You possibly don’t want to hear about December again but let’s shoo the last knockings of it out of the door. There were a few posts to talk about this month but even more in the way of nibbles, goodies and gewgaws I sampled.
Potatoes: I started on an introspective note, discussing why I like potatoes so much as a way to pay tribute to my mum.
Speaking up for Sprouts: I also put forward the defence for the green December beacon, the humble Brussels Sprout, and gave it a little more life with potato and cream.
Aldi Christmas Pudding: On a related note, Aldi sent me their 12 month matured Christmas Pudding. It was super-average. Nothing is beating the hidden orange, it seems.
Garner’s Pickles: Garner’s sent me a sample of their pickles. There’s an odd North-South thing in my house; Mrs. Spud originally from the North refers to pickled onions simply as ‘pickles’ and I always wonder if she means generic pickled things. As far as I’m concerned pickled onions are called just that. December always meant Grandad had a batch of his eye-watering onions ready to munch on Boxing Day with cold turkey. Garner’s Sweet Pickled Baby Onions (pictured) were particularly good, a perfect balance of crunch, sweet and sharp. I also received a few others in the range, notoriously the pickled eggs which I immediately dispatched to my brother’s so a true connoisseur could enjoy them. “Yummy” was his one-word review. What more can I say! Not a favourite of mine.
Sage Appliances Heston Fryer: Did you think I’d had enough of fryers? Nope, I’m currently trying out the Sage Appliances Heston deep fat fryer and early reports are good. A more detailed writeup on this in January.
Castello Cheese: Castello sent me a range of cheeses, but they were the sideshow to their invite to test a “molecularly paired cheeseboard”. You had me at “molecule”. They had a flavour expert, Danny Hodrien, break down the flavour profile and pair them up with some unique partners. So I tried their creamy white (Brie-style cheese) with blitzed pistachio and fennel dust, and that was very interesting. The cheese and quite tangy yet smooth, and the nut-seed combo helps both flavours linger on in the mouth. Surprisingly good. I tried some of the cheese on their own and the Castello Blue is very tasty, not pungent but very savoury. There are a number of other combinations they’ve asked me to try, and I’ll be digging further into how they can influence my cooking.
And I must mention my favourite foodie Christmas present of this year: the Sgt. Peppermill. Thanks Mrs. Spud!
2 replies on “december round-up”
Love the peppermill!
Everyone does! A big hit.