Rog T Food blog - In praise of Rabbi Blue, his recipies and his approach to life

Why did I start this food feature? Let me tell you a little story. Back in January 1987, my Dad passed away suddenly. The family was in bits. My Mum was devastated. They had been married for 43 years and it had never really occurred to my mother that she'd be alone. Years later she told me she'd believed they'd both die in a horrific car crash, as the result of my Dad's maniacally reckless driving. Neither did. 

Later that year, I bought the family home from my mum. She had a small flat up the road. In 1989, she was still in a very depressed and down state. The Easter weather looked fine. I decided to do something to try and 'snap her out of it'. She had chronic back problems caused by osteoperosis and was in constant pain. She was angry with me for all sorts of reasons, none of which I thought were particularly rational. I'd nip in to see her and have a Guinness and it would always end up in an massive argument. I now see that we were quite similar and not particularly good at conceding ground in arguments. But I realised that something had to change. So I came up with a cunning plan. Have an Easter barbeque in the garden and ask all of the family. I told Mum and she was not impressed "I don't like barbeques". I said "Well come down and just have a Guinness, all of the family are coming". She said "I'll see how I feel". I took this to be a no. My plan was to despatch my sisters on the day and drag her down. The next time I saw her, she said "Who is coming to the barbeque?". I told her I'd just asked family, brothers, sisters and their kids, and they'd all said they were coming, even my sister Val, who lived in Florida. She snarled, well I suppose I'll have to make an appearance. For the next week, she didn;t mention it. The Thursday, two days before, to my surprise, she said "I am looking forward to the barbeque, what shall I bring?". I was gobsmacked. I said "Surprise me, bring something nice". She said "What about a salad?". I said "A salad would be lovely". 

On the appointed day, she appeared, proudly clutching a bean salad. I've never eaten anything, before or since with so much garlic. To my amazement, she was on sparkling form, was the last to go, scoffing down sausages and burgers and getting rather bladdered. Everyone complimented her on her bean salad, which we all agreed was the highlight. After that, she made a bean salad for every barbeque. It made me realise the power of communal eating. It is no coincidence that the central point of christian worship, is a ceremonial meal of bread and wine. Sharing a meal is a great way to build bridges. 

Mum passed away in 2008. About six months ago, I was discussing Mum's bean salad with my sister Caroline. She said "Oh, you mean Rabbi Blue's bean salad. Mum got the recipe from The Universe". For those of you who don't know it, the Universe is a Roman Catholic weekly publication. I've never read it. I always assumed it was full of ecclesiastical appointments and nuns visiting the Pope. Not the sort of stuff that interests me. I was surprised it had a cooking column. I assumed that they simply syndicated a column to fill space, as a sop to all of the old Irish ladies who read it out of religious duty. But I wanted to get hold of the recipe for Mums bean salad, so I googled Rabbi Blue.

I found one of his cookery books on Amazon and bought it. Ironically, it didn't have the recipe in it. In the forward, I was shocked to read this line after his lsy of thanks "I have to put my friend Rowanne at the head of the list because it was she who 'discovered' me. When Rowanne came to The Universe she asked me to fill in for the family page for a couple of weeks. Well I've been filling in for years now."

I started reading the book. It is a recipe book with a difference. Every recipe has a story and a little bit of a reflection that, if you bother to read it, will impart a deeper wisdom. As I found with the barbeque, food brings us together.  In one chapter, Rabbi Blue asks "How do you learn to love? You can't take an evening course in lovong or get a BSc in tolerance. It is something which has to grow in you like a seed and tact is a good way to begin." This is part of the pre-amble to a recipe for vegetarian Yorkshire pudding! 

Some thoughts from Rabbi Blue

Rabbi Blue passed away years ago. Had it not been for that chance conversation, I wouldn't have even known of him. His book is brilliant and I am already starting to use and adapt some of his recipes and ideas. Reading his book has solidified a feeling that I've had for a long time that most cookery programmes fail to miss the central point of food. Up until my generation was born, food was something that families shared. The dining table was a place where we got together, ate, drank and shared our lives. Now we get a plate of slop and sit in front of the telly, too distracted to enjoy the flavours and the tastes or even to listen to those with us. It is no surprise that so many of us have mental health issues. Rabbi Blue, in a quiet, gentle way showed us the path. It may seem odd that a Rabbi was the star cookery writer of a Roman Catholic publication. In truth, it shows a deeper more important truth. Food is something that can bring us together. When I used to volunteer at The Passage day centre for homeless people, I'd often share a cup of tea and a chat with one of the clients, often over a bacon sandwich, in our short break. When you share a meal and a conversation with someone, you develop a bond, often only for that short moment, but you are both doing something essential to the human existence. 

