The New Yorker ran a piece called DOES ALL WINE TASTE THE SAME?. The obvious answer is, “No”. The actual answer is also “No”. So, how did Jonah Lehrer (“on science, imagination, and the mind”) manage to get more than 1,150 words out the question?
Jonah asks, “if most people can’t tell the difference between Château Mouton Rothschild (retail: seven hundred and twenty-five dollars) and Heritage BDX (thirty-five dollars from the winery), then why do we splurge on premiers crus? Why not drink (New)Jersey grapes instead? It seems like a clear waste of money.” Continue reading →
A review of the Thai restaurant: Siam House, 63A Goodramgate, YO1 7LS, England: Let’s start with the fact that there were no salads on the menu. At least I couldn’t find one.
A Thai restaurant with no Som Tam? Seriously? Yes indeed. So, we opted for the vegetarian mixed opener, which turned out to be deep-fried stuff with two tiny dipping sauces that I assume came from the local cornershop. Continue reading →
The Cock’s Head gastropub is located in Shoreditch and Camden and is the dreamchild of my good friends Josh and Oli who I met in Sydney for a few hours when they were exploring the world for flavours.
The Cock’s Head is a pant-shittingly awesome “Food Place” that Josh and Oli set up because they feel it’s totally the good thing to do in this time of Fairness.
It’s the talking place to eat. Predominantly about the NGM in which there is currently a furore taking place among journalists and podcasters who believe that the subjects from whom they make their money are getting rather uppity in this time of new media.
The Cock’s food provenance is seasonal, organic, fair-traded and localised. It’s cheffed by Josh and his team in a new twist on old school brigade cooking – expect guest chefs! OIi makes front of house seem easy with his laid-back but ATD style.
Check out the latest menu:
Starters
Slate Roasted Garbone of Drayton Bream Flakes with Aïoli & Lemon (£9)
My sort of ex-wife asked me and my sort-of-ex-sister-in-law and one of my best friends in Australia (not that I don’t like MSoEW or MSoESiL, they’re lovely) to produce a Culinary Journey based on something she’d read on the Sydney Morning Herald. She sent her’s.
It was a good one. So was MSoESiL’s. My very good friend was too busy with a new job. So, I decided to respond. It was fun. Both ExMissus and ExSisInLaw’s were also very readable. I’ll see if I can get permission to post them here.
So, here’s mine.
1) Two fried eggs, pepper, chips, vinegar, salt: my dad was a man of simple tastes.
2) Sunday lunch of roast lamb, Rosemary, homemade gravy, buttered crunchy cabbage, roast spuds in the lamb fat, minted peas: The only meal I remember us sitting down to as a family with radio comedy on.
3) Lasagne: From about 1973 when my mum got past the Cordon Bleu collect’n'keep card set and found lasagna pasta and basil. Introduction to herbs and tomato sauce made with… Tomato!
4) ‘Chicken Caribbean’: crunchy breaded (I made the breadcrumbs!) chicken in soy and pineapple juices. Followed by Bramley apple and a lump of cheddar. My introduction to mixing sweet and savoury.
5) Doner kebab: Working at Paddington in London after leaving home at 16 I discovered food from all over the world from the other people working at the nationalized railway. Just off Praed St was a Turkish guy and his brother who made fresh doners for a 75p. Amazing. Fresh salad and tabouli went in after the sliced lamb. Enormous and not murdered by chili sauce.
6) Lebanese messe (mezze): as a student with pals, we used to head to Queensway, the other side of London, for this £15 ( for five of us) messe, which changed each Sunday depending on what they had, you all know the kind thing.
7) Brick lane curries at midnight. Kashmiri mostly. Subtle and not made to blow your head off.
8) Dalston fresh bagels with cream cheese at 5am after a night in the clubs with my mate Jaz.
9) Schwartz Brothers blue cheese hamburger in Bath. Remembering my London times with my first McDonalds in London’s first McDonalds on The Strand, the first Schwartz I had was incredibly different. Texture and flavour!
10) Fried chicken, grits and okra from a cafe in Atlanta. Previous night, playing chess and drinking cocktails in the Sun Dial revolving restaurant with a guy called Mike Gamble before going to play pool and drink beer in a place where you had to check your guns at the door, the cafe chicken and grits was a superb breakfast.
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I didn’t get out of the 1980s. So, I think I’ll do another set of 10.
The New Yorker ran a piece called DOES ALL WINE TASTE THE SAME?. The obvious answer is, “No”. The actual answer is also “No”. So, how did Jonah Lehrer (“on science, imagination, and the mind”) manage to get more than 1,150 words out the question?
