On 19-Mar-24 14:31, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
> "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> writes:
>

>>> pudding, it wasn't until just a few years ago that I had the
>>> experience of Yorkshire pudding and gravy as the starter to the roast
>>> beef meal. In Yorkshire, of course.
>
> That's because of Yorkshire poverty: you ate cheap batter pudding before
> the main course so you ate less expensive meat. Same principle as pasta
> in Italy.

"Yorkshire poverty" was pretty widespread. Insisting that kids[1] ate
up their bread and butter[2] with the meal was another tactic to achieve
the same end.

[1] Adults would do so without any urging.
[2] Or maybe dripping.

--
Sam Plusnet

BrritSki wrote:

>On 19/03/2024 13:51, Chris J Dixon wrote:

>> It is nearly 40 years since I last ate meat, and even longer
>> since the dubious delights of brawn, sweetbreads and tongue.
>
>I'm with you on brawn and sweetbreads, but I still like a tongue sandwich
>(not a euphemism), heart (though not eaten for years), haggis, kidney and
>liver (especially alla Veneziana).

Back in the day, when economy was important, I particularly liked
stuffed heart, or liver and bacon casserole.

As I have mentioned before, way back sometime in the last
century, when I used to eat meat (and was married), SWMBO sent me
shopping with instructions to order oxtail for the following
week from our local butcher.

When the time came, I was offered one giant lump, plus the thin
end. When I asked for some of the more middling pieces instead,
the butcher refused, explaining that if I took the best bits he
wouldn't be able to sell the remainder.

I don't think he could see the irony that the only way I could
ever have got what I wanted would have been by not placing an
order.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham
'48/33 M B+ G++ A L(-) I S-- CH0(--)(p) Ar- T+ H0 ?Q
chris@cdixon.me.uk @ChrisJDixon1
Plant amazing Acers.

On 19-Mar-24 13:18, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
> "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> writes:
>
>> In message <87ttl3pmgw.fsf@golgonooza.co.uk> at Mon, 18 Mar 2024
>> 15:51:27, Rosie Mitchell <rcmitchell@golgonooza.co.uk> writes
>> []
>>> I didn't finish did I? I grow old.
>>
>> As do we all ...
>>>
>>> I was going to say that Sunday morning churchgoers would miss it
>>> anyway. Are there many evening services these day? Long ago there were
>>> complaints that evening services had to be disrupted because of Dr
>>> Finlay's Casebook, or the Forsyte Saga, or whatever, but I think you'd
>>
>> I remember in the '70s our school chaplain saying plaintively that he
>> wished more "creatures great and small" would come to his evensong
>> (which was voluntary).
>
> The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate...
>
>> Same here - fry-up too. Wetherspoons do a couple of good value sizes
>> of those!
>
> If you ever had one of my fry-ups you'd never want a 'Spoons one
> again. Cumberland sausage, Ayrshire bacon, Stornoway black pudding, duck
> egg, kidneys, oyster mushrooms, fried bread and NO BEANS. Stokes's brown
> sauce on the side.

I'm not entirely against beans on a FEB (insert a different middle
initial to taste) but whenever I have one in a cafe the beans are always
two notches above tepid, which makes them unpleasant.
I'm with you on Stokes sauces in general, but I don't think I've tried
the brown sauce.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 19-Mar-24 13:33, kosmo wrote:
> On 19.3.24 13:18, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
>> "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> writes:
>>
>>> In message <87ttl3pmgw.fsf@golgonooza.co.uk> at Mon, 18 Mar 2024
>>> 15:51:27, Rosie Mitchell <rcmitchell@golgonooza.co.uk> writes
>>> []
>>>> I didn't finish did I? I grow old.
>>>
>>> As do we all ...
>>>>
>>>> I was going to say that Sunday morning churchgoers would miss it
>>>> anyway. Are there many evening services these day? Long ago there were
>>>> complaints that evening services had to be disrupted because of Dr
>>>> Finlay's Casebook, or the Forsyte Saga, or whatever, but I think you'd
>>>
>>> I remember in the '70s our school chaplain saying plaintively that he
>>> wished more "creatures great and small" would come to his evensong
>>> (which was voluntary).
>>
>> The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate...
>>
>>> Same here - fry-up too. Wetherspoons do a couple of good value sizes
>>> of those!
>>
>> If you ever had one of my fry-ups you'd never want a 'Spoons one
>> again. Cumberland sausage, Ayrshire bacon, Stornoway black pudding, duck
>> egg, kidneys, oyster mushrooms, fried bread and NO BEANS. Stokes's brown
>> sauce on the side.
>>
>> Rosie
>
> No white pudding?  Although I confirm no beans.
>
I'm with you on the white pudding. Black pudding is fine with me, but
prefer white.

