Back to normal
Jan. 15th, 2009 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebnessI am so tired. It's been a long, exhausting week. My mum and brother came over to visit, which has been lovely but also kind of draining. Too, the annoying Bolivian flatmate has moved out today and Hannah's on holiday in China, leaving me a few days to be alone and reflect. I'm glad I went straight to work after seeing my family to the airport bus - I hate the wrench of them leaving and all those little deaths I inflict on them.
Ah, well. What's up, you guys? :p
I saw an excellent food meme making the rounds this week, which I have promptly nabbed from the salubrious
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saffronlie : What's the last thing you ate?
A piece of bread with some camembert spread. I, er, am not very good with breakfast.
What's your favourite cheese?
I love most cheese! My favourite is perhaps Saint Agur, this gorgeous creamy Auvergne blue.
What's your favourite fish?
Probably a nice simple bit of plaice, cooked with butter, parsley, onions and pepper. I also really like bacalao, which is salted cod often served with ratatouille.
What's your favourite fruit?
I’m not so much a fruit person, though even I cannot resist a nice, succulent strawberry.
When, if ever, did you start liking olives?
I think I always did?
When, if ever, did you start liking beer?
I used to prefer it to wine when I was around seventeen, then switched to wine again. I started liking it again a couple of years ago, when I discovered weissbier like Hoegaarden and Kronenbourg Blanc. I can only really drink beer in the summer; wine is just too warm for this heat.
When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish?
I have always loved shellfish! I love mussels steamed in a white wine sauce or prawns a la plancha.
What was the best thing your parent/s used to make?
My mother makes excellent roast dinners, lasagne, briami (a Greek dish similar to ratatouille) – hell, everything. She’s been staying with me for a couple of days and made me hake with butter beans in a gorgeous sauce last night. OMG, so good! My dad can’t cook at all, though he does nice homemade chips.
What's the native specialty of your home town?
Scouse (hence Liverpudlians being labelled ‘Scousers’), sometimes known as lobskaus, which may be taken from the Norwegian due to our old ties with Norway and the shipping industry. It’s a slow-cooked stew of lamb, potatoes, root vegetables, etc. often served with Irish soda bread. It used to be cooked with lobster, when it was considered a poor man’s food!
What's your comfort food?
A nice bake with potatoes, parsnips, aubergine, sweet potato and béchamel sauce, topped with some gruyere cheese. Ooh.
What's your favourite type of chocolate?
I prefer dark chocolate and Lindt dark chocolate with chilli satisfies both my chocolate and spicy needs. Luxury splurge would be on a box of Maxim’s de Paris.
How do you like your steak?
In an English restaurant, medium-rare. In a Continental restaurant, well-done. At home, well done (am too much of a dork not to give myself food poisoning, otherwise.)
How do you like your burger?
I don’t. Vile things.
How do you like your eggs?
Fried or poached. If fried, they must be lacy and crips on the edges, with firm whites and a nice runny yolk.
How do you like your potatoes?
Any way! Potatoes are just awesome.
How do you take your coffee?
Black, no sugar.
How do you take your tea?
Without milk or sugar.
What's your favourite mug?
I dunno, lol.
What's your cookie biscuit of choice?
Hob-Nobs!
What's your ideal breakfast?
The Full English! Fried egg, sausage (alas, I am avoiding pork these days), hash browns (Americanisation, but still good), tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast washed down with a cup of tea.
What's your ideal sandwich?
Crayfish and rocket. Can I also just say that British sandwiches are awesome? They don’t get enough credit. Here it’s all dry bread, cheese and ham. There are no alternatives.
What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)?
Vegetarian hot. There were some awesome takeaway places in Venice where I could get a slice of crisp, hot pizza for E1,50.
What's your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)?
I’m so northern: chicken n’ mushroom, or meat and potato.
What's your ideal salad?
One with many different salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onions, cucumber and shellfish with a simple vinaigrette.
What food do you always like to have in the fridge?
Eggs, butter, béchamel and vegetables.
What food do you always like to have in the freezer?
Nothing, really. I don’t really do frozen meals.
What food do you always like to have in the cupboard?
Rice, powdered Makway curry, stuffing, cornflour.
What spices can you not live without?
Black pepper, chilli flakes and any and all herbs.
What sauces can you not live without?
Allioli (garlic mayonnaise), mustard, curry and gravy (though I always make the gravy myself from stock).
Where do you buy most of your food?
La Boqueria, the huge market on the Ramblas, Mercadona or Carrefour for ready-made stuff and rice, etc.
How often do you go food shopping?
Once a week for the perishables, one big staple order delivered to the door each month
What's the most you've spent on a single food item?
THIRTY-TWO FREAKING EUROS ON A HANDFUL OF BARNACLES THE OTHER WEEK. They weren’t even all that, you guys.
What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own?
I dunno.
What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen?
Cooking dishes.
What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without?
The oven?
How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients?
Every time I cook, although I do eat out a lot.
What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients?
I cooked my mum and brother a seafood dish a few days ago.
