MobyP

It does feel like London has stalled a bit. Aikens is great, but not a million miles from some of the other high end places, Chavot or Howard. Petrus, Connaught, Claridges - echoes of Big Boy Ramsay. Yauatcha - Haakasan with a touch more laquer. As always, London is flooded with low end places - some brilliant, but most middling. Of the mid-range places like Racine - there should be 20 of them, all of them representing something different. Instead - well, how many can you name? Chez Bruce is half-way between Racine and RHR. A year or two ago, there were openings like Thyme, which were terribly exciting. Where now? Bloody Shumi? Rhodes? Has London slowed down? Is the market saturated, or are we being blasé? Outside of London, still leading by a beak is Fat Duck, then Ludlow, Anthony's etc. What's going on here? I still say we send in the Territorial Army to bring 'em all South of Watford.

It's true that Trianon were less than absolutely polite with me, but ITALY WAS PLAYING FOOTBALL!! I was just glad they didn't kick me into the street and pour a bucket of water over my head. I think it was out of sympathy for the English loss the other night. Thanks for the info about the cheese - I had no idea. Also, the pastries in Naples were fantastico. The sfoglietelle (sp?), stuffed with ricotta and candied orange - unbelievable. I think I want some placed in my coffin before they close the lid.

Just thought I'd let you know I carried the New York pizza survey To Napoli... Hope you approve.

My wife and I decided we needed an emergency vacation - one of those last minute see-what's-available trips required for the suturing of the spirit. As we found ourselves heading towards Naples, I looked up those threads I could, read about Da Michele and Trianon, and thought I should give a New York Pizza Survey-type report. Also, we went to a place called Lombardi in the Centro Storico district, but no pictures, I'm afraid. My apologies generally for the quality of the pictures I did take - poor lighting and embarassed train-spotter syndrome got the better of me. We kept our ordering basic, so we could compare. Also, Kate caved pretty quickly, and there was only so much pizza I could eat on my own (flight home last night holding my belly, feeling like an illicit pizza mule). Interestingly, my preconceptions were really smashed in just about every area. At first I thought it was the particular place I was at, but it was a consistent style of all three. My apologies for comparing it to New York style, but that's where the best of my pizza junkie days took place. To start with: The Sauce This was much soupier than the New York pizzas I'm used to - and far, far less reduced. Rather than a smear, as in NY, this was pretty much ladled on, leaving puddles. The taste was far simpler, cleaner. And it worked off of all the other elements, rather than something you'd have on its own. The Dough The dough, especially in the middle, was extremely thin, but also very soft, rather than the firm and crispy I was expecting. It was far closer to what I think of as a piadine crust, than a pizza. The ovens are ferociously hot (900f or so), and they're only cooked for what seems like 3 or 4 minutes. This leaves you with a mixture of savage blistering, usually charred, and very soft almost bread-like dough. The taste is developed, but not too long or overbearing. The Cheese This was the revelation. All the pizzarias used 'fior di latte' cheese, which I guess is the initial curds which float to the surface, and then processed similarly to mozarella. But the taste was loooong, and luscious, and milky. I think if anyone ever tells you to use cheap cheese on your pizza, you should beat them with a stick. This stuff was remarkable. The basil A small point, but having just lived in California for a couple of years, and previously NY for about 6, I couldn't stand the basil you get over there - expecially in CA, it had this domineering liquorice taste to it. And no one else knew what I was talking about because they hadn't tasted the European kind. Anyway, it was nice to get a pure basil hit off of these pizzas. So - to begin: Da Michele serves two kinds of pizza, with three variations in size. The oven... As you'll see, the shapes are much more irregular. The Marinara pizza wass fantastically simple, with some garlic thrown in the middle. The Kinsey-Char index was pretty high.. Let's give it a 7, The blisters were cindered from the heat, leaving the rest of the dough soft and malleable. The taste was very clean, but not all that indulgent. I could imagine it as something I'd get very used to indeed. The Margherita, on the other hand, with the addition of the cheese, was marvellous. The Kinsey-Char index was fractionally lower, say 5.8 But the addition of the cheese made up for it. Again, it just has this incredibly long, milky taste, which blends with the simpler tomato flavours to make a terrific combination. Next to.. which is, as mentioned, just across the street. These pizzas were more regular shaped With a Kinsey-Char of around 6.8 At this point, having eaten the best part of three pizzas on my own after a really big lunch elsewhere, I remembered the oven-spring money shot... which as you can see is not all that significant. But then, they're only cooking these things for a few minutes at most. Overall my preference was for the Trianon pizza as a more consistent over-all experience. The cheese was luscious, the taste long, the char sufficient, everything was good. I might add that they made this for me (heroically) while trying to watch the Italian game on tv. But I can see that if my palate developed, and I became more Napolitan hard core, I might return to Da Michele. Hope this earns me my pizza pervert of minutiae Scouts badge.

