Crimes against food

[Suffs Profile]

Sakkarin ... Way back, when buying bacon from a stall on Swansea market the stall holder explained that the bacon was cured using traditional methods which made it very salty. She instructed me to put the rashers for breakfast in a shallow dishes h and pour hot water from the kettle over it ... leave for a few minutes then drain and place in a hot frying pan ... she said you’ll soon learn how long to leave it in the water to suit your taste. She was right and the bacon was delicious. She said that the old methods were developed back in the days before households had fridges anc the bacon had to be saltier to keep for longer. It makes sense. We used to always soak a bacon joint or gammon overnight before cooking didn’t we ... but nowadays most cures are so mild we don’t need to.

[Sakkarin Profile]

IS IT COLLAR BACON? Not collar, it's belly pork, I think it was from Loon Fung in Alperton.

The dessert was Lemon Parfait with Raspberries/compote and Tuiles.

Felafel soup (on the old website): http://carta.co.uk/foodforum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1813

Shame that I didn't have that info back when I made the bacon, Suffs! I remember how bacon joints used to have to be soaked.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Now that I come to think of it, I believe the biggest Crime Against Food was Heinz Spaghetti, and Ravioli, in a tin.

[Amyw Profile]

I quite like tinned spaghetti

[Joanbunting Profile]

Now that I come to think of it, I believe the biggest Crime Against Food was Heinz Spaghetti, and Ravioli, in a tin.

I couldn't gree more adding possibly Heinz curried beans = the very nearly turned me off curries for life!

[WWordsworth Profile]

I used to love curried beans and tinned ravioli.
I considered them exotic - at the time.

[Binky Profile]

when I was small, dad used to cook a Polish dish called Gołumbki. It was buttered cabbage leave parcels of mince, rice, onions and served with a tomato sauce.

Recently, I saw this at the local Polish shop, but in a tin. As I reached for it (for old time's sake) a Polish lady shopper said don't bother, the tinned version is terrible.

This is the version my dad cooked for us

http://fromargentinawithlove.com/2010/1 ... age-rolls/

[Sakkarin Profile]

"From Argentina With Love" ?

Don't let Wargarden see this Polish version, the "garniture" is dumplings AND parsley!!!

http://www.polskafoods.com/polish-stuff ... bki-recipe

[Binky Profile]

Sakkarin, a lot of Poles and Ukrainians went to Argentina post 1945. My dad's best army pal went out there and started a lorry driving business. He asked my dad (who had been re-settled in the UK) to join him, but by then dad had married my mother and I was on the way. Just think, I might have been a Spanish speaking Argentinian Pole.....

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Spaghetti hoops can’t have been the worst crime against food in my youth


There was Vesta chow mien, with those bullet like freeze dried peas

[Sakkarin Profile]

Do you remember me lovingly recreating it a few years back, following the instructions to the letter as if it was real food?

Tinned spaghetti many degrees more vile with me.

[Binky Profile]

Stop please! Vesta Chow Mein was unutterably exotic to Yorkshire teenagers in the early 1970s. We got back from a night out (10pm ish) and started to cook the chow mein. My memory is of a strange (but not unpleasant) flavour, and crunchy noodles. Not a bit like proper Chinese food, but tasty and exotic to us.

[Sakkarin Profile]

Here's my go at that recipe, Binky. Sheesh, what a faff! More faff even than stuffed chicken wings!

However quite tasty, in a rural Eastern European sort of way. By coincidence I happened to have 4 oz each of pork mince and beef mince in the freezer and just enough mushrooms, although I did buy an enormous cabbage specially. I removed the leaves before cooking the cabbage, it seemed more appropriate than cooking the whole cabbage, peeling off the outer leaves and throwing the rest away.

Half portion of the recipe made 9 huge stuffages, 3 would probably have been enough for a meal.

The tomato sauce was too chunky, so I semi-liquidised it, but it went a bit orangey, next time I'd probably attack it with a potato masher to reduce the lumps, rather than liquidise, leave it with some texture.

[Binky Profile]

to me, that looks perfect Sakkarin.

Yes, it's a faff, but dad did a whole bowlful of these tasty little parcels, so we dined on them for a couple of days at least.

Absolutely delicious in my memory of childhood.

[Rainbow Profile]

to me, that looks perfect Sakkarin.

Yes, it's a faff, but dad did a whole bowlful of these tasty little parcels, so we dined on them for a couple of days at least.

Absolutely delicious in my memory of childhood.

My mother used to make something similar - her parents were Russian - but they had lemon juice in the tomato sauce as well, if I remember correctly
We used to like them as kids, and like Binky ate them for a couple of days. My mother wasn't into very fussy cooking though, so maybe she had a less faffy method??

[Binky Profile]

Hi Rainbow, my dad was from eastern Poland (on the border with Ukraine). He spoke Polish and Russian; the recipes and household traditions were very similar, so I can well believe that your family had their version of this ubiquitous eastern European peasant dish.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’ve made Lebanese stuffed cabbage from an Anissa Helou recipe, they are actually quite similar to the golabki I’ve eaten at Dacquise Polish restaurant in South Kensington

https://daquise.co.uk/

[Binky Profile]

Looking at that menu is another strong reminder of childhood meals - red cabbage, barley stews, beetroot soup, strong horseradish, mashed potatoes, dumplings, lots of yogurt, rye bread and garlic.

Dad died when I was nearly 14 years old, and after that my English mother cooked fish fingers, Birds Eye beefburgers, and anything that went with chips (eggs, beans or fish). Horrible in retrospect.

[Renee Profile]

IS IT COLLAR BACON? Not collar, it's belly pork, I think it was from Loon Fung in Alperton.

Thanks Sakkarin. I would never have guessed.

Oooh Vesta Chow Mein with those lovely crispy noodles was probably my first introduction to Chinese food way back in the early 60s I would think!

[Sakkarin Profile]

Yep, absolutely, as authentically Chinese as instant Spag Bol!

I mentioned it was Loon Fung, as their pork belly is twice as thick as the stuff you get in supermarkets.