Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Cooking for our Queen


Recommended Posts

can you really imagine parmesan air for the Queen and 200 guests

I think the dish you are refering to is the white onion risotto - which would actually work perfect for 200+ guests. Have you had it?

I haven't had it, but I do know that risotto is one of the easiest things to over cook and that I wouldn't want to have to serve 200 portions of it in one go. If you didn't finish it in 200 seperate pans (which would be impossible) and just had one big vat of it, the last serving would have turned into congee by the time you got around to dishing it up. Maybe you could vac -pac each serving and re-heat in batches - that might work. A lot of faff though. Would the air hold long enough to get from the kitchen to the table in that situation? It could be a long way from the pass to the furthest away table, unlike at Anthony's where I would guess that the dining room is close to the kitchen. Is it a bit like trying to serve 200 souffles?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobody seems to be commenting on this programme any more - is it a foregone conclusion that Gary will win the whole thing?

Was at a press event today with a chef/contestant and one of the food stylists from the show who ruefully confirmed that Gary will indeed win, by royal command, as predicted by Popbitch (and our own ChampagneSadie) over a month a ago.

Makes you wonder why they bother really.

Who cares what the wrinkly, scrotal old parasite gets for her tea anyway?

Surely the only thing more supremely irrelevant that the monarchy is Gary Rhodes.

In fact, I'm racking my brains to think of a single one of our 'celebrity' chefs who's come out of this with any distinction at all.

Frankly, the entire thing might as well have been planned to show them up as the grasping, dead-eyed media whores they truly are.

Maybe I shouldn't have had that last Margherita.

As a moderator you seem to be remarkably immoderate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a moderator you seem to be remarkably immoderate.

There are no moderators on eGullet, only forum hosts.

Which is a shame really....

I rather like the idea of 'The Immoderate Moderator' as my sig.

Still, "the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" eh?

... as, indeed, the High Street of Penge leads to the Palace of Crystal.

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are no moderators on eGullet, only forum hosts.

So you're saying this forum is unmoderated? I don't think so! :hmmm:

Well it is for the next 20 mins. I'm pissing off for a cuppa.

You take over.

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobody seems to be commenting on this programme any more - is it a foregone conclusion that Gary will win the whole thing?

Was at a press event today with a chef/contestant and one of the food stylists from the show who ruefully confirmed that Gary will indeed win, by royal command, as predicted by Popbitch (and our own ChampagneSadie) over a month a ago.

So, not only offensive, but wrong. :raz:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobody seems to be commenting on this programme any more - is it a foregone conclusion that Gary will win the whole thing?

Was at a press event today with a chef/contestant and one of the food stylists from the show who ruefully confirmed that Gary will indeed win, by royal command, as predicted by Popbitch (and our own ChampagneSadie) over a month a ago.

Makes you wonder why they bother really.

Perhaps they bother because not everyone believes every rumour they hear?

FYI, Gary lost his heat despite having two dishes the judges thought were outstanding, Atul goes through to the final: he may not have hit quite the same heights, but the judges reckoned he did better all round.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobody seems to be commenting on this programme any more - is it a foregone conclusion that Gary will win the whole thing?

Was at a press event today with a chef/contestant and one of the food stylists from the show who ruefully confirmed that Gary will indeed win, by royal command, as predicted by Popbitch (and our own ChampagneSadie) over a month a ago.

Makes you wonder why they bother really.

Perhaps they bother because not everyone believes every rumour they hear?

FYI, Gary lost his heat despite having two dishes the judges thought were outstanding, Atul goes through to the final: he may not have hit quite the same heights, but the judges reckoned he did better all round.

Am I to understand that Rhodes got knocked out? :shock:

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobody seems to be commenting on this programme any more - is it a foregone conclusion that Gary will win the whole thing?

Was at a press event today with a chef/contestant and one of the food stylists from the show who ruefully confirmed that Gary will indeed win, by royal command, as predicted by Popbitch (and our own ChampagneSadie) over a month a ago.

Makes you wonder why they bother really.

Perhaps they bother because not everyone believes every rumour they hear?

FYI, Gary lost his heat despite having two dishes the judges thought were outstanding, Atul goes through to the final: he may not have hit quite the same heights, but the judges reckoned he did better all round.

Am I to understand that Rhodes got knocked out? :shock:

You heard it here first.

It was a split decision: Matthew Fort didn't want to vote at all until he was forced into it. Prue Leith voted for Gary, and the other two for Atul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You heard it here first.

It was a split decision: Matthew Fort didn't want to vote at all until he was forced into it. Prue Leith voted for Gary, and the other two for Atul.

Arse biscuits!!!!

Well I hope whoever wins does something with loads of garlic in it.

So what about the story of the Sleb Chef with the cocaine and rent boy problem? I suppose this means I have to treat that with a pinch of salt too.

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm stunned.

Atuls food was truly horrific.

Horrific is perhaps too strong a word, but certainly not British - where does soft-shell crab feature on British menus for instance? His food looked interesting, and I'd be well pleased if cooking of that quality featured in any of my local restaurants, but British? Gina Yashere has a catchphrase which exactly suits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's un-British about Anglo-Indian cooking?

For that matter does any body have a useful definition of British cooking? The idea that because an ingredient is sourced from the UK, doesn't make a dish British IMO.

I thought (but I could well be wrong, again) that there was a regional element to this "competition", where the principal ingredients would be sourced from the particular region that the chef was "attached" to. So where do soft shell crabs come from? There was nothing in Atul's menu that said anything at all about the South East other than it has got some good international markets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thnk that the regional food concept can be dropped, as there has been little evidence of it throughout the series.

Sure, soft-shelled crab isn't a particularly British ingredient, but quite a few of the dishes are more international then British. If you wanted to stretch a point I guess you could say that it was representative of the 'regional' cooking of London? :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So where do soft shell crabs come from? There was nothing in Atul's menu that said anything at all about the South East other than it has got some good international markets.

I thought soft-shell crab was one of those things (like American crayfish) which had escaped and were now to be found in the UK? The judges made some reference to 'how is he going to find 200 of these in the Thames estuary?' On the other hand I can't find any useful references to back this up, but if it is accurate then they could be seen as at least as British as, say, rabbits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Soft-shelled crab isn't a species as such, it is the crab immediately after the moult when the new carapace hasn't hardened. Obviously, in a given location the actualy species will be restricted to what is found locally.

In Europe, Venice is famous for it's small soft shelled crab, whereas in the USA they are Blue crab. In the UK you can buy them frozen, but I have seen on Rick Stein show where he gets some local sof shelled crabs in Cornwall.

I have to agree that they are a strange choice for a 'British' menu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...