Number One Danny gave name to giant company

Number One Danny gave name to giant company

Sharon learned about the fascinating history of the giant French food conglomerate, Danone, when she visited the gourmet fair at Torre Pacheco over the weekend.

Passing by the Danone stand she was quickly attracted by the offer of sampling the company's new premium brand dessert yogurts and was soon tucking into a pot of strawberry flavour. That polished off, she then sampled spoonfuls of chocolate and melon as well.

One of the team at the stall, Jesus, explained that the new yogurts are being introduced to the restaurant market and the brand name is La Guinda. The individual pots are made of attractive plain earthenware. La Guinda will not be sold in supermarkets and shops but it is definitely something to look out for on menus from now on.

Although Danone is a French company, and the world's biggest seller of fresh dairy products, it´s origins are Spanish. Last year the company had global revenues of US$19 billion. The story started with Spain´s Jews being told in 1492 by the inquisitor-general, Torquemada, that they had three months either to convert to Christianity or leave the country. Many took the latter option, becoming known as Sephardic Jews, in the places that they subsequently settled in. One family, the Carassos, moved to Greece. However, at the end of the 19th century or early 20th century, they returned to Spain and settled in Barcelona.

During their time in Greece, they became familiar with yogurt. Isaac Carasso noted that many children in Barcelona suffered from stomach and intestinal problems and he decided in 1919 that yogurt would be an ideal cure and preventative. He began to produce yogurt and sold it, initially, through pharmacies. His son, Danny Carasso went into the family business and trained both in bacteriology and business in France where interest in yogurt quickly expanded. Again, the Jews were persecuted and in 1941 the Carassos had to flee to the Untied States. They established their brand there as well. After the end of the war the family returned to Europe and started to expand Danone.

The name Danone came from Isaac’s fond nickname for his son – Danny. This is Danon in the Catalan spoken in Barcelona. In the US the brand is known as Dannon. Jesus explained that the “one” in Danon probably came from the fact that Danny was the first son or “number one.”

Today Danone products can be found in virtually every country on the planet and the health-giving benefits of yogurt are universally appreciated. The wonderful properties of yogurt are illustrated by the fact that Daniel Carasso only died a couple of weeks ago – at the age of 103.

So, what is the expert view on the new La Guida premium line from Sharon? “It is absolutely delicious. It is not like the yogurt I know; it is more like thick double cream with fresh fruit in it. There´s no question of any sort of sour taste like you sometimes get with yogurt. I will certainly be looking out for it on menus for it from now on and asking waiters if they have it in stock. I only wish I could buy it in the shops and use it in my fruit smoothies at home, which would then be creamies.”

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Snoozy Sam

Sometimes an old dog needs a snooze and there is no place so far as our Golden Labrador Sam is concerned that can beat his beloved old bed.

Sam traveled to Spain in the bed in the back of the car as we drove across Europe and spent months driving thousands of miles looking for a new home. The bed and mattress are a bit battered now but Sam loves them. Whenever he feels tired, he slopes off for a quick kip and at nighttime he snores away happily dreaming doggie dreams in his beloved bed.

OK, it´s a bit tight as he is larger than he was when he first arrived, and so sometimes he sleeps, especially if it is hot, with his head hanging out and resting on the cool tiles. That´s the way to siesta.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Refresh with a fizz or two

Now the hot weather is very definitely here many people feel the need for something refreshing towards the end of the morning and there is no better pick me up than a decent fizz.

Fizzes are invigorating cocktails that appeared in the 1870s and the trick is to shake everything together before adding soda or other sparkling ingredients. It´s a good idea to keep the soda and glasses in the fridge to make sure that things are really cold with a lovely frosted appearance. They should be drunk as soon as they are made and not allowed to stand about in the hot sunshine.

Hong Kong, where we lived for many years, once had a famous madame, Maud Jones, who ran a house at Lyndhurst Terrace full of comely Australian actresses. The ladies were very popular with the gentlemen and there was a discreet chit system whereby pleasures could be enjoyed and bills settled at the end of the month. Maud liked a drink, and the Hong Kong Fizz was one of her favourites. Legend has it that she would down nine of these a day.

Here´s how to make Maud´s favourite:

Ingredients

One and a half measures of vodka
One and a half measures of gin
Half a measure of Benedictine
Half a measure of Yellow Chartreuse
Half a measure of Green Chartreuse
Half a measure of lemon juice
Four measures of soda water (plain, unflavoured, soda water)
Half a measure of caster sugar

Dissolve the sugar in the other ingredients and shake before adding to a tall frosted glass half filled with ice. Top up with soda and pop in a straw.

Daiquiris are another type of cooling long drink and astute observers of the markets will have noticed the appearance of piles of lush fat peaches, which can only mean one thing – Peach Daiquiris.

Ingredients

One and a half measures of white rum
One measure of peach schnapps
One third of a peach, skinned
Half a measure of sugar syrup
Three quarters of a measure of lime juice
Half a measure of pineapple juice.

Put everything in a blender and whiz until smooth, add a bit of crushed ice and blend again very quickly. Pour into a tall frosted glass and served with a slice of peach on the rim and a straw.

To make sugar syrup all you have to do is heat an equal quantity of water and sugar in a pan for a couple of minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool and then pour into a bottle for storage.

“A measure” is usually 25ml or 0.9 of a fluid ounce.


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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Cartagena´s Rodin treasure

Murcia´s new Museum of Modern Art has just opened in Cartagena and a remarkable exhibition of the sculptures of Auguste Rodin is running throughout the summer.

Frenchman Rodin has been described as the most influential sculptor since Michelangelo and the collection of his works now on display belongs to the Museo Soumaya-Fundación Carlos Slim. Carlos Slim is a billionaire and Mexico´s richest man.

Even people who are not great art fans will probably recognize Rodin´s works, such as The Thinker, The Kiss and The Burghers of Calais when they see them. All these works are featured in the exhibition at the museum, known as MURAM, which has been open for less than a month and which can be found in the Plaza de la Merced in the centre of Cartagena.

One fan of Rodin described the exhibition as wonderful, adding: “If this exhibition was being run in Madrid, Paris or London, there would be a huge amount of interest with big crowds and long waiting times.” This is the first time that the exhibition has been seen in Europe. Rodin´s sculptures are alive with life and movement and the works of other sculptors who influenced him are also on display, including those of his lover and inspiration Camile Claudel. Rodin lived from 1840 to 1917 and was fascinated by the human body.

One of the most interesting aspects of the museum´s services is that special visits can be arranged by appointment for people who are blind or disabled. As Sharon is both, this was definitely something for her. Arriving at the museum we were greeted by art expert Marie Angeles who knows everything there is to know about Rodin and who explained wonderfully all aspects of the sculptor´s story and his works. The museum is housed partly in a new building and partly in the old Aguirre house, the former home of a wealthy local mine owner and industrialist with its richly decorated Rococo façade. The architect has done a great job and there are no problems at all for people in a wheelchair. After washing her hands Sharon was able to feel the parts of the statues that were in reach and sense for herself the energy that flows through the bronze forms

Sharon said: “I can´t believe I was able to touch famous works of art. I have been in art galleries and museums all around the world and it is the first time I have had a very knowledgeable guide who pointed things out to me that I would never have thought of. I was absolutely fascinated. I found it a great help to be able to actually touch the sculptures.

“Marie Angles told me all about The Kiss, which shows a loving couple embracing for their first and possibly only kiss. This is probably based on the story of cousins Paolo and Frencesca in Dante´s Divine comedy. They were reading the tales of King Arthur and of the love between his Queen Guinevere and Lancelot. Inspired by this, Paolo and Francesca kissed for the first time. But this was followed, of course, by tragedy.

“The Thinker is another sculpture I know about. On many occasions it is brought into complete ridicule in cartoons – where the cartoonists feature the man sitting on the toilet. But the statue is terrific, full of power and strength.

“As a disabled person in a wheelchair I was thoroughly impressed with the ease with which I was able to move around the entire museum, with lifts, wide corridors, ramps and plenty of space. Obviously, the designers deserve a big pat on the back for their consideration.

“Even if, like me, you are not a great culture vulture you shouldn´t miss this exhibition. It is so well thought out and presented. There is plenty of information in English about everything.

