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Foodies In The News

For all refugees from the old Beeb Food Boards :-)
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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Renee » Thu Sep 17, 2020 8:57 pm



Ahhh ... lemon might work to remove the strong smell of kimchi from the jar rubber/silicone seals!

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Sep 17, 2020 11:51 pm

Bar Keepers Friend iirc is French chalk, soap and oxalic acid - which is what makes it take the tarnish off aluminium

Also took a nasty mark off the ceramic surface of my Greenpan

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:01 am

Somebody just sent me this: https://www.chron.com/life/style/dining/article/Celebrity-chef-Chris-Shepherd-to-Houston-15540485.php
Yes, I know we´re not in Houston ( and I´ve never been there), but the article makes me think that there are some really despicable people out there. Supposedly, we go to restaurants to enjoy good food, not to blackmail the staff because we´ve got 30,000 followers on Twitter, or Instagram. I have to admit, I read the story and was absolutely horrified. Imagine YOUR restaurant/pub/café - you´re just about treading water thanks to Covid-19, and someone comes through the door and says " Gimme some free food, or I´ll blast you to Hell". How low can people get? Does this happen in the UK? (I imagine it does :crying1 )

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Earthmaiden » Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:31 am

It happens with every small business in some way or other. People (often charities) always think it won't hurt you to give a couple of items away, whatever your trade. They don't know or care how many requests you get from elsewhere. If you're good enough people will pay anyway and your reputation will rise above the black mailers.
As for blogging, it seems to be a full blown career for many and they do very nicely out of it, not just in Houston. I know we have blogger friends here who have had some nice perks by being invited to try freebies, that is very different to begging though and businesses just need to say no if they don't want to give freebies. Have you seen some of the blogs aimed at teenage girls and children which are avidly followed? Horrendous. 21st century life.

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:35 am

I follow a lot of foodie people on Twitter - there are often reports of Instagram “influencers” and boorish bloggers demanding preferential booking or freebies, across the UK, it’s the 2020 version of “don’t you know who I am dahling”

On the other hand there are also people with huge followings who will go out of their way to give a favourable mention to a restaurant or bar where they have had a good experience, knowing it’s the best “tip” they can give

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Badger's Mate » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:08 pm

I guess the influencers must also be influenced, if they have a good or bad relationship with the restaurant it might be reflected in the reviews, regardless of how good the food or service actually was. It goes both ways - freebies generating positivity as much as not getting them might cause the opposite.

It's not just bloggers though is it? Trip Advisor is full of reviews where the main concern is that the restaurant refused to offer a discount for a perceived slight, suggesting that some people try it on. I tend to be suspicious of excessively good or bad reviews. Can't say I've ever really been served something inedible, or an undrinkable wine. Proper beer can sometimes be off, it doesn't happen much but any good pub will replace it without hesitation. We know people on here or from another place who review foody stuff, we can make our own minds up about their opinions.

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:26 pm

I pretty much ignore Tripadvisor these days - it's unusable unless you remember to go into in private browsing as it badgers you so hard to book places you looked at and decided were 100% c@rp - even genuine reviews are often unhelpful - tourists complaining that French restaurants are lazy because they require a whole hour to eat the set lunch! And marking down my favourite Berlin hotel because the rooms are small (they aren't huge, but plenty big unless you want to do ballroom dancing) and because, outrageously, they give you 2 single duvets on a double bed (local custom in N Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark)

Marina O'Loughlin has been unimpressed for a long time, she retweeted this today

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016 ... -oloughlin


Going back to giving a good mention "as a tip" - here's Grace Dent's review of a new Nigerian restaurant in Tottenham, posted by PP on the West African thread, just read the final paragraph

