A year ago I had a white Christmas. I think it was even by the Met Office's description a white Christmas - which is to say snow actually fell on me. The day started in Birmingham, and the Dodgess and I drove to Cambridge, and we had a traditional family Christmas meal, inasmuch as anything that we do is particularly traditional. Still, it contained roast meat, roast potatoes, wine, crackers, and a traditional English pudding with brandy set into blue flames.
This year, all a little different. For a start, lets look at the temp - last year about 32F, this year still 32, but C. So I've spent pretty much the entire day in shorts and a t-shirt. It was white at times, but only because the rain was so heavy. As for the food, well, not quite the same. Our Christmas dinner was sausages, with cabbage, and potato gratin. A strangely Germanic lunch given those present: from Singapore, France, Singapore and me, from either side of the Atlantic depending on whether England or USA is doing better at sport. Perhaps the Germanic influence is a nod to my maternal ancestry?
Having opened some presents, we then went for a walk along the beach. We had a couple of cameras to play with - the Dodgess had our latest. I had my first camera, circa 1990, which doesn't even require a battery to operate. In fact, all it does it take photos with a 35mm lens. But, it does seem still to be working.
Dinner was effectively from a hawker centre, albeit a rather posher one. A seafood platter consisting of sea bass, chilli crab (the first time I've had the Singaporean speciality here) and clams. Served with the smell of sea water nearby too!
So it's been a good Christmas nice and relaxed. Nice and happy.
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Christmas dinner was the second time that the Dodgess and I had eaten fish this week. The first was a complete disaster. Wanting a late dinner, but something more than a gobble down takeaway or hawker food, we opted for Fish and Co. Why? Well, we had eaten a couple of really nice meals with them previously this year, so why not?
Well, they had changed the menu this time. Taking off some of the more varied dishes, and offering instead 6 choices of fish and chips from 'around the world'. Seeminly, all they do is add a different cheese to the fish. Err... Sorry? Cheese? with Fish and Chips.
Now, I'm British (at least today I am, maybe after the ashes re-start I'll reconsider and become American). Being British, I have been exposed to a vast array of fish and chip shops. Not one has ever offered me cheese with fish. It had to be tried, if only for the same reason people stare at crashed cars. The Dodgess didn't fancy the cheese, so opted for the Pollock version. This was off, so back to the cod then.
My 'Japanese' version, served with some pathetic watery soy sauce (why??? it's vile with the batter - use vinegar!) also had that most Japanese cheese of mozarella stuffed inside. So, a British dish, served with Italian cheese, and called Japanese due to the presence of soy sauce and some seaweed?
On tasting, I discovered why I've never been offered cheese within battered fish. It's dreadful. The cheese only detracted from the flavour of the fish. It sort of leached it away without adding any flavour itself -- just the texture of slightly spongy rubber. FAIL
Still, at least my fish was cooked. The Dodgess's (and lets not forget that her first choice had run out) was not even that. Raw, progressing to frozen in the middle. As time was late we suggested they just abandon serving the Dodgess, and we'd get something on the way back for her. They insisted that a new portion would be ready within 3 minutes. It came 8 minutes later as I finished. So we packed it - then they gave us the bill, which included not only the Pollock (more expensive than the cod), but a service charge too - what for, pray tell???
Eventually, we took the cod home for free, but if they had really wanted to fix things, it wouldn't have been on the bill in the first place. Never again methinks, it was a truly hateful meal (company excepted, which was, as always, fabulous, even if a little hungry!)
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