--
Sam Plusnet

Can I mention two things?

1) This is the longest and most lively thread we've had for some time.
Is it any surprise that the topic (seems to be) food?

2) I'm hungry now.

--
Sam Plusnet

Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes:

> BrritSki wrote:
>
>>On 19/03/2024 13:51, Chris J Dixon wrote:
>
>>> It is nearly 40 years since I last ate meat, and even longer
>>> since the dubious delights of brawn, sweetbreads and tongue.
>>
>>I'm with you on brawn and sweetbreads, but I still like a tongue sandwich
>>(not a euphemism), heart (though not eaten for years), haggis, kidney and
>>liver (especially alla Veneziana).
>
> Back in the day, when economy was important, I particularly liked
> stuffed heart, or liver and bacon casserole.

I love braised heart!

What I don't understand is why, in straitened times, it's so hard to get
hold of offal. It's not just that it's cheap, it's that it's often
tastier than muscle meat (heart is muscle meat of course but still not
that easy to get hold of). Pig's kidney is the most elusive these days
and I adore a good pig's kidney. Morrisons, alone among the big
supermarkets, sells it fo I buy them up to freeze. Even proper butchers
find it elusive. One told me it's considered a perk for abbatoir
workers.

OTOH, 50 years ago you could ask a butcher to chop up an ox tail and
with onions, carrots, a bottle of Guinness and lots of patience and you
had a good hearty stew to last for several winter days for next to
nothing (apart from the Guinness). Now, the butchers sell ox tails at
eye-watering prices.

Rosie

Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes:

> On 19-Mar-24 13:18, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
>> "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> writes:
>>
>>> In message <87ttl3pmgw.fsf@golgonooza.co.uk> at Mon, 18 Mar 2024
>>> 15:51:27, Rosie Mitchell <rcmitchell@golgonooza.co.uk> writes
>>> []
>>>> I didn't finish did I? I grow old.
>>>
>>> As do we all ...
>>>>
>>>> I was going to say that Sunday morning churchgoers would miss it
>>>> anyway. Are there many evening services these day? Long ago there were
>>>> complaints that evening services had to be disrupted because of Dr
>>>> Finlay's Casebook, or the Forsyte Saga, or whatever, but I think you'd
>>>
>>> I remember in the '70s our school chaplain saying plaintively that he
>>> wished more "creatures great and small" would come to his evensong
>>> (which was voluntary).
>> The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate...
>>
>>> Same here - fry-up too. Wetherspoons do a couple of good value sizes
>>> of those!
>> If you ever had one of my fry-ups you'd never want a 'Spoons one
>> again. Cumberland sausage, Ayrshire bacon, Stornoway black pudding, duck
>> egg, kidneys, oyster mushrooms, fried bread and NO BEANS. Stokes's brown
>> sauce on the side.
>
> I'm not entirely against beans on a FEB (insert a different middle
> initial to taste) but whenever I have one in a cafe the beans are
> always two notches above tepid, which makes them unpleasant.
> I'm with you on Stokes sauces in general, but I don't think I've tried
> the brown sauce.

The only place for tinned baked beans is tempered with Encona sauce and served
on toast. And the beans have to be Branston, formerly known as Crosse &
Blackwell.

