Room 101

[jra]

1. Wilful stupidity.

2. Greed.

3. Shellfish.

Have you ever had shellfish poisoning? If so, that could explain it.

No but I was often forced to eat the crap as a child.

Fair enough. Let's just say shellfish poisoning is something you really want to avoid.

Same with my dad and potatoes. Potatoes with this, potatoes with that. Potatoes with everything.

I've harvested the bastards with my bare hands from a plough furrow in a field when I was young. We used to call them teddies.

[Lady Murasaki]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

[jra]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat these days are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper. I used to eat jacket potatoes from a proper bonfire and fried sliced potatoes are alright. Roast potatoes a bit meh. Depends on how they are done.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

[Lady Murasaki]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

You don’t like any spice?

At all?

Delicate palate?

[jra]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

You don’t like any spice?

At all?

Delicate palate?

You won't find any curry powder or chili in my room, put it that way.

And the reason I still have a relatively delicate palate is I haven't bombarded it with strong spices over the years.

When it comes to Asian/Indian cuisine a korma or biryani (sp) occasionally is as far as I'm going to go.

As you will no doubt know the origin of spicing food was to keep it fresh or to mask food which was not at it's freshest back in the days before refrigeration and freezing.

Freezing fish is bad enough, but putting strong spices on it as well. Come on.

ETA. Prawns should be from northern waters, e.g. the north Atlantic as they have the flavour, not the bland tropical prawns, e.g. Tiger prawns and eaten in their own juice, not drowned with mayonnaise, i.e. a prawn cocktail.

[Lady Murasaki]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

You don’t like any spice?

At all?

Delicate palate?

You won't find any curry powder or chili in my room, put it that way.

And the reason I still have a relatively delicate palate is I haven't bombarded it with strong spices over the years.

When it comes to Asian/Indian cuisine a korma or biryani (sp) occasionally is as far as I'm going to go.

As you will no doubt know the origin of spicing food was to keep it fresh or to mask food which not at it's freshest back in the days before refrigeration and freezing.

Freezing fish is bad enough, but putting strong spices on it as well. Come on.

The key is moderation.
I don’t like strong spices, chilli etc, either but coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, ginger? How can you live without any of them?

We didn’t have fish growing up, my mums a veggie and that was one meat she wouldn’t allow in the house because of the smell.

Fish pakora are nice, and my ex used to make a great sardine saag (spinach)- sounds awful but was delicious.

[jra]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

You don’t like any spice?

At all?

Delicate palate?

You won't find any curry powder or chili in my room, put it that way.

And the reason I still have a relatively delicate palate is I haven't bombarded it with strong spices over the years.

When it comes to Asian/Indian cuisine a korma or biryani (sp) occasionally is as far as I'm going to go.

As you will no doubt know the origin of spicing food was to keep it fresh or to mask food which not at it's freshest back in the days before refrigeration and freezing.

Freezing fish is bad enough, but putting strong spices on it as well. Come on.

The key is moderation.
I don’t like strong spices, chilli etc, either but coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, ginger? How can you live without any of them?

We didn’t have fish growing up, my mums a veggie and that was one meat she wouldn’t allow in the house because of the smell.

Fish pakora are nice, and my ex used to make a great sardine saag (spinach)- sounds awful but was delicious.

Easy.

Salt and pepper.
Tartar sauce (for fish).
Mayonnaise.
Mustard (for pork products).
Garlic sauce (sometimes). If you eat too much garlic you'll start sweating it, as it can be adsorbed/pass through through the skin and nobody likes garlic breath or sweat.

Covers most bases.

And you haven't lived if you've never caught and eaten your own fresh fish (never having seen any ice). Done that.

[Lady Murasaki]

Can’t even imagine living on salt n pepper, mayo n mustard.

Fish that you literally caught?

[jra]

Can’t even imagine living on salt n pepper, mayo n mustard.

Fish that you literally caught?

Yes. From my own boat off the south Devon coast (Salcombe to be precise) with my own rod and line.

Mostly plaice, mackerel, pollack, garfish with the odd dab and bass.

I've waded around the local creek knee deep in mud digging up lugworm for the plaice.

A lot of work, but worth it for the end result.

A good day out fishing and getting a suntan (gradually), virtually free of charge for the best part of 21 years in total and others pay serious money to go there for a two week holiday in the summer. I only fished in the summer mind, as it's normally too cold out at sea in the winter.

[Lady Murasaki]

Can’t even imagine living on salt n pepper, mayo n mustard.

Fish that you literally caught?

Yes. From my own boat off the south Devon coast (Salcombe to be precise) with my own rod and line.

Mostly plaice, mackerel, pollack, garfish with the odd dab and bass.

