VALUE vs NAME

Ok - so this is a tough one!  Is it fair to say that say that exotic sounding menus attract a higher price than something with traditional wording like good old bangers and mash - even if they cost out at the same price?  

Chilled Moroccan Carrot salad, fresh garlic and cilantro flavoured with traditional Moroccan spices

Delicate Lamb Kebabs infused with ginger and layered fresh Mango slices

Jasmine scented Couscous, infused with Jasmine tea leaves

Green bean twists

VS

Fresh fruit cocktail

Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce

Slow Roasted Potatoes and Garden Fresh vegetables

It really doesn't have the same ring to it and yet if you were to cost it out item for item, you would find that the top menu is probably less expensive than the bottom one, but I can guarantee that pricewise, you would pay considerably more for the first one !   So does this mean that our taste buds have become snob orientated...??  Exotic menus, infused with Chef-Speak = higher prices !!! 

What on earth have we done ?

www.jamieoliver.com

What time does Breakfast become Lunch ?

True to form, I was out and about this morning, restaurant hopping ... Not a hard thing to do in Bulawayo as there are only 3 restaurants that actually open on Sunday. First off was a farewell Champagne Breakfast for Paula who has succumbed to the lure of London rather than our little office at 26 on Park, I mean, what is she thinking !!!

Apart from our group, there were pockets of people huddled in the garden, braving the winter sun and the howling gale that decided to blow up in minutes. We had the customary champs, fruit juice and eggs benedict and around us we could see various plates of pseudo-breakfasts being carried backwards and forwards as the latest thing is to design your own breakfast!

Next up was my weekly rendezvous with The River Cafe to get it all dressed up and ready for Sunday Lunch and what a bun flight it turned out to be ... I arrived around 11.30, thinking the egg and bacon boys would be well fed and on their way home, only to find them drumming on the table waiting for breakfast... with the last cheese omelette going out the kitchen at 12.45.

When did breakfast become an all-day meal and when did we feel it was acceptable to crawl out of bed at 12 and go down to our “local Caff" for a bang up Full English with a side serving of Attitude if the poor waitress tries to suggest Roast Beef instead. So maybe next week I will design my own breakfast - quite fancy softly fried eggs, some sautéed carrots, a portion of chicken curry on toast, topped with mushrooms ...

This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book One and has also appeared in Sainsbury’s Magazine (Feb 1996).

Method

Ingredients
1 quantity Hollandaise Sauce  (we buy ours from the Fake Woolies shop)
6 large, very fresh eggs
12 slices pancetta, grilled until crisp
3 English muffins, split in half horizontally
a little butter
Pre-heat the grill to its highest temperature

Make the Hollandaise Sauce. Poach the eggs (see How to poach an egg, below). When the pancetta is cooked, keep it on a warm plate while you lightly toast the split muffins on both sides.

Now butter the muffins and place them on the baking tray, then top each half with two slices of pancetta. Put a poached egg on top of each muffin half and then spoon over the hollandaise, covering the egg (there should be a little over 1 tablespoon of sauce for each egg).
Now flash the Eggs Benedict under the grill for just 25-30 seconds, as close to the heat as possible, but don't take your eyes off them – they need to be tinged golden and no more. This should just glaze the surface of the hollandaise. Serve straight away on hot plates.

Good Old Delia !!!

Its 2012 - already !

Its a fact of life and the internet that the more you sign up for to be "in the know" the less likely you are to remember the passwords you have used ... hence the reason it is now halfway through 2012, well after midnight with the cartoon Rio playing on the telly.  Yes - I have finally managed to get onto my Blog after trying password no 73 !  I know, I know, smart people use the same password, but words of wisdom from the spotty guy who taught me how to access the net are still ringing in my ears some years later ...

Its a bit like being Rip Van Winkle ... what has happened since my last post ?  Well lots of closed restaurants, new restaurants, new menus, old menus, new food websites, new Chefs, old Chefs, people who arent Chefs, new prices, high prices and so it goes on and on.  Watch this space.

Right now I am going to bed, but not before I have added the new password to the list - now where the hell did I put it ...