Endangered Food....

According to an article I read the other day, there is such thing as 'endangered food'. Apparently these are the dishes that are most at risk of dying out, and unfortunately for me some of my favourites are on the list.

• Spotted Dick
• Beef Wellington
• Jam roly-poly
• Steak and Kidney Pie
• Coronation Chicken
• Sherry Trifle
• Bread and Butter Pudding
• Toad in the hole
• Fish Pie
• Lancashire Hotpot

So please help me prevent the extinction of a few of the best loved meals in the country. They all have their merits, especially Spotted Dick. Who ever invented it must have had a few to drink beforehand, and I love them for it.

Quintessentially English....

When foreigners talk about English food, the word bland often comes to mind.

I'll admit it, our food tends to be a tad dull. But I wouldn't change our cuisine for the world.

So to celebrate St. George's Day, let us enjoy all that comes with being English. Here are my top 10 quintessentially English dishes....

1. Melton Mowbray Pork Pie - its made from six simple ingredients (pork, salt, pepper, flour, water and most importantly lard). You can't beat the basics can you!

2. Fish and Chips - probably the most most popular English dish, and the original British fast food. 

3. Black Pudding - the fact that it's made of pigs blood may put some people off. In my opinion no fry-up is complete without it. 

4. Kippers - delicious but smelly.

5. Parkin - dark treacle and ginger cake, which is usually associated with Bonfire Night. 

6. Cornish Pasty - Greggs do a good pasty.

7. Potted Shrimps - oooooooo I do love a bit of seafood. It's the perfect starter.

8. Grouse - game bird (no, not a girl who's up for it) usually served with rowan jelly.

9. Treacle Sponge Pudding - accompanied by custard.

10. Cheddar Cheese - there's nothing more English than a ploughman's lunch. 

If there any other dishes that come to mind, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Leave comments.

BBQ....

Being able to put together a good barbecue, seems to be the definition of a real man. Unfortunately, I'm not blessed with these skills, which I suppose goes to prove that I am nothing but a mere boy. 

But I would just like to thank all the 'real' men out there, who provide us weaklings with all the grilled meat we could dream of.

So because the summer is drawing ever near, I am appealing to all those real men, for some tips on how to put together a proper barbecue, so that I can finally be recognised for the man I am and released my inner caveman.

Me make fire, me cook meat. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Chocolate.....

It's Easter. Which means its chocolate time.

I do like chocolate, but offer me a pork pie, and I'd take the savoury option any day.

North/South Divide......

Image via Wikipedia

As I have already mentioned during another post, I am a huge fan of chip shop dining, which probably goes half way to explaining my level of fitness.

After writing the post, a few of Tipple & Takeaway readers left comments, some of which concerned ordering habits at chips shops. Looking through them I wondered...... "Does what people order depend on where they come from?".

As most people know, thanks to Peter Kay, people up north, such as myself, have quite an obsession with gravy. He's absolutely spot on, and this is echoed resoundingly by bascially every northerner I've ever met.

Another dish which seems to be quintessentialy northern are puddings (here is a recipe if you fancy a bit of culture). Which if you don't know is basically suet pastry with pie filling inside it. Dabs (which is simply a slice of potato battered) also seem to be an unknown any further south than Manchester.

I'm curious...... what do you order at the chippy?

Please comment.

Wine Part 2.....

Previously, I have written about wine. Since then, I have had people asking where they should look for a good, cheap bottle of wine.

I've got news for you all. Boxes of wine are the future. Bottles are just saaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! If you are really after good value for money, and you don't mind sacrificing taste and the sense of decency that comes with buying bottled wine, a box of the red, white or pink stuff should be right up your alley.

You can find these boxes at most off-licenses and supermarkets, They can cost as little as £5, but if you're feeling flush and fancy something with a bit more consistency, then you can pay up to £15.

There you go there's a bit wisedom. Now go out, buy wine, and be jolly!

Soup....

I am bloody sick of soup.

The last few weeks have seen me with little or no money, which is probably down to a combination of student life and weekends trips to Amsterdam (it was completely worth it though). So for the last couple of weeks I've been living off the charity of my parents(soup, beans and cous cous and some beautiful black pudding), my housemates (providing me with the odd pint) and one of my very sympathetic course mates (leftovers).

Fortunately, I am back in the prosperity of my home town, Blackburn, which means proper food. By which I mean bacon butties, milk, cheese, hot pot, shepards pie, gravy etc. etc. Jesus Christ, its no wonder I'm in the shape I'm in.

So until my return to the desperate life of the poverty striken student, there will be no more soup. Not unless its a starter to a steak as big as my hand.

Delivery.....

You may have seen on Facebook petitions demanding that fast food chains such as McDonalds and KFC should provide a delivery service.

I didn't join these groups, mainly because I wanted to avoid the inevitable fat jibes that would follow. 

Chippy Tea....

I made a wonderful decision this evening...... to have a chippy tea! I went for fish, chips and gravy. It went down a treat, as these pictures illustrate.

Going....

going....

gone!

And if these pictures aren't a good enough excuse to get yourself a chippy, I'm sure the Lancashire Hotpots will convince you.......

Odd Combination....

I've just had the oddest meal of my life.

Cous cous.

Fried onions.

Mushy peas.

Oooooo the joys of being a student.

Spar....

Last week's emotional appeal for food went without much avail. We had one offer of food, which wasn't followed through. So if you see any of the surviving resident of my house please take pity.

Once we came to terms with our lack of popularity, we discovered our saviour. Spar!!

Ooooooooo Spar! What a godsend!

Its a minute around the corner. It sells Lynx lager, which is probably the most lethal thing to come in a can, since Asda briefly sold anthrax. Plus the food is cheapish.

