"Theories pass. The frog remains." Jean Rostand, 1894 - 1977, French biologist). I found this in my office diary; the translated version of his website describes him as: "Lampoonist, moralist, historian of the life sciences, biologist, popularizer scientific, pacifist, humanistic, anticlerical..." or see more of his words on Wordspy.
posted by Lesley Telford at 2:12 PM

 
I have been reading Colin Spencer's 'British Food' in which he maintains that tastes in this country are reverting to those of medieval times, when English food was often richly spiced and perfumed, and sweet and sour sauces were popular. I remember being taught that the spicing of food in the past was to disguise its poor quality, but Spencer denies this, saying that it was down to popular taste, North African and particularly Persian cooking having a profound influence on English recipes before the Tudors - more so than was true in France. This delight in exotic flavours and spices, he claims, was lost after the Reformation; he is particularly damning of Victorian food and their fondness for recipes for making use of left-overs.



I started reading Spencer after having problems finding a recipe for baked ham over Christmas (although in fact he does not include any recipes). I have never cooked a large ham on the bone, and remembered that Mum used to bake it completely wrapped in a pastry case, which was thrown away after it was cooked. I found this called baking in a 'huff crust' or 'huff paste' and in a couple of older books it was described as being a method of cooking used often in the Potteries - which is interesting, as we have connections there. My first attempt was not a complete success as the 'huff crust' cracked and leaked and the ham in his jacket finished up sitting soggily in a pan of juice - but it tasted OK.


I case this all sounds too expert I must admit, dear reader, that my cookery is rather like my gardening - strong on research and imagination but the results sometimes rather patchy and the method not always well documented.
posted by Lesley Telford at 11:01 PM

 
New pic of blackbird
posted by Lesley Telford at 10:40 PM

 
Birds in the garden this morning: blackbirds, woodpigeons, starlings, sparrows, robin, wagtails, female chaffinches, crows and a wren. I am trying to get a picture of the communal bath, but am having problems moving fast enough to capture the moment as have cricked my back loading the washing machine (sad insight into domestic life). (Later) Peter has managed to get a few pictures, but I am not sure about this post now, as sounds a bit of a twitcher-ish.
posted by Lesley Telford at 1:42 PM

 
A bit out of date now, (bear with me, I have only just started this) but I found some parts of Rowan Pelling's decription of her childhood family Christmas very recognisable - although our 'incredibly functional old gent' went one stage further, and occasionally wrapped library books up.
posted by Lesley Telford at 1:39 PM