An Expedition To Muswell Hill To Get Some Lovely Liver
After my plea in Need To Regularly Eat A Large Plate Of Calves’ Liver, I got a recommendation to try The Cilicia at Muswell Hill.
It was delicious and just what my body wanted. The liver had been cooked in sage butter with tomatoes, mushrooms and potatoes.
I shall return!
The only problem is that Dalston and Muswell Hill is not the easiest journey to make by public transport.
My route was as follows.
- I took by taking a 141 bus from close to my house to Manor House station.
- I then got a Piccadilly Line train to Turnpike Lane station.
- From there it was a 144 bus to Muswell Hill Broadway.
It took about 45 minutes.
But it might be quicker to take a 102 bus from Bounds Green station.
Or go to the Angel Islington and get a 43 bus from there to Muswell Hill Broadway.
But my route could all have been so different.
This map shows the Muswell Hill branch which was closed by British Rail and has since been mainly built over.
The Muswell Hill branch would have been part of the comprehensive Northern Heights Plan.
- The Northern Line would have been extended from Edgware to Bushey Heath.
- The Mill Hill East branch would have been extended to Edgware.
- If you look at the maps in Wikipedia, the Northern Line would be very different through London.
- The Muswell Hill branch would have given better access to the magnificent Alexandra Palace.
But Austerity after World War II meant the extension never happened.
I can see a case could be made for some parts of the Northern Heights plan, but it is too late now, as viaducts have been demolished and routes have been built over.
My feeling is that if there was a need for the Northern Heights plan in the 1930s, then as London has expanded, that need will need to be fulfilled in the future.
So when Austerity hits as it did after World War II and as it is happening now due to Covid-19 and Vlad’s war in Ukraine, we should make sure we don’t compromise our plans for the future.
I believe that with a small amount of safeguarding in the 1960s, the Northern Line would now have a useful branch to Alexandra Palace and Muswell Hill.
I Need To Regularly Eat A Large Plate Of Calves’ Liver
I’ve always liked liver, as did my father and we would eat it regularly at home. We were the two coeliacs in the family, although neither of us had been diagnosed at the time.
My late wife never ever cooked me liver, but would always be happy to go with me, when I ate it. I remember once in Berlin, she found a wonderful restaurant that served liver, on the other side of the city to where we were staying.
I also used to eat it regularly in restaurants when I moved to London, especially in Carluccio’s. The one round the corner from me in Islington is long gone and I used to eat liver there often.
But now finding a restaurant that serves calve’s liver in London is extremely difficult. Marks and Spencer also used to sell it, as I wrote in Lovely Liver. They still sell lamb’s liver but it’s not the same.
I’m certain, if I don’t supplement my B12 injections with a nice plate of liver, I get medical problems.
I suspect that my stroke-damaged brain, may well snaffle a lot of the B12 injection, thus leaving the rest of my body with just a few dregs.
So does anybody know of a quality pub or restaurant within easy reach of public transport from London, that sells liver?
Or failing that a proper butchers, that can prepare it for me to cook.
It should be noted, that I’m not good at cutting up meat, as my left arm is damaged. Not by the stroke, but by the school bully, who broke my arm, when I was fourteen.
Lovely Liver
Lovely Liver
For supper last night, I cooked some liver which I had bought from Marks & Spencer.
It was in lots of slices and I just fried it in olive oil, serving it with a fried onion and some potatoes and sprouts.
It was rather nice considering my limited cooking skills.
Hay Fever and B12
I’m not sure if there’s a link, but last night I had some superb liver at Carluccio’s and my hay fever seems a lot better today, despite the high pollen levels. Searching for “hay fever B12” does bring some results.
Exquisite Liver
I was in Carluccio’s in Upper Street yesterday and had the most exquisite liver with onion jam and polenta. It is a special this week and I’ll be going back to get another dose of B12.
Ice Cold in Cornwall
I went to Cornwall for the weekend with friends.
Cold wasn’t the word for the weather.
