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Henry Herbert
I’ve said it before, and no doubt I’ll say it again: I really like BBC’s Great British Menu. A large part of that is because it showcases some great chefs that aren’t celebrities and you probably won’t have heard of heard of. And this week’s South West heat included Henry Herbert, a 22 year old, […]
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Techniques: Making Edible Pearls
Watching Channel 4’s Iron Chef on Tuesday, I saw a really interesting chefey technique I’ve not seen before. On the show, the chefs are asked to make dishes showcasing a specific ingredient (there’s more to the show than that, but more on that another time). Chef Judy Joo as part of a dish created “spring […]
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Food Survey: How important is presentation?
Some say you eat with your eyes. In fact many restaurants go to great lengths to present food like art, with foams, cubes of jellies, smudges of pure, micro-herb garnishes, even painting sauces on to the plate with paint brushes. Then there’s the ever more exotic crockery with bowls and plates in all shapes and […]
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Round-up of Food on TV This Week
A few days late, but here’s my round-up of last week’s food on TV. On Saturday Kitchen (17th April), James Martin was joined by chefs Adam Byatt and John Campbell. Adam’s dish of rosemary-roasted monkfish with nutty couscous and asparagus sounded great and of course seasonal. Washed down with Susie Barrie’s recommended wine, La Basca Verdejo […]
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e3 Bake-Off
We had a bake-off at work (e3 Media) today. Rules: Bring in something you’ve baked (savoury or sweet) and we all pick our favourite along the criteria of flavour, appearance and originality. Pretty much everyone turned up with something and we had some great food from quiche to cakes. It was a great day, although […]
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It’s Asparagus Season
The end of April heralds the start of the short (around 6 week) British asparagus season. Like with most food in our supermarkets, you can get asparagus all year round, but for much of the year it is imported from around the world. From now until part way through June, you’ll see a lot of […]
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Saturday: Casa Mia
No, not “my house”, but the trendy restaurant Casa Mia in Westbury-on-Trym, currently Bristsol’s only Michelin-starred restaurant which we dined at last night with friends Lewis and Elly. Fine dining without the pomp of formal dining, the family run restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere. There are two taster menus (meat and vegetarian) so there isn’t […]
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Friday: Scallops, black pudding, Jerusalem artichoke purée
A while back I bought some Spanish smoked black pudding and had been wondering what to do with it. On the naïve assumption that the smokiness would be subtle, I thought I’d create a dish of with scallops and Jerusalem artichoke pure (as Jerusalem artichokes have a mildly smokey taste I thought it would work […]
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Round-up of Food on TV This Week
Saturday Kitchen had chefs Shaun Rankin and Nigel Haworth – James Martin’s rump of lamb looked amazing (but then I love lamb), and Nigel’s paring of duck with mead was inspiring (I have to try something with that flavour combination!) Great British Menu this year has a slightly different format – I’m not so keen […]
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Recommendations for an Indian cook book?
I like my curries. I have a couple of recipe books and I have my staple recipes, but I don’t feel I really understand Indian spices – I think it is because I’m used to cooking where I know what affect each of the ingredients has on the dish, whereas in Indian cooking there is […]