Pumpkin Publog
28 February 2005
MOST ORGANIC PUB EVAH!
The Duke Of Cambridge on St Peter’s Street in Islington prides itself on being an organic gastropub. Perhaps prides is not strong enough. Puffs itself out with so much self satisfaction about absolutely everything being organic that it appears to exist in some sort of parallel universe where oxygen has been replaced with snugness and the staff are taking big gulps.
I’m not saying the St Peter’s Organic Ale was not one of the tastiest pints I’ve had this year. I’m also not arguing with the provenance, live-biocultures and tongue zinging quench of the cider I had there (no name remembered unfortunately). But it is the kind of place that gives Islington a bad name for back slapping. Witness: next to the organic gins, vodkas and whiskeys on the back bar is a small chalk board sign.
“All of our food is organic and source from environmentally friendly suppliers. Except the fish which cannot be certified organic. We do try and buy the fish from nice people though.”*
*Whilst I have presented this as a quote, it is note. It does nevertheless retain the spirit of smugness that pervades the pub.
Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
27 February 2005
diet a success: dieter scarily hott and smugg (cont.)…
D. ca ma-ca-ren kho coi thit ba chi
(vietnamese mackerel cooked in a pot lined with belly pork)
ok mackerel is VERY CHEAP and VERY OILY, and the oiliness is what some ppl find offputting (esp.as it is “good for you” oiliness): the excellent thing abt this v.easy dish – only one ingred.poss.hard to obtain (i invite comments to put me right here) – is that it is a SOUP in which somehow the oiliness has VANISHED!!
you will need
–two large or three small fresh mackerel (cleaned and beheaded), cut into inch-thick steaks
–a handful of mushrooms, cut into threads (the vietnamese use a giant shiny cleaver but i use scissors)
–two strips of bellypork (or similar cut), also cut into threads
–a small bowlful of thin-sliced bamboo shoots (this is the tricky ingredient: see note at end): it is important though as it colours the soup all creamy and softens the taste
–two pieces beancurd (=tofu) (also = not that vital) chopped into little cubes
–one red chilli pepper, chopped tiny (i actually use dried as i have a huge old bag of em) (hotness to taste AS ALWAYS)
–two slices fresh root ginger, chopped small (size of slice to taste) (mmm ginger)
–authentic flavoursome sauce = 2 parts DARK SOYA SAUCE to 2 parts NUOC MAM (see note at end) to 1 part WHITE WINE, plus a spoonful of sugar
–pint of hot water ready on the side
–spring onions for garnish (so far i have never remembered these)
i. i cook everything in a wok, as you can flash-fry AND make soup in it: otherwise you need a biggish fryin pan and a soup-pan or eathenware cookin pot
ii. if using, flash-fry the tofu and set aside
iii. flash-fry the mackerel steaks till they are “golden brown”
add everything else (except the water and the spring onions) and STIR FRY (actually you might want to add the pork first and stir, then the mushrooms, to sear and seal, and then the rest)
iv. add the hot water, bring to boil, down down and braise for 20 mins (if not usin wok, transfer to pan or pot b4 adding water)
serve (w.spring onion garnish if you remember)
it is EXCELLENTLY FILLING and will probably serve three – two if it’s the whole of the meal – but remember to give ppl a side-dish to spit the bones onto: mackerel bones are pretty ok but you don’t want to be pickin them off the carpet for weeks to come
THE NOTE ABOUT AVAILABILITY:
ok i live in east london’s vietnamese quarter so ALL the above is easy to find (and i actually use dried chinese black mushrooms swank swank, which need soakin in warm water after you threaded em) : HOWEVER – apart from bamboo shoots!! – you can do it all at a one-shop at tescos/sainsbury’s/similar IF (a) you subst.a slightly posher cut of pork for bellypork, which is too vulgar for the sainsbury-tesco massive, and (b) you subt. Blue Dragon Thai NAM PLA fish sauce for NUOC MAM (by taste test they are almost identical – both based on fermented anthonies anchovies yum yum – if thai or viet readers will not be offended to read that). Bamboo shoots you will have to hunt for! (Also worth remembering: you will NOT be usin a whole tinful an they only keep three days in water in the fridge PROVIDED YOU CHANGE THE WATER EVERY DAY – thus bamboo shoots are the pandas of cookin ingredients, almost more trouble than they are worth EXCEPT NOT…)
pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
24 February 2005
KITCHEN SCIENCE
What happens when you cook a garlic and coriander naan bread for eight hours.
a) It goes very very black, and very very hard but does not produce much smoke.
b) You lose all respect from your flatmates who ask you never to cook when you get home drunk again.
Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
18 February 2005
Cocktail Clampdown: alcohol cannot, apparently, be linked with ‘sexual promiscuity’, so the likes of Sex On The Beach are out. The aphrodisiac properties of these names had escaped me – booze lowers inhibitions, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s called Slippery Nipple or, I don’t know, Moderate Enjoyment Please. Drinks don’t shag people, people do, or something. The fact is that most pub cocktails look naff, taste naff and it’s entirely fitting that they have naff names too. Political correctness gone a bit squiffy.