I do not believe we can medicate ourselves out of the mental health crisis that faces us. I do not believe that we can fix it through therapy. I believe that the seeds of the answer is to communicate with each other and this is best done over a shared meal. I bought Rabbi Blue's book to find out how to make a bean salad. I didn't find that, but I think I may well have stumbled on a deeper truth. And the good news is that delicious food is at the heart of it. It reminds me that we are long overdue a family barbeque as well. If you have Rabbi Blue's recipe for Bean Salad, please let me know!

Rog T Food Blog - Making salad sexy!

I've been on a diet since last November. Salads are a big part of this. The problem for me with salads though, is that they always seem like a penance! I'm not even convinced that most of the ones you buy in a supermarket plastic carton are actually healthy. I always check for additives and you'd be surprised what they put in. Is there any reason why salads need to be as dull as dishwater? I think not.

One of my missions over the last year has been to make tasty salads that are not unhealthy and have some nitritional value.  Some of the ingredients of salad, such as lettuce, don't really have much flavour. Alternatives such as rocket and watercress do. Fresh tomatoes are a healthy vegetable. Beetroot also has benefits. I quite like cucumber, especially when pickled. Finely chopped shallots also add a bit of flavour. 

I like to make up my own dressings. There are many listed health benefits of cider vinager with mother. That is my base. I add some tumeric, smoked paprika and pepper and a small amount of olive oil. If I am feeling spicy, I add some finely chopped fresh hot chilli and some grated garlic.

Depending on the day of the week and my mood, I have tinned sardines, boiled eggs, cheese or smoked mackerel with it. I am not a fan of mayonnaise or salad cream. They leave a cloying aftertaste. By making my own, I get something to my taste. It also works out much cheaper to make it up, rather than buying a bland, tasteless shop made salad.

Rog T's Food Blog - The best dish I ever tasted and will I ever taste such delights again

Copyright Roger Tichborne 2025

What was the best food you ever tasted? Is there a foodie moment that stands out? For me, that is easy. I can even tell you the date. It was on the 7th June 1977. It was the day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and we had a street party in our street (Millway, NW7). The road was closed between Newcombe Park and Russell Grove as a I recall. Punting was put up and it seemed that everyone got into the spirit of the fun. 

The organisers suggested that every family brought out a dish or two and we had a giant buffet, that seemed to go all the way up the street!

Copyright Roger Tichborne 2025

The UK, London and Millway was a very different place back then. If you look at these pictures, you will see a very different demographic mix of people to London and Millway today. The UK was not the foodie capital that it is today. Such events were usually sandwiches and sausage rolls. If you were lucky, you got a mushroom vol au vent, which were seen as very fancy. People made a huge effort, but they weren't terribly adventurous or creative when they made food. As we knew nothing else and seemed always to be hungry, we didn't mind. 

At the time, the most exotic thing I'd ever had was "Chinese Nosh" from the New China Garden in Station Road. We usually had sweetcorn and chicken soup, pancake rolls to start, along with sweet and sour pork, special fried rice and prawn balls, with lychees and ice cream to follow. It seemed very fancy. Exotic dishes were typically described as "foreign muck". Garlic was derided as something French people ate. 

I was lucky. My Dad had been a pilot and travelled the world. He loved world cuisine and would try things. He liked spices and derided the closed minds of many of his peers and friends. When the Mill Hill Tandoori opened, he was delighted, he loved curries. I'd not sampled them at this stage, Mum was more conservative and I was a kid, so I'd not developmed my beer and curry fascination.

