Chicken in China
Wednesday, 7. May 2008, 16:21:32
I spent a few days in Beijing recently. Interesting place...
Posts tagged with "food"
MMMM, Pan de frutas
Sunday, 24. February 2008, 14:33:06
Hice un pan de frutas ayer. De vez en cuando hago pan pero este era lo mejor de que me acuerdo.
Mas o menos es como se llama - un pan hecho con frutas. La "receta" (no estoy muy de recetas) salió asi:
Harina integral, (1/4 kilo ?)
Un poquito de sal.
algunas (7?) cucharitas de azucar y miel
levadura
agua y leche 50%/50%
La mitad de una manzana, un puñado de orejones de alboricoque y uno de pasas de uva - todos cortado en trozos pequenos (tamaño un garbanzo pequeño o por alli)
Ops! Olvidé - agregué un puñado de almendras cortado bastante fino.
Lo dejé a levantar (se dice asi?) 8 horas (porque salí, no de proposito) en una sola vez, y puse en el horno medio hasta parecia hecho. Pues lo comí 15 horas mas tarde, tal cual y tostado con mantequilla.
y MMMMMMMMMMM
Mas o menos es como se llama - un pan hecho con frutas. La "receta" (no estoy muy de recetas) salió asi:
Harina integral, (1/4 kilo ?)
Un poquito de sal.
algunas (7?) cucharitas de azucar y miel
levadura
agua y leche 50%/50%
La mitad de una manzana, un puñado de orejones de alboricoque y uno de pasas de uva - todos cortado en trozos pequenos (tamaño un garbanzo pequeño o por alli)
Ops! Olvidé - agregué un puñado de almendras cortado bastante fino.
Lo dejé a levantar (se dice asi?) 8 horas (porque salí, no de proposito) en una sola vez, y puse en el horno medio hasta parecia hecho. Pues lo comí 15 horas mas tarde, tal cual y tostado con mantequilla.
y MMMMMMMMMMM
Buying food...
Thursday, 21. February 2008, 12:10:30
Some American guy is making money by selling the following message.
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants".
Scarily, this really is a radical idea. But a good one.
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants".
Scarily, this really is a radical idea. But a good one.
The Salmon Moose?
Monday, 25. June 2007, 23:10:22
I was sick. And I didn't eat the Salmon mousse. Nor any kind of moose or mouse as far as I know. I did make some soup...
Food science...
Sunday, 17. June 2007, 23:52:26
Norway is one of the few country that still kills whales. Allegedly, I believe it is still for research. In practice, it seems that it is for food.
I am not convinced that whaling is intrinsically evil (any more than eating cows or calamari, at least). I do believe that we need to be careful of the environment, but I do eat meat and I find it hard to figure out the basic difference between eating different animals (except that some don't taste good), as opposed to differences based on the effective management of resources to minimise the damage to "the environment" - particular species, and particular ecosystems.
But there are not a lot of whale recipes about. There isn't that much whalemeat about, either - I have seen it in the supermarket, and in the odd restaurant. But a book of whale recipes doesn't seem to be the thing that people give you when you turn up in Norway. I know people eat it, but they seem a little shy about it - a little like not owning up to smoking until you are sure that people will not ostracise you.
So, how do you cook a whale? It's red meat, but that is about as much as I really know. I was pondering the idea of a whale cake (based on the marginally less scary idea of a meat cake).The best idea I have at the moment (with input from Claudio and Eira) is to make a cake shell with 50/50 almond meal and flour, and then put maybe some parsnip mash, some quince paste (dulce de membrillo), and sour cream.
Or maybe it isn't the best idea. Anyone got a suggestion? You don't have to actually eat a whale, just think about food...
I am not convinced that whaling is intrinsically evil (any more than eating cows or calamari, at least). I do believe that we need to be careful of the environment, but I do eat meat and I find it hard to figure out the basic difference between eating different animals (except that some don't taste good), as opposed to differences based on the effective management of resources to minimise the damage to "the environment" - particular species, and particular ecosystems.
But there are not a lot of whale recipes about. There isn't that much whalemeat about, either - I have seen it in the supermarket, and in the odd restaurant. But a book of whale recipes doesn't seem to be the thing that people give you when you turn up in Norway. I know people eat it, but they seem a little shy about it - a little like not owning up to smoking until you are sure that people will not ostracise you.
So, how do you cook a whale? It's red meat, but that is about as much as I really know. I was pondering the idea of a whale cake (based on the marginally less scary idea of a meat cake).The best idea I have at the moment (with input from Claudio and Eira) is to make a cake shell with 50/50 almond meal and flour, and then put maybe some parsnip mash, some quince paste (dulce de membrillo), and sour cream.