Rosie

On 19/03/2024 17:49, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
> You do have to take care about sourcing your ginger though. Most
> supermarket ginger has had the heat bred out of it. Another thing I
> don't understand because if you can't stand the heat stay out of the
> ginger. Or something.

As a regular ginger consumer (I drink a lot of ginger tea), I'm not
convinced that they've deliberately bred the heat out of it. I think
it's more that, all too often, the "fresh" ginger they have is woefully
shrivelled and dried up. When you can get plump, juicy ginger, it's
still got a very satisfactory kick.

The other whinge I have about supermarket ginger is that, all too often,
the people picking online orders assume I don't know what I'm doing,
when I order say 300g ginger, and assume I only want 3 small chunks,
totalling around 100g :(

--
Best wishes, Serena
What if there were no hypothetical questions?

On 19/03/2024 20:01, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
> OTOH, 50 years ago you could ask a butcher to chop up an ox tail and
> with onions, carrots, a bottle of Guinness and lots of patience and you
> had a good hearty stew to last for several winter days for next to
> nothing (apart from the Guinness). Now, the butchers sell ox tails at
> eye-watering prices.

Yes, I gather the fashion for nose to tail eating has a lot to answer
for. All the traditionally cheap cuts suddenly became fashionable and
correspondingly expensive :(

--
Best wishes, Serena
Q. What do you do when you find a space man?
A. Park in it man.

Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes:

> Can I mention two things?

It's what Umra is for,

> 1) This is the longest and most lively thread we've had for some
> time. Is it any surprise that the topic (seems to be) food?

A lot more interesting than The Archers these days anyway. It's all in
impeccably good taste though. I feel my position is being threatened.

> 2) I'm hungry now.

Nothing like working up an appetite.

Rosie

Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> wrote:
> On 18/03/2024 18:29, Vicky wrote:
>
>>
>> I like sprouts. Unfortunately b won't eat them so we never have them.
>> I quite like ordinary ones but ones fried with bits of bacon are
>> especially nice.
>>
>
> If you are eating bacon, one of my weekend meals during the winter is
> often three slices of bacon, cut up and fried till crispy, plenty of
> sprouts, cut in half and cooked just right, and half a pack of whole
> chestnuts. It's so delicious. Not sure what other vegetable would
> substitute for sprouts but I recommend you try to find one and then you
> can just buy a small pack of ready-prepared sprouts for you and a
> different veg for B. Worth the small effort, IMO.

I’m going to radical and suggest Jerusalem artichokes as a sprout
substitute served up like that. Their mild bitterness complements the sweet
of the chestnuts and the saltiness of the bacon.

In message <h1pjvitmdnm550kb0g61k9aigc6gaha3da@4ax.com> at Tue, 19 Mar
2024 19:15:27, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>
>>With all the fish stories - I'll just add to my unsophisticated palate
>>by saying I think the only fish I regularly buy is/are what we used to
>>call crabsticks, though they're now called seafood sticks, presumably
>>because there's absolutely no crab in them. (Though they still colour
>>them the same!)
>
><https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjH8y1baxVI>
>
>Enjoy! ;-)
>
>Chris

Thanks, I did; but I nearly always enjoy watching food-processing
machinery on that programme. (Which is on every day between 4 and 5 a.
m. on Freeview 12; if I'm awake then I'll watch it.)

Didn't put me off crabsticks! (Or, as I said, seafood sticks as they now
call them.)

It didn't explain why they're packed in that infuriating tube, though.
I've thought for some time that there are some packagings that remain,
for "traditional" reasons, very irritating. For example, ricecakes.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"In the _car_-park? What are you doing there?" "Parking cars, what else does
one do in a car-park?" (First series, fit the fifth.)

