"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

Brit pies. Meat and organ pies. I love them for supper. Last one I had was in Bangkok and that was some time ago. Good eats! And vegemite for breakfast. Oh man, I had an Aussie friend that brought jars of vegemite to trade for jars of Jiffy peanut butter when he came to Hawaii or I went to Australia or PNG. For the life of me, I'll never know why so many Americans hate Vegemite.

There is nothing edible I've ever tried that I didn't like, and I've tried some weird things in weird places. I'll try it before I'll say I don't like it. Just haven't ever found anything I have not liked.
 
leghog said:
Isn't marmite about the same as vegemite? Or is vegemite a pretender?
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Marmite is a yeast extract, Vegemite is a vegetable extract, though I think in both cases there's a big addition of salt and colouring. They look very similar, and (though I stand to be corrected), I think Vegemite is an Australian copy of the other. They taste a bit different. Of the two I prefer Marmite, though there are other yeast extracts I prefer to Marmite :)
 
If ale doesn't count as food, there's more people starving in the UK than I thought :D
Lately (in the last few years), I discovered that I am a huge fan of British style beers, both on the golden ale/bitter ale/IPA side and on the porter/stout side. I would stretch it so far and say that, in the last three years or so, at least 90% of the beer I drank belonged to these two cathegories, and produced in small breweries all over England and Scotland. Maybe I don't drink very much...but when I do, I like to choose ;)
As for food, I can't say I'm a huge fan of British dishes, yet some of them (just like some German ones) seem to get along with beer more than anything else. Not that it surprises me the least :p

Fausto
:cool:
 
I know that British cooking has been the point of many jokes, but I can say having spent time in England, I did not starve to death, and did not loose any weight. In fact, I think I picked up a few pounds. Of course there was the ale. Ale seems to be something our Brit cousins do exceedingly well. I loved walking into a pub, and ordering a pint on courage. "Landord, a pint of courage please!" Of course I'm talking about John Courage ale. Wonderful stuff, and very capable of sustaining life in a very pleasant haze.

Then there was the fish and chips.

I was staying at a bed and breakfast place just outside London, and after a day of marveling at the wonders in the British Museum, was walking back to the underground stop to catch a train back out. I was a bit hungry, and I was passing a little hole in the wall joint with the most wonderful smell coming from it. Why is it that fried food, bad for us, smells sooooo day-am good??? Anyways, I went in, and was introduced to the fish and chips. I paid my money, and was handed a cone of day old newspaper, and it was filled with these chunks of golden brown fried fish. Crispy on the outside, moist juicy cod inside. I've since loved fish and chips.

Then there's pub food. Wonderful stuff. I experimented with something called a scotch egg. A snack that is best described as a fried hard boiled egg. Of course, after a few ale's, most any munchy tastes good. And that british ale is brewed soooo smooth it just slides down so easy. Contrary to American reports of the warm beer in England, it's cool, room temp, but brewed to be drank that way. Or is that drunk that way? Oh hell, after a few it doesn't really matter. Have a cheese sandwich and play a game of darts and have fun.

I loved English pub life!!!

I could live happily ever after on the food I had while in England.
 
Time to read George Orwell's essay "In Defence of English Cooking" available on-line. He makes a lot of good points about authenticity and regional dishes, English cheeses are underrated and roast meats always welcome.
 
mnblade said:
What day? I want to mark my calendar.

-- Mark
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I dunno, Mark, I suppose if I can come out of the fog I seem to be in this morning I might be able to come up with something later on if my arm is twisted. Depends on how the rest of the day shakes out.
 
Carl, it's interesting to note that about warm beer in England. I guess that's a stereotype. Having grown up around Coors/Keystone light (dad), Natural light (uncles), Miller light (uncles and cousins) and Bud Lite (friends), I would think you would have to drink that "water" ice cold. I never developed a taste for beer except after a hard days work on a blistering hot day. Then, it has to be ice cold, and I'll drink half a can. By then, it's too warm for anyone else to finish it, and I'm ready for my hard ciders.

Now I'm sure you'll tell me all pubs in England aren't like the Slaughtered Lamb, from An American Werewolf in London! :D
 
Okay, Mark...you asked. Here are a few snippets that come to mind from over the years. You can't make this stuff up. Well you could...but then it wouldn't be nearly as interesting or as much fun to talk about in retrospect.

(Redacted as those who expressed interest have had an opportunity to read and respond.)
 
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Elliott,
that was far too quick...I didn't manage to read any :(
I will wait for the next bunch of stories though :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
Elliott,
that was far too quick...I didn't manage to read any :(
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Me neither! :( Sorry I've not posted much over the past couple of days, but the current experiment with ads, combined with my poor internet connection, are not making for a very pleasant experience :(
 
Fausto, I sent you a PM last night. Jack, I'll send you a PM in a few moments.
 
I had a beautiful, mature barred owl in my front yard oak tree a couple days ago, and he stuck around for hours upon hours,
allowing me some good photo ops from multiple different angles.

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Nice shots, Jeff. We've had some interesting owl visitations over the years as well. They are a treat.
 
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