Sunday, August 16, 2009
A Bike is Born
Motorcycles are a part of me, just like cooking, without these elements in my life I would be incomplete.
I have always loved Harleys even as a child my greatest achievement was a first in art for a painting of a Hells Angel on a chopper when I was 12 years old.
The teenage years were populated with scooters and motorcycles but my shelves were filling up with copies of Easyriders.
Finally in 1995 I bought a Harley Davidson low rider custom.
Then decided to customize it, two years later it was finished but those two years were unusual that I was riding a Yamaha 125. The bike was taken apart and completely rebuilt
With different everything.
Finally getting back on the road there were problems in life and with the bike,
Which left with a difficult decision should I sell it?
Fate had its way my job came to an end and a mechanical problem on the bike left me in a poor financial position with a biking holiday looming, so I sold it to a BMW dealer for a new bike and some change.
After riding BMW`s for 12 years, I missed something individual again.
Being bombarded by biker build off American chopper and various custom shows and magazines the passion was reignited.
This time I would get someone else to do the work as I lacked the necessary skills to produce what I wanted.
I have always been someone to swim in the opposite direction to everybody else,
And I hated the big rear wheel stretched out look which now proliferates.
What I wanted was something classic in the hope that it will remain classic and not find itself a cliché.
Just by reading a English motorcycle paper one day, center page was an article about Fred Bertand of Krugger Motorcycles.
News that he would be appearing at the Goodwood festival of speed, had me emailing straight away with a picture of the style I wanted.
We met and talked at Goodwood and a deal was struck.
Now all I had to do was wait three months was the build time but I had indicated to Fred I did not need the bike for a year as I needed to raise the money, I also suggested that the bike could be used for promotion of his business and in competition, I never expected what happened next.
Fred called me and told me that he had been chosen by S&S Cycle to enter there 50th anniversary build off and therefore I would be able to have an S&S anniversary Panhead engine one of only ten built with a special serial number.
And the bike would compete in America in July 2008, also it would appear first at the Custom Chrome show in maintz .
Fred’s reputation started to grow and in October 2007 he won the artistry in Iron in las Vegas.
On his return the bike started to evolve before my eyes weekly photo updates kept me enthralled for the months to come.
Halfway through the project I visited Fred at his workshop in Belgium to see the bike.
The attention to detail and the engineering brilliance directed towards the suspension system knocked me sideways. Seeing the bike in bare metal gave me a chance too have an uncompromising look at the intimate details of the bike.
February 2008 soon arrived and the bike was finished painted and ready for the European bike show I held my breath for news and Fred managed a fifth place against stiff competition.
In July the bike was shipped to America to compete in the S&S build off.
There was video and information Available on the web but I could not find any results,
All I could find was a Picture of Fred on a stage looking very pleased with him-self
It turned out that he had won the Panhead class against some of the best builders in the world.
He was entered into the AMD World championships in Sturgis at the beginning of August and finished 13th in the competition.
So having started this project 12 months ago I never even dreamed of having a bike of this caliber, My choice of builder was just perfect I could not be happier and the bike was delivered early January. this bike is for riding it has had its moment of fame and now it will get used for what it was built for.
I have always loved Harleys even as a child my greatest achievement was a first in art for a painting of a Hells Angel on a chopper when I was 12 years old.
The teenage years were populated with scooters and motorcycles but my shelves were filling up with copies of Easyriders.
Finally in 1995 I bought a Harley Davidson low rider custom.
Then decided to customize it, two years later it was finished but those two years were unusual that I was riding a Yamaha 125. The bike was taken apart and completely rebuilt
With different everything.
Finally getting back on the road there were problems in life and with the bike,
Which left with a difficult decision should I sell it?
Fate had its way my job came to an end and a mechanical problem on the bike left me in a poor financial position with a biking holiday looming, so I sold it to a BMW dealer for a new bike and some change.
After riding BMW`s for 12 years, I missed something individual again.
Being bombarded by biker build off American chopper and various custom shows and magazines the passion was reignited.
This time I would get someone else to do the work as I lacked the necessary skills to produce what I wanted.
I have always been someone to swim in the opposite direction to everybody else,
And I hated the big rear wheel stretched out look which now proliferates.
What I wanted was something classic in the hope that it will remain classic and not find itself a cliché.
Just by reading a English motorcycle paper one day, center page was an article about Fred Bertand of Krugger Motorcycles.
News that he would be appearing at the Goodwood festival of speed, had me emailing straight away with a picture of the style I wanted.
We met and talked at Goodwood and a deal was struck.
