Kerala

OK, so this really is the last of my Portuguese haul. From a couple of weeks ago. Simple, but excellent. Nice intact pieces of fish, a firm but not overcooked texture, a light taste just great with the olive oil. On good bread, with good tomatoes, a drizzle of the olive oil and a few flakes of salt, this really brings back a sunny Mediterranean holiday morning. If this is the Veblen effect, then on a rainy day in the Midlands it's well worth the extra Euros.

That sounds delicious, I can see those flavours working well together and can even imagine the mouth feel. @boudin noirdo you grind the pine nuts at all or use them whole?

It's OK, better than baseline supermarket sardines, but rather bland, both the sardines and the added herbs. Not very expensive, so there's that going for it. Nice packaging.

I've learned a lot about food over the last 20 years(10 years lurking, 10 years registered) and it's hard to say what exactly came from eG. In any case, my reading and travel experiences were influenced by eGullet. Omelettes. I didn't know anything about omelettes beyond what we have as omelettes in Kerala,which is a very different beast. Cheffing chicken drumsticks. Thanks for making my life more difficult but also much better. Air fryer. Nuff said. An understanding of internal temperature as a concept across sous vide, oven cooking, and barbecue. And BBQ reminds me, watching people get worked up about terminology. Paella, carbonara, biriyani, cassoulet... My conclusion is that it's best to understand the original dish, but if you can't, by all means have a go- but don't argue with a native about it.

We went to the Holkham Food and Beer Fair in Norfolk last weekend. It was set in the massive walled garden at Holkham Hall. The weather was lovely, the music was groovy and the cider was fruity. Lots of local produce and I bought some. Chanterelles Venison In a cream sauce with roast potatoes and red cabbage.

Absolute top standard. It's not the only way, but for this target, this looks perfect.

Carrot thoran. Trial run for Onam family meal at my sister's.

Chilli and garlic oil. Fried egg. Manchego. Frikadelle. Mayo. Toast. Oh what a time to be alive!

In this vein...

Really, it's hard to beat a girl who works at a chip shop who's got off early and headed for the club.

Egg on toast with the last little pot of sardine pate from Portugal.

I imagine if you tossed the sausage and peas with the pasta in the fat from cooking the sausage, it would all separate properly.

Is this healthy? I'm trying... a bit. Lamb with hummus, tomatoes, radishes, onion, indeterminate supermarket salad leaves. I sauteed a clove of garlic ( seen at 2 o'clock) before doing the lamb, and the pan juices were the dressing.

Oh just a little addition. Very unconventional. At the 9 o'clock position on the plate is a hot dry garlicky fish pickle. My nephew and I with whom I share a lot of traits are the only ones who go for this.

This is from last Sunday, part of a great weekend. Lunch was at my sister's place with about a dozen family. The famous mutton biryani! With its accompanying boiled egg, mango kaddumanga pickle, an unusual apple kaddumanga pickle prepared the same way, and a nice crisp Chardonnay. Scorching English summer's day at about 28 degrees C. Perfect. ( NB Healthy mutton to rice ratio)