Crimes against Food and Drink

Lager

Hi

To be fair a homemade meatball sandwich with horseradish and grated fennel is rather lush.

A crime to me is throwing any food away on its best before date, and putting a fizzy mixer in a decent brandy.

Rosti is lovely - try it at Betty's in Yorkshire.  It's absolutely delicious, as is that made by my son!  Crispy, and lovely and very moreish!

And some subway sandwiches are almost addictive.  You can choose exactly what you want!  And it definitely doesn't have to be meatballs!  We ate them first in Bristol when my son was at Uni twenty years ago, but still occasionally 'treat' ourselves.

My pet hate is 'plastic cheese' of the sort you used to buy in boulder size blocks which squeaks when cut, and tastes like very mild Dairylea cheese spread.  Woolworths used to sell it, as did a lot of supermarkets in the 1960's (and some still do).

Often it's not so much the food itself that's a crime, it's how it's made and attitude of the user, the maker who is the criminal. Offal for instance can be absolutely discussing or devine. The humble cabbage can be boiled to a grey green mess, the calamari rubberised, liver reduced to something like old boots. But in the hands of a skilled and knowledgable person even the most humble, ordinary ingredient can be crafted into a sensuous delight. Then there are the creative folk who can turn the bizarre, the seemingly incompatible ingredients into a new gastronomic experience. How many of us have said 'I don't like that' when we have never even tried it or at best, tried it once when presented to us in a form fit only for the bin which has the formed that never again lasting belief. I for one detested shellfish for some unknown reason but having holidayed in northern Spain I can say that the dishes I sampled there 'converted' me. I also unwittingly ordered tripe by mistake as part of a tapas meal, chicken livers likewise and how scrumptious were they. It's often the hands, the skills and the knowhow of the cook or chief that determines the outcome. 

Similarly, poor produce which has long passed its prime presented on the plate or mass produced food items can, not always mind, be most disagreeable. Having said all this, let's not forget that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. I love old rhubarb stewed to distruction in a soggy pastry pie with custard which has a congealed skin on the top, beautiful, just like my granny made it, yummy, yummy! 

Ok I know these aren't U.K. dishes (thankfully!!), but in a high class restaurant in Asia being wined and dined I was treated to chickens' feet and jellyfish!!  Oh, and a baby crocodile with its head peering artistically over the side of the dish.  Certainly nothing ever to be repeated, disgusting!!!

I also unwittingly ordered tripe by mistake

Although I really enjoy most sorts of offal, I just don't like tripe. As a child it was poached in milk and totally disgusting. In later years I have ordered it a few times, once in a French restaurant, where the chef had awards for his tripe in frames on the wall, and folk came from miles around to sample it. The sauce was to die for but the tripe as disgusting a ever.

Perhaps one day I will have a go myself. Although unlike, hearts, liver, kidneys, sweetbreads etc it does not seem that easy to come by.

Well done steak. What a waste.

I used to cook tripe a lot between late 70's and early 90's and it was hard to get then, Some places sold the bleached honeycomb but nowhere sold unbleached tripe. In the end I spoke with a well reputed butcher on Chester market. It took him a few days to source. The reason was that it was being exported to France. My German Shepherd and Lab used to love it when I hand fed (count fingers afterwards). I used to get full stomachs in a bin bag complete with partly digested grass, I would clean and portion, the honeycombed tripe being saved for the family. I was in correspondence with a chef in a top London hotel and he provided many recipes. We also swapped sample dishes in insulated containers with ice pack. The best section of the 4 stomachs is the honeycomb which is gelatinous and carries flavours well. 

I bet that it is near impossible to source now.

White sliced bread, the cheap kind. Total pap.

White sliced bread, the cheap kind. Total pap.
 
 Excellent stuff. It stays on the hook well as bait.