The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

48 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Panniers? I love 'em 😢

I think you should say GWR panniers otherwise someone might suspect you are liking motorcycle panniers…

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I don't want to be a food snob...

It's rather interesting to note that only the British have this concept of the "food snob" , elsewhere a passion for great food made with great ingredients is considered pretty much normal.

 

I think the reason for this is threefold:

 

Firstly, in Britain socialising occurs over alcohol (i.e. "going down the pub"), elsewhere socialising is done over food.

 

Secondly, in Britain good food is seen as being the province of the  middle and upper classes, whereas elsewhere good food is seen as something for all, no matter the social class. 

 

Thirdly, religion plays a role as well: many of the various strains of Protestantism tend to look askance at bodily pleasure – and eating is certainly a bodily pleasure.

 

There also seems to be a perception in the UK that "great food" has to be expensive and made with costly ingredients. This doesn't seem to be the case elsewhere, as in many countries some of the most loved dishes come from what the Italians call "la cucina povera" Great food only demands good quality ingredients prepared with care and attention.

Edited September 25, 2023 by iL Dottore
Typo

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

Panniers? I love 'em 😢

 

Dave

 

 

Luckily, some of us didn't make rash promises.......

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

What a night they've had and the icing on the cake is that the Aussies won't make the quarter finals.

 

 

 

 

And on similar note with other colonial cousins.

A great result in the Solheim Cup - albeit a bit tense at the finish.

 

[AndyID]

I'm trying to create an animation in Blender but I got completely stuck for a couple of days. In the attached pic an object moves with circular motion and imparts that motion to another object that slides up and down a 30 degree ramp.

 

The thing that has circular motion has sinusoidal motion on two axes. In my simple minded way I assumed that sinusoidal motion would map on to the object on the ramp but it became fairly clear when I tried to do it that way in Blender that it does not. Hopefully the pic explains why that is not the case. (I had to make a diagram to understand what was going on.

 

I'd like to plug the equations for motion of the thing on the ramp into Blender but I have no idea what they are 😀 Any suggestions?

 

(Push comes to shove I should be able to plot the motion as a series of points but it would be nice to do it with an equation. I have the impression that it constitutes some sort of phase-shift.)

 

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Panniers? I love 'em 😢

 

Dave

 

OK. Green even!

 

 

OR, maybe to ease your mind a little:

[Northmoor]

39 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

It's rather interesting to note that only the British have this concept of the "food snob" , elsewhere a passion for great food made with great ingredients is considered pretty much normal.

Can't disagree with most of what you've written but here, you've conflated two things.  I don't think anyone is accusing our well-known chefs (many of our TV chefs frequently advocate for high quality, local ingredients) of being food snobs.  What is snobbish is looking down on people eating what we consider to be poor quality food, because they aren't interested in it.  Just because someone wants to eat a supermarket sliced bread instead of a £4.50 "artisan" loaf or wants to buy their kids a McDonalds meal instead of making a vegetable casserole from fresh ingredients, that's their choice.

 

I have no more desire to tell someone they are eating the wrong food than to tell them what to read, watch on TV or who to fall in love with for that matter.  It is absolutely none of my business.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Can't disagree with most of what you've written but here, you've conflated two things.  I don't think anyone is accusing our well-known chefs (many of our TV chefs frequently advocate for high quality, local ingredients) of being food snobs.  What is snobbish is looking down on people eating what we consider to be poor quality food, because they aren't interested in it.  Just because someone wants to eat a supermarket sliced bread instead of a £4.50 "artisan" loaf or wants to buy their kids a McDonalds meal instead of making a vegetable casserole from fresh ingredients, that's their choice.

 

I have no more desire to tell someone they are eating the wrong food than to tell them what to read, watch on TV or who to fall in love with for that matter.  It is absolutely none of my business.

