carbon14 Blog

This weekend I cooked what's probably the most complex dessert I've ever attempted.

I got a copy of James Martin's Desserts for my birthday and it's a sweet looking book.

On Thursday, a friend brought round 3 boxes of blackberries, a bottle of Creme de Cassis, some double cream and a jar of glucose syrup - along with a birthday present of a cake ring. A not exactly subtle hint that she would like me to make the Delice au Cassis recipe.

Well it's not really the right time of year for fresh blackcurrants, so the blackberries had to do instead and I didn't need to alter the recipe to make it work. I suspect that the blackcurrants would have given a greater intensity of flavour to the finished pud, but it worked a treat.

Sometimes a complicated recipe has just too much going on for you to get to grips with it first time. This took me a large part of one day to complete, but despite the marathon it worked flawlessly. This is really the sign I think of a good cookery book. My first recipe from the book, the most complex recipe in the book, and it just works.

This was the first time I've used a sugar thermometer, real vanilla, leaf gelatine, stock syrup or Italian meringue and yet the step by step instructions did the job.

This is a really good book to drool over, it's proper food pr0n. But it's also a very practical and workable recipe book.

Try it. And when you've got a day to spare, try the Delice.

My my, I managed to finish two books this weekend.

The Lost Colony is not brand new, but it is the latest in the series of children's books that began with Artemis Fowl

This time, child genius Artemis Fowl may have met his match. A young girl who might just be cleverer than he is. She's determined to get her hands on a Demon and if she does, it could cause untold havoc above and below ground. Only Artemis, his bodyguard Butler and fairy private eye Holly Short could possibly stop her. But can they?

Eoin Colfer has created a fantastic fantasy world, richly populated by a hidden world of fairies, trolls, dwarfs and such like. This immensely readable book is a thrill-a-minute ride from beginning to end.

It will be a sad day when Artemis finally grows up.

Amongst my ever-growing collection of crime fiction, I have an extensive catalogue of Reginald Hill. One of the best British contemporary crime writers; his most popular characters are Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe. Almost his entire back catalogue featuring these two policemen has been translated to the screen with great success, and since the point where they ran out of novels to dramatise, the on-screen and paper based lives of these two have diverged somewhat.

The Death of Dalziel is the latest novel from Hill and although his output seems to have slowed somewhat these last few years, the work that he's produced has grown increasingly complex and his knack for tight and intricate plotting has twisted ever tighter.

This book draws heavily on our contemporary fears of terrorism and the competence or otherwise of our security forces - or ‘the funny bu***rs’ as Dalziel calls them.

A gripping story has Andy Dalziel's protege Peter Pascoe struggling to stay objective while he investigates the terrorist explosion which has left the big man comatose and dying.

But - as ever - one of the strengths of this series from Hill is that this is never just about cops and robbers. Everyone we have met along the way is important to Hill, colleagues and families are not just bit part players. The fallout from crime is never limited to those firmly on the side of good or evil, it spreads - and the author is careful never to let us forget that.

A terrific read and a welcome addition to the story of this most popular crime fighting duo.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this or not.

On the one hand it's based on work by Isaac Asimov
On the other, it's got Robin Williams in it.

Let's be honest, his career so far has been a bit hit and miss. He's very very watchable in some films, and then completely mawkish in others. This film struck me as having the potential to be firmly in the latter category. But it wasn't that bad. In fact I think it was quite good.

It was billed as a comedy; I'm not sure it deserves that at all. It is gently amusing throughout, but it's not played for laughs and it is extremely sentimental. It never dissolves into mawkishness, nor does it tug too hard on the heartstrings. On the whole I think it finds a good place to sit and works well.

Williams plays the lead very well, a sustained performance that conveys the character and his hopes and dreams perfectly. He's ably supported by Sam Neill and Embeth Davidtz. In fact, all the roles, are well played. I can't find anything wrong with it except...

Pages: 1 2 3

I share a mutual friend with the proprietor of Cafe No.8; so I heard about it when it first opened. I didn't find an excuse to go there for quite a while but I used to recommend it to people when they were looking for somewhere nearby, and they always came back to me with good reports.

Since then I've managed to go a few times - for lunch usually - and it's never disappointed.
It's a small, slightly cramped bistro with around 6 tables. The atmosphere is relaxed and pleasant even on a damp day with the heavens pouring forth and the place is packed with customers and damp shopping. Today was fine and although the place was never overflowing, it did a brisk trade. I've never seen it empty.

The menu is a pretty traditional bistro mix of sandwiches and heartier meals; all delivered with style and a high degree of emphasis on the quality of flavour. The prices are typical for this kind of menu, but the balance and quality of the food easily pushes those prices into good value for money.

It's just on the edge of town, right next to the city walls, so it's not a bad place to stop for a shopping lunch, but be warned that on any day when town is busy, I'd expect to struggle to get a table here. On a quieter day, it's a reliable source of good food.