As a Brit I have grown up with a less than inspired relationship with sandwiches. Whilst these are fairly common place as parts of our diets, especially as a quick and easy lunch option, they aren’t really something we take particular pride or distinct interest. We’ve got a few staple fillings that we know and love...cheese and pickle, BLT, tuna mayo...but none of these really set the world alight! They are more tried and tested favourites rather than anything that would really get us salavating.
This is not a trend that I can say I have experienced to be true around the world. In fact, certain countries and cultures take such pride in their varieties of the humble sandwich they have almost been elevated to national dish status! Take the bánh mì in Vietnam for example. Whilst there are an extraordinary variety of alternatives, the traditional sandwich starts with a freshly cooked crusty baguette spread with pork liver pate and generously filled with sliced pork, grated carrot and sliced cucumber and topped with pork floss. Bánh mì vendors are found on every street corner in every city throughout the country and they take this sandwich seriously! A carelessly prepared, under filled or poor quality version of this sandwich would not be accepted! Any talk of culinary institution status sandwiches would be absolutely incomplete without the inclusion of the world famous Reuben sandwich! Personally I believe this to be a sandwich like no other!! Practically perfect in every way! The exact origin of this dreamy creation is contested but all agree it comes from some form of American Jewish background. Essentially very basic in terms of it’s content, five ingredients are impeccably combined in a precise flavour balance to create the classic Reuben! Warm corned beef, sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese and Russian dressing are enclosed between two slices of rye bread...done. Surprisingly simple and unbelievably good! Accept no substitutes...the original is the best! One final sandwich that I believe deserves a mention is the Philly Cheesesteak. This sandwich actually started it’s life as a temporary alternative to a hotdog but was met with such a positive reception that it stuck! Again, it’s fairly simple to create...an amoroso roll is stuffed with thinly sliced rib eye steak and topped with melted provolone cheese. Simple it may be, but Philadelphians are very serious about it! When acquiring a cheesesteak from one of the many vendors located around the city you must have you ordering lingo prepared...”prov” will get you the traditional steak and cheese combo, while “Swiss with” will get you steak, Swiss cheese and onions on your roll. Brave (or stupid) is the man who enters a vendor and advances to the counter before knowing exactly what they want and how to ask for it. It will probably come as no surprise for you to learn that I have tried all of these sandwiches and I have loved them all! They are not sandwiches I could eat everyday...not least because I probably wouldn’t live very long if I did...but they are certainly sandwiches with a significant level of culinary clout. And one thing they all have in common...they have definitely made me look at the old BLT with less of an admiring eye!
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I have always been a big lover of fish and all seafood in general really. If I was made to, or needed to, I would quite happily and readily give up all land-based meat as long as I could still indulge in the delights of the plethora of water born treats on offer!
On a recent trip to the Greek islands I took full and hearty advantage of the epic range of freshly caught and wonderfully prepared fish and seafood on offer. We made three stops in the islands (Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini) and one en route in Malta. At every one of these my ‘plat du jour’ was always some kind (or on certain occasions many kinds) of seafood. The wide availability and massive variety was almost overwhelming! At one restaurant I chose to have the mixed fish and seafood sharing plate (it was meant for two but I figured as it was meant to be followed by a main course I would be safe…hmm!). The spread was astonishing!! Prawns, whitebait, calamari, squid, mussels, tuna, Pollock, fishcakes!! It was an absolute fish lovers dream…my wife did not look so keen as she tucked into her bowl of pasta! While we were in Malta I had my first taste of perch, which was wonderful. In Rhodes, we were lucky enough to dine with a friend of ours who was a local and ordered a traditional Greek speciality of grilled octopus served with olive oil, lemon juice and a tiny bit of vinegar. I also tried it with a garlic dip (skordalia) made in the region that was absolutely out of this world! In Santorini, I opted for an old favourite and got myself a giant plate of perfectly grilled sardines and they were exactly what I hoped they would be! Whether it was fried, grilled or baked, in sauce, stuffed or coated, whole, filleted or sliced all of the fish that I ate while we were in the Mediterranean was exceptional. There wasn’t a single meal that I left thinking was in anyway…“blah”. Fish is without a doubt one of my favourite things, and based on my last trip I think the Mediterranean might just be my favourite place to find it! Look out fish of the Med…I’ve got my eye on you! There are few British cultural traditions from which I gain any pleasure or in which I have any interest at all, however, one that I am more than happy to indulge in is possibly one of the most traditional and truly British of them all…cream tea!
