Carlovski

Once at college I was invited to the senior common rooms port tasting - really gave me an appreciation for the stuff. We started with the bog standard Dows ruby port, then tried a white port (Makes a good aperitif, served chilled) then moved on to an LBV, an aged tawny (Which is pretty much my favourite style) and finished with a 1977 vintage. The guy leading the tasting was pretty excited, he hadn't tasted that one before, and was prety impressed with it. We all were two, as it happened that 1977 was the year nearly all of the undergrads who were there were born! Unfortunately, it then all got a bit messy - being poor undergraduates, and being offered free booze we proceded to 'Taste' all the leftover port - of which there was quite a lot. Considering we had all just had at least a bottle of wine each with our meal you can imagine the result! I did catch our senior tutor ordering 6 cases of the stuff for the senior common room drinks cabinet though!

I'd be up for banning foie gras. But only after Battery farmed chickens are banned first.

A delicious dish Yet something is still missing Ahh, add some Kimchi!

Good choice, but a bit seasonaly limited?

Craig, I am slightly confused - The wine you rated as A+ you stated would require 10 years aging. Is that rating based on how the wine will be in 10 years? If so, that shows remarkable foresight, and if you mean now, what 'Mark' would it be worth then?

I'd say chicken livers - They are one of the few ingredients that taste luxurious and expensive but are still cheap. Lamb will always be more pricey I imagine (Although Shoulder isn't too badly priced normally). Even in the UK where it is quite popular it is by far the most expensive of the 'Big 4' meats (Pork, Beef, Lamb, Chicken). On another thread I was reading (Can't find it now, think it was a discussion on the merits of mutton) a new zealander was shocked at the price of lamb in the uk.

I rememeber reading an article by Fuschia Dunlop (The author of Szecuan Cooking) saying that when she enrolled in the Szechuan cooking school she thought the cleaver was a farely brutal, cumbersome thing, until she saw it in the hand of a master, and saw how it could be used to perfectly bone out a whole duck!

A similar place has just opened up in Winchester (Where I work). It serves basically upmarket ready meals rather than the ready to cook type (Like that place in waterloo station, can't remember the name). It seems to have a worryingly large amount of choice though. Does the whole lot though, starters, mains desserts and wine - probably go down a bomb in Winchester. I'm confused by the choice of dishes that these places do though - people have already mentioned pasta and risotto - probably the two most unreheatable foods known to man - lamb shanks, fine (And probably get better for the reheating), stews, curries, fine - but risotto? If anyone has a way of resurrecting leftover risotto (Apart from making 'arancini') I'd love to know - I always make too much!

I'd like to cheat slightly and have two top threes - one for cooking and one for eating. Cooking 1 - Taleggio 2 - Fontina 3 - Gorgonzola with honourable mentions to Parmesan, pecorino and gruyere (Really cheating now!) Eating (In no order these ones) 1 - Stilton 2 - Kirkhams Lancashire (Great for cheese on toast too!) 3 - Blue Vinny Again with honourable mentions to Good aged cheddar, an artisnal brie, roquefort and most young goats cheeses. Not bad going, asked for a top three, and come up with 12 cheeses, and an entire family of cheeses.

Yes but don't drink the water...... Sorry, not very helpful - couldn't resist!

Yeah, Modern British tends to mean either mediterranian, or french, with extra roast vegetables and served in a big bowl. Or maybe even a Yorkshire pudding.

I like good wine. Unfortunately, I happen to like drinking wine on a regular basis even more, and cannot afford the good stuff on a regular basis. You can get drinkable wine at a low price. Occasionally you even get something interesting. I normally try and sniff out the reduced price bargains at the supermarket - You get some ropy stuff along with some genuine bargains, but, hey, at least it adds a touch of excitement. Tesco's in the UK are trying to push screwcap wines with their 'UNWIND' range. Can't say I have tried any of them, but I am a big fan of screwcaps in general - I am not likely to be laying down wine anytime soon!

Pattern recognition of bubble chamber tracks, but I never finshed writing it up... Not just me that hates writing up then! Surely there can be some process where tinned salmon can become a high quality product - they can do it with sardines, and tuna. Or is there some intrinsic difference?

