Friday Night Feast of Fun: Curry

We once asked an old soldier of the British Army, who had served in India during the Second World War: “So, did you go out down the local restaurant for a curry and lager on your nights off?” To which he replied with a blank “No.” Why did we ask that question, and why did we expect a contrary answer? To answer it is to delve deep into history and the immense cultural changes which only food can describe.

By the 1980s,when we asked, going out to your local Indian Restaurant for a curry and lager (see below) was the default eating position for most younger inhabitants of these islands. How did a nation famous for fish, chips, roast beef and Yorkshire puddings so thoroughly convert its taste buds to what their grandfathers had thought alien and strange? The answers lie deep in out Imperial History. Old India hands, Company men, Army men, and their memsahibs brought back a taste bud memory from their days of service. Curries appeared in restaurants and cookbooks as early as the 18th century. Veeraswamy[1] opened in Regent Street in 1926 [1]and has survived to this day. The real boom came with South Asian immigration after world war two.(there were many Pakistanis and Bangladeshis alongside the Indians) Hungry immigrants brought their restaurants; and the natives appreciated at least this aspect of the new culture. although they were less welcoming on other matters. Generally speaking, curry is now the UKs national dish, at least for eating out.

For the benefit of overseas readers, we append a list of ten typical favourites , courtesy of the excellent Plyvine Catering website[2] Some of us still find certain dishes too hot and spicy: beginners may like to try milder forms like Korma. Others, like students indulge in macho who-can-eat-the-hottest? competitions, with sometimes hilarious results. And to drink? It has to be lager. “!It’s not a real curry without lager!” is the indignant cry from the poshest West End serveries down to the smallest family undertaking in the the most obscure provincial town. Fortunately Indian technology has come up with two very palatable varieties: Cobra and Kingfisher, which are perfectly capable of both refreshing the palate and conveying that authentic subcontinental vibe

Indian food, like Indian culture and business acumen, is spreading world wide. Perhaps a curry house will be the first restaurant to open on the Moon. It might be a very worthy choice..

[1]https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.veeraswamy.com%2f&source=serp-local&h=Ws1QKz5L6y3meRBbkMNxwx0DKcJGs59sEQqcvf7Yd5I%3d&p=l

[2]https://plyvinecatering.co.uk/the-uks-10-most-popular-curry-dishes/

#curry #india #UK #restaurant #lager #take away #dine out

Friday Night Feast of Fun: Traditional Fish and Chips

Now that Britain has suddenly become popular in certain quarters, we thought we’d kick off the Friday Night Feast of Fun with a nod to our good old national standby. Fish, fried in batter at colossal temperatures, accompanied by equally fried chunky potato chips. Best served from a local takeaway that specialises in this dish alone-and eaten very hot. The range of fishes allowed is actually rather small-cod, haddock, plaice and a type of small shark called rock salmon by us locals. Extras are little more than pickled onions and tomato ketchup, although some purists cavil even at this, asseverating that it detracts from the true gourmand experience

But how “British” is it really? Research indicates that fried fish in batter originated among London’s original Jewish immigrants, who came mainly from Spain and Portugal in the sixteenth century. Other Jewish immigrants, whose days were spent working incredibly hard in sweatshops, combined it with fried potatoes(out of Peru via Belgium) around the middle of the 19th Century. So like our Royal Family or Premier League teams, it’s actually a bit of a melange of rather non Anglo-Saxon influences.

And what best to drink with this delicacy? Like everything else, it depends on who you are eating it with, and, this being England, their social class. Here are a few suggestions:

Stout A very dark beer brewed from roasted barley, its strong creamy flavour can partner a flaky haddock like nothing else. Guinness is the perfect exemplar, but WE remember an ancient brand called Mackeson– has anyone seen it lately?

Brown Ale Often favoured by persons from the North East of England, where the fishing industry was huge until about 2016, this has a flavour all of its own. But be warned; we once laid some on a Japanese lady of some education and she hated it. An acquired taste, perhaps.