Anyway back to the street party. Dad suggested we make our way up and try a few of the different cuisines. The only problem was that everyone had made the same thing! Then Dad spotted at the end of the road avery colourful lady, with a massive pot next to her. As was Dad's want, he made a bee line for her table. She was Nigerian and her and her family had just moved in. She'd made spare ribs in a sauce. I've never seen ribs as big before or since. The sauce was something to behold, both sweet and savoury at the same time. The meat fell off the bones. She said she'd spent two days preparing it. Dad was fascinated. Even with his extensive travelling, this was new to him. Dad was always fascinated by new people. The husband worked in the oil industry. Dad had also worked in the industry and they had a long chat. Dad insisted I try some of the ribs. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It smelled great, even as you approached. It was rare for anything other than chip shops to smell back then! 

My mum actually got quite grumpy with him. Dad was like me. He was greedy and Mum knew he was rather smitten by this lady and her pot of spare ribs. She didn't like women she couldn't compete with successfully and this lady's ribs were simply out of this world. Mum then saw her sister and huffed off. Dad turned around to me and said "Son, there's a lesson here. I'll tell your mum they were horrible later, and I was just being polite" as he tucked into another helping. 

I can honestly say that I've never had anything as good since. I suspect they were beef ribs. I have no idea what the sauce was. If I ever taste such a thing again before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I will die in food heaven. If there is anyone out there with the recipe for Nigerian spare ribs, let me know. I will forever be in your debt and I'll give you a free pot noodle in return!

When small minded people talk about how things would be better withoput immigrants, I always recall those spare ribs. They are fools!

Rog T's Food Blog - When I eat out, where do I go?

 At the weekend, I was asked what my favourite cuisine and my favourite restaurant is. I thought about it for a few moments and said "Can I get back to you on that?" I have my favourites, but it is horses for courses. I would choose a different restaurant and cuisine for a romantic dinner with my wonderful wife, to a night out with the boys. So here are my choices.

1. Romantic dinner with Clare

My go to place of choice would have to be The Bleeding Heart near Farringdon. Not cheap, but the food and wine are excellent and it is somewhere you can relax and have a nice evening. The restaurant changes and there are cheaper set meal options, which you generally have to ask for. We've probably been going for the best part of 20 years and never been disappointed. Sadly it's mostly birthdays and anniversaries. As I've not won the lottery yet!

2. Dinner with friends which won't break the bank

If we want something nice, but not overly expensive, we go to the Wet Fish cafe in West Hampstead. It is only ten minutes down the Thameslink line. They have very reasonable early bird deals. Check for the details as it does change. As the name implies, they are very good at fish and the meals are well cooked and the contents fresh.

3. Lunch on my own.

I love a nice Pie and Mash. I am making my way around London trying to visit as many as possible, when I have spare time. Sadly I am not making the progress I hoped. I've blogged about my love of a greta pie and mash. My personal favourite is Castle's in Camden and that  isn't just loyalty to North London. Pie and mash is very niche, it ain't posh. I like places where you can pretend the last 40 years never happened, if only for five minutes. Be warned, they only take cash.

4. Dinner out with my mates.

This will surprise no one. It has to be The Mill Hill Tandoori. It isn't posh, there are better Indian dining experiences, but it is unsurpassed for a night out with your mates for beer and curry. If you are a bit noisy, no one gives you a skunk eye. And a few of the dishes are actually as good as you'll have anywhere, notably, the Tandoori Salmon and the Tarka Dal. The Naan's are pretty good as well.

5. Family meal out with the kids.

This has to be The Good Earth in Mill Hill. It is expensive, but the food is as good as anything I've had. It is one of the few restaurants that always seems to be busy. I love their duck and the Kung Po Prawns. It has been the restaurant of choice since the 1980's for family do's. The old boss witnessed my Dad being robbed at Lloyds Bank in Mill Hill in 1984. His testamony saw the assailants arrested and sent to prison. Sadly, him, Dad and Lloyds are all long gone!

6. Breakfast.

I love a good full English. Sadly many of my favourite cafe's have gone. I will actually give you two as I can't make mind up. Until recently I'd have just said "Cafe Anglais in Colindale". There's not much to say about a proper full English and they do it! Recently, I've also had a few tasty breakfasts at The Little Portland Cafe, on Little Portland St. Again it's excellent. A word of advice, if you buy a cheaper breakfast and add items it can work out better value. Most enjoyable.