“Thank God I wasn´t trying to see this exhibition in a major art gallery in one of Europe´s capitals as I would have never have got near enough to anything, let alone touch. When this exhibition turns up in years to come in Madrid, Paris or London, for example, I can say: ´I went to that that years ago. I´ve already done that. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

La Era De Rodin, Museo Regional De Arte Moderno (MURAM), exhibition runs from 29 April to 20 September, 2009. Plaza de La Merced, 16. Telephone 968 501 607.Other Rodin sculptures are also on display at the Museo del Teatro Romano, opposite Cartagena´s restored town hall. All the captions and information, and the catalogue, feature English as well as Spanish.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Hungry gourmets head for Torre Pacheco

Anyone who wants to find out more about the delicious gourmet treats of Murcia should head to the IFEPA showgrounds at Torre Pacheco over the weekend. The Murcia Gourmet 2009 fair is being held there from Saturday to Monday, June 1.

There will be hundreds of exhibitors and the event has been divided into three main areas – for food, for wine and for hotel and restaurant equipment and services. The organizers promise that there will lots to interest anyone who loves the good life. The admission charge is six euros and the IFEPA facility is just outside the town of Torre Pacheco with lots of yellow signs to direct. There is plenty of parking. The doors open at 10.30am and things run through till about 9pm with no siesta. See www.ifepa.es.

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©Phillip Bruce

Fighting to keep the water supply

Rolling along the pavement of the dual carriageway that separates the old and new parts of the city of Cartagena today Sharon stopped in her wheelchair to put on a rain cape to protect against a sudden shower.

By coincidence, this stop took place outside the lovely El Regidor building. This was built between 1902 and 1904 to the plans of the architect Tomás Rico Valarino and, said the sign, it is eclectic in construction and decoration.

A short distance away, the rear of the old city rises up and in ancient times the whole of the area where the El Regidor building stands was under water as part of a huge lagoon that protected the northern approaches to Cartagena. Not always effectively, as the Roman marines of Scipio forded it when the tide was low on a moonlit night some 2,200 years ago. They waded through the water to take the city from the rear after Hannibal had left with his elephants and mercenaries to sack Italy.

At the start of the last century it became apparent that the devastating fevers, such as malaria and yellow fever, that took such a heavy toll of lives in Cartagena, could be largely attributed to the mosquitoes and swamps of the lagoon. So, a scheme was drawn up to drain the lagoon and use the resulting land for new housing and development. The lovely building, on the south side of the junction of Calles Alfonso XIII and Ángel Bruno, was erected as the first project and it was the sales office for the development company. Today, many people live in the multi-storey residential buildings of the area.

The building is now used as the headquarters for the organization that runs irrigation in the Campo de Cartagena, the Comunidad de Regantes. They must have been glad of today´s rain. A banner was attached to the decorative mirador, or lookout, at the front of the building.

Cartagena, and Murcia Province generally, have suffered from drought and it was only about 30 years ago that a pipeline system was opened that brought water from the Tajo River system to the north to the Segura River system which supplies Murcia and southern areas of Alicante. With that water came huge agricultural expansion, particularly in the Campo de Cartagena and around Mazarrón. In more recent years other thirsty developments included golf courses and residential projects which attracted overseas buyers.

In most countries no-one knows where the water that flows from the tap comes from and a Londoner hasn´t a clue as to whether his tea is made with water from Wales or Wiltshire. It is different in Spain. The provinces have a great deal of power and independence and some, such as the Basque Country and Catalonia would rather not be part of Spain at all. The Tajo River runs through Castilla-La Mancha province, immediately north of Murcia, and the politicians there have decided to write into their regional constitution a requirement that the water that flows to Murcia and Southern Alicante should be cut off. The water is, apparently, “theirs”, and if there are to be fields of lettuces and golf courses then these are to be exclusively in Castilla-La Mancha.

Naturally, this has outraged the people of Murcia and a vigorous campaign is being waged against this strange regional constitutional change. If it gets passed into law and acted upon then an awful lot of people downstream are going to thirsty and the economic impact will be dire.

Hence, the banner on the El Regidor building which reads “Defend the Transfer Tajo-Segura. NO to the Statute of Castilla-La Mancha.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

So, what can you see?

Going through ancient family photographs we found a picture of Sharon at the age of one month. She is lying on a comfy pillow with both her big eyes open.

“That´s when I had two eyes,” she said looking at the photograph. In fact, Sharon can only see out of a sliver of her left eye today and has been classified as fully blind by both the Spanish and British health authorities.

If you ask her: “What can you actually see?” she finds it difficult to answer, like most blind people. “I don´t know what I should be seeing so how can I describe it?” she said. Most people think of blindness as like being in a dark room with no light. But most blind can perceive light and dark and patches of shape and colour. Her problems are thought to stem from a hereditary genetic condition called Retinitus Pigmentosa. This centres around the photo receptors of the retina at the back of the eye. Actually, the retina is a part of the brain and the photo receptors contain millions of cells, shaped like rods and cones. In a normal eye fluid rushes in and out of these cells in response to visual stimulus creating electrical signals that are interpreted as sight by the retina and brain. With RP, the cells fail to empty properly and over the years become filled with fluid and useless.

RP is rather an orphan disease. It doesn´t affect anything like as many people as cancer or heart disease so the incentives for research and profitable treatments are not large enough to attract major interest from the commercial companies who develop such cures. To be fair, it is profit that provides the cash for cures. RP is a genetic disease and, therefore, it is activity like stem cell research that provides the best hope of breakthroughs. It is a hereditary, chromosome-linked, disease, usually passed down through the male line. Sharon is unusual in being an affected female and it has been speculated in the past that there is an outside chance that her condition is not RP at all – but it shares identical symptoms. Sharon has been told that it was triggered by catching measles when she was 18 months old. “Having an operation,” “Getting special glasses” “Taking diet supplements and vitamins” are no use when it comes to dealing with RP. The retina, or TV screen, is bust.

When down, Sharon, wonders why, with RP, she should have been set a stroke to cripple her as well. But, with her mighty spirit she concentrates on getting on with life as it is rather than as it should be. She is interested in everything, except “boring subjects” such as those that interest her husband, talks all day and loves meeting friends.

Let´s ask Sharon some questions:

Question: “So, what can you see?

Answer: “Colours. Things are blurry looking but if someone tells me what is there or I know already I can sort of work it out in my mind what it is supposed to look like. For example, if I know there is a door there, then I expect to see a big brown patch because the door is meant to be there. I can´t read at all, no matter how big the print is. Because I don´t know what is there I don´t know what I am supposed to be seeing, so I can´t see it. When I am eating I use smell to identify things on the plate. I have no depth of vision, so steps are a nightmare for me, because I don´t know how deep they are. Everything looks flat to me, like a painting on a wall.

Question: “Can you recognize people in a room or passing in the street?”

“No. I recognize people by their sounds of their voices. When I am sitting with a group of people, that is how I work out where people are – by where their voices are coming from. When I could walk, people often commented: ´You walked right past me the other day. What´s the matter? ´ It used to upset me that sometimes people would think I was snooty or being rude and had deliberately not spoken to them.

Question: “What about facial expressions in people who are talking to you? “

Answer: “No, I can´t see them at all. So, if people are making jokes or saying certain things, I sometimes miss this. Or I misunderstand what they mean, sometimes taking things seriously when they are only kidding.

Question: “Can you see the television?”

Answer: I am lucky enough to have a big TV and I can follow what is going on by what people are saying and not by the pictures on the screen. But I often miss lots because I can´t see things so I must miss loads. After all these years I am quite used to it now. I hate it when in dramas they hold up bits of evidence or notes and say what they are or read them out. I recently complained to the BBC about a news item about a new wonder wrinkle cream. The jar was actually shown on the screen but the whole story didn´t once mention the name out loud. I´ve had no response from the BBC.

Why don´t you get a blind dog?

“If we can sell our house and farm and move back to the UK, I will definitely get one. The blind dog people are standing by and will give me a dog. When told that I was in a wheelchair they said: ´We have dogs for blind people in wheelchairs, ´ which was a surprise. Old Sam, my lovely old Golden Labrador, will probably like having someone young around.”

Sharon said: “If anyone wants to ask any other questions about being blind, don´t worry, ask away. I won´t be embarrassed, I have been blind for so long it is part of my way of life. I talk about it as it is just something natural for me. I have no worries whatsoever about discussing it. My husband does the typing and editing on this blog for me.”

For more information about RP see: www.brps.org.uk.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Who invented fried rice?

It is a fact that you will never find chop suey or fortune cookies in China. These are entirely foreign inventions.