Now all I had to do was wait three months was the build time but I had indicated to Fred I did not need the bike for a year as I needed to raise the money, I also suggested that the bike could be used for promotion of his business and in competition, I never expected what happened next.
Fred called me and told me that he had been chosen by S&S Cycle to enter there 50th anniversary build off and therefore I would be able to have an S&S anniversary Panhead engine one of only ten built with a special serial number.
And the bike would compete in America in July 2008, also it would appear first at the Custom Chrome show in maintz .
Fred’s reputation started to grow and in October 2007 he won the artistry in Iron in las Vegas.
On his return the bike started to evolve before my eyes weekly photo updates kept me enthralled for the months to come.
Halfway through the project I visited Fred at his workshop in Belgium to see the bike.
The attention to detail and the engineering brilliance directed towards the suspension system knocked me sideways. Seeing the bike in bare metal gave me a chance too have an uncompromising look at the intimate details of the bike.
February 2008 soon arrived and the bike was finished painted and ready for the European bike show I held my breath for news and Fred managed a fifth place against stiff competition.
In July the bike was shipped to America to compete in the S&S build off.
There was video and information Available on the web but I could not find any results,
All I could find was a Picture of Fred on a stage looking very pleased with him-self
It turned out that he had won the Panhead class against some of the best builders in the world.
He was entered into the AMD World championships in Sturgis at the beginning of August and finished 13th in the competition.
So having started this project 12 months ago I never even dreamed of having a bike of this caliber, My choice of builder was just perfect I could not be happier and the bike was delivered early January. this bike is for riding it has had its moment of fame and now it will get used for what it was built for.
Monday, August 30, 2004
currying Favour
Title
Currying Favor
A global dish, curry has been finding its way into cultures other than its own! Curry Katsu Is popular in Japan. But is seems that there are possi-bilities that curry Kari, kaaree ’ karahi or karai, ‘ kari’ may not be Indian at All these names refer to spicy sauce the origins being in the Tamil word ‘ kari.
In the excellent Oxford Companion to Food, written by Alan Davidson he quotes this as a fact and supports it with reference to the accounts from a Dutch traveler in 1598 referring to a dish called ‘ Carriel ’. He also refers to a Portuguese cookery book from the seventeenth century called Atre do Cozinha , with chilli-based curry powder called ‘ caril ’.
In India there is no reference to curry on menus so confusion reigns as to the true history.
Most likely it was a product of the British Raj along with Chicken Jahlfrezi, Mulligatawny and Kedgeree, finding their way into a cuisine by popular demand.
The taste for Indian food and curries has remained constant over the years, brought into the mainstream of British households in packets by company ’s such as Vesta, Most definitely not the real thing but we liked it and I grew up on it.
There have been curry fashions over the years Balti was one of the most recent.
A reinvention of British curry by somebody with a good eye for marketing,
It caught on like wildfire and Balti houses sprang up everywhere. The heart of this style of cooking is a cast-iron pot, originally also called the Balti . The Balti is always cooked and served in a half-round pot usually made of steel or iron, and usually called the karahi or karai .
Typically served with Balti is naan bread, a thin leavened bread made with yoghurt and torn up and used as an eating implement, to scoop up the Balti and get at the sauce. A messy but enjoyable method of freestyle eating.
Balti in Europe started attracting notice during the last decade in Bir-mingham in England, particularly in the city's Sparkhill and Sparkbrook areas, home of some of the oldest and best Balti houses, and now in-creasingly known as "the Balti Belt." Word spread quickly throughout the country and abroad, Balti houses sprung up all over and added to the myth of curry from Baltistan .
Chikken Tikka Masala, an old Indian classic dish?
Well no it seems to have come from Scotland in an Glasgow curry house probably between 1950-1970 a customer asked for gravy on his Chicken Tikka .
A bemused chef responded by adding tin of Campbell's tomato soup and pinch of spices, unwittingly partaking in early example of fusion cookery.
It could almost now be Britain’s national dish Sainsbury's sell 1.6 million Chicken Tikka Masala meals every year and stocks 16 types of Tikka products including chicken tikka masala pasta sauce . Marks and Spencer's famous Tikka sandwich (18 tonnes sold every week).
Now there are several English companies exporting chicken tikka masala to India so coals to Newcastle!
Ten years ago there was a quiet revolution happening in the shape of the Bombay brassiere .
A new restaurant owned by the Taj group of hotels with Chef Udit Sarhkel Real Indian food served cooked with Passion in luxurious surroundings.
Their Sunday buffets were legendary.
He now heads up his own restaurant in Southfields which has drawn many plaudits for its informed and skilled Indian regional food.
