I've been terribly restrained this year and last Saturday found me going out for lunch for the first time in months - in fact, I think it was the first time in 2009! I met up with one of my chef friends, Tony Heath, who is now running the Tony Heath Cookschool where he gives personal tuition to two pupils at a time. His courses range from one to three days with hands on cookery under expert tuition producing an array of dishes which are then eaten with a glass of wine. If anyone wants to give me a late 60th birthday present ........ He hasn't got a website yet, but you can email him on anthony.heath7@btinternet.com or call him on 01738 861119. No, I'm not on commission - he's just a fantastic chef and I know it would be a wonderful experience to cook with him.
So much for that commercial: now here's another. Tony and I met at 63 Tay Street which is run by Graeme Pallister who worked with Tony in his Let's Eat days. I have to tell you, the boy can cook! It was the most fantastic lunch. I started with pressed ham terrine (I'm a sucker for terrines) with toasted gingerbread and spiced pineapple. The flavours simply exploded in my mouth and I felt like asking for more - or "doing an Oliver" as I like to describe it. The only problem was that with such a dramatic start anything to follow was bound to be an anticlimax. Was it heck as like! The roast cod was perfectly cooked - glistening on top of the most exquisite risotto I've ever tasted. It wasn't just the flavour which was intense (smoked haddock) but the sheer genius was the poached egg cut up and running through the dish. I wanted to lick the plate and very nearly asked for a carry-out!
This all reminds me of the time when I was doing PR for top class country house hotels and restaurants all over Scotland and was asked by the editor of a farming magazine to do restaurant reviews once a month. It was great fun. If there are any editors out there ....
Better get back to work. We've got a bit of a problem with our Extremadura holiday and flight schedules to sort out. But the good thing is that doing that takes me back to my visit to that fabulous part of Spain a couple of years ago. It was very special.
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