Chop suey is just a mix of leftovers and the story is that it was invented to feed the hungry miners of the California gold rush who didn´t care what they ate as long as there was plenty of it and it was cheap. Americans love their fortune cookies but ask for them in a restaurant in Beijing and you will be met with blank looks. And the only rice available is usually boiled rice – not fried. America is also the only place to eat English muffins, which are unavailable in London. According to urban legend, balti dishes are unknown in India.

Never mind, we all have leftovers to use up at times and a recent misjudgment in boiling up Basmati rice saw enough cooked to feed a hungry Bombay family of a dozen. So, rice was on the menu again yesterday.

Here´s our version of Campo fried rice:

Boiled rice
One onion
Three cloves of garlic
Sunflower oil
Splash of light soya sauce
Herbs
Finely sliced vegetables
Half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Small tin of coconut milk
Two or three eggs

Fry the chopped onion and garlic in the sunflower oil in a wok until nearly soft but not mushy, then add the other ingredients, except the eggs, and stir around until well mixed and cooked. Separately, pour the beaten eggs into a frying pan and make a small omelet. Then cut into long strips and lay over the fried rice before serving.

That´s it – Campo fried rice. Obviously, you can create your own version with whatever ingredients you like so put in plenty of veg. Some people like a bit of fresh chili or chili sauce.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Living the Good life in the Campo

Today was a bit of a sad day. We´re sad that we have to sell our home and land in the Campo near Cartagena but Sharon´s disabilities mean that it is just not practical to continue living in a place with 20,000 square meters of land to look after. So, we have been talking to estate agents

When we came to Spain we made the decision that we wanted to live with Spanish and that is something we have never regretted. Our neighbours are wonderful and never stinting in their help and concern. Only half an hour ago a tray of home-made rice pudding arrived at the door. We expected to live here forever but life has a strange way of changing your plans.

Still, the good news is that Sharon is alive and getting better every day.

We will have to move. It will be sad to say goodbye to all the almonds and olives that Phil has worked so hard on and Sharon´s fruit trees but life moves on and its time to look forward. We may well have to move back to the UK to be closer to family but it is absolutely certain that we will be returning to Spain for big chunks of the year. Who wants to be in the UK in February, for instance?

Meanwhile, if anyone is interested in living the Good Life in the Spanish countryside please get in touch.

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©Phillip Bruce

Free puppy with every drink

One of the biggest problems living in the Campo is the number of homeless puppies. Many local dog owners seem unwilling to pay for vet treatment that would sterilize their animals and regular litters of puppies are the result.

All too often, these lovely animals are abandoned or are left outside places where people know that people are too caring to turn them away. El Bar, in Tallante on the N302 road, regularly finds abandoned dogs on its doorstep. The owners, Frankie and Bill, joke that there is a special offer of a free puppy with every drink. The largely-English regulars do their best but most people already have one or more rescue dogs and homes for the new arrivals are in short supply.

Sharon enjoyed a night out at the bar a few days ago and she was quick to cuddle the latest puppies. These were born next to a village rubbish bin. “I couldn´t take one home as I am not mobile and couldn´t take care of it properly,” she said. “It´s so sad to think that the puppies are having such trouble finding loving homes and that people won´t get their animals neutered. So, the problem will just go on and on. If there is anyone out there who could possibly find it in their hearts to give one of these puppies a home please call in at El Bar.”

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Drying the herbs

With the warm weather and the sun shining the herbs are going great guns. Every week or so we harvest a selection and put them in the sunshine to dry. When the herbs are really dry, the stalks are removed before they are put into jars, mixed together. During the summer, of course, we use normally use fresh herbs but in the winter the dried herbs are great.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

How to diet

Sharon is trying to teach herself how to stand up from a sitting position. This not as simple as it seems and the suggestion was made that shedding some of the pounds that have crept on while she has been ill could make the task a little lighter. So a diet has been started. Fortunately, this requires taking healthy food such as strawberries in the form of strawberry cheesecake.

Sharon said: “There is misery and there is misery but there is no need to be thoroughly miserable by missing out on little culinary treats. It´s all very well being incapacitated and not able to do the simplest things around the house. But to have to give up little niceties such as cake and cheesecake is a bit much. So I´m not.

“I am going to try to lose a few pounds though. This is why I have started on fruit smoothes but I am not giving up daily intake of something that hits the spot. Today´s treat was strawberry cheesecake made with the fresh strawberries we bought yesterday. It´s good for me really with all that fruit.”

“My latest challenge is to try and stand up totally unassisted from wherever I happen to be sitting, my sofa, my chair or my wheelchair. It´s all right if I have someone´s hand to steady me. I can stand without putting any weight on anybody else. But to stand completely on my own is proving quite a challenge to me. I´ve done it once or twice but I think the loss of a few pounds will help.

“The main problem is that my left hand doesn´t work at all so I can´t use it to help to steady myself. I can push myself up with my right hand but my leg muscles aren´t strong enough to whoosh me up to stand in that final movement. And I can´t use my left hand to grab onto anything.

“My latest achievement is that I can, after lots of practice, lift up my left hand from wherever it happens to be resting comfortably. I can touch my chin – and put it back down again. This is a huge achievement for me and I am very pleased. So maybe the use of it is coming back slowly. “

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©Phillip Bruce

Straw for strawberries

This is a great time for strawberries and we bought a big box of them at the shop today. They are rich and juicy and it will take lots of effort to eat them all up quickly before they can spoil.

Sharon said: “I have decided I have to shed a few pounds ready for my swimsuit in the summer. I have certainly gained a bit of weight as I am so less mobile and less active than normal. I have to get these pounds of, especially as Phil is making me walk everywhere with my stick and getting up and down is a bit difficult. He hasn´t let me use my wheelchair for two days and I have had to walk constantly. So, the loss of a bit of weight would be a great help.

“Instead of cappuccinos at home for my mid-morning treat and some fattening thing, I have changed over to home-made fruit smoothies. They are very easy to make and very, very, nutritious and lovely and creamy. A bit more like milkshakes really but without any milk. For liquid I use a pot of yogurt and a little bottle of Actimel. You can add any fruit you like and whiz it up in your blender.

“I like bananas because of the taste and because they are filling. Now I have got lots of strawberries, I will be having strawberries in my smoothies all over the weekend. I have been having ripe pears in my smoothies this week. I´m looking forward to trying lots of other fruits as well. I´ve just found out that before the days of factory farms and plastic tunnels, strawberries were grown in gardens. The slugs and insects loved them and so gardeners used to lay straw all around the plants to keep the pests away. That´s why they are called strawberries.

“I can thoroughly recommend these smoothies as they are both nutritious and filling. So, you don´t need to have lunch as well. Plus, it´s getting too hot to eat big meals, especially at mid-day. I´m in cut-offs and T-shirts now, which is marvelous as I can put away all those stuffy overwhelming winter clothes.

“We are already using the ceiling fans and the afternoon siesta is a great way of fighting the heat.”

©Phillip Bruce 2009

The empire marched on mulligatawny

Sharon is no fan of soups and this is largely due to her schooldays. Offered a bowl of mulligatawny for lunch she declined.

She said: “I was sent from Africa to England to go to school when I was about 13. It was such a shock, leaving the warm of Nigeria and suddenly finding myself in the doom and gloom of an ancient old building with long draughty corridors and no heating system. This was a boarding school for girls in Sutton Coldfield. Dinner consisted of soup. This was generally made with the leftovers of the day´s other meals. It was always coloured brown. There wasn´t anything else other than sliced bread. This was our dinner every day.

“Ever since then I have never really been keen on soup as it brings back such awful memories. That´s why I didn´t want brown mulligatawny soup. I had my daily fruit smoothie.”

Sharon doesn´t know what she is missing as mulligatawny soup, which originated in southern India, spread throughout the British Empire and it was a stalwart on menus from the frozen wastes of Canada to the jungles of Africa and the empty deserts of Australia. Here is a recipe from a colonial cookbook published in the mid 1950s.

