MobyP

A friend makes a huge vat of tequila marmalade every year; it's easily the best I've ever had, but the queue to get some is longer than for an NHS dentist!

Right. You talked me into it. Florence it is...

My internet is down, or there would DEFINITELY be words. Marmelade? Pinko bleedin' insurgency more like it!

That's brilliant news. Congratulations. Are you dividing and conquering? Are you training up a new generation of little Basilpuppies?

Izabel - is the Havelock your local? I keep meaning to start a gastro pub crawl, and the Havelock has to be in on it.

And Conor, Welcome to eGullet!

Is that the place up the road from Kensington Place? I've had a couple of decent noshes there - but if I remember, I was standing on one foot, balanced precariously by the fireplace, packed in like a sardine.

Southern Italians, not being able to afford prolific amounts of eggs (so the story goes) and having access to the harder durum semolina flour, used water and a splash of oil instead. It certainly wouldn't be grainy if you kneed it sufficiently, developing the gluten, and the grains of flour absorbing the liquid. So - as Sam says - Orchiette, some cassarecci (sp?), malloreddus, cavatelli, as well as all of the standard extruder-and-die pastas (spaghetti, linguini etc); and many of the pasta companies making northern style pastas like papardelle actually substitute semolina and water. I've done the broom thing, and the rack, but I find a few floured trays do me well enough.

I have a stuffed pasta course coming out in the eGCI in a couple of weeks - including a butternut tortelli recipe, and pasta making. I hope it will help. Adam's right though (as he usually is) - the best thing to do is keep working at it. It's not complicated, it just takes a little practice. Also - next time you're in a good Italian deli, look out for Type '00' flour (tipo '00' if it's imported), and semolina durum flour. The latter is fantastic for stopping pastas from sticking together - especially raviolis etc. Also, for moderating dampness in pasta as you role it which gives you some control. What make of machine do you have? I know the Atlas Marcato goes to 9, and the Imperia goes to 8 - but I don't know one that goes to 7 (they're calibrated differently, so it's not an indication of anything useful).

I called the London Shop (Sloane Square (0207) 730-4259) they say the delivery is in their warehouse, but should be on the shelves on Tuesday. Anyone interested in meeting me there?

Thanks Gary - I think you mean http://www.davidmellordesign.com/. I was hoping to get a lid for one of my older pans - I'll have to go measure.

Drat dag-namit - p'fooey. 2mm? Really? I think I've written elsewhere - when we first returned from America (to the UK), my wife took me for a birthday present to Villedieu-les-Poeles, and straight to the Mauviel factory. By the time we left, the car was scraping the tarmac. The stuff ends up being about a third the price of the US, and half the price of the UK. I also bought the 11-inch sauté - and it's unbelievably heavy. I tend to use it for v. high temperature and long simmer work - like 'quick sauces'. The sauteuse evasée - as Sam notes - is remarkable for reductions. If I'm reducing 15 litres of stock down to glace, the evasée is often as fast as any other two pans put together. The first downside - I do wish the sides were rolled like the bourgeat - which is why I was so excited. The second downside - I placed a 6 quart (long handle) saucepan in a long slow oven - 4 hours or so - and when I took it out, the varnish on the iron handle had discoloured, and cracked in places. Some rust spots have now appeared. So - not quite sturdy as I'd imagined.

I'm no medico, but I though that explanation was set aside some time ago. see eg Law & Wald, BMJ May 1999 for the numbers (and several other explanations of the French paradox). Fascinating indeed as others have pointed out -- but very bad news for those of us who have been relying on this as a justification for massive consumption of red wine. Waitasecond - I've been using you as a justification for massive consumption of red wine. Disaster!

Ok. I need help. How do I make it to Belfast, get me one of these, and make it back before my wife finishes work. All plans considered.

This might belong better in the General Food or Cooking, but one of the great, high end stainless steal cookware lines available in the UK, by Italian company Pentole, is no more, as apparently the parent company is going out of business. When after years of using flimsy rubbish my mum finally splashed out on some decent pots and pans, she went with divertimenti, and 15 years later (part of my inheritence) they're as good as new. I'm very sad indeed to see them go. The Divertimenti in Fulham Road is just selling the last of its stock. Does anyone know of any other sources?

