Time for another barnstorming, no messing around, straight into the thick of it curry.

This time, there’s coconut milk in the mix, which helps to considerably tame the enormous amount of chilli present.  It does seem like a lot of chilli, but coconut milk has the capacity to neutralise the heat very effectively…this is still a hot curry, but it isn’t unbearable, and it does mellow further after a night in the fridge.

Start by marinating a kilo of diced mutton or lamb in half a 400ml can of coconut milk watered down with the equivalent of a can full of water, so a one to two mix.  Watering the coconut milk down is an important step, because the milk is going to be brought to the boiling point – it would split if added undiluted, and rescuing the dish in that situation would be next to impossible.

Cover and refrigerate the meat.  It needs to rest for at least two hours, but overnight would be better.

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I’m the only one in our house who will entertain the thought of eating squid, so this is a rare event.

I have to save it for those times when the rest of the family are away and I’m left to fend for myself.

One of two things tends to happen in these circumstances…either I end up grazing on leftovers from the fridge or making those things that nobody else will touch.

Well, y’know…shame to waste the opportunity…

This method of deep-frying squid is from Turkey, where it’s a popular street snack.  It’s very easy, just rings of squid fried in a pungent batter, a simple dish to pull together, but with plenty of flavour and bite.

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The food game is a vicious business, littered with spectacular failures and well-intentioned enterprises that don’t quite last the distance.

Restaurants come and go, sometimes suddenly, sometimes after a period of stagnation, slipping into an unstoppable downward spiral of cut corners, tatty interiors, tired service and crappy food.

Harry Ramsden’s at Guiseley typified this type of place, a once proud restaurant suffering from lack of investment, lack of direction and shifting fashions. Where once you had to queue right back into the car park, you could walk straight in and take your pick of tables from the massive restaurant, halved in size with some carefully positioned screens to make it look smaller and fuller.

The staff had a resigned air about them…they knew it was rubbish, and they knew what was coming.

When it did, when whatever faceless holding company that owned Harry Ramsden’s that particular week decided that enough was enough, there was a predictable uproar from people who never used to go there anyway. If they had, it wouldn’t be closing down, would it? Such is business.

Harry Ramsden’s was just another business cutting back in hard times. Yes, they continue to trade in more profitable locations, but the days of international expansion and the ‘biggest fish and chip restaurant in the world’ were long, long gone. The site seemed destined to become luxury apartments or whatever.

But something different happened.

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The last book I read by Jennifer McLagan was about offal and other often overlooked cuts of meat.

This book, Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient with Recipes,an earlier volume, is about little more than fat, the stuff that we’re not really supposed to eat too much of, but which plays a huge part in our diet.

McLagan’s theory is that fat shouldn’t be sidelined as universally bad, and she’s right.  Fat is fine in moderation…it’s just that there isn’t much in the way of moderation where fat is concerned, hence the huge range of health problems over indulgence can provoke or exacerbate, but that’s another post.

McLagan seeks to redress a situation where fat has become evil, something to be avoided at all costs.  She suggests that fear of the problems that fat causes have been transferred to the fat itself, and people have become scared of the substance as a substitute for fear of some very serious diseases.  McLagan attempts to argue that fat is good for you, but I remain unconvinced…fat is an important part of everybody’s diet and it has a solid nutritional and dietary purpose, but understanding is key.  Fat is not good for you, and McLagan’s argument that it promotes a sense of well being and happiness displays the flimsiness of her point.

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