Two pints of stock
One onion
One apple
One and a half ounces of butter or dripping
One dessertspoon of curry powder
One dessertspoon of chutney
One and a half ounces of flour
One teaspoon of lemon juice
One teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste
Two ounces of rice

Chop the onion and apple finely and fry them in the butter or dripping until “nicely browned.” Add the curry powder, chutney and flour and mix well together before adding the stock gradually and stirring well. Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir till boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

This is a greatly simplified version of the tasty Indian soup. The word mulligatawny is taken from two Tamil words “molegoo” (pepper) and “tunnee (water). A British officer who served in the Indian army from 1859 to 1892 described a native cook in Madras making pepper water. This was a complicated process involving the pounding together of tamarind, six red chillies, six cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of mustard seed, a salt spoonful of fenugreek seed, twelve black peppercorns, a tea spoonful of salt and six leaves of karay-pauk. A pint of water was added to this paste and boiled for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, he peeled, cut up and fried in ghee, or clarified butter, two small onions. When they were turning brown he strained the boiling liquid and added it to the pot containing the onions. This, eaten with rice, formed a complete meal. However, the English took the basic idea and created all sorts of variations, with chicken, mutton or beef added and thickening often used.

The spread of the soup across the empire is illustrated by the tale of a retired admiral who claimed that he had never tasted a mulligatawny as good as that which was served on board the Penelope frigate in the West Indies in 1823. However, he also fondly remembered mulligatawny served on the Cockatrice in 1834 on the East India station.

Other naval officers were taken prisoner in one of Britain´s Indian wars with a local ruler and they bemoaned their diet in a song from 1784:

“In vain our hard fate we repine;
In vain on our fortune we rail;
On Mullaghee-tawny we dine,
Or Congee in Bangalore Jail.”

Congee is rice porridge.

Heinz makes a very tasty tinned mulligatawny which is what Sharon declined for lunch.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

A real Turkish delight

Turkish cooking suffers from an image problem in many countries of Europe – and that is largely the fault of the takeaway kebab shops that litter so many streets.

However, Turkish cuisine is magnificent, full of freshness and taste that relies on plain and simple cooking, often over glowing charcoal, and the finest ingredients. In London recently, we went to the Cirrik Grill and Meze Bar and had a terrific meal. The only problem was the huge portions meant that everyone was offering everyone else samples of their food.

The kebabs here are skewered and cooked over the coals. Lamb Shish Iskender kebab and was delicious, served with salad. The meat was taken off the skewer and laid on a bed of toasted freshly baked bread, covered with garlic yogurt and tomato butter sauce. “Iskender” means Alexander and, no doubt, Alexander The Great enjoyed a good kebab. There are even vegetarian kebabs for non-meat eaters, along with dishes such as courgette fritters, vegetable moussaka, aubergine stew and vegetarian casserole.

Grilled sea bass and sea beam and king prawn casserole tempted the seafood enthusiasts. Sharon tucked into sautéed tiger prawns as a starter. Albanian liver was a new taste, very rich and, again, cooked over the coals – the first time we had ever tasted an Albanian dish.

Special main courses included Ezme Kebabs, which were laid on a bed of tomatoes, onions and parsley and dressed with olive oil and pomegranate juice. There was also Ali Nazik, with the kebab laid on a bed of chargrilled aubergine, tahini, garlic puree, served with butter and tomato sauce.

For real men, such as our son James who is a bit of a gourmet, there was only one thing to drink. That was a fiery concoction made with grated turnip and hot spices that keeps the chills at bay in the Turkish mountains. Not at all a lady´s tipple.

Sharon said: “The food was absolutely delicious and so fresh. But it was very, very, very filling. I loved it and it was one of the best meals I´ve ever had anywhere in the world. I only wish I could have eaten more and gone to the restaurant every day during my stay in London.”

Cirrick Grill and Meze Bar, 19 Green Lanes, London, N16 9BS. Telephone 020 722 61866. This is very close to Newington Green and there are plenty of bus services.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Treats from Auntie Doris

Sharon´s Auntie Doris, who lives in Sedbergh in North Yorkshire, is fine cook and she has provided a couple of her favourite recipes.

Ginger Shortbread.

Four ounces of margarine
Two ounces of sugar
Five ounces of self raising flour
One level teaspoon of powdered ginger

Cream the margarine and sugar together and then mix in the flour and ginger. Press into a Swiss Roll tin before cooking in a slow oven.

For the topping:

Two ounces of icing sugar
One ounce of butter
Three teaspoons of syrup
One small level teaspoon of powdered ginger

Warm these ingredients in a pan and mix well together. Spread on the. shortbread before it cools.


Peppermint Crumble

Four ounces of margarine
One dessertspoon of sugar
Four teaspoons of drinking chocolate
Two tablespoons of syrup

Melt these ingredients in pan. .Add three quarters of a pound of digestive biscuits (crushed with a rolling pin). Mix well together. Press into Swiss roll tin and cover with half a pound of icing sugar mixed with one teaspoon of peppermint essence and a little warm water and a few drops of green colouring. Spread over the biscuit mixture. Leave to set then cover with half a pound of cooking chocolate.

Sharon said: “I used to spend a lot of time in Sedbergh with my grannie when I was a little girl. She was a fantastic cook and we always had lots of little treats to eat. She was always baking and I can remember many a morning spent sitting in her kitchen. She used to grow lots of her own fruit and vegetables and I remember picking raspberries and strawberries in the Yorkshire sunshine. Nothing like that ever grew where I lived in Nairobi – it was far too hot for soft fruit. We only ever grew corn on the cob and tomatoes in our little back garden, the shamba.”

©Phillip Bruce 2009

Beach samplers in action

There are tough jobs in this world but someone has to do them. Sharon and her friend Gaby were action today sampling the beaches of the Mar Menor, Europe’s largest seawater lagoon.

The Mar Menor is a beautiful area of calm shallows, where fish dart in the crystal clear water and where nasty waves are unknown. The salty water makes it easy to float and the water temperature is always five degrees higher than on the other side of the La Manga Strip, which encloses the lagoon, where the beaches face the Mediterranean. The strip runs for some 18.5 kilometers, or about 11 miles, and in summer it is packed with holidaymakers from elsewhere in Spain and from overseas. Now, however, it is deserted. The sun shines on empty beaches and there is plenty of room for a drink in the excellent cafes on the waterfront. Sharon said:

“Gaby picked me up at home this morning and we tootled off to the La Manga Strip in the dazzling sunshine to have our coffee and check out the beaches. It is not warm enough for us to go in the water yet, we decided. But we are getting ready for a few weeks´ time.

“We decided to take our morning coffee at the very relaxing Area Playa restaurant where the staff is very friendly and the view, as you can see from the picture, is superb. There is a wheelchair ramp nearby, so it´s easy to get to the water´s edge. In summer they have chairs that float in the water for those of us with mobility problems. There were people already swimming but we really like our water at bath temperature, though we don´t insist on rubber ducks. When I float about I don´t feel so disabled, so I am really looking forward to a dip on my next visit.”

***

©Phillip Bruce

Yorkshire Crunchies

Sharon´s cousin Kathryn is a true Yorkshire lass and she drives a big wagon all over the place delivering stone from quarries near her home in Settle.

Mind you, when not behind the wheel, she knows how to cook up some traditional Yorkshire treats and here is her very own recipe for Yorkshire Crunchies. Kath´s mother was Betty, whose recipes we have talked about in earlier stories on this blogspot. Kath is “still in old-fashioned money”, so no metric measurements.

Four ounces of self-raising flour
Two ounces of lard
Two ounces of margarine
Three ounces of sugar
Two ounces of rolled oats (porridge)
One teaspoon of golden syrup
Three teaspoons of boiling water
A few drops of vanilla essence.

Cream together the fats and sugar then add the syrup, boiling water and vanilla essence. Stir in the flour and oats and mix well. Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderate oven at about 350 to 375 degrees F, or gas mark 3-4, for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool and then make a good cup of Yorkshire tea, sit down and treat yourself.

***
©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Meet the gossip

Sharon has been talking about how much she enjoyed her former job as a reporter with the Round Town News paper. She was the Murcia regional correspondent and wrote a popular column known as “Campo Kitchen.”
Now she can´t dash about like she used to but she is still as interested as ever in everything that is going on and the paper has been wonderful in supporting her.

“It was the ideal job for me because I am a very nosy person and wherever I am, I have to know what is happening around me,” she said. “This is so true that when I used to go every day to the Naval Hospital in Cartagena for my physiotherapy the staff there nicknamed me The Gossip.

“At first I was quite upset about this, but I realized that they meant it in such a nice way. When they explained it to me it was clear they weren´t being mean. They had just noticed that whenever there was a new person or even people who had been there longer than me, I always talked to them and encouraged them. So I would be asking them questions like ´What happened to you?’ And this is all they meant. They thought it was nice that I was so interested in my fellow patients.