I'm not sure it's the right one - there doesn't seem to be much there. Can you give us a run down on what a dough sheeter is, what it does etc? It had better start by bringing you a cup of tea in the morning!

Ka Bling! (Wish is my command etc etc)

eGullet - Finally, a very real alternative to a comfortable retirement!

I was thinking she undercooks her caramel (I was looking at that recipe and picture yesterday too), which explains why she says earlier that she'd "given up on tatins." Hah! The pastry sounds marvellous though. Maybe you should lead the way, be selfless and noble, and then give us a thorough report.

My whole process hass changed with this new kitchen - it's about half the size of anywhere else I've been - and it means I need to be much more efficient with space, and organized as I go along. Empty dishwasher, clean surfaces before you start. A must. Otherwise you'll spend the whole evening catching up. But I still can't figure out how I lose it towards the end. When all of the pans are out of the oven, and you're transfering everything to serving bowls or plating it directly etc. - you want to get it to the table before it gets cold. How do you find time to wash?

I'm pretty good about cleaning as I go - up to a point. On those big meals I hit the wall where there's too much to do - sauces to finish, garnishes to warm through, etc - and stuff starts piling up. How do I get better at this? It's always the last 10-15 minutes that get me.

If the pasta is thin enough, and fresh enough, you should only need a minute or two (and so wouldn't need to freeze it); which is enough to raise the egg yolk temperature high enough to 'cook' it (think custard) without actually setting it.

Nothing like a bit of crunchy rosemary in the morning.

It seems to be quite a casual style of dining. The Dinner Menu: (Dishes range from £7.50 to £18. ) Roasted local hand-dived scallops with lentils. Warm salad of skate, new potatoes, fresh peas and mint. Grilled boned quail with roasted spiced peach. A bowl of langoustines with a garlic mayonnaise. Slow roasted duck leg with a hazelnut salad. Rib of South Devon beef, spiced herb butter with chunky chips. A whole Slapton seabass baked in a salt crust. Brixham turbot grilled with fennel. Pickled local mackerel served with cucumber and sour cream. Puddings Harberton raspberries with a white chocolate mousse. A lemon tart. And even more casual for Lunch (Dishes range from £6 to £14.) A bowl of fresh local mussels with chunks of crispy bread and a glass of white wine. A fresh Dartmouth crab salad and a glass of beer. A warm local goat’s cheese salad with a walnut dressing … try a glass of Sancerre. Chicken and duck liver parfait, spiced pear chutney with a slice of toasted brioche. Fresh, Budvar battered fish and chips with a long, cool lager. Dittisham asparagus with hollandaise sauce … delicious with a glass (or bottle) of good Chablis! A slice of hot chocolate tart with white chocolate ice cream and a cup of coffee. A bowl of strawberry ice cream with a buttered shortcake biscuit.

So the New Angel is now officially open? Funny I haven't seen any press. Here's the website.

89% Pork??? That means the other 11% is water soluble chemicals, right? And six different versions of sodium? Is this their equivalent of brining? You think you're getting moist meat from the quality, instead it's packed with glucose and sodium. Duncan - unless you're saving it for a science experiment, get the petrol and matches. Really, we'll have a whip around, and get you some proper chops. Thanks for doing that. Maybe we should compare the ingredient list from the 'best' lines of other supermarkets.

I've had problems with this in the past as well. How about a drier mixture - i.e. standard one egg to 100g - and then allow to dry to 10-20 minutes before cutting so it starts to become leathery. Douse it well with the semolina before folding, cutting, bundling.

When I was in California, Wholefoods ordered some for me at special arrangement (as well as other odd items). If there's one near you, you might be lucky. They're not difficult or complicated to deal with, once you get past the initial oddness of new anatomy.

Tears of joy, of pain, of feeling stuffed, and of never wanting to see another tarte tatin ever again.

Which leads to an interesting question - the abundance of 'Indian cooking' in the UK has (I'm told) very little to do with actual Indian cooking, and more to do with satisfying the English post-colonial palate (nothing like returning from several hundred years in India to cold-mutton and boiled beef to ruin your day). The Chicken tika marsala to which Mongo refers is an invention which was created in the UK for the English. So you could say that the often poor, occasionally sublime Indian cuisine we take for granted is already the misnomered New Indian Cookery. Although let's not go to Mumbai and ask what they think about it. Of course, as with Italian food, the search now goes in two directions simultaneously; the first is towards regionality and authenticity, and the second towards experimentation and authenticity. I agree with Jason as to the moniker. Recently there was an event in the UK called the The American Food Revolution. Of the chefs who were invited to come over from the states, approximately half were about as American as Schwarzenegger. But this goes towards the idea not only of the US co-opting cultural or aesthetic practices from other countries (as being the guardian of parts of those transplanted cultures, it sees itself as the beneficiary), but oppositely the inate desire of immigrants to those shores to be viewed as American. For those who chose not to be included, or co-opted, the practice smacks of an odd sort of franchised colonialism. Still, to return to my earlier point, I think the American Food Revolution was about as American as New Indian Cooking was Indian. The meal sounded fantastic. I wish I'd been there.

