Thread 3 - TalkExiles: "The Planet Goes On Being Round"

[Kucingsparkles]

Continuation of previous lifeboat threads 1 and 2.

Gather here all ye refugees from the JTT Flat Earth Society, welcome to the reassuringly oblate spheroid of MN! Ye all already know the answers to the questions "How the heck do I format my post?" "Why can't I edit my typos?" "What do those acronyms mean?" and most importantly, "Where is everybody that I used to know?"

So really we're all here just to chat randomly.

True we are very spoilt. Kaosarn in Brixton market is very very good.

I have had very good Pho in Paris though.

Mr Monkey once came a cropper assuming that he could cope with spice. We went to Lahore Kebab house in East London (a very basic Pakistani grill house that we go to a lot) and ordered a green chilli byriani. The waiter raised his eyebrows in a way that clearly meant "are you sure white boy?" He was almost in tears trying to finish it.

When I worked in Taiwan, in the 90s, it was next to impossible to find authentic foods from other cuisines, so we learned to make them ourselves. I even used a visa trip to Hong Kong to buy spices as we couldn't get those in Taiwan either. My dad sent us seeds to grow mint and Mediterranean basil. The mint was because we craved kebabs with mint yoghurt and the basil was for home made pizza. It was really satisfying figuring it all out.

When I worked in Taiwan, in the 90s, it was next to impossible to find authentic foods from other cuisines, so we learned to make them ourselves.

This is very interesting, do you suppose it reflects that Taiwan has less of an immigration/colonial history than HK? IME there is a wide range of cuisines in HK. Same in Malaysia and Singapore, being very multicultural places, lots of immigration, long colonial past.

Kuc, yes less of an immigration history. The Portuguese were there for a while and then the Dutch, I think. When we were there, white foreigners were generally thought to be American. I don't know what it's like now, but in Kaohsiung at the time there was a population of around 1.5 million, about 1,500 of them white foreigners. I only saw one black person the whole time, a guy who was in the import/export business, but who everyone suspected was more likely CIA or something. It was a very strange time. The foreigners were either engineers, missionaries or English teachers and many of the teachers seemed to have run away from something, so you didn't ask any questions.

This is my Christmas decoration this year:

Vietnamese restaurants are pretty common around here, and the pho is delicious. Never having been to Vietnam, I have no way of knowing how authentic they are though! Japanese restaurants - usually my favourites - are easy to find too, as are Mexican. The Indian and Chinese restaurants are invariably too greasy for my tastes though. Italian restaurants in Portland are good, but there is a long history of Italian residents here. Portland is a very foodie city.

The Cambodian family who run an Oriental shop by us have just opened a restaurant and the food is absolutely delicious. Light, fresh and fragrant.

@Tricyrtis2022 - I just found one of those smokers on the riverine website and have sent for it, though it won't arrive until the end of the month. Thank you!

Brilliant! Smoked haddock ahoy!

And smoked salmon! Farmed but usually very reasonably priced around here.

Itwasntevenblackpudding

I know people rave about how marvellous French food is, but on a day to day basis it is deeply repetetive and bland and although there are some Indian and Chinese restaurants they are just not the same.

Don't have a curry in Germany. I was working there and a German colleague suggested a genuine Indian curry place. It was vile, tasteless and with no heat, even though the waiters warned us it was nuclear. Several of us also got food poisoning.

Tricyrtis2022

I'd have been about five and the family were visiting our Northern relatives in Seaham.

There's a blast from the past! I lived in Seaton Village for about 4 years. The sea front is completely transformed now. All boutique cafes etc.

I shouldn't laugh, I'm so sorry! My brain went straight to "maybe when they said nuclear, they meant your bum would explode."

They didn't say that, just that it was really, really hot.

And smoked salmon!

Yes! Smoke all the things!

My cousin visited there last week and sent me pictures and it does look very different to how I remember it in the 60s and 70s. Last time I was there was about 20 years ago and the whole place still had the bleakness I remember. Me and my brother went to see the farm my grandma grew up on and that was lovely.

I wonder at you living there, Sinner, it's certainly not somewhere I'd choose to live.

Cod roe in batter is the food of the gods! My friend Snoop's late husband were mad for them. Snoop wanted nothing to do with them until one day she agreed to taste a bit and became a convert. She doesn't go for added mushy peas thobut.

I have cheapo vanilla ice cream, the man from Delmonte's orange juice lollies, orange juice, coke, bottled water and silicone straws. I got across to Morrisons to buy them and thought I'd throw up and pass out in the shop and on the way home. I haven't felt this ill for a very long time. I'm waiting for a call back from 111 but unless it's bacterial, which how can they tell on the phone and given I'm feverish, there's very little they can do for me. I'm just hoping tomorrow is a turning point but I've hoped that every evening and every morning it's worse! I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself this evening.

I'd vaguely wondered why the fish is fine, but chips in London and the South East aren't a patch on those of my Yorkshire teen-dom. I'd assumed it was sentimentality/old age. So it's the dripping? Never tried battered cod roe, but I see the excellent local chippie does it so will give it a try - and perhaps casually mention dripping to them. They're Turkish and very lovely, so might even give it a whirl (if you can get dripping in Kent).

What does cod roe taste like? I've never got past the look of the stuff.

Soft cod roe tastes like fishy brains! I have loved that since childhood - bought in tins, dusted with flour and shallow-fried - to the disgust of many. The firm stuff isn't so great, to my taste, but deep-frying might change my mind.

fishy brains!

Oh.

Maybe I think about trying some a while longer...

And oh, Crows, why is it that feeling so shit always coincides with holiday weekends? I hope 111 are helpful.

I've had an on-and-off throat/gum/mouth/coughing-up-gunk nastiness coming and going for ages now, and two visits to the dentist have confirmed it's not dental. This morning I felt like utter crap and had had enough, so rang the GP and asked for a face-to-face appointment. Amazingly, I got one for first thing tomorrow morning! Obviously I shall wake up feeling fine, because that's how these things work. But I shall go anyway, because if I don't I'll regret it by the afternoon.

Blimey, sorry to hear about so many people being ill and feeling utterly shit. It seems like every other person has something nasty at the moment.

Arf! Have you ever eaten brains? I've only ever had them twice, at a very posh restaurant in Geneva. The fact that I ordered them the second time says that they were good. My plebeian response to them was "Yay - soft cod roe without the fishiness!"

I was reading down thinking 'ugh, cod roe, wouldn't like that' and suddenly remembered taramasalata which I absolutely love. Smoked roe of course, makes all the difference.