Food and Food Culture

Don't worry, he's in his 70's and (mostly) still going strong. He has no self-restraint when it comes to food though.

Edited by SebastianGray on Sep 25th 2018 at 5:55:51 PM

I used to be like that in my preteens and teens, to the point that a doctor flat out told me I was medically obese. I managed to lose all of that weight relatively quickly once I stopped overeating, but ever since I've actively tried to keep my eating habits under control. I also try to do cardio on a regular basis.

And yes, it's a struggle for someone who loves food and drink so much that he started a thread about it.

Edited by M84 on Sep 26th 2018 at 1:00:09 AM

I used to be clinically obese myself but then I developed bowel problems at the end of 2015 and before Christmas last year I was briefly medically underweight. My weight is a bit more stable now but I did put on around half a stone in weight over my holiday.

Perpetually underweight as I don't eat that much. But I'd happily add extra butter to things.

Even on scones.

Plain scones, raspberry jam, and I do it the Cornish way. My mother's best friend (who's from Devon) does disown me for this.

The other big debate: Pronounce 'scone'. 'On' or 'own' — prepare to fight!

I can't do caffeine, so I drink herbal teas. However, back in the days when I could, my favourites did include lapsang souchong, Moroccan mint tea, darjeeling and jasmine. One of my favourite ever tea experiences of any kind was when my Thai housemate made some chrysanthemum tea from scratch. Best. Tea. Ever.

Fun fact: For reasons unknown, I can still get away with drinking jasmine tea (if its base is white or green tea). I don't do it often to be on the safe side but, as far as I'm concerned, jasmine tea is made from magic.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Sep 25th 2018 at 10:20:04 AM

I don't know what cream you're using, but the thickened/whipped cream preferred in Australia (and I assume the traditional clotted cream in the UK) is too thick to be absorbed. Hence, jam first.

Oh, yes. If it's not clotted cream that can barely be spread, it's just not worth eating a scone at all.

It just doesn't feel right to me to put cream on top of jam. It's as wrong as putting butter on top of jam.

Clotted cream barely counts as cream. Delicious and creamy tasting, but it's more of a paste.

Amusingly enough there was an article in the Telegraph a few years back where a food scientist claimed that the Devon method was superior.

Revealed: the scientific formula for the perfect cream tea

Though it did at least include "perfect" serving methods for Devon and Cornwall cream teas.

Edited by M84 on Sep 25th 2018 at 9:53:53 PM

Scientists seem obsessed with studying food myths and suchlike. I remember a few years ago there was a study into whether toast really did fall butter side down more often than not. I personally think it is so they can get free food.

For me, the perfect cream tea is: Yorkshire Gold, English/Irish Breakfast or a rose-Darjeeling blend, either a plain scone (with an "onn" not "own") or a fair-sized a spiced tea cake/bun, the jam must be raspberry, rosehip or blackberry which goes on first, followed by the clotted cream — if no clotted cream, I'll reach for the butter (which goes on first) or curds (as with clotted cream) rather than go all runny-stupid-messy. Will settle for quince, plum or strawberry jam. Note: yes, "settle for". For a cream tea, I don't like strawberry as much as many people do.

Will enjoy apple bulking up a jam, though.

Strawberry is Victoria sponge, roly-poly, queen of puddings or for guilty-pleasure jam sandwiches.

If you throw honey at me in conjunction with any of the above, you'll be glared at. Honey or golden syrup with oodles of butter is for crumpets and tea. Or peanut butter sandwiches with spiced chai.

However... just a standard tea break: a couple of digestive or oatie biscuits, maybe a slice of drizzle, ginger or carrot cake and whatever bags I've got in doing builder's tea duty (currently PG Tips thanks to a massive box special).

Edited by Euodiachloris on Sep 26th 2018 at 8:46:36 PM

I've always wanted to try auethentic Indian curry. The only kind of curry I've ever had was Jamaican style curry, but I always had a feeling that the two were very different. Anyone here who has tried multiple types of curry?

Yes. They are all amazing. All of them. Every single one.

I like curry, in case you didn't guess.

The curry is pretty good and goes with quite a few foods. Just be careful if you get it from an Ethnic restaurant or grocery it can be alarmingly hot in terms of spice.

I love my bean dishes, so curry is perfect for me. No, I'm not vegan or vegetarian. I just have liked beans and bean sprouts since being a wee nipper.

I really like curry but due to my bowel issues I generally limit the amount of spicy food to once or twice a month so rarely eat it any more. The last time I did I actually made a "Genuine" Howondaland Curry (Chicken, Ginger & Coconut) from the Discworld cookbook that I have. It turned out better than I thought it would even if it was a bit wetter than I would have liked.

Edited by SebastianGray on Oct 1st 2018 at 8:21:48 PM

Coconut and Curry is a great match and goes really well with chicken.

Mango or aubergine goes really well as a side dish to certain curries as well. Spiced aubergine fritters was part of one curry recipe I tried years ago.

There's an online spice shop where they make up the spice mixes and send a curry recipe with the spice box telling you how to make the curry, and all the side dishes. The curries and spiced dishes are from all around the world. It's amazing what the experts can do with spice.

If you have a decent source for spices there are a number of curries that are not too difficult to prepare. Many recipes consist of three main parts some sort of cream (yogurt, cream, or coconut milk), spices, and a base (meat, lentils, potatoes, legumes). This also helps you control spiciness if that is not your thing.

Yeah, it's not the main content that's amazing, it's the difference between mixing spices yourself and the job an experienced spice mixer who really knows what they're doing can do — it really can make all the difference.

I'm a big fan of spinach in curries. And cauliflower is more awesome in a curry than it has any right to be.

I enjoy curries of pretty much all kinds, though I have a soft spot for mutton curry.

Changing the subject somewhat and I don't know if this is an appropriate place to post this but anyway.

A recent study in the Uk has shown that only 4 of 19 Sourdough loves tested in the Uk actually count as Sourdough

While I am not a fan of Sourdough myself (Ciabatta is probably my favourite type of bread) as it gives me terrible indigestion, I was wondering if it was because I was having the fake stuff rather than the real type.

Some ingredients don't particularly agree with some people. It's entirely possible that you may actually like real sourdough.

I had a similar issue in my youth when I thought I hated peas and other veggies. Turns out I hated school cafeteria peas and veggies because they weren't cooked particularly well.

If you've got the time, you can always try making sourdough from scratch and see if it's to your taste.

Edited by M84 on Oct 2nd 2018 at 6:07:19 PM

That is an idea. I haven't made bread for years (and that was a pizza base and garlic bread for Home Economics at school) and I had been considering trying again.