Traditional Lager Yes, the cool bright foamy yellow stuff, the Poor Man’s Champagne. The brands we favour in these islands include Kronenburg, Red Stripe, Stella Artois(often known as “Nelson Mandela” around the outskirts of London) This is what we would use to partner our cod: no wonder they placed us on a strict diet. (no pun intended)

Domain j Jacques Girard Pernand Vergelesses Burgundy Posher guests may still wish to partner their fish dish with a white wine, darling. At £30 a bottle from Waitrose they had better drink it slowly. But we thought we had better put a good one in, because: you never really know who might turn up, do you?

Have a good weekend

#fish and chips #great britain #lager #beer #takeaway #wine

Cocktails for all those Christmas parties

Christmas is nearly upon us, and with it, all those parties, get-togethers, at-home drinks mornings and soirées which crowd in on us like….er,…..um……. several crowding things in a narrow place. Good. Which can lead to problems for the busy host or hostess-how to keep all those thirsty punters happy, because they’ll keep coming back at you for more, as sure as Santa’s got a sleigh. So may we, humbly suggest a couple of ideas to get you through?

Themes: First and foremost, keep ’em simple. You don’t want to spend all your party hours running up complicated concoctions like a Singapore Sling or Long Island Iced Tea (LSS Passim) Pick ones with three or four ingredients at most, which you can knock out faster than it takes for the Three Wise Men to hand over the presents. There you, go mate: bish, bash, bosh and a Merry Christmas to you all! Next?

Second: Bright and bubbly, lots of colours and sparkle to bring out all your trees, baubles nad holly, so the filled glasses look like more decorations. Bubbly wines and ice (the latter will always be in there somewhere), will always help add to trompe l’oeuil. That said, ready?

French 75 gin, lemon juice and chilled fizzy over a tad of sugar in a champagne flute. Looks good and goes down with a recoil to get anyone in the festive mood.

Classic Champagne Cocktail Once more unto the flute dear friends! l Champagne, brandy and a tiny dash of angostura, over a sugar lump. Don’t worry about the cost of this one, because after the first two or three they won’t notice you’re slipping in prosecco. Nor will they care.

Harvey Wallbanger Vodka, Orange, juice and Galliano over plentiful ice This tall elegant classic makes a colour statement on any Christmas table.

Bellini Peach juice, champagne and a dash of grenadine For those who like their slurping sweet, the old Bellini’s hard to beat! Will partner mince pies tastily.

East India Curacao, pineapple juice brandy and angosturas, we threw this one in to match the blue lights on your Christmas tree.

Benedict Benedictine, whisky and dry ginger ale over ice. A classic chest warmer for the season, though we couldn’t find out which of the two eponymous saints, Nursia or Aniane, first invented this one.

All these and many more can be found in The Ultimate Cocktail Book by Hamlyn, our ever go-to stand-by for the Festive season. Happy Christmas

#cocktails #christmas #xmas #drinks

The Stupidest Idea we ever had-and how we dismissed it

Here’s a killer quote, if ever there was one:

_{when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins”. The right was much more skilled on this terrain, weaving compelling human stories while its opponents tended to take refuge “in reciting their best facts and figures, as if they were trying to prevail in a high school debate tournament”.}

It’s from an article by John Harris for the Guardian, [1] quoting the work of Drew Westen, a sagacious political philosopher whose work The Political Brain explains more than most about why progressives keep losing. ( Declaration of interest: Harris is on our list of all time top journalists because he actually goes out and talks to real people)

From which we deduced that the answer to all the world’s problems must be to create a Political party to obtain representation for The Intelligent and Educated. You know, the way working people in the UK set up the Labour Party in the nineteenth century, because they felt that the Liberals and Conservatives did not represent their interests? Spotted the flaw yet? We went on to point out to ourselves that we did all the science and doctoring and lawyering and wrote all the movies and……still not spotted the the flaw? And no, we had not been drinking, we’re on a diet at the moment; but we do not need to drink heavily to make huge blunders. We’re amazingly good at it, even when when sober . Last chance: have you spotted our fault?

