liuzhou

I do love snacking on my Hunan-style spicy pig eats.

I have made them in the past but not for a while. I can buy them more cheaply and with less effort in the local market.

I had just such a day today. Here are the wontons with the soy and black vinegar dip.

Now, I'm depressed. I'm told these monstrosites ae being launched. Luosifen chips. Luosifen is this city's iconic deliciously wonderful dish of spicy noodles, pickled bamboo and vegetables in a rich stock mainly made using the local river snails. Some idiots have decided this is what we need or want. No we don't!

That is generally true in English, too. Normally steak means beef, unless specified otherwise. I'm not a big steak eater, but that ribeye does look very appealing! As do your sausages.

10. The Whole Earth Catalogue of Cuisines Several days ago, I was asked if I was planning to “talk more about the British Empire and its influence on food in Britain”. I replied that I would be, but then I got to thinking. Why only the Empire? British cuisine, like many cultures, has been influenced by other cuisines and countries around the world. Can you imagine what Italy ate before tomatoes arrived from the Americas in the 15th or 16th centuries? Or what Sichuan or Hunan, in China spiced their food with before chillies arrived at roughly the same time from Mexico? We have already seen that the British classic, fish and chips’ two main ingredients originated separately in probably Spain and Belgium before being combined somewhere in England. A few years ago, BBC Radio London broadcaster and writer, Robert Elms, who specialises in London life and culture on his daily show (except Sunday), did a sort of online survey with listener participation, in order to determine how many different nations’ cuisines could be found in dedicated London restaurants. They had reached over 60 countries when it was realised that, for example, ‘Chinese cuisine’ was not wide enough a category, so it was changed to just different cuisines in order to include China’s multiple cuisines. I spoke with him yesterday and he reminded me that they had also done the same to include, among others, Spain’s Basque and Andalusian cuisines etc. The survey had identified over 140 international cuisines found in London restaurants, when it became clear that the task was just getting too complicated, so it was dropped. I have no doubt that the number continued to grow thereafter, although we have to see what happens post-Covid. So, what I now plan doing, over the next week or so, is to l look at some of these imported influences. Yes, there will be an emphasis on the former Empire, but not entirely. However, it’s a national public holiday here tomorrow (Duanwu Festival) and I’m going out to play! So, there will be little from me until Tuesday at the earliest.

Looks like you broke it! The website seems to be down Happy to say that the link has been restored.

In the link you give, the reference to Simon Majumdar is to one part of the story; not the full story. @Anna N's link is to the original Simon Majumdar podcast/transcript and is much more detailed.

The old adage that, if you want good "ethnic" food, look for a restaurant full of people from that ethnicity, is demonstrably wrong. In London in 2019, I saw packs of Chinese tourists descend from coaches and enter some of the worst Chinese restaurants London has. (It also has some of the best.) The restaurant is usually chosen by the tour guide or company, who may well not be, in this case, Chinese. Or it may even be chosen by the coach driver, who gets a nice commission. The coach then drives off to park. Chinese tourists descending on a decidely average restaurant in London. July 2019 (My picture) You walk past and see a restaurant packed with Chinese people and think that place must be good! Duh! And, another thing, how would you know those customers are Chinese. They could be another Asian nationality altogether. I know the ones I saw were Chinese; I heard them speaking to each other in Beijing-accented Mandarin. Black "cab", London - image by Russ London; licenced under CC BY-SA 2.5 But I do have a better tip. Black taxi drivers (Not taxi drivers who are black!) I mentioned before that, before being licenced, they have to pass a rigorous exam after years of study of London, its streets, hotels, restaurants and public buildings etc. I mentioned that the North Sea Fish Restaurant was one restaurant all London cab drivers have to know. But they don’t only know it. At times, you can see lines of empty, driverless taxis parked in the surrounding streets. The drivers are having lunch or dinner. Especially, at night , you see scores of them. Another example that springs to mind is Archway Kebab in north London. This takeaway shop is rammed all day and is often cited as the best Turkish kebab shop in London. In fact, it won the top prize in the 2019 British Kebab Awards. Every night, there are lines of black taxis outside. (The shop is at 26 Junction Road, London N19 5RE, very near Archway Station on London Underground’s Northern line – or take a taxi.) And if you happen to personally dislike then don’t worry. There are many other kinds of kebabs and other dishes on offer, as there always is in these places. The Archway menu is here. No one is pretending it is fine dining, but it is very good, reasonably priced, takeaway.