I've waded around the local creek knee deep in mud digging up lugworm for the plaice.

A lot of work, but worth it for the end result.

A good day out fishing and getting a suntan (gradually), virtually free of charge for the best part of 21 years in total and others pay serious money to go there for a two week holiday in the summer. I only fished in the summer mind, as it's normally too cold out at sea in the winter.

Hobby or a proper job? What’s happened to the boat?

I have a friend who lives on a boat, she fishes, keeps inviting me to stay but I’ve a feeling it’ll be too cold for me. I think she’s one of my happiest friends living that carefree off the grid life.

[jra]

Can’t even imagine living on salt n pepper, mayo n mustard.

Fish that you literally caught?

Yes. From my own boat off the south Devon coast (Salcombe to be precise) with my own rod and line.

Mostly plaice, mackerel, pollack, garfish with the odd dab and bass.

I've waded around the local creek knee deep in mud digging up lugworm for the plaice.

A lot of work, but worth it for the end result.

A good day out fishing and getting a suntan (gradually), virtually free of charge for the best part of 21 years in total and others pay serious money to go there for a two week holiday in the summer. I only fished in the summer mind, as it's normally too cold out at sea in the winter.

Hobby or a proper job? What’s happened to the boat?

I have a friend who lives on a boat, she fishes, keeps inviting me to stay but I’ve a feeling it’ll be too cold for me. I think she’s one of my happiest friends living that carefree off the grid life.

Just a hobby. A 12 foot double skinned boat (which is basically an air pocket between the outer and inner hulls making the boat extremely stable, so you could stand on the gunnel without the boat capsizing), which you could row or put a small outboard on the back.

https://www.willsmarine.co.uk/sales/boats/bonwitco

The boat was sold to a son in law of my dad's partner who is a qualified boat builder. AFAIK the boat hasn't seen much use in the last 20+ years, because of the son in law's other commitments, like bringing up a family. I made good use of the boat at the time.

As for the weather being too cold. Even in the summer it can be very cold out at sea, but it's a matter of having waterproof/windproof, many layers of clothing and a spare change of clothes. Be prepared in other words.

And treat the sea with respect and know how to read the weather and tide signs. Act earlier rather than later if the weather is showing signs of deterioration, which can happen literally in the matter of minutes.

A lot of tourists go out in boats when they are on holiday and haven't got a clue about what to or not what to do and that's why Salcombe for example has a lifeboat, which btw for The Baltic Exchange III at Salcombe (Tamar class moored near Batson Creek) we are talking about £2 million plus, as it's state of the art with all the navigation technology and of course self righting.

There is a video here.

Salcombe Lifeboat on Exercise with Portland Rescue Helicopter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U4yvTgocrE

[Lady Murasaki]

I think my friend has a yacht rather than a boat, she lives on it, has bedrooms, heating etc. Not bragging because it’s hers not mine and she worked well for many years to earn the life she now lives. A death scare made her realise that she needs to now live exactly how she wants. She has an experienced seaman helping her learn the sailing techniques.

I’ll prob go one summer in the future.

[Guest]

I think my friend has a yacht rather than a boat, she lives on it, has bedrooms, heating etc. Not bragging because it’s hers not mine and she worked well for many years to earn the life she now lives. A death scare made her realise that she needs to now live exactly how she wants. She has an experienced seaman helping her learn the sailing techniques.

I’ll prob go one summer in the future.

But his boiler is bigger than yours.

[Rolluplostinspace]

Aloo Gobi is nice.

That's potatoes and cauliflower without the spices to me. This potato thing is a German tradition. The only potatoes I eat are chips. It's a pretty bland vegetable and needs a bit of tarting up say with salt and sometimes pepper.

The trouble is I don't like (very) spicy food, especially on sea products.

Curried prawns for example should be punishable with a jail sentence.

You don’t like any spice?

At all?

Delicate palate?

You won't find any curry powder or chili in my room, put it that way.

In your room?

[jra]

I think my friend has a yacht rather than a boat, she lives on it, has bedrooms, heating etc. Not bragging because it’s hers not mine and she worked well for many years to earn the life she now lives. A death scare made her realise that she needs to now live exactly how she wants. She has an experienced seaman helping her learn the sailing techniques.

I’ll prob go one summer in the future.

You should go. It'll be an experience you'll never forget. I was on boats even before I could walk and have spent many an overnight on my dad's small yacht back in the days on various rivers and estuaries in the south Devon area. My dad passed on a shed load of useful information about this sort of thing, like the equipment required, learning to swim, keeping warm, what to do in an emergency etc. Going out to sea in a small boat is a completely different kettle of fish compared with going on a ferry or cruise ship where you are or can get pampered big time most of the time.