No, I'm British, but much the same applies. Particularly good tinned salmon sandwiches, on thin brown bread, were served in the Tea Room of the old Cavendish Laboratories, the physics department of the University of Cambridge, and where I did my PhD, and where many discoveries were made, including that of Crick and Watson of the double helix structure of DNA. The rumour was the sandwiches were provided under a trust fund established by Professor Bragg from his Nobel prize money, to provide sustenance for staff and students who had worked through lunch. Tinned salmon is a british instituition - stuff the empire was built on and all that. Rowley Leigh has a good piece on tinned fish Here And yes, tinned salmon WAS a treat (Especially if you got red salmon, as opposed to pink) There shouldn't be TOO many gunky bits though. P.S OT, but what did you do your Phd in Jackal10?

It's a worthy project, but don't forget no-one has ever made everything themselves - some things are always better made by specialists,and don't forget the joy of bartering! If you make 10kg of fantastic jam, keep how much you need, and swap for your friends lime pickle, and another friends bacon etc - assuming you have those sorts of friends. I have a firend who just went loco for chillies this year, and kept everyone in dried chillies, chilli jam, chilli vodka etc. I recommend the RIVER COTTAGE COOKBOOK as a tale of self sufficiency.

I'm always amazed by the ones on packets of things like salt, or cornflour, where they have some 15 ingredient recipe, calling for 1 teaspoon of the thing in the packet. I find some of the recipes on the back of decent pasta packets quite good, the ones which don't involve tinned ham or 'cheese food'

I think it comes down to the old rule that lowbrow, well done is always better than highbrow badly done. I would rather have a good chow mein (Or possible even sweet and sour pork!) than a bad pork belly hot pot.

I will award a prize of a bag of Lamb and mint crisps to the most imaginative use of powdered meat products. Gentleman, start your engines!

They are good - But I don't think you can get them any more. They also did Ham and pickle which were a bit too sweet. Still can't find any Kimchi flavour ones though

mmm, Powdered chicken fat The Lamb and mint crisps are real - I have heard that we tend to have a wider range in the UK than elsewhere. They are in a fairly new range by Walkers, called sensations - slightly more upmarket than normal crisps, but not as good as things like kettle chips. There used to be a range called Brannigans whose gimmick was they were cut thicker, and left the skin on. They did Lamb and mint too, and also roast beef and mustard, which were the best crisps ever - every so often one of them would be so mustardy your nose ran and would bring tears to your eyes. And also very tasty. A sort of crunchy version of Pimentos de padron!

I'm sat here munching on a bag of crisps (Lamb and mint flavour) and I notice a very strange ingredient, 'Lamb Powder'. How exactly would one go about powdering lamb, if you wished to recreate this savoury treat in ones own kitchen?

As someone who's budgetary controls are non existant, I can sympathise! My problem is sprluging after payday, and being skint halfway through the month. This leaves me with the odd position of usually having a large collection of condiments, spices, and non perishable staples, but not a lot of meat, veg etc. Apart from frozen peas of course. They can get you out of all sorts of trouble! So pasta and rice tend to keep me going, I normally have stuff to knock up a nice fragrant pilau, even if it doesn't have much in the way of interesting bits (Or If I need protein, I will normally make Kitchiri - not sure about the spelling, the rice/lentil combo). Al olio style pasta is a favourite as well, with anchovies if I have them, otherwise just chilli and garlic (I also like lemon zest, and a touch of the juice).

Quote of the week

Well I suppose any time you get any Mediterranean influances in french cuisine, that could count. And don't forget, most of the eastern influances are from the southern hemisphere.

It sounds like a nice idea. The Olive oil stand sounds typical - much the same in any supermarket, loads of different brands of identikit olive oils (All italian!) but don't sell vanilla pods, or saffron for instance. I don't think you can expect a full product range, if they really are trying to source locally, and get decent ingredients, 24 hours a day - I know most Farmers markets are pretty much dried up after the first hour or two anyway.