liuzhou

Pie and mash is a dying trade. It was never "England's National Dish" and certainly isn't now. It was almost exclusively confined to London. Again I refer you to this topic where I discussed pie and mash in London in detail.

I disagree that any decline started in the 1970s. Quite the reverse. It started to recover then. The biggest disaster by far was the rationing in WW2. A whole generation grew up with no food to learn to cook with. My late mother was a) French and b) a terrible cook. Her family moved to Britain as refugees in 1939 when she was 10. Rationing began the next year and lasted until 1954, by which time she was 24 and a mother (to me and to my younger brother). As a child she was not allowed to cook as, if she screwed up an ingredient or a dish, the family went hungry. You couldn't nip out and buy more food. My grandmother cooked. The same applied to most families. I remember in the 1950s, the paucity of available foods. No garlic, the lack of some of the most popular fruits, minimal choice of vegetables etc. Olive oil only being available in tiny bottles from a pharmacy to be used to treat ear wax blockages! In the 1960s and 70s, the advent of cheap travel (mostly to Europe) led people to discovering or rediscovering better, more interesting foods and becoming more demanding. People learned again the food could be good! This coincided with the rise of supermarkets, offering an increasing number of choices. Sure, so called "convenience foods" but they are not particularly British. They are mostly American in origin but universal. As is Findus, although headquartered in the UK. I discussed all of this (and some others such as Full Breakfasts and Borough Market in this topic.

泡椒牛蛙 (pào jiāo niú wā) , stir fried pickled Sichuan chillies with bullfrog.

Yes, I also do the cut and scoop thing, depending on how I want to use the flesh. Many years ago, I wanted to make a favourite dish I used to make in London before moving to China - Mackerel with gooseberries. Gooseberries are difficult to find here but I remembered that kiwi fruit was called Chinese gooseberries long before New Zealand's marketing people changed the name in the late 1960s/ early 1970s and claimed them as their own. So I scooped out the flesh as you described and puréed it with some lemon juice to replicate the tartness of gooseberry. I used yellow fleshed kiwi to be closer to gooseberry in appearance. It wasn't the same, but worked well enough to repeat.

You could, but I just break the skin with my fingernails. Is the skin on your 'kiwis' hard?

I do it with my fingers. Like peeling a grape.

Another black truffle, parma ham and arugula/ rocket pizza. and a light libation.

How to cook a peacock. The article also mentions swan, which I don't recommend. It's horrible. Dont ask me how I know?

Living in an oven-less culture, my only option is the toaster oven. I don't feel particularly restricted. OK, I can't roast a turkey, but I don't want to, anyway. Here are a few products from the toaster oven. My Daily Bread Olive Bread Soda Bread Banana Bread Baked Potato (with stir fried shrimp and chayote shoots) Roast Vegetables with Pork Shepherd's Pie Cheddar Cheese on Toast (with Chinese Artichokes) Roast Quail Broiled Skewers ... and more.

生炒辣子鸡 (shēng chǎo là zi jī), stir fried spicy chicken 葱油银针菇 (cōng yóu yín zhēn gū), scallion oil fried silver needle mushrooms (enoki) 炒豆腐干 (chǎo dòu fu gān), stir fried dry tofu 炒白菜 (chǎo bái cài), stir-fried cabbage 米饭 (mǐ fàn), rice

Hot dog and lemonade cart in Manhattan, 1926

Soup has a season? Not in Chateau Liuzhou!

Now craving this. After you’ve tried this quick and easy seafood stew, it’s easy to see why the ancient Romans were once gripped by red mullet fever. Interesting back story, too

Sometimes it is marinated in red bean sauce before roasting, yes. Alternatively a red yeast, Monascus purpureus which grows on some varieties of rice can be used. But they don't have that vivid dayglo red colour I see in western countries. This is what I have at the moment.

1997, Western Hunan, (湘西 - xiāng xī). I fell in love with this simple dish. The restaurant I usually ate it at was run by a couple, him doing the service and her doing the cooking outside the front of their small place, making everything in one wok, one serving at a time. She had a special of the day each day and I was always happy to order this one when it appeared (athough I could order it any day). 青椒肉丝 (qīng jiāo ròu sī), literally green chilli pepper shredded meat - as ever when the type of meat is not specified, it means pork. Although Hunanese in origin, it can be found pretty much all over China and is commonly cooked at home.

Thanks, Kerry and multiple thanks to Lynn Marie.

It is often dyed with food colouring in the west. It isn't here.

On the mainland, many ways. It is used in bao (buns), in fried rice, as an appetiser with dips as @KennethTdescribes, in soups, noodle dishes, ...

There is a town in England called Sandwich* (probably the origin of the name of the one in Massachusetts). Nearby there is a village called Ham (from the Old English hám, meaning 'home' and used in many place names such as Nottingham, Durham etc.) Image by Nick Smith. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Near my London home is this, which I can see from my window. * Note the Wikpedia article's story of the origin of the name of the town is risible nonsense. It means the 'dwelling place by the beach' which it was until the sea receded. 'Sand' from the beach and 'wich' from the Old English ''wic' meaning a dwelling place and also used in many place names such as Norwich, Ipswich etc. It was the town's name long before the Earl of Sandwich didn't invent the sandwich!

er, it's a joke!

I've no idea, but can find out. Thanks. It does seem crazy to import plants from the USA when I could wake up tomorrow and be in Vietnam for lunch!

The article does and I concur. But they have to be prepared and cooked correctly.

Yes. Five of the less sad ones but I think it was too late.