Stranger in a Strange Land

[CAROL SAUNDERS 128]

23 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Carol,  I was criticising the name, not the coffee itself. Basically, it's just what Italians call caffe latte. 

 

Robert, there was a home espresso machine at some of the flats I stayed at in the past two years. I don't see myself moving around with one, not an item for a nomad. I used a French press, drink black Italian coffee with sugar, but just two large mugs in the morning. In NYC, I often had a caffe macchiato in the afternoon. 

 

Allan, I see myself as a guest in your country. I'm not here to tell people how to do things, although sometimes I have those thoughts. 

 

 

 

Apologies Edo, must have been reading too quickly😁

 

Carol

[CAROL SAUNDERS 128]

On 30/11/2020 at 11:52, Robert M Estall said:

Once you discover how easily these home espresso machines make superb coffee you'll chuck all those instant jars away. The ones which use pods are a waste of time and money. As to flat whites, Lattes and most of current offerings, I really don't get it. Cappuccino qualifies as coffee, most of the rest don't. Why we call watered down Espresso AMERICANO I have no idea. In Italy they give you a glass of water alongside your espresso just in case you are thirsty. I'm pleasantly surprised how so many little cafes in the UK have a decent Espresso machine and will give a proper coffee. Mostly they are proper Gaggia machines though there are a few alternatives out there.

Robert, I'm going to stick to my jars😁

 

I think over the years I've tried many types of coffee even going back to that thing called a percolator😁 hope I'm not showing my age here !  Tried grinding coffee beans etc.,They were all good at first but then I got fed up with them ha ha.  Also I hate having gadgets all over the kitchen worktop and no more room in my cupboards to store them....it's instant for me but enjoy yours😁

 

Carol

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

I find using ground coffee in a French press no more work than instant.

[NYCat 2,458]

At the Sea Lion Lodge in the Falkland Islands they would put a French press on the table and we would dutifully press it. Then we realized that it was instant coffee. No grounds.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

Is that why Maggie went to war?

[spacecadet 3,783]

30 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Is that why Maggie went to war?

You scamp, Ed.

[NYCat 2,458]

The chef at that lodge was truly wonderful and we were willing to forgive the coffee because our meals were fabulous. The chefs in the Falklands all seemed to be from Chile. The other trip where the food was wonderful was the ship in Svalbard. The chef was Russian and we ate very, very well. 

 

Paulette

[Allan Bell 2,409]

On 30/11/2020 at 12:30, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

Allan, I see myself as a guest in your country. I'm not here to tell people how to do things, although sometimes I have those thoughts. 

 

 

 

 

Edo you have just knocked me back. I do not know how you could have thought that I was criticising you in some way in my last post????

 

I made no mention of your status in this country nor that you were trying to tell people how to do things.

 

In fact I am with you all the way with your problems, I sympathise and consider you to be a resident not a guest.

 

The only time I try to tell people how to do things is when they ask for my help. Or they post a question on the forums and I think I can answer it, even if only partially.

 

Allan (one of your best friends.)

 

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

 

I didn't think you were criticising me. I'm just trying to make what I feel is my position clear. Sure, I'm a legal resident in the UK for the second time and glad to be. 

[John Mitchell 4,654]

9 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

My situation is NHS policy. 

 

Understood. In Canada, the more effective vaccine that I mentioned seems to be the norm. We do have to pay for the shots, though. About $150 each, I believe.

 

However, Trudeau claims to be on case, and I think that we will eventually have a proper PharmaCare plan.

[Allan Bell 2,409]

17 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I didn't think you were criticising me. I'm just trying to make what I feel is my position clear. Sure, I'm a legal resident in the UK for the second time and glad to be. 

 

Sincere appologies for my misunderstanding of your comment.

 

Allan

 

[Michael Ventura 5,652]

Thanks to this forum and this thread, I am just back from getting my first of two jabs of the Shingrix vaccine for Shingles.  I was reminded to get back to my doctor about it and they got me in today!  So far I feel good, no pain in the arm but it has only been an hour or so.  

[Cecile Marion 175]

Hopefully, you won’t have any problems, but if you wake up in the morning wondering what the heck you did to your upper arm, you’ll know what we’ve been moaning about. Beats getting the shingles anyway. 😀

[Michael Ventura 5,652]

6 minutes ago, Cecile Marion said:

Hopefully, you won’t have any problems, but if you wake up in the morning wondering what the heck you did to your upper arm, you’ll know what we’ve been moaning about. Beats getting the shingles anyway. 😀

 

Yes, the sheet of info they gave me to read said that some 80% of people getting this vaccine will experience some pain in the arm for the next 24 to 48 hours.  Like you said, it sure beats getting shingles.  I remember my father getting shingles and it was tough to see him in so much pain.

[Bryan 14,301]

Back to coffee I recall ordering a latte in Italy and receiving a glass of milk. It amused my friends.....

 

We use a Moka pot to brew ours. I've tried grinding beans and using ready ground, but can't tell the difference. I can't take espresso neat, I have add milk to make it palatable. 

