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| Photo: Caroline Gannon. |
We went to Southend, chiefly to see Jah Wobble and the Invaders of the Heart. Jah looked like this:
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| Photo: Caroline Gannon |
The gig was ace but you'd expect that.
Now, I don’t know what Jah (or John as I like to call him) currently likes to eat but I remembered, and have now tracked down, an old interview he did with David Honigmann the Financial Times a long time ago (2009).
It runs in part, “I had guineafowl, with cranberries and pumpkin, very acidic …” Jah Wobble is on a roll now, eyes turning upwards in ecstasy. “And it was the best meal I’ve ever eaten. It was a …religious moment!” Briefly, the memory of eating at the Chelsea Arts Club reduces him to uncharacteristic silence. “And then I spoiled it. Next day I had the same thing again, and it was good, it was still really good, but it just wasn’t perfect.” He is rueful. “I should have had the lamb.”
The man is a philosopher but we’ve always known that.
I can’t tell you whether or not guineafowl is to be had in Southend today, very probably it is, but I didn’t come across any.
On Saturday afternoon on the prom we eschewed the jellied eels, and had some cockles, whelks and octopi. I suspect the ‘old’ Southend would have balked at the octopi.
But times change. There was even a tapas bar on the Esplanade.
But next morning, in search of authenticity, we went to a place called Café Munchies which looked like this from the outside.
And inside there was pie and mash. We had a choice between gravy and liquor, but when you're looking for authenticity that's really no choice at all.
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