“I was a reporter for about six years and I was very lucky to have got the job in the first place. It was wonderful to meet so many people and to visit so many places. I had to gather information for our readers. I have made so many friends over the years through my job.

“Although I wrote many stories about people in dire circumstances for one reason or another, I hope they are now in better positions. So many people find that their dreams of paradise in Spain don´t work out for one reason or another.

“But I wrote far more happy and positive stories, and these were my favourites. The one thing I have noticed about Spain is how helpful and well meaning people, both Spanish and foreign residents, are. Perhaps people have more time and less pressure than elsewhere. People are definitely more forthcoming and helpful to others.

“Being a reporter allowed me to see so much of the Region of Murcia, which is full of lovely places to visit. I wrote a column called “Pack a Picnic” for several years. This was great as it meant I had to travel to all sorts of scenic spots, and I don´t mean just beaches. I always met lovely people, in restaurants, museums, bodegas, cafes or their own homes. They were always interested in what an English woman was doing. When I explained, in my basic Spanish, that I was writing for an English newspaper to encourage foreigners to explore, they were delighted and so helpful.

“Now that my daily physio is finished I have more time. I hope to start going around again with my friend Gabriella, who still works for the newspaper. Like me, she likes a nice coffee and a cake. So, no doubt we will be visiting the odd café here and there.

“My stroke has changed my life because I am not as good at getting around as I used to be. But I am just as nosy and I talk just as much. Some things never change.”

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Celery surprise

A neighbour called yesterday with a little gift – a giant celery stalk and 25 oranges. Half an hour later another neighbour knocked on the door with half a dozen giant lemons.

“I was almost buried alive by the celery,” said Sharon. “Unfortunately, I can´t stand it. I don´t even like the smell.” The other half of the household loves celery and is talking about making a big batch of fresh celery soup.

Celery is native to the Mediterranean, so it’s a really local veg. The Greeks and Romans loved it. The Chinese were also keen and used it as a medicine. However, the plant didn´t really enter into the kitchen until 1623 when a French cook first served it. During the early 18th century its popularity spread, eaten both cooked and raw.

When we lived in New Zealand, the story was that Captain Cook found big bunches of celery growing there when he stopped on one of his great voyages of discovery. He made his crew eat it and there were no problems with scurvey as a result. Celery seed is used in all sorts of flavourings and it is one of the smallest seeds of any cultivated plant.

According to urban legend, more calories are expended in chewing and digesting celery than are actually provided by the strong-tasting veg. If true, that would make it the ideal slimmer´s food.

“I don´t care,” said Sharon. “There´s a limit to what a person should have to put up with in staying slim and celery is it for me.”

**

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Who was Charlotte?

With a kilo of small apricots bought from the visiting fruit and veg man it was time to turn to an old English recipe book.

This gave the recipe for Apricot Charlotte and we got to work. But we wonder who was Charlotte? If anyone knows the answer, let us know. Sharon suggested the dish could be something to do with Queen Sophia Charlotte, 1744-1818, who married George III and who was the mother of George IV. You will need:

A kilo or so of fresh apricots
Six ounces of sugar
Quarter of a pound of breadcrumbs
Two ounces of butter.

Weigh the bread and whiz it around, crusts and all, in the food processor until you have lots of breadcrumbs. Chop the apricots after removing the stones. Put them in a pan with four ounces of the sugar and a little water. Grease a pie dish. Then mix the remaining two ounces of sugar with the breadcrumbs. Put a layer of breadcrumbs on the bottom of the tin, then a layer of apricots, and keep on layering finishing with breadcrumbs on top. Pour over any remaining liquid from the apricots. Dot the top with little knobs of butter and bake for about 50 minutes in a moderate oven. The original recipe listed dried apricots which had been soaked overnight.

We made the Charlotte and very tasty it was. We tried it both hot and cold and preferred it cold, with a bit of cream.

The great Victorian Cook, Mrs Beeton, said that apricots were indigenous to Armenia but could now be found in almost every climate. “A good apricot, when perfectly ripe, is an excellent fruit. It has been somewhat condemned for its laxative qualities, but this has possibly arisen from the fruit having been eaten unripe, or in too great excess. Delicate persons should not eat the apricot uncooked, without a liberal allowance of powdered sugar.”

***

©Phillip Bruce 1990.

Curious church coincidence

Yesterday Sharon visited the Wellspring Victory Church, in Puerto de Mazarrón, to say thank you to everyone for all their support during her illness and recovery.

The church has been wonderful in keeping an eye on her and remembering her in their prayers and Sharon wanted to say thank you. “It was so nice to be so warmly welcomed and to see and talk with everyone,” she said.

However, although we left home in plenty of time, the devil must have been at work for a wrong turn on the motorway added about half an hour to the journey and we, therefore, arrived with the service well under way.

Sharon insisted on walking in with her crutch, leaving her wheelchair in the car, and the comment was made: “If anyone doesn´t believe in miracles, one has just walked in.”

The enthusiastic congregation was singing the lovely old hymn, When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, by Isaac Watts, which was published in 1707.

Sharon said: “A few weeks ago when we were in London, Phillip wheeled me past the Abney Park cemetery in Stoke Newington. There is a big statue in there of Isaac Watts. What a coincidence that his most famous hymn should be being sung when I arrived at the church.”

Isaac Watts, who was born in 1674, was one of the many people who would not follow the established Anglican Church and who were described by numerous names, such as dissenters, non-conformists or independents. He wrote some 750 hymns, many of them while staying at the beautiful home and grounds of Sir Thomas and Lady May Abney, at Abney House. After Sir Thomas died, he lived there with Lady May from 1736 until his death in 1748. Isaac Watts is recognised as the first major writer of hymns in English.

At the time he was writing, non-conformists were buried in the Bunhill Fields cemetery in the City Of London, and his actual grave is there. However, when this burial ground became full, in the early 19th century Abney House and its grounds became the new non-conformist cemetery for the capital. There are thousands of graves there and a major conservation and restoration project is now under way. Amongst the distinguished deceased are the Booths, the founders of the Salvation Army. A large statue to Isaac Watts was erected at Abney Cemetery in 1845, sculpted by Edward Hodges Bailey and paid for by public subscription.

“I can´t believe the coincidence,” said Sharon. “Seeing the cemetery and then hearing the hymn.”

The picture shows the chapel in the Abney cemetery, near which the statute of Isaac Watts can be found.

***
©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Fresh tomato soup

We were sitting quietly in the house when suddenly there was a tremendous hammering on the door. Our little ironwork bell, with the frogs on top and the clapper, fell off a couple of months ago. A neighbour is repairing it. These things take time.

On opening the door, there was the smiling face of the man who sells hortalizas, or fruit and vegetables from the local market gardens. He has a trailer and the back opens up so that you can choose from the colourful contents.

The tomatoes looked particularly good so a kilo was ordered. This was weighed carefully with a traditional balance scale that has a big hook at one end and a graded arm along which a weight is clicked. Tiny little golden apricots couldn´t be resisted, so a kilo of those as well was ordered, together with half a dozen pears and a couple of bunches of white Spanish onions.

(Pause in typing this to admire a particularly fine gecko, or lizard, that has just walked across top of the window frame. These are great guys as they love eating up pesky insects. Now he has found a warm spot to bask in the sunshine. He must be four or five inches long from nose to tail).

On such a sunny day, there was only one thing to do with the tomatoes, make fresh tomato soup. This is very easy to do.

One kilo of fresh tomatoes
One vegetable or chicken stock cube
Fresh or dried herbs
200ml cream

Cover the tomatoes with water in a pan and bring to the boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer for five or ten minutes until the skins have split. Take off the heat and allow to cool. Skin the tomatoes and chop them up, or whiz them in a food processor. Remove the seeds by pressing the pulp through a sieve, discarding the seeds and pulp. Bring the water to the boil again, then reduce to a simmer and add the stock cube and herbs, then the tomatoes. Simmer gently. Turn off the heat, stir in the cream and serve. You can add salt if you like, but stock cubes are full of salt. A few twists of black pepper are good. You can put a bay leaf into the water at the start. Sometimes we lightly fry an onion and a bit of garlic until soft and add that at the whizzing stage, but we didn´t bother today. As to herbs, we used chopped fresh sage and an herb that is going great guns in Sharon´s huerta, which might be marjoram or might be something else. When collecting the herbs, we cut a branch from the bay tree to hang in the kitchen so that we always have leaves ready. The branch hangs on the pot rack and the leaves dry out nicely.