Icicles at Boscastle
This was the walk by the river in Boscastle. In the end we retreated to the Wellington Hotel for some delicious hot chocolate. We also had an early dinner there before returning to London. The menu was very coeliac and vegetarian friendly.
I had some delicious liver and bacon. All that B12 seems to have freshened up my skin quite a bit.
A Gluten-Free Lunch at Newmarket
I went to Newmarket races this afternoon. Judging by the number of cars in the car park, a lot of other people had the same idea. I blame the sunshine! It was cold though, but people were wrapped up well, as this photo shows.
Newmarket Races
Note the large number of cars in the background.
I needed lunch and went to the Bistro. If I’d done this some years ago and asked if the liver was gluten-free, I’d have got a blank look. But for the last couple of years, they’ve known what was in any of the meals.
The liver was excellent and as I was driving I washed it down with a pint of Diet Coke. The cost was even reasonable for a racecourse, or even any sit-down meal with service, at twenty pounds. That service was very much on the good side of four out of five.
They only charged two pounds for the Coke, which is about the same you’ll pay for it in a motorway service station. And in that case you don’t get a glass and you have to pour it yourself.
Comments on Carluccio’s Gluten Free Menu
Several times in the last year or so, I have gone to various of Carluccio’s caffes in various parts of the country. I’ve tasted it in Docklands, Trafford Centre, Cambridge and St. Pancras and it has been worth the extra wait as it takes a little longer to prepare.
In my view there are two very small problems.
- The staff just bring the gluten-free menu, so you have to ask for the other one as well, as that is the one with the drinks on it. I have contacted Carluccio’s about this and hope they change their training.
- The pasta is very good, but I would love the occasional meat based one. They used to do an Italian sausage one, but in Cambridge last week, they said that they had to discontinue that, as the supplier had declared the sausage not to be gluten-free. It does show that they take us seriously, though.
One manager also indicated that they can do other things from the main menu, by a few simple modifications. For some years, I used to get liver on this basis, but it has dropped off the menu.
I have also heard of only a slight problem at the Trafford Centre, where the waitress was unaware of the menu. As the manager at that caffe, was the person who introduced me to the menu, I suspect it was a training issue. But even there, the customer got the gluten-free menu in the end.
I did pass these comments to Carluccio’s and got a reply by e-mail within the hour. So they take what I said seriously.
Musings on Gluten-Free Pasta
As a coeliac, I can’t have normal pasta, but there are some fairly good gluten-free ones around.
I do get Dr. Schar‘s pasta on free on prescription (I’m 62, so age does have some advantages!), but I’m not that good at cooking it, so it tends to be a bit hard. As I’ve now got the hang of cooking rice, in either the quick Uncle Ben form or the more traditional one, I tend to avoid cooking pasta.
However, I have got a liking for Carluccio’s the gluten-free pasta on their menu that is suitable for coeliacs. Just click the link on the page indicated. I had some of the Giardiniera today in their caffe in St. Pancras Station and it was excellent. I just wish that they would change the gluten-free menu more often and also do some liver too!
But hey, the pasta is always worth waiting for, even if it takes a few minutes more. Does that explain my hard pasta?
The interesting thing though is that Carluccio’s seem to do only one type of gluten-free pasta with different sauces. And that is penne!
Could it be that gluten-free pasta comes better in the thicker varieties?
Recently, I’ve tried cooking some of the Doves Farm gluten-free penne and that was a lot better. Also a friend has cooked me one her special lasagna using Dr. Schar‘s pasta and that was better than excellent.
I’m no cook and I wonder if anybody has any ideas.
Are Restaurants Getting Better?
On Sunday, I went up to London and had a very good meal, risotto followed by liver, in the Camden Brasserie. And yesterday, I went to the Bull and Bush in Hampstead. There it was a steak with a pint of Aspalls cyder.
The point about both these restaurants is that neither would claim to be particular allergy-friendly and don’t say as much on the web site, but they both know about allergies and checked my order with the chef.
Writing twenty-four hours later, I have had no reaction.
So I would recommend these places to everybody; coeliacs or not.
The Anonymous Widower 