The Red Fort was one of the first high class gourmet Indian restaurants based in Soho to raise the bar in culinary terms, followed more recently with Zaika 1 Michelin star , and the Cinnamon Club in the old Westminster library also with a Michelin star .
Both have in common the involvement of a European chef for presentation and stylising the dishes, yet again Indian food takes on a new persona, upwardly mobile and constantly evolving.
Quite an achievement for an adapted food in a foreign country , it has now become part of our culinary culture and we could not do without curry culture long may it continue.
Contacts
The red Fort
http://www.redfort.co.uk
77-Dean street London W1
020 74372525
Zaika
http://www.zaika-restaurant.co.uk
No1 Kensington High Street
London W8 5SF
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7795 6533
Fax: +44 (0) 207 937 8854
Sarkhel's
http://www.sarkhels.com/
199 Replingham Road, Southfields, London, SW18 5LY
Telephone 020 8870 1483
Currying Favor
A global dish, curry has been finding its way into cultures other than its own! Curry Katsu Is popular in Japan. But is seems that there are possi-bilities that curry Kari, kaaree ’ karahi or karai, ‘ kari’ may not be Indian at All these names refer to spicy sauce the origins being in the Tamil word ‘ kari.
In the excellent Oxford Companion to Food, written by Alan Davidson he quotes this as a fact and supports it with reference to the accounts from a Dutch traveler in 1598 referring to a dish called ‘ Carriel ’. He also refers to a Portuguese cookery book from the seventeenth century called Atre do Cozinha , with chilli-based curry powder called ‘ caril ’.
In India there is no reference to curry on menus so confusion reigns as to the true history.
Most likely it was a product of the British Raj along with Chicken Jahlfrezi, Mulligatawny and Kedgeree, finding their way into a cuisine by popular demand.
The taste for Indian food and curries has remained constant over the years, brought into the mainstream of British households in packets by company ’s such as Vesta, Most definitely not the real thing but we liked it and I grew up on it.
There have been curry fashions over the years Balti was one of the most recent.
A reinvention of British curry by somebody with a good eye for marketing,
It caught on like wildfire and Balti houses sprang up everywhere. The heart of this style of cooking is a cast-iron pot, originally also called the Balti . The Balti is always cooked and served in a half-round pot usually made of steel or iron, and usually called the karahi or karai .
Typically served with Balti is naan bread, a thin leavened bread made with yoghurt and torn up and used as an eating implement, to scoop up the Balti and get at the sauce. A messy but enjoyable method of freestyle eating.
Balti in Europe started attracting notice during the last decade in Bir-mingham in England, particularly in the city's Sparkhill and Sparkbrook areas, home of some of the oldest and best Balti houses, and now in-creasingly known as "the Balti Belt." Word spread quickly throughout the country and abroad, Balti houses sprung up all over and added to the myth of curry from Baltistan .
Chikken Tikka Masala, an old Indian classic dish?
Well no it seems to have come from Scotland in an Glasgow curry house probably between 1950-1970 a customer asked for gravy on his Chicken Tikka .
A bemused chef responded by adding tin of Campbell's tomato soup and pinch of spices, unwittingly partaking in early example of fusion cookery.
It could almost now be Britain’s national dish Sainsbury's sell 1.6 million Chicken Tikka Masala meals every year and stocks 16 types of Tikka products including chicken tikka masala pasta sauce . Marks and Spencer's famous Tikka sandwich (18 tonnes sold every week).
Now there are several English companies exporting chicken tikka masala to India so coals to Newcastle!
Ten years ago there was a quiet revolution happening in the shape of the Bombay brassiere .
A new restaurant owned by the Taj group of hotels with Chef Udit Sarhkel Real Indian food served cooked with Passion in luxurious surroundings.
Their Sunday buffets were legendary.
He now heads up his own restaurant in Southfields which has drawn many plaudits for its informed and skilled Indian regional food.
The Red Fort was one of the first high class gourmet Indian restaurants based in Soho to raise the bar in culinary terms, followed more recently with Zaika 1 Michelin star , and the Cinnamon Club in the old Westminster library also with a Michelin star .
Both have in common the involvement of a European chef for presentation and stylising the dishes, yet again Indian food takes on a new persona, upwardly mobile and constantly evolving.
Quite an achievement for an adapted food in a foreign country , it has now become part of our culinary culture and we could not do without curry culture long may it continue.
