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Category Archives: Rice
Deh-Ta Hsiung – The Quiet Revolutionary
When Deh-Ta Hsiung walked down the gangway of the P&O SS ‘Corfu’ and came ashore at Tilbury on Boxing Day in 1949, he was young man arriving in the right place at the right time. He was just 17 and that time … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Burgundy, Chicken, Classic Rice Dishes, Dim-Sum, Fish, Food Influencers, Foraging, Game, Ginger, London Dining, Memories, Onions, Pork, Real Chinese Cooking, Rice, Traditions at Table, Vinegars, Wines
Tagged 'Lady Precious Stream', Ballymaloe Co Cork, Bean Sprouts, Chinatowns, Cognac, Deh-Ta Hsiung, Dim-Sum, Dylan Thomas, Festival of Britain, Kai-Lu Hsiung, Ken Hom, Ken Lo, Oxford, Peking, Rice Wine, Ridley Scott, Royal College of Art, Sherry & Port, Shih I Hsiung, Slade Art School
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First Catch, then Cook Your Poularde
Contrary to what we thought, Hannah Glasse never wrote that immortal phrase ‘first catch your hare’ – an instruction she was credited with from one of the very first English language cook books from 1747 - ‘The Art of Cookery’ - reproduced so lovingly by … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Alliums, AOC, Black Peppercorns, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Burgundy, Capon, Caponisation, Chicken, Fonds and Jus, French Regional Foods, Guinea Fowl, Left Overs, No Compromise Shopping, Poulet, Rice, Risotto, Speciality Chicken, Stocks and Stock Making, Terroir, Vinegars
Tagged 'First Catch Your Hare', 'The Art of Cookery', AOC Poulet de Bresse, Champagne Vinegar, Chapon de Pintade, Chapon du Canard, Charbonneax-Brabant, Clovis Vinegar, Galette des Rois, Hannah Glasse, King's Night, Les Glorieuses de Bresse, Loue, Louhans, poularde de Bresse, Pre-Alpi Butters, Prospect Books, Rheinpfalz, Riesling, The Bresse d'Or, Vinaigre de Reims
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‘Al Dente’ can become ‘Al Dante’
‘Al Dente’ must be two of the most misunderstood words in the cooking world. Italians talk noisily and knowingly about their pasta and risotti having to be ‘al dente’ to be perfect. Some outside Italy even talk of vegetables being cooked ‘al … Continue reading
Posted in Best Pasta, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Cipriani, Classic Rice Dishes, IGP, Latest Trends, Latini, Pastificio G De Martlino, Real Italy, Rice, Risotto, Sensory Cooking
Tagged 'Al Chiodo', Abruzzo, Al-dente, Antonietta Kelly, Beatrice Ughi, Bronx, Bronze Dies, Cipriani Pasta, Dante's Inferno, Faella, Frascati, Gragnano, Gustiamo, Gustiblog, Italian Trade Centre, Jo Wennerholm, Joy Davies' Noodles and Pasta, Latini Pasta, Pasta Making, Pastificio Di Martino, Pistoia, Rome
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Two Buses and a Pre-Historic Encounter
You know the English saying – you wait for ages at the bus stop and then two or more buses arrive together. This just happened to me. One week the Poissonnèrie Municipale at Le Tréport (Normandy), then a week and a … Continue reading
Posted in Alliums, Archaeology and Food, Basil, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Cicchetti, Classic Rice Dishes, Fish, Food of the Ancients, Food travel, Foraging, Ligurian, Nonna's Cooking, Origins of our food, Oysters and Shellfish, Puglia, Pugliese, Real Italy, Rice, Risotto, Terroir, Wild Food, Wild Funghi
Tagged Chanterelles, Colette on Truffles, Danielli Fresh Pasta Shop, DOP Marvaldi Olive Oil, Il Genovese Restaurant, Ligurian Olive Oil, Magnosa, Melaosporum Black Truffle, Mercato Orientale in Genoa, Monocle Magazine, Perigord Truffle, Pesto alla Genovese, Pesto Rossi, Poissonerie Municipale at Le Treport, Porcini, Roberto Panizza, Taggiasche Olives, Tartufo d'Alba, truffles, Via Galata, Via XX Septembre, Wallpaper Guide to Genoa, White truffle, Wild Funghi
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The Joy that’s Dim Sum
Dim-Sum slipped quietly and without fuss into London’s then new Chinatown district in the late 70s. Like so much of the Chinese kitchen, they like to keep stuff to themselves. The Dim-Sum was mainly to attract the then growing bands of Chinese … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Alliums, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Brassica's, Chicken, Dim-Sum, Fish, London Dining, Memories, Oysters and Shellfish, Real Chinese Cooking, Rice
Tagged Air Bladder of the fish, Authentic Chinese Cooking, Best Value Eating in London, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Cheun-Fung, Chickens' Feet, Chilli Sauce and Oil, Chinese Beers, Chinese Kitchen God, Chinese Tea, Chop Stick Etiquette, Cognac, Cognac from Teapots, Dim-Sim, Duck Webs, Fish Maw, Joy King Lau, Norman Han, Sherry, Spectator Scoff, Tea Etiquette, Wafer Wrapped Prawns
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Ambassadors with Molto Gusto
Let me share with you a little known secret. In the lower ground floor of a fine townhouse in one of London’s most exclusive squares, there is a tiny restaurant which completely changes its theme near monthly. Two flags hang above … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Basil, Best Pasta, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Ligurian, New Chefs, Nonna's Cooking, Origins of our food, Real Italy, Rice, Simple Food, Southern Italy, The Moors, Wine Making and Viticulture
Tagged Albergo's, Carlo Presenti, Culatello, Farinata, Gelati, Genoa, Italian Cook Schools, Italian Cultural Institute, Italian Kitchen, Italian Provinces, Italian Regions, Liguria, Ligurian Olive Oils, Ligurian Wines, Nino Bergese School (Genoa), Over-run American style Ice Cream, Pesto alla Genovese, Pinoli, Ragu, Ravioli, Salsa di Noci, Sicily, Tocco, Trofie, Via Sotto Ripa
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Heaven’s ‘Grass Comes in Two Colours or Three
Asparagus – my goodness, where to begin? I’ve grown up with the stuff – I’m still amazed about how the spears appear overnight, how the beds must not be trodden on, how to cut it, how sprue can be enjoyed and more. … Continue reading
Posted in Batterie, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Classic Rice Dishes, Food Scams, Foraging, French Markets, Good Potatoes, Kitchen Equipment, Memories, Perfect Eggs, Rice, Risotto, Simple Food, Spanish Cooking, supermarkets, Terroir, The Food Business
Tagged 'Cannabis Cuisine', Asparagus Season, Asperges Violette, Cooking Asparagus, Green Asparagus, Hamburg, Liegoise-style, Loire, Mineral Water Sommeliers, Preparing Asparagus, Sauce Maltaise, Spargel, Storing Asparagus, Violet tipped Asparagus, White Asparagus
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