7. Great value Italian.

I'd thoroughly recommend Rosella in Kentish Town. It is just down the road from my favourite pub, The Southampton Arms. The food is fresh and reasonably priced. 

All this talk of grub has made me feel hungry!

 

Rog T's food blog #10 - How woke is your dinner?

 When I came up with the concept of my food blog, I never dreamed that I'd be writing blogs about the relative wokeness of what is on your dinner plate, but then I never dreamed (30p) Lee Anderson, who seems to me to have a very unhealthy relationship with food, would be stupid enough to tweet this.

It seems Lee has a problem with Avocado pears. They are far too woke for him. Fish and chips clearly is OK, although I am not entirely sure what his objections to tomato sauce are. My first thought was "How pathetic". Then I thought "every time any member of Reform UK now eats in public, they will have to ensure no Avocado or any other dish that may be deemed 'woke', or they will be snapped and lampooned. Sarah Pochin is now doomed to a life of eating only food which may be deemed sensible by Lee. What this will do for her cholesterol, heaven only knows. 

Oddly, over the last few years, I've been unlucky enough to be in the same restaurant as a fair few right wing Brexity types. It has not been pleasant. I saw Nigel Farage having dinner with former UKIP chair Andrew Reid, who is a MillHill Resident in one of our local pubs. I was happy to leave him to it. I didn't see what he was having, but nothing is particularly cheap or 'English'. However the last thing I'd do is bother someone if they are having dinner. Having said that Nigel seemed quite happy to pose for selfies. As I recall, he had a nice jug of beer at hand, but seemed far keener on the plonk they were quaffing, although the beer was featured in the pictures. Being fair, he wasn't giving it the big "I am" and left me alone. When I saw Lee's tweet I did wonder whether I'd be tempted to get a crafty snap of his dinner for some fun, if I saw him there again, but generally I prefer not to bother people when they are off duty.

I also saw Neil Oliver and Laurence Fox in the Darcie & May restaurant boat near Paddington a few years back. I didn't check their dinner either, but both had a fair few bottles of plonk and were loud and annoying (in a way Farage wasn't). They seemed as if they wanted attention, it was a very 'look at us' vibe emanating from them. As we were at the next table, ignoring them was hard, but seemed the best policy. It's a lovely place for dinner, but we've not been back since. Once with those two was enough.

So anyway, I thought I'd look at my food log since the weekend and see how I'd fare with Lee's sensible dining measure. I've marked all of my meals out of 10. Ten is very sensible in a Brexity sort of way. Zero is super woke. So Fish and Chips is a ten and Avocado and Quinoir is zero.

Tuesday Lunch

Greggs Sausage Roll - 10

Tinned Mackerel salad - 3 (Not sure if tinned Mackerel is woke, but Salad must be)

Pear & Banana - 2 (fresh fruit must be woke!)

Tuesday Breakfast
Porridge with Fruit - 4 (Porridge is probably Brexity, but I ruined it with fruit)

Monday Dinner

Cheese sandwich and pickled onion 9 - I think Lee would approve but probably demand chips for a 10.

Monday Lunch

Steak & Kidney Pie, Chips and Beans 10. I think this would be fine with Lee

Monday Breakfast
Porridge with Fruit - 4

Sunday Dinner

Barbeque inc Steak, Sausages, Chicken and Ribs 6 - (I suspect Lee would get the hump as I get my meat at Bucherie Gerard. It's all free range and high quality. I reckon Lee likes Walls bangers on the grill)

Sunday Brunch

Full English Fry up at a cafe in Apsley 8. I suspect the food would get 10 but it was a rather fancy cafe and they included Haloumi. I don't think Lee would approve of the term 'Brunch'

Saturday

Dinner

Italian Meal in Kentish Town 0  - Foreign muck in Lee's eyes.

Lunch

Sausage roll at Wembley 10 - Lee would approve.

Breakfast

Cheese, Mushroom and Spinach Omlette 2  - I think Lee would be fine with an omelette, but the Spinach wokifies it.

Friday 

Dinner

Italian food at Carluccios 0 - Woke foreign muck

Breakfast

Porridge with Fruit - 4

To my surprise, my average score is 5/10. I'm right in the middle betweet Woke and Sensible when it comes to food. I suspect that I got a far more sensible score than usual, with football and Darren (my manager) getting me a sausage roll to cheer me up. 

