Vegetarian Cuisine

Mother-in-law is a vegetarian* so obviously needs a separate meal when she joins us for Christmas.

This often involves a bit of experimentation on Louise’s part, so tonight our meal was the “try out” for m-i-l’s Christmas Day lunch.

It was an unusual recipe:  courgettes stuffed with ricotta and spinach and topped with pine nuts and roast breadcrumbs.   It was very nice but it needed a little "something extra" to bring out the full flavour.

Louise though a bit more cranberry juice.   I thought a lamb chop.

*  Eats fish.   Don't get me started.

Glass Houses, Stones, etc.

I was having a rant during my Birmingham Walk today (no, really?!) about the fact that it's now possible to buy stupidly basic things in supermarkets, such a mashed potato, grated cheese and - saints preserve us - ice cubes.

How embarrassed I am, therefore, to have come back to find that Louise is including in tonight's meal.......supermarket bought mashed potato with swede.

(Mind you I do love all root vegetables, the rest of what she's working on sounds delicious: chicken with feta.)

Spud - We - Like

Some of you will know that our garden, once an overgrown wilderness, has in the last couple of years been transformed if not exactly into something from Chelsea or Shrewsbury, at least into something neat and inhabitable. Our oft-mentioned "Beach Hut" has also meant that we've spent a lot more time outside than in and we've enjoyed every moment of it.

Not being very horticultural, though, one thing we don't have much of is.......soil. Which was fine by us until we started dabbling in growing potatoes. We invested in a couple, then three and then FIVE of those green polythene bags and some cheap seed potatoes and in no time at all the "patio" (Louise's word; I call it "the yard") resembled a mini-jungle.

Well in the last couple of months we've enjoyed a steady stream of spud which - while not always looking especially wonderful - have certainly tasted so.

This afternoon, we lifted the last of the crop which wasn't bad at all, so we'll have a few weeks of them yet.

Very exciting!

Morning Thoughts on Australian Politics

Ian: If we were in Victoria, instead of me freezing doing a walking tour of Lichfield today, we'd be voting today and enjoying a "Sausage Sizzle".

Louise: What's a "Sausage Sizzle"?

Ian: Apparently, it's a sort of sausage barbecue they have for people queueing to vote.

Louise: What a great idea. But what if you're vegetarian?

Ian: Don't be ridiculous. This is Australia we're talking about.

Democracy and the Sausage Sizzle

It’s Election Day in Australia today (Saturday).

Australia has spent 109 years throwing off the British Imperialism and has now developed sufficiently to give its voters a choice of a Welsh-born woman or a London-born man as Prime Minister.

More intriguingly, I’ve just discovered that queues to vote are apparently equipped with – and I’m not making this up – a “Sausage Sizzle”! Now if we could do that I’m sure it would to much to reduce British voter apathy. People would also probably not notice when the polling stations closed before they'd had a chance to vote.......

Cadbury's: Everyone's (apparently) a Fruit & Nut Case

A lot has been written in the last few days about Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury’s. Indeed, if I hear an American accent calling it “Cad – berry” once more I’ll not be responsible for my actions…….

It is truly the end of an era and all that. But people can wring their hands as much as they like. Cadbury’s shareholders were free to dispose of their shares as they liked…….so 71% of them did. Given the immediate offer of cash, I for one am impressed that as many as 29% of the shares were in the hands of people who still voted against it.

Of course you could argue that the UK should have rules that restrict this sort of hostile take-over. Remember, Cadbury’s wasn’t LDV or Rover. It wasn’t a “basket case”. It’s successful, not in need of investment or help and didn’t want to be taken over. But once you’re a plc in the UK you are very much prey to this sort of thing. When you stop and think about it, it’s like the lunatics running the asylum.

I’m petty sure that in the short term little will change. Indeed, if you work for Cadbury’s at Keynsham, you might think this is a Good Thing as Cadbury’s were planning to close that plant and Kraft have said they’ll keep it open. In the medium to long term, though, things might not look so good, in Keynsham or in Birmingham.