Contacts
The red Fort
http://www.redfort.co.uk
77-Dean street London W1
020 74372525
Zaika
http://www.zaika-restaurant.co.uk
No1 Kensington High Street
London W8 5SF
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7795 6533
Fax: +44 (0) 207 937 8854
Sarkhel's
http://www.sarkhels.com/
199 Replingham Road, Southfields, London, SW18 5LY
Telephone 020 8870 1483
cured
Cured
6am time to go to work, quite pleasant this time of year the sun is up before me! No more inky blackness to start my day.
Its Tuesday and the day we cure bacon, the imminent arrival of the pork from the farm always has everybody alert and at the ready to pounce on the van as soon as it arrives.
20 sides of rare breed pork soon arrive and have to be unloaded; it helps remove the calories happily stored after the early morning bacon sandwich and copious cups of tea!
Once the meat has been hung in the fridge, the butchery can start.
The animals are broken down into their component parts legs for hams and roasting
Shoulders are split and the hand-trotter half are used for sausages, some legs also go to make up our sausages, but it is the middles the loin and belly that is used for curing bacon.
We produce smoked and green bacon, ultimately the same process except for the additional smoking.
The middles are boned out and carefully rubbed with curing salt with the addition of brown sugar for added sweetness.
There is a hive of activity at the shop when all the butchers apply themselves to producing the weeks bacon a constant stream of pigs coming out of the fridge to be cut and the resulting products disappearing back into the fridge as bacon and cuts of pork.
The curing takes about a week, the middles are removed, and the salt is washed off to arrest the curing process, they are then hung to dry for a couple of days.
Bacon for smoking is then selected and sent back to Yorkshire for smoking where they are smoked slowly for 72 hours over oak for a deep flavor.
The product we end up with produces no water when it is fried a real dry cure and packed with flavour I can almost hear it sizzling in the pan!
6am time to go to work, quite pleasant this time of year the sun is up before me! No more inky blackness to start my day.
Its Tuesday and the day we cure bacon, the imminent arrival of the pork from the farm always has everybody alert and at the ready to pounce on the van as soon as it arrives.
20 sides of rare breed pork soon arrive and have to be unloaded; it helps remove the calories happily stored after the early morning bacon sandwich and copious cups of tea!
Once the meat has been hung in the fridge, the butchery can start.
The animals are broken down into their component parts legs for hams and roasting
Shoulders are split and the hand-trotter half are used for sausages, some legs also go to make up our sausages, but it is the middles the loin and belly that is used for curing bacon.
We produce smoked and green bacon, ultimately the same process except for the additional smoking.
The middles are boned out and carefully rubbed with curing salt with the addition of brown sugar for added sweetness.
There is a hive of activity at the shop when all the butchers apply themselves to producing the weeks bacon a constant stream of pigs coming out of the fridge to be cut and the resulting products disappearing back into the fridge as bacon and cuts of pork.
The curing takes about a week, the middles are removed, and the salt is washed off to arrest the curing process, they are then hung to dry for a couple of days.
Bacon for smoking is then selected and sent back to Yorkshire for smoking where they are smoked slowly for 72 hours over oak for a deep flavor.
The product we end up with produces no water when it is fried a real dry cure and packed with flavour I can almost hear it sizzling in the pan!
pigs and swords
A busy week and a diverse one at that.
I have reached the grand old age of 48.
I have been interviewed for the food program on Radio 4 about British charcuterie .
All about the history and culture of English food and why we have turned away from the old ways.
The old ways and recipes are making a comeback and I am cited as one of the few people who are championing this resurgence, which is quite flattering, it has also driven me do research some more lost or unused recipes the medieval period throws up some interesting things like Doucette which is a early sausage made with honey.
August is holiday season and London is quiet our customers are all away abroad or in the country.
Most of Europe is the same ,the cities become devoid of the local populace and fill with tourists, and not to be left out I beat a hasty departure for Sussex and the medieval festival at Hurstmonceuex .
I was drawn by the thought a hog roast, the whole pig roasted over oak wood, and maybe a glass of two of mead (old English honey wine).
The great spectacle of 500 hundred medieval troops laying siege to a medieval castle and all in all a good day out.
All of the events are organized by the siege society who put on a great show, everybody in authentic dress, suits of armor and lots of weaponry, fun is had all round, they get to fire cannon and fight with swords and the spectators have a great time.
There are strolling minstrels , dancing bears, food ,explosions .jousting and various horseback related demonstrations.
Archery plays a large part in the festival there are opportunities for the public to have a go, the bows appear crude but in the hands of experts they are accurate and deadly the English have been masters of the long bow for hundreds of years ,as the French found out at Agincourt .
Within the next couple of weeks the BBC will be calling again this time to record master chef I believe my task is to tech someone to make sausages in an hour and they will be judged on their results , that should be most interesting!
