Street Life (Graffiti)

Mary and I took a stroll down to the river for a Thames-side walk and came across this graffiti.


Not Banksy but someone, presumeably "Focus", very much in that black and white, stencilled style.

Christmas wines

Having some time at home over the Christmas period gave Mary a chance to sort out the cellar. We had cases and cases of wine still its cardboard boxes. But no more! And all of this to make it easier to dig out some fine wines for Christmas; modesty prevents me from naming names and vintages.



We had my Mum and Dad over for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and had a fine old time. As always with them the meal is the entertainment with much chat and banter. Christmas Day we had goose at 5 o'clock and then we did succumb to "couch potato syndrome" and watched a DVD of the first 'Pirates of the Carribean' with Johnny Depp.

Three pearls of wisdom

There is much advice out there in the world, some wise, some helpful, some complete tosh. These are three pieces of advice I have been given over the years that have stuck with me:

Think general

When trying to solve a problem, aim for a solution that is flexible and adaptable. An adjustable wrench not a spanner.

Never go out without money

You never know when you might need it. At the very least have your bus fare home.

Always button your cardigan from the bottom

Then you can see what you are doing and don't end up a button out at the top.

Creme Brulee

Following my mention of Crème Brûlée in Five things to eat before I die here is my version.

The following is the recipe exactly as it appears in my Sainsbury's Desserts and Puddings recipe book. Why they felt the need to specify the carton size I do not know. Since they did, what they should have done is write "2 x 284 ml (2 x 10 fl oz)" or better yet simply "568 ml (20 fl oz)". Using 1 x 284 ml (1 x 10 fl oz) meant this only just served 4.

Nowadays what I normally do is use the full amount of cream, increase the number of egg yolks to 6 and still regard it as "serves 6". Also I don't use vanilla essence, I cut open a vanilla pod and scrape all the black gooey seeds into the custard making sure to disperse them as best I can.

As for chilling overnight I wish I planned that far ahead. Normally I make them that day, chill them until it is time to prepare the rest of the dinner, brûlée them, pop them back in the fridge and hope my guests don't eat too fast so they have time to cool down again.

Crème Brûlée

4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 x 284 ml (10 fl oz) cartons double cream
few drops of vanilla essence

To finish:
50 g (2 oz) caster sugar

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Warm the cream in a double saucepan, or bowl over a pan of simmering water. Carefully stir in the egg mixture. Continue cooking gently, stirring constantly, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the vanilla essence.

Strain into 6 ramekin dishes and place in a roasting pan, containing 2.5 cm (1 inch) water. Place in a preheated cool oven, 140°C (275°F), Gas Mark 1, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove the dishes from the pan, cool then chill in the refrigerator overnight.

To finish: Sprinkle evenly with sugar. Place under a preheated hot grill until the sugar has caramelized. Cool, then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

Serves 6

Enjoy

Pictures from Le Gavroche

I might have taken a leaf out of Rosa's book or Welshcake Limoncello's and taken photos of each exquisite course but I only had my camera phone with me which cannot handle close-ups. I had forgotten that I had taken these piccies when I did yesterday's post so here are a couple to go with that...

Mary Discusses Her Brooch

Amanda Raises Her Glass

Pete at Le Gavroche

Dining Room at Le Gavroche

Those that wanted could have a tour of the kitchen and be amazed that so much world class food could emanate from such a tiny space. We did that in previous years so left it for other diners to have a peer round.

Daffodil Dining Club at Le Gavroche (2006)

Yet again at this time of year we joined John Amiry and 80 or so like-minded gourmands gourmets at the Michelin Starred "Le Gavroche" for a long lunch of the finest food and wine. We started at 12:30 and they chucked us out at 5:00.

