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EDIT: I forgot to mention chocolate in the title! Hi all. I'm looking for some tips about bakeries (or cafés) and chocolate makers in Copenhagen, Odense, Malmö and Lund which do (a) great traditional patisserie, or (b) new/innovative/French patisserie, or © great chocolate/pralines/etc. I lived in southern Sweden for a while (10 years ago) so know my way around and speak Danish and Swedish. I remember my old haunts in some places, my wienerbrød at 5am place in Copenhagen, etc, but lots can change and at the time I wasn't so extremely food oriented.

I hate to say it, but getting traffic is about giving traffic. You build a group of readers by engaging with bloggers on their own sites, creating interest in what you might have to say. Too many bloggers (and I'm not assuming this applies to you) do rather little to *participate* and too much to bluntly self-promote. With regard to the thread topic, there's also PaperChef each month, which is quite a serious challenge.

Lesley C, you've seen some of the probs I noticed too. To quote from his chapter on creme anglaise, in the book's convoluted style: "The crème Anglaise ratio [4 parts milk/cream : 1 part yolk : 1 part sugar] ... is simplified and measured by weight; a yolk is .6 ounces or about 1/2 ounce, so this amounts to 2 yolks per ounce or 4 yolks per 8 ounces dairy; it's a richer, slightly sweeter version than what is a more common dairy-to-yolk ratio, which is 3 yolks per cup of liquid. If you are making a quart of custard, 12 yolks results in an excellent sauce. So an alternative volume ratio that works well is 1 cup of milk/cream : 3 yolks : 3 tablespoons of sugar." [original emphasis] A lot of the time it's the neatest ratio he could create in US Customary units, for weight. Metric: only very occasionally in Ratio, despite him acknowledging the virtues of metric units. Temperature: perhaps he assumes home cooks won't have a suitable thermometer?

Just a quick comment to say that I've now seen the published version of Ratio and it contains no changes of any import, so I don't need to revise my original comments above (here) and in the full review on my site.

I received an advance uncorrected proof (ie, a pre-print, bound version for final checking) a week ago and have just published a lengthy review of it on my book review site here. On the positive side, Michael Ruhlman is very clear in saying that ratios are basic rules to work from, but that it takes understanding and skill to produce a good result when cooking. The theme is that of potential from fundamentals. It has Ruhlman's trademark relaxed, friendly style and is full of useful tips and many recipes. On the negative side, I felt it was confused and inconsistent, highly repetitive, and lacking the pedagogical clarity needed for this sort of book. There are, at least in the advance uncorrected proof, no diagrams at all. Although most ratios in the book *are* weight-based, the text and recipes show that this was a problematic endeavour -- Ruhlman found it too difficult to stick to weights, just adding to potential confusion. And lastly, there didn't seem to be any understanding of the legacy of tradition -- the fact that home cooks of a few decades ago traditionally worked in proportions or ratios or final quantities for many preparations rates barely a mention. There are about 50 extra pages in the published version, so I'm not sure what the additional content will contribute (it can't all be index pages! ). I'll be revising my review once I see the final product or if people leave helpful supplementary info.

Tri2Cook, translating Macaron is a *much* easier task than Los Postres. Macaron is pretty light (all being relative) and there's a lot of visual support.

A good point, gingerbeer! I've seen an article in WSJ and I know they're selling in unexpected places like Manila... lamingtons taking the world by storm...

It seems that Macaron is already out of print -- Amazon.fr is only listing secondary sellers at very high prices. We reviewed it on The Gastronomer's Bookshelf a few weeks back. There's a lot of repetition in the book, but it's clear and helpful.

There are lots of useful tips over in the main macaron thread in France: Cooking and Baking, here.

What about baking with overhanging pastry to reduce distortion? I don't imagine you'd want to trim the pastry after baking though... so how about trimming the edges *before* the end of baking time. Hopefully the rigidity would be sufficient to keep the walls neat for the remaining few minutes of baking, and the cut edge would ruffle slightly so that it looked less clinically neat.

"Bold" cardamom can be pretty difficult if it is to remain pleasant. Strong camphorous notes come through very easily. I'd even consider using a lightly infused cream with large fragments of seed through the ice-cream to give the bold moments.

I've seen a veritable forest of brownie posts in the blogosphere and some food media so far this year. No idea why.