 

Our son was using a Moka pot in somebody's newly decorated kitchen, when the pot exploded and spread the walls with grinds and debris. Fortunately nobody hurt.

 

We've used a selection of Moka pots for years, and, to date, no incidents. I've a friend who has a bells and whistles coffee machine, but he's had to spend more than  my annual coffee budget on maintenance. Moka rules Ok !

 

Finally, I try to limit my ground coffee intake to a single dose with breakfast, but don't always succeed.

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

You can say latte in Seattle. In Italy you have to say caffe latte. 

[Betty LaRue 3,082]

I accidentally bought a package of coffee that were beans instead of grounds. I took it to my daughter’s, because I know they have a grinder. My son-in-law ground them for me.

I noticed this morning when I opened the bag that the grind was very course. Trying to decide whether my usual measurement would make it too strong or too weak, I decided to put a tiny bit less in the coffee pot basket. 
What came out was barely colored water. If I’d put a coin at the bottom of my cup, I could have read the year of minting.  I added the same amount of scoops to the old grounds, ran about 16 ounces of water through and finally got a tasty brew.

 

[Bryan 14,301]

3 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

You can say latte in Seattle. In Italy you have to say caffe latte. 

 

I wonder when the word latte entered the UK vocabulary Edo. I'd always called it milky coffee until one day,. I think at a museum in London, I asked for that and the girl serving said do you mean a latte? Maybe the usage took time to spread to the provinces.

 

More widely our diet has changed incredibly over the years, brought up in a colliery village there was plenty to eat but not much variety. I must have been in my 20s before I had my first curry, and Iikewise my first taste of Italian food. Even more recently experiments on our allotment have added parsnips, kale, spinach and squash to our diet, not to mention chillies, both hot and sweet, aubergines and spicy salad leaves. It's a hugely different diet to 1950s rationing and stodge.

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

The variety of cuisines is one of the best things to come out of immigration and world travel. We can thank the jet aircraft, the same factor that is helping destroy the world climate. The half-Italian names for coffee come from Seattle and the American coffee revolution, I believe. They've coined a name for every slight variation. 

 

Also, in the States we say eggplant. You say aubergine eggplant. You use the French or Continental name for several veggies. I do enjoy some of the older English dishes once in awhile. I haven't seen bubble and squeak lately. 

 

Stay healthy, Bryan.

Edited December 11, 2020 by Ed Rooney

[Robert M Estall 307]

You need to have done a roast on a Sunday for there to be a bowl of left-over veggies on a Monday. Best if there are several sprouts. A quick spin in the food processor, tip it into a fry pan et voila, Bubble and Squeak

Edited December 11, 2020 by Robert M Estall

[Mr Standfast 566]

Nom, nom...

[Dyn Llun 241]

6 hours ago, Bryan said:

 

I wonder when the word latte entered the UK vocabulary Edo. I'd always called it milky coffee until one day,. I think at a museum in London, I asked for that and the girl serving said do you mean a latte? Maybe the usage took time to spread to the provinces.

 

More widely our diet has changed incredibly over the years, brought up in a colliery village there was plenty to eat but not much variety. I must have been in my 20s before I had my first curry, and Iikewise my first taste of Italian food. Even more recently experiments on our allotment have added parsnips, kale, spinach and squash to our diet, not to mention chillies, both hot and sweet, aubergines and spicy salad leaves. It's a hugely different diet to 1950s rationing and stodge.

The Italian and cafe and coffee culture arrived in Wales many generations ago with the influx of Italian immigrants. They came during hard times from a region of north Italy near Bardi to work in the coal and steel industries in the S. Wales Valleys. They brought their ice cream, coffee and cafe culture with them and almost every town in Wales, especially the valleys has a Conti, Gazzi, Bracchi, etc. cafe. We have a Conti's just ten minutes from here and he still makes great ice cream at the back of his cafe and he's over 90.  In Splott when I was a kid we had two Gazzi's, same family. The son ran the cafe in Splott Road and mama and papa the fish and chip shop. I had an Italian 'pen friend' when i was 14 and used to go to mama and papa Gazzi's for six penny worth of chips and a translation because Louisa used to write to me in Italian. If you want a photography connection, she sent a photograph of herself with one letter. Gorgeous 16 year old, long black hair, leaning against a Vespa scooter in a piazza in Rome. She asked for a photograph of me. I duly sent one and never heard from her again.......

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

Mi dispiace, Dyn. Let's assume you were just too young for her.

 

I'm a New Yorker with an Irish passport, but in my heart I'm also quasi-Romano. You won't find spaghetti bolognese or spaghetti and meatballs in Italy. Those are both NYC dishes gone international--everywhere but Italy. In Italy, meatballs are a separate dish and in Bologna, it's tagliatelle with the classic sauce made with beef, pork, and filler. 

[spacecadet 3,783]

4 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

 in Bologna, it's tagliatelle with the classic sauce made with beef, pork, and filler. 

e.g.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by spacecadet

[Ed Rooney 3,627]

 

Mark, have you like me found that tagliatelle is one of those pastas that can vary in width between linguine and fettuccini?