I have reached the grand old age of 48.
I have been interviewed for the food program on Radio 4 about British charcuterie .
All about the history and culture of English food and why we have turned away from the old ways.
The old ways and recipes are making a comeback and I am cited as one of the few people who are championing this resurgence, which is quite flattering, it has also driven me do research some more lost or unused recipes the medieval period throws up some interesting things like Doucette which is a early sausage made with honey.
August is holiday season and London is quiet our customers are all away abroad or in the country.
Most of Europe is the same ,the cities become devoid of the local populace and fill with tourists, and not to be left out I beat a hasty departure for Sussex and the medieval festival at Hurstmonceuex .
I was drawn by the thought a hog roast, the whole pig roasted over oak wood, and maybe a glass of two of mead (old English honey wine).
The great spectacle of 500 hundred medieval troops laying siege to a medieval castle and all in all a good day out.
All of the events are organized by the siege society who put on a great show, everybody in authentic dress, suits of armor and lots of weaponry, fun is had all round, they get to fire cannon and fight with swords and the spectators have a great time.
There are strolling minstrels , dancing bears, food ,explosions .jousting and various horseback related demonstrations.
Archery plays a large part in the festival there are opportunities for the public to have a go, the bows appear crude but in the hands of experts they are accurate and deadly the English have been masters of the long bow for hundreds of years ,as the French found out at Agincourt .
Within the next couple of weeks the BBC will be calling again this time to record master chef I believe my task is to tech someone to make sausages in an hour and they will be judged on their results , that should be most interesting!
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Meat eaters
The long history of meat in London seems to go back as far as the 10th century , and the same place is still the centre of the trade Smithfield market It is thought that the name Smithfield came from a corruption of ‘smeth field’ Saxon for "Smoothfield". The City of London gained market rights under a charter granted by Edward III in 1327.
When a grant of a market was made, either to an individual or a municipality, it was usual to allow the grantees the right of taking fixed tolls in view of the expenses necessarily involved in erecting, maintaining and supervising the market. In 1852 the Smithfield Market Removal Act was passed and the live cattle market was relocated to a new site at Copenhagen Fields in Islington.
In 1860 the Corporation of London obtained an act of parliament (The Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act of 1860), allowing the construction of new buildings on the Smithfield site. Work began in 1866 on the two main sections of the market, the East and West Buildings. These buildings were built above railway lines which had newly connected London to every other part of the country, enabling meat to be delivered directly to the market.
The original layout of the East and West Market buildings was 162 stalls which were easily accessible to customers as they were open on most sides. Today, the rebuilt buildings contain just 23 units in the East Building and 21 in the West, rather than being of a uniform size, have been tailored where possible to the tenants requirements. Units are divided into a number of temperature-controlled areas. Customers are able to walk along the central avenues choosing from the goods on display.
There is more to Smithfield that just the buying of raw product.
As with other markets around the world there are restaurants catering to the needs of the workers in the market also public hoses open at more convenient times so if you feel the need for a beer at 6am just travel to a London market you will always find a pub open.
The Hope pub famous for its hearty English breakfasts and steaks is just on the corner of St john street keeping market hours It has been feeding market workers and late night clubbers for many years in oak paneled splendor.
Smithfield has become more modish in the past few years destination restaurants abound ,the eponymous restaurant St John a bones throw from the market also Smiths of Smithfield three floors of food escalating in price and quality as you ascend the floors, all overseen by the Australian chef john Torode they are open for breakfast lunch and dinner with rooftop dining with views over the market and into the city.
For those who like late night and dancing one of London’s major dance scene clubs Fabric is also situated opposite the market
The Hope
The sirloin restaurant
94 Cowcross Street
Farringdon
London
EC1M 6BH
Mon - Fri 07.00 - 14:00pm (last orders). Closed weekends and Public Holidays.
Mon - Fri 07.00 - 14:00pm (last orders). Closed weekends and Public Holidays.
Fabric 77a charterhouse street London EC1M 3HN 0207 336 8898
St. John Bar & Restaurant Smithfield
26 St John Street
London
EC1M 4AY
Reservations 020 7251 0848
Fax 020 7251 4090
Smithfield Market, Charterhouse Street, London EC1A 9PQ. Tel 020 7236 8734.
Nearest tube Farringdon / Barbican. Trading hours Monday to Friday 4.00am –
12.00 noon.
When a grant of a market was made, either to an individual or a municipality, it was usual to allow the grantees the right of taking fixed tolls in view of the expenses necessarily involved in erecting, maintaining and supervising the market. In 1852 the Smithfield Market Removal Act was passed and the live cattle market was relocated to a new site at Copenhagen Fields in Islington.
