The Caballito de Mar Restaurant, Palma Majorca
Five years ago for my sixtieth birthday, C took me to Majorca. We stayed in an excellent hotel outside of Palma and she asked them to recommend a good restaurant that could do gluten-free food. They recommended the Caballito de Mar Restaurant on the avenue along the sea-front, underneath the town. It was excellent, so on my brief trip, I went back.
In fact, I went back again, as the sea bass was so good the first time.
The restaurant made up for the sub-standard hotel.
First Class to Leeds
I travelled in First Class to Leeds yesterday. I do get more and more fed up with the standard of the class on Saturdays.
I paid about thirty pounds more for a comfy seat, a table and two cups of coffee each way. My fellow travellers also got some rather boring-looking sandwiches both ways.
But I suspect, judging by the number of empty seats and those on Virgin a couple of weeks ago, the train companies First Class offerings on Saturday, are not the hottest product.
At least that on First Hull Trains is better! But on the other hand, it didn’t seem to sell many seats.
It strikes me though, that the train companies need to do a bit of thinking about their First Class product. And whilst they’re at it, they could look at their gluten-free offerings too!
Inciodentally, I had breakfast in Carluccio’s before I travelled and got some sandwiches from Marks and Spencer in Leeds station. I also noted that Leon’s restaurant had some good gluten-free breakfast offerings.
So some things are getting better, but the trains aren’t keeping up with the competition. Although you could argue, that the presence of Leon’s and Carluccio’s in stations, is down to policy changes at Network Rail.
Curry With A Kick?
I saw this sign in the window of a restaurant in Upper Street.
Curry With A Kick?
I wonder if it’s gluten free.
This Place Doesn’t Know Its Gluten From Its Elbow
I was walking along Piccadilly, when I saw a restaurant called Cafe de Pierre. It looked good, so I went in and asked about how coeliac friendly it was.
This Place Doesn’t Know Its Gluten From Its Elbow
I shouldn’t have bothered, as the waitress I spoke to had no idea, whether the food was gluten-free or not.
So coeliacs should probably give the restaurant a wide berth, until they get their act together.
An Excellent Gluten-Free Snack
I do like polenta cake, but Carluccio’s one seems to be difficult to find, although they do happen to have a chocolate and coconut one. But I’ve never liked coconut and especially those biscuits called Nice, which I think are Nasty. Today though the waitress offered me a cioccolato fondente from the gluten free menu.
An Excellent Gluten-Free Snack
I shall be having one again.
DNA Sequencing On The NHS
This is due to be announced soon and it’s already here on the Downing Street web-site.
Sadly, it’s too late for my wife and son, who died of cancer in 2007 2010 respectively.
My wife had a squamous cell carcinoma of the heart, which is so rare and deadly, that I don’t think any new technique would have helped. The doctors at Papworth Hospital, where she was treated had never seen such a vicious cancer. Short of a transplant or an unexpected miracle nothing could have saved her.
In my son’s case of pancreatic cancer, his lifestyle hadn’t helped and he might have stood a chance, if Trafford General Hospital where he was first treated in Manchester had picked it up earlier. As it is, they didn’t and Addenbrooke’s took their time too, as it was unexpected. Knowing what I know now, I would have got him to Cambridge earlier or taken him to Liverpool, where treatment of pancreatic cancer is a specialty.
So although the sequencing of cancer sufferers DNA will help in many cases, it wouldn’t have helped in their two cases, which were so tragic for my family.
What would have helped my son, would have been better diagnosis of his problem at an earlier date.
My wife went to the hospital fairly soon after she started running out of puff. She also led an exemplary life with regard to food, drink, not smoking and keeping very fit. Although that couldn’t be said for my son, who smoked heavily. And not just tobacco!
As an aside here, I am a coeliac.
This disease can be picked up by looking at the DNA. So if DNA sequencing becomes commonplace, looking for hereditary diseases like this may be a sensible and worthwhile use of the technique.
