On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +0000, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
wrote:

>On 05/01/2024 08:17, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> In message <kvpo5vFl1a1U1@mid.individual.net> at Fri, 5 Jan 2024
>> 07:07:44, Steve Hague <stevehague82@gmail.com> writes
>>>
>>>>  I admit that I have never seen the point of the aubergine.  They
>>>> seem to  serve no useful purpose.
>>> Agreed. I enjoy cooking, and have tried to find a use for aubergines,
>>> but they have no flavour of their own, dissolve when you start cooking
>>> them without thickening anything, and their nutritional value is very
>>> low.
>>> Steve
>>>>
>>>
>> I have always felt the same about the potato, in its boiled form, or the
>> inside of its roast form or _thick_ chips: basically, just as a
>> _carrier_ for other tastes. I realise it _does_ have nutritional value
>> (Ireland more or less lived on them for centuries), and there _is_
>> _some_ taste to them (very "new" ones) so I may just be "taste-blind" to
>> them, but to me they're mostly just blotting-paper. _Thin_ chips (or at
>> a pinch _thinly_ sliced before roasting ("sauté"), have taste, but then
>> that's partly what they're cooked _in_ and partly the texture - as in
>> crisps.
>> I think it must be mostly the "taste-blind" aspect, as it's _very_
>> difficult to persuade people of this, as people are extremely pushy
>> about them - "go on, just have one" (I usually do just to keep the
>> peace/not cause offence). I don't _dis_like the taste (though I'm not
>> really keen on the texture) - I just don't detect any.
>
>I was fed boiled potatoes about 360 days a year growing up. As a result
>I too find them boring and unappealing and have only cooked them a few
>times since for my own consumption, and then it has been new potatoes or
>similar. I'm perfectly happy with potatoes presented in any other form.
>There are a few varieties that have s0me flavour. Obviously they taste
>of potato. Wratte and Pink Fir Apple come to mind, and I think Yukon
>Gold has some flavour. There must be others with some taste but they are
>probably heritage varieties that you would need to find at a farm shop
>or online. You might find some more useful information on kartoffel.ch .

And then there is gnocci, made with potatoes, which can be a sweet or
savoury dish. We had them stuffed with spinach and cheese a couple of
days ago, with a cheese sauce.

On Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:39:05 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +0000, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On 05/01/2024 08:17, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>> In message <kvpo5vFl1a1U1@mid.individual.net> at Fri, 5 Jan 2024
>>> 07:07:44, Steve Hague <stevehague82@gmail.com> writes
>>>>
>>>>>  I admit that I have never seen the point of the aubergine.  They
>>>>> seem to  serve no useful purpose.
>>>> Agreed. I enjoy cooking, and have tried to find a use for aubergines,
>>>> but they have no flavour of their own, dissolve when you start cooking
>>>> them without thickening anything, and their nutritional value is very
>>>> low.
>>>> Steve
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> I have always felt the same about the potato, in its boiled form, or the
>>> inside of its roast form or _thick_ chips: basically, just as a
>>> _carrier_ for other tastes. I realise it _does_ have nutritional value
>>> (Ireland more or less lived on them for centuries), and there _is_
>>> _some_ taste to them (very "new" ones) so I may just be "taste-blind" to
>>> them, but to me they're mostly just blotting-paper. _Thin_ chips (or at
>>> a pinch _thinly_ sliced before roasting ("sauté"), have taste, but then
>>> that's partly what they're cooked _in_ and partly the texture - as in
>>> crisps.
>>> I think it must be mostly the "taste-blind" aspect, as it's _very_
>>> difficult to persuade people of this, as people are extremely pushy
>>> about them - "go on, just have one" (I usually do just to keep the
>>> peace/not cause offence). I don't _dis_like the taste (though I'm not
>>> really keen on the texture) - I just don't detect any.
>>
>>I was fed boiled potatoes about 360 days a year growing up. As a result
>>I too find them boring and unappealing and have only cooked them a few
>>times since for my own consumption, and then it has been new potatoes or
>>similar. I'm perfectly happy with potatoes presented in any other form.
>>There are a few varieties that have s0me flavour. Obviously they taste
>>of potato. Wratte and Pink Fir Apple come to mind, and I think Yukon
>>Gold has some flavour. There must be others with some taste but they are
>>probably heritage varieties that you would need to find at a farm shop
>>or online. You might find some more useful information on kartoffel.ch .
>
>And then there is gnocci, made with potatoes, which can be a sweet or
>savoury dish. We had them stuffed with spinach and cheese a couple of
>days ago, with a cheese sauce.