In message <87h6h2dt0x.fsf@golgonooza.co.uk> at Tue, 19 Mar 2024
17:35:10, Rosie Mitchell <rcmitchell@golgonooza.co.uk> writes
[]
>No, I mean that the sentiment is appalling. We had to sing it at my
>non-boarding primary school and I winced even then. Years later when I
>got to know somebody else who had lived in the lodge of a big house and
>had to sing it her school – the sentiment was not lost on her peers.
[]
The hymn (?) always makes me think of the Monty Python version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEKDYIYMgBc (which I love, not just for
its excellent premise, but for the obvious enjoyment of the kids singing
it).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"In the _car_-park? What are you doing there?" "Parking cars, what else does
one do in a car-park?" (First series, fit the fifth.)

In message <CSlKN.104081$hN14.27233@fx17.iad> at Tue, 19 Mar 2024
19:40:18, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
>Can I mention two things?
>
>1) This is the longest and most lively thread we've had for some time.
>Is it any surprise that the topic (seems to be) food?
>
>2) I'm hungry now.
>
Well, when I saw the subject, I thought we can let it run and run as
it's pretty universal!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Radio 4 is the civilising influence in this country ... I think it is the most
important institution in this country. - John Humphrys, Radio Times
7-13/06/2003

On 19/03/2024 19:15, Chris J Dixon wrote:
> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>
>> With all the fish stories - I'll just add to my unsophisticated palate
>> by saying I think the only fish I regularly buy is/are what we used to
>> call crabsticks, though they're now called seafood sticks, presumably
>> because there's absolutely no crab in them. (Though they still colour
>> them the same!)
>
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjH8y1baxVI>
>
> Enjoy! ;-)
>

We came across suremi sticks in France about 20 years ago. We asked our
friends what fish they were and they looked blank and said "Suremi!" No
mention of crab or cod.

--
Jane
The Amethyst Artist
BTME

http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/cookbook.htm - Umrats' recipes

On 19/03/2024 20:01, Rosie Mitchell wrote:
> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes:
>
>> BrritSki wrote:
>>
>>> On 19/03/2024 13:51, Chris J Dixon wrote:
>>
>>>> It is nearly 40 years since I last ate meat, and even longer
>>>> since the dubious delights of brawn, sweetbreads and tongue.
>>>
>>> I'm with you on brawn and sweetbreads, but I still like a tongue sandwich
>>> (not a euphemism), heart (though not eaten for years), haggis, kidney and
>>> liver (especially alla Veneziana).
>>
>> Back in the day, when economy was important, I particularly liked
>> stuffed heart, or liver and bacon casserole.
>
> I love braised heart!
>
> What I don't understand is why, in straitened times, it's so hard to get
> hold of offal. It's not just that it's cheap, it's that it's often
> tastier than muscle meat (heart is muscle meat of course but still not
> that easy to get hold of). Pig's kidney is the most elusive these days
> and I adore a good pig's kidney. Morrisons, alone among the big
> supermarkets, sells it fo I buy them up to freeze. Even proper butchers
> find it elusive. One told me it's considered a perk for abbatoir
> workers.
>
> OTOH, 50 years ago you could ask a butcher to chop up an ox tail and
> with onions, carrots, a bottle of Guinness and lots of patience and you
> had a good hearty stew to last for several winter days for next to
> nothing (apart from the Guinness). Now, the butchers sell ox tails at
> eye-watering prices.
>

I used to love kidneys. Then my mum (who for much of her life would
have eaten anything apart from meat fat, which made her sick) said she
had gone off them because of the smell of urine when preparing them. I
scoffed. I bought kidneys. When I was preparing them they smelled of
urine.

I did manage to prepare and eat them, but have never done so again. I
think I still like to eat them, though.