The fundamental content of a British tea couldn’t be simpler. A cup of tea, a scone, clotted cream and strawberry jam! Obviously there are variations on this classic combination including using whipped cream as a simple and cheap substitute to the far superior clotted version, or mixing it up with a different type of jam. Personally, being a creature with a small aversion to change in the things I know to be good a certain way, I find it difficult to sway from convention…but on the right day and under the right circumstances I can be convinced to go with a good quality homemade raspberry jam instead. That is absolutely as far from the norm as I am comfortable to push myself. One aspect of this age-old British classic that does divide those that choose to partake pertains to perhaps the most banal feature of the construction…which goes on the scone first…the cream or the jam?! This may seem like an insignificant and potentially even irrelevant question but it is one that divides a nation. For a Devonian cream tea, tradition states that one must begin with the cream and crown this with a dollop of jam. The Cornish alternative prefers jam topped with a generous spoon cream. Interesting…or perhaps not so much! To add more controversy to this incredibly important (irrelevant) debate the earliest documented references to cream tea are sited from Devon, thus suggesting that the more traditional preparation of this painfully traditional British classic would be the Devonian cream and then jam method! HOWEVER, since this tradition has become a bit of a phenomenon and one which tourists delight in in tearooms the world over it is actually the Cornish method of jam and then cream that has reigned supreme! Should a visitor to London choose to go for afternoon tea at any of the cities wonderfully old school English establishments and ask what the best way to serve their cream tea would be the answer will almost unquestionably be…the jam and then the cream. So there you have it, the pointless question that divides a nation. Whilst sipping your cup of English breakfast tea, served in a pot and consumed out of a bone china cup complete with saucer, should you delicately place a hearty serving of clotted cream on your lovely warm fresh baked scone and then apply the sweet and delightful strawberry jam or should you start with the jam and the complete the masterful creation with a spoon of cream?! The decision is yours and yours alone! Personally, I’m not really fussed! As long as all of the elements are there and they taste good my affiliation to either Devon or Cornwall is of little importance, just give me the scone, cream and jam and I am a happy camper! Previous image was deleted as it was not my own - Credit to https://www.ketogenicsupplementreviews.com/ (this company is not related to our blog)I was asked today what my favourite cuisine was and funnily enough this is not a question I get asked all that regularly, nor is it a question for which I had an instant answer. I like a lot of foods and more generally, I like lots of food! I thought about it for a while and decided that the best way to come to a conclusion would be to think about what my favourite dishes are…okay…Spaghetti Bolognese (Italian), Dim Sum (Chinese), Pad Thai (Thai), Sashimi (Japanese), BBQ Ribs (American), Sunday Roast (English), Goan Fish Curry (Indian)…this is by no means a list that contains all of my favourite dishes, but they are a selection of the first few that came to my mind and made my little theory of using my favourite dishes to answer the question suddenly seem pretty useless! Like I said, I like food!
Clearly I had to approach this little conundrum from another angle…so I posed myself another question, if I had to eat one thing for every meal for the rest of my life what would it be?! The answer to this question came almost instantly…salmon! Okay, second part of the question…how would I prepare the salmon?! Sashimi (Japanese)…no wait en croûte (French)…oh but I love blackened (Cajun)…but I couldn’t live without smoked (Norwegian/Scottish/Canadian)! This was clearly another completely futile line of thinking. So I concluded, maybe I don’t have a favourite cuisine overall! I have favourite dishes from different cuisines and I have a favourite food that I like cooked a range of ways from a lot of different culture’s cuisines but I don’t think I can categorically say that I have a favourite cuisine exclusively! Is that weird? Maybe I am just too indecisive or too flaky to make such and rash commitment. Maybe I have tried so many things in so many places that the choice is just too hard to limit so severely. Or maybe, just maybe, I like food just a little bit too much and I am a dedicated glutton who couldn’t possibly restrict myself to just one option when it comes to the culinary smörgåsbord (see…there’s another one, Swedish) that is the world’s offering of stomach filling delights! But I’m still willing to pose the question to you…what’ |
Follow us on Instagram or send us a messageAbout Foodie FridaysWe love food, as most people do! And when we are on the road this doesn't change. We, like many people, believe that food is one of the best ways to really get to know a culture and it's people, as so much about the way people live their lives around the world is centred around food. This means that when we travel we actively seek out the local foods and delicacies. Sometimes that comes in the form of unusual and exotic produce from markets and sometimes from street food vendors serving an array of barbecued, fried, steamed or entirely indistinguishable goodies. Having tried and tested these goodies for some time now, on our adventures around Asia, Europe, North and South America we have discovered some pretty wonderful treats that we have decided should earn a bit of publicity. So, as the working week drifts away and the weekend winks at you like a naughty temptress we will share with you one of the delights that we have encountered from around the world! We hope you enjoy reading about these as much as we enjoyed eating them! Archives
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