Les Vins

Le Menu

Chateau de Sours 2004 Bordeaux Blanc

Coquilles St. Jacques Pochee Parfumee au Gingembre

Carton Blanc 1998 Domaine Chandon de Briailles

Gratin de Langoustines et Escargots au Persil et Pimet d 'Espelette

Domaine Gavoty "Cuvee Clarendon" 2005 Cote de Provence

Fricassee de St. Pierre façon Bouillabaisse

Gewurztraminer "Blason de France Vendange Tardive" 1998 Leon Beyer

Escalope de Foie Gras Chaud et Pastilla a la Cannelle

Clos des Litanies 1996 Pomerol

Noisette de Chevreuil a la Sauce Poivrade et Airelles

Le Pinacle Syrah 2002 Domaine Sainte Rose

Le Plateau de Fromages Affines

Vin de Constance 2001 Klein Constantia

Christmas Pudding
Cafe, Petits Fours et Mince Pies

They have learned from previous years and been more restrained on the wine pouring. Last year they topped up my white wine glasses so often on the earlier courses that by the time we got to the meat and red wines I was in no fit state to fully appreciate the quality of what I was consuming. This year there were more courses with matching wines but more restraint in the measures. I enjoyed the meal more and did not need to go for a siesta when we got home.

See previously:
Christmas Daffodil at Le Gavroche (2005)
Daffodil Dining Club at Le Gavroche

Flying visit to Italy

Monday was yet another flying visit to Italy. One of the disagreeable things about the Ryanair flight is the timings - they clash with meal times. Do we eat early, at 4pm in Stansted, or late, at 10:30pm in Locorotondo? Dining in the air on a Ryanair sandwich doesn't have much appeal.

We flew out Sunday night and stayed in a Best Western near Bari airport. We went for the hotel option as we didn't fancy making up the bed for one night with no guarantee that the heating was working. It also meant we could eat at a very pleasant restaurant across the road from the hotel without an hour and fifteen minutes drive to Locorotondo.

Daniele, Gardener & Mary discuss planting
[Click on image for larger version]

All in all it was a hectic but productive trip. Basically the place is complete, the final few bits are done like the handrail to the roof and a security bar across the bedroom window. That meant we could settle up apart from a small retention in case the boiler breaks down yet again.

 • Up bright and early to drive to Cisternino
 • Met with Pierdonato at the estate agents to discuss key holding, cleaning and "watchman" services
 • Went to bank to get out final payment money for Daniele and change our UK address details
 • Back to Pierdonato to leave a kitty to cover future services
 • Met with Daniele at the property to pay the final tranche of money
 • Were joined by the plant man to discuss planting schemes
 • Went for lunch at a seafood restaurant down on the coast
 • Came back via Emmezeta (supermarket) to buy dehumidifier tablets
 • Installed tablets and plugged in electric dehumidifier to keep the place dry over the winter
 • Final check and lock up for the season
 • Off to the airport for pizza and red wine
 • Arrived at Stansted and fell into the SAS Radisson hotel and bed

On the flight home Mary's token was picked in the prize draw for a free flight. Sounds good but the small print says it can only be taken on alternate Tuesdays with a full moon within the next eight weeks. So she may do a bonus trip to Scotland or we may fit in a unscheduled February trip.

My hi-fi may be old

but that don't mean it's slow. Vinyl still sounds good. [This should have been Monday's post but we were in Italy - more about that later.]

Saturday we had Bob&Lynn to stay with us as we were all invited to Kate&Ian's for a lunchtime do. We taxied back from that about 6, had a glass of wine and then off to the local Thai for a very pleasant meal.

The conversation got on to music, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, the Stoppard play Rock'n'Roll and vinyl so we adjourned to the dining room where my hi-fi was set up. We listened to one side of Saucerful of Secrets and then Bob asked if I had Wish You Were Here. As it happened I had a Numbus records "Supercut" special edition, remastered and pressed on 80gm non-recycled vinyl. So we played it through this lot:

Linn deck:
 • Asaka cartidge
 • Ittok LVII arm
 • Sondek LP12 turntable
Naim amplifier:
 • SNAPS power supply
 • 32 pre-amp
 • 110 power amp
Speakers:
 • Shahinian Arc
Other components
 • Nakamichi CR1E cassette desk
 • Onix BWD1 FM tuner
 • Meridian 206 CD player

D**n it sounded good! Mary said, "How come you haven't played me this before?" It reminded me how good vinyl can sound. I must spend more time listening to real music.