In 1860 the Corporation of London obtained an act of parliament (The Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act of 1860), allowing the construction of new buildings on the Smithfield site. Work began in 1866 on the two main sections of the market, the East and West Buildings. These buildings were built above railway lines which had newly connected London to every other part of the country, enabling meat to be delivered directly to the market.
The original layout of the East and West Market buildings was 162 stalls which were easily accessible to customers as they were open on most sides. Today, the rebuilt buildings contain just 23 units in the East Building and 21 in the West, rather than being of a uniform size, have been tailored where possible to the tenants requirements. Units are divided into a number of temperature-controlled areas. Customers are able to walk along the central avenues choosing from the goods on display.
There is more to Smithfield that just the buying of raw product.
As with other markets around the world there are restaurants catering to the needs of the workers in the market also public hoses open at more convenient times so if you feel the need for a beer at 6am just travel to a London market you will always find a pub open.
The Hope pub famous for its hearty English breakfasts and steaks is just on the corner of St john street keeping market hours It has been feeding market workers and late night clubbers for many years in oak paneled splendor.
Smithfield has become more modish in the past few years destination restaurants abound ,the eponymous restaurant St John a bones throw from the market also Smiths of Smithfield three floors of food escalating in price and quality as you ascend the floors, all overseen by the Australian chef john Torode they are open for breakfast lunch and dinner with rooftop dining with views over the market and into the city.
For those who like late night and dancing one of London’s major dance scene clubs Fabric is also situated opposite the market
The Hope
The sirloin restaurant
94 Cowcross Street
Farringdon
London
EC1M 6BH
Mon - Fri 07.00 - 14:00pm (last orders). Closed weekends and Public Holidays.
Mon - Fri 07.00 - 14:00pm (last orders). Closed weekends and Public Holidays.
Fabric 77a charterhouse street London EC1M 3HN 0207 336 8898
St. John Bar & Restaurant Smithfield
26 St John Street
London
EC1M 4AY
Reservations 020 7251 0848
Fax 020 7251 4090
Smithfield Market, Charterhouse Street, London EC1A 9PQ. Tel 020 7236 8734.
Nearest tube Farringdon / Barbican. Trading hours Monday to Friday 4.00am –
12.00 noon.
Monday, September 08, 2003
"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day."
W. Somerset Maugham
Possibly still true! There is nothing quite like it for starting the day, a hearty breakfast can cure most ills.
In medieval times they would have eaten only twice a day starting the day with flagons of beer, they would accompany this with cold pork and bread.
In the middle ages the rich would have boiled beef and mutton and possibly pickled herring.
In the reign of king Henry the farm workers and laborers would eat well on butter cheese bacon and bread
The Victorians breakfasted with some serious gusto.
In the houses of the rich and middle classes is was not unusual to be confronted by tables piled with breakfast dishes Devilled kidneys, roast game, smoked fish kippers sliced meats, kedgeree sausages, bacon, mutton chops. Black pudding
The word Break- fast was related to the longest period of time the human body was not ingesting food, eight hours of sleep brought on an enormous hunger, so the excess of food was a wake up call for the body in the form a a protein fix.
The classic breakfast has been steadily devalued over time it would not be unusual to just have fruit juice or a bowl of cereal now, very few people settle down to a cooked breakfast at home.
Most people who have that luxury are out on the road stopping at transport cafés and motorway service stations for breakfast!
The French have worked their culinary charms on us, we have inherited the continental breakfast, an abomination! Jams and some crusty bread what kind of start to the day is that.
I will have to concede to the croissant though, flaky warm and buttery is not dismissed quite so easily!
The Dutch and the Baltic states like to have cheese, sliced cold meats and salamis some herring possibly, coffee being the drink of choice.
The Scots have always adhered to the theory of porridge oats for many centuries and porridge has adhered to just about everything try feeding your children porridge!
Japan shocks the British palate at breakfast time, rice mixed with raw egg, salted grilled fish and umeboshi seaweed, green tea all things bound by tradition and history, elegance abounds.
A nation of builder’s lorry driver’s postmen and working people every morning in cafés homes and up and down the England call out for the full English.
Britain on a plate.
W. Somerset Maugham
Possibly still true! There is nothing quite like it for starting the day, a hearty breakfast can cure most ills.
In medieval times they would have eaten only twice a day starting the day with flagons of beer, they would accompany this with cold pork and bread.
In the middle ages the rich would have boiled beef and mutton and possibly pickled herring.