OK here’s the answer. This morning we had coffee with a wonderful elderly neighbour who spent most of his life as a fisherman on the Sussex coast. In the course of a long, pleasant conversation we learned much of the Perils of the Sea. Storms, wrecks, unpleasant colleagues, conger eels, that sort of thing. For example, what do you do when you haul up a 1000 lb German torpedo and get it tangled in your nets in a strong wind and a heavy sea in the shipping lanes, and it is threatening to explode/capsize your boat/ slow you into the path of a 200 000 tonne supertanker? The answer is to think. Very quickly, very profoundly and very thoroughly, in a way that landlubber University Professors and keyboard wannabees never, ever have to.

And suddenly it crossed our minds. Who’s intelligent now? What price all your books and theories when you have to face existential crises like that one? And still have to calculate the economics of the fishing business-pay for fuel, pay the crew, keep alive, sell the fish, etc? And another lesson became even clearer. Until we in the Centre, on the Left, Liberals, Whigs, Progressives, Greens or whatever we want to call ourselves take very seriously-very seriously indeed- the feelings, emotions and opinions of those who actually do the work, we will be lost at sea indeed.

[1]tps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/01/labour-relaunch-government-nigel-farage-donald-trump?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[2] Drew Westen The Political Brain Business News Publishing 2007

#john harris #inshore fishing #politics #government #progressive #conservatives

Are Ultra-Processed foods bad for your immune system? The Conversation thinks they might be

Go on any diet course these days (we’ve been on many) and the chances are that your course leader will inveigh against the dangers of processed foods[1] You know, those ones that saved us all so much time in the 1980s and 1990s, when it was essential to answer your e-mails and plan a talk over a delicious microwaved chicken korma. Well, processed foods comprise a lot more than just quick ready meals.And, l like a lot of labour-saving devices, they’re not all bad if used in moderation. Trouble comes when we all go too far. And our old friends The Conversation have an intriguing take on that. [2] Look at this extract frpm their article by Sam White and Phillipe Wilson

[there is] growing evidence that ultra-processed foods may affect how our immune system works. This may explain why some studies have linked ultra-processed foods with inflammatory bowel disease and potentially autoimmune diseases.

We on this blog have been tracking stories which link the digestive tract and immune system for some years. So it’s nice to see some real scientists really opening up this field. But there is a deeper lesson for us here, and it’s from economics, not science. Because economists of the classical school, or at least those who swallow their undergraduate textbooks, whole, always asseverate the a pure free market is the quickest way to achieve the optimum benefit. Well, processed foods are certainly free market. They have developed at breakneck speed, and certainly give the people what they want. The question is: how much do they need it? And at what cost does it come?

[1]https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/what-are-processed-foods/

[2]https://theconversation.com/ultra-processed-foods-heres-how-they-may-affect-the-way-the-immune-system-functions-231884?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest

diet #food #microbiome# gut #immune system

A very special French ’75

We know Friday Night Cocktails got dropped a few months ago (on orders from the top). But that won’t stop us from bringing you searing, cutting edge journalism when we think a story is much in the public interest that it must be broken. Even if it upsets The Great and the Good, the Powerful, and the Establishment, assuming that members of any of these groups read LSS. So, anyway, such was the case with the French 75 which we discovered at Cote, Brighton, last Saturday night before dinner.

Now, before you reach for your lawyers: we do note get any money for this. We have no commercial, financial ,commercial nor personal connection with Cote nor any of their staff. But when we, in the company of a companion visited that outlet at the end of a hideously long and dry January, we were more than in the mood for a little pick-me-up. And so it proved. Naturally we have adapted the details a bit, as we soon found ourselves a bit hazy about their precise nature. But the following will suffice:

The beauty of the French 75 is its simplicity. Refreshing simplicity, that fruity, slight sour quality we always look for in a great cocktail. Take a simple champagne flute; add a small quantity of sugar. Now add 1/2 measure of lemon juice and one measure of white gin. Cover all with cold white bubbly- Champagne, Cremont, Prosecco or cava, any of these will do. Top off with a slice of lemon peel to add that extra piquancy such ingredients demand. Now sit back and savour.

So, if you are Great, or Good, or Powerful-or just an ordinary Joe like us, here is a recipe which we hope all of you will enjoy. It’s going to be a bust weekend-so goodbye for now.

#french 75 #cocktail