--
Jane
The Amethyst Artist
BTME

http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/cookbook.htm - Umrats' recipes

On 19/03/2024 20:28, Wenlock wrote:
> Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 18/03/2024 18:29, Vicky wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I like sprouts. Unfortunately b won't eat them so we never have them.
>>> I quite like ordinary ones but ones fried with bits of bacon are
>>> especially nice.
>>>
>>
>> If you are eating bacon, one of my weekend meals during the winter is
>> often three slices of bacon, cut up and fried till crispy, plenty of
>> sprouts, cut in half and cooked just right, and half a pack of whole
>> chestnuts. It's so delicious. Not sure what other vegetable would
>> substitute for sprouts but I recommend you try to find one and then you
>> can just buy a small pack of ready-prepared sprouts for you and a
>> different veg for B. Worth the small effort, IMO.
>
> I’m going to radical and suggest Jerusalem artichokes as a sprout
> substitute served up like that. Their mild bitterness complements the sweet
> of the chestnuts and the saltiness of the bacon.
>

People seem to like them. I wasn't sure but they were never served at
home because Dad said they tasted of soot. Then he suddenly decided to
like them. I tasted them and said they tasted of soot. They did. He
scoffed. (Probably where I got my scoffing ability from.) I rarely
miss an opportunity to pass this on to others, some of whom now think
they taste of soot.

AFAIK none of us has ever tried eating soot.

--
Jane
The Amethyst Artist
BTME

http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/cookbook.htm - Umrats' recipes

In message <l5vq70Fd5rvU1@mid.individual.net> at Wed, 20 Mar 2024
09:56:48, Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> writes
>On 19/03/2024 19:15, Chris J Dixon wrote:
>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>
>>> With all the fish stories - I'll just add to my unsophisticated
>>>palate
>>> by saying I think the only fish I regularly buy is/are what we used to
>>> call crabsticks, though they're now called seafood sticks, presumably
>>> because there's absolutely no crab in them. (Though they still colour
>>> them the same!)
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjH8y1baxVI>
>> Enjoy! ;-)
>>
>
>We came across suremi sticks in France about 20 years ago. We asked
>our friends what fish they were and they looked blank and said
>"Suremi!" No mention of crab or cod.
>
>
I think some people think they taste similar to crab - IIRR, there's
some mention in the above video of that opinion/whatever. Since crab is
expensive, I presume that's the reason they're still packaged in that
way in England.

My mum liked crab; on the odd occasions I had it, I liked it, but didn't
consider the effort involved (or cost of having someone else make that
effort) worth it. (Crabsticks, on the other hand, I _do_ find worth the
effort of dealing with the silly packaging, though still find it
irritating/needless.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Try to tell me to watch something because it's brilliant and everyone says so
and therefore I will love it, too, and you lose me for ever.
- Alison Graham, RT 2016/2/6-12

On 20/03/2024 10:03, Jane Vernon wrote:
> On 19/03/2024 20:28, Wenlock wrote:
>> Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 18/03/2024 18:29, Vicky wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I like sprouts. Unfortunately b won't eat them so we never have them.
>>>> I quite like ordinary ones but ones fried with bits of bacon are
>>>> especially nice.
>>>>
>>>
>>> If you are eating bacon, one of my weekend meals during the winter is
>>> often three slices of bacon, cut up and fried till crispy, plenty of
>>> sprouts, cut in half and cooked just right, and half a pack of whole
>>> chestnuts.  It's so delicious.  Not sure what other vegetable would
>>> substitute for sprouts but I recommend you try to find one and then you
>>> can just buy a small pack of ready-prepared sprouts for you and a
>>> different veg for B.  Worth the small effort, IMO.
>>
>> I’m going to radical and suggest Jerusalem artichokes as a sprout
>> substitute served up like that. Their mild bitterness complements the
>> sweet
>> of the chestnuts and the saltiness of the bacon.
>>
>
> People seem to like them.  I wasn't sure but they were never served at
> home because Dad said they tasted of soot.  Then he suddenly decided to
> like them.  I tasted them and said they tasted of soot.  They did. He
> scoffed.  (Probably where I got my scoffing ability from.)  I rarely
> miss an opportunity to pass this on to others, some of whom now think
> they taste of soot.
>
> AFAIK none of us has ever tried eating soot.
>
Everyone who had an open fire WBW and a chimney sweep who came every
year knows the taste of soot.