A search of the shelves in the despensa, or walk-in larder, produced a packet of Atora Herby Dumpling Mix. So, small dumplings were made and dropped into the soup to simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Campo Cocido

One of the favourite rib-sticking dishes when there is hard work to be done in the Campo is cocido.

This is a stew that is very popular and, like Irish Stew or Lancashire Hotpot, the variations are endless with every cook claiming that his or her version is the only authentic one. Here are the basic ingredients:

A mix of meat, such as chicken, beef, lamb and tocino
500g of potatoes
500g of chick peas (garbanzos)
250g of green beans (Judias verdes)
A stalk or two of chard, (penca, cardo), cabbage or other greens
Some chunks of chorizo sausage and black pudding (chorizo)
About two cups of fine very fine pasta (fideos)
Salt

Tocino is a very fatty chunk of pork streaked with lean meat, a ham hock could be substituted. Take a large pot and add plenty of water. Bring to the boil. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Wash chop the greens and the beans and cut them up. When the water is boiling, add the garbanzos, which should have been soaked overnight, the potatoes, the greens , the beans and the meat. Add salt to taste. Allow to simmer for a good time and when everything is cooked take out all the ingredients by straining. Put the pasta into the liquid and cook until soft. Separate the garbanzos and potatoes from the meat and black pudding which should be put onto a large plate. The puddings should have been cooked with the string still holding them together so that they are easy to remove.

The meal consists of the soup, served first. Then everyone gets a dish of potatoes and garbanzos and helps themselves to tasty bits of meat and black pudding from the big serving plate.

Our friend, Pepe, the source of all knowledge on Spanish cooking explains that is very definitely a meal for a big group of family and friends. There is lots of laughter and chatter around the table as everyone enjoys their cocido.

***

c. Phillip Bruce 2009.

Snails in their prime

These days, especially if there has been a shower or rain, individuals can be seem combing the sides of tracks and edges of fields in search of a gourmet favourite – snails.

Not just any old snails, however, but the fat and luscious “trompetas” whose shell swirls into a broad trumpet opening. The snails are captured and then kept in a bucket or container for several days to allow them to clean out their systems. Then they make a tasty addition to many meals.

One neighbour showed Sharon, out for her daily walk, a pile of bricks and tiles that he is going to use to make a proper “snail house.” At present he has a wooden affair with chicken wire over the top and a hinged door, but he is moving up-market with the new permanent facility.

“The best way to eat snails is with pork chops,” he explained. “But you mustn’t use too many. About a dozen will do as you want them for the flavouring. Delicious!”

A very popular dish throughout Murcia is rice with snails. There is great rivalry between the cities of Cartagena, which is truly ancient, and Murcia, which is an upstart only founded in the 9th century. The same story is told in both places to illustrate the meanness of the other, with the cities being switched around. The Cartagena version goes: “In Murcia they will serve you rice with snails. Here in Cartagena we serve snails with rice.”

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Try some Yecla wines

One of the D.O areas in the north of Murcia is Yecla which is situated on the high plains and where grapes flourish in the clean mountain air. D.O., or Denominación de Origin schemes protect the quality and integrity of fine wines, with strict requirements required at all stages of production.

Vines were brought to this area by the Phoenicians back in the mists of history and the Romans, who liked a drop of wine after a good session at the gladiator arena, planted many vineyards. Remains have been found of a bodega that dates back to the first century A.D. and which was in use until the end of the 15th century. Don´t worry, there are plenty of other bodegas and vineyards to visit today. The tradition of fine wines continues and the area produces about five million liters a year.

The D.O. zone covers some 6,600 hectares and mostly red wines are produced, accounting for 92.5 per cent of the planted area. The main vine is Monastrell, which is well suited to the high plains climate. Other varieties include, Garnacha tinta, Garnacha Tintorera, Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. White wines are made with Airen, Merseguera, Macabeo, Malvasía and Chardonnay grapes. Some rose wine is also made.

An expert description of the Yecla Monastrell wines notes: “Presents a violet cherry colour with garnet tones. Aromatic, offering different notes of fruits, robust in the mouth, warm, tannic and smooth, very well balanced and finished.”

About half of Yecla exports go to Germany, with the United Kingdom taking 20 per cent, and Holland another 20 per cent. But the wine is exported all over the world, including to China and Japan (there are three Chinese restaurants in Yecla).

If you would like to visit Yecla bodegas and vineyards, here are some contact details. But you will have to speak Spanish or get a Spanish-speaking friend to call.

Cooperativa del Vino de Yecla, La Purisma, telephone (34) 968 751 257, www.calpyecla.com, direccion@bodegaslapurisma.com; Consejo Regulador D.O. Yecla, telephone (34) 968 792 353, www.yeclavino.com, consejo@yeclavino.com; Bodegas Antonio Candela e Hijos S.L, telephone (34) 968 790 381, www.bodegascandela.com, www.barahonda.com, bodcandela@inicia.es; Bodegas Castaño S.L, telephone (34) 968 791 115, www.bodegascastano.com, info@bodegascastano.com; Señorio de Barahonda S.L, telephone (34) 968 718 696, www.barahonda.com, info@barahonda.com.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Cheese fried with tomatoes

If you are thinking about opening a bottle of white or rose wine then an ideal snack to go with a glass or two is Queso Frito con Tomate.

What you need to do is get some good goats´ cheese and grate up some tomatoes. Many British cooks aren´t used to grating tomatoes and it can be a bit of a messy business. Fry the cheese in a little olive oil and put aside. Then, in the same oil, fry the tomatoes and some thinly sliced green pepper. When everything is soft, add a bit of salt to taste and a scattering of sugar “to reduce acidity.” Then put the cheese back in, heat and serve with fresh bread.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Tasty toffee treats

There seems to be every fruit except apples in this toffee display at a roadside café in Shanghai. Passers by choose a stick of toffee fruit and walk off down the street munching happily away.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Viva Ventas

Ventas are little, and not so little, places in the Spanish countryside that combine a shop, a café and sometimes a restaurant.

These places are often very old, having served as centres of rural life for hundreds of years. Some are situated on old stock driving routes, where generations of shepherds moved sheep and goats along ancient trails to and from markets and grazing grounds. In the spring time the flocks would move inland as the weather warmed and the grass grew and in the winter they would be brought down again to the lower coastal areas.

So, it is not surprising that at many ventas you can find practical equipment on sale, such as walking sticks, shepherds crooks, hunting equipment, rope and cut-throat collections of simple and ornate knives. These often hang over the counter where drinks are served. Many a regular likes a large glass of brandy, or coffee with something in it, to get the heart started in the morning.

The counter nearby sells bread, meat, sausages, biscuits, vegetables, fruit and a hundred and one other things.

But, above all, ventas are places where people gather to chat and spend time relaxing and catching up on all the gossip.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Bye Bye nasty jabs

Sharon has received very good news from her neurosurgery team. Yesterday she went for a check up with one of the doctors involved in the remarkable operation where, as she puts it, “they cut the top of my head off” back in Feburary last year. The doctor said that her progress was excellent and that she could now stop taking daily injections and could tail off her last remaining tablets. Soon she will be completely medication free. Naturally, she was delighted with this news.

“Imagine you were driving a car along and the engine stopped,” said the doctor. “We came along and fixed the engine. That´s all we did. It is you that has been doing all the driving ever since.”

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Finding a shady corner

Now that the first real breaths of summer have arrived in the Campo a dog starts to look for a spot of shade.

Each day Sharon goes out for a walk and Sam, the fat old Labrador, of course goes with her. He snuffles through the undergrowth and then waddles along with Sharon as she walks slowly with her crutch. When a pine tree is reached, it´s time for a sit down. Sharon sinks gratefully onto an old wooden chair with a woven seat and enjoys the sunshine.

Sam, however, prefers a bit of shade and, after enjoying a stiff brushing, he moves a short distance away to make sure that the pine branches shade him. He lies amidst the yellow flowers and snails and has a good old pant. Then it is time to set off for home again.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009

People are so kind

Sharon has been thinking about how kind people are when they see her in her wheelchair or struggling along on her crutch. She says:

“I never noticed before. Obviously, because I didn´t need any help or assistance and because I looked like everybody else. But since I have been in a wheelchair or using my crutch, I have been so happy about how helpful and kind people can be. Often when you least expect it.

“I never considered before how disabled people got on. But, I am so aware of it now, of course. It is wonderful how complete strangers make such kind offers to help when they see us and think we may be struggling. The simplest things can often be quite a struggle and offers of help are more than welcome. Young or old, male or female – so many people try to help. It is so heart warming.

