That Was The Week That Was

Not being a fan of macho eating I consider this to be a good news item - A 'world's hottest chilli' competition at a curry restaurant this week left two people in hospital. Emergency services were called to Kismot Restaurant's curry-eating challenge, on St Leonards Place, Edinburgh, after competitors started writhing on the floor in agony, vomiting and fainting during the contest. One participant, Curie Kim was so ill after sampling the "Kismot Killer" that she had to be taken by ambulance to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary twice in a matter of hours. Serves them right I would have left the idiots writhing on the floor in agony!


More idiots were attracted to the annual Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cookoff in Douglas Kansas where they were joined by 200 real fire eaters simultaneously swallowing as they attempt to break a world record. “One thing the chili cookoff always has been known for is doing outrageous things,” said Ann Keefer, vice president of marketing. Yah….yawn. Organized by a local sideshow group called Dr. Dillinger’s Freaks and Floozies, the group will attempt to break a Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously eating fire in a public place. They’ll gather between 1:30 and 2 p.m. for the spectacle, which will no doubt distract competitors waiting for results and overeaters waiting for digestion.


Meanwhile a suspicious fire at another Indian restaurant in Scotland is being investigated by police. Thirty firefighters tackled a blaze at Madras Cottage in East Main Street, Whitburn. Fire and Rescue said the fire started in a back kitchen and spread to an upstairs flat. Fire crews had to gain access through a roof. A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "We want to speak to anyone who was in the area of East Main Street in Whitburn in the early hours of this morning, who noticed any suspicious activity there. Perhaps it was another one of the curry eating challengers spontaneously combusting? I like to think so.

I'm reading: That Was The Week That Was

Bio Willy

I've been a big fan of Willie Nelson for as long as I can remember and have endured all sorts of sniggers about the geriatric hippy. Willie has been blamed for all sorts of things from bad choice of hair style to some really strange songs although no-one could possibly criticise some of his best work such as "Crazy". Anyway "Crazy" brings to mind the latest barbs levelled at him, albeit indirectly.
“On the Road Again” means something new for Willie Nelson these days — a chance for truckers to fill their tanks with clean-burning biodiesel fuel from his own company Bio Willy. All good clean, socially responsible fun you might think but it seems that Willie and others of his ilk are being blamed for the ever increasing price of your groceries down at Mr A's. Growing world demand for "environmentally friendly" biofuels is partly to blame for the rocketing price of food in South Africa analysts have warned. They claim that demand for biofuels in rich nations is one of the contributors to higher domestic prices for a wide range of products, from maize to beef, milk and chickens. And since biofuel crops reduce the area of land used for food production, there is also concern in many parts of the world that the new industry will threaten food security if crops are grown to feed cars instead of people. Would someone please make up their bloody minds whether we should use bio fuels, fossil fuels, electricity, nuclear, or wind power or scrap the cars and go back to horses and carts and then when they've done that please let me know because I'm totally confused. As Willie would croon " It's not supposed to be that way....."

I'm reading: Bio Willy

Eggstra thoughts on eggs

I have only one word of advice about boiling eggs – don’t ask a chef! Culinary goddess Delia Smith who normally never puts a foot wrong, raised a few eyebrows when she advocated placing the egg in boiling water and cooking for 6 minutes. The Italian greaseball Giorgio Locatelli says to boil the water first and then add the egg and cook for 6 minutes stirring constantly, Michel Roux of the Waterside Inn says "Take the egg from the fridge well in advance. Put it in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and count 60 seconds. I use neither a watch nor an egg timer." Sounds simple but the egg turns out raw, and Antonio Carluccio, Italian cook and restaurateur believes "The eggs should be at room temperature and washed in cold water. Gently add the egg to boiling water and boil for three-and-a-half minutes. Take off the heat and leave in the pot for 30 seconds before serving." Now a group of schoolgirls believe they have finally found the answer after a series of experiments, backed by no less a scientific authority than the Royal Society of Chemistry. They concluded that the optimum cooking time for a soft boiled egg suitable for dunking toast soldiers in is a full six minutes. It proves that Delia was right all along. The knack , they found, was to get the water just to boiling point before gently dropping the eggs in and leaving then for six minutes. The method requires large sized eggs which have been stored at room temperature before boiling. Having successfully navigated the controversy over egg boiling times, the girls then moved on to a potentially even more vexed issue: what makes the best toast soldiers. They concluded – against the prescriptions of nutritionists – that white bread is better than brown for the purpose. They also found that margarine makes stronger soldiers than traditional butter, that the optimum toasting time for soldiers is two and half minutes and that they should be sliced no wider than 1.5cm (0.59in).

