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Spice is the variety of life — 20 Comments

    • They can moan about my fry-ups and whine about my sugar, but going anywhere near my curries and they are on very dangerous ground.

  1. I love curry. I cook curried veg and chicken, sometimes diced beef or lamb. In wet wintery weather curry cleanses the nostrils – and possibly the ears – and warms the insides. I'd say, without scientifically researching the facts, that curried food is also a good antibiotic and chases away some infectious beasties. It tastes good too, which is the main reason I cook it. My other favourite ethnic cuisines are Italian and Chinese. Nuts to the Food Correctorate, I say.

    • I am of the firm belief that curries have great curative powers.  If I get a head-cold, the first thing I do is order a hot one and nine times out of ten it does the trick.  Some of the spices used have well known curative properties.  But these Puritans have a remarkable ability to overlook any positive factors?

      • Dear Grandad

        Indeed. They are so full of self-righteousness that they are unfit for human consumption. As every fule kno, there is no safe level of self-righteousness.

        DP

  2. " I bet you pulled wings off flies when you were a kid?"

    Of course they did – all for the benefit of the flies of course, so they wouldn't have the danger of being airborne.

  3. I'll have to mention this to Herself (mine) when she makes her special curry turkey and grape salad. Damn, it's good. A meal that you definitely remember.

    • To be honest about the only way I would enjoy turkey is when it's well curried.  Not my favourite brand of poultry.

      I assume the grape is of the fermented variety?

  4. I can, if requested, give a recipe for tuna curry with mixed veg. I could also supply a recipe for curried rabbit.

  5. I love that all the things that these Puritans nag us about are all the good things in life, because, like you, Gramps, it just gives me an excuse to do more of them.  In addition to upping my cigarette consumption (natch), I now take sugar in my tea and coffee again (yum! I’ve started enjoying coffee again – why did I ever stop?), I liberally salt all my meals, take care to incorporate a sweet, rich pudding into at least one meal – with lashings of double cream, naturally – and have even started having a generous gin and tonic on a Sunday before lunch (previously I only really bothered with alcohol on very special occasions).  But there’s a problem.  I can’t stand those sweet, fizzy drinks that the “experts” hate so much.  Even the ones with heaps of sugar also seem to have a ton of those revolting artificial sweeteners in as well.  Any tips on how I can incorporate more “sodas” (as our US friends like to call them) into my regime?  Oh, and I’ve given up exercise, too.  I’ve scrubbed all those sweaty spin classes and aerobics lessons and reclaimed my evenings for ordering takeaways and watching rubbish on the TV.  Life really has taken a turn for the better, thanks to all those hectoring “experts!” 

    • It's a bit of a problem about the fizzy drinks.  I'm not that partial to them either so I feel I am somehow letting the side down by not buying them.  All I can suggest is to increase the intake of tea/coffee or whatever else you can heap sugar into.

      We really must be thankful to these Puritans.  Each day they introduce me to some new delight which they consider "unheathy".

  6. only problem i shit rings around me after a curry. however changing the subject you are number 3 on my daily viewing no1 the age newspaper .no2  irish indo no.3 your good self long may you continue p.s. i think i love you!!! regards eamonn melbourne

  7. I absolutely always agree with you relating to interference by the nanny state or quangos set up to tell us what to do and what to think and this time is absolutely no different.  That said, safe food have a point in this instance. Their message was delivered badly but their research was interesting. The outcome is basically that the average Chinese or Indian take away is catering for the Irish and English taste buds but to facilitate this they are adding a lot of unnecessary crap. None of which are actually authentic to the curry. I really enjoy spicy food but I enjoy authentic spices. Not dried and preserved stuff that has been sitting in a container for a few years. If done correctly, the message of safe food would have been to highlight the lack of authenticity of the crap that take away sell.  Like it or not, A lot of the food we eat is processed, dried, preserved or genetically modified.  My wife has been making a concerted effort over the past few years to stay away from processed foods, sauces and kits.  This move has resulted in a change that I won’t go into in a blog comment other than to say it’s been brilliant. I draw the line at laws being created to save us from ourselves but with the amount of crap landing on our supermarket shelves, I think safe food have a useful role to play. That is: Here’s a potential risk but you’re big and ugly enough to take the risk if you want to.

    • They mention al right that the food that the Indian takeaways make is different from the original recipes and that is fair enough.  We do have different taste buds and we are more acclimatised to our own diets so it is perfectly acceptable that the shops customise their recipes.  That is however a cultural thing and not a health issue.  

      I agree that processes food is more often than not full of crap.  Most so called meals that you'll get from a supermarket are produced with only two things in mind – cheapness of production and shelf life.  So most pre prepared meals are made with the cheapest ingredients and are full of preservatives.  But if people like them [and obviously they do as they wouldn't make 'em otherwise] then that's fine.  I do 99% of the cooking here, and nearly all the ingredients I use are locally produced.  Only a few herbs and spices would come from the supermarket.  It is amazing the difference using fresh ingredients makes.

      Having said that, people should be allowed buy [and eat] whatever the hell they like.  There is not a single aspect of life that doesn't have its dangers, for the simple reason that life itself is ultimately fatal.  What I object to is this modern obsession with health.  Everything we do must be "healthy" and "safe" without a single mention of happiness or enjoyment.

      My biggest crib about the article was that they never listed the establishments that give the biggest portions!

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