I’ll start off straight away by awarding two friendly points here to account for the fact that I had the beginnings of a terrible bout of rhinovirus infection when this chapter of the search for the ultimate fishfinger sarnie began to unfold. To set the scene, it was cold, it was Saturday and lunch was […]
Read More The Perfect Fishfinger Sandwich Hunt- The Merchant at Bishopsgate.I think it is fair to say at the end of last month’s meeting there weren’t many whoops of joy as the theme of Vegetable was drawn. For clarity this meant that dishes for the October meeting had to not just involve but star vegetables. Major food groups such as meat, fish and chocolate were […]
Read More VIFC Meeting- Veg!If you’ve been following the VIFC chronicles you may have noticed that so far we’ve only had time periods or ingredients as themes. Last month the first celebrity chef theme was selected, and we got Mr Rick Stein to draw our inspiration from. In a short biography I give you Rick Stein: restaurateur and TV […]
Read More VIFC Meeting- Rick SteinI’ve been away this last week on a brief tour of South Wales, not a typical holiday but one I have returned home from with two very typical concerns- an expanding waistline and an almost empty fridge. Gah! I’m sure the former is familiar to most of us- there’s something about being away that just […]
Read More Beans n Bacon- a skinny thing!Yes, yes, my VIFC write ups have been remiss of late and for that I apologise. I let myself off the hook for July as I was otherwise engaged in Twickenham that night and sadly unable to attend so your guess about how the 1930’s theme night went are as good as mine! As for […]
Read More VIFC August Meeting- The Elizabethans.Jamie Oliver. Now there’s a bloke who raises a mixed opinion. Yeah, he’s a bit of a nob with all the over affected Essex boyisms and unnecessary pounding of work surfaces and yes, his shows are often full of painfully scripted ‘friends and family’ who randomly turn up to devour and praise his makings but […]
Read More Jamie Oliver’s ItalianOriginal post from June 2013- we are sad to add that Hughes have now closed. Are we bored of me banging on about local businesses and independent suppliers and the general evil of mass supermarket chains yet? No? Good. In that case I shall instead cut back to a point in history some ten years […]
Read More A Little Plug- Hughes’ Fish Co.It’s easy to get cynical about foodie events these days, particularly if one is restricted to public transport. In these parts, this pretty much leaves you to a few affairs in Castle Park and the Christmas market. I recently found out that most of the events around Colchester are organised by the same soulless money […]
Read More Mersea Food FestivalYeah, so, June, BBQ time, a great date to push forward another simple summer salad that you can bang out ten minutes before the guests arrive and you all sit out in the garden sipping Pimms and bathing in the wafts of meaty aroma while Dad burns off his eyebrows giving the coals a little […]
Read More Super Simple Coleslaw- Part IIHello, and welcome to The Purple Dog in central Colchester. It’s a pub and it has history and beams and a beer garden and stuff. I’ve spent many a rowdy evening and one too many boozy afternoons there in my time due to it’s comfy ambience, indie friendly sway on musical matters and pleasing range […]
Read More The Perfect Fishfinger Sandwich Hunt- The Purple Dog
Food. Boom. 