Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: GulfExpat on March 31, 2010, 09:17 PM
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It would be interesting to find out whether the stuff they cook in the restaurant can be replicated in a home kitchen environment.
Has anyone asked a chef this question?
Thanks. :)
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They try to cook sausage, egg and chips but they just quite cant achieve the'taste'. They try their hardest and have even set up a forum called www.egg (http://www.egg)chips.online.co.uk
Members post their recipes for other members to try and the more they post, the more stars they recieve ;D
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and then they try to search for the holy grail, suggesting that you can only used one brand of reclaimed sausage fat in which to fry said eggs
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Then, when it comes to chips, they can only be made from potatoes, grown at the foot of the Pennines, any old spud just won't do.
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Guys
Very F***** Funny, HAT OFF to all of ya!
But thats not the end!
Next comes the covert Bangers and Mash Webcam, later acting like a customer, he asks the ' chef ' can I see my Bangers & Mash cooked please if its not too much of a problem? ( trying not to look too shifty )
Then a sneaky peek to see the brand of lard used and the exact Tesco sausage used.
Chef, spud used? Erm, just the usual one grown in the ground, nothing special.
We thinks Chef is holding back.
Possibly a special secret spud only the Brit Chefs know about and how to grow it too,
Didnt we always suspect this?
Its a hard life ;)
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And when asked how to cook this 'secret spud' the chef, would only say that, he peels the spud, chips it, then, pre-cooks the chip before the final cook, obvious for convenience during a busy nights service
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Razor
You got it mate.
Its so complicated
5 years later and havent cracked it. What the F?
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Correct Artist, an so their quest continues ;D ;D
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Its to do with the pig and where it eats I think
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Im off for the sleep.
Its 25 degrees over here and a bit cool for spring. Will keep the socks on in bed I think :-\
I hate restless hot nights
Keep the spade handy! But I DO miss many things ::)
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B*llocks!
You just can't get sausage, egg and fish and chips like you used to in the good old days before health and safety legislation and preprocessed foods took hold!
I fondly remember fish and chips from British Fish n' Chips Shops (BFnCSs) of the 70s and they are nothing like the same now. Even the smell as you walk through the door (and the decor) is different!
In my discussions with owners and chefs, they tell me it's impossible to replicate them at home because the volume simply ain't there. They use huge amounts of oil (used to fry all manner of things) and you just can't scale down the batter without introducing differences. They clearly possess many secrets, not only about ingredients but about technique (scooping burnt bits out of the oil, for example, and selling them for tuppence)
Furthemore, there are real regional differences depending on where the shop is and where the chef and owner are originally from. For instance, in Australia, most owners/chefs are Chinese origin and their product is distinctly different from the Yorkshire lass' back home. They also use "flake" (i.e. shark) instead of cod.
Some even dribble curry sauce over the top and add mushy peas.
I'm also sure they add some "secret ingredients" to their salt and vinegar.
I'm even led to believe that they add potato to their chips ffs! ::)
I find that my smell gets desensitised, when cooking, so I advise going outside to take some fresh air before eating them. Lo and behold, upon your return, you will get that "smell" of used oil, just like your favourite local takeaway.
Of course it's important to leave them to settle after cooking and before eating as this mimics the trip home from your local and allows the food to relax and the flavours to permeate.
I've even seen photos of some members' efforts, but that doesn't really tell us much. They might LOOK the part (but any fool can do that) but what do they SMELL and TASTE like I wonder? :-\
So they all go home and cook curries instead. It's easier, they say.
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Just got this recipe for perfect fluffy chips, courtesy of my six year old.
Ingredients
a portion of chip skins
500g mash potato
Veg oil for frying
Method
Into a piping bag, place the mash potato
Take a chip skin, and gently squeeze at the end, as to open it slightly
place the nozzle of the piping bag into the open ended chip skin and squeeze until the chip skin is full
Then simply deep fry in the oil until chip skins are golden brown.
I usually sprinkle with salt & vinegar (recipe to follow) and eat.
I don't know if this is typical BFnCSs fayre but it's really good. Chip skins are available at them 'British Super Markets' (BSM's). We have a good one near us, think it's called ASDA or something like that
;D ;D
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Apparently, they pump the fish full of salted water nowadays too ::)
And beware fish from Asian waters...though cheaper (and no doubt that's what BFnCSs use) they are ship farmed and feed on chicken pooh! Nuff said..... :-X
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Classic thread.
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feckin hilarious:)
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I'm installing a system into a Fish and Chip restaurant today, they use traditional Yorkshire methods of cooking in dripping.
I know the owner very well, I could get a Kitchen Demo. 8)
Oh and I know he definitely uses Rice Flour to coat the fish before dipping in the batter. :P
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Axe
Please get some video if you can, essentially with the sound off, with it pointing the wrong way and most of all find out if the oil is cold when they put the fish in. this has got to be the missing element. Can you find where he is from because as we know fish and chips are a ancient Chinese dish, don,t acept any thing less!
Regards
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Axe,
When you're there, check out the temp that the chef fries the fish and chips in i.e: is the temp set at 190c (fast cook) or something like 120c (slow boat) or does he combine both methods, starts off slow boat, then takes the chips out, increases the temp, then returns for the fast cook finish?
I have heard of this combination of methods being used before, but when you ask the chef about, they just keep repeating " no secret methods, none" but then they walk off with a condescending grin on their face........they know >:(
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I'm guessing this question, or a similar one, has been asked before?