Oh and jackets are a good standby too, with toppings or to accompany
stews or other dishes.

krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
> On 5.1.24 08:17, Steve Hague wrote:
>> On 28/12/2023 14:59, krw wrote:
>>> On 26.12.23 05:08, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>> there was some vegetable which my mother liked to serve to German
>>>> friends, who enjoyed it and asked what it was, only to be somewhat
>>>> disconcerted, as it was a vegetable well enough known in Germany, but
>>>> only as cattle fodder.
>>>
>>> Similarly I cannot bring myself to eat the kale which restaurants in
>>> this country now offer as a green vegetable and I grew up on a farm
>>> serving it to the cattle.
>>>
>> Some years ago we had a meal cooked by a couple of friends of
>> Chinese/Australian origins. It included deep fried kale. Crispy and tasty.
>
> I would not be surprised if most "seaweed" in Chinese restaurants was
> not kale - but at least they do not use that description so I can
> maintain ignorance.
>

Likewise.

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 05-Jan-24 13:24, Joe Kerr wrote:

> I was fed boiled potatoes about 360 days a year growing up. As a result
> I too find them boring and unappealing and have only cooked them a few
> times since for my own consumption, and then it has been new potatoes or
> similar. I'm perfectly happy with potatoes presented in any other form.
> There are a few varieties that have s0me flavour. Obviously they taste
> of potato. Wratte and Pink Fir Apple come to mind, and I think Yukon
> Gold has some flavour. There must be others with some taste but they are
> probably heritage varieties that you would need to find at a farm shop
> or online. You might find some more useful information on kartoffel.ch .

Re: Early potatoes. Jersey Royals seem to have a decent flavour - at
least in some years.
I agree about Pink Fir Apple - just don't attempt to peel them.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 05-Jan-24 10:21, Mike McMillan wrote:
> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 07:07:44 +0000, Steve Hague
>> <stevehague82@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I admit that I have never seen the point of the aubergine.  They seem to
>>>> serve no useful purpose.
>>> Agreed. I enjoy cooking, and have tried to find a use for aubergines,
>>> but they have no flavour of their own, dissolve when you start cooking
>>> them without thickening anything, and their nutritional value is very low.
>>> Steve
>>>>
>>
>> Dips.
>>
>
> Headlights?

Fancy dance steps?

19th Century pick-pockets?

--
Sam Plusnet

On 05/01/2024 17:36, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 05-Jan-24 13:24, Joe Kerr wrote:
>
>> I was fed boiled potatoes about 360 days a year growing up. As a
>> result I too find them boring and unappealing and have only cooked
>> them a few times since for my own consumption, and then it has been
>> new potatoes or similar. I'm perfectly happy with potatoes presented
>> in any other form. There are a few varieties that have s0me flavour.
>> Obviously they taste of potato. Wratte and Pink Fir Apple come to
>> mind, and I think Yukon Gold has some flavour. There must be others
>> with some taste but they are probably heritage varieties that you
>> would need to find at a farm shop or online. You might find some more
>> useful information on kartoffel.ch .
>
> Re: Early potatoes.  Jersey Royals seem to have a decent flavour - at
> least in some years.
> I agree about Pink Fir Apple - just don't attempt to peel them.
>
>
Never peel potatoes, PFA or not. Most of the nutrition is in the
sub-dermal region. For flavour choose the right potatoe (Damn, I'm
turning into Dan Quayle) for the method of cooking (there are far too
many varieties to make a list), buy them as fresh as possible (for
preference grow them yourself) and I hate to say this but organic do
taste better.

