“Always choose something on the menu you’ve not had before, and never drink anything out of funny shaped bottles”
Last night I was well entertained to an excellent meal by Gimmer who comments here and his wife B. Our conversation had me repeating, I suspect for the umpteenth time, the above anecdote. Father's dictum was well supported by B who produced a strange looking and unfamiliar bottle of a digestive originating from I know not where - B had been given it as a present by a “friend.”
I was going to taste, but first I had a sniff- it was exactly like the smell at a motorway service station after a half hearted attempt to clean the toilets. I proceeded no further. Father’s case rests.
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Thanks T and B for your hospitality, super food and a very convivial evening.
I'm terrible for choosing the same old favourites from the menu. I suppose you might have expected that! I have begun to try to stick to your Father's dictum however, and be a bit more adventurous when I eat out. I shall bear it in mind in future.
ReplyDeleteMark - I'm not saying my father was right and following that advice can lead to disappointment: one of my worst was ordering gésier in France.
ReplyDeleteTo latch on to a minnow and imagine it a trout, I have never understood how gesiers could be a choice delicacy - even hot, not interesting: cold, almost un-ingestible let alone indigestible - and almost tasteless - so it always surprises me how it appears in Les Salades Speciales du Region section of the menu - in duck breeding regions especially, of course - must be a way of disposing of the remains of the foie gras industry.
ReplyDeleteBut, by and large, with a degree of care and insight, the dictum can lead to surprising delights - even in England's green and pleasant land. The funny shaped bottles one is, however, failsafe , almost 'de rigeur', and that incident was a classic !
Gimmer - I don't think GR meant it too seriously but I can't help thinking about it every time I.'m presented with a menu.
ReplyDeleteI once drank with a priest at an RC church social club. He paid for nothing, there was always some fool who'd lean over and say, "I'll get that, Father." So I joined the fools, since he had a sharp view of the world and I enjoyed the ironic way he engaged (justifiably) with my suspected atheism.
ReplyDeleteHe only drank Scotch and that from a rather elegantly faceted bottle. The brand (which I have forgotten) was popular at the time but was sneered at by "educated" drinkers like me. Inevitably I was reminded of Father, but also of his well-developed sense of priorities (Remember his reasons for smoking cigars from communistic Cuba.) He enjoyed conversation on a wide range of subjects and had he been at the table would, I think, have shelved his antipathy towards irregular bottles. Having said that I have suddenly realised I too enjoy conversation that progresses and that I may have inherited this from him. There's more fun in being unfair but I think I must redress the balance in this case and admit to its possibility.
I too like the wide ranging conversation. It is interesting to observe the trigger for switching from one subject to another. Most important of all is that it should be two way. We had a senior guy at Yorkshire Bsnk who we christened The I Man - practically every sentence he uttered started with that first person singular pronoun.
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