Coincidentally, I was listening to BBC radio last night after I wrote that post and decided to let it rest overnight to mature before posting it! The presenter of the show I was listening to was discussing "new food" in London and his interviewee mentioned an Onion Bhaji Scotch egg. He had brought one with him for the presenter to try. Not that they are new. They've been around for years! The presenter said something to the effect of "I wonder if Scotland knows about this", obviously referencing the almost certainly mythical connection between the eggs and Scotland, and missing the much more likely Indian origin theory! He did eat the Indian Scotch Egg and declared himself more than happy with it. He obviously couldn't hear me yelling imprecations at the computer (I was listening online). I forget to mention this in my post, as planned.

Looks like you broke it! The website seems to be down

Well, they are usually made by Greek or Turkish Cypriots; whether they are as made in Cyprus is something else. Some are, but that's normal. Chinese food in Britain is usually nothing like Chinese food in China. As with most cuisines. British or European food in China is seldom anything like British or European food in Europe. Pizzas in China are hilariously off the mark. It works both ways.

It's National Gin Day! Who decides these things? Anyway, here is an interesting, if short, article on the history of gin. https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Mothers-Ruin/ I'm off to celebrate with a G+T.

9. /ˈbʌrə ˈmɑːkɪt/ One place that my friends the YouTubers seem to be set out to totally destroy, if they haven’t already, is a near 1,000-year-old (at least) London food market. It has survived Civil War, The Black Death, fires, two World Wars, the Blitz, the “developers”, terrorists and several pandemics of which Covid is merely the latest. But the YouTube and blogger army is proving harder to beat off. On an almost daily basis, mobs of them pour in, tripping over each other and completely disturbing business as they photograph and film everything and anything, whether they know what it is or not. They expect the traders to stop their work to answer their moronic questions but buy almost nothing. They don't realise how much they are loathed. And, the imbeciles can’t even pronounce the name of the place they are in! Borough Market I am, of course, talking Borough Market. “Borough” is pronounced “BURRa”; not “burROW” as these ignorant, rude assholes have it (The IPA is above in the title for those who know it, as everyone should!) I think it’s basic politeness to at least learn how to say the name of the places you are visiting and making your pitiful videos about. But politeness is not on their agenda. It’s all me, me, me. Egotistical pricks! </ENDRANT> It isn’t known precisely when the market started, but it appears that it was there in the 12th century, if not before. Although the earliest written reference is from 1276, the official market history claims a date of 1014, if not earlier. The present market buildings were built starting in the 1850s and have been added to or restored over the years. The market sits at the junction of Southwark Street and Borough High Street, just south of The Thames, near the gothic Southwark Cathedral, at the southern end of London Bridge (not Tower Bridge!) The Southwark Street entrance is in an art deco style and was built in 1932. Art Deco 1930s entrance to Borough Market on Southwark Street, London, UK, at the junction with Borough High Street. When I last lived in London (early 1990s), it was a wholesale market only, but in 1998, it added a retail market. Today both operate. The retail market (which is what the budding Scorseses want) opens Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm, Fridays 10 to 6 and Saturdays 8 to 5. The wholesale market opens every weekday at 2 am and closes by 8 am. YouTubers never film that! Weekends are, of course, the busiest. Avoid. The retail market specialises in high quality meats, vegetables and speciality goods and has many stalls selling cooked food from all over the world. For some reason, all the camera toters, when they do buy something, seem to go for an "artisan" Scotch egg. Maybe it’s the cheapest thing on offer! They then eat this while explaining its origins and etymology – except, without fail, they all get it wrong. Probably. Scotch Eggs Both the origin and etymology are unknown, although there many competing speculative theories. About the only thing almost certain is that their origin has nothing to do with Scotland. “Scotch” and “scot” have many meanings. It could even be a mispronunciation of “scorch”. Another story that is often repeated is that the Queen’s grocer, Fortnum and Mason’s situated near Buckingham Palace invented the things in 1738 but they also claim to have lost the evidence and anyway, there is strong evidence they existed before that. Fortnum and Mason's The Oxford Companion to Food gives an origin in India, as does food historian, Annie Gray, as quoted in this excellent article from the Guardian. Many of my friends and family have told me that they have stopped going to the market as it is just too crowded with tourists. On Saturday, June 3rd 2017, there was a terrorist attack in the area. Three terrorists drove a van into crowds on London Bridge killing two people, then ran into the market where they stabbed and killed another six. Many more were injured. Of the eight killed, only one was British. I don't have a breakdown of the injured's nationalities. The terrorists were shot dead by police. Fortunately, there is a smaller, less well known and considerably less busy market just a short distance away. Most of the vendors are ex-Borough Market. I’m not going to name it here. A YouTuber may see it! But if anyone wants to know just ask and I’ll PM the details. Image credits 1. Borough Market March 2018 - image by Øyvind Holmstad –licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0 2. Art Deco 1930s entrance to Borough Market on Southwark Street, London, UK, at the junction with Borough High Street - Image by Carcharoth; licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0. 3. Fortnum and Mason's - Image by me, 2019 4. Scotch Eggs - Image by Anon - This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

