Amy D.

Seabrook's are my favourite too, favourite are the beefy ones but the salted are great too. I though it was regional thing as I first had them when I after I moved upto Bradford from Gloucestershire 23 years ago, don't recall seeing them before then. When we first moved to Derbyshire I could get Seabrook's in Morrisons but they sell them in most supermarkets here now.

Love those chilli broad beans, but know what you mean about being wary of your teeth. They remind me of pork scratchings in that some are perfect texture and some are just a bit too crunchy but you never really know which it'll be! We're off to Sheffield on Sunday to see their lunar New year celebrations. We saw the lion dancers last year through luck but this year the city is putting on quite a few activities in the centre. There seems to have been quite an influx of students from China in the last ten years which is great for diversity but also because of all the amazing little eateries popping up that are catering for the new demographic. So it appears the city are wanting to help celebrate.

It'll depend on where you will be based but larger amounts are available eg https://andrewsgreengrocers.co.uk/groceries/breakfast-bakery-and-dairy/milk-and-cream/brands/longley-farm/longley-farm-full-fat-yorkshire-cream-cheese-1kg.html You're just more like to get it via smaller businesses who could order it in for you. Mascapone tends to come in bigger packs. Other wise most councils have good recycling collections.

Thanks - lazy late night writing I should have googled. They ended up just being refused to as the chocolate square thingies in our house, either way they are very moreish

I love lidls Xmas range, have been in ours yet this year but quickly ate through several packets of those dowinos(?) last year. And the chocolate speclous and the mini stolen bites

Very much this. While booths have decided it doesn't work for them this is possibly due to their customer demographic. The stores are usually in fairly affluent but rural areas. last time I went in booths (though admittedly about ten years ago) it was a high end supermarket which specialises is locally produced and artisan food, a dream supermarket for many egulleters but with the high price tag to go with it. So their customers tended to be either financially well off or the elderly who would rather pay the high prices than have to get the bus to the next town. Both of who may have preferred the customer experience of serviced tills where they might even pack your bags for you too. Most of the other supermarkets here have a mixture of self service and normal tills and after the years of teething and both companies and customers learning how best to use the self service I really cannot see self service going away. The majority of customers here want to get through the checkout as quickly as possible and it is rare these days to see more than one trolly queued in front of you (unless it's Aldi where we tend to form one queue for all the tills), so the option works well.

Thank you, I'll have to give it a go

I'll take a slice of the pure brown tart. Looks like a perfect treacle tart. I used to buy mini ones this colour from a small local bakers that was only open for a couple of months, but this coincided with being pregnant with my second child so I ate a fair few tarts those few months, and have dreamt about them ever since. Can you please share the recipe/source.

Very sad news, I have enjoyed reading many of @Anna N's posts and blogs over the years and will truly miss her witty observations.

Looks like I can get Haday in light and dark if this is the same brand

@liuzhou thank you. As with most good food in any country I'm sure the best stuff doesn't make it out of the country. I'll have to have a proper look to see what else is available here

This post has just made me want to stock up on different soy sauces to try out. I haven't cooked with dark soy sauce for years because I didn't like the almost bitter molassy aftertaste but tbh that's probably from using an inferior product so I should re-investigate. It's interesting @liuzhou that you say pearl River brand is preferred in china to LKK as in the UK Chinese supermarkets it always used to be the cheaper brand to buy (so the one I always picked up) until more recently years where LKK is now ubiquitous (found in normal supermarkets). Would it be more typical for a Chinese household to have one light soy sauce and one dark or several of each? I ask as for example pearl River sell several different qualities of light soy sauce (silver, gold etc)

So the media keep telling us and yes things are more expensive but people are still buying plenty of takeaways and the high street and town are still very busy with lots of people spending money. We are very privileged with the quality of life that we have here and the variety and options we have that it really annoys me just how negative all the news reporting is.