Or maybe it isn't the best idea. Anyone got a suggestion? You don't have to actually eat a whale, just think about food...
Strawberry cheese?
Friday, 13. April 2007, 20:13:16
I have eaten strawberry cheesecake. But today I met something new to me at breakfast...
I used to live here once
Friday, 16. February 2007, 03:43:12
It has been a long time since I have really lived in Australia, although I visit it a number of times a year and feel comfortable there.
Some thoughts, from my old dining table
Some thoughts, from my old dining table
Joy in Japan (and beyond)
Sunday, 3. December 2006, 09:07:08
A few good things happened in Japan. A few more in Australia...
McDo!
Monday, 27. November 2006, 21:45:00
I am in Japan, where life is slightly different, in ways that are generally good but sometimes surprising...
Summer in Oslo
Friday, 14. July 2006, 04:44:45
There is a song that gets stuck in my head from time to time (even when I haven't been to Ireland) called "Summer in Dublin". The bit I remember of it (and so the bit that plays on endless loop for an hour or three) is
Apparently it is by Liam Reilly and Bagatelle, and was a huge hit in 1980. I learned it from the Irish Hooligans (also called the Hooligang and some other stuff, a band set up by Ben Flood and friends in Melbourne in the mid to late 90s)
It is summer in Oslo. The nights are short, and not really night - a sort of dark twilight that goes away again. The parks and beaches are filled with people and engangsgriller (one-time barbecues), being used to cook the inevitable grillpølser (barbecue sausages).
(I would post a photo of one, but it seems to have been eaten by a flaky blog system I used to use)
Although it is technically illegal to drink in public in Norway, there are often people enjoying a quiet beer or wine with their barbecue.
People go out at night, although it means they leave a bar as the day is coming, or before it gets "dark". The streets are full of people. The women generally dress up in Oslo. The boys don't, so much - and I don't in apparent male solidarity or something.
It's something I never quite got the hang of. I can dress up for real in a nice suit and tie, and brush my hair and clean my nails and look perfectly presentable. It is when people dress nicely but not really formally that I am often left feeling either overdressed or underdressed. Admittedly summer isn't the right weather for me to get it right - sitting around quietly in shirtsleeves my melting point is probably not far above 20˚. Besides, by nature I tend to be very casual about appearance. Or is it that I just do that to cover the uneasy feeling I get that I will somehow manage to look a little out of place?
But if I can't get the hang of the clothing thing, I can take my guitar to the park and play it. I've never seriously done that before before this summer. I realise, too, that I still have quite a way to go before people actually ask me to play (although now some especially polite people don't ask me to stop, which is something
). And yet it is a pleasure that I have never really known before, to play music for people. As my singing improves ever so slowly, even that becomes more fun and less tinged with fear. (At least for me, since I am always optimistic about how the next song will turn out. I guess the audience might have a different perspective...)
I'm still more likely to impress them by cooking, and that is something that makes me happy. I am not a big fan of the engangsgrill staple sausages, ketchup, mustard, and airy bread (although I don't mind lømper). So I managed to cook some pretty decent food on the engangsgrill, and discovered that it is even possible to make an espresso, albeit with a lot of effort and "encouragement". I suspect I still have a way to go before I am a master of the little tinfoil tray of charcoal (and a small bellows would be handy on occasion). So maybe by the time I am 40 I will be able to make a presentable effort of offering people a decent grill with music.
It's a nice little dream, anyway. Little enough to be allowed out to play, even.
If you've got any tips, let fly. (Same with fashion hints, although I still like my orange shirt and will probably still wear it from time to time). Otherwise, come join me on a summer evening or two when I am there. It's still nice out...
[For those of you who were looking for the sex in here, it's my tag and it's for things where I note that there are differences between boys and girls...]
I remember that summer in Dublin
The Liffey how it stank like hell
The young people walking down Grafton street
and everyone looking so well
I was singing a song I heard somewhere
called Rock 'n Roll never forgets
When my humming was smothered by the 46A
And the scream of a low-flying jet
So I jumped on a bus to Dun Laoghaire
Stopping off to pick up my guitar
When a drunk on the bus told me how to get rich
I was glad we weren't going too far
Apparently it is by Liam Reilly and Bagatelle, and was a huge hit in 1980. I learned it from the Irish Hooligans (also called the Hooligang and some other stuff, a band set up by Ben Flood and friends in Melbourne in the mid to late 90s)
It is summer in Oslo. The nights are short, and not really night - a sort of dark twilight that goes away again. The parks and beaches are filled with people and engangsgriller (one-time barbecues), being used to cook the inevitable grillpølser (barbecue sausages).
