h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Come to think of it, I do most of the cleaning around my gaff as well. I'll make someone a lovely wife one day.

Ooh. Mail-order construction, is it?

Can you make me one please?

B

bain-marie, bain-marie my a**!

dump it in an ovenproof dish, cover with breadcrumbs and give it 15-20 on medium. you could even do it in the microwave except the breadcrumb presentation is really worth it.

toad in the hole? and they laugh at the french for eating frogs' legs!

>>i'm of the understanding that stuffed grape leaves are one of those things that are better from a tin than freshly made<<

Not where I come from...

Forgive the stupidity, but don't most people call them 'vine leaves'?

B

Seeing as I'm not a native English speaker, I have NO idea.

I always feel guilty about how poor my ability with foreign languages is, when talking to people like you.

We're talking about the things that Greeks eat a lot of, stuffed with rice.

http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/greek/stuffed-vine-leaves1.html

B

Well, thing is it's not just Greek, it's fairly common around the whole area (Palestinian/Lebanese/Turkish cooking etc.)... my grandmother is from Egypt, but I don't think it's Egyptian food. My family's complicated.

Yeah. My family are only emotionally complicated. Yours are much more interesting.

B

Quite exhausting though trying to explain to people where it's from...

in french they're called "feuilles de vigne", so vine leaves seems about right.

the eastern mediterranean has been a cultural melting pot for about 4 millenia longer than the united states has existed, so if every decent sized city from mecca to montevideo has a dozen macdonalds or more, it's not surprising that vine leaves, kebabs, baklava, and about anything (legal) you can do with an aubergine are as greek as they are lebanese as they are egyptian.

Vine leaves, I'm sure. Always makes me feel like a rabbit when someone serves them.

I'm just trying not to think about illegal things you could do with an aubergine. I keep thinking of the episode of Blackadder III when Prince George says something like "It reminds me of the time whne I joined the Silly Buggers' Society, mis-heard the rules and pushed a whole aubergine into my ear"

This was the same chap who was 'radished', isn't it? I think the writers may have had a slightly unhealthy fetish about variously inserted vegetables...

B

Posh chaps, innit?

I mean, you look at the statistics, right. 83% of top British management have been to a public school and Oxbridge, right? 93% of the BBC have been to a public school and Oxbridge, right? 98% of the KGB have been to a public school and Oxbridge. All you get from a public school, right - one, you get a top job, right, and two, you get an interest in perverse sexual practices. I mean, that's why British management's so inefficient. As soon as they get in the boardroom, they're all shutting each others' dicks in the door!

Any excuse to quote from 'The Young Ones'