Yes, thank you all. I know what to get now. A good tip Lesley.

To all those that replied to my request 'how to use goose fat?' A real bug thank you. My kids all commented on how the potatos were, without being prompted. I'm going to continue using it.

Do you get enough fat from one goose to use every week? We are a family of four. Use especially for spuds and parsnips.

I'm with the pestle and mortar. Alternatively - a jar with a lid would be just as effective. Make sure lid is tight when you shake. I think Jamie Olicer as enough money and I doubt that he actually 'invented' it as advertisement claims.

I would be grateful for people's views on the most approriate meat mincer. I want to make my own mince and try makiing my own sausages. I've seen some cast-iron ones at about £20 which you clamp to a table, insert meat turn handle and mince comes out the other end. Is it worth paying much more than this? Advantages and disadvantages? Thanks folks.

Thanks. I saw this just in time. Am going to do exactly as you say. Cheers. This site never lets anyone down!

I have been given a tin of fat goose. I presume I use it in exactly the same way as oil, butter, lard etc. I want to have a trial run before 'Stressmas' comes. Thanks folks.

Thanks Livewire. This is useful. I will substitute Brie or Port Salut. Fontina is not available in my local Sainsbury's - lots of things (e.g. goose fat) that you would want to buy not there either. I used to live in Sydney and the local corner shop had fontina cheese and goose fat.

A recipe by Paul Bloxham for Tartiflette or 'potatos with cheese' mentions the above cheeses. My local stores don't have them. What alternatives are them to these that I could use in what sounds like a yummy recipe

One of the things I've not been able to do well is make perfect chicken soup. Is there such a thing. My mother used to make chicken soup with barley, but I haven't a clue of how she did it. Any hints, advice, please?

I buy my young one's sausage rolls. Both are full of the hydro fats which I am told I should avoid. Don't want to give them heart attacks in 20 years. Any advice similar alternatives? Anyone know an easy recipe - which of the bought pastry's can I use in such recipes? Thanks folks

Yo, Hello. My loved one saw 'Good Food Bites' today, friday. There was a recipe for tuna with three different sauces (including sweet chilli). I have tried to find them via searching recipes but I can't find any that seem familiar. Is there anyone out tere that knows what they are, please. Thanks.

He did a chorizo chowder yesterday. Did he use milk or a chicken stock. Will it make any difference?

On a recent post which I cannot find I asked about the origins of ox tail soup. One of the replys gave me a link to an American web-site. I e-mailed them and this is the answer I got which others may find as useful as I do.
Several foods pop into mind with regards to "imported" traditional British fare. For starters:

CANDIES
These were imported from Arab cuisine. British favorites such as toffee, brittle, comfits, lollies, etc.
About candy (general notes):
[link]

Recommended reading:
1. Medieval Arab Cookery/Rodinson, Arberry & Perry
2. Sugarplums and Sherbet: The Prehistory of Sweets/Laura Mason

FRUIT JAMS & JELLIES
Also, untimately, derived from Arab cuisine. The "legendary" story of marmelade may intrigue your students: [link]
ABOUT JELLY (brief)
The fundamentals jellying process was known in ancient times. These techniques migrated to Europe in the Middle Ages and evolved with technological advancements and new ingredients.

"The history of jelly, chonicled by Brears (1996)...is complex. Generally, it would seem that confectionery type jellies, and jelly preserves, developed from attemps to conserve pectin-rich fruit extracts...Modern dessert jellies, on the other hand, appear to be descended from medieval dishes based on calves' feet or other meat stocks, carefully clarified and flavoured. A wide range of gelling or setting agents was known to medieval cooks. The animal kingdome was represented by gelatin in the form of meat stock, isinglass, and hartshorn. Plants provided pectin-rich juices from quinces or apples; and various kinds of gum...Late medieval and 16th-century cooks made savoury (or savoury/sweet--many had an ambivalent character) jellied dishes using meat such as capon, chopped fine, mixed with cream or almond milk, flavoured with spices, sugar, or rosewater. These were known as cullis, gellys, or brawn. Another ‘set' dish was a leach, made from cream or almond milk with isinglass. A sweet ‘crystall gelly' was made with calves' feet stock, highly spices (ginger, pepper, cloves, nutmeg), sweetened, and further flavoured with rosewater. These dishes, which are recorded in early 17th-century cookery books...were ancestors of sweet confections such as blancmange as well as of the explicitly savoury aspic dishes which proliferated in the 19th and early 20th centuries."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 417)

RICE PUDDING
Borrowed from Indo-European cultures by way of Southern Europe
[link]