I'm reading: Eggstra thoughts on eggs

Scotching that idea!

One of life’s little mysteries is the Scotch Egg. Sausage and eggs certainly go together as a traditional breakfast dish but who on earth would have come up with the idea of wrapping sausage meat around a hard boiled egg before crumbing and deep frying it? Well not the Scots apparently since Scotch Eggs didn’t actually originate in Scotland—they were first served at London’s exclusive provisioner Fortnum & Mason department store in 1738. The word “scotch” is old English, meaning “to chop or mince,” which fits this deep-fried savory snack. Fortnum & Mason claims it invented the portable snack for rich coach travellers in 1738. “The eggs would have been smaller in those days,’’ says the company’s archivist Dr Andrea Turner. “They would have been pullet’s eggs rather than hen’s eggs, and the meat would have been gamier, like a strong Victorian pâté.’’ She believes that the eggs then filtered down the social ranks, first becoming a Victorian savoury using cheaper meats, and finally arriving at the mass-produced egg served in the pubs, cafés and at picnics in second half of the last century. An alternative theory, propounded by Annette Hope in her book A Caledonian Feast, claims that the Scotch egg evolved from Nargisi Kofta, an Indian dish that is also made from minced meat and a boiled egg. I’m not so sure myself since neither the Indians nor Fortnum and Mason would have had that silky brown elixir at their disposal without which a Scotch egg is merely an object for hurling at your enemies. I’m referring of course to the absolutely essential dressing of HP Sauce, le sauce brun, which was only invented and developed by Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham in the late 1890’s!

I'm reading: Scotching that idea!

Catch a wasabi wake up call

Every year, the Ig Nobel prize is awarded for "improbable research" and honour those "achievements that first make people LAUGH then make them THINK." On this year's list of winners a Japanese alarm that wakes people up using the scent of wasabi. So you don’t hear an audible buzz you just get a blast of wasabi blown in your face and the pungency it seems is capable of waking the dead and the deaf! It has incredibly useful applications, like functioning as a smoke alarm for people with hearing problems. The only drawback is that on awakening everyone squints around for the non existent sushi normally associated with the wasabi whiff!

I'm reading: Catch a wasabi wake up call

Sunday afternoon at the bioscope

There are times when all you want is an understanding ear. Unfortunately it seems that Stephan Fry is not quite providing it in this sketch from Fry & Laurie. FeedBlitz subscribers will of course have to visit the site to view.

I'm reading: Sunday afternoon at the bioscope

Dilly Diner of the Week

You'll have to travel to Lanzerote in the Canary Islands to experience this week's Dilly Diner, to the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, to be precise. This volcanic landscape enclosing the Montañas de Fuego (Fire Mountains) and stretching over approx. 50 sq. kilometres (19 sq. miles) is the highlight of Lanzarote’s landscapes, though almost completely devoid of any bird, animal and plant life.
Dramatic volcanic eruptions during the years 1730 to 1736, from which the Fire Mountains resulted. Nowadays the area is quite safe, though underneath the surface it is still bubbling and an odour of sulphur hangs in the air. The temperature below the surface rises quickly from 100 to 400°C, which are already reached at 6 m (20 ft) depth. It's here that you'll find the glass-walled El Diablo restaurant, built in a circle and offering breathtaking views over the moon-like landscape and the sea beyond. The main feature of the restaurant is a giant braai using the oven-like heat rising from the depth of the sleeping volcano. Chicken, calamari, kebabs are all grilled using natural volcano heat, at a sort of eternal flame of braais, Employees of the park entertain visitors by throwing a bunch of dry lichen into a shallow hollow, which quickly bursts into flames or pouring water into tubes set in the earth, turning into steam within seconds and shooting up several metres like a man-made geyser.

I'm reading: Dilly Diner of the Week