[Pantontino]

Old Speckled Hen
Big fat black olives
Snowdonia Black Bomber cheddar
(all of the above eaten with nairns oatcakes)
the lavender flavoured honey you can buy in La Palud (or failing that some amazing coffee flavoured honey I got in Corsica) eaten on fresh nutty brown bread straight from the oven.
Nairns ginger oatcakes
home made bruschetta (especially on a sunny campsite)

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Kedgeree with a soft poached egg on top.

The big K is one of our fave staples. As long as it is kept simple, don't be tempted with Onion/Paprika or any other blasphemic ingredients. The beauty is it's simplicity. Fish, Eggs, rice, salt, pepper, butter (lots)

Crispy roasted belly pork from Vietnamese Noodle Bar on London Road, Sheffield.

Here, here. Also HIGHLY rate their salt and pepper squid. Mmmmm.

If you are a foody a entire region that comes highly recommended is Northern spain. A few years ago, me and Mrs Obi flew to Bilbao, checked out the Gucc and ate a lot of Pintxos (the only tapas), headed to the coast for amazing seafood and local cider (and surf) then headed into the Picos de Europa (for walking, climbing, biking, kayaking etc) and seeked out 'Cabrales' . Stupidly strong blue cheese aged in caves for a long times. Reputedly meant to give you hallucinations if eaten in excess. All accompanied by fine local Rioja.

One day we will return but this time head East and eat at Arzak in San Sebastian. One of the 3star Michelin restaurants worth the money.

[lagerstarfish]

'Cabrales' . Stupidly strong blue cheese aged in caves for a long times. Reputedly meant to give you hallucinations if eaten in excess. All accompanied by fine local Rioja.

Sounds like just my thing. Never been to Northern Spain. Love strong blue cheese. I get light headed on standard stilton, can't wait to see what Cabrales does.

Must also add
shrivled, salty, 'greek style', black olives.
Sheffields finest - hot roast pork sandwitch with stuffing, crackling and apple sauce. Opinions on where does the best?

[andy popp]

Back on the cognac (are there no other fans out there) Morrisons sometimes stock Otard VSOP, a small independent grower I think. Worth checking out as its nice and, best of all, often very reasonably priced. Diverging from martini, Vermouth makes a good aperitif on its own, only thing I drink on the rocks.

Other things offering some combination of the dark/bitter/dry thing I seem to like so much:

Timothy Taylor's Landlord
Lavazza/Illy
85% cocoa chocolate
Russet apples and forced rhubarb (kind of)
my mum's homemade marmalade (spoiled me for shop bought for life)

Is there something particularly decadent about these sorts of flavours?

[lagerstarfish]

Ooh yes Lavazza is my daily treat. I buy a tin of Illy once a month for a change - I think the higher price coupled with the whole thrill of opening (and then smelling) a new tin creates a lovely feeling of decadence.
Mind you, there is also something about breaching the vacuum on a block of Lavazza...

[SA Chris]

There is almost nothing better than some quality veg, in season and cooked properly and simply - asparagus being the perfect example.

I always thought asparagus came from squeezed elephant blackeads.

How about grilled veggies with sliced houlimi cheese on top grilled until it starts to brown.

Or fresh scallops, pan fried on a campfire. Has these on the surf trip to the Hebrides. Heaven.

[Houdini]

85% cocoa chocolate

Beware Lindt.  Fantastic range, really impressive - but the firm use GM ingredients.

I'm with you on the percentage.  85%, it has to be.  Goes without saying, it's great with port.

[Jaspersharpe]

I've recently developed an addiction to eating Amaretti with my coffee. The hard ones are good but these bad boys (available from Waitrose) take some beating.........



.......yes that's right, some clever fucker's taken the soft type and dipped em in dark chocolate. Too good.

By the way Rob, where d'ya get those little coffee maker things from? I've been trying to find one and failing (well, I've not tried particularly hard I'll admit but they don't seem to sell em in Waitrose or Sainsbury's).

[Houdini]

Excellent, Jasper.

If you ever go to Finland, you must eat Juustoleipa.



Pronounced HOO-stah-lee-pah, its name means "bread cheese" in Finnish. Juustoleipa has been produced for more than 200 years in northern Finland and Sweden, originally from reindeer milk! This cheese is unusual in that it is baked during the cheesemaking process. The heat from baking caramelizes the sugars on the outside of the cheese to form a tasty crust similar to brown bread. Juustoleipa is an important cheese in its homeland; crucial to holiday celebrations and even marriage traditions. Mothers of eligible women used to offer suitors a cup of coffee with the cheese and, if the man liked the cheese, he married the girl!

This cheese doesn't melt, but can be warmed (put in the microwave for 10 or 20 seconds until it glistens). It has a sweet flavor, especially toward its brown crust where it has been caramelized. We recommend it served as a dessert with honey or lingonberry jam. For an unusual treat, try it dipped in hot coffee!

Del'.

