The Royal Baking Powder effect

Last night reading Josep Rondissoni’s Classes de cuina for the 1930-1 season I came across an illustration of the packaging of one of the various foreign ingredients he uses, Royal Baking Powder. It’s actually called the Droste effect, of course–or at least in Holland. José Rondissoni was a Swiss cook who taught a blend of…

Spanish food’s getting better

I’m generally more Macdonald’s, but this might tip the balance. 10 fried eggs in a row sounds like an excellent idea.

Bowman Ales live

Loopy and Ray used to be charcoal burners. There’s no really good way of drinking charcoal, so fortunately for us they gave it up.

The King of Portugal and the ettins

Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English: For they say the king of Portugal cannot sit at his meat, but the giants and the ettins will come and snatch it from him. (Beaumont and Fletcher, The knight of the burning pestle (1613)) I think that means that an ettin/eten/etayn is not, or is not…

How to make head cheese (queso de cerdo)

In Argentina. In Kilburn (thanks Dave). (First mention in Corde is in Ventura de Peña y Valle, Tratado general de carnes (1832). That marrano means pig as well as a renegade converted Jew is probably explicable in non-cannibal terms, although with these Frankish types you never know.)

Non-existent roads on Spanish maps

I’ve cycled south from Albacete via Yeste twice. On both occasions it would have been really nice to have had a direct road or track from Parolis / Parolix to Los Arroyos, but there just isn’t one, whatever all the maps say. The road from Miller up to the sierra does exist, but those extra…

Ah! viva la espana

Een fijn voorbeeld van het Nederspaans in het Geheugen van Nederland: ‘k Ben een onverschwartze Espagnolos Kijk naar mijn bolos, als roet zoo zwart Zie ik een aardig meisje met mijn blikkos Voel ik de prikkos, hier in mijn hart ‘k Ben van beroep torero in Sevilla Ik steek de bandrilla de stieren in d’r…