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4 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Tagliatelle al ragù

 

When I used to make the variation of that dish I used minced lamb in the ragù. Of course I was also using Spaghetti not Tagliatelle.

 

We used to have pizza's in the UK from various sources but did not have another after visiting Venice and had a fantastic Pizza on Murano.

 

Allan

 

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9 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

 

 

We used to have pizza's in the UK from various sources but did not have another after visiting Venice and had a fantastic Pizza on Murano.

 

Allan

 

We've done it too (and curry) but pizza is quite unVenetian! So is pasta for that matter- it's rice there. We've had a couple of Venetian rice dinners lately- risi e bisi, rice with peas. Mmm.

Ah, I tell a lie- they do have one pasta dish - bigoli in salsa, with anchovies.

Edited by spacecadet
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2 hours ago, John Morrison said:

 

Does that mean you've never tried a full English breakfast pizza? You haven't lived!

 

Hmm. Maybe if they remove the bacon, the sausage, the eggs, and the baked beans, I might try some of that. They can leave the mushrooms and the tomatoes. 

 

I did eat this breakfast pizza in NYC a few years ago.

 

M0FX8G.jpg

 

 

Edited by Ed Rooney
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4 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

When I used to make the variation of that dish I used minced lamb in the ragù. Of course I was also using Spaghetti not Tagliatelle.

 

We used to have pizza's in the UK from various sources but did not have another after visiting Venice and had a fantastic Pizza on Murano.

 

Allan

 

I had lobster tail here in middle USA a few times and loved it. Then we went to Bar Harbor, Maine and I had one maybe an hour off the boat. The restaurant actually jutted out over the sea and there were lobster pots I could see.
When I asked our hotel manager where was a good restaurant to have lobster, she looked at her husband puzzled, and asked him. They said, “I don’t know...we just walk down to the dock and buy ours right off the boats.” 
They finally gave us a suggestion, and that’s when I discovered fresh-caught lobster is a world apart from those flown in and kept in tanks, which stresses the lobsters and make them tougher.

So I know what you mean, Allan. I also had the best clam chowder and blueberry pie I’ve ever eaten in Bar Harbor, also. Their blueberries are local, probably the clams, too.

Betty

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16 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

It's cheering me up talking about food! 😃

 

 

 

 

This is the last thing I ate that I haven’t made myself... back in March! 

 

lemon-cheesecake-with-raspberry-coulis-S

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Speaking of lobster, as the restaurants are closed for the moment, our fish seller has a box or two of them at good prices. The last couple of years we could hardly get any as the Chinese had discovered that UK Lobsters were just fine and they drove the prices up dramatically. For now it's almost a weekly treat. Should have samphire any day now. If the weekly fish van doesn't get any in, I know a few places over near Felixstowe where I can pick it wild. The mobile fish shop is doing a terrific trade! Our village butcher shop is doing really well and the other mixed shop is expanding his range. There is a third shop, one of those little general stores but he doesn't even stock his shelves properly. 

Edited by Robert M Estall
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1 hour ago, Robert M Estall said:

Our village butcher shop is doing really well and the other mixed shop is expanding his range. There is a third shop, one of those little general stores but he doesn't even stock his shelves properly. 

 

Our little village store and Post Office has struggled to survive in the past but now they are a life line for a lot of locals and they are really busy. Only room for 2 at a time so the queue can be quite long! There was a socially distanced organised clap for them a while ago which surprised them greatly!  

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9 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/05/at-harrys-bar.html

 

Have any of you been to Harry's Bar recently?

 

Don't get me started about the French making you nervous, I left 35 years ago...

Another beautifully written, thoughtful piece of writing Edo. I used to work round the corner from Harry's Bar in Paris, a life I'd rather forget.

 

I sympathise with your wondering if old times still inspire modern people. I am experiencing the same in Australia. I am dead keen on reading Australiana books, visiting the places mentioned if possible. It gives me great pleasure but I feel not many people at all are interested in Australian history. Fair enough, it makes ME happy.

 

Edo aficionada.