(I would post a photo of one, but it seems to have been eaten by a flaky blog system I used to use)
Although it is technically illegal to drink in public in Norway, there are often people enjoying a quiet beer or wine with their barbecue.
People go out at night, although it means they leave a bar as the day is coming, or before it gets "dark". The streets are full of people. The women generally dress up in Oslo. The boys don't, so much - and I don't in apparent male solidarity or something.
It's something I never quite got the hang of. I can dress up for real in a nice suit and tie, and brush my hair and clean my nails and look perfectly presentable. It is when people dress nicely but not really formally that I am often left feeling either overdressed or underdressed. Admittedly summer isn't the right weather for me to get it right - sitting around quietly in shirtsleeves my melting point is probably not far above 20˚. Besides, by nature I tend to be very casual about appearance. Or is it that I just do that to cover the uneasy feeling I get that I will somehow manage to look a little out of place?
But if I can't get the hang of the clothing thing, I can take my guitar to the park and play it. I've never seriously done that before before this summer. I realise, too, that I still have quite a way to go before people actually ask me to play (although now some especially polite people don't ask me to stop, which is something
). And yet it is a pleasure that I have never really known before, to play music for people. As my singing improves ever so slowly, even that becomes more fun and less tinged with fear. (At least for me, since I am always optimistic about how the next song will turn out. I guess the audience might have a different perspective...)I'm still more likely to impress them by cooking, and that is something that makes me happy. I am not a big fan of the engangsgrill staple sausages, ketchup, mustard, and airy bread (although I don't mind lømper). So I managed to cook some pretty decent food on the engangsgrill, and discovered that it is even possible to make an espresso, albeit with a lot of effort and "encouragement". I suspect I still have a way to go before I am a master of the little tinfoil tray of charcoal (and a small bellows would be handy on occasion). So maybe by the time I am 40 I will be able to make a presentable effort of offering people a decent grill with music.
It's a nice little dream, anyway. Little enough to be allowed out to play, even.
If you've got any tips, let fly. (Same with fashion hints, although I still like my orange shirt and will probably still wear it from time to time). Otherwise, come join me on a summer evening or two when I am there. It's still nice out...
[For those of you who were looking for the sex in here, it's my tag and it's for things where I note that there are differences between boys and girls...]
Membrillo
Sunday, 18. June 2006, 16:10:07
I was going to write this in spanish (membrillo is spanish for quince) but there were too many words I didn't know. Besides, spanish people probably know how to do this.
Quince paste is tasty stuff. Eat it on toast, by itself, with cheese (that's how the fancy restaurants serve it) or cook lamb with it (that's why I figured out how to make it).
Get quinces, lemons, honey, and some spices if you like (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, that kind of thing).
Wash the fuzz off the quinces. Chop them into chunks (don't worry about peeling and coring them, just chop away) and the lemons into pieces, put them in enough water to just cover them (if you use cinnamon sticks or whole cloves put them in now too), and cook them until they are really soft - gently now, maybe an hour or so.
Then you strain them through a sieve, a bit at a time. Basically you want all the nice soft bits that will go through with only a little convincing, and not all the had lumpy bits like cloves, pips, etc. This takes a while. And by now everything is sticky.
When you have strained it all, add about as much honey as you have mush. Now cook all this - once it starts to boil, it will stick to the bottom. You don't want that, so stir it. This bit takes ages (an hour or so if you go nice and slowly).
Eventually you get something that is pretty stiff - when you scrape it off the bottom it takes seconds to ooze back into place. This is REALLY sticky.
Put it in a container - I used plastic take-away food containers and a little bucket with a lid. I guess anything will do - and let it sit for about a day so it cools and goes solid slowly.
Eat. Yum.
Quince paste is tasty stuff. Eat it on toast, by itself, with cheese (that's how the fancy restaurants serve it) or cook lamb with it (that's why I figured out how to make it).
Get quinces, lemons, honey, and some spices if you like (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, that kind of thing).
Wash the fuzz off the quinces. Chop them into chunks (don't worry about peeling and coring them, just chop away) and the lemons into pieces, put them in enough water to just cover them (if you use cinnamon sticks or whole cloves put them in now too), and cook them until they are really soft - gently now, maybe an hour or so.