Two other important titles are: A Culinary History of Food (Jean-Louis Flandrin and Massimo Montanari) History of Food (Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat); incredibly stodgy text, thanks to French academic style translated into English

My experiences correspond with yours OliverB. I worked on developing a recipe a few years back (originally intended for publication). The amount of yeast to flour seems about right... I use 20gm dried yeast to 500gm flour, so 40gm fresh yeast would be good.

There are many reasons to love Grub Street and this is definitely one of them!

I'd say that if you want to stick with the bag, you need one which is a snug fit so as to reduce movement. If you're packaging before sale (ie, so it doesn't need to be done quickly on the spot), bag them while chilled. You might also consider a clear sheet of plastic to line the bag, so that the movement of the bag itself is less likely to cause smear and jiggling. Some retailers in Paris lay the macarons flat in a cello bag on its side, rather than stacking them. A cardboard box with clear lid would be the most customer-friendly packaging in many contexts. Good luck!

Oh cool... I was having fun with a packet of (flavoured, sweetened) konnyaku jelly just yesterday. Looking forward to hearing what you do with the "straight" stuff.

Kudos to cbread for reviving this thread. It's awful that metric measurements have only been mentioned in passing in this thread! For non USAmericans, the most stunningly frustrating aspect of so many of the world-class cookbooks coming out of the USA is the total, unremitting focus on US customary measurements, compounded by more home-oriented books being in cups'n'spoons.

Daniel, I've been struck by how enthusiastically she needs to write with big words or foreign words or cute high-falutin' idioms. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Whether or not people liked Lethlean's writing, it at least felt uncontrived. Perhaps Dubecki will settle in to the role and her prose will gel better. I love a decent vocabulary, but it has to feel natural in my opinion. A Melbourne blogger has already commented on some of the more strained attempts at fancy prose.

I second the mentions of Olney's Simple French Food and one of Pepin's older books. Also Madelaine Kamman's New Making of a Chef is pretty fine. Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking is great, despite its age. Although Justin North's book French Lessons is great, I don't think it's as comprehensive as what you might be looking for.

There's (at least) one more method for cooking dried pasta which differs markedly from the ones tested and I don't think anyone has mentioned it above. Elizabeth David says, in Italian Food: I use this method occasionally and it's certainly possible to get the textural contrasts from surface to centre. However, the surface texture takes a little getting used to. It feels a little clammy (unsurprisingly), a little more like fresh pasta, and sauces adhere well. And it's certainly low energy! I can't find mention of this technique in any of the books in my collection. Perhaps Adam has seen something like it?

My immediate reaction is that the cornmeal doesn't absorb liquid quickly enough or in the same manner as almond meal, probably resulting at the very least in something pretty gritty. Your wife is allergic to all nuts?

I just reviewed Cooking on The Gastronomer's Bookshelf. I certainly think it is excellent in many respects, but it is by no means flawless -- the photographs are sometimes less helpful than they first seem, the text is exclusively for USAmerican readers (a pity in such a good book), and I had some reservations about how complete novices would manage with it. But for sure, worthy of having as an important guide. Peterson is a very good communicator.

That's the most useful explanation of lemons and limes I think I've seen. Concise, clear. Thanks Adam.

I'm not well informed on the restaurant front, though Vue de Monde often impresses with their high-end desserts according to many Melbourne bloggers. Attica (Ripponlea) as well. Both venues are in the avant-garde/innovative zone of gastronomy in Melbourne. Australia is very poorly served for high-end patisserie from retail outlets. Indeed, I'd say that we fail almost completely on that front. In Sydney, Adriano Zumbo has made a very good name for himself, but his product is very very similar to Pierre Hermé and I'm led to believe that form outweighs substance too often in Zumbo's approach. I believe there is newer, more promising place of interest in Sydney, but the name escapes me. So, restaurants are the place for high-end pastry, but you still need to choose very carefully. Developments in the chocolate scene are a little better at retail level. I can't comment on Sydney, but in Melbourne, Ganache (South Yarra) is definitely worth a look, as is Monsieur Truffe (Collingwood/Fitzroy), and some product from Koko Black or Cacao can be interesting. Nothing earth-shattering, mind you (Ganache is probably your best bet). There's also Haigh's, an Adelaide company with shops in Melbourne and Sydney -- their chocolate isn't high class, but they do an interesting range of soft fondant fillings which are very uncommon, or just well executed.