All Purls. No Swine.
Well, it's not exactly Turtle Soup which is the one prescribed by Lewis Carroll the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland. Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen! Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! My particular soup is… Continue reading “Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!”
Today is the Super Bowl. I don't have a dog in this year's fight (at least not a two-legged one), as the Stillers--after a promising start to the season--folded, as they so often have in the past couple of decades, towards the end. Oh well. And without Tom Brady (Boo!) and the New England Patriots… Continue reading “I Will Play For Gumbo!” Notes on the Super Bowl, and a Recipe
To commemorate the 79th anniversary (in the UK) of V-J Day, on August 15, 2024** (funny that it receives barely a mention in the news these days), herewith a couple of family recipes for War Cake, a more-or-less appetizing (de gustibus, and all that) sop to the sweet tooth of the war-weary denizens from the Old… Continue reading Have Your (War) Cake and Eat It, Too
God only knows what he had to do with the kitchen staple memorializing his name. Beef bouillon. Chicken bouillon. Even (heaven forfend) vegetable bouillon, mushroom bouillon, or--even--worse. (Don't tempt me.) Godfrey of Bouillon was a leader of the First Crusade, and a significant figure in the subsequent Crusader wars. While I've not been able to… Continue reading In Praise of Godfrey of Bouillon
It's not been long since I engaged here in the spirit of my many cooking posts, with my love of Thai cuisine and my experiences with Thai cooking, something I've been writing about for years, and which culminated in a marvelous coming together in a day of cooking school in Northern Thailand five years ago… Continue reading Som Tum ส้มตำไทย! 2023 “Hot Thai Kitchen” Update Edition
I don’t really like olives all that much. But I adore the idea of olives. And olive groves. And the Mediterranean. The stories by Peter Mayle and Carol Drinkwater. The presence of olive trees, olive oil, olive wood, and of course “olive branches” in our mythological, literary and cultural traditions. And the history of an ancient industry that has… Continue reading Food and Drink Post: Olive Me
Green Papaya Salad. OMG, it's delicious. I've written before about my affinity for this lovely dish, something I first discovered in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in a tiny, hole-in-the-wall establishment run by aged crones: I've been searching it out ever since, on this side of the pond, with varying degrees of success. So far, Maenam Thai… Continue reading Som Tun! ส้มตำไทย
Beloved stepdaughter is leaving shortly for the trek south-and-west to Chateau Right, where she should arrive mid-afternoon. It's just the two of us (so far) today, but you never know. Angels have a habit of showing up unexpectedly here, and we never turn them away: QOTD: Entertaining Angels Entertaining Angles: Four-legged one's mostly Entertaining Angels:… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s become an annual tradition, here at Chateau Right, that I should spend a considerable portion of the week before Christmas making sure that the freezer is well-stocked with prepared dishes so that there’s plenty on hand to eat during the holidays besides interminable leftovers from the Christmas meal itself (not that there’s anything wrong… Continue reading Food and Drink Post: Pot Luck Edition
Oh, I do love me a good seafood restaurant. Perhaps that’s because I’m a native of an island nation, no part of which is more than an hour or so away from the sea, so when Dad was home on leave from Nigeria, fish was always fresh, plentiful, and on the menu. Or perhaps it’s… Continue reading Emard Court: The Face That Launched a Million Memories