[lagerstarfish]

By the way Rob, where d'ya get those little coffee maker things from? I've been trying to find one and failing (well, I've not tried particularly hard I'll admit but they don't seem to sell em in Waitrose or Sainsbury's).

Sinclairs on west st (black brick building) - I'll have a look today.

[Houdini]

Direct from Heaven:

[jfw]

.

I'm with you on the percentage.  85%, it has to be.  

hmm 80% my upper limit - with a preference for tesco's dominican 72% cocoa with nice red wine

TT Landlord - as kept at the brunswick in Derby - in fact well kept real ales as important as which ale it is (so name your pubs!)

mum's roast beef with pink centre

boyfriend's mum's yorkshire puddings

if only i could meld the two in some supreme roast dinner

roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips (and red peppers and onions) after a cold day out climbing

the tomatoes that finally grew on the tomato plant in my garden after the crap summer

very naff but - moment du chocolat - hot chocolate pot which you melt in the microwave and put marshamallows on - difficult to drink more than two thirds (yes i should make proper hot chocolate a la hercule poirot, but part of this is the sheer laziness)

[SA Chris]

Direct from Heaven:

Used to buy them by the boxload in South Africa, for buttons.

Another one: frozen white grapes. Lovely.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

I'm a particular fan of a variety of heavenly creations involving pastry. Both sweet and savoury. There are some pretty special concoctions involving little more than pasty, sugar and butter. I remember a 'Galettes du roi' (King Cake) that was especially fine in Brittany a few years ago. When in Lancashire I always seek out a proper hot Butter Pie In the lakes the Apple Pie Eating House does an amazing deep filled chicken/bacon/leek pie. At home in Cornwall we seek out the finest pasties (if anyone ventures to Looe, one of the best in the world is the tiny one 'under the stairs')...

Ahhh, making me hungry. All this is a world away from a hot Gregg's slice, that although vastly inferior, I do admit a penchant for. 

[Nibile]

maybe after a cold afternoon of sending, i would say an entire dinner of shellfishes, with lots of veuve clicquot.
otherwise a big fire with tons of meat and red wine, maybe "rosso di montalcino", good but not so pricey that you can't get pissed with.

[Yossarian]

very fresh baby broad beans
ditto peas
roast forerib
porchetta
my home-cured bacon
white burgundy, especially corton-charlemagne
barbaresco
cassoulet
turbot, grilled
a good dry martini (as previously discussed)
mint juleps
sazeracs
dry manhattans
rye whiskey - van winkle reserve possibly.
zampone
pot-au-feu
bollito misto
nice sauternes. doisy-daene perhaps
barbacued lobster and a glass of very cold riesling
baklava
cheese - where to start?
fountain pens
moleskine notebooks
my battered but still serviceable papworth suitcase

[SA Chris]

moleskine notebooks
my battered but still serviceable papworth suitcase

I now have an image of you sitting down to dine on a notebook and a suitcase in old B & W movie style.

[Fiend]

Jeez. Ouch guys. Bastards.

What can I say. I was fucking ravenous having had a small breakfast and coffee all day and a freshly baked dog turd would have seemed like a good thing (as it happens I had chicken goujons and a load of veg). Okay maybe not the smartest time to post nor the smartest thing to post but hell I like junk food and sometimes it fits the bill as just what you feel like at that moment. Not everyone is Sloper you know. I'm not a total heathen, I can cook as well as most and I might not know the names of half a dozen esoteric ports but I do know good food when I see it...

Ramble ramble etc.

[Yossarian]

I now have an image of you sitting down to dine on a notebook and a suitcase in old B & W movie style.

I do find myself eating my words fairly regularly...

[Jaspersharpe]

Not to worry Fiend it's just that on a thread designed to celebrate all that is good, your first suggestion was the ultimate opposite imvho.

This book put me off McShit & Co for good...........

[c.j.d.]

  A bottle of Stolichnia and a bag of MDMA? Welcome to the Gout Club.  Also, Peruvian Potatoes with Chillied lamb, served with Rocket and Charred Oak leaves in a balsamic, honey and wholegrain dressing. Mmmm.

[galpinos]

Must admit I prefer Beefeater for Martinis. Nice and robust. Tanqueray 10 is just a marketing ploy imo.

I'm rather partial to an Old Fashioned as well, with Old Grandad and Wild Turkey. As a straight bourbon, I'd go for a Makers Mark, Booker's, or a Knob Creek (shame about the "comedy" name) if I was feeling flush.

On the cognac front, hennessy paradis is lovely, but a bit steep to buy myself.

[Houdini]

 A bottle of Stolichnia and a bag of MDMA?

This is Going Out Club, Floppy. 


Fast Food Nation is a great read.  Film now, n'all.

cheese - where to start?

Gruyere - young gruyere.  Also Appenzeller.

[soapy]

billecart salmon rosé

[Houdini]

Straight in there with Pink Champagne, Soaps, nice.



Saag Paneer