English cuisine.

As you can imagine I have a few things to say about English cuisine. Some good things and some not so complementary things. But it is my place of birth and the place that was my play ground for 25 years. I trained there and I worked there. In the past the Brits have got a bad rep for their culinary delights. But like any where in the world it has a lot to offer you just have to know where to look for it. Of course if you go to generic restaurants you deserve all you get as far as I am concerned. Take your chances do or die sort of thing. We found good food in the most unlikely places and nasty food in likely spots.

I wanted to start by showing off the whole salmon that I cooked on the BBQ for my in-laws 50th Golden Wedding party. It turned out wonderfully. I left the skin and the head on and stuffed the stomach cavity with lemon, dill, onion and bay leaves. Double wrapped in foil I slowly cooked it for about 45 minutes. I let it cool in the foil before I unwrapped it and removed the skin. I then dressed it up and made it all pretty for the party. I served it with a lemon and pepper mayonnaise. It turned out really moist and totally delicious.

Surprisingly enough we got good food at Frankie and Benny's inside Gatwick airport. After the all night flight and sleeping at the Hilton most of the day before we could make our connection to France we sampled the goodies this place had to offer. I had a splendid sun-dried tomato and chirozzo sausage risotto. Julian went for the all day breakfast which was massive but he enjoyed it. Beware of these places as they are horribly expensive. But it sure beat the knarly old Swiss Chalet meal we had at Lester B Pearson airport.

Whilst touring several places I sampled an awesome fish stew in Ramsgate (port town) A pub run by Belgians . Extra tentacles for me please! Very tomatoey, very tangy and very fresh and tasty. The Tandori hut in Dymchurch was fantastic but again quite pricey. The English love their Indian food, must be a kick back from when we dominated India. The fish and chips were good but we got out of the habit of eating deep fried foods a long time ago so it played havoc on our stomachs. I wouldn't go back to The Harvester restaurant again, it was simply horrid. Most of the flavours were of grease and over spiced chicken to cover up the taste of the grease. French fries that get stuck in your throat and peas that were still crunchy. Yuck! But if you like your food that way.......... be my guest.

The English are still big into afternoon tea and most tea rooms have several home made cakes on offer. "Make it at home and make it with love" is my motto. They sure beat the heck out of mass manufactured cakes we get here. If you ever get an opportunity to try a slice of Victoria sponge, go for it.

Even a simple pub lunch made with fresh bread with thick slices of mature cheddar and home made chunky tomato chutney are quite an eye opener. Who'd have thought a sandwich could taste so good. Of course followed by vast quantities of beer. This particular beer was called "Rusty box ale" It complemented the sandwiches greatly.

Of course both our mums make fantastic roast dinners and are a highlight on our travels. Each is uniquely different each one totally out of this world. Nothing says home like mums roast.