4th July 2021
Today I was reminded how some food despite looking great is just really not worth the calories. I do try to keep this blog/website upbeat and free from negative comments or bad reviews but sometimes things are so bad it as to be said. We went out today to catch up with some friends at a bar in London. The place looked nice when we walked, there is a courtyard with plants and it looks so tranquil. However, we were then shown to a dingy room with no windows or natural light, with cheap Formica tables and chairs and it looked really grubby it has to be said. However, we were there to catch up and in that sense we had a great afternoon, it has been so long since we caught up with this group that it really was so great to see everybody.
It got me thinking just how much we have lost over the course of this pandemic. Yes some things have been great, readdressing the balance of having time with the ones you love and chose to be with rather than being with your work colleagues. The whole work/life balance has been readdressed and corrected and for that I am truly grateful. Having the time and energy to cook and this little blog are among some of the highlights.
The terrible things however have been the relationships lost because of this bubble we exist in, the travels and adventures we never got to and generally finding being near people and crowds utterly overwhelming. I want so much to get back to having a life and yet I am so scared to at the same time. A huge amount of people don’t respect your personal space let alone socially distance and still people just don’t feel the face mask rule includes them and cite some exception or another, mostly with a laugh so you know it is not real. How hard is it to wear a face mask? Surely any level of protection is good?
Anyhow, back to the food, which was just awful. We had a couple of sharing dishes including beef croquettes and the arancini. Somehow none of the dishes managed to taste nice at all. The croquettes looked golden and uniform and gorgeous and smelt good however, when we broke them open they were just shredded tasteless beef, so so bland it was weird. I tried adding salt but that did not help. Remember the importance of salt, I know lots of people shy away from salt but anything in moderation is ok and salt really does enhance flavours. Usually anyway. The arancini however was inedible. It had an Asian taste which was just bizarre and with risotto I just found off-putting. There are some food things I am low on tolerance on, one of them is fusion - mixing of cuisines, I just don’t understand it at all. I am not totally averse to it but because I don’t like it, unless it is good then for me it is worse than terrible. The arancini looked really delicious (albeit that it looked like falafel), again golden and uniform and yet was just so horrible. Mushroom risotto balls with 5 spice. Even if we overlook the fusion aspect, the parmesan and 5 spice just did not work together and the resulting taste was deeply unpleasant. A top tip is to taste as you go.