Address: Pound Lane, Little Marlow, Bucks SL7 3SR. (A4155)

Telephone number: 01628 482927

Website: www.marlowslittlesecret.co.uk

Date of visit:8 November 2010

Approximate cost per head: About £20 for 2 courses at lunch time. £20 plus in the evening

Comments on wine list/beer: London Pride, Brakspear, Guest (Mr Todd) -£3.20 for a pint. Wine available by the glass – 3 sizes. Glass of wine (large) from £5.15. Top red 2003 Cissac @ £44.95. Reasonable mark up on wines.

Summary:

I am back for another bit of “objective research” as a result of Daniel O’Sullivan’s comments last week. I have since discovered that Daniel is the chef proprietor of the place. Well that’s good as I am beginning to get feedbacks from several chefs or the management of the establishment.

The Pub is listed in the 2010 Michelin Pub Guide, 2011Good Food Guide and 2011 Good Pub Guide.

This time I picked up a business card as I walked in. On it was clearly stated 16th century Inn. And I noticed the “renovated “ floor boards.

The place offers several menus during lunch – a la carte, specials and a light lunch – sandwiches etc.

There are two bars and a dining room. On the day I went, the car park was pretty full – most of the diners were in the dining room.

I started off with a pint of London Pride which was fine. I then had a pint of Mr Todd – the guest beer – which was excellent. I didn’t go for the Brakspear, as having been brought up on it, I find the “new” version is not the same as when it was brewed in Henley.

This time, I decided to give the place my usual treatment – go for 2 starters from the today (specials) board.

On offer were Cornish scallops (£8.95), crispy curry pork (£6.95) , fish and chips with “mashed peas” and steak.

The scallops were nicely presented on an oblong plate with a balsamic vinegar smear. They (4) sat on a few rocket leaves which in turn sat on alternative batons of roasted carrots and parsnips. Sprinkled on top were deep fried shavings of root vegetable crisps. The scallops were cooked just right and from the texture, I can judge that they were quite fresh. The only downside of the dish – to my taste – was the use of the roasted parsnips which are quite dominant in taste to serve with a delicate scallop.

The next course was crispy curry pork salad. This was lardoons marinated with curry powder and then deep fried. The crispy pork sat on green lettuce leaves with wilted red onions underneath. The wilted onions acted like a sauce and gave the dish a bit of sweetness. Pretty nicely thoughtout. An improvement could be to serve this over a Caesar’s Salad using the crispy pork as the equivalent of croutons.

This is a Pub that likes to put a twist into its cooking. Judging by the clientele, it is pretty successful in its approach.

By the way, Daniel was not due to be on duty till later that day.

E

Address: 455 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10022-8100, USA (Inside New York Palace Hotel, previously Helmsley Palace Hotel)

Telephone number: + 1 212 891 8100

Website: www.giltnewyork.com

Date of visit: 13 October 2010

Price guide: $100 plus per head

Comments on wine and beer: Another amazing wine list. There are some decent wines at a reasonable price. There were also wines at thousands of dollars a bottle.

Summary:

Another top notch New York Restaurant, another tasting menu.

Guilt is housed with the New York Palace Hotel – opposite St Patrick’s Cathedral. The inside of this place is amazing – all wood and carvings. If they have stained glass windows,  it would look like an Abbey.

As we entered via Madison, I noticed a highly vibrant outdoor bar. All the New York “want to be seen” sets were here drinking cocktails at $20 plus a glass.

Inside was another bar, again totally packed.

The restaurant is situated in a long room overlooking 47 street. There can’t be more than 20 tables in it.

The menu is very interesting; it offered 10 starters and 10 main courses. Its fixed price for 3, 5 or 7 courses at $89, $110 and $140 respectively. Wine pairing for the 5 courses is another $75 and $90 for the 7 courses.

For the 7 course tasting menu, the chef chooses the dishes based on your requirement (allergy, taste preference etc).

We had the 7 course tasting menu and a bottle of Joh. Jos.Prum cabinett ($75) and a 1994 Rioja Reserva ($110).

