[Dinner! 2003]

Masoor dal with sauteed cabbage - nutty, grainy, and HOT. Served with an enormous plain salad for me, and a dressed salad and pile of pilau rice for the person in the house who is NOT worrying about egullet induced spread.

[Raspberry Mousse]

Jon, how did you manage to freeze coulis in balls?

[Dinner! 2003]

Cooked property for the first time in AGES last night. I've just finished a big project, so it's the first time I've had a chance to cook and enough energy to do so.

Haddock poached in pino grigo (inoffensive to the point of being boring in the glass, but not bad for cooking delicately-flavoured things)

A very rough salsa verde (things I had in the fridge/garden: parsley, mint, anchovy in oil, capers, EVOO, lemon)

Boiled new potatoes

Salad leaves with celery and more EVOO & lemon

It all ended being quite nice, and even a little Spring-like.

[Fine Fois Gras Sourcing and Cooking]

Thanks everyone - and I'm also particularly grateful that no-one has taken me to task on my spelling. ( )

I'm very interested in trying to make a torchon. Do you guys think it would be okay on its own with toasted brioche & a glass of Sauternes, or should I make a sauce? I know Jon's been known to do some clever things with oranges fried in foie fat, but if I'm poaching I probably won't have any of that to hand.

[St John]

Heh - mine's enormous too. I'm thinking about buying a belt and wearing it as a mini-dress.

[Fine Fois Gras Sourcing and Cooking]

I am toying with making fois gras terrine for a dinner next week. The minor barriers to doing this I face are:

- I've not tried making it before

- I'm not entirely sure what the best London sources are

Apart from this, I'm dead keen and prepared to potentially destroy some gorgeous raw ingredients in my quest to learn how to make a classic dish. Tips, comments, and advice from your good selves would be appreciated, as always.

[Snacking at the ICA]

If you were out of the movie before 8.30 then there was really no excuse for not going somewhere a bit decent.

Oh, I don't know - Time Out has been raving away about how great the food is at the ICA for ages, so I was curious to try it. But then, it wouldn't be the first time Time Out has raved about something distinctly ordinary.

[Snacking at the ICA]

And you didn't even have three - you only had one and half.

[Snacking at the ICA]

In a fit of self improvement, Kikujiro and I took in Winterbottom's latest film last night at the ICA. By time the closing credits ground to a halt, we were deepy moved, passionately politicised - and er, rather peckish. (I blame the restaurant scene near the beginning.)

Wanting nothing more than to nosh and discuss the film at length, we headed for the ICA bar/cafe/canteen space. We walked in, were immediately overwhelmed by the incredibly crowded upstairs bar, and ended up drifting into a tiny and worryingly underpopulated canteen-like room tucked away behind a pillar. Here the confusion began. There was a menu on the table, but the kitchenette visible at the back of the room was dark. Black-clad staff drifted around with empty dishes, but didn't make eye contact. On closer inspection, the menu gave listings for the bar, the cafe, and the canteen - but we had no way of working out which of those spaces we were in, and the serving times appeared to be the same for all of them. ("What do you think? Does this feel like a canteen to you?" I quizzed Kiku at one point.) Throughout all this, the staff ignored us. Less obsessed souls might have given up and gone elsewhere, but we had already noted the Appreciation of Spanish Pig - a plate of iberico ham, chorizo and other porcine goodies - on the menu and were determined to press on.

"Maybe we need to go to the bar." Kiku offered, sounding unconvinced. Seconds later, he finally managed to catch a staff member's eye, and we discovered that only the bar menu was available (why?) and therefore pig appreciation was out of our grasp. We decided to opt for a tapas-like selection of bacon/chicken terrine, salt cod fritters with chilli ketchup, sweet potato wedges with garlic mayo, marinated artichokes (one each, as it happens), a small dish of olives and and small dish of tortilla wedges with salsa and guacamole.