I think the sad part of people eating well is that we have lost several generations of being taught by there mother's. As a result we have bought into the image that all you need is money to go and buy a meal. Whether that meal is good for you has been screened out and so no matter what we are told it's countered by it's too costly- it takes too long- this is healthy etc. I find it very revealing that restaurants/take aways all did a thriving business during the pandemic. It says a lot.

[PhilJ W]

The catering industry in the UK is estimated to be worth £12 billion.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

I think the sad part of people eating well is that we have lost several generations of being taught by there mother's. As a result we have bought into the image that all you need is money to go and buy a meal. Whether that meal is good for you has been screened out and so no matter what we are told it's countered by it's too costly- it takes too long- this is healthy etc. I find it very revealing that restaurants/take aways all did a thriving business during the pandemic. It says a lot.

 

You really do not have to be rich to eat extremely well (at least that's true in the US). Eating out is really expensive and a lot of it is basically crepe but you can get really excellent food for a small fraction of the price if you are willing to spend a little time in the kitchen. Lorna creates fantastic mince pies (pies with minced-beef filling) although I have to admit that I am the master at browning the mince to achieve the perfect flavor.

 

Probably more than you really wanted to know 😀

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by AndyID
moinfo

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

You really do not have to be rich to eat extremely well (at least that's true in the US). Eating out is really expensive and a lot of it is basically crepe but you can get really excellent food for a small fraction of the price if you are willing to spend a little time in the kitchen. Lorna creates fantastic mince pies (pies with minced-beef filling) although I have to admit that I am the master at browning the mince to achieve the perfect flavor.

 

Probably more than you really wanted to know 😀

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

 

 

 

 

Being able to cook is a basic survival skill and one of my vague talents which impressed my other half when we first met.

That was a bit of a double edged sword as I ended up giving her cookery lessons which then extended to a couple of her friends, 

It's not something that you get to learn in school anymore.

We keep it simple, don't eat a huge amount and it works out pretty cheaply. 

We eat out now and then, it's usually when we're out for the day somewhere and we find it more enjoyable than going to a restaurant of an evening knowing that you are likely to be expected to pig out 😄

[jjb1970]

11 hours ago, Northmoor said:

A former colleague of British-Pakistani descent assured me that the majority of "Indian" restaurants in Britain are run by Pakistanis and most of the remainder by Bangladeshis.  Indians don't get much of a look in.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between Indian food and Indian Muslim food. Stalls here are advertised as one or the other, but the Indian food stalls are invariably halal certified too so it begs the question of whether there's a difference, and if so what is it? I've asked quite a few Indian people and they all give an answer on the lines of 'that's a good point, I've never thought of it before, no idea'.

[jjb1970]

Eating out here is cheaper than cooking at home. Pretty much everything is imported, much of it coming over large distances. A lot of the meat is from South America, a lot of the fruit and vegetables are from China, with stuff from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and other parts of SE Asia. Meat is very expensive, especially good meat, fruit and veg varies but none of it is cheap. Milk isn't too bad but butter and cheese can be awfully expensive. The most expensive stuff is from Japan and Korea. In much of Asia Japanese and Korean goods are seen as the pinnacle of quality, including food, so fruit, vegetables, meat and other foods from Japan and Korea have quite a price premium. Japanese kyoho grapes are superb but the price can be bonkers, ditto Korean strawberries. And when it comes to beef, it's best not to even look at the price of Japanese beef.

[Hroth]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I think you should say GWR panniers otherwise someone might suspect you are liking motorcycle panniers…

 

Or those tartan things that you could buy to hang over the rear wheel of a bicycle!

 

[AndyID]

20 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between Indian food and Indian Muslim food. Stalls here are advertised as one or the other, but the Indian food stalls are invariably halal certified too so it begs the question of whether there's a difference, and if so what is it? I've asked quite a few Indian people and they all give an answer on the lines of 'that's a good point, I've never thought of it before, no idea'.

Just as long as it's strictly Kosher 😀

[Happy Hippo]

5 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Or those tartan things that you could buy to hang over the rear wheel of a bicycle!

