Beijing 99danw Thanks for the words of advice, though I read the more helpful ones once I'd got back. A few thoughts: The food was a lot more to Western tastes than I...
Beijing 100My description of the non-tourist restaurants I visited in Beijing is that they are a cross between a restaurant and a zoo! I'll try...
And this is the problem! US measuring cups and spoons are all based on US flozzes and these are slightly different to UK flozzes. What you saw is the metric resolution of the cup-spoon system and if you use them for merkin recipes you will come a cropper! The system really falls down in delicate cake-sponge recipes as it all depends on how you put the flour in the cup. If you spoon it into the cup to aerate it, it weighs 4oz. If you scoop it directly from the bag it can weigh as much as 5.5oz! The US flour company King Arthur, has produced an absolutely superb book for home bakers (about 3" thick) of the type that all new housewives were once given as a wedding present. They very strongly recommend dispensing with cups and using a set of scales! Incidentally, this topic of cups v. weights comes up from time to time on other groups and there is a thread on the subject on alt.bread.recipes at the moment. Publishers in N.Am often convert the recipes to cup measure when they re-print an English cookbook so I always buy the original version when on visits to the UK. I have noticed a trend recently. Most new baking books give the amounts in recipes in oz-g-cups to cover all bases and some new American books are putting weights first and advising the reader to use them. Graham
