Ethical self sufficiency, thoughts welcome

ruled moot by the Ruling Class

It is a bit of a quandrie.

I've always been a big fan of the slow food movement so i would say to stick to what is there and local.

Though in saying that i've never been to the UK and a few friends tell me that it gets really really difficult to find more variety and they miss too many foods from home. They all come home skinny and put loads of weight on when back here lol

Up till recently, variety was non-existent. It's all stews and roasts and so forth; if I put anything more adventurous than salt and pepper on a roast my ex would refuse to eat it as "that's just not done here"! The bistro culture is trying to inject a bit of variety into things but most people feel that's just for the "snobs" and the only proper British meal requires mash, meat and pudding, end of. It can be quite good, agreed, but I can't eat like that all the time unless I want to risk making myself ill (something I can't quite seem to get through the heads of social services - it's a fine line whether a bout of IBS is necessarily better than starvation sometimes!)

I've even had to kill the slow-food thing for a while as I was finding it difficult to cut veggies late last year. I can't peel foods anymore at all as my hands lock and cramp so I've either had to just cook it as is, only be able to prepare food when I can handle a knife without hurting myself or (horrors!!!) buy it prechopped and bagged at the store. Ugh. I hate even typing that, but even using a slicing food processor doesn't always solve the problem.

I was actually thinking of New Zealand and Australia in this regard - importing cats, rabbits and so on was amazingly devastating to the indigenous wildlife and ecosystems of those countries and I am very fond of England - I'd hate to contribute to the loss of plants most people seem to have forgotten even exist here, mulberries and medlars being my main passions at the moment. Most people in the UK have never had either of these, don't even know what they are, and that's a shame.

Hathorite wrote:Up till recently, variety was non-existent. It's all stews and roasts and so forth; if I put anything more adventurous than salt and pepper on a roast my ex would refuse to eat it as "that's just not done here"! The bistro culture is trying to inject a bit of variety into things but most people feel that's just for the "snobs" and the only proper British meal requires mash, meat and pudding, end of. now what they are, and that's a shame.

Err, what? Is it still 1956 where you live?

what are medlars?

I love love love mulberries

It's still 1956 in a lot of places in England! Sorry, Billy, I knew the cries of "But we don't do that!" would start up but I'm sure I didn't imagine the week in hospital because my body couldn't take the food! It's been a problem for me since I came here and I've had to be really careful, but I remember when I came in that the only "salad" I could manage to get was iceberg lettuce with a bit of radish in it, and that was it. Anything like rocket, etc was "foreign", but then so was I so such barbarism was tolerated with amusement. Great that a few people buck the trend but it doesn't mean the trend doesn't exist, which is a bit of a bummer but there you are.

Medlars are rather interesting, they came into vogue during Victorian times but are rather rare to find now. They have to essentially soften up (rot, if you will) before they're edible, called "bletting". Here's a photo:

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They're just fascinating and I want to grow one just for the opportunity. There are some recipes for medlar fudge (called "medlar cheese" because it is pressed you can find that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) and preserves, and are apparently an "acquired taste" - rather like marmite I suppose but that's another subject entirely!

I've also yet to have a quince - yes, yes, I know! (hangs head) and yellow plums are still something I'm pursuing as well though I haven't come across them since I inquired about them last year. I only just tried gooseberries last year, never had them before and I wasn't quite sure about them once I had! I'm debating experimenting with them for sauces and things this year.

I guess the thing is there's a lot of stuff out there which could appease my fruit needs if I just learned a bit more about them.

I don't think hospital food and the dinner preferences of your ex are necessarily indicative of the eating habits of the nation any more than American cuisine being limited to McDonalds and apple pie.

Thanks for your input, Billy.

Anyone else?

thanks for that hathorite that sure seem to be very interesting

Hathorite wrote:Thanks for your input, Billy.

You are welcome, Hathorite. Correcting foreigners misconceptions of British cuisine is always a pleasure, never a chore.

If you have a supermarket near you, you will find that such exotic items as yellow plums, rocket, chard, frisee, sweet potatoes and even fish and blueberries widely available. In large part because British people purchase and eat them.

Eating imported products has been fairly standard for several hundred years. Otherwise we would not have tea or coffee or oranges or rice. Eating non-indigenous species likewise, otherwise we would not have much in the way of pork or chickens. You could perhaps resolve your dilemma by eating blueberries grown in the UK in controlled situations.

Well as soon as I see a foreigner that needs correcting I'll be sure to let you know.

Oh, I am very sorry. I thought you said you were from the States.

Since it seems the "a foreigner has no right to speak" thing has cropped up, I'll just be removing my post.

Where did you get that idea? You stated in response to a question about food in the UK that

Up till recently, variety was non-existent. It's all stews and roasts and so forth

I challenged that assertion.