“When you listen to the news and hear about people moaning and groaning, you can often be a bit cynical and hard. But when complete strangers offer their assistance it makes you realise that most people in the world are thoughtful and kind. “

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Thunder

Lying in bed
as the thunder rolls.
Hard spatters of rain
on the tiles.
Warm and safe,
holding hands.
As the thunder rolls.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009

Time for typhoons

This is the time of year when people in Southeast Asia start to worry about typhoons. The world “typhoon” comes from the Chinese characters for “great wind” and that truly recognizes the massive power of these swirling storms.

Living in Hong Kong for more than 25 years, Sharon experienced plenty of typhoons. In the early days, these could be destructive, with squatter huts swept from hillsides, vessels sunk or cast ashore and people killed by flying debris or landslides. As time went on, however, so the warning systems, preparations and building regulations became ever more efficient. Today, typhoons are still disruptive but, in Hong Kong at least, they cause little real damage. However, elsewhere in Southeast Asia they can still be very dangerous. Typhoons begin out at sea, gathering power and strength as they race towards the land. They generally blow themselves out once they hit land but they can wreak havoc in coastal areas.

In Hong Kong, the warning system consists of a Number One Signal, which means people should stand by; Number Three means that a typhoon is heading towards HK; Number Eight means everyone should stay indoors, put up typhoon shutters, tape across glass and make other preparations. Schools and offices shut down. Number Ten typhoons are the worst of all. It may seem strange that some numbers are missing, but this is because the system is based on a meteorological table which takes into account wind direction and most people never use them.

Sharon recalls:

“The worst typhoon for me, I remember, was a Number Ten typhoon. Phillip was at work in the control centre of the Marine Department and I was at home, with my two young children in our 27th floor flat with a beautiful sea view. Being on the sea at the west of Hong Kong Island, in Pokfulam, the typhoon hit right on our block.

“Phil had put the wooden shutters across the balcony but, suddenly, one of the living room windows blew in. There was glass all over the floor and the curtains were blowing horizontal as the driving rain flew in. Ornaments had fallen and broken, light bulbs were swinging furiously. Even the water in my aquarium was splashing about as the whole building shook with the force of the typhoon. The fish obviously knew there was something was afoot as they were all hiding in shells. There wasn´t a fish to be seen.

“I knew I had to get the children out of the flat to safety, as more windows could blow in at any time and there was glass everywhere. I was really quite worried. I got all the curtains closed as I thought this would help to stop the glass flying about.

“I decided to go next door to my neighbour across the lift lobby. But I couldn´t get the front door open because of the wind pressure. I pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. I was carrying Julia and James was holding onto my legs.
I called for help as loud as I could. My neighbours, John and Annie, were almost immediately in the lobby and shoving on my door from the outside. Gradually, they managed, in the end, to get it open. We dashed out and the door slammed behind us. We got into their flat, where no windows had gone and which was safe and stayed there until the end of the typhoon when Phil came home the following day. He said many ships had sunk or run aground.

“That was the worst typhoon I remember and I often think about it. I can´t remember its name or the year. Perhaps it was Typhoon Hope, which is a bit of a bloody stupid name for a typhoon.

“In another typhoon, Phil was at home this time. We decided to move a dressing table away from the windows in the bedroom. We were just about to get hold of each end to move it across to the opposite side of the room. But before I could bend down, the very heavy air conditioner blew right out of the wall, across the room, and crashed through the dressing table mirror, destroying the drawers as well, and skidded across the floor making big grooves. We had to run out and shut the door and abandon the room.

“That was a lucky escape as I could have been bending right where the air conditioner hit but for a few seconds.”

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Making lovely lace

Spanish lace has been justly famed for centuries and the old skills are still very much alive.

At a craft fair on the waterfront at Cartagena a few days ago there were many beautiful and intricate lace items to see. One local woman was demonstrating lace making – and very complicated it looked. But she said, with a laugh, that it was relatively easy once you had mastered the basics and so long as you followed a pattern.

The stiff pattern is pinned to a bolster and then the key points are pierced by pins. The lace strands are attached to bobbins and they are wound around the pins creating the delicate lace patterns.

Lace making is a relaxing hobby, apparently, so long as you possess vast quantities of patience.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009

Time for typhoons

This is the time of year when people in Southeast Asia start to worry about typhoons. The world “typhoon” comes from the Chinese characters for “great wind” and that truly recognizes the massive power of these swirling storms.

Living in Hong Kong for more than 25 years, Sharon experienced plenty of typhoons. In the early days, these could be destructive, with squatter huts swept from hillsides, vessels sunk or cast ashore and people killed by flying debris or landslides. As time went on, however, so the warning systems, preparations and building regulations became ever more efficient. Today, typhoons are still disruptive but, in Hong Kong at least, they cause little real damage. However, elsewhere in Southeast Asia they can still be very dangerous. Typhoons begin out at sea, gathering power and strength as they race towards the land. They generally blow themselves out once they hit land but they can wreak havoc in coastal areas.

In Hong Kong, the warning system consists of a Number One Signal, which means people should stand by; Number Three means that a typhoon is heading towards HK; Number Eight means everyone should stay indoors, put up typhoon shutters, tape across glass and make other preparations. Schools and offices shut down. Number Ten typhoons are the worst of all. It may seem strange that some numbers are missing, but this is because the system is based on a meteorological table which takes into account wind direction and most people never use them.

Sharon recalls:

“The worst typhoon for me, I remember, was a Number Ten typhoon. Phillip was at work in the control centre of the Marine Department and I was at home, with my two young children in our 27th floor flat with a beautiful sea view. Being on the sea at the west of Hong Kong Island, in Pokfulam, the typhoon hit right on our block.

“Phil had put the wooden shutters across the balcony but, suddenly, one of the living room windows blew in. There was glass all over the floor and the curtains were blowing horizontal as the driving rain flew in. Ornaments had fallen and broken, light bulbs were swinging furiously. Even the water in my aquarium was splashing about as the whole building shook with the force of the typhoon. The fish obviously knew there was something was afoot as they were all hiding in shells. There wasn´t a fish to be seen.

“I knew I had to get the children out of the flat to safety, as more windows could blow in at any time and there was glass everywhere. I was really quite worried. I got all the curtains closed as I thought this would help to stop the glass flying about.

“I decided to go next door to my neighbour across the lift lobby. But I couldn´t get the front door open because of the wind pressure. I pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. I was carrying Julia and James was holding onto my legs.
I called for help as loud as I could. My neighbours, John and Annie, were almost immediately in the lobby and shoving on my door from the outside. Gradually, they managed, in the end, to get it open. We dashed out and the door slammed behind us. We got into their flat, where no windows had gone and which was safe and stayed there until the end of the typhoon when Phil came home the following day. He said many ships had sunk or run aground.

“That was the worst typhoon I remember and I often think about it. I can´t remember its name or the year. Perhaps it was Typhoon Hope, which is a bit of a bloody stupid name for a typhoon.

“In another typhoon, Phil was at home this time. We decided to move a dressing table away from the windows in the bedroom. We were just about to get hold of each end to move it across to the opposite side of the room. But before I could bend down, the very heavy air conditioner blew right out of the wall, across the room, and crashed through the dressing table mirror, destroying the drawers as well, and skidded across the floor making big grooves. We had to run out and shut the door and abandon the room.

“That was a lucky escape as I could have been bending right where the air conditioner hit but for a few seconds.”

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Long wait for allotments

Long wait for allotments

Traditionally working people in Britain were able to grow vegetables and fruit in their gardens. However, as society changed, particularly in the 19th century, the cottages with gardens were replaced by terraced housing and the common land which had provided a place to plant vegetables was enclosed and fenced off.

To allow people to continue to grow their own food a system of “allotments” was introduced. The oldest allotments are said to be St Ann´s Allotments, in Nottingham and they date back to the 1830s. Many other allotments were provided all over the country and they were enthusiastically cultivated with fresh vegetables and fruit being grown for all the family.

After the Second World War, however, and particularly from the 1960s onwards, enthusiasm for allotment gardening declined. Supermarkets arrived on the scene and the hard work of digging, planting, weeding and harvesting was pushed aside as leisure options greatly expanded. One by one allotment areas were closed, even though local authorities had, and have, a legal responsibility to provide them. Each plot must be not less than 1,000 square meters. However, developers hate allotment sites which they want to cover with concrete. Preparations for the advertising festival known as the Olympics saw many allotments destroyed at the site being built for the London 2012 “games.”

