liuzhou

Wow! I haven't seen or thought of that in about 60 years.

Escoffier's Guide to Modern Cookery 1907 edition is now online and searchable. \\ Here.

I had a bit of a shock yesterday. I had decided to top up my reserves of Portuguese sardines and order nine cans from my usual supplier. My delivery turned up yesterday and had only one can (you can't even order one can - and they had charged me for nine). A quick phone call and I was refunded for all nine and told to accept the one can free as an apology. They then explained that they are out of stock and don't know when they can restock them, if ever! I was in despair for at least ten minutes, then got back online and searched for an alternative supply. Almost immediately I found I can get the same sardines at a much lower price. Instead of three cans for ¥89.74, the new (to me) supplier does 5 cans for ¥79.14! Bargain! Next time I may just order 25 cans at a mere ¥373.70!

Very sensible. I was born in St. Andrews so I know the area well. Love kippers but my favourite fish in Scotland is Arbroath Smokies. Arbroath Smokies

I very rarely eat desserts. Even more rarely make them. About once every five years I may make an apple crumble. If I could find rhubarb here, I'd crumbelate that too!

Hugh Fairly Whatshisname is correct. The names are completely variable depending on location. I'd never come across the word 'pikelet' until about four years ago (I'm also in my 70s) and assumed it was some kind of fish! Still not convinced I am wrong.

Nope, but I'm pretty sure it was just self raising flour, egg, sugar and cow juice. Something like this.

So I thought I should watch it. The movie is terrible. They turned the novel into some sort of goofy sex comedy, which the book certainly wasn't.

2-3 cm max. More towards the thinner end.

Haha! That is easily to refute. They existed before Australia was colonised (unless the aboriginals invented the same thing. Unlikely.) Anyway, those pictures are what are known in Scotland as pancakes or Scotch pancakes.

It is indeed a complex subject, both in terms of recipe and terminology. My mother used self-raising flour and milk. I don't think she ever saw or used yeast in her life. Or buttermilk - I guess that was used to activate the baking soda, often used before the advent of self-raising flour. I do like Annie Gray's writing, though.

Hmmm. I've always known pikelets to use a non-yeast batter. My mother made them regularly, although we didn't use that name, not being from Yorkshire. But hey! Downton Abbey is fictional, isn't it?

Kellog's has an interesting history. Started by a raving lunatic, though. "The Road to Wellville" is a 1993 novel by T. C. Boyle based on the birth of the company. A good read. I understand it has also been made into a movie, but I haven't seen that.

@KeralaI like your mug. Safe travels!

I'm surprised to see candy cigarettes. Are they still legal there? They were outlawed in the UK must be 50 years ago.

Right next to my home is an allegedly* five-star hotel which features a "western restaurant" among its many food offerings. They do a number of overpriced steaks - none very well. Other dishes include a fish curry over which they melt that gloop known as American cheese (Kraft slice parodies) which is utterly revolting. The cheese is not mentioned on the menu. Steaks are served with fries. Sometimes. Not necessarily at the same time. In fact, rarely at the same time. We got a regular supply (or did pre-pandemic) of western business people roll into the city for no discernable reason and they would stay in this hotel, never venture out, eat every night in that restaurant and complain about China. They had never been in China even when they were here. They lived in a ridiculous bubble of denial, too scared of the unknown to venture out. *The hotel is state owned. Every Chinese leader has stayed there except Mao. The hotel star rankings are controlled by the state. Wonder how it has five stars?

My most annoying pizza experience in China was in, of course, Pizza Hut. In a moment of folly, I went one day and decided to order what they described on their glossy menu as a lunch special. A half size pizza for one. I think it was a 'pizza supreme' or some such meaningless marketing nonsense. After 20 minutes the waiter came back and said that they were out of said half sized pizzas, but they had the regular size! I (foolishly) said "Well, if you have the makings for a large one, you must have the makings for a smaller one!" He blushed, mumbled, twitched and confessed. "We don't make any pizzas here. They are all assembled in Guangzhou (500 km / 310 miles away*) then frozen. We just heat them up." They also serve their red wine at near frozen temperatures. Perhaps they could stick that in the microwave too. *I have added the geographical information. I don't think he knew where he was.

Yes. The last really good pizza I ate was in Vietnam just opposite the iconic Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception. The pizza was sublime.

And S. Korea.

I was trying to review it as it came. I had no intention of eating it!

Sure. I grew up convinced that salmon and tuna lived in cans!

But the rest of the world survives! I know why it's done, but there are better ways. The USA still has more cases per capita than most places. All chickens in the UK are vaccinated.

...and I am in no doubt that you are correct for Canada, one of the least populous countries. However, nearly all the sardine catch worldwide is canned. Fresh sardines are unknown in China*, the world's most populous country. Same in Russia - the world's largest. Canned fish is a luxury food in Japan. Canned sardines are still a staple in the UK. In the last hour I have asked my daughter and two granddaughters if they buy canned sardines. They all answered 'always'. None of them have eaten fresh sardines. I never ate them in the UK. Nor did I see them often. That was a treat reserved for France. *China does have fresh fish they call 沙丁鱼 (shā dīng yú), which often gets translated as 'sardines' as the Chinese name has been chosen to be a close phonetic rendition of the English. However, they ain't sardines. They are Japanese Sardinella, a different thing altogether. I mentioned this before, in more detail, here.

and my point is that those parts of the world are very much in the minority.

I'm fairly sure the majority of people in the world today have only ever eaten canned sardines or anchovies.