June 2008 Archives

On Page 3 of today's Birmingham Mail is a story saying that the cut-price supermarket Aldi is opening two new stores and recruiting extra staff in this area because sales are booming.

The reason, one of its managers says, is that hard-pressed punters are cutting back on spending so are switching from mainstream stores to Aldi.

I've never stepped foot in Aldi (or Lidl or Iceland for that matter). But my German-born sister-in-law , who's no stranger to pastries and other sweet things, swears by its cakes and, from those I've sampled at her house, they're pretty good.

The scribbled sign on the box at the Bull Ring open market today said: "Italian broad beans."

The mottled colouring of the shells suggested they were borlotti beans. I handed over a quid for a couple of pounds, podded one when I got home and, sure enough, that's what they are.

They'll be fabulous with roast beef tomorrow and - at the price - an enormous bargain.

Just like the box of five honey mangoes I bought at the market for £3.50. Honey mangoes are incomparable - vivid orange, juicy, fragrant, slightly sharp and very sweet. Forget the sort you find at supermarkets - these are the business.

The more I use the market, the more wonders I discover. It's a Brummie treasure.

"I think it's the only place in the city that does dim sum," I was told this week by a sweet-sounding girl representing a bar-restaurant.

That will be news to the countless restaurants that are packed with Chinese customers (as well as a few Euopeans) every afternoon when they offering a mouth-watering array of dim sum...

Without wishing to usurp Graham Young's position as the Birmingham Mail's undisputed king of chips, let me have a right old moan about the poor quality of fries in this city.

I just had a bagful that was woeful - the chips were limp, pale, greasy, poorly flavoured and barely warm, suggesting they'd been cooked ages ago and left.

Though these were among the worst I've ever eaten, most other chips I've recently bought have been disappointing. And that's not good enough when they don't come cheap.

It's often said that there's no such thing as a free meal. Wanna bet? Check out the Food + Drink section of Thursday's Birmingham Mail and you'll discover otherwise.

There are two great offers - free pub meals for kids and a 2 for 1 offer at the Jimmy Spice's restaurants. Well worth taking a look.

Should vegetarians be allowed to do normal jobs or should they are restricted to their areas of expertise - like knitting open toe sandals from muesli or making faux 18th century smocks to be worn at the sort of festivals that feature lots of musicians with beards (most of them men)?

It was a question that sprang to mind when I received a phone call from a restaurant company's PR who let slip that she was a veggie.

Delightful as she sounded, it struck me that she could not possibly speak authoratively or passionately about a restaurant whose menu, like those of most other restaurants, is dominated by meat.

Tonight's Channel Four documentary about rising food prices was shocking - not just because of the soaring figures nor just because of the profits being made by City wideboys at the expense of some of this planet's poorest and hungriest people, though that was perhaps the most appalling aspect.

Nor, even, was presenter Jay Rayner's girth the only cause for raised eyebrows.

Shocking, too, was the amount of food thrown away in this country - tons and tons of the stuff, worth a small fortune, every year.

Much of the blame lies with our obscene obsession with shopping - if it's on a shelf, we'll buy it...whatever if might be and whether or not we'll ever wear/watch/eat/drink it.

Amazing that you can live near a place and be unaware of the treasures it contains.

I live probably a couple of miles from Martineau Gardens in Priory Road, Edgbaston, and have passed it numerous times, noticing the sign but not really knowing what lay behind the fence.

The answer is: a fabulous green space, part cultivated, part wild, full of fascinating plants, features and wildlife. It's managed by a mental health group and is largely tended by clients of that group.

My wife and I found out yesterday when we were invited to a garden party organised by a friend of a friend and, despite the rain and chill, it was an enjoyable occasion with tasty, wholesome food provided by each of the guests.

Some years ago Raymond Blanc told me that the UK lacks the same sort of regional cuisine that exists in France because we don't have the climate differences that exist in his country.

He had a point but there there are foods that we associate with particular parts of the country - Lancashire hotpot obviously, Irish stew, Geordieland's pease pudding, Cornish pasties, haggis, faggots in the West Midlands and that legendary dish groarty dick specifically in the Black Country. And there are others.

The exception seems to be Wales where, despite having some fine produce from the land and sea, there isn't a stand-out dish. At least, not one that springs to my mind. But perhaps I'm wrong. No doubt the Welsh won't be shy about expressing their views if that's the case.

I attended the annual dinner that Barclays kindly sponsors at Simpson's for the Birmingham Mail's business colleagues this week.

It's the third time I've eaten there this year and, as on the previous two occasins, the food, service and wine were impeccable. Each course was splendid, but sea bream with puy lentils and an aromatic, gently spiced jus was the star of the show.

Birmingham really is fortunate to have a restaurant of such quality.