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/s ... grace-dent

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:23 pm

I think the TripAdvisor comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt. I always look at the menu first, when I´m choosing a menu, and that´s the basis for going to a restaurant. I do read through the comments just to get a general idea, because obviously, if there are 20 visitors who say the waiters were rude, then I´m probably going somewhere else.
However, you´re right, Sue - some people seem to go out just to find fault. I´ve just flipped through the first 7 pages of TripAdvisor for the King´s Arms at Boxley - one of my favourite places to eat when I´m in Maidstone. 90% of the reviews were good; lunch, dinner, birthday parties, snacks, sandwiches. 2 of the "reviews" were bad. The first one,because they were sat at a table near the loos and the kitchen, and because "we had to weight(sic) whist the food was served" and
(two of us had)..the Vegan curry and unfortunately it did not meet expectations possibly as vegan cooking is not the chefs skill . and left most of theres.
. The co-owner replied immediately. The second review was from someone who said their partner suffered a coeliac event two hours after leaving and warned people off, The manager replied that his partner was coeliac, and that their complaint was answered within 25 minutes of their leaving!!

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Pepper Pig » Sat Sep 19, 2020 9:27 am

The G has some nice looking Greek recipes today . . .

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/s ... ed-recipes

. . . and an interesting use for basil stalks.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/s ... -waste-not

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Sep 19, 2020 10:10 am

The Greek recipe looks good - though not sure why the food stylist decided to present 2 plates of food on random non-matching crockery with miscellaneous cutlery

400g of pork fillet + 200g feta is rather more than I’d make for 2 portions

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby mistakened » Sat Sep 19, 2020 12:12 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:400g of pork fillet + 200g feta is rather more than I’d make for 2 portions

Probably enough for four in this household. I assume that she is using frozen artichokes, far less fiddly.

Moira

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Sep 19, 2020 12:20 pm

No, she mentioned using fresh, frozen artichokes are quite hard to find in the UK, I can get them from Turkish and Middle Eastern shops, but very hard to source in the rest of England I think

Did remind me I have a can of artichoke hearts that I must use up at some time

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby scullion » Sat Sep 19, 2020 12:48 pm

i have a load that i need to pick - some are flowering with that beautiful purple crown.

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby karadekoolaid » Sat Sep 19, 2020 1:00 pm

though not sure why the food stylist decided to present 2 plates of food on random non-matching crockery with miscellaneous cutlery

I agree. I think the "food stylist" might have been a presenter of dog´s dinners in a former life. 8-) 8-)

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Earthmaiden » Sat Sep 19, 2020 5:10 pm

I thought that non-matching crockery etc was supposed to be fashionable (often acquired by shopping in charity or 'antique' shops).

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Sep 19, 2020 5:53 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:I thought that non-matching crockery etc was supposed to be fashionable (often acquired by shopping in charity or 'antique' shops).


I think that can look great when you go to, for example, a tea shop and each person gets a place setting in a different pattern, but usually of fairly similar style or with a theme of some kind, but those 2 plates really do look as if they were just selected at random

Is the fashion still going? I thought it had gone!

Remember Harlequin tea sets - all the same shapes but different colours, usually very strong colours

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Pepper Pig » Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:55 am


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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:52 am

Mish mash crockery is probably no longer fashionable in London but it does live on in some Provincial parts. I think that (probably because the average dwelling is so small and TV cooks stand and eat in the kitchen!) table laying is far less formal nowadays - not everywhere of course.

I've never made Sushi. I'm trying to introduce GD to it (but not with raw fish yet).

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Sep 20, 2020 12:03 pm

I agree that table laying is far less formal, and I’m very happy with that as long as I get some kind of napkin, a sheet of kitchen roll will do fine thank you very much

I’ve thought about making sushi, but never tried, oddly I don’t think there’s anywhere round here that does good takeaway sushi, though possibly the Japanese small plates café has it

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Re: Foodies In The News

Postby Pepper Pig » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:32 pm

An interview with the wonderful Asma Khan.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/s ... ng-express

It must be OFM week. British Caribbean cooking. Wow!

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/s ... cheesecake

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