It's described as mini but it will fill a dinner plate. Chippies went through a phase of offering ever increasing portions to beat the opposition. Now they are readjusting. Undoubtedly traditions are changing, though Friday still sees the longest queues at any chippie. But is the change a bad thing. In the small town I grew up in Gloucestershire 30 years ago the only takeaway option was from half a dozen chip shops and one Chinese. Now there are at least half a dozen different cuisines offered all from independent businesses. Yes some of the pubs have closed down, but instead if having ten poorly run businesses there are a few really well run and characterful pubs offering great selections of brilliant locally produced drinks. Nostalgia is great but change isn't alway bad.

Just another doom and gloom article that the British media love to produce. Yes things are more expensive and yes people and businesses are struggling. Is it the end of the industry. Not at all. The vast majority of towns will still have multiple chippies. The more successful ones will provide a superior product that people with pay the premium for or just make the portions smaller ( no one needed a fish the size of your forearm and a sack of chips anyway). At Matlock bath in deepest Derbyshire yesterday it was £6 for a mini fish, chips and peas. At Scarborough last week it was £8 but that also came with a fishcake and was fried in beef dripping and the sea air. Both meals were more than enough calories for two adults. But most importantly tastes have also changed in the last 20 years. With the takeaway and restaurant industry providing a far more diverse range of cuisines.

Savora sounds more like a piccalilli without the vegetables. French mustard is a definite mustard texture, but with a much sweeter flavour than most. Though savora may have the right spice blend.

Sorry have no suggestions for recipes other than just have a play with the spices and keep adjusting until you are happy. But wow just the mention of French mustard takes me back to eating out in pubs in 90's early 00's with those little sachets of French mustard. Haven't seen it in a while but then I tend to shop in Aldi or lidl so a more limited range. It definitely has its own distinctive sweeter flavour. Nothing like say Dijon but then it doesn't pretend to be. Some times foods in the past were labelled after the country of inspiration or general flavour profile.

Can't get through to the recipe but it looks great, love a self saucing pudding, going to have to make another one soon. Last time I made one I added orange juice and zest, and pieces of orange flavoured chocolate.

Ah that explains why there was loads of greenery on the floor in front of the other supermarket. They had lots of greens for sale in this shop but no lettuce.

We bumped into this lion in Sheffield today when we went to get ingredients for our new year's feast. Does anyone know why the shop assistant is showing the lion around with a leek?

There are so many recipes and tips for Yorkshire puddings but for me and my oven I have found I get consistent results when I make mine in silicone bun (cupcake) case lined cupcake tray. I've just found that I get better puddings that don't stick and clean up is easier. I also only use a drop of sunflower oil (1tbs between all 12) in each one, and usually only heat the pan in the oven for a few minutes, even if it doesn't sizzle as I pour it in they still rise fine. I use a Mary berry recipe that calls for 125g plain flour, 3 eggs and 200ml milk and whizz them together with a hand blender, rarely rest it before using. For a normal midweek meal I actually only do a one egg mix with 40g flour, 65 milk. My Yorkshire MIL told the family last week that her recipe is like dejah's equal parts egg, flour and milk (though that wasn't the recipe she gave me 20 years ago so either she was keeping it secret or she has changed it over the years) though she still uses lard in her pudding pans that she never washes.

Heinz pushed the sandwich spread again in the early 90's when it grew relatively popular, I remember one summer holiday when it was the in thing, but it's really seen now. You could probably find in a larger supermarket possibly lurking near the jars of fish and meat paste...

Thanks I will have to have a better look at the spice mongers here in the UK. Though reading the burlap and barrel's page it describes the funky umami flavours of the white pepper, so it may just be that it's not a spice I like.

I wonder if any there are any sellers that can say that their white pepper is exclusively fermented in flowing water. I always think white pepper tastes of the smell of decaying chicken. I probably eat it fine when it's disguised by other flavours but as a main seasoning white pepper ruins a dish for me. But I love freshly ground black pepper

Xmas dinner with corn fed chicken, had a very similar dinner last night too with the left overs. Followed by a small cheese plate. Sadly didn't manage to get to our local cheese factor before Xmas so only four different cheeses, will visit them in the next few days to improve our variety as we do love a lazy cheese lunch or dinner when we're on holiday.