Then you strain them through a sieve, a bit at a time. Basically you want all the nice soft bits that will go through with only a little convincing, and not all the had lumpy bits like cloves, pips, etc. This takes a while. And by now everything is sticky.
When you have strained it all, add about as much honey as you have mush. Now cook all this - once it starts to boil, it will stick to the bottom. You don't want that, so stir it. This bit takes ages (an hour or so if you go nice and slowly).
Eventually you get something that is pretty stiff - when you scrape it off the bottom it takes seconds to ooze back into place. This is REALLY sticky.
Put it in a container - I used plastic take-away food containers and a little bucket with a lid. I guess anything will do - and let it sit for about a day so it cools and goes solid slowly.
Eat. Yum.
Babette l'artiste
Wednesday, 3. May 2006, 18:13:11
J'ai lu mon premier livre en norvegien il y a une semaine - "Babette's Gjestebud". Je l'avais vu, il y a des années (en anglais, "Babette's feast") et bien apprecié. Donc ce n'est pas vraiment une surprise que j'ai aimé aussi le livre.
C'est l'histoire d'un diner (evidemment, vu le titre), des gens religieuses d'une tradition puritanique, et d'une artiste de la cuisine qui, quoique soient ses idées politiques, doit créer de l'art pour cuex qui vont l'apprecier. C'est aussi l'histoire des gens qui osent ou n'osent pas suivre leurs rêves.
Le style et lent, ou plutôt quiet, subtile - plus n'est pas dit, ce qui est aussi le style de la plupart des protagonistes. Je n'ai pas tout compris, mais j'ai assez appris en lisant, pour bien suivre ce qui se passait par les pages.
En gros, ce m'a bien convenu. Je ne suis jamais toute les mots d'une conversation dans n'importe quelle langue, mais si je m'y interesse je suis normalement assez bien. Et quand on discute la cuisine, je m'y interesse - bien plus quand c'est l'art de la cuisine, le desir de cuisiner pour des gens.
Parce qu'enfin une de mes passions dans la vie, c'est cuisiner pour les gens. Que ce soit pour une personne, ou une centaine, c'est vraiment quelque chose que me motive, m'inspire, me donne la sensation de creation que je n'arrive pas à faire quand je chante, ou essaye de jouer la guitare. C'est comme écrire, mais je crois que je cuisine mieux, et c'est plus concret car je vois les gens manger, apprecier (ou parfois ne pas apprecier
) le repas. Et manger donne un plaisir physique aux gens. Lire est plutôt spirituel, emotionel, ou intellectuel (bien que ça aussi est important).
C'est l'histoire d'un diner (evidemment, vu le titre), des gens religieuses d'une tradition puritanique, et d'une artiste de la cuisine qui, quoique soient ses idées politiques, doit créer de l'art pour cuex qui vont l'apprecier. C'est aussi l'histoire des gens qui osent ou n'osent pas suivre leurs rêves.
Le style et lent, ou plutôt quiet, subtile - plus n'est pas dit, ce qui est aussi le style de la plupart des protagonistes. Je n'ai pas tout compris, mais j'ai assez appris en lisant, pour bien suivre ce qui se passait par les pages.
En gros, ce m'a bien convenu. Je ne suis jamais toute les mots d'une conversation dans n'importe quelle langue, mais si je m'y interesse je suis normalement assez bien. Et quand on discute la cuisine, je m'y interesse - bien plus quand c'est l'art de la cuisine, le desir de cuisiner pour des gens.
Parce qu'enfin une de mes passions dans la vie, c'est cuisiner pour les gens. Que ce soit pour une personne, ou une centaine, c'est vraiment quelque chose que me motive, m'inspire, me donne la sensation de creation que je n'arrive pas à faire quand je chante, ou essaye de jouer la guitare. C'est comme écrire, mais je crois que je cuisine mieux, et c'est plus concret car je vois les gens manger, apprecier (ou parfois ne pas apprecier
) le repas. Et manger donne un plaisir physique aux gens. Lire est plutôt spirituel, emotionel, ou intellectuel (bien que ça aussi est important).Long lunch III
Sunday, 2. April 2006, 17:44:31
Ah, the day after. The first Saturday long lunch is over. Not the largest, but certainly the longest. Also the slowest to get moving, but in some ways the most smoothly running. And lots of fun - the real reason behind it.