Today allotments are very much back in demand. This is driven by the desire of many people to grow their own food using natural and traditional methods. The credit crunch has given additional impetus.

However, anyone looking for an allotment today is in for a very long wait. In London and other big cities the waiting lists are huge. It is thought that, in the UK generally, about 300,000 people are lucky enough to have an allotment but there are at least 100,000 other people on the waiting lists.

On a recent visit to London Sharon noticed allotments being enthusiastically cultivated by those lucky enough to have them. Spring is a busy time for gardeners and this year´s allotment crop looks like being bigger than ever.

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©2009 Phillip Bruce

More of Betty´s treats

Sharon was talking on the phone with her cousin, Kathryn, and discussing old recipes. Kathryn´s mother left a hand-written notebook with her favourite recipes recorded.

These old Settle and Sedbergh treats kept generations of Yorkshire folk, and dentists, happy. Here are three recipes to try:

Ginger Bread

Two and a half ounces of lard or margarine
Quarter of a pound of sugar
Quarter of a pound of treacle
Half a pound of plain flour
One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
One teaspoon of powdered ginger
One egg
A little milk

Short Bread

Quarter of a pound of sugar
Half a pound of butter or margarine
Three quarters of a pound of plain flour

No instructions are given as to how to prepare these two treats. Presumably everything is mixed together and baked in the oven.

Mrs Foster´s Toffee

Three quarters of a pound of butter
Half a pound of syrup
One pound of soft brown sugar
One large tin of Nestle´s milk

The instructions for this recipe are simple: “Boil until set.”

See also the story "A cake from Yorkshire´s past."

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Tasty dim sum

Going to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum and a good chat with friends was one of Sharon´s favourite morning activities when she lived in Hong Kong.

There are many different types of dim sum, which are served in small baskets or on plates. In busy restaurants, ladies push carts between the tables and the hungry snackers choose their favourites. The noise levels are usually high as people shout and talk but that is part of the atmosphere. Sharon says:

“Going for dim sum was a big social event and I used to go at least three or four times a week. I would always meet friends. I used to go to the City Hall restaurant which overlooked the Hong Kong harbour down in the centre of the city. The restaurant was very big and spacious. Sitting with friends at their table, being women, we would yakety-yak 19 to the dozen, as women do. Although we might only have seen each other a few days previously, but you know how it is. There is always something earth-shatteringly important to discuss.

“We would catch the eye of the lady passing with her trolley to see what little snacks she had. My favourites included cha shiu bau. This is little bits of barbecued pork inside a big fluffy white ball of bread. My daughter, Julia, was raised on this. She used to come along with me in her pushchair. A couple of these would do her for lunch, followed by an ice cream as a treat for being good.

“I also liked har gau. Which was a little envelope with shrimps inside. We would drink gallons of Chinese tea, served to us in teapots. When you had finished, you would rest the lid, which was tied to the handle with a piece of string, on the top of the pot. This showed the waiters that you were empty and needed a refill. It was quite easy to get through three or four pots of tea in a session. Chinese tea is famous for helping with the digestion.

“The noise was sometimes excruciating as all the women were in there yakking to their pals. There could be 300 people in there on a quiet day. I loved the whole thing, it was heart-warming, friendly, nourishing and sociable – if could stand the racket.”

After reading the above, Julia called her mother to protest that she had not mentioned her all time favourite - "daan tats". These are luscious egg tarts, or egg custards, served piping hot. They crumble the minute you bite into them and they are only "two bites big" says Sharon. "You only get about two mouthfuls and the crumbs go everywhere."

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Methodism founder had Chinese tastes

What crockery did you use with your breakfast this morning? The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, obviously had a taste for the exotic. His breakfast crockery is on display at his home in the City of London and he shared the 18th century enthusiasm for all things Chinese. The cups and saucers, plates and teapots all feature Chinese designs. Some may have been made in China while others may have been made in English factories using Eastern inspiration.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Munching on medlars

Sharon went for a few steps in the front garden and was admiring the nispero, or medlar, tree.

“I am lucky enough to have what they call a ´heurta´ in Spain. This is an enclosed garden surrounded by a wall or fence. And I am even luckier because mine is full of fruit trees. I know nothing about fruit trees, but they do very well, so they are obviously looking after themselves. In the winter the neighbours prune them for me.

“I have got apples, oranges, mandarins, nisperos, quince, and table grape. The vine grows over an iron support and provides shade for the summer.

“Three is nothing much you can do with nisperos except eat them fresh. Some people make a sauce to pour over ice cream but I don´t know how to do that. They are delicious but you have to eat them when they are just past ripe, with a few brown spots on them. Now they are absolutely perfect. So, I will be dishing them out to my neighbours and friends as gifts. Here in the Campo, everyone shares everything. The birds are also helping themselves to their share “

The nispero, or medlar, is a member of the rose family and several varieties are grown in England, where the fruits are gathered in November rather than May, as in Spain.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

A cake from the Yorkshire past

Sharon´s Auntie Betty was one of the Bainbridge tribe of Sedbergh, in North Yorkshire, and all the women were great bakers. Here is the recipe for Cut and Come Again Cake, from Auntie Betty´s handwritten cookbook. She wrote that this was Mrs Pricket´s recipe.

Eight ounces of self raising flour
Quarter of a teaspoon of salt
One teaspoon of mixed spice
Four ounces of butter
Four ounces of sugar
Three ounces of currants
Three ounces of sultanas
Two ounces of glace cherries
Grated rind and juice of one orange
Two eggs
Milk

Sift the flour spice and salt into a bowl and then rub in the butter, sugar, fruit and rind. Beat the eggs with enough milk to make a quarter of a pint of liquid.
Bake for about one hour and 20 minutes.

As the name suggests – cut and come again.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Flying with a wheelchair

Getting around in a wheelchair poses obvious problems and trying to fly in one is impossible unless it has wings. However, if you are more down to earth, thankfully the systems in place to help the disabled enjoy the same rights to aviation as everyone else mean that international air travel is possible.

In the past, it was, apparently, very difficult with all sorts of practical and expensive barriers. However, the attempts of a certain well known discount airline to charge wheelchair bound users for the privilege of boarding their aircraft sparked a challenge in the EU courts. As a result, there is now a requirement for all airlines operating in Europe and all European airports to make sure that the disabled can travel at the same price as everyone else and with as little hassle as possible.

Sharon explains: “I´ve just been back to London to visit my children and I am very happy to say, as always, that the airport at San Javier, Murcia, Spain, has a wonderful team which helps the disabled. They help me with everything, including check-in, passport controls, security and luggage. They even escort me to my seat on the plane.

“I can´t walk up the steps of the aircraft. Sometimes there is a ginormous thing that is like a container that goes up and down like a lift with plenty of room for me and my wheelchair. It comes up into the galley of the aircraft at the front. I only have to stagger to my seat. Normally, there is a row of three for me and Phillip. I slide over to the window seat and get my headphones on with my favourite old time music and usually doze off.

“At other times, I go in a special wheelchair with a very secure harness that goes over my shoulders, so I am fully secured into the chair. It sort of crawls up or down the steps. I can´t see how it works but it is obviously some special thing. It doesn´t give me any feeling of insecurity whatsoever, which is surprising.

“My wheelchair is always waiting for me on the tarmac at the other end. Once I´m in it, I am wheeled to collect my bag and then taken through the various passport control and other things to the exit.

“I know it must be a pain in the neck having to put up with people like me who can´t do the simplest tasks for themselves. But I must say a big thank and you well done to all the people I meet at the airports and on the planes. Everybody is so helpful and kind. And patient. They are all so lovely.

“It is bad enough having to travel as a disabled person but it would be absolutely impossible without the help of so many friendly people.”

"On my return flight home a few days ago I sat next to my newest friend, Pam. She lives in Los Alcázares, by the sea. Like me, she had been to London to see her children and she pointed out her house and car just before we landed. Pam has lived in Spain almost as long as I have and loves it. Which is not surprising with all the sunshine and blue skies.”

"I had an extra special treat this trip. When I was waiting to board at San Javier I had my first ever go on a massage chair. It was fantastic, like balls running up and down your back to help relax you and give you a good old work out. I was pleased that I entertained nearby passengers who were laughing their heads off at me laughing. I´ve told Phil, I want one of these chairs for Christmas.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.