Today's sausage is all about food, specifically the sort that began its day in the Mooring kitchen, pit-stopped on my plate, then undertook the perilous journey through my digestive tract. My day in London began with a crumpet. I'd never tasted a crumpet before coming to the UK, & I daresay that doesn't put me in the minority. The crumpet seems very English, doesn't it? It's the sort of word that we Americans say when imitating a British person--tea & crumpets, mate?. That being said, I'll confess that until I ate my first, I had no idea what a crumpet was. Should you find yourself in that boat, here's a visual aid:
Puck-shaped breakfast delights.
At first glance, I was surprised (& kind of revolted, honestly) to see one side riddled with holes. The reverse is flat & uniformly brown, but the top's surface is completely cratered. I have no idea why. The divots do make it easier to slather on twice as much butter, though, & according to my English girlfriend, crumpets are a vessel for butter & Marmite, so.. game on. The taste & texture are reminiscent of an English muffin, so I'd recommend dressing yours with a poached egg, smoked salmon, & half a pint of Hollandaise.
Second breakfast turned out to be a real treat. As many of you know, the Mooring ladies love Italy. Nearly all of them have lived there for some length of time; they speak the language, cook the food, & even own a special cable box for watching Italian television channels. Today I benefited from their Italophilia in the form of cake.
Mmmm... tinned cake.
On Easter Sunday, many Italians celebrate with a Columba, short for Columba Pasquale (tr. Easter Dove), a bird-shaped sweet bread very similar to Christmas panettone. As such, the Columba was a headlining act in the Mooring kitchen this morning. Here's the piece I ate:
It's fine if you're jealous.
After second breakfast, Fi & I spent a few hours preparing lunch, an ambitious menu of Greek & Middle Eastern delights. The feast consisted of a glorious spread: spanakopita, grilled halloumi, tabbouleh, falafel, pita, tzatziki, hummous, & a green salad with olives.
Om nom.
The sun decided to show up too, so we lunched on the patio to take advantage of the warmth. Tania even mixed up a pitcher of Pimm's for us to sip with our meal. Thumbs-up. Dessert was a variation on the traditional English trifle, which is a dish of layered fruit, sponge cake, cream, & custard. Ours featured rhubarb, ladyfingers, prosecco-soaked strawberries, orange whipped mascarpone cream, & crumbled pistachio praline. Disgusting, I know. Repugnant as it sounds, I'd be remiss not to supply a photo:
Invitation to a sugar crash
As I write this post, I'm munching leftover spanakopita, one of the highlights of the lunch smorgasbord. Were I to recommend any one thing from the plate, that'd be it (Fi did a fantastic job on them!). Oh, & I'm washing the leftovers down with a Jennings Cumberland Ale, also very nice. Overall, not a bad way to treat your stomach on Easter Sunday. Hope everyone's turned out just as tasty as mine!!
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