Long lunch, for those who haven't been hanging on my every word the last few years, is a fairly simple idea. People come for lunch (any time after noon) on a given day. They are, however, expected t ocontribute. More particularly, everyone is meant to prepare something, at the event, during the day. This is one of the reasons it can go a long time - the latest anyone ahs turned up is 11pm, the latest anyone has cooked was 1am, and the latest it has gone on is until about 7am the next day. With anything up to about 20 people taking part over the day, there is quite a lot of food. So the secret seems to be cooking just enough to snack on. Timing is also important. And making something that can be finished off the next day, or freeze and finish next week isn't a bad idea either.
Special notes from this time:
First pizza - Magne and Heidi made a big pizza, covered in meat and tomatoes and mushrooms and goodness. Mmmmmmmm, pizza.
Fast Eddy award - Eddy made something quick and simple. First in, last out, but his preparation time has gone to the sublime (minutes) from the ridiculous (well, the idea of long lunch means that sitting around talking to people while preparing one dish for six hours is not as ridiculous as it might otherwise seem).
Sadly missed: Everyone who didn't come sadly missed out. But Chiara, where were you?? We missed you Please come next time...
Nice to see you: Anna, who has been to every long lunch, thanks for taking a break from an horrendous working schedule. And thanks for a great salad. The right thing at the right time
Best left-overs: Krip's last few pakoras were looking good for this, except that I ate them later in the night, along with Kenneth and Inge's carrots and zucchini. Beer in the fridge is a strong contender, but I think Markus' curry sneaks ahead even if it is vegetarian
. (Although they go well together Mmmmmm)
Hey, that's my recipe!: Joen has now become not just the chocolate-cakemeister, but turns out a superb apple crumble. And then asks me what I think could be improved! ...
Well, it's a bit small... if we had a bigger baking dish...
I made one loaf of bread, some hommous and tzatziki. So I guess that was enough to qualify. I had planned to cook duck, but I hadn't figured out how. By the time I got around to thinking about it, it was pretty clear that nobody was going to be able to eat anything more. Maybe next time I will try to do more, and more fancy, bread.
Anyway, we'll see what happens when the next time comes around. Until then, thanks to everyone who came, made it another great day and night, I'll try to return left-behind cutlery, mixing bowls, etc, and I hope we'll see you next time.
Long lunch, for those who haven't been hanging on my every word the last few years, is a fairly simple idea. People come for lunch (any time after noon) on a given day. They are, however, expected t ocontribute. More particularly, everyone is meant to prepare something, at the event, during the day. This is one of the reasons it can go a long time - the latest anyone ahs turned up is 11pm, the latest anyone has cooked was 1am, and the latest it has gone on is until about 7am the next day. With anything up to about 20 people taking part over the day, there is quite a lot of food. So the secret seems to be cooking just enough to snack on. Timing is also important. And making something that can be finished off the next day, or freeze and finish next week isn't a bad idea either.
Special notes from this time:
First pizza - Magne and Heidi made a big pizza, covered in meat and tomatoes and mushrooms and goodness. Mmmmmmmm, pizza.
Fast Eddy award - Eddy made something quick and simple. First in, last out, but his preparation time has gone to the sublime (minutes) from the ridiculous (well, the idea of long lunch means that sitting around talking to people while preparing one dish for six hours is not as ridiculous as it might otherwise seem).
Sadly missed: Everyone who didn't come sadly missed out. But Chiara, where were you?? We missed you
Please come next time...Nice to see you: Anna, who has been to every long lunch, thanks for taking a break from an horrendous working schedule. And thanks for a great salad. The right thing at the right time
Best left-overs: Krip's last few pakoras were looking good for this, except that I ate them later in the night, along with Kenneth and Inge's carrots and zucchini. Beer in the fridge is a strong contender, but I think Markus' curry sneaks ahead even if it is vegetarian
. (Although they go well together Mmmmmm)Hey, that's my recipe!: Joen has now become not just the chocolate-cakemeister, but turns out a superb apple crumble. And then asks me what I think could be improved! ...
Well, it's a bit small... if we had a bigger baking dish...I made one loaf of bread, some hommous and tzatziki. So I guess that was enough to qualify. I had planned to cook duck, but I hadn't figured out how. By the time I got around to thinking about it, it was pretty clear that nobody was going to be able to eat anything more. Maybe next time I will try to do more, and more fancy, bread.
Anyway, we'll see what happens when the next time comes around. Until then, thanks to everyone who came, made it another great day and night, I'll try to return left-behind cutlery, mixing bowls, etc, and I hope we'll see you next time.
