Friday, December 30, 2022

MMMM ... LIMEY

 You ever seen one of these?  I hadn’t.  



 

Then I went in the Sprouts Farmers Market in Culver City and there they were.  They’re limequats.

 

Allow Wikipedia to explain: ‘The limequat is a citrofortunella hybrid that is the result of a cross between the Key lime and the kumquat, hybridized by Walter Tennyson Swingle in 1909. 

 

Who knew?

 

I was even foolish enough to try eating one whole, since that’s what you do with a kumquat.  This was a mistake.

 




I have never actually tasted battery acid, but I imagine the flavour would be somewhat similar.  Perfectly OK in your gin and tonic though.

 

This is Walter Tennyson Swingle.




 

 

Thursday, December 22, 2022

PORK HUMOUR/HUMOR

 This one made me snicker like a guilty schoolboy: 

 



It was posted on Instagram by David R. Chan (@chandavkl) who is a champion eater at, and chronicler of, Chinese restaurants; and an amusing fellow, judging by his blog.



This is a link to that blog:

https://chandavkl.blogspot.com


Tuesday, December 20, 2022

WHAT I DRANK ON MY HOLIDAYS

Want to see some evidence of enthusiastic but prudent alcohol intake?

Well of course you do.

Here's a Manhattan in the bar at the Hilton Garden Hotel, Heathrow.


This pic is by me, all the rest were taken by Caroline 'hot shot' Gannon

A martini at Musso and Frank in LA.:


 

A couple of 'James Bond Martinis' at The Kaiser Grill in Palm Springs:

 


Another at Lulu's, also Palm Springs - hey, it's martini kind of town.




Another at the bar in the Bonaventure, LA (the revolving restauarant was closed – and not revolving), and yes, the glass could have been a LOT fuller:

 



And a Margaraita, also in LA, at a somewhat fancy Mexican restaurant, La Conde:

 


Made by this guy:



Cheers and a happy equinox to you and yours.  






Thursday, December 15, 2022

PRE-MUNCHIES

 A few years back when cannabis became more or less fully legal in California, various Los Angeles restaurants offered tasting menus that included ‘cannabis pairings’ – different types of dope for each course, designed to match and enhance the flavor of different foods.  I’m not sure that these establishments ever really caught on, though I see they do still exist in some form.  I also see that the internet is awash with recipes for ‘cannabis cocktails’ and even ‘cannabis gin.’

 


I never went to one of those cannabis restaurants, mostly because I know that my own reaction to cannabis is very unpredictable.  Some types and dosages leave me completely unmoved.  Other types have been known to turn me into a drooling, dribbling wreck. There may be a time and a place for that, but I’d say not when you’re sitting at a table in a restaurant.

 

However … finding myself in Palm Springs recently (long story) where there’s a cannabis store on many a street corner, I sampled some edibles and then set out with the (untainted) inamorata for a couple of martinis at Zin, which calls itself ‘American bistro’ – no definite or indefinite article.

 

The walk there from the motel was an experience.  Most of the time I had no idea where I was or where I was going, and the roads seemed hundreds of yards wide.  It wasn’t unpleasant but it was very weird to feel that way before dinner, before even having had a drink.

 

Photo by Caroline Gannon


But we arrived at Zin, sat on stools at the bar, and ordered a couple of martinis from the cheery, mask-wearing barman.  He asked what kind of gin we wanted and I said Tanqueray possibly thinking of Snoop Dogg and the fact that he rhymes Tanqueray with Dr. Dre in the song ‘Gin and Juice.’ The barman then asked, and really do I believe this was the first time I’d been asked it by a barman, if we wanted the drinks shaken or stirred.  The latter obviously.

 

Well, I was certainly not a drooling, dribbling wreck and the martini was very good, and then I tasted the olive, and OMG!!!



It seemed to explode with brinish intensity not just in the mouth and taste buds but also in my brain, in my very core.  It was, and I hesitate to use the word, COSMIC.  I asked the barman where he bought his olives and he said just down at the local supermarket, and of course I was well aware that the bang was in me rather than in the olives, and probably it was an unrepeatable experience. Even if I could guarantee the ‘pairing,’ it no doubt wouldn’t be the same next time.