Dear LPG, 

It recently occurred to me that I now know exactly what draws me to each month’s recipe,  I try to be an adventurer by taking my monthly drift out into the international culinary unknown by choosing something unusual that I think I will have some success with. 

I am not unusually gifted with cooking skills and, even though I have a whole month to prepare, each Independence date always seems to creep up on me in the same way that Christmas does every year. 

When it came to choosing an Arminian dish I was instantly drawn to this one because there were only five ingredients.  I tend to check that they are gettable before doing anything else and confess that I only actually check the cooking method when ready to cook.  After all, how difficult can putting five food elements together be?  In my experience the fewer the ingredients the less complicated the method.

This recipe did not disappoint although there was more waiting than actual cooking skill involved.  Having watched my mother wait for barley to cook way back in the past, I was prepared for that but I was a little hesitant about boiling a whole chicken for a whole hour.  I did not do my usual trick of putting the pot on the gas and leaving it for too long which is the down side of waiting.  You can set an oven timer but not a hob ring and I am always tempted to leave things to their own devices.  Having watched the video, I think my version looked recognisable and my tasters agreed the savoury porridge was different but tasted quite good.  So I felt that it turned out reasonably well. 

October brings me to Spain this year and when I think of Spanish Food Paella nearly always comes to mind, although I have never tried it by choice.  The thought of eating some of the more exotic sea food ingredients has always put me off.   With that in mind, I thought to try one of their other national delights.  I have always been a fan of a hot bowl of soup in the winter but, with the hope that the dregs of our British summer will still be with us next month, I have decided that Gazpacho, their famous cold tomato soup, might be a challenge worth confronting.  

I hope to take a more advanced and closer look at the method as well as the ingredients this time… 

CB, Lewisham

CB prepares you for a Spanish challenge…

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