tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post1211790079796260744..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Sopa de ajoDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-89374417884329543312013-01-21T22:03:33.650+00:002013-01-21T22:03:33.650+00:00So glad you've caught Weekend. Disarmingly sim...So glad you've caught Weekend. Disarmingly simple, heartbreaking and I loved Room with a View and Brief Encounter references... Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-65437275965341165782013-01-20T12:53:03.819+00:002013-01-20T12:53:03.819+00:00In the meantime, don't turn your nose up at th...In the meantime, don't turn your nose up at this non-gay romcom - nor its equally original successor, Two Days in New York, which we've just seen. There's pathos in that Delpy's mother, who was due to reprise her fabulous role here, died before filming, and JD had to rewrite the script.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-89961945234844584302013-01-19T18:13:17.078+00:002013-01-19T18:13:17.078+00:00We're going to have a bit of a wait for Weeken...We're going to have a bit of a wait for Weekend, unfortunately, as it will not be released to Netflix for another month or so. Hopefully by March . . . . Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279473113628377106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-56585888776679753462013-01-19T11:21:04.408+00:002013-01-19T11:21:04.408+00:00Has to be better than the Stinking Rose's garl...Has to be better than the Stinking Rose's garlic ice-cream. We will go.<br /><br />BTW I think it was your high praise for the film Weekend which encouraged us to rent it: a real low-key gem.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-17764928035487096662013-01-19T10:53:35.861+00:002013-01-19T10:53:35.861+00:00Very impressed with the soup... but you must get t...Very impressed with the soup... but you must get to Moro if you can. The rosewater ice-cream is worth it alone. Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-6816149125681074282013-01-19T09:59:27.673+00:002013-01-19T09:59:27.673+00:00I remember you writing about your famous moussaka....I remember you writing about your famous moussaka. If you want something new, you'll surely find it in the Moro cookbook - though Roden is the best.<br /><br />Pshaw, those old discogs - I used to get thrown them in the old days when I proofed - and got to write one article for the series, on Oedipus Rex - for ENO dramaturg Nick John. He died falling off a mountain: what a loss, and how we miss him. <br /><br />Good luck with your Puccini seminar. After six weeks on Magic Flute, I embark with my City Lit students on five devoted to Boheme, a miracle of operatic construction, of course.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-55160686173458316062013-01-18T23:33:42.621+00:002013-01-18T23:33:42.621+00:00Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Foo...Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food is in constant use here, the moussaka being beloved and asked for by friends and family to the pointt that I have to ask them please to let me try something new.<br /><br />I'm preparing a two session symposium on Puccini to be delivered in March. I decided to get a couple of ENO Puccini Opera Guides that I didn't have and, in the Boheme, discovered your Discography. Nice surprise!Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279473113628377106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-42552464660377249132013-01-18T11:26:33.739+00:002013-01-18T11:26:33.739+00:00David - I fear I only qualify as semi-foodie, as m...David - I fear I only qualify as semi-foodie, as many's the time I've missed dinner in a foreign city to catch an opera, a play or a concert. But we appreciate your hard-to-please-ness ever since you remarked that lemon was needed in two of our dishes - and you were absolutely right.<br /><br />The case of much-garlicked food in the instance of this soup, I can report, does not redound to the breath so much as the...well, I'll leave it at that. Let us say that the air was garlic-perfumed afterwards.<br /><br />Bruce - funnily enough I was just thinking of trying some of the desserts as I adore rose water and orangeblossom water, and we have supplies of both.<br /><br />Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-13212024930386504902013-01-18T10:53:50.085+00:002013-01-18T10:53:50.085+00:00Ah, friends with amazing kitchens ... or who are a...Ah, friends with amazing kitchens ... or who are amazing IN the kitchen ... to be treasured. We recommend Moro restaurant, David, though the noise levels are fortissISSimo due to tile floors. Have you tried any of the sweeties from the cookbook? The apricot/chocolate tart is rich, sinful and easy to make. I cheated and used jam instead of authentic "apricot leather" and it still went down a treat. Warka sounds well beyond my culinary skills - pity, but maybe that's a Great British Bakeoff challenge yet to come.Bruce MacRaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13119752935302884140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-62656985572285950892013-01-18T10:31:41.200+00:002013-01-18T10:31:41.200+00:00David, I knew that you and J were Foodies, but did...David, I knew that you and J were Foodies, but did not realise till I read this entry how far you had gone in that direction ( Meeting me at the extremity of course).<br /><br />Definition of a Foodie - It is suggested that you miss dinner. Reaction, Disbelief ( NOT irritation or even anger)<br /><br />The real problem is the rarity of even semi-foodies, which is why even those restaurants which could cook properly if they wanted to don't bother as no one notices ( if the chips were cooked hours ago etc etc)<br /><br />I once had a most lovely meal in the country near Warsaw - the first course was ravishingly fresh peas with a few little onions - and in the Mercedes( to emphasis my point) back to the hotel the Westerners were saying "Very poor food" <br /><br />I am told by my garlic enthused friends that a LOT of garlic in a recipe achieves the aim as regards flavour but does not overwhelm with the smell. Is that the case?David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-54510703889674271672013-01-18T09:57:46.042+00:002013-01-18T09:57:46.042+00:00Ah, garlic in the garden - I wish. Can't wait ...Ah, garlic in the garden - I wish. Can't wait for May, when the wild garlic with its white flowers scents the air - if you like that sort of thing, of course I do - and grows between the bluebells.<br /><br />SUBLIME is indeed the only word for the lovely Anne. I wish we saw more of her here - a Royal Opera Marschallin from her is long overdue.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-73797230401054354112013-01-18T00:23:40.777+00:002013-01-18T00:23:40.777+00:00I had no idea Velázquez had such garlic-laced pain...I had no idea Velázquez had such garlic-laced paintings (though of course it makes perfect sense). There is an excellent cook in our household (she is not me) who believes garlic is the essential foodstuff (and who likes nothing better than to see garlic growing in the garden). The Moro cookbook looks like a winner, and the Julie Delpy movie entertaining. Such a fun post!<br /><br />Meanwhile, I must report that Anne Schwanewilms in Der Rosenkavalier is SUBLIME. Now THAT is singing (not to mention acting). Ja, ja.Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-5306985869064852662013-01-17T16:38:03.487+00:002013-01-17T16:38:03.487+00:00Thanks for those tips from the Moro treasury, Debo...Thanks for those tips from the Moro treasury, Deborah. Knowing you to be the finest practitioner of locally sourced produce, they're worth taking seriously (even if the Moro ingredients aren't local to you, the fact that the recipes allow them to 'taste of themselves' reminded me of your fabulous kitchen). I especially heed the 'three or four bulbs' bit of their Sopa de ajo; other recipes suggest minimal numbers of cloves.<br /><br />Now, ho for the season of your white wild strawberries...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-38255621733807696192013-01-17T16:22:51.921+00:002013-01-17T16:22:51.921+00:00Moro cookbook (mine's the same as yours in the...Moro cookbook (mine's the same as yours in the pic., David)is one of the few I've actually tried more than one recipe from, despite some ingredients not being available out here in Wiltshire. Really worth having. Chickpeas with spinach and saffron, eggs with fried sage keaves, barley salad, chicken with bay and garlic garlic garlic.Deborah vdBnoreply@blogger.com