Tom in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
Fancyapint.com’s State of Pubbing Survey has a curious range of choices for its “biggest problem in pubs today” question. I’m no CAMRA head, as you’re probably aware, but to have NO option for anything relating to quality or range of beer available seems more than a little odd.
Tom in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
I was in the much mentioned Hairy Tortoise last night and I notice their beer menu has a new arrival. Asahi Super Dry. 2000ml. That’s right, my favourite sound in Japan* is now availible in London. Admittedly for the price of ’13.60, which is possibly a bit steep for just under four pints – though the 500ml bottles are ’3.90 so maybe not. I wonder how many they sell? The three of us were quite tempted last night.
*My trip to Japan two years ago involved much wonder of the multiple beer vending machines, and in particular the worship of the occasional TWO LITRE CANS of Asahi. Not so much for the contents, but more the sound of two kilogrammes of beer falling out of a vending machine. It does make a mighty sound. Marvel at the full range of sizes.
Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
16 February 2005
Decided on Sunday to stop drinking for a couple of weeks. I don’t drink at home much so it’s only in the pub that temptation strikes. Last night was the first test. Arrived, ordered a lime and soda, sat sipping it – this isn’t so bad. Sarah and Steve and Sarah’s friend Alex were there, I sat listening to a story Sarah was telling and reached for my drink. She stopped telling it. “Odd”, I thought.
“Um, that’s my cider.” said Alex.
Cue mortification. As soon as my brain was momentarily distracted my hand had reached out for the reassuring shape of a pint of lager (well, it looked like lager). Hats off to Pavlov. None of poor Alex’s cider passed my lips, thankfully. But this might be tougher than I thought.
Tom in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
15 February 2005
I have always enjoyed sucking bones
Browsing for dinner components the other week in the supermarket, I examined with great interest a couple of chunky pieces of oxtail. Now these haven’t made any significant appearance for a while, what with BSE panic and the disinterest of the general populace in cooking anything that isn’t chicken breast, so it was with an aura of expectant smugness that I purchased a pack for, as they say, a song. Slightly trepidatious, I prepared them for Sunday supper, sealing in seasoned flour and then braising gently with roughly chopped onions and carrots and red wine (loosely according to the gospel of Nigel Slater). After a couple of hours they were lumps of sticky chewy melting cartiligenous gorgeousness, and the velvety wine gravy and sweet juicy carrots weren’t bad either.
So, is it the (low-effort) time investment that puts people off cooking stuff like this at home? I arranged the ingredients in my lovely cast-aluminium pot up at half-time during the rugby and then left it well alone, adding a roasting tin of par-boiled potatoes tossed in duck fat to the oven after an hour or so, but it does take a good swathe of lazy afternoon to organise. Or is it the graphic anatomical lesson that results once the deliciously gooey flesh has been sucked off the vertebrae? We fitted our two together and speculated about how far along the tail they’d come from, poking fork tines curiously into the spinal canal. I can certainly see how it could be a little alarming, but once you accept that your slab of beef was once part of a muscle moving a cow’s leg around (or more likely a tender underused bum-steak) it’s foolhardy not to embrace knowledge of the skull beneath the skin that comes with picking apart chicken wings or a shoulder of lamb. It’s better for you than mechanically reclaimed sausage meat, that’s for sure.
Messy individual joint type things like lamb shanks (as Robster pointed out while licking his fingers, returned to the posh-restaurant fold by the then-spiky-haired-quasi-bad-boy Gary Rhodes back in the day) have hoven back into view over the culinary event horizon over the past couple of years due at least partially to the renewly perceived sexiness of solid manly British fayre (cf universal [well, not from vegetarians] slavering over St. John). Maybe the humble oxtail is also due a revival after a long period in the wilderness, and I’m not talking soup here. Whatever, I’m going to stock up the freezer post-haste.
Liz x in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
14 February 2005
JW LEES MOONRAKER, 7.5%
It’s theer mon, rake it eawt ~
This pint kills fascists (unsure if it can shut up mayors of London).
scott in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
13 February 2005
Reflections on a Valentine’s-semi-themed dinner with friends:
1) Don’t actually make it a Valentine’s event and it’s *perfect*
2) Leave the only sign of the season to be an absolutely delicious heart-shaped chocolate cake but with two very thin layers rather than some monstrous layers
3) Make sure the chocolate frosting is the richest thing in the universe
4) Created a drizzled-then-cooled layer of melted white and dark chocolate to further cover the cake which has Grand Marnier included
5) Further add strawberries and blueberries
6) Have the rest of the meal be ridiculously good as well, including two pastas, a wonderful salad, excellent broccoli and garlic chicken to die for
7) Enjoy. Thanks guys, you all make our monthly get-together the best (and all I had to bring was the wine!)
Ned Raggett in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments
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