Sunrise@home
Thursday, 9. March 2006, 10:51:12
Well, I am not at home. Annd I didn't see the sunrise - when it did I was in a train, head buried in paperwork, and no view of the sky out the windows. I like the sunrise - I am not a morning person, but I love to watch it happen, even indirectly seeing the colours in the sky. I used to work for Sunrise, in the lands of the Laynha, or Sunrise, people.I'm in the land of the rising sun, the vending machine, and the occasionally serious but somewhat idiosyncratic attempt to borrow some supposed european glamour for things that don't really have it. One of the nice things about Japan, when walking around in the small hours of a winter morning, is vending machines that sell hot drinks - mostly green tea and various varieties of coffee. Actually it is nice whenever it's cold, and Japan has proper winters still.
Hot black coffee, milky coffee, coffee that probably has no milk or coffee in it but is the right colour, and various types of green tea ranging from the pale-and-wan compared to water to the bite-your-throat all the way. This of course goes with all kinds of cold drinks. (But, contrary to what I have been told, I have never seen an underwear vending machine of any kind - the closest I have found is normal mens underwear, packaged to within an inch of its life, in 7-eleven, which is called 7-i here now).
But french milk tea? Hey folks, I think that's not quite right. I know french people who make, and like, tea. I know it can be done in france. But it does seems just a little odd. French leave, French food, French fries, there are various things associated with the word (if not actually with the place).
Tea just ain't one...
But hey, it's possible very nice. Anyway, here's cheers
Al-Hafla
Sunday, 5. March 2006, 11:54:16
Al-Hafla was the celebration of peace. Nominally, it was when the normans, the hospitallers, the people of antioch, the byzantines and various others came together in Kyneton for a small dinner (only about 60 people) cooked in roughly the style of antioch of 1100 or so.
It was the feast that dafinn had wanted to see, had encouraged, finaly brought to fruition. It was a passing of batons, a revival of an idea, an acknowledgement of what life means.
It was also a good feed, a fun weekend, a chance for a chinwag and catching up. And it was a success.
Fathma Nachiar was the real push behind it. Many people help, but it always takes someone to plant the seed and say "right, we water it or it dies", rather than wondering "what if...".
Music from LeMal, belly-dancing first from Maggie and then from almost everyone (yes, among other things I can be convinced to do it), food from MsHelle, me, Heather, and Fathma, recipes from other times and other places, venue from Rosie, logistics from Josh, big help from Ants, Georgi, Tommy, Wok and Linc, and pitching in from others around made a great weekend in the Australian bush able to bring out the magic that medievalling can provide.
One new recipe that I will do again, but differently. Basically fish cakes - cook the fish and spices, then bind it with egg, add more spices, and fry off again. Delicious, but picking bones out of a zillion pieces of fish to make fishcakes isn't my idea of fun.
It was the feast that dafinn had wanted to see, had encouraged, finaly brought to fruition. It was a passing of batons, a revival of an idea, an acknowledgement of what life means.
It was also a good feed, a fun weekend, a chance for a chinwag and catching up. And it was a success.
Fathma Nachiar was the real push behind it. Many people help, but it always takes someone to plant the seed and say "right, we water it or it dies", rather than wondering "what if...".
Music from LeMal, belly-dancing first from Maggie and then from almost everyone (yes, among other things I can be convinced to do it), food from MsHelle, me, Heather, and Fathma, recipes from other times and other places, venue from Rosie, logistics from Josh, big help from Ants, Georgi, Tommy, Wok and Linc, and pitching in from others around made a great weekend in the Australian bush able to bring out the magic that medievalling can provide.
One new recipe that I will do again, but differently. Basically fish cakes - cook the fish and spices, then bind it with egg, add more spices, and fry off again. Delicious, but picking bones out of a zillion pieces of fish to make fishcakes isn't my idea of fun.
Monday's meme
Monday, 30. January 2006, 06:29:11
OK, Ben tagged me. So, the four things thing...
Sorry folks. I really don't visit any site daily. Some days I don't even pick up my computer. Google would be closest though.
If two of these people keep the meme alive I would be surprised. But I am not really a compulsive blogger anyway. But hey, here it is.
Make of it what you will. I tend not to like doing these actually. I avoid doing Myers-Briggs thingos and the like. I think it is because I don't like describing myself in terms that are prescribed by others based on assumptions that
Four jobs I've had
- Sculpture Restoration. Queen Victoria monument, Melbourne
- Cleaner. Prahran Swimming Pool, among other places.