It varies between a simple pork and cabbage filling to what are known as three delicacy wontons (三鲜馄饨 - sān xiān hún tun), the delicacies in question being minced pork, shrimp and shiitake. But it can be anything you like.

About every two or three weeks, I make a big batch of wontons/ravioli and freeze them. They cook from frozen in just two minutes. Just bring a pan of water to the boil and chuck them in. When the water comes back to the boil start your timer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and they should be floating. that means they are done. Drain and serve. Depending on your mood, they can be Italian or Chinese. Some uses: Drizzle with olive oil and black pepper. Eat them with a home made, spicy tomato sauce from the freezer. Cook them in a broth with noodles and some greenery. Fry them. I like them undressed with a dip of Sriracha sauce. Or soy sauce and black Chinese vinegar.

In my family, it was Friday evening. Although we were religiously non-religious, we grew up in a town which was half Protestant and half Roman Catholic. The catholic population did not eat meat on Fridays and the local butchers did little trade, so they took they day off. No meat to be had. There were no supermarkets. "What's a supermarket?" we regularly cried. So, it was F+C Friday for almost everyone. I remember, as a pre-school kid, running down the hill to the chippy to meet my father walking home from work from the oppposite direction. I remember the crowds standing in line. I remember the sound and smell of dinner cooking. I remember walking back up the hill clutching hot, newspaper packets of fish suppers as we called them. Great in winter for warming your freezing hands. Gloves hadn't yet been invented, I suppose. I remember the staff, who had the astonishing ability to remember everyone's preferences. They would shout to the fryers. "Mrs. Smith next, then it's Tommy McIvor but his Ellen is no well, so she disnae want anything the night." On the rare occasions that they yelled "One cod supper and a single black pudding", necks would crane as people attempted to see what mysterious stranger had accidentally wandered into their midst like a lost explorer in the Amazon jungle on the telly. And I remember the taste. Despite my upbringing, I began to believe I was in heaven! P.S. I am a bit odd. I prefer my F+C to be salted only. Hold the vinegar.

I think F+C is still the most popular takeaway food to be eaten on the hoof in the UK. "Chinese" and "Indian" are now bigger, but have you ever tried eating a curry or a kung-po chicken while walking along the street? If taken away (more often delivered today, I guess), Chinese and Indian are eaten at home. Even McD's is more often eaten in the store than taken away. It is common to see people eating F+C in the streets, especially late at night. Much less so with burgers or KFC. Greek or Turkish Cypriot doner kebabs are also a popular street food after a night in the pub.

Don't let them see you. As I said, it isn't traditional and many traditionalists consider its use with fish and chips to be close to blasphemy.

What tartar sauce? There is none on the menu.

Some (not many) places use a type of mock newspaper which is food safe. But the joy of trying to read yesterday's news through the grease while munching on your fish supper isn't there with fake newspapers. It 's the same stories every day!

Because they taste better raw. I don't like them cooked, but love them raw!

Builder's tea is simply a strong tea, usually made by steeping leaving the tea leaves (usually tea-bags today) in the pot with boiling water for a long time until the tea becomes 'stewed'. Served with milk and sugar. It usually uses the cheapest tea blends available. 'Cuppa' is just the pronunciation of 'cup of' in connected speech in many British accents, including London. 'A cuppa tea' in full, but almost always shortened to 'cuppa'. The first use in writing was by P.G. Woodhouse in 1925.