I have to say that the idea of food being sensible is actually the most stupid idea I've ever heard of. Now my missus is always imploring me to eat sensibly ( and failing as you can see above). Her idea of sensible food is tiny portions, generally of such things as sushi and mung beans. I suspect Lee would not deem my missus sensible, but I have to say I'd trust her judgement over his any day. Food should be enjoyed. When politicians start pontificating like Lee, we are on a rocky road. I love fish and chips (with proper mushy peas that his friend didn't have). However, it is far more sensible to include a pickled onion and a wally. I'd never judge anyone by whats on their plate, but I do judge people if they post idiotic tweets. I also suspect that if Sarah Pochin ever does emulate "The Iron Lady" and become Prime Minister, she won't give old 30p a job.

Rog T's Food Blog #9 - The perfect pub sandwich

 Here's a business idea for anyone with a few million quid burning a hole in your pocket. Give me your dosh and I'll set up the perfect pub chain for you. Now I won't give you all of my ideas here, you'll have to pay for those, but I will explain a key aspect of the menu. The sandwiches that will be on sale. Now I'm someone who has been going into pubs for a very long time. In that time, I've had a lot of sandwiches and what amazes me is that the quality has simply got worse every year year for about 40 years. I suspect that the pinnacle of pub sandwiches on London was probably around 1985. This is a purely subjetive view, based on the pubs I frequented, but all of the best sandwiches I had were made then.

So lets start with a few rules. A decent sandwich has to be made on the spot, with fresh bread. If it is unsliced bread, even better. In our family, we called such sandwiches doorstops. They were never cut into triangles. The bread was white and crusty and delicious. The next element is the butter. This must be proper butter. I like Lurpack unsalted personallty, but there are plenty of other brands that are good, or at least acceptible. Any pub that went to the trouble of getting that right, rarely went wrong. The next element is the filling. I loath gunge in a sandwich, which makes it soggy. I far prefer sandwiches that do not have mayonaise on them. So what is acceptable?

Mature cheddar cheese, I can accept it with pickle, but if the cheese is proper it doesn't need it.

Thick cut ham with English or at a stretch Dijon Mustard. Thin, watery supermarket ham is not acceptable.

Sausage. This can be served with HP sauce or Dijon Mustard. The sausage must be freshly cut and hot.

Bacon. I don't think a good bacon sandwich needs anything. It must be hot bacon.

Falafel with tomato, onion and garlic sauce. The falafels must be hot and I will break my no gunge rule.

Smoked Salmon, with a dash of lemon and pepper.

That is really it. I am not a fan of wraps. Why put good food in something that tastes like cardboard? As for french sticks, generally I find them to be a bit stale. The Three Horseshoes in Letchmore Heath used to do amazing sausages in French bread back in the 1980's. We went their specially for them. They were massive Cumberlands that sat in a sausage oven staring at you. They also had all of the above options, apart from the Falafels, which I only had once at a pub in town. It was the best sandwich I had there. It was delicious, but it went when the Landlord went.

I don't really like garnish with sandwiches. Just a plate with the sarnie on it. The modern trend is to put masses of different fillings in, which generally don't compliment each other. If you use good ingredients, you don't need lots of other stuff in there. 

I think that a pub that sold proper, decent, filling, fresh sandwiches would do well, especially at lunch times. If I am in a rush, I want a tasty, filling meal that I don't have to mess around with. A good sandwich goes very well with a pint, but for reasons I don't understand, the numpties that run pubs simply don't get this. Our local pubs in Mill Hill don't even seem capable of making a basic sandwich. What is wrong with them?

