Carlovski

Seems odd that it took 40 years to put olives on the menu. I'd be interested to see what the breakdown of sales is per Pizza type. I get the feeling that they could have saved a few more bridges if they put the venice contribution onto the American or the Sloppy Guiseppe. The leek and rosemary one (Prince something) sounds interesting, not one of their New New ones, but must have been added since I last went I think (Unless I just bypassed it, you don't really need to read the Menu in Pizza Express!)

Some of them are in very nice buildings too - The Winchester one is built onto a National Trust building and has some lovely views. Garlic Dough balls are strangely addictive for what is just Dough and butter as well!

Pizza Express (Described as 'Mcdonalds for middle class people by my friend) is 'updating' it's menu,see here. Not sure about some of there 'innovations', but I am strangely fond of the chain, and hope they do well. It's always been a reliable standby when out in a group. Usually along the lines of Where shall we go? Somewhere cheap! Don't fancy Indian. That place is rubbish, Oh sod it, lets go to Pizza express. At least they take some business away from the unspeakable evil which is Pizza Hut.

On the 'Big' Caesar Salad issue - Have you seen his recipe for it? I was flicking through his new book yesterday, looks quite nice, but it's got Bacon in it (glazed with maple syrup!) and a poached egg. It's not a Caesar salad. S'pose a Gordon Salad doesn't sound the same though. Although 'Salad Gordon' has that 1930's Hotel dining feel about it!

Someone at work mentioned that the shirtless shot was actually written into his contract - apparently something to do with his gay following. Probably not true, but a good story anyway.

There are lots of meals that are all in the shopping - bread, cheese, cured meats. As has been mentioned, Omelettes take minutes. Never underestimate a good sandwich either - 15 minutes is plenty of time to cook some bacon - always improves any sandwich! Supermarket bags of salad are a godsend (One prepackaged food item I am happy to use). You can make it heartier by frying up some lardons of bacon/pancetta, or even cubes of chorizo, crunmble some goats cheese or blue cheese, chicken livers, add a poached egg etc. Pasta - lots of options, with oil,garlic and chilli (Maybe with Broccoli/greens/whatever is in season) simply with butter and parmesan, and you can knock up a quick tomoato sauce in ten minutes with tinned tomatoes. Also - Here is what I had last night - Chicken stock (From a cube ) with Thai Tom Yam paste, some shredded greens, coconut milk, salmon (skinned, boneless, filleted from the supermarket - I was in a hurry!), chillies and lime juice along with some fine noodles - all in one pan, took less than ten minutes. Inauthentic as hell I'm sure, but tasty, and quick all the same.

Chinese black rice vinegar is amazingly complex - also very cheap from chinese supermarkets. Probably not what I'd use for my vinaigrette though!

Anyone up for a beer and pickled egg crawl? The Wykeham arms in Winchester is a good example of a serious food pub, where you can still enjoy a pint at the bar. And they sell (Very good) sausages over the bar too! Can also recomend the Willow tree if anyone is in Winchester.

I'd second the microplane grater. Parmesan, ginger, nutmeg, garlic, lemon zest - rips through them all. Unfortunately does knuckles as well

I personally like cheese with a good quality hard cider. More of a sat in a field chewing straw treat than haute cuisine, but it works for me!

Whenever I am feeling ill, for some reason I always crave spicy food. With a cold it is understandable, at least you can taste it! Thai style hot and sour soups, with or without noodles are a favourite. Strange thing is, I also have to have spicy foods when I have an upset stomach, which all my family find very strange. It may be partly my body expressing a need for something too, as I quite often want something salty as well. A while ago I had to go on a trek to a place I knew did just what I needed - Salt and chilli fried squid and king prawns - put me right in no time!

Simple. Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood). At least then they will get a bit of blood with their steak!

For any Sommeliers reading, what would you say to a customer asking for a wine recommendation to go with a well done steak?

Traditionally you could always get these from a British Fish and chip shop, either for free or for a few pence. They were known as 'scraps'

3lbs of the stuff? Won't it have lost it's potency by the time you use that much? I use quite a lot, and a small jar still lasts me a couple of months.

