Who here considers themselves such? There are threads on 'cooking for playboys', and cooking to get you laid, but I haven't found a thread focused on the love of food and fine dining as a pleasure in itself.
Post your favourite things to cook, your twists on classic dishes, the ingredients you swear by, how your cooking changes by season, etc etc. If you have recipes you'd like to share then that would be awesome. If you've eaten something amazing in a restaurant that struck all the right notes for you then share it here. It doesn't have to be flashy, but it does have to be delicious.
For example, one of my favourite meals in the past couple of years was a big plate of spaghetti alle vongole, eaten on the seafront in Liguria in early summer. It was a little family run place, with only a couple of basic tables outside. The breeze was coming in of the Mediterranean, and you could smell the salt in the air. The pasta itself was very basic - freshly made by the Italian mama, and the husband came back from a fishing boat just as I got to the restaurant with a sack of the clams over his shoulder. It was testament to just how good food can be with just a few really fresh, fantastically high quality but inexpensive ingredients.
One of the things I'm looking forward to doing for a dinner party once we hit the autumn is rack of lamb, served with salsa verde, on a bed of greens, with a butternut squash crumble (with a parmesan and walnut crust). This is a really great meal. I first had it with an ex-girlfriend in a restaurant in London, and I've tinkered with it since. The variation on the crust of the crumble is my own invention, and works really well. The crumble is a fantastic thing to make if you are ever forced into cooking for a vegetarian. It is a rich and aromatic dish, which is very low fuss to make. It can be made in quantities in advance, and frozen, and only requires one pan (plus the oven dish). If people are interested I'll post the recipe.
All you chefs, amateur and professional, share your love and knowledge so that we can all prosper from it, and we'll raise a falafel in your honour as we do.
Post your favourite things to cook, your twists on classic dishes, the ingredients you swear by, how your cooking changes by season, etc etc. If you have recipes you'd like to share then that would be awesome. If you've eaten something amazing in a restaurant that struck all the right notes for you then share it here. It doesn't have to be flashy, but it does have to be delicious.
For example, one of my favourite meals in the past couple of years was a big plate of spaghetti alle vongole, eaten on the seafront in Liguria in early summer. It was a little family run place, with only a couple of basic tables outside. The breeze was coming in of the Mediterranean, and you could smell the salt in the air. The pasta itself was very basic - freshly made by the Italian mama, and the husband came back from a fishing boat just as I got to the restaurant with a sack of the clams over his shoulder. It was testament to just how good food can be with just a few really fresh, fantastically high quality but inexpensive ingredients.
One of the things I'm looking forward to doing for a dinner party once we hit the autumn is rack of lamb, served with salsa verde, on a bed of greens, with a butternut squash crumble (with a parmesan and walnut crust). This is a really great meal. I first had it with an ex-girlfriend in a restaurant in London, and I've tinkered with it since. The variation on the crust of the crumble is my own invention, and works really well. The crumble is a fantastic thing to make if you are ever forced into cooking for a vegetarian. It is a rich and aromatic dish, which is very low fuss to make. It can be made in quantities in advance, and frozen, and only requires one pan (plus the oven dish). If people are interested I'll post the recipe.
All you chefs, amateur and professional, share your love and knowledge so that we can all prosper from it, and we'll raise a falafel in your honour as we do.