liuzhou

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.

8b. Fish and Chips (Part the Second) Well, we’ve sorted out the fish and the chips, now we need to decide where to eat it. Fish and chips wrapped in paper for takeaway. THE VENUE Fish and chips is available all over Britain in dedicated fish and chips shops, known as “chippies” in most of Britain, but, I’m told, “chippers” in Northern Ireland. Often run by Italian families,these only sell for takeaway, your fish and chips wrapped in paper. Traditionally this was old newspapers, but this practice was outlawed long ago for health and hygiene reasons. Also, there are dedicated sit down fish restaurant selling fish and chips and other fish dishes. Many of these sit down places also do takeaway. The dish is also available in many pubs, cafés and regular restaurants. Perhaps bizarrely, many Chinese and Indian restaurants also offer fish and chips. Some of these venues are wonderful; some are awful. Those on the well-travelled tourist trail in London are usually moretowards the awful end, although there are exceptions. On the interwebs there are several sites listing recommendations and sites like Tripadvisor may or may not be useful. My suggestion for any visitor is to try one of the take away places first. They are more traditional. The sit down fish restaurants didn’t appear until 1896, almost 40 years after the takeaways. Pubs rarely served fish and chips even in the 1970s (my student days). In fact, they seldom sold food! THE MENU Chip shop menus are often on the wall behind the fryers. ’In Scotland they will list “suppers”. A “fish supper” is fish and chips. A “haddock supper is “haddock and chips. “Single cod” means cod without chips. Non fish items often sold are sausages in batter, haggis in batter, pies and chips etc. THE CONDIMENTS Fish and chips from chippies is normally served with salt and malt or spirit vinegar. In Edinburgh, Scotland, brown sauce (referred to just as “sauce”) is favoured. Curry sauce or gravy is popular in some areas. In sit down restaurants and pubs, fish and chips may be served with lemon and tartar sauce. Traditionalists consider that close to blasphemous. Tomato ketchup and even mayonnaise may be served, but again are not traditional. Restaurant fish and chips. EXTRAS To accompany your fish and chips, the most common choice in England is a serving of mushy peas. These are dried marrowfat peas which have been soaked overnight then boiled until soft and yes, mushy. Not my favourite. Other accompaniments include pickled onions, pickled eggs, gherkins etc. TWO PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS My favourite place in London is the North Sea Fish Restaurant in Bloomsbury at 7/8 Leigh Street, London WC1H 9EW Tel: 0207 387 5892. My London home is just around the corner. Originally it was just a take away but in 1983 expanded to include a 60-seat restaurant. It still does takeaway or you can eat in the restaurant. Booking for the restaurant is advised. The menu is here. Takeaway on the left; restaurant on the right. The North Sea is one of the places every London taxi driver must know to be licensed. The Norfolk Arms pub opposite is good for a beer afterwards or before. My favourite anywhere is in Scotland. The famous Anstruther Fish Bar and Restaurant at 42-44 Shore Street, Anstruther, Fife, Scotland, KY10 3AQ; Telephone: 01333 310518 is my must-go-to place. The restaurant overlooks the lovely small town’s harbour and the Firth of Forth as it enters the North Sea, where the fish are caught. Again it is advisable to book ahead. The restaurant and takeaway specialises in haddock. The only cod on the current menu is used to make fishcakes. They fry in the traditional method, using beef fat. Utterly delicious, especially sitting outside by the harbour. Menu here. Famous customers of the restaurant include Prince William, Tom Hanks, Tim Hinkley, Robert De Niro and me! Please be sure not to pronounce Anstruther the way the narrator does in this video. It isn’t “Anstroother” as she says it. The ‘u’ in the name is formally pronounced like the “u” in brush. However the locals pronounce the town's name “Ainster”. Picture Credits 1. Fish and chips wrapped in paper for takeaway. Image by Andy Mabbett; licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 2. Restaurant fish and chips.. Image by Matthias Meckel; licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0 3. North Sea Fish Bar. Image by me. 4. North Sea Fish Bar. Image by me. 5. Anstruther Fish Bar. Image by Robert Young; licenced under CC BY 2.0

I've asked my cousin, who is contacting his siblings to see if they have it.

These are goose livers stewed in soy sauce. 卤鹅肝 (lǔ é gān). Sold pre-cooked on the deli counter of the local supermarket. I bought them to use in a fried rice, but have been munching on them all afternoon. I'll have to go back for more.