Note: Updated post 20-Dec-06 to include Ittok model and other components.

Back in the saddle

What with visits to the dentists, various meetings, trips and evening events I have not cycled to work for over two weeks. So it was good this week to get back in the saddle and cycle to work with Mary on her new "company vehicle".

Under the government's "Cycle to Work Scheme" the company can buy a bike and loan it to the employee. So we can not only reclaim the VAT but also pay for it out of pre-tax profits *and* it is not treated as a "benefit in kind" for personal tax purposes. A triple result.

Mary's previous bike's hub gear was starting to malfunction so we went and got her a shiny new Specialised bike complete with all the gear. The nice thing about the scheme is that the company can also provide all the extras as well: shoes, helmet, clothing, lights and lock. Those easily came to 300 GBP on top of the cost of the bike.

So I cycled Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday was an off-site meeting in the afternoon so cycling was not possible. Today I woke to the sound of rain lashing against the window and thought "S*d that for a game of soldiers" and caught the train.

Ayrshire Potlatch *

The weekend was spent in a cold, wet, windy, gray Scotland for the annual pre-Christmas present swap. It takes place on or soon after nephew Ross' birthday which is end of November and close enough to Xmas for the exchange of goodies.

We flew up Friday afternoon and went to Sandra&George's (Mary's sister and BIL). We baby sat Ross and Sarah so G&S could go into Glasgow for a nice meal out. As last time, they were good as gold, played quietly and went to bed on request. Sarah has got the hyper-cute blonde moppet schtick down to a fine art.

Saturday we drove down to May's and as soon as we had arrived whisked her off on the train to central Glasgow where we went shopping for outfits. We (i.e. Mary) targetted House of Fraser as a good place to get May something stylish for the New Year's Eve black tie do at Albannach. The trip was successful with several outfits bagged though May claims it will be some time before her credit card recovers!

One noticeable difference between England and Scotland was the passengers on the train. In Scotland they were all chatting away to their mates, there was lots of banter and chaff. The equivalent commuter train into Waterloo would be a silent affair by comparison. Now wonder we Southerners have a stereotypical image of stand-offishness.

* Potlatch an American Indian ceremony "..guests are invited to a potlatch to share food and receive gifts or payment."

Can you feel anything when I do this? (2)

Apologies to both my readers, I have been off air for a few days 'cos my brain has been all of a jangle with toothache.

Last Monday I went to Raj as a follow up visit to a new crown and an extraction a couple of weeks ago. One tooth on the other side was giving me some grief and it can be hard to tell exactly which one. The nerves run close together and may cause a different tooth to appear to be the origin. So he sent me round to the endodontist for a second opinion and he pinpointed the lower right 8 (back molar).

Wednesday the endodontist did a full root canal job and sent me home. In his letter to Raj he wrote, "Healing is expected to be uneventful." Hah! If you consider "writhing on the living room carpet at two in the morning in a foetal ball in excruciating pain chanting over and over the mantra 'f*** that hurts, f*** that hurts, f*** that hurts'" as uneventful then yes it was.

I do not *ever* want to feel pain like that again.

Even the extra painkillers from the doctors could not mask the pain so Saturday night (well actually Sunday morning as it was half past midnight) I cracked and phoned Raj. He did a mercy dash to his surgery in Harley Street and I fell out of a taxi a few minutes later. He did some magic scraping with a steel implement and said that should do it. He was off to Sri Lanka on Sunday so he gave me a copy of my X-Rays in case I needed to go to A&E.

