Thursday 13 December 2012

Working Lunch - Waitrose Sushi

Right, before we start I'd like to highlight I know nothing about sushi apart from the fact that I like the way it tastes. Most of the time. If you read this  post and decide that I am clearly a complete idiot for not knowing my sushi from my sashimi and you simply cannot continue indulging me when faced with my horrific inadequacies, then you are clearly the sort of person I would probably hate talking to as well. Jog on, no harm done.

OK, disclaimer out of the way, we'll start our sushi discussions with a nice little compact box of Taiko Sushi from Waitrose. This one contained three cucumber and two salmon rolls. Do you call the long thin ones with salmon on the top rolls? Not sure (see disclaimer above). Also in the box was a packet of wasabi, soy and another packet of pickled ginger.

The rice is really where pre-packed sushi is made or broken and the simple vegetable rolls were my favorite here because they let you taste the vinegary, sticky rice with just a hint of crunch. The seaweed was salty and forgiving but held the roll togeather well.

The salmon was good, soft and yealed well at each bite. The flavour was however, simply generically fishy and needed a good glug of soy to keep it from being overwhelming.

The wasabi and ginger were good to see, the wasabi was really quite powerful and even (dare I say) brough a tear to my eye. The ginger was a great and particularly in a small box like this quite an unusual addition. Soggy but still crunchy, it cleansed the palette well and had an amost medicinal taste of ginger.

The soy sauce was OK. But whoever produces these small fish shaped bottles must make a mint because there are in every single pack of sushi I've ever eaten, no matter where from or what brand. I am also proud to say that I have graduated from the soy souce acadamy. No longer do I stroll blindly down the Amoy path of salty stir-fry destruction, neither do I seek the Blue Dragon of unpleasent noodle aftertase. Instead, I Kikkoman my way through life and am a lot happier for it - handy tip, buy in bulk and avoid the small jars with the pouring spout on them; terrible value for money. One point of clarification though; Blue Dragon used to to a bottle of sweet soy which was absolutley fantastic. It used to be a Morrisons exclusive but sadly, I have not been able to find it for some time. Boo.

In conclusion, I would go back to Waitrose for more, this was a small pack and it would be nice to try some of the more exotic varieties. As sushi is a regular lunch option for me these days, it is a shame that Mrs. P. does not harbour the same desire as I do for a good slice of cold salmon. I am therefore relegated to sampling sushi where and when I can. I once pursuaded Mrs. P. to pander to my sushi whim and we attempted to enjoy a lunch at a nearby Yo! Sushi. It did not go well and she vowed never to return. And so, my attempt to eat on the road without giving in to the dreaded Ginsters monster continues...

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Work Lunches - An Introduction


Lunch is an awkward meal for me. Sometimes it’s early, sometimes late and while it’s true that I get quite grumpy if I don’t eat, sometimes I don’t manage lunch at all. My European colleagues always seem to eat later than I would hope, even though they are already an hour ahead of us. Lunch seems to be the meal that is most often compromised, passed over in favour of finishing that report or catching the next train. I often think to myself, ‘it’s OK, I’ll just have a big dinner’, but then I get home and haven’t got the energy to cook and end up stuffing my face with a Dirty Burger. Bad times.

So, when I do manage to get lunch, is life hunky-dory? Does the world swim into focus through a rainbow of love? Not quite. I hate to break it to you but motorway service stations are not nice places to eat on a regular basis. Looking past the standard pre-packed sandwich and Ginsters ensemble to the trays of canteen style piles of what I am legally forced to call bacon, eggs and *shudder* baked beans, do I think 'mmm, that looks tasty?' No. No, I do not.

So, instead I try to broaden my horizons. Recently I have dabbled in sushi. Tesco, Waitrose, M&S Food  And even Wasabi have all featured and I think that might be the subject of a future post. But today I want to talk about office food; the lunch meeting can be depressing at best and bloody depressing at worst. 

First up Germany; a meaty stew/soup with a (amusingly) French stick, along with gherkins and a variety of open finger sandwiches. Some with salami or smoked ham on a bed of lattice and a circle of horrid rye pulse type nastiness. Needless to say, I liked some of them better than others. The stew was great but the one thing you should know about German food is that it is crazy salty. Every bit is chock full of sodium, which isn't too bad but it means that I couldn't eat more than two bowls without my mouth puckering up like a ducks bum hole.




Next is Italy, a choice of two different pastas, a couple of plates of salad and beer or coke. Putting aside the very dubious nature of allowing factory workers unlimited free lager before operating heavy machinery, what we have is a plate of heavy carbotastic energy alongside some light leaves and the ubiquitous carrot shavings that seem to be the unfortunately constant mainstay of salad bars across Europe. When I sampled this particular meal, I looked at the menu for the week and I noticed that a day earlier, staff were being treated to Speck ham. Missed it by a day, damn it.



I round off the trilogy with the UK. I think this probably sums up my opinion about what is wrong with  the British attitude to food.



I rest my case.