liuzhou

Except it's a kitchen knife.

In the course of my perambulations around the city centre today, I came across a small hardware store which is closing down. They mostly stocked kitchen gear of average quality. Of course, I had a look. Everything was the same price. ¥2.00 (30 cents USD). They had little I wanted , but I did pick up a pack of three self-adhesive hooks, then I saw this knife. It is sharper than I would have guessed but I have no idea what its intended use might be but at that price, I thought "why not?" The young girl who relieved me of two pictures of Chairman Mao had no idea either. She has been taken on temporarily by the liquidators. The blade is about three inches long. Here it is in my average size hand. Suggestions as to what it might have been designed for would be very welcome, thanks.

Tonight, an unphotogenic pork and veg curry which had been in the slow cooker at its lowest setting for almost 24 hours. Melted in the mouth.

Amusing, but certainly not new. Here is one by the artist Michelangelo (1475-1564) for his semi-literate servant.

I've always been interested in ancient cooking and in particular, in the Romans. So I was delighted to run into this today. I'm not saying I'm going to be dashing off to make and eat it, but maybe one day. Just reading it makes me smile.

Started off with a lentil soup. Chopped the usual onions, celery and carrot; sweated them off in olive oil; added some Sichuan Style Peasant Family Cured Pork (literal translation of the Chinese); added red lentils and boiled until ready. With home made bread for dunking. Lentils are a real rarity here. Few of my Chinese friends know what they are, but one supermarket recently decided to stock them.. Followed by something I like a lot, but haven't made for years. 啤酒鸭 (pí jiǔ yā) or Beer Duck. I bought an almost half duck - leg and breast (one of each), skinned, de-fatted and boned it then chopped the meat into bite size pieces. Braised in beer with onion, garlic, red chilli peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. The dish originated in Sichuan, but is also popular in Hunan. Served with sweet potato shoots and rice. And more beer. I don't usually plate Chinese food this way, but I'm off early in the morning on yet another field trip and couldn't be bothered with too much washing up.

Both Lidl and Aldi are big in the UK and, while rivals, seem to manage to co-exist. The two operations are, rather than hurting each other, hurting the more traditional mainstream supermarkets. Here is an article from last week.

Sad that so many of you can't find duck or it's mega-expensive. Here it is one of the cheapest meats - at least half the price of chicken. I eat it often because I like it, but cheapness doesn't hurt. I also almost always buy duck eggs -also cheaper than chicken's babies and, in my opinion, much better.

My apologies. I did foresee this problem, but couldn't think how to get round it. No need to apologise. We are being held hostage. Although most of the doctors were OK.

I just read through this topic over two months later. It seems like something that happened to someone else, but I read about or saw the movie.. I know I moaned about the food and I suppose they do have patients with sodium related issues and cut back the seasoning. The nurses were utter stars as they always are. I have not been sick often, but had one frightening experience over 30 years ago where I nearly died. The British National Health Service and the most wonderful nurses kept my alive. I won't get into politics other than to say both the NHS and the nurses are treated shamefully. I love them all. I did have a couple of odd experiences in Chinese hospitals many years ago, but remember absolutely nothing about the food. In retrospect, those visits (2005 and 1997) seem amusing. Perhaps this year's will do the same some day. Less sure about some of the doctors. Some were nice, but the guy in charge of my case was an arrogant prick, who misdiagnosed several times and actually told my daughter in London (indirectly) that I had heart failure! My ailment was not in the slightest bit heart-related. Naturally, my daughter completely freaked, booked her ticket from London to China to take back my remains before I was able to tell her I was fine, but starving! It did take a few weeks to get back to full strength and regain the weight that I lost. I'm a skinny thing at the best of times, despite my eating habits. One Chinese colleague once told me that "All the female staff want your body!" I told him to tell them to queue up outside my apartment door and I'd see what I could do! To my great disappointment he only meant they wanted to lose weight. I just want to say now, that the hospital nursing staff were a delight and also all the eG people who wished me well and hoped for my speedy return to normality really helped in the darkest times. Thank you. I also want to thank my two dear friends, the first of whom took me to the hospital in the first place and stayed with me all night despite having a busy work schedule the next day. And also my dear friend J, who was away on business during my hospital time, but looked after me when I got home. Love them both. OK, before this sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech, I will just say again. Thank you.