john

On 05/01/2024 17:37, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 05-Jan-24 10:21, Mike McMillan wrote:
>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 07:07:44 +0000, Steve Hague
>>> <stevehague82@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I admit that I have never seen the point of the aubergine.  They
>>>>> seem to
>>>>> serve no useful purpose.
>>>> Agreed. I enjoy cooking, and have tried to find a use for aubergines,
>>>> but they have no flavour of their own, dissolve when you start cooking
>>>> them without thickening anything, and their nutritional value is
>>>> very low.
>>>> Steve
>>>>>
>>>
>>> Dips.
>>>
>>
>> Headlights?
>
> Fancy dance steps?
>
> 19th Century pick-pockets?
>
An affectionate name for a Teletubbie?

--
Ric

Sam Plusnet wrote:

> On 26-Dec-23 20:54, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Tue, 26 Dec 2023 16:41:08 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver"
>>> <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> In message <kv0cpvFsgb3U1@mid.individual.net> at Tue, 26 Dec 2023
>>>> 16:20:14, Steve Hague <stevehague82@gmail.com> writes
>>>>> On 25/12/2023 12:23, Joe Kerr wrote:
>>>>>> On 25/12/2023 11:23, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>> []
>>>>>>> on-topic!): I don't like champagne, never have: it's far too dry for
>>>>>>> me. And I wonder how many others there are like me, who feel like the
>>>>
>>>> I've been most cheered by the number of UMRAts who share my taste!
>>>> []
>>>>> I don't like champagne either, overpriced and over rated. I'm partial
>>>>> to a decent quality red wine, but I know why sports people who've just
>>>
>>> I quite like champagne and other bubbly wines, as long as not too dry.
>>>>
>>>> Not keen on red either - far too dry for me. Except maybe port, but that
>>
>> Aldi does a good crémant du Jura for about GBP 8.00 but it's not always
>> available. In fact I don't think I've seen it since early in Lockdown,
>> when I went to Knightswood Aldi early to avoid the limited access queue
>> and therefore fell foul of one of the more idiotic Scots laws, the one
>> that says grown adults can't buy alcohol before 10am,
>>
>>> I don't like caviar but like anchovy paste. Used to get it as a child
>>> on bread and vbutter.
>>
>> I like freshly-caught sea-urchin roes mopped up with a fresh baguette
>> but I haven't had the opportunity for many years now.
>>
>>> working class roots have maimed my palate.
>>
>> Not permanently in my case but thank goodness I shocked my extended
>> family by breaking out of the rut that they were stuck in and remain
>> stuck in by going to university. As you are probably aware, I tried
>> going back to my roots 18 years ago but eventually my extended family¹
>> reached a kind of accommodation by fucking off out of their lives in
>> return for them fucking off out of mine. So no more sneering at my
>> freshly-ground coffee and "fancy" teas (a monthly trip to the lovely
>> shop in Lancaster); cavolo nero and aubergines that I'd helped to grow;
>> home-made quince jelly (always had to go to Booths, on the snooty end of
>> Ulverston or in Kendal) for quinces, none to be had in Barrow market or
>> any of the town's supermarkets; and even the cheap bits of animals like
>> braised pig's kidney and crispy trotters¹ that they scorned. It should
>> have been stewed beef with brutally-boiled carrots, washed down with
>> stewed PG Tips with lots of milk and two sugars.
>>
>> Rosie
>>
>> ¹ This is my mum's side of the family. Not only could my sister and her
>> brood not be arsed turning up to mum's funeral but neither could any of
>> them, her two nieces and their broods.