BACON
Hogs were introduced by the Roman conquerors
[link]

FISH & CHIPS
The chips, of course, are "New World" foods
[link]
About potatoes (featured prominently in many classic British dishes):
[link]
About chips/fries (possibly of Belgian origin)
[link]

TEA
This was imported from the Far East; British "tea" began in the 18th century
Recommended reding:
A Social History of Tea/Jane Pettigrew

GENENERAL REFERENCE:
Food and Drink in Britain Fr0om the Stone Age to the 19th Century/C. Amme Wilson
Oxford Companion to Food/Alan Davidson

Livewire. You were spot on an excellant site. I emailed them and got the following reply, which I hope may be useful to someone. Although not exactly what I asked for it is still very helpful. The kindness of strangers is often awesome. Several foods pop into mind with regards to "imported" traditional British fare. For starters:

CANDIES
These were imported from Arab cuisine. British favorites such as toffee, brittle, comfits, lollies, etc.
About candy (general notes):
[link]

Recommended reading:
1. Medieval Arab Cookery/Rodinson, Arberry & Perry
2. Sugarplums and Sherbet: The Prehistory of Sweets/Laura Mason

FRUIT JAMS & JELLIES
Also, untimately, derived from Arab cuisine. The "legendary" story of marmelade may intrigue your students: [link]
ABOUT JELLY (brief)
The fundamentals jellying process was known in ancient times. These techniques migrated to Europe in the Middle Ages and evolved with technological advancements and new ingredients.

"The history of jelly, chonicled by Brears (1996)...is complex. Generally, it would seem that confectionery type jellies, and jelly preserves, developed from attemps to conserve pectin-rich fruit extracts...Modern dessert jellies, on the other hand, appear to be descended from medieval dishes based on calves' feet or other meat stocks, carefully clarified and flavoured. A wide range of gelling or setting agents was known to medieval cooks. The animal kingdome was represented by gelatin in the form of meat stock, isinglass, and hartshorn. Plants provided pectin-rich juices from quinces or apples; and various kinds of gum...Late medieval and 16th-century cooks made savoury (or savoury/sweet--many had an ambivalent character) jellied dishes using meat such as capon, chopped fine, mixed with cream or almond milk, flavoured with spices, sugar, or rosewater. These were known as cullis, gellys, or brawn. Another ‘set' dish was a leach, made from cream or almond milk with isinglass. A sweet ‘crystall gelly' was made with calves' feet stock, highly spices (ginger, pepper, cloves, nutmeg), sweetened, and further flavoured with rosewater. These dishes, which are recorded in early 17th-century cookery books...were ancestors of sweet confections such as blancmange as well as of the explicitly savoury aspic dishes which proliferated in the 19th and early 20th centuries."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 417)

RICE PUDDING
Borrowed from Indo-European cultures by way of Southern Europe
[link]

BACON
Hogs were introduced by the Roman conquerors
[link]

FISH & CHIPS
The chips, of course, are "New World" foods
[link]
About potatoes (featured prominently in many classic British dishes):
[link]
About chips/fries (possibly of Belgian origin)
[link]

TEA
This was imported from the Far East; British "tea" began in the 18th century
Recommended reding:
A Social History of Tea/Jane Pettigrew

GENENERAL REFERENCE:
Food and Drink in Britain Fr0om the Stone Age to the 19th Century/C. Amme Wilson
Oxford Companion to Food/Alan Davidson

Where can I buy goosefat?

I am reading 'Bloody Foreigners' by Robert Winder. On page 31 he says that 'hardship rather than gsstronomic fitness led them to invent ... oxtail soup'. Before their arrival in Britain butchers apparently left the tail on with hide. Can anyone confirm this provide more information? Anyone know any books that will help me find futher such information,.FOr instance, I was told at school that some words for food eg beef are Norman in origin and others - the food of the poor - is from Anglo Saxon. I think it might be interesting to find out more. Thanks

What can I do with left-over pork? Thanks.

Please, is there anyone able to tell me how to make 'cajun seasoning' or something similar. Thanks.

What are the differences between mustard seeds? Does it matter which sort I use in a recipe? The recipe I want to do is Coriander Chicken Curry by Merrilees Parker from Good Food Live. It does not specify which sort to use. Thanks.

Yo. Thanks for the reply. A great help. Now that I know where it is I can go and look it up in local bookshop. If they have it!

I saw a recipe on the TV yesterday which involved corn, blanched baby onions and possibly other things all mixed together. Unfortunately I was not taking that much interest. It looked really good and corn isn one of the few veggies that my children ASK for. Anyone know the programme or recipe, please.