Food for foodies

mheredge · February 2

In France people spend a lot of time thinking and talking about food, preparing it and eating. Though the British are not so fanatical about food, they're learning!

What is your favourite cuisine?
What is your favourite food?
Do you like cooking?

Please share your thoughts on food here.

I found this article about Parmigiano-Reggiano, an Italian hard cheese that is said to compete with almost any food for calcium, amino acids, protein and vitamin A – and is prescribed by doctors to cure ailments.

GemmaRowlands · February 4

My favourite kind of food in the UK is Italian, though I have been to Italy and it is nothing like authentic Italian food (which is even better, if anything!)

mheredge · February 5

Restaurants in Britain will always adapt the cuisine for British tastes @GemmaRowlands . It's very difficult to find anything that is really authentic outside the home country.

GemmaRowlands · February 5

mheredge said:
Restaurants in Britain will always adapt the cuisine for British tastes @GemmaRowlands . It's very difficult to find anything that is really authentic outside the home country.

Yes that's true. Some of the "Italian" restaurants serve US style pizza, which just isn't right at all!

mheredge · February 5

Being in Cornwall I'm taking full advantage of fish. Last night I had fish and chips, and for lunch I had mussels. I have no doubt that I'll also have fish for dinner tonight too.

GemmaRowlands · February 6

I am hoping to try a new recipe for sausage casserole tonight. I think it will be very popular with my partner and his son, so I am hoping for plenty of really good feedback from it!

mheredge · February 6

We're having pasta tonight with aubergine cooked with tomato and celery. Washed down with red wine of course!

GemmaRowlands · February 7

Last night I changed plans a little and had sausages with roast potatoes and vegetables. Everyone in the house said that it was a really nice meal, and I have to agree with them.

mheredge · February 7

Have you seen M&S's Valantine sausages @GemmaRowlands?

Today for lunch I had some baked hake with dauphinois potatoes and broccoli at a very smart café overlooking the sea.

GemmaRowlands · February 8

mheredge said:
Have you seen M&S's Valantine sausages @GemmaRowlands?

Today for lunch I had some baked hake with dauphinois potatoes and broccoli at a very smart café overlooking the sea.

Ha ha, yes. I told my partner about those this morning. It makes it worse that they're called "love sausages" because that just doesn't sound right! I will be buying one though.

Practical_Severard · February 9

My mother is a good cook, she was brought up by her nan, who had came from the country and was a remarkably assertive woman. At that time and in that place the people had Russian steam bath every Saturday, and since preparing one was laborios, relative families did it in turns for all the larger family. The afterbath was a tea with pies, so baking them become a kind of competition. She's an expert not only in pies, though, but if she throws a feast the guests are usually full after the starters, so you can see, that's not a high cuisine.

mheredge · February 9

I have a Japanese friend who's not keen on visiting the UK due to there not being any Japanese steam baths in people's homes there. I have to say, I can sympathize as I stayed at this friend's home in Osaka and remember how nice they are.

What sort of pies did your wife's grandmother make @Practical_Severard? Were they sweet or savoury? It sounds like a very civilised Saturday tradition. We've somehow lost the art of this sort of thing though life is obviously much easier these days.

Practical_Severard · February 11

mheredge said:
I have a Japanese friend who's not keen on visiting the UK due to there not being any Japanese steam baths in people's homes there. I have to say, I can sympathize as I stayed at this friend's home in Osaka and remember how nice they are.

Well, I believe, most Japanese can't afford it their in houses too, so they use public baths. I wouldn't be surpised if there were some of them in the UK too, particularly in London, since there is a Russian style public bath.

mheredge said:
What sort of pies did your wife's grandmother make @Practical_Severard? Were they sweet or savoury? It sounds like a very civilised Saturday tradition. We've somehow lost the art of this sort of thing though life is obviously much easier these days.