I am glad to say the pain and the swelling is slowly subsiding, the antibiotics and my immune system are slowly repairing that damage; soup for breakfast and lunch was getting tedious. I still cannot open my mouth more than half an inch, I have to post food in horizontally in thin slices, but that too will pass.

And then of course I can have the thing crowned! But I think I will wait a while until the memory fades.

PS
Deep gratitude is owed not only to Raj but also to his daughter, a doctor, who lives nearby and who he dragged along. Apparently I was slurring my words and he was concerned so wanted some medical backup.

Five Things to Eat Before I Die

Rosa tagged me to write "Five Things to Eat Before I Die" back in September. The meme started at Traveler's Lunchbox. I guess I have to exclude wine. These are not necessarily great dishes but they are ones that made a great impression on me at the time. Not quite Marcel Proust and his Madeleine but this is my list:

Peking Duck
Vegetable Samosa
Chicken Satay
Cambazola
Crème Brulée

Peking Duck
[1975/76] Immediately after leaving college in '75 before I started my first job the following spring, staying with Lorna and Carmichael as their lodger. I was used to Chinese food from an early age; for my 10th birthday the family went to a Chinese restaurant in Coventry. The restauranteur gave me a couple of pairs of plastic chopsticks which were a treasured item for many years (well I was only 10!).

When I started college a Chinese takeaway was suggested and a fellow student astounded me by saying that he had never eaten Chinese food. At the time the typical Chinese takeaway provided sweet and sour pork balls in day-glow orange wall-paper paste, spring rolls that oozed grease and chips that were thick and burning hot on the outside, raw and uncooked on the inside.

Then for Carmike's birthday he treated us to a Peking meal at Botley on the outskirts of Oxford. My first ever encounter with Peking duck was a revelation. It was delicious, cooked with textures and flavours unknown to the local takeaway. I loved contrasting textures and flavours plus the audience participation involved in "rolling your own".

At the time the only place you could buy hoi-sin sauce was the Chinese supermarkets in Soho which meant a special expedition to London. How times change, now it is on the shelves of every supermarket.

Vegetable Samosa
[1979] It was a similar story with curry, discovering that there is something other than ghee based gloop with mystery meat. I was a latecomer to curries only starting in 1974 in the company of Sheridan, Tony, Amanda and Tom Thacker. The latter was in charge of IT at the Nuclear Physics Lab and used to check the machine room smoke detectors were not *too* sensitive by puffing his well-chewed pipe underneath them.

Then I moved to London and discovered that there were not just Chinese and Indian. There were Cantonese, Peking, Schezchuan, Malaysian, Korean; there were Bangladeshi, Goan, Bengali, Afghani, and South Indian Vegetarian.

It was at restaurants like the Sree Krishna in Tooting, the Mandeer in Hanway Place (off Tottenham Court Road and the ) and Diwana Bhel Poori House in Drummond Street that I discovered the vegetable samosa. With a crisp filo-like pastry these were a huge improvement over the chewy, meat filled versions I had previously encountered. Then there were all the other vegan delights and the sweets, don't forget the sweets: kulfi, galub jaman, barfi, jelabi, ras malai (see List of Indian sweets and desserts for more). Maybe that is why I have so many crowns :-(

Chicken Satay.
[1980] Working with a Malaysian colleague I was introduced to another set of international cuisine. I met the Singapore Laska, Indonesian Gado Gado and Malaysian Satay. The latter reminding me of my first Greek souvlaki proper (kalamaki) but with the added benefits of spice and a peanut sauce. My favourite restaurant was The Satay Stick in Dering Street.

Lymeswold and Cambozola
[198?] Lymeswold may be a marketing-led, designer cheese but for a while it was a favourite of mine. I never really like the classic French cheeses Brie and Camembert - heresy! I favoured traditional English cheeses like Lancashire, Red Leicester, Double Gloucester and Wensleydale (but not Cheddar - double heresy). Like many others at the time I shifted my allegiance to Cambozola a similar but superior cheese. These cheeses shifted my palette towards softer, creamier cheeses and paved the way for goats' cheeses and a number of other delights.

