liuzhou

They're usually called Welsh onions in English. Allium fistulosum- and native to China. Negi (ネギ) just means 'green onion'. Naganegi (長葱) means ' long onion'. Very common here, all over Asia and in the UK. Probably everywhere.

These are often sold in the west as pet food, but are used in Japan to make a type of dashi (Japanese 煎り子だし – iriko dashi). But they are also used in China. Dried Sardines (干沙丁鱼 - gàn shā dīng yú). These were landed and dried here in Guangxi. Used to add umami to soups or hotpots, etc.

Well not my experience and I did live in the east end and south of the river.

I lived in London for many years. My family still live there. Never heard of sausages being called 'soss'. If you ask for bacon and eggs with 'soss' in London you'll be directed to Mr. Heinz's tomato ketchup already on the table.

I still make fried bread occasionally. Always shallow fried, usually in bacon fat (I've never seen it deep fried in my long life). I also make "French bread", but was brought up calling it pain perdu.

Basically, it's a peppery anchovy paste with butter and herbs. Also known as Patum Peperium. Great on toast or crackers (or, in my case, teaspoons!)

Not my experience at all. My mother served piccalilli with almost anything and any time of year. I had Branston Pickle on a cheese sandwich just yesterday (in China where, like me, they don't celebrate Christmas) and would eat Gentlemen's Relish for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could source it here. I always hated piccalilli although to be fair I only ever got it from a jar - probably Heinz.

What do you mean here by "ghosts"?

No. It means French Chicken, but the dish was invented in New York. It is Italian-American.

Those are ubiquitous here. Not for sheet pans but for lifting steam pans from steamers etc. Anything hot and with a lip to grab hold of. Other than my girlfriend.

We've been talking about home pickling. I've been doing it for over 50 years. People have been doing it for centuries; millennia.

Agreed. I pickle young ginger slices as served in many Japanese sushi restaurants as a tongue cleanser. No unpronounceable ingredients involved; just rice vinegar and salt. Stays in good condition for months, not that a batch often lasts often; I eat it too often! I see no reason why you couldn't do the same with onions of any colour.

As I mentioned earlier, for baking I do wait until they are black and almost semi-liquid. Fortunately, I can buy them in that condition or close to it.

They do chunky ones too. I chose these deliberately. 串 (chuàn) are from Chinese far western Muslim province. The Chinese character is a clear pictogram. They are very different from the Greco-Turkish type (mostly Cypriot) you find in England. They are cumin and chilli heavily spiced, whether "stingy" or chunky. Usually the lamb meat is interspersed with chunks of sheep's tail fat.

A delivery lunch. A bit of a screw-up on the vendor's part. I ordered 5 lamb skewers and 5 beef skewers, but they delivered ten lamb. The fries came with tomato ketchup sachets but no salt. As usual. No worries, I have plenty of salt. Four types, in fact. I didn't use the ketchup. Never do with fries.