There were 2 amuse broche to start with. The first was a beef flavour marsh mellow which actually tasted like borscht but I am not too sure as it was the size of a sugar cube. Similar to Per Se, these things are far too small to allow the diner to taste properly. Next was a soup of apple and cranberry. There were too much cold cream sitting at the top of the cup so you get the hot and cold feel similar to an Irish Coffee. I am afraid that I am lost on this hot and cold concept – why can’t they warm the cream up?

Onto the main dishes:

First up was a slice of  hamachi shashimi with preserved lemon and zaatar. The hamachi was marinated so it was more like a ceviche. The dish was slightly sour and had a chilli hit to it. By now, it is quite clear that the chef is into bold tastes and textures.

Next was a dish of shrimp and salmon cavier with turnip, pear and nori. It was very pretty and again, it offers a mixed taste and texture. By the way, the turnip was mashed and this works well with the shrimp.

We were then offered a dish of curried baby octopus. It was a sweet and creamy curry – very much like a Japanese Curry rather than a SE Asian or Indian curry.

The next course was Spanish mackerel with squid ink and crispy chick peas, melon, chorizo and cauliflower.

The main course was a thick piece of “red” beef fillet (called loin of beef on the menu). This was served with onion and tomatoes treated in several ways.

I have to say that everything was very tasty but the dishes were too clever and there were too many ingredients so you do not taste the ingredients but rather a summation of the flavours.

As everything was arranged in a pretty pattern, the overall position of this (and any tasting or degustation menu) is that you ended up with very little carbohydrates and vegetables on the plate.

Next up was the sorbet. After that, desserts. Instead of two desserts, I was offered two plates of cheeses as the next two courses. I have to admit that I found US Restaurant cheeses very bland. As this chef was into flavours, I was hoping for strongly flavoured cheeses. But, no! The cheeses were served in very small portions of triangular wedges  arranged with fruit and nuts. The cheeses were different for each course and there were two types of cheeses on each plate. They all tasted very mild, like a mild monterrey jack or a weak brie/camembert.

Throughout the meal, we were offered bread rolls – apple, cheese, sour dough and brioche. The breads were tip top and in my view was one of the highlights of the meal. I enjoyed everything but nothing stood out for me. By the way, the Maître’D – Stefen was excellent.

Well, compared with Per Se, this was half the price and just as enjoyable.

E

Book Review

Cured by Lindy Wildsmith. ISBN 978-1-906417-41-3. £30.

Lindy Wildsmith runs The Chef’s Room Cookery School in Wales and teaches regularly with Franco Taruschio (ex The Walnut Tree),

This book covers everything: salted, spiced & marinated, dried, smoked, potted, pickled to raw. It covers steak tatare, bottarga, stock fish etc There is even a recipe for pickled walnuts – something that I have failed to find so far.

Here are 3 excellent recipes from the book

Pickled Walnut
To test for readiness, simply plunge a hefty needle into the walnut. If there is no resistance, the walnut is ready for pickling.

Wear rubber gloves as walnuts emit a black stain.

Make brine by bring 4 litres of water and 500g of salt to the boil. Make sure all the salt is dissolved.

Trim whole walnut top and bottom, cover with cold brine (in a plastic bucket) for 4 days.

Drain and spread on trays exposed to the air until the walnuts turn black.

Put walnuts into sterilized jars. Top up with cold spiced vinegar. Seal jars and leave in a dark for at least a month before opening. This will keep for a year.

To make spiced vinegar, mix 1 litre of malt vinegar with 25 g of pickling spice. Heat in a bane marie until the water boils. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Filter when cold.

Salmon Ceviche with roots and ginger

Sprinkle salt over thinly sliced salmon (3g of salt per 75g of salmon – portion). After 30 seconds squeeze half a lime over each portion of fish , mix, and leave for another 30 seconds.

Pour away all the liquid , cover with chopped stem ginger (10g per portion) and julienne of raw root vegetables (30g of mouli, turnip or kohirabi). Drizzle with wasabi dressing.

Wasabi dressing – mix half a teaspoon of wasabi paste with 20ml mirin, a few drops of soy sauce and half a tablespoon of olive oil.