 

That'll be The Q's kilt

[Happy Hippo]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

an evening knowing that you are likely to be expected to pig out 

I know a tale of a Wolf attempting to pig out, and it didn't end well for the Wolf.

[DenysW]

6 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

the difference between Indian food and Indian Muslim food.

Judging by Leicester, any differences due to religion are dwarfed by regional differences. Pakistani is not the same as Bangladeshi*, and neither are the same as the many regional varieties of Indian. Goan particularly springs to mind as it is Portuguese/Indian rather than British/Indian.

 

* A lot more routine use of yoghurt in the Pakistani in my limited experience from shopping in Pak Foods, one of the local supermarkets.

[Winslow Boy]

8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Being able to cook is a basic survival skill and one of my vague talents which impressed my other half when we first met.

That was a bit of a double edged sword as I ended up giving her cookery lessons which then extended to a couple of her friends, 

It's not something that you get to learn in school anymore.

We keep it simple, don't eat a huge amount and it works out pretty cheaply. 

We eat out now and then, it's usually when we're out for the day somewhere and we find it more enjoyable than going to a restaurant of an evening knowing that you are likely to be expected to pig out 😄

 

I was seen as something as a 'weirdo' as when I went away to college I could cook and do the ironing. Personally I think it was the ironing that confirmed the weirdo labelling but it has stood me in good stead I must admit. That's the ironing by the way before a large & happy pachyderm jumps in and says it was the weirdo epitaph.

[Dave Hunt]

10 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

OK. Green even!

 

 

That’s cruel that is. That’s kicking a man when he’s down. 😪

 

Dave

[Hroth]

10 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

OK. Green even!

 

 

 

 

What concerns me are the quantity of what are known  in certain circles as "burner" phones.  I'm sure that there is an innocent explaination...

 

Nice Pannier!

 

[newbryford]

Minor panic at NB Towers when Junior calls at 1.20am. (4.20am local time for her) to show a burning building in the background....

Her apartment block in Dubai.

 

Thankfully no-one was hurt in the evacuation and it doesn't look as bad in the cold light of day.

 

 

Her flat is on the 14th floor, but I don't know if if was directly above the fire or not.

 

She spent the rest of the night at a friend's place.

Hopefully, we'll get an update soon when (if) she can go and recover her stuff.

 

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, DenysW said:

Judging by Leicester, any differences due to religion are dwarfed by regional differences. Pakistani is not the same as Bangladeshi*, and neither are the same as the many regional varieties of Indian. Goan particularly springs to mind as it is Portuguese/Indian rather than British/Indian.

 

* A lot more routine use of yoghurt in the Pakistani in my limited experience from shopping in Pak Foods, one of the local supermarkets.

Definitely regional. Aditi’s family are Hindu but from the part of India that became Pakistan. Their cuisine is a lacto vegetarian version of Punjabi food, Moslems eat meat variations. Aditi’s family Punjabi language used a lot of words that are Urdu. Her grandfather could only read and write Urdu script (and English). Her grandmother learned Urdu script  as an adult to help in the family business. Who did the cooking was also important. MiL’s father was a businessman and entertained clients at home. He employed a Brahmin as a cook so that everyone would eat in his home. MiL said when she got married she had no idea how to cook. In the family she married into the women supervised the cooking, and only cooked their special meal. When asked what would she like to cook, she chose something out of season in order to learn how to make it.  Bu the time she settled in Nottingham, MiL had an excellent range of dishes and people enjoyed being entertained at her house. On one occasion, I noticed two older women only eating from their own Tupperware containers. They wouldn’t eat food not prepared by a Brahmin. What was amusing was that I had been chatting with the Pandit (priest), definitely a Brahmin and he was definitely enjoying MiL’s food. 
Tony

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I know a tale of a Wolf attempting to pig out, and it didn't end well for the Wolf.

 

Unlike when the public sector parrot the phrase "Lessons have been learned", we actually did.

Since about 1937, the phrase "Huff and puff and blow your house in" has been code for calling in an air strike...