Another alligator fan here.

My aunt's rhubarb and ginger jam was to die for. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us and I don't have the recipe. A call to my cousins may be required.

Same as Britain.

Interestingly, the Chinese meal often incorrectly referred to as dim sum* is known as 饮茶/飲茶 in China. (I have given it in two forms: simplifed Chnese as used on the mainland and traditional Chinese as used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and by much of the Chinese diaspora.) 饮茶 is pronounced "yum cha" in Cantonese, spoken where the meal originated, and "yǐn chá" in Mandarin spoken in most of the rest of China. It literally means "drink tea". An alternative name is "叹茶/嘆茶" (tan cha / tàn chá) meaning "enjoy tea". Chinese speakers of English normally refer to the meal as "morning tea". * Dim sum (点心/點心; Cantonese: dim sum; Mandarin: diǎn xin, literally "touch heart") is the food served at a yum cha meal; not the meal itself. So here I can have morning tea, dinner at noon, afternoon tea at 4 pm and tea as my main meal in the evening. But I don't.

I agree. I'll witter on about fish and chips tomorrow, then move on to other myths.There is no shortage.

Yes, I think you are correct to an extent. Until I was 18 (so long ago!), dinner was the mid-day meal and tea the evening meal. Then I left Scotland to go to university and that all changed. "Tea" as a meal disappeared and I switched to lunch and dinner. However, that part of my family who still remain in Scotland still have dinner at noon and tea in the evening. The practice remains strong there and across much of northern England. I am the "ex-pat" who hasn't kept the tradition. Guess there had to be one. Not that I ever consider myself to be an "ex-pat". That seems to be a term reserved for white people who live abroad. Non-white people in the same situation are more often "immigrants" (often assumed to be "illegal") or refugees! I met one idiot here in China who was, I'm sorry to say, Canadian, who whined on and on about how terrible the "immigrant problem" was back home, with particular reference to Chinese emigrants. He was a second generation immigrant to Canada working here in China illegally on a tourist visa - an illegal immigrant himself! But he couldn't see it! He was caught and his visa revoked. Bye-bye! I am an immigrant to China and far from ashamed to say so.

My two children. More on topic - my "killer crab" recipe. Not so much because I want it to be, but I know it will be what people here will remember. Basically, it's blue crabs in a very spicy, garlicky base with oyster sauce.

I call it linguistic diversity. A good thing. 😆

My late mother, whom some of you "know", was very prim and proper. She hated anyone cursing or swearing, to the extent that I grew up believing that saying "bloody" or "drat" or "besooks" would result in immediate death and anything stronger would instantly destroy the universe at the very moment of utterance. Big Bang Two - The Sequel. Bodily functions didn't exist for her, or at least were beyond unmentionable. Sex was a myth promoted by communist bandits out to destroy interplanetary balance and therefore even more unmentionable. But, at the same time, she absolutely loved Billy Connolly despite his apparent inability to get through a sentence without dropping an f-bomb or getting scatalogical. I never mentioned to her that I knew Billy personally, though we were never close friends. But my brother "accidentally" told her. I expected to be told never to darken her doorstep again, but she just complained that I had never brought him home for tea! I remember sitting with her later, watching a video of a live show. She had tears of laughter running down her face and at one point said "Pause it! I'm going to pee myself!" I was never so shocked in my life! Like the Queen, my mother never had any need for micturation or worse. She didn't even eat peas in case anyone misunderstood! Anyway, this is the segment of the video she was watching when she got the urge for going and wanted the video paused. I may have posted it before, but I'm happily posting it again in her memory. Miss you Mum!

