Well who would have thought I would make it
to this landmark!?
I am three hundred and ninety-nine recipes
in, and there is but fifty more to go before I complete the project. I’ve always
found it a little annoying that there is 449 recipes and not 450, but then, Ms
Grigson wasn’t counting them as she wrote.
My approach to food now is really a world
away compared to when I wrote my first post #1 Smoked Finnan Haddock Soup all the
way back in September 2007. I can now bake bread and cure meat, roast a woodcock
and make a good stock. The blog has travelled two continents, and inspired me
to start up my own food business. At the moment – and this explains why the
number of posts have decreased of late – I am writing the business plan with
will hopefully result in me opening a little restaurant next year. Fingers
crossed on that one!
In order for me to complete the book, I
need to track down some tricky-to-find ingredients, and so I’m going to list
them below and if you per chance know how I can get hold of them, do please let
me know. Here goes:
- ptarmigan
- calves’ brains
- Harvey’s sauce
- snipe
- elvers (baby eels, sometimes called glass eels)
- sea kale
- roach (the freshwater fish, not the creepy-crawly)
- a goose, capon or turkey with the head still on (surprisingly tricky to find!)
- a cold-smoked chicken
- gigots of primitive-breed lambs
For the goose, turkey or capon you could try Johnson & Swarbrick at Goosnargh near Preston. They slaughter their own birds & will sell direct. I used to get my Christmas birds from them when I lived up there. For the smoked chicken, Cheshire Smokehouse? Perhaps they'd do a special request if all else fails. There's a game dealer in Lytham, they might know about ptarmigan & snipe.
ReplyDeleteCheers for the heads up, Anth. I'll definitely be check out that poulterer iin Preston xx
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit far away for this conversation, but have bought cold smoked chickens at several Polish delis in New York, so perhaps there's a Polish grocery shop somewhere in the north-west? And I second the Lytham game shop as a resource. They've been around for many years - I remember the place as a child in the 60s and 70s - and should be a good source of information.
ReplyDeleteWell done with the recipe count, and the restaurant plan sounds fantastic!
Good going on the -50 point.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you already know all about this, there's a recording of Jane from Roy Plomley's Desert Island Discs from 1978 on the BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/d1d23b40
The lady speaks.
Mike Inkansascity
Hi Neil,
ReplyDeleteWell done on your milestone, and very best wishes for the restaurant!
The links below may help in your search for elvers:
http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/fisheries-information/eels/eel-fishing.aspx
http://fishonfriday.org.uk/the-return-of-the-elvers/
Smoked chicken can be found here:
http://www.uptonsmokery.co.uk/catalogue_item.php?catID=1607&prodID=8261
Snipe will be an occasional treat from a game dealer, but the marshes around the south Cumbria, north Lancashire coastline are good habitat for them, so maybe seek out a game dealer or a shoot in those areas? The Wildfowlers' Association may be able to help. I have occasionally bought them over the counter from the shop of Teesdale Game & Poultry:
http://www.teesdalegame.co.uk/
Might be worth giving them a ring?
Anything else I think of, I will add later!
If by Harvey's sauce you mean Harvey's ketchup it is available, or was about 6 months ago, in Sainsbury's
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all your help with my odd 'to do' list!
ReplyDeleteI feel that I am going to get a good few steps closer in the coming months to really finishing it!