Well, actually it was my mother's one. I couldn't ask her last night, she was in a theatre. But, I believe she did the both sweet and savoury, the stuffing can be very different. Meat or liver might have been not so common, since those times weren't exactly wealthy, unlike the stuff people could grew in their gardens or pick up in the forest (mushrooms, wild berries) or the freshwater fish. Among the most popular staffing there are eggs with green onions, cabbage, raspberry, black currant, apples, fish and rice. The potato one is a cheaper option. In any case making good dough is important and buying ready one from a grocery isn't a way to success. It makes cooking pies laborious so many people don't do it nowdays. My mother often makes kefir (a sort of sour milk) dough which is lighter.

mheredge · February 11

Describing those pie fillings makes my mouth water @Practical_Severard. I'm not a dab hand at pastry, but I ought to practice more.

I was all set to make some chicken liver pate when I realised that I didn't have enough butter. I will make it a bit later, after I've had time to go to the shops. I don't usually eat very much butter, but liver pate uses quite a lot. I plan to freeze portions so I can dip into it as and when.

I made courgette soup yesterday. It is good cold as well as hot.

Practical_Severard · February 11

mheredge said:
Describing those pie fillings makes my mouth water @Practical_Severard. I'm not a dab hand at pastry, but I ought to practice more.

Making pies is a big part of the Russian cuisine, there are hundreds of recipes, but this food isn't exactly healthy. There are two forms, the first, a large dish to be cut to pieces is translated as the 'pie', and the second, a smaller one which is eaten with a hand, has no an English equivalent so Wikipedia names it (plural)

English "buns" are probably close to them.
This one is with eggs and greenonions:

mheredge said:

I made courgette soup yesterday. It is good cold as well as hot.

My wife often cooks marrows, but she usually fries them.

GemmaRowlands · February 11

Practical_Severard said:
My mother is a good cook, she was brought up by her nan, who had came from the country and was a remarkably assertive woman. At that time and in that place the people had Russian steam bath every Saturday, and since preparing one was laborios, relative families did it in turns for all the larger family. The afterbath was a tea with pies, so baking them become a kind of competition. She's an expert not only in pies, though, but if she throws a feast the guests are usually full after the starters, so you can see, that's not a high cuisine.

I think it's amazing when people are brought up being taught how to cook, as it helps a lot to have those skills in later life when you have your own family.

mheredge · February 11

I more often bake courgettes (along with other vegetables) @Practical_Severard. I'm not sure that it is any more healthy as normally I put a slug of olive oil on them (Jamie Oliver's term).

The chicken liver pate tasted good. I put half in the freezer and the other half should keep long enough in the fridge for the rest of the week.

My friend wants to take me out for lunch tomorrow. I am suggesting to her that we go to this restaurant. It is close to Nice's very good market where the chef goes every day to shop for local and fresh produce to cook for lunch. I think it only opens for lunch and only on weekdays.

(I'm npt sure if you can access this page @Michouxe, but it might be worth a try).

Practical_Severard · February 12

mheredge said:
I more often bake courgettes (along with other vegetables) @Practical_Severard. I'm not sure that it is any more healthy as normally I put a slug of olive oil on them (Jamie Oliver's term).

I think it's quite healthy, because fats are a macronutrient with the full rights, and olive oil is better than other fats. I also like linseed oil rich of Omega-3s, though its somewhat bitter taste doesn't fit with everything. Quantities matter, though, and different lifestyles require different diets. A fatback sandwich is good when you're camping at -15C or earning your living by hard physical labour, such as hand logging or mining with a pickaxe.

mheredge said:

My friend wants to take me out for lunch tomorrow. I am suggesting to her that we go to this restaurant. It is close to Nice's very good market where the chef goes every day to shop for local and fresh produce to cook for lunch. I think it only opens for lunch and only on weekdays.