Crème Brulée
[1989] I have always had a sweet tooth and usually opt for the role of "pastry chef" when Mary and I host a dinner party. Her Sainburys' Desserts and Pudding recipe book included a recipe for Crème Brulée which rapidly became one of my signature dishes and often repeated by popular demand, served with a fine Sauternes, of course. It was only after a couple of years that I realised that I had been mis-reading the recipe and only using half the quantity of double cream. Or to put it another way I had been using twice the quantity of egg yolks. This would explain the extremely rich texture. So, am I using the correct recipe now? Nope .

So duty done, Rosa.

Enjoy.

Sunday lunch at Bill's

On Sunday Bill invited a number of what I call "The Birmingham Crowd" over for lunch. These were a bunch of friends who all met at Birmingham University and I fell in with around 1980 when we were all late-20-somethings living in London. It was a most enjoyable time of great sociability, all living in the 'big city' with reasonable jobs and a mind to go out and have a good time.

As happens people couple up, settle down and move out to greener pastures. So keeping in touch as we have dispersed has required more of an effort. The last time we met was April '05 when Maureen was over from Oz (see "I come from a land down under") and the time before that was Denise's funeral in September '04. So kudos to Bill for arranging this.

Present were Steve & Kate, Marilyn, Andrea and Simon & Isobel. We were expecting John and Nick & Sarah but Bill fears he may have told them the wrong date. We have told him we are available next Sunday as well :-)

Those present are all well and living their lives; it was good to catch up on their news. Isobel has now launched herself as an artist working as printmaker (see "http://www.isobelwalker.co.uk/"). We chatted, we drank, Bill over-catered again, and it was a good do. We conconcted a wild plan to all meet again in Italy at the "Hovel-in-the-Hills" next September. Let's "Make it so".

BBR Champagne School

Hosted by Simon Field MW, Buyer and Rebecca Lamont, Wine School Manager. Always interesting to do a tutored tasting which is basically what this was but with the added benefit of slide show and a good double act from Simon and Rebecca followed by lunch.

Aperitif
 • Gaston Chiquet, Brut Tradition
Grapes of Champagne / Growers
 • Andre Jacquart, Carte Blanche NV
 • Champagne Marguet, Brut Rosé
Grande Marques
 • Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut
 • Pol Roger, Brut Réserve NV
 • Veuve Clicquot, Brut
 • Bollinger, Special Cuvée Brut
 • Krug, Grande Cuvé eBrut
Vintage Style
 • 1998 Berry's United Kingdom Cuvée, Mailly
 • 1996 Gosset, Gande Millésime
Duluxe Cuvée
 • 1998 Berrys' United Kingdom Cuvée, Mailly
 • 1996 Gosset, Grand Millésime
Duluxe Cuvée
 • 1995 Pol Roger, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill (en magnum)
 • 1998 Moët et Chandon, Dom Perignon

Lunch
Tartare of Salmon
 • 1996 Jacquesson, Avize
 • 1995 Tattinger, Comtes de Champagne
Halibut with Avruga Caviar and Lemon Beurre Blanc
 • 1999 Bollinger, Grand Année, Rose
 • 1995 Bollinger R.D.
Chocolate and Ginger Mousse Cake
 • Louis Roederer 'Rich'
Coffee and chocolate

In the grande marques Mary and I preferred diamterically opposite champagnes which I guess means we'll have to open two bottles every time. Mary, not surprisingly given her 'savory' palette, liked the Laurent Perrier with zero dosage and me with my 'sweet tooth' liked the Pol Roger.

Elsewhere, I was most impressed by BBR's own label vintage with notes of creme brulée and apple crumble. Mary's favourite was the 1995 Pol Roger, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. The Krug made a very poor showing, I got 'soapy, Mary got 'fireworks', I suspect a hint of sulphur. All in all a very educational day.