I'm in mourning. One of the great high end Italian lines of SS cookware - Pentole - that curiously I've only ever seen in the UK - has just gone out of business. All the high end cook shops in town are selling off the last of their stocks. My mother bought a set 15 years ago that looks good as new today. Seriously good stuff. btw - Sam, fantastic thread. BTW - I went to Divertimenti yesterday (UK equivalent of Surly Tubble/Willy Snowman - as my wife calls Sur la Table/W. Sonoma) who Mauviel also make a 'line' for, and - they've completely reinvented their Stuff! 2.5mm thickness with Bourgeat-like curved edges - across the whole line - and Stainless Steel handles - as opposed to brass or iron. This stuff looks amazing. I haven't found any pictures of it though. Are they sending this stuff to America?

Oh my god. That's a reason to live. How do you tell someone raised in the British Isles? Show them that site and attach electrodes to their drool glands. I'm telling you - that's how British Intelligence used to find members of the Gestapo - raise up enormous pictures of bacon butties, and arrest everyone who didn't wipe their mouth. In my case... every Sunday the two nephews (8 and 6) have to play rugby, rain or snow, sun or freezing, it matters not a jot. It's part of being British, being forced as an unfeasibly small child to play sports in unfeasibly horrible weather. Damnit, I had to do it, and so do they (although they seem to enjoy themselves far more than I ever did). And part of this ritual of torture is watching the warm, cozy looking adults standing on the sidelines with steaming hot cups of tea and bacon rolls. In this horrible cycle, finally after all of those bloody years of playing football or rugby in the freezing cold, I finally get to be the one with the cup of tea and bacon roll. Actually, I usually buy them three at a time (just in case someone asks me for a bite - as I'm not bloody sharing!). That's the only reason I go. I couldn't even tell you which team they play for. Finally, my darkest secret revealed.

Giles Coren - Three of a kind - "The gastro pub is turning us ever so slowly from a nation of drinkers into a nation of eaters" The Coach and Horses The Gunmakers The Greyhound

Hi Dignan. First, a roll is just a round, individual portion of bread - self-contained. (After this comes a bap, then a sandwich, in nosh hierarchy). Having a roll, as in a sandwich, tends to be a simple affair - culinary equivalent of the St Bernard with his flask of brandy. A bacon roll - butter, bacon, and if your a 'soft southern sh--e' like me, plenty of ketchup. Also, long tradition over here of dealing with hangovers by having a big greasy breakfast. So, a bacon roll is tipping your hat in that direction.

I found two links, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...indpost&p=14352 and http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=11952&st=0& Maybe Andy will know specifics.

I'm sure Balex is mourning the loss of libraries, not meaning to be insulting.

I don't know how extensive it was, or how useful, but didn't Jeffrey Steingarten write a chapter on exactly that in 'The Man Who Would Eat Anything'? I remember the early stories, but I can't say I was paying enough attention.

(Maggie, sorry for OT) Adam, isn't there a profound influence in European dialects from the Indian subcontinent? For instance, the Pandava brothers were five in number, and I'd heard that as being the origin of pan in Greek as an early root of the number 5.

In the Mahabharata (Book 4 "The Book of Virata" Translator J.A.B. Van Buitenen, University of Chicago), thought to be written sometime between 250bce - 250ce (can't remember exactly), Bhima the great Pandava brother goes before the king, disguised as a cook. Chapter 7, verse 5: "The Pandava now came up to Virata. The spirited man looked sad as he spoke. Said he, "Great King, I am Ballava the cook, Engage me, I cook most excellent curries!" Unfortunately I don't read sanskrit, so I can't tell you how fair a translation that is - but I'm told Van Buitenen was characterised by being quite a conservative translator.

They laugh at your hundred bucks! A litre of this stuff would cost more like 1,500 bucks! As for quality - Keller says it's worth it. Vongrichten too. You have to go seriously down market to find someone who doesn't ("MobyP says Blech!")!