at last

it was a long time in coming but we finally got our lunch at Paul Bocuse. We were greeted by the man himself. old shaky tired record breaker. we left 7 courses, 3 bottles of wine and about 4 hours later... happy The only example i have ever witnessed so far of Classical Excellence. French cuisine at it's best. It will never get better because these dishes, He has worked over the years so that they become the representation of France of the highest order when it comes to food. He sits there, alone, on the opposite side of Ferran Adria of the gastronomic spectrum. Their common points? the best products available. other common points? the quest for excellence on the table, around the table, and well after the table.

amazing, quite vetiginous how just a few dishes have maintained his supreme position as a world leader. Nothing fancy about the "volaille de Bresse en vessie" with side vegetable a part from it's most incrdible taste and texture. Never has poultry tatsed like that.
Never will it ever taste like that either.

unique

pizza

wow! first post in many moons !
just can't get into it very much... actually, the main excuse being the shitty quality of the iPgones camera. Anyway, read one of the funniest pieces of journalism in a long time about pizzas.
So easy to make, yet so easy to fuck up. I often find that the easier the recipe, the easier it is to screw up. Example : how many people get a soft boild egg right ? how many people screw up pasta? how many times has your meat been overcooked ?
Read on...

flake / Mars

Pardon the quality of the picture, but Mac really have to improve the iPhone's camera greatly.
Mars have come up with a pseudo substitute for the Flake bar. The chocolate bar that has NO cocoa in it at all. This pseudo flake is fantastic with an expresso. Amazing ! it brings all the coffe flavour out ! once in a while it's damn worth it.

simple

first, i must apologise for the quality of the photo.
The camera on the iPhone is no way as good as the one on the Eriksson...
what the hell.
Christmas, or any BIG meal must be kept as simple as possible whilst all at the same time looking for maximum effect.
This, i stole from the "Waitrose" magazine.
200g grated parmasan
150 g flour
150 g butter
throw eveything into a blender until you get a "crumble" pastry add water if need be.
roll your pastry into a sausauge.
Roll it into a beaten egg, then roll it on some spice. Wasabe sesame seeds aren't bad. Pure wasabe might be better. Wrap your spiced sausage in some cellophane and chill for at least half an hour.
You slice the sausage up and cook your biscuits in a hot oven for 1/4 hour.
easy

black diamond

Why is the black truffle so cherrished ? so special ? so unique ? so glamourised ?
i thought for so long that the fungi above was idealised only because or it's rarity. After all, it's earthy taste was not was hardly recognisable, and so very often undetected.
Was it also just because it was part of the magnificient white truffle's family that made it such a star ?
after all, it wasn't because i didn't try !
i must have sampled the mushroom in so many different ways that it was impossible not to give an objective point of view...
... until now that is...
it's a secret, but well worth sharing because it is one of the most delicate products i've used, and one gets addicted to it very quickly. The margin of error is enormous so there is little chance of failiure...
the simple secret is to use it raw. Be it on on pasta, scrambled eggs, risotto, mashed potato, soup... whatever... ALWAYS grate the mushroom on your dish just before serving, and the heat of the dish will bring all the scents and flavours out.
My favorite is risotto. I will have a chapter on that very soon...

autumn

autumn is here, well it's more like winter, but it's such a great period to be stuck in the kitchen. One of my favorite kicks is the apple tart. It's so easy, so fast and so damn good. I usually slice the apples with their skin. I actually leave the skin on more and more fruit and veg that i cook. It gives out so much taste. You just have to think about cleaning the fruit or veg thoroughly to get as much of the chemicals off as possible... back to the tart. Roll out some pastry... ready made stuff is really good. Place the slices and sprinkle sugar on top. I like to add a few thin slices of butter on top. Pop your tart in a hot oven adn dcook for about half an hour. Enjoy hot, warm or cold.
Hot with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream, and a glass of calvados. Enjoy.

help

What do you call this particular type of pumpkin ?
if anybody knows, please tell me !!