Topic: unlocking the taste have your say.

[Razor]

Hi Chris,

Can I ask, is this a joint venture between yourself and your TA Chef (Sam)?  I would assume that to be the case?

I base this assumption on the fact that you seem to be offering everything and anything on the TA menu that members are hopeful to see!  If you are in a position to facilitate everybody's wishes, that would suggest to me that you and Sam have spent many hours in the kitchen together and maybe decided between you to publish an E Book?  Of course this is only speculation on my part!

I for one am looking forward to the release of you E Book Chris, and if it is going to cost me the price of a pint, then I'd happily pay that.  I would just like to remind members to be mindful of regional variances and the "unlocked taste" for one, maybe some way off the mark for others!

As for what I would like to see in the book?  Perhaps an 80's style menu with all the classics, Madras, Vindaloo, Dhansak, Bhuna, Dupiaza..............

Do you have a release date Chris?

Ray

[George]

is this a joint venture between yourself and your TA Chef (Sam)?  I would assume that to be the case?

what I would like to see in the book?  Perhaps an 80's style menu with all the classics, Madras, Vindaloo, Dhansak, Bhuna, Dupiaza..............

Do you have a release date Chris?

If it's a joint venture, it might be similar to the Kushi Balti book, which is one of the best.

As for 'recipe requests' whenever anyone asks, there are so many members here, that you are likely to get dozens of dishes requested. The answer is likely to be 'almost everything on the menu'.

But can anyone really deliver so many recipes? It would take many months to watch the dishes being made and be sure of the quantities. Then try them at home at least twice each, and - shock, horror - hold emergency discussions with the chef if the home based trials don't taste as good. When all that's been done, write the book and get it proof checked and tested again by at least one other person who comes to the recipes afresh, like we will. Amend the book as required. All that will take months and months and might cost more than the likely income from book sales. Or, if short-cuts are taken, the book may not be adequately tried and tested.

[Secret Santa]

As for what I would like to see in the book?  Perhaps an 80's style menu with all the classics, Madras, Vindaloo, Dhansak, Bhuna, Dupiaza..............

Indeed, but has Chris even eaten curries from that decade?

[haldi]

Well, I can't wait, & I want to buy it now!
Is there any release date?
It sounds as if it still isn't written
If Chris is asking people recipe request, it can't be
Can it?
C'mon Chris don't be such a tease!

What's going on?
When can we expect it?

[Razor]

As for what I would like to see in the book?  Perhaps an 80's style menu with all the classics, Madras, Vindaloo, Dhansak, Bhuna, Dupiaza..............

Indeed, but has Chris even eaten curries from that decade?

SS, seeing Chris on his video, I would say that he is of the correct age to have experienced an 80's curry but and perhaps more importantly, was Sam (The Chef) plying his trade in that decade?  If he was, and he delivers what many of us wish to see return to our BIR's then maybe he can explain the changing flavour of the BIR over the decades?

Ray

[Secret Santa]

SS, seeing Chris on his video, I would say that he is of the correct age to have experienced an 80's curry...

LOL, you're going to cop it now if he turns out to be only 20!  ;D

The thing is, the chef doesn't need to be old enough to be from that era, he only needs to have been taught well from a chef from that era. But if he nor Chris have ever tasted the real thing it still makes the outcome a bit dubious -  time will tell.

[goncalo]

I'm confused. There is a lot of dispute for 70s/80s taste vs today's taste and simultaneously, there is the chase for "that BIR smell/flavor" (tm) that is a `je ne sais quoi` no one can describe in words but appears to be common to all BIR takeaways. We can tell when its there and when its not, but so far people can't reproduce it at home, as far as reports on this forum go.

This makes me wonder: what exactly are we trying to characterize here? is it a very specific flavour that was dominant in yester-years or essentially the flavour/smell that to date is still common to the BIR industry? I suppose both could be a perfectly valid option, but realistically, which exactly is it?

As far as I'm concerned, I'm new school. My first curry was eaten in Cambridge, in a restaurant called "Meghna" back in 2008. There is a common british signature flavour that I experienced in most curries sold by TAs in UK, but can't exactly pinpoint what it is or how to reproduce at home. That is what I'm looking for and I understand that, like me, there may be other people with different "agendas" as to what they are looking for. I wonder if h4ppy-chris will deliver, or, if in turn, we are all just going after different things and unless we get the recipes from our favorite takeaways exactly as they make them when cooking for us, we won't ever get there

[Razor]

Hi Gagomes,

There was a taste from the 70's/80's BIR's that you seemed to get in every establishment that you entered, whereas these days, you would be luck to get it from 1 out of 20 places!

It's been debated for an age on cr0 as to what it was that produced that 'taste'!  Was it the calibre of the chef's or was it the introduction of paste's that changed the flavours somewhat?  What seems to have eluded cr0 since the start is a definitive explanation from a 'bona fide' BIR chef from the said era's!

Many members DO like the modern BIR taste and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but the savouriness, depth of flavour and the sublime aroma of an 80's style Bhuna is nigh on impossible to beat in my opinion!

Ray

[Aussie Mick]

the savouriness, depth of flavour and the sublime aroma of an 80's style Bhuna is nigh on impossible to beat in my opinion!

Ray

I agree Ray 100%

[goncalo]

Hi Ray and thanks for the very helpful answer.

I have read a good few comments on the bhuna's from those days, so I'm now kind of curious to taste what the bhuna these days tastes like. I guess it wasn't that great, considering I ordered about twice in my curry-life.

What seems to have eluded cr0 since the start is a definitive explanation from a 'bona fide' BIR chef from the said era's!

Who was this chef and most importantly, why did he not reveal more aspects of the trade?