When it was readily available Dad used it on his allotment too, can't
remember for what, but rhubarb springs to mind, so we may have tasted it
on the veg he grew...

On 20/03/2024 10:27, BrritSki wrote:
> On 20/03/2024 10:03, Jane Vernon wrote:
>> On 19/03/2024 20:28, Wenlock wrote:
>>> Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> On 18/03/2024 18:29, Vicky wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I like sprouts. Unfortunately b won't eat them so we never have them.
>>>>> I quite like ordinary ones but ones fried with bits of bacon are
>>>>> especially nice.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you are eating bacon, one of my weekend meals during the winter is
>>>> often three slices of bacon, cut up and fried till crispy, plenty of
>>>> sprouts, cut in half and cooked just right, and half a pack of whole
>>>> chestnuts.  It's so delicious.  Not sure what other vegetable would
>>>> substitute for sprouts but I recommend you try to find one and then you
>>>> can just buy a small pack of ready-prepared sprouts for you and a
>>>> different veg for B.  Worth the small effort, IMO.
>>>
>>> I’m going to radical and suggest Jerusalem artichokes as a sprout
>>> substitute served up like that. Their mild bitterness complements the
>>> sweet
>>> of the chestnuts and the saltiness of the bacon.
>>>
>>
>> People seem to like them.  I wasn't sure but they were never served at
>> home because Dad said they tasted of soot.  Then he suddenly decided
>> to like them.  I tasted them and said they tasted of soot.  They did.
>> He scoffed.  (Probably where I got my scoffing ability from.)  I
>> rarely miss an opportunity to pass this on to others, some of whom now
>> think they taste of soot.
>>
>> AFAIK none of us has ever tried eating soot.
>>
> Everyone who had an open fire WBW and a chimney sweep who came every
> year knows the taste of soot.

Oh, that's true.

>
> When it was readily available Dad used it on his allotment too, can't
> remember for what, but rhubarb springs to mind, so we may have tasted it
> on the veg he grew...
>

I've been offered the sweepings from my chimney for the garden. I have
a feeling roses like it too. On one occasion I wasn't asked but the bag
of soot was left dumped. I wasn't happy.

--
Jane
The Amethyst Artist
BTME

http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/cookbook.htm - Umrats' recipes

On 20/03/2024 10:27, BrritSki wrote:
> On 20/03/2024 10:03, Jane Vernon wrote:
>> On 19/03/2024 20:28, Wenlock wrote:
>>> Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> On 18/03/2024 18:29, Vicky wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I like sprouts. Unfortunately b won't eat them so we never have them.
>>>>> I quite like ordinary ones but ones fried with bits of bacon are
>>>>> especially nice.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you are eating bacon, one of my weekend meals during the winter is
>>>> often three slices of bacon, cut up and fried till crispy, plenty of
>>>> sprouts, cut in half and cooked just right, and half a pack of whole
>>>> chestnuts.  It's so delicious.  Not sure what other vegetable would
>>>> substitute for sprouts but I recommend you try to find one and then you
>>>> can just buy a small pack of ready-prepared sprouts for you and a
>>>> different veg for B.  Worth the small effort, IMO.
>>>
>>> I’m going to radical and suggest Jerusalem artichokes as a sprout
>>> substitute served up like that. Their mild bitterness complements the
>>> sweet
>>> of the chestnuts and the saltiness of the bacon.
>>>
>>
>> People seem to like them.  I wasn't sure but they were never served at
>> home because Dad said they tasted of soot.  Then he suddenly decided
>> to like them.  I tasted them and said they tasted of soot.  They did.
>> He scoffed.  (Probably where I got my scoffing ability from.)  I
>> rarely miss an opportunity to pass this on to others, some of whom now
>> think they taste of soot.
>>
>> AFAIK none of us has ever tried eating soot.
>>
> Everyone who had an open fire WBW and a chimney sweep who came every
> year knows the taste of soot.
>
> When it was readily available Dad used it on his allotment too, can't
> remember for what, but rhubarb springs to mind, so we may have tasted it
> on the veg he grew...
>
>
Soot, says Lawrence D Hills, doyen of the organic gardening movement, is
a mixture ore unburnt carcon, tar and very impure sulphate of ammonia.
Though it can be valuable todarken soils in the spring so that more sun
heat is absorbed, its plant food is very mush less than a chemical
fertiliser