 

 

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Thank you so much, Gen. You are an ex-Parisian? Where are you from? 

 

In the '70s, I spent almost two months in Australia doing a photo shoot for PanAm—I loved it! 

 

Be careful of that huge storm coming at you from the west. 

 

Edo

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If Gen's in Darwin she's a long way from the storm about to hit Perth. The closest I got to Darwin was The Isa which was only close in the Australian sense. I must have knocked around Aus for most of a year in the 60s. As for Harry's Bar, I never developed a taste for either Bourbon or cocktails (with the possible exception of a Daiqueri) I think I was reading Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck about then (Oh, and Henry Miller) but it never occurred to me to seek out their watering holes. More likely a jug of cheap red in a simple cafe. At the moment the cafes and pubs are closed  so we rely on a delivery from Majestic. In fairness, we get better wine that way.

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Another enjoyable piece, Edo. It’s so nice to have one of your essays to read each and every Sunday morning. I’m so glad you started up your blog again.
 

I’ve spent time in Paris every year since 2008. I am supposed to be there again in a few months. I’m still holding on to a very slender thread of hope, only because the plane tickets were purchased before the virus became a known issue. For me, France is a challenge. One I enjoy very much.....most of the time.🙃

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Thank you for reading my thoughts, Cecile. And I hope you get to enjoy Paris again this year. My travel ambitions are more modest. When the lockdown unlocks, I hope to make it to Chester and Leeds on the train. 

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10 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Ah yes, Henry Miller—a most important influence. But he was in Paris in the '30s. 

 

 

When it was still possible to live a low-budget bohemian existence in Paris. I don't imagine that Henry would last long in Paris these days, even with June's help.

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We've been travelling to France for getting on for 50 years. Noticed lots of changes, mainly for the better. At one time the staff in the tourist offices were haughty and unhelpful, but that's gone. These days most of them are happy to converse in English and are friendly and helpful. Recently we visited an office for information and came out with an array of maps etc and were walking away when the lady from the office came running after us armed with more stuff that she had found. 

 

I'm not a great one for bars, but I do recall, indeed it is seared upon my memory,  taking the family to one near the Trevi fountain in Rome and being stung with an enormous bill. I spent the remainder of that time in Italy demanding to know the price of everything before ordering - actually unecessary as mostly the stuff was incredibly good value outside the capital.

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18 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Thank you so much, Gen. You are an ex-Parisian? Where are you from? 

 

In the '70s, I spent almost two months in Australia doing a photo shoot for PanAm—I loved it! 

 

Be careful of that huge storm coming at you from the west. 

 

Edo

 

Not far at all from Paris, I'm from Versailles. I was doing the short commute to l'Opera every day.

 

Luckily that storm will not come our way in Darwin. I have some practise with cyclones in Cairns, we never got a direct hit but even the tail of the cyclone 200km away is impressive.

 

Stay safe Edo and keep enjoying your food.

 

Gen

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38 minutes ago, gvallee said:

I'm from Versailles.

 

I remember taking my kids to see the palace of Versailles, many years ago. As we surveyed the magnificent building, I said “Louis 14th build that”. Eldest kid, about six years old: “I bet his wife helped him”…

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32 minutes ago, John Morrison said:

 

I remember taking my kids to see the palace of Versailles, many years ago. As we surveyed the magnificent building, I said “Louis 14th build that”. Eldest kid, about six years old: “I bet his wife helped him”…

 

I see you raised him right! Appreciating women...

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Yesterday  Gvallee Said :   I am dead keen on reading Australiana books.

 

Gen, if you havn't already you might like a couple of books by Evan Green :    'Alice to Nowhere'   and   'Bet Your Life" and for early Aussie life  'Adams Empire"

The first two where you've been recently

 

Chris

 

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Ah Gen! You are a French girl who is now stalking those big salties! Trey B N. 

 

Bryan is right—things were very different the last time I saw Paris. Did I tell you all that I covered the riots at the Sorbonne in the spring of '68? A couple of French students looked out for me then.

 

Ha ha! They are playing Gershwin's "American in Paris" on BBC 3 right now!!!

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