liuzhou

Typical! As soon as I mention that I've never seen milk in bags, guess what! About an hour later, I'm in a supermarket and spot this. 纯牛奶 (chún niú nǎi) = pure cow's milk. I'm not sure if it's the milk or the cow that is pure! Whichever, it doesn't come in multi-litre packs. 180g = 186.3 ml. In my defence, I'm not a milk drinker, so maybe it was always there , but I didn't notice. I only ever use milk to make yoghurt and then I buy it in 1 litre cartons. I'm not sure what I'll do with this amount.

I have mentioned these before but found them again today. They are 释迦 (shì jiā), aka sugar-apple or sweetsop. This particular cultivar from Taiwan is named 释迦牟尼头 (shì jiā móu ní tóu), Sakyamuni's Head or Buddha's head due to some perception that it resembles the Buddha's head. Can't see it myself. These are not yet ripe, but having had them before, I know they are going to be very sweet.

It's poured into empty vinegar bottles in my kitchen. Don't know what others do.

I've never seen milk in bags, but we do get vinegar in bags, here! 米醋 = Rice vinegar。

Lunch with my dear friend, J and her 2-month-old tomorrow baby boy! We went to a relatively new Vietnamese place in town. Beautiful environment and great food. I started off with a bowl of phở bò - the beef variety. Phở bò Phở bò We tried a platter of regular favourites. Spring rolls (Gỏi cuốn), shrimp, chicken and beef skewers and greenery. Then moved onto the best dish - Thịt bò lá thơm. Minced beef wrapped in pandan leaf! Thịt bò lá thơm Then to finish off, some lime chicken wings and rice cakes. More than enough for two. My only disappointment was that they don't do my Vietnamese favourite - bánh xèo, but the restaurant is southern Vietnam style and bánh xèo is more northern, although I have had it in Saigon.

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? "Culture" is a bit of a misnomer. There was nothing cultured about it. Mainly a mix of what my French mother thought Scottish food should be. She had been brought up during wartime rationing and never learned to cook. Still can't. Was meal time important? Not particularly. Regular, but not obsessively so. Was cooking important? Not in the slightest. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? What table? Who cooked in the family? My father didn't know where the meals appeared from, I'm sure, so my mother made everything until I rebelled and took over when I was around 7 or 8. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? Can't remember ever going to a restaurant until I was about 18 years old and that was with a girlfriend, not family. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Another table? When did you get that first sip of wine? Can't remember - very young. French mother, after all. We started off on wine with water at a tender age and it became less dilute with each passing year. Wine was served with every dinner. Was there a pre-meal prayer? No. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? There was a limited repertoire, but things turned up at random rather than to a set rotation, except fish on Friday - not because we were/are religious, but it was the only fresh protein available on Fridays in a largely catholic community. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Almost nothing - except my occasional mince 'n tatties.

I've flown Cathay many times and never had any cause for complaint about the catering. Still prefer Thai air, though. Worst ever was Bangladesh Air! The same insipid vegetable curry for every meal during a very long flight from Bangkok to London with a stopover in Dhaka, the world's most miserable airport!

WOW!

Happy New Lunch! Goose egg omelette with boletes.

Following a long-standing tradition of simple bacon sarnie on New Year's Day. May it be a Happy One!

Wet breakfast. Lobster balls in a spicy fish stock based soup.

Lemon coriander pork with garlicky boletes and orzo.

Today's haul foraged from my farmers market. 姬松茸 (jī sōng róng), Agaricus subrufescens. Known in English as Almond Mushroom. In Japanese, they are himematsutake.

A while back I mentioned that my local farmers market had closed down for renovation, but would re-open in two months. Today, five months later, it finally reappeared. I was nearby and thought I would check to see if there was any progress, so was happily surprised to see it open. I must admit they have done a good job and it looks brighter and cleaner, but smaller. Most, but not all of my favourite vendors were there. I didn't really need anything, but couldn't resist these beauties.

Clam and mustard green soup. Spicy shrimp with orzo.

Various plants' rhizomes are called galangal but Sanguinaria canadensis isn't one of them. It is usually called 'bloodroot'. Alpinia galanga is greater galangal, Alpinia officinarium is lesser galanga. Marginal inclusions are Boesenbergia rotunda or Chinese ginger and Kaempferia galanga or sand ginger, some of which I bought today!

Exploding Sriracha!

Linguini with a pork and a spicy, fresh tomato ragu-ish sauce. Finished with somewhat unevenly distributed Grano Padano.

Her YouTube channel is wonderful. It is is one of only two I have subscribed to and the other is not at all food related. I also follow her on Chinese social media. Yes your link is long, but informative. It is compiled and translated from a number of Chinese sources about her.

Exactly.

Non-identical twins?

I leave it to my local Hong Kong style roast goose joint which always does it better than I ever will.

I might be strange, but I quite enjoy it, as I do filleting fish and dissecting pretty much everything. What type of mushrooms did you need; can't they be subbed?

Larry's Ingredient List