Rog T's Food Blog #2 - Pub Snacks - Tuesday is food day

Welcome to the second installment of my food blog. I promised that this blog would be different to most food blogs. Today we look at a topic that is a much overlooked genre of bar food, one we often don't even give a second thought to. The good old bar snack. As I've said on many occasions in this blog over the last seventeen years, one of my greatest pleasures in life is to sit on my own in a pub, with a pint of the finest ale, a bag of nuts and the Evening Standard.  Not a session, just a quick drink, a moment's quiet and a snack, before facing the journey home.  I've written a song about the joy of doing this, it didn't make the final cut of our album release, but it's a song I rather like. A demo version is still on our Soundcloud page (See the Bottom of the page)

Sadly, the Standard is no longer published. It has been superceded by people staring at their phones. There is a whole generation who doesn't know the serenity of a pint of warm beer, a pint and a paper. On Saturday, I had a pint and a bag of crisps in the Dublin Castle in Camden. I was passing through and had fifteen minutes to waste. Sadly no paper to read. Nonetheless the pleasure in just wasting fifteen minutes of my life was wonderful.

As often happens in such moments, I got to thinking about the blogs I had planned for the week. I got to thinking about the bag of crisps in front of me and my food blog series. I have no idea of the total value to the UK economy of bar snacks sold with pints etc, in pubs in the UK in a year. Whilst the pubco's that have embarked on a mission to ruin our pubs have decided that "food is the future of the pub industry", there are still some of us that actively avoid foodie pubs when meeting up for a drink. That doesn't mean we don't get a bit peckish. In Spain, they invented the concept of Tapas. These were small snacks, that you nibble as you drink. Originally, Tapas were things such as olives, small bits of tortilla and perhps fried potatoes with a chilli sauce (patatas Bravas). Now we have Tapas restaurants. The concept has been lost. The food is accompanied by the drink and they have full main courses. 

When I started going to pubs, often the snacks were free. You'd see little dishes of crisps and salted nuts on the bar. On a Sunday, it would be salty roast potatoes. These were salty snacks, given freely to make customers more thirsty and drink more beer. The Pubco's then cottoned on to the idea that they could charge customers to make themselves thirsty. Now we have to buy our own snacks.

Now when such snacks were free, I never thought about it. Now the quality of such snacks in most pubs irritates me. Now I am not calling for pubs to become Tapas bars. Sure I'd love small plates of chorizo and gambas with my pint for a couple of quid, but I'd settle for a little bit more imagination. Most pubs these days sell Walkers crisps. To me, these are horrible. The Salt and Vinegar crisps use acetic acid rather than viengar (citric acid), it is shrp and tangy but has no flavour. The less fat crisps have the flavour of cardboard. The cheese and onion crisps taste of sweaty feet, not cheese or onion. As for the nuts, they sell Nobbys nuts. These are all uniformly shaped. They are designed to please the eye, not the tastebuds. They taste of wood chips. If you get proper, old school nuts, such as KP, you notice that the nuts are odd shapes. They are different types of peanuts, the round ones have a different taste to the flat ones and are more expensive for the suppliers to buy. In short, the old school nuts are a better product. Next time you are in the pub, bet some KP nuts and contrast how the different shaped nuts taste. 

Some of the best bar snacks are rarely found. Pork Scratchings are rare, pickled eggs even rarer. I cannot recall the last time I had a free roast potato. Now for the pubco's this doesn't matter. They look at profit margins on products. They are run by bean counters, who do not understand the value of a premium brand. They are not interested in selling beer, they want the food sales and see snacks as potentially damaging this. People eating crisps are taking up the space that a customer spending ten times as much on a plate of substandard food might spend, or they would be if pubs were full....

However, it is rare that I've been in a full pub recently. The exception has tended to be in central London and generally the pubs are pubs that are wet pubs (focus on selling beer). I've noted that these tend to sell better quality crisps and nuts. They also appear to have staff who know what they are doing. Maybe it's just me, but when I am in a pub and the beer is good and I enjoy the bar snacks, I am far more likely to make a mental note to go back. Of all the foods, it occurs to me that bar snacks have the most subliminal effect. No one will concsiously ever go to the pub because they sell great crisps and nut, but if they do, you are likeley to feel happy and develop a liking for the pub. 

I'll end with a few of my favourite bar snacks.

Whelks with black pepper & vinegar. Not had them for years. Back in the day, you'd get blokes with trays doing the rounds of pubs. Whelks, Cockles and Prawns all on offer. I've not seen one for donkeys years.

Roast spuds. I've mentioned these a few times. Delicious with a pint of  best. There was a time when all the local pubs would put them out on a Sunday.