The problem with all this can be summed up in three words: Terry’s of York. Kraft have “form” when it comes to buying UK confectionery firms and then shipping production somewhere cheaper.

Cadbury’s brand is strong. The chocolate is the best in the world (as I was explaining to some Swiss visitors only last year…….) and evidently it’s a product “worth having”. Indeed, Kraft seem to have taken a big financial risk themselves to get their hands on Cadbury’s.

I don’t think they’ll do it soon. But I have a distinct feeling that in the medium to long term, things will be irresistibly different. My fear is that in ten years’ time Crème Eggs will come from Bratislava and the Bournville Village Trust will be worried that a giant IKEA is rising up overlooking the village green on the “Dairy Milk Enterprise Park”. If I’m wrong about this, no-one will be more pleased than me.

I think I’ll go and get some Dairy Milk now, while I can still do so without the guilt.

Incidentally, it’s worthwhile mentioning that none of this affects in any way the Garden Village of Bournville which, surprising to many, does not and never has belonged to Cadbury’s. George Cadbury set it up (with commendable foresight) as an independent charitable trust. Indeed, many of the things that are being bandied around as “special” at the moment pertain to the community of Bournville, rather than the factory.

Caffs

I've been meaning to do a piece for the Blog for ages about caffs.

Yes, I do mean "caffs", not "cafés". I mean what are sometimes unfairly called "greasy spoons". Twice lately I’ve found myself having really rather splendid English Breakfasts (something we English hardly ever have!) in two of them at opposite ends of the country and thought they deserved a plug here.

The first, nondescript looking place was in Manchester. It's called the "OK Café" (!) and it's at 77 Piccadilly, between the Station and Piccadilly Gardens. It's ordinary, friendly and very popular and served me a huge steaming hot bap (they call them "barms" in the North West, apparently!) and a mug of tea for les than a price of a Latte in.......well, you know where!

The second is the misleadingly-named Gino's Coffee Bar, directly opposite Marylebone Station in London, on the corner of Melcombe Place and Great Central Street. Full breakfast or just elevenses, just setting me up for a hard day in London!

English cooked breakfasts are always a bit of a challenge for me as I don't like eggs and finding something without is sometimes a bit hard. I used to get places refusing to serve them without an egg, "unless you pay for each other piece individually", which is much more expensive. This doesn't seem to happen now (last time was in a place called Hawthorn, in Australia in 2001, I think!)

I know we're supposed to have lighter things now, not some artery-clogging fatty fry-up. But since I hardly ever do so and life isn’t a rehearsal, I reason that it's a pleasure I can indulge occasionally and am happy to recommend the two said establishments here.

I wonder if there's anywhere comparable in Birmingham.......?

Cadbury's

So the news has broken this morning that Cadbury's board have apparently advised shareholders to accept Kraft's offer of 840p per share, which makes Cadbury's worth £11.5 billion.

Maybe I'd do the same if I was a shareholder. But you know what> Actually I don't think I would. I regret us selling everything off and whatever promises are made in the medium term, the company's presence at Bournville will change eventually, I'm sure.

Our city is littered with take-overs that were supposed to have no effect. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Rover and LDV. Beyond I give you BSR in the Black Country and Terry's of York. And who bought the latter and moved production overseas? Oh yes, it was Kraft.

I don't think for a minute that Cadbury's will "close down" the Bournville works; but I suspect that things (ie jobs) will just "trickle away" over time.

We are sleepwalking into our own destruction I sometimes think.

Still, at least it'll be an excuse not to eat chocolate anymore!

Italian Restaurant With a Difference

We had a very pleasant meal tonight at one of our favourite local restaurants, "Casa Italia" on Hagley Road in Bearwood.

We normally head there when we have something to celebrate but tonight just felt like it for particular reason. Once we'd dodged the torrential downpour on the way from the car park and walked past the once notorious Cuddles massage parlour (!) there was as usual a delightful meal waiting for us.

