Kerala

My daughter brought a couple of tins for me from a delicatessen in Hackney. £3.50, which is comparable to the price in Portugal! She remembered from one of my Ryanair hauls. I really like these.

The price of experimentation is failure! I'd like to say no harm done, but it sounds as though you truly suffered, @liuzhou. I hope when you say "Never again," you mean never Porthos again, not never a new brand again. I've tried Porthos before. My memory is that it was unmemorable, not necessarily disgusting. Quite possibly I'm holding myself up for ridicule, with a review hidden somewhere in this thread.

I should be so lucky!

Thanks for that, @Anchobrie Gloomy reading indeed!

Some wonderful elaborate breakfasts here. By contrast, here's mine: Bacon and avocado on toast with Tantan Xiang pickled red chilies. With fresh coffee from the cafetiere. No regrets.

These on the other hand were a bit disappointing. Maybe I just don't like the small sardines. The flesh falls apart too easily, and the taste is a bit processed- not a happy mouthful for me. Average.

Marks and Spencer's posh line Skinless, boneless, but a lovely clean taste and firm texture. As good as any I've ever bought in a UK supermarket.

‘The flavour, the texture, everything is perfect’: José Pizarro tests supermarket tinned sardines https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/may/17/best-tinned-sardines-food-filter-taste-test?CMP=share_btn_url An overview of cheap UK supermarket sardines and Ortiz. He prefers the latter...duh! Anyway, useful to rule out some brands I might have tried in hope.

@liamsaunt that looks wonderful. Tea at F&M looks great - did you have to book?

Waitrose sardines. (Only) twice the price of ordinary supermarket sardines, but they are very good. They certainly don't feel like a wasted meal opportunity.

My brother in law cooked again tonight. Toad in the hole. Very nice! I did the mash and the peas:

Geitost from my recent trip to Norway. It's not really a cheese, but whey from goatsmilk cooked down to a solid then slowly cooked further until it caramelises. The taste is a bit like fudge, but the lacto flavour is very strong. Deep, nutty, bitter notes, complex.

Cawl, from my many years in Wales. Lamb, potatoes, parsnips, swede, carrots, leeks. Salt and pepper.

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.