Dishes like this are seriously out of favour . There are whole social media accounts dedicated to mocking savoury dishes set in gelatine. Naturally they are right up my ally , in fact “If it’s worth eating it’s worth setting in aspic” has become a bit of a motto for me.So with a glut of…
Author: southstarbrew
Life : State Highway One
I live on the edge of a transit , a great migration of steel, and of dairy and of grain. Of richly scented stock and indecipherable machinery , of loaves of bread and of trunks of pine. Sometimes it rumbles and sometimes it roars, occasionally it slumbers or hides in the wind. The nation’s artery…
Life : All the Gods & None of Them
I believe in all the gods and none of them ,I say to the holy man between sips of beer. He smiles back , part amused , part adversarial , part happy inebriated. If there are gods they are here , in this pub in a moment of happiness. I believe in all the gods…
Life : Air
Where I come from air smells of salt and seaweed, Of coconut tinged gorse and of harbour rich ozone Here the air smells of river and of leaf mold Of oily pine trees and of tangy stock trucks. Where I come from the air surges and rages Its pauses for dramatic effect, grandiose and self…
Life : Early Shift
Amongst the early chilled air and brisk southerly she pulls sleep from her bed and walks towards a cage of neon . Vacant sterile serene. Detergent and steriliser give way to exasperated wary faces and trinkets of gold …gold . The saviour , the sin, the holy . Endure , endure one more hour ,…
Food : The Supremacy of the Sear
We live in a caramelised age. Increasingly everything in western cooking must be fried hard. Maillard reaction is prized over succulency. I have been mulling this over in my mind for a while but it was brought to focus last night when I went to a Wellington Malaysian restaurant and ordered Hainanese chicken on rice….
Life : The Garden Summer 23/24
I have been putting a lot of effort into the garden this year. During the warmer months each year I tend to spend a lot of time in the garden . This year in addition to the normal veg cultivation I have embarked on a compost project and I have started using the no dig…
Life : Verrity’s Wake
It’s the hottest day of the year , tomorrow will be even hotter. Ted has come to the end of his journey. The pub is full to send him on his way. Francis has been gone 8 long years, ‘Though lovers be lost love shall not’ as the great Welsh pub man would say. Soon…
Food : Prawns , Feta, Fennel and Orzo
It’s interesting how Christmas Traditions start. There is something about the Pagan then Christian ritual of Christmas that seems to encourage us to do and eat and drink things in a ritualistic way as well for sustenance and hedonism. This warmed salad of prawns, feta, fennel and peppers tossed through barley shaped orzo pasta has…
Life : Ashes Beneath the Turf
I walk through misty rain. The dog jumps and charges in the wind. We come to where manuka and kawakawa meet grass . Here my grandparents lie. Ashes beneath the turf. A place reserved for those who served. Survivors of a second world war. All but passed now, all ashes beneath the turf. I sit….
Raise the Dawn 