- Performer. Reciting poetry in the middle of the bush, and other oddities
- Ski Instructor. I was helping out in a ski shop in exchange for gear and lessons, and did my instructor's ticket. I think only once did I help give a "real" (paid) ski lesson. Lucky the real instructor was there, I guess, since people were paying for it
Four movies I can watch over and over
- Harold and Maude
- The Princess Bride
- The Negotiator. (I was surprised by this one. I have watched it in planes, hotels, etc and can watch it again. Although I never went to the cinema to see it, and can't imagine doing so).
- Blade Runner
Four places I have lived
- Footscray, in the west of Melbourne
- Juan-les-Pins, in the south of France
- Oslo, Norway
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Four television shows I love to watch
- Cricket.
- Dunno, I am not much of a TV watcher really. I don't have one, so don't complusively watch much if anything.
- Whatever is playing. I do have a problem with being distracted by TV if it is on. Although I don't really love it.
- 4 Corners.
Four places I have been on vacation
- New Zealand
- Whitsunday Islands
- Mt. Hotham
- Paris
Four of my favourite dishes
- Roast Lamb. And lots of stuff with it.
- Sashimi.
- Meat Pie.
- Goỉ Gà. (I don't recall if that is the right spelling sorry).
Four websites I visit daily
Sorry folks. I really don't visit any site daily. Some days I don't even pick up my computer. Google would be closest though.
Four places I would rather be right now
- Melbourne, hanging out with friends and family.
- Antarctica.
- In a kitchen.
- In a nice quiet green park, where it isn't too cold.
Four bloggers I am tagging
If two of these people keep the meme alive I would be surprised. But I am not really a compulsive blogger anyway. But hey, here it is.
Make of it what you will. I tend not to like doing these actually. I avoid doing Myers-Briggs thingos and the like. I think it is because I don't like describing myself in terms that are prescribed by others based on assumptions that
Julbord i Oslo
Sunday, 25. December 2005, 06:18:38
Christmas dinner here is Christmas eve. There are a handful of expats in Oslo who aren't at home, so Opera offered us Christmas dinner, and we decided to have it at my house. Yum.
Normally on the winter solstice I do a medieval dinner, but it was delayed a couple of days to be the Julbord this time. Roast lamb, roast stuffed chicken, mashed parsnips, leeks in cider, mushroooms, asparagus (well, it wouldn't have been in season but I was freestyling it a bit
), carrots, baked apples, and a few odds and ends. Lots of vegetarians or non-red-meat-eaters, so the lamb didn't have a lot of competition to get some. (We still ate almost all of it though ) And a request for not too spicy, not too much dairy, medieval (ok, -ish) food was a good choice. And then I fell asleep on the couch, which is why I am writing at 7am...
Some open sauce food:
Parsnips that are yummy:
Carrots:
Chicken stuffing:
Thanks Opera, thanks everyone for coming and helping decorate and clean up. It's already almost all cleaned away, leftovers in the fridge. Just a few glasses and empty bottles, and shaking out the tablecloth left to do. Hopefully Huib's photos come out OK and I can link to them later.
God Jul everyone.
Normally on the winter solstice I do a medieval dinner, but it was delayed a couple of days to be the Julbord this time. Roast lamb, roast stuffed chicken, mashed parsnips, leeks in cider, mushroooms, asparagus (well, it wouldn't have been in season but I was freestyling it a bit
), carrots, baked apples, and a few odds and ends. Lots of vegetarians or non-red-meat-eaters, so the lamb didn't have a lot of competition to get some. (We still ate almost all of it though ) And a request for not too spicy, not too much dairy, medieval (ok, -ish) food was a good choice. And then I fell asleep on the couch, which is why I am writing at 7am...Some open sauce food:
Parsnips that are yummy:
Get a turnip and half a dozen parsnips. Peel and chop them up, boil them until they are soft. Then drain them, add lots of butter (about 100g) some cream (I used about 200ml), and ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and cloves. Mash them (I add a bit of cream at a time while mashing them).
Carrots:
The original recipe is known in Australia as Jazzy carrots, or al-jazr (which is arabic for carrot). I think it comes from Persia. It is basically carrots cooked with vinegar and caraway seeds. I did mine in the oven as an experiment, and added a good slop of olive oil. Turn them round a few times, cooking in a medium-slow oven for an hour or so.
Chicken stuffing:
Peel and chop an apple and an onion very fine. Add cinnamon, oregano, a little honey, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pepper, and breadcrumbs. I probably should have added a bit of verjuice too.
Thanks Opera, thanks everyone for coming and helping decorate and clean up. It's already almost all cleaned away, leftovers in the fridge. Just a few glasses and empty bottles, and shaking out the tablecloth left to do. Hopefully Huib's photos come out OK and I can link to them later.