8. Fish and Chips (Part the First) Our dauntless YouTubers are still on the loose, searching for yet another unmissable British meal. It’s getting on for dinner time, after all. And what is more British than “Fish And Chips”? Well, maybe quite a lot. The history of Britain’s iconic dish is a tangled one involving Sephardic Jews; Charles Dickens; Winston Churchill; George Orwell; Prince William, and Belgian (or was it French?) influences. Also, despite being a relatively simple dish of deep-fried fish with potatoes, there are many variations to be taken into consideration at every stage of the process. FISH So, let’s start with the fish. It is believed that the practice of deep frying fish originated among Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who settled in England (via Holland) in the 16th century. They probably coated their fish in flour, in a similar manner to the modern Spanish dish pescado frito. At some point, some of these people started selling the fried fish in London. In Oliver Twist (1837-39), Charles Dickens mentions “a fish warehouse” in a list of shops to be found a poor, disreputable area of east London – a place where impoverished immigrants have settled for centuries before eventually settling into better areas and leaving their first English homes to the next wave. In 1845, Alexis Soyer published his Shilling Cookery for the People, which features a recipe for "Fried fish, Jewish fashion". Jewish fashion, according to Soyer, means using a flour and water batter. It is not recorded what variety or varieties of fish Dickens’s “warehouse” was selling, but the famous Billingsgate Fish Market was nearby, so they were spoiled for choice. The market operated informally in the 16th and 17th centuries, before being officially issued with a charter in 1699. By the time Dickens was writing Oliver Twist, Billingsgate had expanded to become the largest fish market in the world. The market still exists, but in 1982, was relocated to a new 13 acre (53,000 m2) building complex, further east. The original open air Billingsgate Fish Market in the early 19th century Technically, pretty much any fish could be used for fish and chips, but the modern preference is for a white fish with large, firm flakes. By far, the two favourites are cod and haddock (related fish). Cod wins outright in England; haddock in Scotland, partly because it is plentiful in Scottish waters so, is sustainable, unlike cod which is considered to be “vulnerable”. Haddock also makes for excellent eating.) Be sure to specify what fish you want. For example, by law, any fish sold as part of “cod and chips” must be cod. Same with all named fish; it must be that fish. If the menu just lists “fish and chips”, it can be any fish – often inferior types such as basa which are cheaper for the shop, but probably not for you. BATTER The fish in fish and chips is traditionally battered. Some fish and chip shops offer breaded fish as an alternative, but usually only in those establishments which have seating. Most fish and chips shops offer take away only. The batter is usually a simple flour and water batter, perhaps with baking powder added. Many places boast about their secret batter recipe. Often the secret is that there is no secret! Beer batters etc. are rare. COOKING MEDIUM Traditionally, fish was fried in beef fat (dripping) and many still say that is the best. Including me! But health concerns and that it is unsuitable for fish-eating "vegetarians" and some religious groups, means its use is declining and more standard vegetable oils used instead. THE CHIPS At the same time as the East End of London was beginning to see the introduction of fried fish, it appears the chip showed up. Dickens again gets credit, this time for being the first to use ‘chips’ in the relevant sense. The word had been used to mean batons of fruit earlier. Dickens is the first to use it specifically to refer to potatoes. Fried chips of potato seem to have first arisen in Belgium and not France as previously thought. So, the American term “French fry“ is probably a misnomer. (For the answer to the eternal question "What is the Difference Between French Fries and British Chips?" see this article from BBC America.) Also, there is evidence that chips arose to replace fish when rivers and coastal seas froze over in winter, preventing fishing. People took to carving potatoes into shapes and frying them to resemble fish. I don’t suppose anyone was fooled. Potatoes used for chips in fish and chip shops today are always the floury varieties which give a chip which is crisp on the outside but fluffy in the centre, as opposed to the more waxy varieties which are useless. In Britain, the Maris Piper variety is, by far, the most common. Some favour King Edwards. Today, most chips in fish and chip shops are double fried in the same oil or fat as the fish; in fish restaurants, they may be triple-fried. FISH AND CHIPS When, where and by whom fried fish and fried potatoes were combined into one dish is disputed. There is strong evidence that a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, opened a fish and chip shop in east London, in or around 1860. But there is equally strong evidence for the first fish and chips being served by a Mr John Lees from a Lancashire, north England market stall in 1863. Then again, there may have been others before that who remain unrecorded in any known documents. Whatever, the meal soon caught on and by 1910, there were 25,000 fish and chip shops in Britain. In his Road to Wigan Pier (1937), George Orwell said that the reason the working classes in England didn't rise up and embrace communism was that the dish kept them happy, averting revolution. Winston Churchill refused to ration fish and chips during WWII - not because fish was plentiful - it wasn't (fishing at sea was dangerous; the fishermen were as likely to catch a torpedo as a shoal of fish) - but as a morale booster. A sort of propaganda, if you like. So, that deals with the fish and with the chips. The story is all over? Nowhere near. The complexity is only just beginning. To be continued. Image Credits Fish and Chips Neon Sign in London; image by Victorgrigas; licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 Billingsgate Market - Public Domain

Are you saying sedimentary salt was never in the sea? Sediment from what?