;) ::)
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Hi Axe,
Oh and I know he definitely uses Rice Flour to coat the fish before dipping in the batter. :P
When you say rice flour, is that rice flour, rice powder or rice milk powder, does anyone know the difference? :P
Ray
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I've just got back, bloody knackered and stink of chips.
Commis, I asked where he was from and he said 'round the corner'. I also asked about the cold oil being the secret, he just looked at me strange and said Dripping goes solid when its cold, then laughed. I did note he was holding some fish whilst laughing, perhaps this is the secret.
Ray, the range was brand new and had a digital read out which was great but I couldn't understand it it as it said 1:15pm ???
The rice was neither, it was a pasata, I am reliable told its made from ground bricks.
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Axe,
The rice was neither, it was a pasata, I am reliable told its made from ground bricks.
I think this powder is known as 'pa-brick-a ;D ;D ;D
Ray
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Very good PMSL ;D
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;D ;D ;D ;D
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Found this behind the scenes of a BFnCS
Frying the best Fish and Chips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Vbm665j2Q&feature=related#)
note the fresh oil?
anyone know how to build a potato peeler machine at home??
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Great find UB,
I noticed that the chef wasn't Chinese, which makes me ask, is this an authentic BFnCSs?
No doubt they make excellent food, but how authentic is it, and does it have the taste of 70/80's BFnCSs or is it very much a modern BFnCSs
;D
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anyone know how to build a potato peeler machine at home??
I have some ideas that I got from JC, do you have a spare Chevy V8 lying about? but my wife is concerned about the space the Range will take up in the kitchen, any ideas?
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No doubt they make excellent food, but how authentic is it, and does it have the taste of 70/80's BFnCSs or is it very much a modern BFnCSs
;D
If you look carefully you can see that they do not use newspaper to wrap the chips up. This is clearly missing from what was once a good old fashioned bag of chips. The newspaper ink must be a secret ingredient of the old style chip, surely?
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Axe,
The newspaper ink must be a secret ingredient of the old style chip, surely?
I think you're right. I'm going to concentrate on making a synthetic ink. Maybe it could be used as a spray and applied to the dish at the last minute, just to give it the 'taste'
Ray
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Guys
I think Ive cracked it!
I was invited to watch my fish n chips being cooked today at my local BFnCs.
The head Chef had nipped out for a quick drag on the old fag but one of those scabby looking teenagers you see often working in these establishments offered to cook it and let me watch.
So as I watched, i had a good scan around the ingredients on the shelves,
The usual suspects where there, salt, vinegar, tins of Batchelors peas etc.
The guy cooking really didnt care what I asked him or looked at.
But I noticed this other strange tin sitting alone.
And do you know, its something one of our members posted about a while back.
On the tin it said MSG
I nearly S*** myself with excitement.
I tentatively asked the spotty one what it was.
He said the Head Chef would kill him if he heard him telling me but what the F*** Im sick of the poxy wages in here anyway.
So? I said. Tell me?
He said MSG is the Missing Secret Gredient ;)
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He said MSG is the Missing Secret Gredient
hahaha, quality ;D
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Hi
What about the tray? No longer paper, with a dash of white spirit. I'm shore those forks are getting smaller.
Regards
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I think this powder is known as 'pa-brick-a ;D ;D ;D
Ray
Really? I'm mortarfied!
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oh my god, when i was going for a british tonight, the cook opened the fridge. There was a pie in there.
When he removed the label and threw it in the bin i bent over the counter for a sneaky look. The wrapper was crumpled but im sure it spelt out "pukka"
Im sure there must be an online shop for these pies somewhere.
is this the breakthrough we have been searching for? i hope so cause this search is starting to get right on my t$ts.
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Nice video UB, it's always good to see an actual BFnCS in action! 8)
I notice they were very coy about dipping the fish into "our batter" :-\. I think THIS is the secret concoction that they are holding very close to their chests! And who can blame them? The last thing they want is for us to all do it at home.....
As for the oil, it looks well blackened to me. Surely this an essential part of the process for replicating that "taste" and "smell"? Of course they would never admit to breaking food health regulations, would they? :-X
I'm thinking of trying to synthesise it, at home, by cooking loads of onion bhajis in it, though I probably won't get enough volume and will get very fat eating all the product....
Anyway, there's really not much point in getting too excited about this until someone has actually tried their fish and chips. They might be total cods wallop for all we know ::)
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We'll I've spoken to 3 BFnCS chefs now and they have all assured be that they put onion in their chips. It's the avenue I'll be pursuing.
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Wot a load of pollocks!
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Wot a load of pollocks!
So you think they are all just red herrings then? :-\
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This topic's giving me a migraine, CA...then again it could just be a bad haddock (haddock/headache gerrit...oh nevermind!) ...just strikes me as a load of hoki-pocum :P ;D
BTW which salt and vinegar recipe do you use? :-\
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You should take an aspirin or have a lie down...I'm sure you'll soon feel batter ;)
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I'll give it a go, CA, thanks for the advice....though paracetamol would help to also bring my TEMPURAture down ;)
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I'm guessing this question, or a similar one, has been asked before?
;) ::)
Sorry GulfExpat, to answer your original question!
Your question is, of course, a good one. My understanding is two fold:
1. Most BIR staff don't eat BIR curries which are "Westernised". They prefer more traditional Indian food (e.g. less hot, meat on the bone, etc).
2. Most BIR chefs never try to replicate BIR curries at home (cos they don't generally eat it) and so really have no experience of doing so and therefore don't know.
Not sure what others think?
PS: "Tempura"..I like it... :P