So its an of license, selling cheap food, and there's one on most corners. So as long as you don't mind the inevitable heart attack (due to lack of exercise and easy access to food and drink), Spar is the place for me, you and any other lazy sod.

Hunger....

This is an emotional appeal for the residents of 26 Guildford Street.

We're poor and we're hungry. We have no food left in the house, and we're all skint.

Anything you can donate, could save a life. I think i'll be alright for the time being, I have plenty of meat on me but my housemates may not be as lucky.

Sod Comic Relief. Feed us!

Amsterdam....

I've recently returned from a weekend trip to Amsterdam with my lovely girlfriend, and of course it was awesome.

Before I left though I thought "Oooooo this will make a good post on T&T (Tipple & Takeaway..... obviously)", which led me to ask myself, "What do the Dutch eat and drink?"

Some obvious answers came to mind. Heienken, Amstell, Edam, Space cakes etc.

Whilst there, I seriously struggled to find anything with an element of Dutchness about it, except from waffles and pastries, which I literally couldn't get away from at times.

So instead I stuck to the stereotypes (plenty of Heineken), and a few home comforts (pizza and steak!).

Ooooooooh I do love the Heineken!

I bet you all wish you were as cultured as me.

My Goodness, My Guinness....

Along with U2, Guinness is definitely Ireland's greatest export.

Image via Wikipedia

It's absolutely beautiful, and according to a friend of mine it's better for you than lager. And hes not the only one. You ask any taxi driver in Dublin. Even the smallest sneeze or shiver is followed by the same peice of advice. "Ahhhhhhh be' Jesus ya wanna get a pint 'a Guinness down'd ya!". But stereotypes aside, according to them, the iron content in the Guinness, can cure anything from a cold to aches and pains.

And the BBC will tell you the same.

So now you've no excuse to not drink it, and every excuse to do so.

Whatever the time, it's Guinness time.

Wine....

I like wine! Whether it red, white or rose.. whatever! 

There are some people out there though who take buying and drinking wine very seriously. Fair enough there's nice wine, and there's crap stuff. I do know the difference, but I'd much rather just buy a three quid bottle from the Spar like I did today.

There is a lot of fuss about wine, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. You ask Alan.

It was a Californian rose. According to the label it is a "veritable feast of fruit flavours" which "burst from the bottle". I think I must have got a dodgy one; it never "burst". Never mind "fruit flavours", all I could taste was wine, but I'm not Oz Clarke am I. I did enjoy it though as this picture illustrates.

I was lucky this time, it tasted fine but I haven't always been as fortunate. On one occasion, whilst on holiday, I came across what looked like a lovely bottle of rose. At one euro ninety five cents..... you can't argue can you! Then came the tasting. It wasn't great. In fact I'm fairly sure it was vinegar. Having said that somebody liked it, my friend drank my bottle.... then his. 

I suppose its a matter of taste. Obviously he doesn't have any!

Alterations...

As I have already mentioned for Lent I decided to give up drinking beer.

Well, I've met my first hurdle, tripped over and gone arse over tit! I lasted all of eighteen hours. You know what I can't even claim that because I'm pretty sure I was asleep for about 11 of those hours. 

So instead of completely giving up on the challenge I've decided to make a slight alteration.

I'm still keeping off the beer..... except for any day which I'm going out. 

So there's no need to worry Bargain Booze, I'll be back!

Temptation...

There's beer in the fridge. It's looking at me...

Lent...

As some of you may know, today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

Lent is all about making sacrifices. So as I do most years, I'm going to give something up. Years back I would have given up chocolate or something easy like that. But this year I'm really, really testing myself. I've decided that I'm going to attempt to give up......(drum roll) beer!

Its going to be the biggest challenge I've ever faced. It'll be my Everest. But if Paul Gascoigne can do it, then I'm pretty sure that I can last at least a few days. Plus I've got Jesus on my side at the moment, so I'm sure it'll be reyt!

So as it stands, I have been beer free for 15 hours. Lets hope it lasts!

Pancake Day...

Yesterday was Pancake Day, a day which I always look forward to. But this year... what a forking let down. Probably the biggest anti-climax since the first voyage of the Titanic. Everything just seemed to go tits up!!

I think I'm just bitter because I only managed to get one, when usually I'd wolf down a good few smothered in Golden Syrup.

But it being Pancake Tuesday there was plenty of talk and excitement during the day. "I'm gonna eat this many...", "I'm gonna have this on mine..." etc. etc. And it was interesting to hear what people have on their pancakes. I heard the usual stuff like sugar and lemon, and chocolate, but who in hell has banana or cheese on a pancake. 

I bet they were bloody shandy drinking southerners!

But hey-ho I suppose the real reason for Pancake Day is in fact Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent, which takes me to my next post.

The Gospel According to Mark....

You ask anybody who knows me, they'll tell you that I have an appetite like Pavarotti (until recently anyway), and because I'm a student I inevitably enjoy the odd drink.... or two.... or three. 

And like everybody else, I have my own opinions when it comes to eating and drinking. So here is the Gospel According to Mark....

1. Real food fills you up. I don't want to leave a restaurant and feel the need for McDonalds. I'm not John Prescott!
2. You only live once, don't count calories.
3. You can't have a curry without beer.
4. Beer goes with everything. You ask George Best.

Follow these rules closely, and you'll probably live a much shorter life, but hey-ho!

 

Welcome...

The belly rules the mind - Spanish Proverb

If this bloke is to be believed then food is the most important resource to us. So what better to write about than FOOD!

So come one, come all. Welcome to Tipple and Takeaway! 

Here at Tipple and Takeaway we will offer you:

• Valuable advice on what to eat, what not to eat, and what to wash it down with. 

• The best eating tips, unless you know Rick Waller.

• Advice on beer, wine and anything else damp.