If I had that breakfast, I'd need to have a glass of champagne with it! I would have done (I have some) but I had to go to an important meeting immediately after breakfast. Next time.

Tonight: Spicy, stir fried, marinated pork slivers with wild rice stems. Okra and rice.

I always have difficulties with 'craft' and 'artisan'. Do they have any legal definition in California or anywhere else? I have even more difficulty with 'best', a completely subjective opinion.

Fruit pizzas are very popular here in China, especially durian pizza which every pizza place has to do. The local Pizza Hut restaurants are promoting them right now. They are, in my opinion, horrible. And I'm a durian lover.

This morning, seared foie gras and toast (home made bread). With strong, black coffee, of course.

I'd love to help, but just reading your question gave me a headache. The mathematical gene passed me by completely, much to my father's disgust (he was a mathematics professor). When I was told that a+b=c, I rebelled and ran off to join a circus. a+b clearly says 'ab' which means nothing! I would have a nervous breakdown in the USA with your quaint measurements which make little sense. I can just about cope with metric. I'm looking forward to a reasonable answer from someone more gifted in the occult arts.

I had a desire for fish and chips. so that's what I made. Cod in beer batter.

Cheddar cheese, by an amazing coincidence, originated in the small town of Cheddar in Somerset, Western England. Unfortunately, the Chedderites were too busy making and enjoying their cheese to remember to apply for protection for the name. So, today Cheddar is made everywhere from Somerset to Inner Mongolia. In 2007, "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" was granted protected status, but that only applies in the European Union. The USA, while bleating on about copyright protection for everything else, blatantly ignores European protection of foods and wines. Cheddar cheese sales in the UK account for over 50% of the market and is the second most popular in the USA (after mozzarella). Yet, few people have tried a real non-industrial, raw milk, cloth wrapped cheddar. Cheese author, Tenaya Darlington, aka all things cheese blogger, Madame Fromage, based in Philadelphia, has blogged a "Guide to Great British Cheddars" which has left me sitting here in China weeping over my plate of Inner Mongolian factory cheddar. Of those she mentions, I have only sampled two - The "Isle of Mull" and the "Montgomery" . Both were great, but the "Montgomery" is sublime. I can only agree with her notes -swoon-worthy cheese. Note: I have no connection with this blog or blogger, but merely pass this on in my determination to bust the ludicrous, ignorant reputation that the UK has for its food. We have some of the best in the world. (I'll be in England next February for a short time. Cheese and seafood are top of the list. Then I might go visit my family!)

Grilled tilapia with cumin and chilli powder, served over a chilli sauce with cucumber, roasted soy beans, bean sprouts, more chilli and garlic chives. Eaten on the road side in northern Guangxi, China, last night.

Fascinating. Another eG insight to a world I know nothing about. Thank you.

The first is Zhacai (榨菜 zhà cài) with chili oil. The Second is Wenzhou* Local Flavor Pickles (溫州風味 wēn zhōu fēng wèi) Are you able to get a better shot of the top of the front of this one, where there is some unclear Chinese on a blue sky and green fields(?) background? It may help or may not. * a city in Zhejiang Province.

1) 酸菜 suān cài 2) 榨菜 zhà cài 3) this view of the package doesn't say what it is. 4) Don't know, but it appears to be Taiwanese. It says 高采 gāo cǎi (literally 'tall vegetable'.) Of your original 6, the Chinese characters are 1) 橄榄采 gǎn lǎn cǎi - I've never known this to contain mustard, though. It is Chinese olive paste. 2) and 3) as above 4) 芽菜 yá cài ya cai 5) 雪菜 xuě cài xue cai 6) 天津冬菜 tiān jīn dōng cài As you surmise, there are several other mustard preparations.

It isn't Chinese. It is most often said to be Russian, but I've also seen it cited as being Mongolian.

Fried sea bass fillet, black rice and watercress salad with a lemon vinaigrette. I went back and ate the other fillet, too with a refill of rice and salad. In fact, I ate the meal again.

The idea that roosters crow at dawn is an utter myth. Roosters crow any damn time they please. There are several around my home in the countryside and a few in the city and I hear them at all hours.