Picked Eggs with salt and pepper. An acquired taste. I especially liked one of these inthe pub after I played football on a freezing Saturday afternoon in January. It just seemed right.

Burts sea salt and malt vinegar crisps. Taste like proper crisps. There was a phase when these seemed to be everywhere, now hard to find, even in supermarkets. They actually taste of salt and vinegar.

KP Original salted peanuts. The best. Simple as that!

 

The False Dots · Intermission In The The Ship

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Rog T's Food Blog #1 - Let's kick off with a little chat about what makes great food - Tuesday is food day

 Welcome, Welcome to a brand new feature, which will appear on a Tuesday. I've long considered doing a food blog. I wasn't quite sure whether to set up a new blog specifically for food or as a subset of this blog. Being a lazy sod, I decided that Tuesday would be food day on this page. So what will it all be about? Well, as well as being a lazy sod, I am also a greedy git. I love food. I also love talking about it, cooking and sharing the good places I go. So this will feature reviews if I go to a great eating place, or a great place to get food. It will feature recipes, if I discover one that I like.  I will also be commenting occasionally on what other food writers and programmes are saying (one of the odd things is how rarely I actually see a recipe I'd bother cooking on cookery shows and how rarely I get a useful tip). I'll also, occasionally, be giving my views on healthy nutrition. These are a personal view and I am not medically trained, so don't take these as anything other than the ravings of a lunatic (but please remember that lunatics made Britain Great!).

And it will feature my opinions on food, something I have strong opinions on. Talking b@ll@cks on  my blog and eating are two of my passions, so it should be a marriage made in heaven. And finally, I will even be making the odd video of some of my cooking tips, when the mood takes me.  So where shall I start?

Well lets start with a few words about what I consider good food to be? If I eat a meal, there are three things I want. The first is, I want it to be tasty. The second is that I want it to be full after I've eaten. The third thing is I don't want to feel ill. For me, the feeling ill is a dealbreaker. I have a hiatus hernia and I nearly died of a stomach bleed in 1984, so I do watch my food. It is why I rarely eat pizza, even though I enjoy it. When I am starving hungry, sometimes the first and last criteria goes out of the window. The middle one is pretty much always important if I am having a meal. I like fresh, high quality ingredients. With these I rarely feel ill. I like spiced, flavoured food generally, although I also enjoy traditional British foods. We will be exploring both.

I sometimes watch food programmes for ideas. Most either cook food I don't like and wouldn't eat, don't do things the way I like them or are simply irritating. If I watch a programme, I want to learn things and be buzzing with inspiration. There is no point making food shows with ingredients you can't get in the UK or that you need to bury food for a week in the garden to make (a figure of speech). I'm not into baking at all, as I don't have a sweet tooth, so that rules out the most popular cooking show. I don't mond Masterchef too much as generally you will pick up a few tips. I really don't get the Nigella style shows as I've never been inspired to cook a single item they've made. 

Then there are food reviewers. Interestingly, Yummies in Mill Hill has a review from Giles Coren at The Times in the window. He loves the food there. It does good smoked salmon and great beigels, although I used to prefer the ones we'd get down in Aldgate when I worked down there. A Coren review alerted us to the excellent JM Oriental Kitchen in Colindale. Credit where credit is due, and I will be following up the odd recoommendation and giving my considered thoughts.

One of the inspirations for starting this series is the fact I'm on a pretty harsh diet at the moment. I have been since mid November. I've lost a stone in that time and feel far better. That is even with a pretty good Xmas in the middle. It has made me appreciate how many food adverts there are on telly. When you are only eating two meals a day, in a four hour window, you realise that you want to eat good food. It works for me. I am doing this three times a week and it was a real struggle at first. It is getting easier and I feel better. So I will be writing about this as well.

Then there are my recipes. I am toying with the idea of videoing some of these. The issue here is Mrs T detests me blogging and utterly refuses to take part, which makes it hard for me to really do the sort of video I'd like.

I will also be looking at where I get my food and why I go there. I think you may enjoy some of these bits, if I can do them how I want. 

And finally, I'll be sharing my food stories with you. Not all of these are what other food bloggers write about, but if you follow this blog, you probably knew that anyway. 

Anyway, I thought I'd start by just writing an introduction. I can't wait until next week to start (actually I have already)