Overall, the quality was good, though not terribly exciting. The salt cod fritters had a nice texture, but were less cod-y and salty than I expected. Their accompanying dip was sweet and tomato-y, but had forgotten its chilli. The colourful mix of large green, medium black and tiny purple olives tasted mostly of cumin. The tortilla chips were freshly fried (a little too freshly, as they were still shiny with grease) and their salsa also lacked an expected chilli-punch. The sweet potato wedges were wonderful - huge, caramelised, creamy and perfectly complemented by their garlic mayo side - but needed to be cut into managable pieces. The biggest disappointment for me, however, was the layered terrine. It looked lovely, but tasted of very little. It made the missing Pig Plate seem all the more unattainably wonderful.

The ICA bar isn't a destination restaurant, but you could do a lot worse after spending 90 minutes in the dark watching subtitles fly by. Just don't order the terrine. Or believe any menu description that promises chillies.

[Fruitarians]

This made her happy, so she was then going to eat nothing but bananas in the future.

I have a few very young cousins who've just made that exact resolution.

[A gem in Gants Hill]

There is something very appealing about asking a gorgeous waitress what beers they have, getting a sweet smile followed by a lilting "You like wine list?", then having to repeat your request very slowly and carefully a couple of times. The final reward is to witness the joy of comprehension with "Ah, you want Tiger?" and the full face beam. I just melted.

Macrosan, you must, must go to Vietnam. But make sure you take Mrs Macrosan with you, or we may not be able to get you to come back.

But I should probably warn you that the chillies, while never used less than skillfully, are more inclined to blow your head off there.

And the coffe wasn't great, although it was acceptable, and in any case I should have asked for tea

And that's another reason why you should head straight for the source. The coffee in Vietnam is nothing short of amazing. I pine for it.

Edit: Yes, what Winot said. Where the fuck IS Gants Hill?

[Fresh Turmeric Stains, and Choosing Fresh vs. Dry]

Camille - I bought my fresh tumeric in London's Chinatown (I can't remember which shop specifically). I didn't have a particular recipe in mind, but I've a copy of David Thompson's Thai Food and have seen recipes calling for fresh tumeric in it. I knew if I bought some, I'd find a use for it fairly quickly.

I'm getting very inspired by the suggestions on this thread, I have to say. Indiagirl's ideas for pickle are particularly intriguing.

[Fresh Turmeric Stains, and Choosing Fresh vs. Dry]

Camille, I think that may be one of the funniest things I've read for some time. And as I've some fresh tumeric in my fridge at the moment, thanks very much for the timely warning!

[Paolo]

Thanks Serangeli. Looking forward to your Locanda report.

[Ecapital / Capital Revisited]

I like New Diamond too. I wouldn't say it's a stand-out, destination restaurant, but if you're in Chinatown and want to order something interesting it's not bad at all. It's the first place anyone recommended jellyfish to me, for which I am grateful.

[Locanda Locatelli and Fifteen compared]

I guess that might not work for Honest Bob's Used Car Hires, though.

[Frozen white peach purée]

Personally, I use my bad bellinis to wash windows.

[TDG: JAZ Hates Raisins]

Hmmm - so to summarise, raisins are bad because they just are.

Has anyone ever seen JAZ and Steve P in the same room together?

[Frozen white peach purée]

although I rarely drink  alcohol.

edit: But I wish all a smashing time .

You mean you wish us all a good time getting smashed.

[Frozen white peach purée]

Sadly not, Adam.

But maybe if YOU were postable...

[Horse Meat: Sourcing, Preparing, Eating]

I'd have to imagine the thoroughbreds would require some serious braising.

[Frozen white peach purée]

Me too. Wonder when he's inviting us all over for bellinis?

[Hen Night, with a small 'h']

I love the atmosphere at Bam Bou, and once attended a fun girlie dinner in their private room, but the food has always been a bit of a let down. It's presented nicely, though. I usually stick to the cocktails, myself.

Moro would be much better on the food front. I haven't been in ages though, so I'm not sure if they have a private room or not. Anyone?

[Fiddlehead Ferns: The Topic]

Hmmm. Fiddleheads-in-the-UK a topic of discussion. "Canuck talk" on other UK threads. Is it just me, or is the UK the object of a (Great White) Northern invasion?

( )

[Hen Night, with a small 'h']

In fact, don't even mention the "w" word because it seems to increase the costs of everything exponentially. (Not that I'm bitter already, or anything.)