Yes to 1). And I follow the Ramsay thing as well, leaving them peeled (for as long as possible) before cooking. The liquid from the apples can dilute the caramel. I've never used five spice though - what does it contain? The RHR Tatin is pretty bloody good. It's such a massive hit on the pleasure centres - like an injection of heroin - you're bound to start smelling things!

Could you go into this further? What business practices determine thhe choice of generic brand products?

Offcentre - welcome to eGullet! I lived in Horley for seven months - and it's almost exactly as you describe. One Waitrose, one butchers, one Lidl (or like). One market (pre-packaged meat, underwear, mobile phone covers). It drove me up the wall.

Ok - time to make a list: Things I've given up buying from Supermarkets over the last year: Beef (diet excepted) Pork + products (Cheeks/belly, bacon, pancetta etc) (Ginger Pig, butcher, La Fromagerie) Chicken (superb organic from local butcher) Organic Fruit and Veg amd herbs (40-60% of weekly intake) Fresh pulses (Borough) Pasta flours (tipo '00' amd Semolina) Cheeses (50%) Pasta (diet excepted) French unsalted butter (15-20% intake) Fish (15-20%) Ecover Cleaning products (35-40%) Items I'm still dependent upon supermarkets for: Lamb Cereals (organic) Flours (for baking) French unsalted butter Olive oil Wine (diet excepted) Organic fruit and veg (40-60%) Water Ecover cleaning products (house/clothes/dishwasher) Pulses (canned and dried) Tuna (in oil) Anchovies (canned) Fish (80%) Bread Paper products (bog roll and kitchen towels) I do go to Borough as often as I can, but it doubles my food costs. In fact, I find I have far less money in general to spend on other things since I've been shopping this way. I can't honestly see where I'll find substitutes for canned goods, cleaning products and bread - in fact most of the second list. The local alternatives are mini-markets - franchised off the larger ones. Having said that, I can't believe the supermarket chicken I used to eat - compared to one I've found locally. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. Same goes for pork. Has anyone else been faced with these issues?

Please note : some of these links may require free or paid registration to view. This week's selection comes from: The Times The Independent The Guardian The Observer The Telegraph This is London Restaurants Marina O'Loughlin - Le Cercle. Terry Durack - Centotre, Edinburgh Tracey MacLeod - Cipriani, London W1 & The Hoxton Apprentice, London N1 Giles Coren - Le Cercle and Levantine. Matthew Fort - The Parsee., London N19 Jay Rayner - Wok Around the World, Ramada Encore London West, Gypsy Corner/A40, London W3. AA Gill: Blakes. Features Giuseppe Baio tells Clare Longrigg how the tasty treat got them out of a Sicilian pickle. Can Fergus Henderson and Anthony Bourdain persuade America to share their enthusiasm for entrails? Caroline Stacey the perfect moussaka. When top chefs put chicken on the menu, they turn to a handful of producers whose pampered poultry is top of the pecking order. As obesity in Britain continues to rise, one firm has found an unlikely way to fight it: through the staff canteen. Food Mark Hix - a summer menu. Cliveden Lardy Cake - In a new series of recipes from the National Trust, Belinda Richardson visits Cliveden. Xanthe Clay's guide to asparagus. Gordon Ramsay's Ladies who lunch. 3 from Jill Dupleix. Francesco Quirico - Fortunately, the traditional dishes of the season tend to be quick, fresh and simple. Nigel Slater - rich creams for slathering. Wine und booze Richard Ehrlich - One big retailer has decided to stop fighting its big rivals. It wants to snap at the heels of the exciting, creative, specialists. Anthony Rose - "Hold on to your glasses, there's a new offie on the high street. Instead of browsing for wines by country, you can buy by style, choosing from "bright", "smooth" or "rounded" whites, and "fruity", "mellow" and "chunky" reds." The caipirinha may be the cocktail of the moment, but how many people can name its main ingredient, asks Tom Lamont. Pint to pint: Hunter's Lodge Inn. Super plonk. Tim Atkin - New European arrivals. Joanna Simon - Last summer’s pan-European heat wave gave us a taste for crisp, snappy white wines and refreshing young rosés.

Of course - there's always The Official Tarte Tatin page!