Neither. Real Englishmen use dishwashers. Cheers, Howard Not quite right. Real Englishmen have Wives. Or live with their mum. There, that should get this thread shut down (And I didn't even start on things I have seen in Spain)

And how old are you now? Is this supposed to be funny? If so, can someone please explain it to me? I assume he is just trying to work out when it was. (I think Andy is a Brightonian by the way)

And how old are you now? Wasn't with you was it Andy?

This is all true I'm afraid. It may have quite a lot to do with the scarcity of mixer taps in the UK, you have boiling hot or cold. Quite tricky to rinse effectively. The trick to doing a reasonable job is to make sure you wash glassware etc first, and pans last. Personally I do always rinse by the way. When I used to wash glasses in a bar with no washer, We used to two sink method. One with soapy water to clean, and a 'Plunge pool' to rinse them off. On a side issue, I am a 'stacker', I'll stack it up until I have a reasonable amount to wash, then do the lot (Including my housemates). I know people who turn there noses up, and say they always wash up straight away. In my experience, these are the worst people for leaving things stuck to pans, greasy plates etc. It's like many people I know who have very tidy houses/flats but have things rotting in the back of the fridge. Whereas I am very untidy, but always make sure anything food related is clean and everything is fresh.

Why does coke taste so much better out of glass bottles? Any theories? I like D&G Ginger beer, not sure where it comes from, but it excellent, with a real ginger lingering burn! It's quite widely available in the UK anyway. We also have A company called Fentimans who make naturally brewed sodas, a bit more highbrow than your usual, and a bit more pricy, but excellent. They are slightly naturally alcoholic (Even the Cola, called curiosity cola), the ginger beer and seville orange jigger are especially good. Not sure if you can get them outside the UK though.

You could pick up some dorset knobs.

Doneness (Is that a word?) does seem to suffer from escalation (Especially bad in the UK, where medium tends to be translated to just before it sets on fire). Maybe Steakhouses should offer pictures. Less ambiguity, just point. I wonder if it is partially to do with people ordering medium who really want well done after reading what happens to well done orders in a popular book by a certain New York chef and eGullet member?

Can I also add Jars of pasteurized salsa - basically any that don't need refrigerating. Gloopy, soggy and invariably horrible.

Bacon Medallions - think thats what they are called. Saw these in the supermarket the other week, basically it is the oval shaped pure meat part of back bacon - no fat at all, sold at a huge markup. Mmm, dry, tasteless and expensive! 'Fresh' pasta as sold in supermarkets. Great bit or marketing here. People will buy this, but shirk at buying half decent brands of dried pasta (Waste of money). Scary thing is people who buy it, and then freeze it, thinking that it is better than dried. Sunny delight. Don't get me started on that one. Every time i see a kid drinking it I want to punch the mother in the face. Ok Possibly a bit harsh. But that stuff gets me angry! Oh, and celery

Yes, this oil is exactly what all the Chinese restaurants have. I'm looking for something hotter, though. When I have take-out food, I slice-up some serranos and/or habaneros and scotch bonnets and add them to the food when I re-heat it. With the original question above, I was looking for a way to make an "oil" or condiment from the serranos and habaneros and scotch bonnets that I buy in the market, to take (smuggle into) the Chinese restaurant(s) when I dine there. All suggestions greatly appreciated! Incidentally, I'm finding that That restaurants are able to make food that's much closer to "hot enough" for me, and was also asking about the differences in the various peppers - Szechuan, Thai, and the ones I've been buying - serrano, habanero, scotch bonnet. Woh, hard core! Not sure quite why you would want to, I love hot food myself, but wouldn't really want to overpower everything I am eating in a restaurant with haberanos. I could imagine certain establishments taking some offence at that (Although I think the story of the Chef throwing customers out for adding there own salt is a bit of an urban myth). I did always take a bottle of chilli sauce to mealtimes at my old college - but that really did need the help!