A good read, a
disappointing trip to the market and the demise of a pair of socks.
For one reason or
another I have been neglecting my blog of late so I thought I should use
this extra day to to put that right.
I've not been idle these last few weeks although I
seem to have been reading more than writing. A couple of books that
have particularly grabbed my attention were 'Sucking eggs: what your
Granny could teach you about diet, thrift and going green' by
Patricia Nicol. Although not strictly a foodie book it was
fascinating to read about rationing and the absolute merger amounts
of what we now consume in relatively massive quantities without a second thought
– both in the food department and clothing department (even
underwear). The second of these books was a re-issue I suppose you
would say of 'The Gentle Art of Cookery' by Mrs. C.F. Leyel and Miss
Olga Hartley . First published between the wars (c1921, I think), now
re-published as one of a new series 'Classic Voices in Food' by
Quadrille. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but even
before you open this beauty you know by its green mock leather cover
with silver embossed artwork and its red edged pages it's going to be a keeper. I have lots of stuff earmarked to try from
this book and will certainly be searching out other books in this
series.
However, enough of that, I'm not a book critic or
any other type of critic come to that, although I can be gently critical at times.
The point I am trying to get to in my own round about way is that it
was a recipe in another book, this one about Spanish cooking, that
caught my eye and sent me on my latest mission. The recipe in
question was for 'Chicken with Romesco Sauce'. It was the Romesco
Sauce bit that caught my eye as I first came across this classic
Spanish sauce some years ago in a small bar/restaurant in Portugal.
Just to add further confusion the bar was owned and run by a British
couple and the chef was German (I may have made that last bit up but
she defiantly wasn't Spanish, Portuguese or British – in fact she
may have been a he).
This then is the story of my recent saucy odyssey.