What's your favourite thing to make for yourself?
A good curry.
What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig, chicken and turkey?
Lamb, goose, duck, quail, pheasant, rabbit, venison, crocodile, frog, wild boar, goat
What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor?
I dunno.
What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild?
I pick berries and rhubarb in my family garden, but I don’t know if that’s really wild.
Place the following cuisines in order of preference (greatest to least):
Japanese
French
Indian
Thai
Chinese
Italian
Place the following boozes in order of preference (greatest to least):
Sparkling Wine
Scotch
White wine
Gin
Rum
Bourbon
Place the following flavors in order of preference (greatest to least):
Garlic
Basil
Lime
Aniseed
Ginger
Place the following fruits in order of preference (greatest to least):
I hate all these fruits, but this is in order of least hated:
Orange
Banana
Cherry
[Equal hate]:
Melon
Apple
Pineapple
Bread and spread:
Crusty, fresh-baked wholemeal with cheese or Lurpak butter.
What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order?
Fish and chip shops, chips and curry or a nice piece of cod.
What are three of the best dining-out experiences you've had?
1. Hannah and I dropped a lot of money on a seafood dinner in Collioure, in the South of France. We had lobster, crab, mussels, clams, everything chased down with Champagne and followed by amazing chocolate desserts. We were sick for days afterwards, but it was worth it!
2. In Sarajevo, Chris and I enjoyed a very simple meal of trout and potatoes dauphinoise cooked to perfection by a very personable chef proud of his cooking. Really nice meal.
3. An excellent Lebanese restaurant in Liverpool (whose name escapes me) where I joined several friends and relatives for an amazing meze of dishes.
Favourite cookbook/s?
Anything by Jamie Oliver. He adds neat twists to recipes and encourages the reader to try new things. I love his recipes.
Got any favourite food blogs?
I read the cooking community on LJ, but that’s about it. If I have a special ingredient I want to try out, I’ll Google for recipes.
What's the next thing you'll eat?
Something for lunch. Depending on how hungry I am by 1pm, it’ll either be a salad or a menu del dia.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 09:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 09:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 09:43 am (UTC)€1 pizza al taglio saved me from murderous hunger many a time in England. Venice, however, is where I ate my infamous pizza di patate. It did not taste good. >:
You need to try kangaroo, bb!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 09:57 am (UTC)Mmm, I am so craving pizza right now.
(Also, yes, those tapas on the first night were fecking ace.)
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Date: 2009-01-15 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 10:19 am (UTC)I just can't get past the ham thing. I'm like you: I can only handle it as chorizo or antipasti, but it has to be lean. I await the sandwich report from Sydney!
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Date: 2009-01-15 09:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 09:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 12:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:15 pm (UTC)YOU'RE DUMPED
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 12:02 am (UTC)SEE THIS ICON? NOW WE ARE OVER I'M TAKING IT. SCREW POLITENESS!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 02:58 pm (UTC)Hell yeah, I still want!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 07:10 pm (UTC)http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YEUNN3AB
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:12 pm (UTC)Sorry, bb. I'll start taking you out a bit more.
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Date: 2009-01-15 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:18 pm (UTC)Don't attempt to break free, dear.
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Date: 2009-01-16 12:00 am (UTC)I have no come back. DAMN.
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Date: 2009-01-16 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 01:53 pm (UTC)This intrigues me. Or the reasons for it do, anyway. Is pork not great there? Is it too expensive? Is it a political reason as pig farmers are not paid well? Is it any of my business?!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 02:16 pm (UTC)No, seriously -- it's a variety of factors: I don't like the taste; I object to the way pigs are farmed; pigs are cute (so I'm a hypocrite who eats lamb).
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Date: 2009-01-16 01:59 pm (UTC)That's fascinating because without the lobster it'd basically sound like Irish stew - if not for the Norse name I'd assume it came from the Irish diaspora in Liverpool. They're perhaps responsible for the addition of the sofa farl...
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 02:53 pm (UTC)There is apparently a stew very similar in name and ingredients in Wales, as well. Whether our islands influenced the rest of northern Europe or them us, I guess we'll never know. It's very interesting, though.
(Also! I had estufado de patatas today for lunch. Ang? IT WAS SCOUSE.)
edited because I post hononyms at an alarmingly frequent rate
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 03:24 pm (UTC)My scouse (when I can be bothered to make it) is much more Mediterranean these days, with the herbs and ingredients. I also make mine a lot thicker than most people do - I never liked it as a child and threw tantrums...even when working for the NHS... whenever it was on the menu.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 03:44 pm (UTC)I always disliked the meat because it's hard to chew; that's always been an issue of mine with a lot of meat dishes. I'd much rather have some lovely tender braised steak with mashed potatoes and (I guess) carrot-flavoured mash... though the smell of our family's variant on Irish Stew is incredibly enticing.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 04:08 pm (UTC)Braised steak is perfect for making ersatz Irish stew! I just thicken the gravy, add in some crisp root vegetables and OMG so awesome.
Hmm. I think I know what I'm cooking for dinner this weekend.