Tom Roper's Weblog

A bad year for Cydonia oblonga

Has it been a bad year for quinces elsewhere? I went to the smallholding in the Ouse valley where I have bought them before, only to find that this year's crop has been poor. Late frosts crippled the blossoms, the plums as well, and then, when the fruits were setting, a storm coincided with a high tide. The river by the side of the smallholding is tidal, and the gale blew salt spray onto the young fruit, damaging them further. The farmer showed me the scars and blemishes on river-facing side, in contrast to the other.

Still, they will be good for quince jelly, or quince vodka. The orchard looked well too, as hens and guinea-fowl ran through the damp yellow leaves.

Patience Gray in Petit Propos Culinaires

In 2005 I recorded the death of Patience Gray, author of Plats du Jour and Honey from a Weed. Adam Federman drew my attention to his article in Petit Propos Culinaires, a reprint of which may be seen on his site, The Whetting Stone.

Food for the aorta

Making suet dumplings as part of my pre-marathon diet, I was struck by the curious fact that the manufacturer's name is an anagram of aorta, the artery that I am about to clog.

suet, dumplings, anatomy

Bread riots

On last night's Newsnight they reported that the price of bread has risen by 14.3% over the past year. There was a time when this would have provoked rioting. I'm not sure why we don't riot. I well remember conversations a long time ago when we believed that if beer reached £1 a pint, revolution would follow.

The price of a loaf at the Seaford bakery I use has gone up. At Bill's in Lewes they ask you for £3 for a sourdough loaf. I could bake my own, of course.

There is a slump. The old bipolar disorder of capitalism, known and tolerated for centuries, gets worse with age,

Food at Sussex

Two Sussex students have made a film about food on campus, Food for UoS.(Google video link; I believe it's also up in YouTube and Facebook)
'Food for US is a student made investigative documentary, addressing food at Sussex University and asking how it could be improved ... nutritionally, ethically and environmentally.'
Good for them. I don't agree with everything they say, but when I arrived at the university in 2003 I was surprised to find the food served for the most part indistinguishable from that offered at university when I was an undergraduate in the mid-70s.
The university has just carried out a catering review, but it was merely an exercise in cost-cutting.

Shrove Tuesday

Pancakes

Cheat's Pimms

In view of the hot weather (and to preserve it for posterity) I offer here my recipe for cheat's Pimms, which makes something drinkable, not the watered-down concoction fit only for toddlers one makes if buying the stuff in a bottle from a shop.