones which are rock hard and brittle. I have found one which is actually passable though - the stone bake one from ASDA in the uk - they sell the ones they use to make their own pizzas in the bigger stores. You don't get the melding between topping and base you get from fresh dough (Although you get it a little more than others I have tried - there is a bit of texture to the surface) but the crust itself comes out reasonable - crisp but flexible and chewy. Still nothing like the real thing, but with the addition of decent toppings, applied with a sparing hand then it is much better than any supermarket offering. Anywhere else sell a base that will do when time is just to short to wait for pizza dough? Sorry, I promise to pilgrimage to pizza Mecca to atone for my sins (But is that Naples or New York )

Noseying at the menu I saw 'Smoked eel on Butter Bruschetta' That would be buttered toast then?

I don't know about poaching in milk - I think you'd want some nice caramelisation on them. Soaking livers to remove blood and some bitterness is a standard techniqe, but I don't really find it necessary, but if you do make sure they are dried well before sauteing.

Mussels I'd agree with, but scallops? Definitley more of a payday treat than eating on the cheap (In the UK anyway)

I'll put another vote in for the Plymouth fruit cup. But I might be biased as Plymouth is my Gin of choice too. I did go off pimms for a while after making it for several hundred people too (That's a LOT of cucumber, and I HATE cucumber!)

Chicken livers are a bargain - theyhave the taste and texture of a luxury item, but are are incredibly cheap. I like them sauted on a warm salad (with some bacon as well!). If making pate passing through a nylon sieve is a good idea for the smoothest texture (Normally I'm a chunky kind of guy, but not for this). You can add cream, but I prefer without.

Since the 'secret' ingredient in a lot of CTM recipes is cream of tomato soup I'm not completely taken with it's authenticity - but it can be remarkably tasty, and my mum likes it so I'm not too bothered. On saying that it is a fairly moot point to discuss authenticity - you can't compare fast food or restaurant cooking to home cooking - The fact is 90% of dishes served in uk indian restaurants at least involve adding pre cooked meat/vegetables to a a curry gravy - a necessity for a restaurant offering 20 odd different dishes, each available with chicken/lamb/beef/vegetable etc. Interestingly with UK indian food you do get regional variations - almost everywhere in Manchester (Except possibly rusholme, which as I mentioned is quite different) they do a dish called samba/samber (Nothing to do with a sambhar btw) which is a medium spiced curry made with lentils but with a strong lemon flavour. I've never seen it outside of Manchester though. For what I imagine is slightly more authentic food most cities with any sort of Indian population have cafe/canteen style places which have a handful of dishes bubbling away, usually with a daily special (There are quite a few in the northen quarter of Manchester) you can normally get 2 or 3 dishes plus rice or rotis for about £3, and the food is always good (Although my Dad used to complain the food wasn't very hot, either spice or temperature wise)

I'm slightly concerned - a few of the things people have suggested as what they would be most happy to eat after being left out for a long time seem particularly dangerous to me.

The bean puree is a great favourite of mine - dip, sandwich filling or mash variation depending on texture and spicing. Chickpeas work well too (Add sesame oil in place of tahini for a hummus bi tahini effect - I never have tahini in, but always have a bottle of sesame oil) I have made a spiced coconut, spinach and squash soup/curry before now - can't really give an exact recipe as it gets varied acording to my mood - sometimes more indiany warming spices - cumin, coriander, turmeric etc, sometimes more southeast asian style with more ginger, garlic, lime juice and fresh chillies. Lentils are good in it too, or sweet potatoes (Actually almost anything, but something green and something earthy make a good combo). If you are using baby spinach just put it in the bowls and ladle the soup over, if it's the bigger stuff you need to blanch it first or just cook it in the soup for a few minutes at the end.

Well not buying tomatoes out of season is a start. Long slow cooking of cheaper cuts of meat is a good idea - although you do have to factor in energy costs (Something do-good 'frugal' cookbooks sometimes forget). Less meat - and then when you do have it you can afford to buy meat you are happy with, and I find that the cheaper cuts are better and often cheaper in a good butchers than in a cheap supermarket. More pulses, vegetables (In season!), rice, pasta etc. I steer clear of 'meat substitutes' I am not a fan at all. Stocking up on spices, oils, vinegars etc when you have the cash helps. Also invite your friends round - a big pan of something like 5 bean chilli, or a big rustic ham hock soup costs very little. They will probably bring wine, and invite you round to theirs (And they might have steak!)

Why the internet of course. Where else could we even have this discussion

Not only is British Indian food different to 'real' Indian, the food found in Rusholme is on the whole different to most other places in the UK - around 90% of the 'Indian' restaurants in the UK are run by Bangladeshis, Rusholme is predominantly Punjabi. Most of the restaurants have adapted their recipes to be more standard British indian, but still much of the food is different, sometimes subtley, sometimes not. You also forgot the vital part of the Brit-Indian vindaloo - the potato (Allegedly from a dodgy translation of the 'aloo' part) Also, as has been mentioned elsewhere on the site something that does give that British curry house taste is a little dried fenugreek leaf at the end. Wazaa, Godd point about the onions - it is something I have ranted about elsewhere on eGullet - most recipe books wildly underestimate the time it takes to properly brown onions. Part of the reason I like Camilla Panjabi's 50 great curries of India book, it emphasises the right kind of onions (Not too sweet) and the importance of long slow cooking.

I'd recommend a pestle and mortar for a coarse grind - if you need a lot it is actually quicker (I think) , and you can get better consistency. On saying that I have been using a pestle and mortar all the time since my grinder died on me - you guarantee all the pepper has been freshly ground (you always get some hanging around in the mill) and good control on the fineness. My housemates do look at me like I'm weird though!

Probably only of use to my fellow Brits, but I'd like to put in a recommendation for the tinned sardines sold in Waitrose. They do one in an attractively packaged box (Just a plain tin inside though) packed with chilli (Sardine Piccante), I think they are packed in Portugal. They also do a lemon one. Damned good for the price, plump, moist whole fillets. As good as fancy tinned spanish and french ones I have bought. I had a tin for lunch last night on some garlic rubbed toasted country bread, the chilli inside mushed up and spread on as well, little bit of evoo and a sprinkle of paprika. Perfect sunny day lunch. But I do love my tinned fish!