Four Gluten-Free Casseroles
The Times today, in the comic has four casserole recipes. All are gluten-free.
One doesn’t even need an oven.
I shall be trying one or more.
C and I always referred to the Colour Magazine in a newspaper as the comic. We once looked over a house in Primrose Hill, where the walls were decorated with pages from the Sunday Times Magazine. It was just after the strike and the owner of the house had acquired these magazines, which were not needed because the paper wasn’t published.
New Potatoes In Tomato Sauce
I wasn’t diagnosed as a coeliac until fifty, but as a child and probably for a lot of my life, I’ve often chosen foods that were good for me and avoided ones that weren’t.
One thing my mother indulged me with was new potatoes, which I would inevitably eat with tomato sauce.
New Potatoes In Tomato Sauce
It was a habit C didn’t approve of and I don’t think she’d mind, that I’ve taken up again at times.
But it is rather nice. And gluten-free too!
It’s Friday So It’s Fish!
I tend to have fish on Friday, although I come from a family where there was quite a bit of anti-Roman Catholic feeling. My mother was from a Huguenot line and after what had happened in France in the eighteenth century, you could understand her family’s feelings. With my father it was a bit mixed, but he didn’t like the way the Pope Pius XII had not condemned the Nazis. If it’s one thing my father was, it was an anti-fascist. But then he’d been at the Battle of Cable Street.
But still we generally had fish on Fridays! A friend has said that her family did too, as that was the day the fish-man called. I know we had a fish-man, who brought fresh fish and perhaps he came on Friday.
I don’t always follow the tradition and C generally didn’t. But recently, I’ve found a few nice fish recipes and tend to cook one of them on a Friday.
Today was no exception and I cooked a variation of the Lindsey Bareham recipe of fish with peas and beans, that I often use.
I started by setting the oven to warm up to 200 °C, with a plate warming in the top oven. I also set some water to boil for the vegetables.
Warming Up The Cooker
Meanwhile, I prepared the fish, by taking it out of the packet and putting it in my expensive porcelain dish from a pound shop.
Fish Ready For Cooking
I generally do two pieces of fish, in case a hungry and beautiful woman should turn up, whilst I’m cooking. The only preparation I do is to put a tablespoon of Carluccio’s lemon-flavoured olive oil over each piece of fish. I always used to use a real lemon, but then I often forgot to buy one.
I also prepare the vegetables. The potatoes tonight were a pack of Waitrose’s ready-to-microwave ones, the beans were a pack of yesterday’s runner beans on special offer and the peas were frozen ones from the freezer.
The Peas and Beans Ready To Cook
The only tricky preparation was to cut the beans in half.
After the fish went in the oven, I put the beans in the boiling water and started the potatoes in the microwave. After a couple of minutes, the peas were added to the beans and by the time they’d cooked so had the potatoes. I then just gave the fish another minute or so until it was cooked and placed it on top of the green vegetables.
Fish With Potatoes, Peas And Beans
It really must be one of the simplest ways to cook fish and vegetables. Even I can get it right every time!
The washing-up isn’t too onerous.
Easy Washing Up
There’s nothing that’s actually too dirty and can’t be washed in the sink.
What Do They Put In The Chicken Tikka Dupiaza At The Angel Curry Centre?
I went to the Angel Curry Centre in Chapel Market, Islington last night and had my usual shamee kebab followed by chicken tikka dupiaza.
I feel a lot better this morning, as the pain I’ve been suffering in my jaw has lessened. It did the same a couple of weeks ago after a curry.
I can’t think that their currys are very different from the standard recipe, although I suspect they do put something in, that others don’t.
So what is in the average chicken tikka dupiaza? I found this recipe on a site called Curry Frenzy. They’ll even sell you the spices to make your own!
It looks like the spices are chilli, garlic, ginger, turmeric and some mild curry powder.
I suppose I should keep eating the curry. Especially, if the weather remains this cold.
The Anonymous Widower 