Although Italian, we don't enjoy pizza or pasta when we go there. Rather they do the best steaks either of us have ever tasted. Their profiteroles are pretty amazing, too, although we didn't stretch to a third course tonight as we're trying to eat less than our own body weight at meal times these days. We're thinking of going there for New Year's Eve, though. If you're in or near Brum, this is somewhere definitely worth trying out.

http://www.casa-vabene.co.uk/

http://www.expressandstar.com/2006/10/28/casa-italia-bearwood/

Britain and the Hospitality Industry

What is it about service in Britain that’s so difficult?

After I finished a walking tour in Glastonbury yesterday some of us (twelve initially) headed into a pub for a drink and a bite to eat.

Now admittedly the manageress (?) on seeing so many of us said that we could sit in the (empty) restaurant and order from the bar menu. Great; nice gesture. But once it became apparent that we wanted to pay separately (uh, yeah?) we suddenly seemed to become A Problem.

Things were compounded when four other people from the tour spotted us and came in to join us. Suddenly we were somewhat accusingly told that we were “more than twelve”.

Then we were told that we needed to order food via her (“because the kitchen wouldn’t be able to cope”). Even drinks had to be ordered via her (“because the bar wouldn’t be able to cope”; what kind of bar is this?! We could then only pay at the bar if she was herself in attendance (“as the bar wouldn’t understand what we were paying for”).

Yes, okay, suddenly there were a lot of people all wanting to order. But you know what? No-one else seemed to be eating in this place at all. The alternative is that no-one comes in. Hey, wouldn’t that be better eh? Service provision is so much easier if there are no customers.

I’ve seen this in quite a few places when handling groups, even quite “informal” ones. Turn up in Australia or Germany under these circumstances and people Work Out a Way of Doing It. Turn up in Britain (or France, actually) and suddenly you’re a nuisance.

From Dinosaurs to Cafe Rouge

We’ve been to see “Walking With Dinosaurs” at the NIA tonight.

It was Louise’s birthday treat and to be honest I didn’t think it was really my sort of thing. Obviously, I’m often accused of being a dinosaur but that’s not quite the same as empathising with them.

However, I’ve come back in and started typing this almost straight away because I was so impressed with it. You spent a whole chunk of the performance trying to work out “how they did it”; but it was also an entertaining wander “through the ages” (literally, of course). And it was good to see something which attracted such a wide range of ages. In a country where people tend not to socialise between the generations, this really stood out.

If I’m going to be grumpy (moi?!) it was being asked to pay an extra £1.50 at the merchandise stall for using a debit card (a debit card, mind you, not a credit card). That aside, though, if you get the chance, go along (it’s on until 16 August 2009).

Incidentally, beforehand we ended up eating at Café Rouge. Normally, with their faux-French over-translated signs, I tend to dismiss this particular chain as being about as French as Morris Dancing. However, I was pretty impressed with our experience there too, tonight, especially as they had merguez on the menu. (That’s a spicy North African sausage normally only found in ethnic fast food stalls in bits of Paris where even the pissoir has an armed guard.) The coffee was pretty brilliant, too.

All in all…….a Good Evening.

I Only Want a Coffee!

I tried to “simply” order a coffee in Oxford while waiting for my group yesterday morning. Goodness this is hard these days, isn’t it?

Would I like an Espresso, an Americano, a Latté, a Cappuccino, a Mocha, a Macchiato or a Caramel-latté?

Would I like that decaf?

Extras shot?

Sugar? What sort of sugar?

Would I like skinny milk? Or Organic? What about Fairtrade or Soya, then?

Now, would I like a muffin with that?

Or a waffle?

Or a “Bilberry Special”, which is fresh? (Is the other stuff all stale or something?)

Biscotti?

Sandwich?

Next week’s lottery numbers? A run down on the five orders of classical architecture? Key to nuclear fission? Free return ticket to Vancouver?

I knew there was a reason I like tea!