jackal10

The great thing about gardening is that you can try and see. If the plant does well then great, if not then the loss is only a packet of seeds or a starter plant. Gardens are not static, built to a masterplan with only one possible plant for each place, but dynamic with constant change. That is thier joy. Even if you don't make changes, plants will self-seed or die on their own. I'm a great one for poking plants into gaps. Just try it. If it doesn't work in the place you put it, then move it. or throw it out and try something different I don't know the climate or the area, but rosemary is pretty tough and stands sea air, as do the thymes. Good framework plants. Are you going to put in Box edging? Mint is invasive, so grow in a bucket, or somewhere you mow round. Buy lavender plants, but it is easy to propgate from cuttings. Sage should do well. Many herbs, like parsley, dill, basil are effectively annuals, so you will need to sow each year. Bay trees are good, as are some old roses. Herbs like fairly poor soil, so do not fertilise. The most important thing is to get the ground clean first otherwise you will be weeding constantly. If you are entirely organic you will need to leave it covered so as to exclude the light (old carpet or geotextile) for a year or two. Otherwise till it, leave it for the weeds to germinate, then hit them with glyphosate a couple of times.

Legal Seafoods, Joyce Chen, and that curious diner in a railcar were the staples when I was at MIT lsate 60's. Later Biba's dining rooms. Durgen Park (beans and Indian Pudding) for tourists. Are they still serving I wonder?

Treat it like celeriac: Peel and cut into batons Remoulde, stir fry, mashed with potato, chips, crisps, crudite etc Fairly high water content, so fry carefully

Carts work where the turn-over is high enough. I prefer them because you can see what you are ordering, and I like the spontenaity - I must just have that jellyfish, or that deep fried prawn on sugar cane, or the beef tripe with black beans I see wafting before me, even though they weren't in mind at the begining of the meal. The advantage of menus is for places with less turnover, where each is cooked (or defrosted) to order.

I've just bought Keller's French Laundry Cookbook. {rant} Why do publisher's produce books in over-large and non-standard sizes? Do they assume we all by books just for the look and to leave on the coffee table to impress people who we carefully invite so that they will turn green with envy because they do not have one. It means that this book, no doubt otherwise excellent, will be relegated to secondary storage, in the shelves out of site at the bottom of the stack, and out of its natural place. The chances of it being consulted at random or browsing is thus greatly reduced. {/rant}

In London I reckon New World in Gerard Place has the best. Trolly service as well.

In the 60's the traditional gift was Joy of Cooking (paired with Joy of Sex) Depends how sophisticated they are. Escoffier and/or McGee would be good if they are pas the basics.

You need a clue. Its a vegetarian Indian restaurant in London, Been open for about 20 years old, some way out, but I grew up round there. Well worth eating at. The dosa's are wonderful.

'88 was mostly very good. Parker rates Emile Champet as "good ***", so you have a bargain. Old Rhones are stunning. I like your last suggestion of what to serve it with, but it might be too big a distraction from the wine. If you are serving with a meal it calls for heavy meat or game - a good steak. I'd rather serve it on its own with good cheese, such as an aged cheddar or a stilton, and Bath Olivers maybe some celery. While the chocolate sauce may go well with nakedness, chocolate is death to most wine (and tough on the sheets). Serve Tokay or an old oloroso with the chocoate sauce and some fine strawberries, for desert...By that stage of the meal you can decide whether your partner merits yourself naked as well...

Cheat. I usally can't stand meatloaf but this is OK and easy. 1 lb sausage meat (sage and onion or extract the stuffing from your favourite sausage) 1 onion Chop the onion, sweat off, and mix with sausage meat, or whizz together in a food processor. May need some more pepper. Mix in an egg if you want a lighter texture. Press into non-stick loaf tin. Bake off - maybe 45 mins at 200C fairly hot oven. - I just put it in with the meat I'm roasting. Pur off the fat (an inditment of the poor quality of stuff that goes into sausages) Cool, press if you want. Turn out, slice, eat

s c a t t e r e d o r e g an o *******more cheese****** ........raw egg........ --O----- Anchovies and Olives- --O- 000000 Buffalo Mozzarello 0000 gggggg Green Peppers, diced---- oooooo Onion rings oooooo TTTTTTT Tomato sauce TTTTTT _______Thin Crust____________

I heard today of a Chicago company that will deliver pizzas anywhere in the world in self-heating packaging. Anyone know who these might be? Apparently the pizzas are anything special but the packaging and novelty value are...

