Sam Carter

Definitely love the pate suggestion. What about chanterelle stock? Would be cool to always have a bit of that on hand in the freezer

You could try stabilising the whipped cream with gelatine or agar agar before folding in your strawberry puree, or simply reduce your strawberry puree with sugar to make a thick syrup and drizzle over plan whipped cream, so you still get the flavours without sinking the cream like the titanic. Nice idea, good luck.

A quick response here as I'm late for work but..... 1. Read, read, read. From many sources. Practice. Cover all the main techniques, and most importantly, understand the recipes. You should always know what is happening to your food when you add certain ingredients e.g. why a few drops of lemon or vinegar in a meringue?! 2. Bin or homeless guy. That's part of learning! But be positive, every mistake (should) be something learned. 3. Good question. There's no easy answer. Even if you order one at a restaurant to compare how do you know that the pastry chef there isn't rubbish!? Learn to trust your own instinct and judgments. 4. Experience. But this book is fantastic, and it covers classic to obscure pairings, with recipes. BOOK LINK Good luck to you.