In the reign of king Henry the farm workers and laborers would eat well on butter cheese bacon and bread
The Victorians breakfasted with some serious gusto.
In the houses of the rich and middle classes is was not unusual to be confronted by tables piled with breakfast dishes Devilled kidneys, roast game, smoked fish kippers sliced meats, kedgeree sausages, bacon, mutton chops. Black pudding
The word Break- fast was related to the longest period of time the human body was not ingesting food, eight hours of sleep brought on an enormous hunger, so the excess of food was a wake up call for the body in the form a a protein fix.
The classic breakfast has been steadily devalued over time it would not be unusual to just have fruit juice or a bowl of cereal now, very few people settle down to a cooked breakfast at home.
Most people who have that luxury are out on the road stopping at transport cafés and motorway service stations for breakfast!
The French have worked their culinary charms on us, we have inherited the continental breakfast, an abomination! Jams and some crusty bread what kind of start to the day is that.
I will have to concede to the croissant though, flaky warm and buttery is not dismissed quite so easily!
The Dutch and the Baltic states like to have cheese, sliced cold meats and salamis some herring possibly, coffee being the drink of choice.
The Scots have always adhered to the theory of porridge oats for many centuries and porridge has adhered to just about everything try feeding your children porridge!
Japan shocks the British palate at breakfast time, rice mixed with raw egg, salted grilled fish and umeboshi seaweed, green tea all things bound by tradition and history, elegance abounds.
A nation of builder’s lorry driver’s postmen and working people every morning in cafés homes and up and down the England call out for the full English.
Britain on a plate.
Great Britain is a island nation, over the centuries we have borrowed ,imported and stolen other peoples culture.
We have accepted settlers from other countries along with there ideals religions and food.
In our murky past we have been guilty with others of partaking in the slave trade.
Bristol was a major slave port, and so west Indians worked in our houses ,looked after our children and cooked our food.
The west Indian food culture has failed tro make a lasting impression on us ,although the spice route through Jamaica brought Jamaica Spice as so called in old recipes now more commonly recognized as all spice.
Our long association with the colony of India did however bring a rich food heritage of well spiced food, curries in particular and many anglicized dishes such as mulligatawny soup (mulligatawny means pepper water) and kedgeree which was made with fish chopped eggs and spiced rice, sometimes served with a vegetable curry and usually for breakfast.
Nowadays curries feature highest on our most popular food in Britain the most popular is Chicken Tikka Masala, not a traditional Indian dish at all, in fact it has become so popular that it is appearing on menus back in India!
England’s first Chinatown sprang up in the East End’s Limehouse district in the 1880's. Chinese seamen settled there to escape the poor accommodations provided by the shipping companies.
Along with the influx of the Chinese into London came restaurants and other services to meet the demands of the community.
,There is very little evidence of the Chinese settlement in Limehouse today except for a few remaining street names.
But the food culture has remained and become part of our culinary history Chinatown now Features in most major cities in the UK and the food rivals Hong Kong for quality and diversity.
Where is British food well we do eat it! the Breakfast a hearty meal bacon ,eggs, sausages ,Black pudding ,Fried bread,, kippers, devilled kidneys ,baked beans.
I am beginning to wonder are they English after all Heinz is American!
The French who like to call us Le rostbeef! After our love of roasted beef were a huge culinary influence on us, all industry chefs training is based on French techniques even today,
Escoffier the great chef at the Savoy in London added greatly to the British food tradition
Creating lots of standards we still cook today.
There a nothing more British than fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar, fish and chips is one of our Great British institutions
But where did this famous culinary delight originate?
The simple answer is that no-one really knows.
We do know that fish and chips developed separately- the French invented chips or 'chipped pommes de terrre a la mode' (from the humble potato commonly believed to have been brought to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 17th Century) and in 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a 'fried fish warehouse' in Oliver Twist. The great British fish and chip trade grew out of these existing small businesses which sold fish and chips separately in the streets and alleys of London and some of Britain's industrial town, in the1850s.
Both, Lancashire and London stake a claim to the origin of our most famous meal - chips were the standard fare of the industrial north whilst fried fish was introduced in London's East End. Most likely I think to be of Jewish in origin.
Now the fish and chip shop is in every town and city in the UK in seaside towns there are many, fishing ports like Grimsby are full of fish and chip shops doing lots of business,
It is still our favorite food The first fish and chip shop in the North of England is thought to hove opened in Mossley near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863. Mr Lees sold fish and chips from a wooden hut in the market and later he transferred the business to a permanent shop across the road which had the following inscription in the window "This is the first fish and chip shop in the world." But in London, Joseph Malin opened a fish end chip shop in Cleveland Street within the sound of Bow Bells 1in 1860. There are now around 8,100 fish and chip shops across the UK that, eight for every one McDonalds outlet.