Yes, it is in London and rated by the GFG.

The original is Khaman Sakkariya Ravaiya

Nope I must admit I translated from the original...

Damn, and I don't eat out much... OK... cubes of ground chickeas fermented with curd slow cooked sweet potato with black pepper, cumin and lemon baked banana, potato and aubergine

I wonder if this is the same "Good Ordinary Claret" sold by Berry Borthers and Rudd (£4.75)? If so that would be an excellent choice - its really a good wine. Their web site is excellent www.bbr.com In case you don't know BBR are one of the oldest wine merchants in the world (300 years or so), and very snob until recently. Their shop in St James is an experience. GOC has been sold for most of that time, and certainly would have been known and drunk a hundred years ago. They ship worldwide. but at a price Depending on your budget you may even stretch to more than one bottle, or a magnum (£9.95)

They are difficult to make. I'm never very successful, but hen my flaky pastry isn't that good either. The instant dough in a can gives surprisingly good results. Basically its making flaky pastry, but with yeast dough. You can approximate by taking your normal sourdough after retardation, and using it as base for flaky pastry. Use half the weight of butter to the amount of flour in the dough. Make sure the dough is cold and the butter warm - they should be about the same texture. Pretend you are making flaky pastry: roll out the dough, and enclose the butter; give it 4 turns, resting the dough in the fridge between each turn. Work softly. Roll the final dough into a strip and cut triangles, which you roll up from the broad end, and shape into crescents. Bake.

Claret means red Bordeaux, but wines in Bordeaux are not usually made from pinot noir. The main grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and some Petit Verdot. Depends where you are in the world, but prices can range (in the UK including tax) from £3/bottle for generic claret to £60 a bottle for a classic wines to thousands for old special investment vintages of first growths. Robert Parker provides a widely used wine buyers guide, and online sites like WIne Spectator provide a rating service. In the UK, surprisingly, the supermarket chain Tesco has some very good offers in their stores at the moment. If you can say where you are and your budget I'm sure gulleters can advise.

The old rhyme for a punch or cup has it: One of Sour Two of Sweet Three of strong Four of weak Thus One of lime juice Two of sugar syrup Three of rum Four of hot water (or cold Champagne), or shake with ice

It ought to be the Savoy, where omelette arnold bennet was invented, but they may have fancified the menu ...

Oil-seed rape, in the bud is good, like a sweet flowering broccoli. It is a brassica, after al.

Traditionally dishes with carrot are called Crecy after the battle of Crecy which took place in a carrot field on 26th August 1346, . The Black Prince, a boy of sixteen won his spurs, and took the crest and motto of the slain Bohemien king - three ostrich feathers and the motto "Ich Dien", which they have to this day. It follows that on the 26th August the Prince of Wales is invariably served carrot soup, aka Potage Crecy.

Aren't they a bit woody? Mine tend to be.. Radish pods, though, are delicious

I also cannot find it in any of the classic texts, or even more obscure ones such as Andre Simons "Dictionary of Gastronomy" or Cracknall and Nobis "New Catering Reportoire". Looking at the description, with flavours of coriander, ginger and carrot I would think it has quite a modern origin. I can't think of any classic sauce which features ginger or coriander, except curry or sweet ginger sauce. Also it is cream based which puts it before the nouvelle cuisine, but after flour-based sauces, so I guess it is from the 60's - think of all those carrot and coriander soups. If that were so, then the might the Jacqueline be Jacqueline Kennedy (Onassis)?