Kerala

Forty years ago when I worked as an auxiliary the patient food was good enough that staff would eat any extra orders. It wasn't great, but it was at least as good as I ate at my English friends' houses. Our poor NHS has been stripped to the bone. There is neither the money nor the interest to provide palatable food for patients.

Interesting comment. That's the usual colour of venison I get here, whether in a vac pac at the supermarket or on the bone at a butcher's. We may be getting different species. Muntjac run wild in many places in the UK, but i assume what ends up on my plate is red deer.

You're kidding right? UK suburbia venison looks like this!

I understand what you are saying and can agree, but her language is my mother tongue. The comments in Malayalam on YouTube asking for more chat are all very nostalgic. If you are Malayali living in Kerala this reality is not that difficult to experience. I suspect that most of these comments are from Malayalis who have travelled abroad (like me) or even who have migrated around India. So, yes, I agree these videos are wonderful as they are. Just for me personally I'd love to hear the language. It's not the content of the language I'm missing. It's the language itself. @KennethT The person who is running this YouTube channel seems to be family, based on the sparse recorded dialogue. He is obviously skilled at what he is doing and I appreciate his artistic intent, choices and ability. I'm not in any way trying to give him tips to improve the channel! Anyway, lunch looked fantastic!

Lovely. Looks luscious. Rare or medium? I have to accept whatever venison is available in the supermarket, unidentified cuts. Our local, apparently successful butcher/farm shop had a fire last year and along with Cxxxd it seems to have been too much; the place is still a burnt out shell. No announcement yet, so still hopeful.

I love these videos. I wish there was a bit of chat from the grandma, echoing some of the comments below the clip on YouTube. Looks delicious, totally uncompromised.

Packet ramen, stir fried venison, garnished with spring onions and a dusting of bottarga.

This lady has been on here before, i can't remember who posted. She's the real deal. Her knife skills are fantastic and utterly unselfconscious, as is all of her cooking.

@Katie Meadow The casing ends up like clear plastic. I do like the stuffing though!

@Duvel I've never seen haggis in a tin, but then I've never looked!

Over the last few years almost all haggis available in English supermarkets has had beef fat, at the very least, added. I don't eat beef, but I've always been able to find some brand with no beef on Burns night, until tonight. I once had a vegetarian haggis, with some toothy little legumes standing in for the bits of cartilage. Not bad, as these things go. Not even this option available today. It's a treat I can manage only a couple of times a year, as it's not a family favourite. Now overdue, so I'll keep an eye out. Do you know, @Duvel recent blog reminded me it's been way too long since I've been north of the border!

Fantastic. I can almost taste the food - almost! Nothing beats being there. Sorry to hear about your illness. I hope you are well. I came down with Covid when I was in Cologne last year, and didn't realise until I dragged myself into work the next day, checked my temperature, and only then tested myself. Straight back to bed!

El Bulli and Noma had/have very long waiting lists. There are lots of people who genuinely enjoy this stuff as food, or want to experience something new, or want to be fashionable, or have bought the hype, or think this would be a suitable meal for a landmark event in their lives. It's literally a limited number, but i think it's sufficient to keep a few restaurants of this type going almost indefinitely. There's a lot of money out there looking to be spent. I'm not so sure they couldn't hike the price enough to pay their interns.

This looks fabulous.

I am enjoying this at the moment. I understand the high pressure environment, but is the nastiness really such a common feature in kitchens? When Carmy's boss tells him he is worthless and should be dead, what's he trying to achieve? Anyway, I'm six episodes in, and will probably rewatch.

@Kerala – Lamb is probably my favorite meat. What was in your sticky sauce?" @Kim Shook The lamb was marinated in hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce and white wine, basting the meat every 20 minutes. The lamb was roasted sitting atop halved onions. While the lamb rested after roasting, a third of the resulting liquid was reserved as gravy, the other 2/3 was boiled down to a treacle consistency and brushed on the lamb. Adapted from a Gary Rhodes recipe.

Roast lamb with a sticky glaze. Served with truffle mash potatoes and glazed carrots.

We had a big weekend at my big sister's. In the morning she got up early to make this. Appam with duck mappas. So perfect.

Usually lamb's heart here in the UK. Very much another of my lone treats. My dear father in law loved it, but he passed away in 2020. Quick fried, with maximum pungency added: pepper rather than chilli, salt or probably soy sauce, raw onions. Actually thinking about it, my bil likes it, so next time he's over, perhaps. Heart is not always available at the supermarket though. We'll see.

When the moka pot starts bubbling, I love it.

I ordered a cassoulet in Paris once. Given our shared interest as members of egullet, I had of course made a list of places to eat, allowing for budget, although I can't remember the name of this restaurant at this moment. I don't speak French and the staff didn't speak English. The meal took an hour or more to arrive. The waiter felt forced at one point to apologetically mime a joke tapping his watch, pointing his thumb to the kitchen and twiddling his thumbs. I didn't really know what to expect, but it seems to be what is described in this thread. What I did not expect was that it would have readily fed at least four people. It was delicious. I ate it all. I've been to France two or three times since, and not seen cassoulet on the menu. I've brought back tinned cassoulet which has been very enjoyable. What I don't understand is the size of the portion I was served. It was priced like a meal for one. But even for a glutton like me, it was a challenge to eat it all. Is a cassoulet serving always so massive? Did they make a cassoulet just for me as a single serving? Was the language barrier and their courtesy and hospitality too much for them to refuse to serve me a single portion when it would normally be ordered by a table of six? The front of house service in Paris throughout that weekend was just the best I have experienced in all my travels.

We all know the most important ingredient, @Dejah Everything looks so delicious!

@heidih Yeah, definitely will be just me eating them in my house. However, "expiry" dates are many many months in the future,and they are going down fasr!

Dinner on Wednesday and Thursday was shepherd's pie. Also lunch at work on Friday. I left the carrots sliced long and that was fine. There was leftover venison, so there were slices of deer in there. Minced lamb as the main protein. People liked it, and so did i. Cheats... A Knorr lamb stock cube, and two teaspoons of Bisto gravy granules.

Possibly happening in real time... Century egg number three in a box of six. Ive had them before in congee and something Hunanese, but never just in whole eggs. For me, definitely more palatable with a spoonful of some sort of chilli, definitely more intriguing naked.