Kerala

Wow, superb trip! The food looks amazing. I felt sad for you having to eat the breakfast croissants, even though I quite like croissants! Can I ask, what was the mosquito situation? I don't react much to bites, but my wife really suffers.

Wonderful. I really do want to get to Malaysia some day.

We went to a friend's last night and had pies. The host made mini-pies for starters. And desserts. Chorizo and chicken, feta and cranberry, beef and something, samosa pinwheels and fruit tarts for dessert. Here's my lamb and Guinness pie. It was disqualified as not a pie. Fair enough. I think it tasted the best, so that's fine. I'm not bitter. Really. One of the men said I could open a pie shop. Whatever. Chard, lemon and cheese pie with filo pastry. This was voted the winner. Very impressive, and definitely a pie. I'd just like to point out that in no way is a samosa pinwheel any type of pie. Even if it did taste good. Apple and bramble pie, also by the winner Jennie. It was nice, too.

Awesome.

I've made this dessert many times over the last 20 years or so, since my friend Nigel showed me. The very first time, he mentioned adding cinnamon, but added, "That's an English thing." Tarte Tatin. Last night I added a sprinkling of cinnamon. What can I say? It was the best I've ever made. Coming next: carbonara with cream?

For the longest time I loathed aubergines. As @Smithy says, random bitterness, and the texture wasn't anything great either. As my two older girls have gone through various vegetarian phases, I've been exposed to some stunning (not least due to low expectations!) aubergine dishes, and I could never work out why sometimes it's great, and other times awful. I only use them in Thai and Indian curries, and they taste fine there, but not awesome. Now... expectations are high!

@Smithy I think the dry pieces were from the bottom layer. He made it for his mum who lives with us, at her request. She remembers it fondly from her hospital days- a bit of flavour in this bland land! She was very pleased with it, so it was a success in the most important aspect.

@Smithy yes, the aubergine was bitter. That's my usual trouble with it. Is there a recommended way to avoid this? Sometimes it tastes fabulous, other times quite off-putting. My bil used mutton rather than lamb, which would have been the default choice, even apart from us not eating beef for religious reasons. He thought the mutton would stand up better to being cooked once (at his home) then finished off at ours.

Sardine with avocado and chilli oil on toast.

Brother in law made moussaka. Sometimes aubergine tastes good, sometimes not so nice. Everything else was delicious. He went to a lot of trouble with the bechamel and sourcing mutton mince. Good salad too.

@Honkman please do reflect on the andouille. As I'm someone who failed to actually eat andouilette, I wonder, is andouille significantly milder? Unanswerable question, I suppose.

If I could reach through this screen and grab a plate... a whole bunch of you would have lighter meals. Yes, I mean you.

My buddy Nigel came for New Year's Eve. He brought the starter and dessert. Duck confit and pistachio terrine with balsamic glaze and truffle oil. No pictures of my sticky roast lamb, dauphinoise potatoes and the chocolate torte.

Kind of a lull through the holidays but still pretty good. A big pork chop, oven chips, spinach with crushed macadamia nuts and a pinch of chilli flakes, sauce basically cream to deglaze the pan.

Thank you so much for this. I had a truly magical three days in Paris with my wife a few years ago, and this brings it all back. The food really is amazing, and everyone was so friendly! Who knew? I'll try and sort another visit in 2025, I think.