Rich Beyond the Dreams of Avarice

When I was a child I used to wonder "So who is this bloke Avarice and why is he so greedy?".

* Samuel Johnson. 1709-1784.

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At Night at the Opera

Well the Ballet actually, but at the Royal Opera House. We went to see Sleeping Beauty at the ROH last week. Mary's first ever ballet, so she might as well start at the top (or so we presume). I have only been to the ballet a couple of times before but we have both seen plenty of modern dance (London Comtempory Dance, Ballet Rambert, etc).

As a result I wouldn't be able to give a review but took it on its own merits and used it to calibrate my assessment of future ballets. The papers seemed to think it was OK [Observer, Guardian, Independent, The Stage].

After modern dance it seemed to me a bit stuck in nostalgia-ville, "It's not the same as the 1946 production". So? And how many in the audience are in a position to make that comparison? Still it was all very pretty in pastels and Tchaikovsky writes a mean tune. We agreed with the reviewers - the guy dancing the Bluebird seemed to know his stuff.

In an effort to overcome its elitist image the ROH are doing lots of student specials and internet offers. We got our tickets for a mere 20 quid each, not bad value at all for front row of the amphitheatre.

Goolleeble's Trefels - Bork, Bork, Bork!

The World Wide Web is a wonderful thing. I was explaining to a colleague that the language preferences in Google include "Elmer Fudd" and "Swedish chef" (the Muppet character). That set me researching...

On the informative Wikipedia page [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_chef] I found a link to a site that will translate web pages into mock-Swedish gibberish. So for your entertainment here is this blog translated into Swedish Chef speak (shuoold be-a reed veet a svedeesh occent!):

Goolleeble's Trefels - Bork, Bork, Bork! [opens in new window]

Rock the casbah

Some pictures of Marrakech [click on picture for larger version]

The hotel may have looked like a concrete box from the outside but inside it was designed like a traditional Riad round a cental courtyard with fountain and the rooms were unlike a normal hotel.

The various stalls in the souk are minature Aladdin's caves in a labyrinth of winding little alleyways. We learned that whatever price they first quote you should haggle down to half that.

Marrakech House Hotel

Ceramic Stall

Fruit Stall

Spices Stall

Court of the Tinsmiths

Tiskiwin museum

Restaurant

The Tiskiwin museum not only had a fine collection of Berber and sub-Saharan artefacts but the building itself was beautiful. The restaurant was one we wandered into for lunch one day and it turned out to be a restored palace!

The best meal was Sunday night at Le Tobsil. As the link says "Romantic, intimate and richly decorated". We had a balcony table were we could look down into the courtyard from our rose-petal covered table. Listening to the live musicians and dining under the open sky on some of the best food in Marrakech. Just so romantic, unbeatable for a wedding anniversary meal.

* Rock the Casbah by the Clash

It's shopping Jim, but not as we know it

"We went out for a nice Morrocan meal on Sunday."
"Oh, where?"
"Marrakech."

At the beginning of the year we went to Marrakech [See "Marrakech Express"]. Mary was so determined to go hand luggage only that we were unable to buy various souvenirs that we might otherwise have wanted to bring back.

When we first got married Mary suggested that, instead of buying each other anniversary presents, we took it in turns to arrange mystery weekends away. This worked fine up to the tenth when we always knew we were going back to Egypt to see the sights we did not see on our honeymoon.

Since then it has been by mutual discussion, except that this year Mary said "We must go back to Marrakech to get those blue silk cushion covers, they will be perfect for Italy".

Cushion covers and a Tagine

So that is how we came to fly out Friday to spend a long weekend in Marrakech. A most successful shopping trip and I enjoyed the city much more this time round. The weather was much warmer, the locals seemed less desperate to rip us off (or we are just much better at haggling now) and last night's meal was magical. More to follow...