God Jul everyone.
Eat well...
Monday, 24. October 2005, 01:49:42
We're lucky in Norway. We complain about the price of rent, food, beer, a tram ticket. It's true, they are more expensive, and more expensive relative to a salary, than anywhere I have lived. But I'm not starving.
Today, I am full. Well-fed, happy, content. We had a Long Lunch, and everyone who was here (about 20 people over the course of the day) made something. A couple of things with neither recipe nor name, Bread, Cakes, Couscous, Custard, Fruit Salad, Pasta, Quiche, some Polish pancakes and Swiss potato and meat dish and Swedish sausage dish whose names I don't know (but I have a rough idea what went in them, and I'm keen to try making them myself), Soup, Stew, Stuffed cucumbers, Thai red duck curry, Tzatziki. Some people followed a new recipe, some did things they have cooked before, some just put ingredients together and came out with something. And surprisingly, 20 people all managed to do something great.
The kitchen was a madhouse for 9 or 10 hours. The living room was filled with people eating, and the supply of plates, glasses, cutlery was pretty heavily pressed. We did a lot of washing up during the day, we had some wine and a few beers, we filled the freezer with leftovers and ourselves with food.
It's all an excuse. Much as I love eating, and cooking, and a glass of wine, what made the day was the people.
The Opera folks who came to spend a precious day off work hanging around with the same people, and feeding them. It's nice to work with people like that.
The people who don't work at Opera, spending time around a bunch of geeks who work on the same thing and often end up talking about it, or even working on it, at home. It's great to actually meet nice people who will come and play a crazy game like this, a gathering of friends and strangers together. It's what makes life something more than a bunch of expatriates filling in another weekend in a strange country.
It's great to host something like this. Because it is nice to have people come around. Because our fridge is full of food, and when I come back from being away it is impossible to imagine there won't still be some of it left. Because it was a fun day. Because if you put something in, you get so much more out.
I am hoping to get Joen's chocolate cake recipé out of this ;-) I'm not a big cake eater, and when he made another one I said I wouldn't have any of it because I had already hit my limit. But I did, before it vanished.
The trick is not to eat too much of anything. Otherwise there is no room left for the next thing, and you wait to be a bit hungrier again and discover that you were missing something great. There must be a size limit for a long lunch, but maybe if we do it again we will have got even better at working around each other and can still pull it off with everyone making something.
We'll see, when we decide to try it all again.
Today, I am full. Well-fed, happy, content. We had a Long Lunch, and everyone who was here (about 20 people over the course of the day) made something. A couple of things with neither recipe nor name, Bread, Cakes, Couscous, Custard, Fruit Salad, Pasta, Quiche, some Polish pancakes and Swiss potato and meat dish and Swedish sausage dish whose names I don't know (but I have a rough idea what went in them, and I'm keen to try making them myself), Soup, Stew, Stuffed cucumbers, Thai red duck curry, Tzatziki. Some people followed a new recipe, some did things they have cooked before, some just put ingredients together and came out with something. And surprisingly, 20 people all managed to do something great.
The kitchen was a madhouse for 9 or 10 hours. The living room was filled with people eating, and the supply of plates, glasses, cutlery was pretty heavily pressed. We did a lot of washing up during the day, we had some wine and a few beers, we filled the freezer with leftovers and ourselves with food.
It's all an excuse. Much as I love eating, and cooking, and a glass of wine, what made the day was the people.
The Opera folks who came to spend a precious day off work hanging around with the same people, and feeding them. It's nice to work with people like that.
The people who don't work at Opera, spending time around a bunch of geeks who work on the same thing and often end up talking about it, or even working on it, at home. It's great to actually meet nice people who will come and play a crazy game like this, a gathering of friends and strangers together. It's what makes life something more than a bunch of expatriates filling in another weekend in a strange country.
It's great to host something like this. Because it is nice to have people come around. Because our fridge is full of food, and when I come back from being away it is impossible to imagine there won't still be some of it left. Because it was a fun day. Because if you put something in, you get so much more out.
I am hoping to get Joen's chocolate cake recipé out of this ;-) I'm not a big cake eater, and when he made another one I said I wouldn't have any of it because I had already hit my limit. But I did, before it vanished.
The trick is not to eat too much of anything. Otherwise there is no room left for the next thing, and you wait to be a bit hungrier again and discover that you were missing something great. There must be a size limit for a long lunch, but maybe if we do it again we will have got even better at working around each other and can still pull it off with everyone making something.
We'll see, when we decide to try it all again.
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