However the dish originated, fish and chips is a national favourite, eaten and loved by every generation, - in fact its position as the nations favourite hot take away remains unchallenged, despite the advent of the Fast food chains.
The nations favourite fish is cod. followed by had dock, although there are regional variations. For example whiting is popular in Northern Ireland and some parts of Scotland and skate and huss are often seen In the south of England
In 1999 the British consumed nearly 300 million servings of fish and chips - that equates to six servings for every man woman and child in the country
Over 4,000 is the record for the largest number of portions sold in one day by an independent fish and chip shop.
So there is a popular British Food that everybody can identify with and it is something to be proud of a, British through and through Fish and Chips!
We have accepted settlers from other countries along with there ideals religions and food.
In our murky past we have been guilty with others of partaking in the slave trade.
Bristol was a major slave port, and so west Indians worked in our houses ,looked after our children and cooked our food.
The west Indian food culture has failed tro make a lasting impression on us ,although the spice route through Jamaica brought Jamaica Spice as so called in old recipes now more commonly recognized as all spice.
Our long association with the colony of India did however bring a rich food heritage of well spiced food, curries in particular and many anglicized dishes such as mulligatawny soup (mulligatawny means pepper water) and kedgeree which was made with fish chopped eggs and spiced rice, sometimes served with a vegetable curry and usually for breakfast.
Nowadays curries feature highest on our most popular food in Britain the most popular is Chicken Tikka Masala, not a traditional Indian dish at all, in fact it has become so popular that it is appearing on menus back in India!
England’s first Chinatown sprang up in the East End’s Limehouse district in the 1880's. Chinese seamen settled there to escape the poor accommodations provided by the shipping companies.
Along with the influx of the Chinese into London came restaurants and other services to meet the demands of the community.
,There is very little evidence of the Chinese settlement in Limehouse today except for a few remaining street names.
But the food culture has remained and become part of our culinary history Chinatown now Features in most major cities in the UK and the food rivals Hong Kong for quality and diversity.
Where is British food well we do eat it! the Breakfast a hearty meal bacon ,eggs, sausages ,Black pudding ,Fried bread,, kippers, devilled kidneys ,baked beans.
I am beginning to wonder are they English after all Heinz is American!
The French who like to call us Le rostbeef! After our love of roasted beef were a huge culinary influence on us, all industry chefs training is based on French techniques even today,
Escoffier the great chef at the Savoy in London added greatly to the British food tradition
Creating lots of standards we still cook today.
There a nothing more British than fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar, fish and chips is one of our Great British institutions
But where did this famous culinary delight originate?
The simple answer is that no-one really knows.
We do know that fish and chips developed separately- the French invented chips or 'chipped pommes de terrre a la mode' (from the humble potato commonly believed to have been brought to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 17th Century) and in 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a 'fried fish warehouse' in Oliver Twist. The great British fish and chip trade grew out of these existing small businesses which sold fish and chips separately in the streets and alleys of London and some of Britain's industrial town, in the1850s.
Both, Lancashire and London stake a claim to the origin of our most famous meal - chips were the standard fare of the industrial north whilst fried fish was introduced in London's East End. Most likely I think to be of Jewish in origin.
Now the fish and chip shop is in every town and city in the UK in seaside towns there are many, fishing ports like Grimsby are full of fish and chip shops doing lots of business,
It is still our favorite food The first fish and chip shop in the North of England is thought to hove opened in Mossley near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863. Mr Lees sold fish and chips from a wooden hut in the market and later he transferred the business to a permanent shop across the road which had the following inscription in the window "This is the first fish and chip shop in the world." But in London, Joseph Malin opened a fish end chip shop in Cleveland Street within the sound of Bow Bells 1in 1860. There are now around 8,100 fish and chip shops across the UK that, eight for every one McDonalds outlet.
However the dish originated, fish and chips is a national favourite, eaten and loved by every generation, - in fact its position as the nations favourite hot take away remains unchallenged, despite the advent of the Fast food chains.
The nations favourite fish is cod. followed by had dock, although there are regional variations. For example whiting is popular in Northern Ireland and some parts of Scotland and skate and huss are often seen In the south of England
In 1999 the British consumed nearly 300 million servings of fish and chips - that equates to six servings for every man woman and child in the country
Over 4,000 is the record for the largest number of portions sold in one day by an independent fish and chip shop.
So there is a popular British Food that everybody can identify with and it is something to be proud of a, British through and through Fish and Chips!