Black Pudding Canapes

Make 24 quenelles out of 150g of black pudding. Roll the quenelle in a very thin slice of pancetta or streaky bacon (similar to pigs in blankets). Bake the rolled quenelles for 20 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade. Cool.

When ready to serve, put the baked quenelles – the crisp bacon or pancetta will make it easier to handle – onto slices of French Baguette. Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 5 minutes. For an interesting alternative, drizzle olive oil on the bread and the smear it with wasabi paste before adding the black pudding.

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The Insider’s Guide to Sake by Philip Harper. ISBN 978-4-7700-2076-5 £9.99

Philip Harper is Japan’s first non-Japanese sake brewing master.

The pocket guide covers a whole range of topics including the brewing process, categories of sake, history of sake, sampling of Japan’s Breweries etc.

I shall list below several interesting facts about sake – taken from his book.

1. Sake is made from rice that has been polished. Brown rice is milled and the resulting white rice is then polished. The further the rice is polished, the finer the flavour of the resulting sake. Premium sake is made from rice polished to 70% and further. Rice koji (fungus) is also added.
2. Sake is evaluated as a balance of 5 flavours: Sweet, Dry, Bitter, Sour/acidic and Astringent (similar to strong green tea or tannin in red wine)
3. Sake can range from very dry to very sweet and can also be anything from a fragment and refreshing taste to a full flavour.
4. Sake can be categorised by raw material, how it is brewed and how it is processed after brewing.
5. Raw Material : Junmaishu (only rice and koji is used), Honjozo (brewer’s alcohol is added to the basic sake) and Ginjoshu (specially brewed – 60% plus polished rice and special methods). At 50% polished it is called daiginjo.
6. Brewing methods: high speed (sokujo) or classical (kimoto). The classic approach takes twice as long to make sake. This is similar to starting the “mother” in sour dough.
7. Final treatment : sake can be diluted or undiluted (Genshu). The undiluted can come in around 20o% alcohol whilst the dilsted version comes in at around 15% alcohol. The finished product can also be pasteurised or unpasteurised (nama –zake). The pasteurisation kills off the koji and gives the sake a longer bottle life but also “tames the taste”.
8. Please note that the US is now a major producer of sake. Most of the sake you buy from a supermarket is made in the US which is not premium and do not follow the Japanese classifications.

For more details, read the book.

E
Sept 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/apr/27/singapore-pastry-sweets-dan-lepard

I’ll get my cousin to check them out.

E

April 2010

Location: 27 City Road, Winchester, SO23 8SD

Public transport/parking:

Web site: http://www.sweettreatco.co.uk/

Telephone number: 01962 808343

Date of visit: 10 October, 2009

Review:
Born in 1967, I spent quite a bit of my pocket-money during the 1970s in sweet-shops just like this one. Well, perhaps the shops of yesteryear were a little less colourful than this, and a bit less “polished” – more North-East England and less Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Disneyland. But the rows and rows of jars of sweets—ranging across the palate of my childhood from wine gums to various flavours of sherbert to aniseed twists to fruit salads to midget gems to what used to be called sweet cigarettes to all sorts of licourice to you-remember-it-they’ve-got-it—are all the genuine article, delivered to the twenty-first century high street via some highly-sugared miracle of time-travel worthy of Tom Baker himself.

If you live in Winchester and have children, I recommend you take them as soon as possible. If you do not have children then no matter – go anyway. In fact, I think I enjoyed visiting this shop more than my son, aged seven. I left with a smile-inducingly large bag of wine gums—the original type, slightly hard unlike the feeble, too-soft imitation variety one usually finds in packets—while my son opted for a lolly pop about the size of his head. Children these days have no respect for traditional values, I am pleased to report. As I left the shop someone I know was driving past and caught my smile. He beamed back at me with complete understanding.

If you live elsewhere your inner child will have to make do with a virtual trip down memory lane by shopping on-line.

Before we left this splendid confectionery shop I told the owner it was quite possibly the best shop I’d visited in the last twenty-five years, and wished him well with his old-new business venture.

Damian@bottlesandcooks.com