My instinct is to use it for onions and carrots which will benefit from
an early start, but not to rely on it for nutrition.

john

On 20/03/2024 10:22, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> In message <l5vq70Fd5rvU1@mid.individual.net> at Wed, 20 Mar 2024
> 09:56:48, Jane Vernon <spam@nopotteratthisaddress.co.uk> writes
>> On 19/03/2024 19:15, Chris J Dixon wrote:
>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>
>>>> With all the fish stories - I'll just add to my unsophisticated palate
>>>> by saying I think the only fish I regularly buy is/are what we used to
>>>> call crabsticks, though they're now called seafood sticks, presumably
>>>> because there's absolutely no crab in them. (Though they still colour
>>>> them the same!)
>>>  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjH8y1baxVI>
>>>  Enjoy!   ;-)
>>>
>>
>> We came across suremi sticks in France about 20 years ago.  We asked
>> our friends what fish they were and they looked blank and said
>> "Suremi!"  No mention of crab or cod.
>>
>>
> I think some people think they taste similar to crab - IIRR, there's
> some mention in the above video of that opinion/whatever. Since crab is
> expensive, I presume that's the reason they're still packaged in that
> way in England.
>
> My mum liked crab; on the odd occasions I had it, I liked it, but didn't
> consider the effort involved (or cost of having someone else make that
> effort) worth it. (Crabsticks, on the other hand, I _do_ find worth the
> effort of dealing with the silly packaging, though still find it
> irritating/needless.)

We wnet out for lunch in a pub in Chipping Norton (no sighting of any of
the Set) recently and had crab sandwiches. Poorly flavoured filling and
bread.which was dry from having been left in the open all morning. The
whole experience left me with the impression that we eat better when we
cook/prepare for ourselves (see also an underwhelming flabby pizza
experience in January).

john

On 20/03/2024 10:00, Jane Vernon wrote:
>
> I used to love kidneys.  Then my mum (who for much of her life would
> have eaten anything apart from meat fat, which made her sick) said she
> had gone off them because of the smell of urine when preparing them.  I
> scoffed.  I bought kidneys.  When I was preparing them they smelled of
> urine.
>
> I did manage to prepare and eat them, but have never done so again.  I
> think I still like to eat them, though.
>
>
My mother used to soak them in milk before cooking to get rid of the smell.

--
Ric

john ashby wrote:

>We wnet out for lunch in a pub in Chipping Norton (no sighting of any of
>the Set) recently and had crab sandwiches. Poorly flavoured filling and
>bread.which was dry from having been left in the open all morning.

I have to say that we did once have absolutely delicious crab
sandwiches from a takeaway outlet.

If I mention we were in Padstow, I think you can guess the name
over the door.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham
'48/33 M B+ G++ A L(-) I S-- CH0(--)(p) Ar- T+ H0 ?Q
chris@cdixon.me.uk @ChrisJDixon1
Plant amazing Acers.

On 20/03/2024 12:15, Joe Kerr wrote:
> On 20/03/2024 10:00, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>
>> I used to love kidneys.  Then my mum (who for much of her life would
>> have eaten anything apart from meat fat, which made her sick) said she
>> had gone off them because of the smell of urine when preparing them.
>> I scoffed.  I bought kidneys.  When I was preparing them they smelled
>> of urine.
>>
>> I did manage to prepare and eat them, but have never done so again.  I
>> think I still like to eat them, though.
>>
>>
> My mother used to soak them in milk before cooking to get rid of the smell.
>
Hence the phrase "who pissed on my cornflakes this morning ?"