It must be a tremendously popular restaurant if they can afford a schedule like this. Most in this business here make their money in the evening. The wines, I think, are quite good, while in Moscow a restaurant typically charges from 24 EUR per 750 ml bottle for something like which is used for cooking only in its home Italy, I believe.

mheredge · February 12

I was surprised that they could manage without opening at the weekend but come to think of it, they are probably open in the evenings, though not Mondays @Practical_Severard. All the same, when I tried to go on the spur of the moment one lunch time, I was politely informed that for lunch, it's by reservation only. I managed to get in one time without booking only because it was the middle of winter, very cold and raining. I recall that it was very good, (I think the chef is well thought of) and at lunch time, quite reasonable in price. I will call them in about an hour to book our table.

Practical_Severard · February 13

GemmaRowlands said:
I think it's amazing when people are brought up being taught how to cook, as it helps a lot to have those skills in later life when you have your own family.

Still, many people think nowdays that it's a thing one can learn at any age, when there's the need. Indeed, fine cooking requires much time which many people don't have, unless they have retired. Though here girls used to have mandatory cooking lessons at school.

Practical_Severard · February 13

mheredge said:
I recall that it was very good, (I think the chef is well thought of) and at lunch time, quite reasonable in price. I will call them in about an hour to book our table.

How did you learn about the place, @mheredge? Usually when you find a place with recommendations on Tripadvisor or on a similar site, they're already well-established and charge the average market price.

mheredge · February 13

I walk past it often and so I just did some research as to the cuisine. Obviously reviews were good, but in France expectations tend to be high @Practical_Severard. I tend to take TripAdvisor with a pinch of salt generally.

GemmaRowlands · February 14

Practical_Severard said:

GemmaRowlands said:
I think it's amazing when people are brought up being taught how to cook, as it helps a lot to have those skills in later life when you have your own family.
Still, many people think nowdays that it's a thing one can learn at any age, when there's the need. Indeed, fine cooking requires much time which many people don't have, unless they have retired. Though here girls used to have mandatory cooking lessons at school.

Yes I suppose you can learn to cook at any age, but I do think it comes a lot easier if you just grow up learning how to do it properly.

mheredge · February 15

I have just seen this recipe from Jamie Oliver for flatbread that looks incredibly easy. Well, it's for kids, so I suppose it should be.

GemmaRowlands · February 15

mheredge said:
I have just seen this recipe from Jamie Oliver for flatbread that looks incredibly easy. Well, it's for kids, so I suppose it should be.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/easy-flatbreads/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=BAU_15.02.19_Kidseatfree

That looks really nice. I enjoy making bread, so I think I will have to try that when I get a little bit of time.

mheredge · February 16

Today I have experimented and made a sort of fritatta (it was called a muffin, but it doesn't have flour in it). I also have made a beetroot and goat's cheese salad with some smoked salmon. I have a friend coming over for supper tonight. Since she's a very light eater, I'm hoping she will like what I've made.

GemmaRowlands · February 18

mheredge said:
Today I have experimented and made a sort of fritatta (it was called a muffin, but it doesn't have flour in it). I also have made a beetroot and goat's cheese salad with some smoked salmon. I have a friend coming over for supper tonight. Since she's a very light eater, I'm hoping she will like what I've made.

Those foods sound perfect for light eaters, I think. I am sure that she enjoyed it, as it sounds very tasty!

mheredge · February 18

I had fun trying out some scallops with black pudding for lunch today. The consistency left a lot to be desired but it tasted excellent.

mheredge · March 13

I found a very nice recipe for quail that I think I will try tonight. They are very handy sized birds, ideal for one person.

GemmaRowlands · March 14

mheredge said:
I found a very nice recipe for quail that I think I will try tonight. They are very handy sized birds, ideal for one person.

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/roast-quail-rosemary-thyme-garlic/fe826c98-829f-4ff0-93aa-6c9419cf883b

They are very nice, little birds aren't they. Quail is quite a luxury here, and something that only richer people tend to eat.

mheredge · March 14

I suppose they are a bit luxurious when compared with chicken @GemmaRowlands. There were two little birds that cost around £3, and for the same amount of chicken, maybe it would have been about two thirds this weight for weight. However it is nice to treat myself from time to time.

A good friend of mine is in town for the weekend and is coming to dinner tomorrow. I have to put my thinking cap on to decide what to cook.

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