> I admit that I have never seen the point of the aubergine. They seem to
> serve no useful purpose.

I know people who like aubergines in their own right but for me they are merely a Flavour Delivery System. In other words, what you do to them or add to them is what makes them interesting.

Over here, the "milanesa" is very popular. Usually veal. Not the crated sort that I think is now banned in most places but young cattle rather as we eat young sheep and call it lamb. But there are variations based on chicken, cheese-and-ham, and loads of other things including aubergines and courgettes (another thing I define as FDS)

For milanesa, think of what they call Chicken Fried Steak in the USA. I suppose there must be something equivalent in Milan to have given it the name. Anyway, an aubergine milanesa is a thin slice of aubergine, coated in egg then thickly coated in herby seasoned breadcrumbs and then fried or baked in the oven and is, in my opinion, a delicious way to eat aubergine.

Nick

In message <fl1gpi9lecdrh4lnfnghvmsjtpeeh3uujc@4ax.com> at Fri, 5 Jan
2024 13:40:50, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> writes
>On Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:39:05 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +0000, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On 05/01/2024 08:17, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
[]
>>>> I have always felt the same about the potato, in its boiled form, or the
>>>> inside of its roast form or _thick_ chips: basically, just as a
>>>> _carrier_ for other tastes. I realise it _does_ have nutritional value
[]
>>>I was fed boiled potatoes about 360 days a year growing up. As a result
>>>I too find them boring and unappealing and have only cooked them a few
[]
>>And then there is gnocci, made with potatoes, which can be a sweet or

Is that the same as Knödel - potato dumplings? Again, wasn't too keen
(if I'm remembering the right entity).

>>savoury dish. We had them stuffed with spinach and cheese a couple of
>>days ago, with a cheese sauce.

Ah, that as an FDS sounds rather nice. I like most things in a cheese
sauce - or to put it another way, I like cheese sauce, and accept some
of the things that deliver it.
>
>Oh and jackets are a good standby too, with toppings or to accompany
>stews or other dishes.

The _jacket_ has some flavour, I agree. If the (mostly tasteless, to me
anyway - certainly the varieties that tend to be used for jackets, to
get the size) is mostly scraped out so it can be replaced with the
topping, that's fine.

I don't mind a little potato with my butter. Mash when soaked in butter
- or cheese of various sorts - fine, but see above.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Only dirty people need wash

In message <un9amo$7977$1@dont-email.me> at Fri, 5 Jan 2024 16:28:08,
Mike McMillan <toodle.pip1@virginmedia.com> writes
>krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
>> On 5.1.24 08:17, Steve Hague wrote:
[]
>>> Some years ago we had a meal cooked by a couple of friends of
>>> Chinese/Australian origins. It included deep fried kale. Crispy and tasty.
>>
>> I would not be surprised if most "seaweed" in Chinese restaurants was
>> not kale - but at least they do not use that description so I can
>> maintain ignorance.
>>
>
>Likewise.
>
I usually enjoy the seaweed on offer in such places - but have sometimes
admitted to myself that (I think) it's mainly the salt that I'm
enjoying. Possibly there may be something in the seaweed, or it may be
the trace elements that make "sea salt" nicer than ordinary salt.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Only dirty people need wash

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 00:37:41 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk>
wrote:

>>>And then there is gnocci, made with potatoes, which can be a sweet or
>
>Is that the same as Knödel - potato dumplings? Again, wasn't too keen
>(if I'm remembering the right entity).
https://www.google.com/search?q=gnocchi+or+dumplings&rlz=1C1AWFC_enGB895GB970&oq=gnocchi+or+dumplings&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMgoIAxAAGA8YFhgeMgoIBBAAGAUYDRgeMg0IBRAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBhAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEJOTY5NWoxajE1qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Then there are https://www.lilvienna.com/plum-dumplings/
Zwetschkenknödel, which can be with plums or apricots. Or cream
cheese.