Winter food

[khiemtran]

One of the nice things about the trip to London was the chance to try British winter food in the proper climate. A lot of the dishes I was familiar with, but somehow they seemed to make a bit more sense when it was genuinely cold outside instead of just cool (I always found mincemeat pies a bit too rich to be really enjoyable for example). On the other hand, I quite like Cornish pasties in Australia, but I wasn't impressed at all with the one I bought from the West Cornwall Pasty Co. Perhaps I only like east-Cornish pasties?

Another surprise was just how much pre-packaged food was on sale in the supermarkets. I don't know if it's just a big city thing (and I was mostly around the various tube stations) but it seemed like a third of the supermarket space was filled with prepared meals of various forms. I wonder if that's something that still lies in Australia's future, or if it's something unique to Britain.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Pre-prepared meals are a city, or more precisely, a big supermarket thing. I find them unappealing, so it doesn't bother me that our little supermarket doesn't have more than a few chilled meals available.

I have to admit that working the hours I do, I don't cook from scratch all that often, but I just semi-cheat by buying fresh meat and veggies and perhaps using a sauce in a jar to make a quick stir fry. Or I'll by a frozen meat pie and have it with fresh veg. Things like that.

Brits seem to be losing the ability to cook, yet like to watch food porn in the form of cookery programmes on TV.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I can see the attraction in grabbing something to take home and cook on your way home from work. Although I usually find my frantic cooking preparations to be paradoxically relaxing. I only get about ten to twenty minutes after getting home to get dinner either done or at least on the stove before I go to collect Liem. When everything has to be done that quickly, there isn't time for anything to become tedious. Plus, I'm getting faster at chopping all the time.

That said, a lot of Malaysian and Chinese recipes are based around having a full-time daughter-in-law or two around to do all the work.

Brits seem to be losing the ability to cook, yet like to watch food porn in the form of cookery programmes on TV.
Yes, I was thinking about that as I watched Jamie Oliver on the flight home. I suppose it's a natural and logical reaction. Personally, I think the thing that would make the most difference to my cooking is an oven that could reach desired temperature within five minutes of my getting home. I made a lamb roast on Wednesday, but we didn't eat it till Thursday because it took two hours to cook.