The on-the-wagon thing this month has meant I have been focusing more on tea, a drink that all right thinking people (definition: those who agree with me) love. In my previous industrial existence I tended to drink rubbish tea and coffee very quickly at work; the freelance life means that I can take a minute to savour a good cuppa, and have taken the time to learn a bit about the topic, and try new teas (not I hasten to add herbal infusions with vanilla etc). Current favourite is maybe Assam. Certainly not Darjeeling which is far too subtle for my palate.
My good friends at the US website Selectism commissioned a piece on the topic from me, the link is below:
http://www.selectism.com/2013/01/08/tea-draft/
I may end up cooking far more Chinese food this month - not a complete non-sequitur: green tea and white tea (the first person I ever heard mention that was Moby, who is a big tea fan) go very well with Chinese food, and this month being dry January we need something that is enjoyable to drink with our evening meal. Everything else tried thus far - bitter lemon, lime cordial with soda, ginger beer, water (I'm with W.C. fields on that one) has been a disappointment or worse.
Tea has the added benefit of being a very cheap gourmet experience, if you choose the tea wisely and make it well. Sensuality and austerity in one cup. As Lord Emsworth so rightly said: "Tea. Tea. Tea. Capital, capital, capital, capital."
Showing posts with label dry January. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dry January. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Dry January
As mentioned previously, we have decided albeit belatedly (started on the 5th) to do the dry January thing. For those who knew me in undergraduate times, I hope it helps both my livers (I still think one is a bad design fault). Happily no shakes, nightmare visions (beyond wife with foul coughing disease) or desire to sneak a quick one while nobody is looking.
In austerity terms it is a positive, as expenditure on alcohol is not strictly necessary. OK, not at all necessary. Maybe we'll put some coins in the Sealed Pot (see my other blog for explanation) to acknowledge that. But as regards our eating it makes a difference to the pleasure of the evening meal gathering. Wines and beers bring something extra to the taste of food, if chosen correctly they bring out the best in a dish; and I can't say that really about what we have substituted for them: ginger beer (no alcohol type) was refreshing, but overpowered what was on the plate; last night's lime cordial (Rose's - I look forward to making a Gimlet in February) with soda again slaked the thirst, but would not be my first choice to go with a beef and mushroom pie. Sainsbury's bitter lemon on another occasion was unpleasant.
In austerity terms it is a positive, as expenditure on alcohol is not strictly necessary. OK, not at all necessary. Maybe we'll put some coins in the Sealed Pot (see my other blog for explanation) to acknowledge that. But as regards our eating it makes a difference to the pleasure of the evening meal gathering. Wines and beers bring something extra to the taste of food, if chosen correctly they bring out the best in a dish; and I can't say that really about what we have substituted for them: ginger beer (no alcohol type) was refreshing, but overpowered what was on the plate; last night's lime cordial (Rose's - I look forward to making a Gimlet in February) with soda again slaked the thirst, but would not be my first choice to go with a beef and mushroom pie. Sainsbury's bitter lemon on another occasion was unpleasant.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Great British Pie II - Mushrooms are the New Meat
I'm defrosting some stewing beef that will be the basis of a pie tonight - my prediction for the food trend of 2013 is indeed the return of the Great British Pie big time, though they will be largely homemade as chef-restaurateurs will not be keen to make something that involves substance more than style. And the effete and fashion conscious crowd that writes restaurant reviews for the Sundays would probably pan them if they did serve something filling and tasty instead of chi-chi platters acceptable to anorexics.
I had to dash to Sainsbury's for some emergency Olbas Oil for my wife, currently suffering with woman-flu, and they had no decent stewing beef in - quelle surprise - to bulk out what I had already, so I opted to buy some mushrooms which weight-for-weight are a fraction of the cost, and will provide a nice difference in textures.
A digression. As with men not being able to multi-task, man-flu is a myth - my last illness was in fact Spanish flu with a touch of Ebola, Malaria, and SARS [whatever happened to SARS btw?] that I was lucky to survive. I nearly had to go to the doctor, that's how serious it was.
The pie tonight may well be cooked in Adnams Tally Ho, though that will be a sacrifice. We decided rather belatedly to do the dry January thing (after a convivial evening on Friday 4th, and a slight rise in weight over Christmas), so that's the closest I'm going to get to a beer for three weeks.
Along with Olbas Oil I picked up some flowers btw, which are probably about as effective.
I had to dash to Sainsbury's for some emergency Olbas Oil for my wife, currently suffering with woman-flu, and they had no decent stewing beef in - quelle surprise - to bulk out what I had already, so I opted to buy some mushrooms which weight-for-weight are a fraction of the cost, and will provide a nice difference in textures.
A digression. As with men not being able to multi-task, man-flu is a myth - my last illness was in fact Spanish flu with a touch of Ebola, Malaria, and SARS [whatever happened to SARS btw?] that I was lucky to survive. I nearly had to go to the doctor, that's how serious it was.
The pie tonight may well be cooked in Adnams Tally Ho, though that will be a sacrifice. We decided rather belatedly to do the dry January thing (after a convivial evening on Friday 4th, and a slight rise in weight over Christmas), so that's the closest I'm going to get to a beer for three weeks.
Along with Olbas Oil I picked up some flowers btw, which are probably about as effective.
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