The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

34 minutes ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Does the good doctor have an opinion of Raspberry or Blackberry Vinegar?

 

Paul

Why not? He has one for everything else🤣.

[Northmoor]

13 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Malt vinegar is certainly the kiss-of-death to salad (and fish-and-chips and… well, most everything), 

Based on tonight's experience with chip shop chips, I can wholeheartedly disagree with that statement.

[Tony_S]

12 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Based on tonight's experience with chip shop chips, I can wholeheartedly disagree with that statement.

Malt vinegar and salt are definitely the traditional seasoning for fish and chips. White vinegar is for descaling bathroom fittings and “non brewed condiment “ is basically a cheap substitute for vinegar. When we do buy fish and chips (at the seaside) we have one portion with salt and vinegar, and one without. I am the “without”. Though if asked to finish off Aditi’s  chips I will do so.  They aren’t exactly swimming in vinegar. 

[Hroth]

But are we speaking of non-brewed condiment, which is the cheapo chemical substitute or PROPER Malt Vinegar?

 

Most chippies use nbc.

 

Cheap vinegar in supermarkets may also be nbc.  There's nowt wrong with real malt vinegar!

 

Tony_S beat me to it!  Must admit the only vinegar I currently use is cider vinegar, so I'm part of the "alternative" crew too... 🙂

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by Hroth
An extra thort

[Winslow Boy]

47 minutes ago, Hroth said:

But are we speaking of non-brewed condiment, which is the cheapo chemical substitute or PROPER Malt Vinegar?

 

Most chippies use nbc.

 

Cheap vinegar in supermarkets may also be nbc.  There's nowt wrong with real malt vinegar!

 

Tony_S beat me to it!  Must admit the only vinegar I currently use is cider vinegar, so I'm part of the "alternative" crew too... 🙂

 

 

 

Nothing quite like the 'converted' to preach the gospel to the heathens.

[Winslow Boy]

49 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Malt vinegar and salt are definitely the traditional seasoning for fish and chips. White vinegar is for descaling bathroom fittings and “non brewed condiment “ is basically a cheap substitute for vinegar. When we do buy fish and chips (at the seaside) we have one portion with salt and vinegar, and one without. I am the “without”. Though if asked to finish off Aditi’s  chips I will do so.  They aren’t exactly swimming in vinegar. 

Works wonders cleaning up old pennies as well.

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Why not? He has one for everything else🤣.

It always amazes me that we get such a diverse and widely knowledgeable readership and that's just our Swiss correspondent.

[PhilJ W]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

If people want more rabbit food and vinegar in their diet and wonder whether it is possible to make cucumber a tasty treat I recommend acar. Splendid stuff, acar is Indonesian pickled cucumber, it's pickled with shallots and lots of birds eye or similar chilli. 

I Googled it, it doesn't appear to be available in the UK ready made but there's plenty of recipes.

[AndyID]

10 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Rolley's column.

 

Powell Dyffryn obviously got it cheap, but from where?

 

 

Seems to be suffering a bit from boozers droop.

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Malt vinegar and salt are definitely the traditional seasoning for fish and chips. White vinegar is for descaling bathroom fittings and “non brewed condiment “ is basically a cheap substitute for vinegar. When we do buy fish and chips (at the seaside) we have one portion with salt and vinegar, and one without. I am the “without”. Though if asked to finish off Aditi’s  chips I will do so.  They aren’t exactly swimming in vinegar. 

 

In the Eastern side of Scotland they will ask if you want salt and sauce. I never quite figured out exactly what the sauce is.

[J. S. Bach]

10 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Rolley's column.

 

Powell Dyffryn obviously got it cheap, but from where?

 

The top piece looks like one of those bendy sipping straws.

[J. S. Bach]

13 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 ...snip... antidisestablishmentarianism

I remember that word from way back; used in a national kids' spelling bee, I think it was.

[skipepsi]

9 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

I remember that word from way back; used in A level history 1815 onwards IIRC the disestablishment of the church of Wales itwas more than 50 years ago ... 

 

[jjb1970]

5 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I Googled it, it doesn't appear to be available in the UK ready made but there's plenty of recipes.

 

Mrs JJB always makes it, it seems to be one of those things best made at home. Especially as it allows you to control the heat level, my wife uses loads of chillies to the point it is almost weaponized but I get many would find that far too much and prefer much lower heat.

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Based on tonight's experience with chip shop chips, I can wholeheartedly disagree with that statement.

 

9 hours ago, Hroth said:

But are we speaking of non-brewed condiment, which is the cheapo chemical substitute or PROPER Malt Vinegar?

 

Most chippies use nbc.

In light of this new (to me) information, I shall seek out some proper (dare I call it “artisanal”?) Malt Vinegar to try. I suspect that what I’ve tried before has been the cheap NBC stuff.

 

Additionally, I also had a very unpleasant experience involving malt vinegar, (or more likely, NBC) which has somewhat biased me against the stuff. Many, many years ago, I took my grandmother out for a nice meal to thank her for hosting me for a couple of days and she ordered Dover Sole. The waiter brought to the table a beautifully grilled Dover Sole on the bone, which he portioned and served to my grandmother, who then proceeded to douse this beautiful fish with malt vinegar! AAARGGHHH!

But back to the chippy…

 

I don’t see the point in adding vinegar to fish and chips (or squeezing lemon over a schnitzel for that matter). I’ve always felt that one of the joys of fish and chips is the crunchy batter and adding vinegar just makes the batter soggy. And if cooked properly, all “deep fried crunchy things” shouldn’t be greasy at all. The one thing most chippies I’ve been to never seem to get right are -surprisingly - the chips. Most of the time they are soggy, not crunchy (an ideal chip is crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside) and more often than not greasy or oily. But, to be fair, to get proper crunchy chips takes time (and two different frying temperatures) and time is money and with many punters being unwilling to pay very much for their fish and chips, it makes commercial sense to go for the cheaper and quicker option.

 

 

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Does the good doctor have an opinion of Raspberry or Blackberry Vinegar?

 

Paul

13 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Why not? He has one for everything else🤣.

9 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

It always amazes me that we get such a diverse and widely knowledgeable readership and that's just our Swiss correspondent.

I make no bones about having wide interests and of being (moderately) well read. I read voraciously about anything and everything that fascinates me.
 

Something I can do because I

• can read fast (I took a test of my reading speed - I clock about 1500 words per minute, about 800 wpm if very technical)
• don’t need to move my lips or use a finger whilst reading 🤣
• have no difficulties with polysyllabic words.
• have enough French, German and Latin to understand those technical (and other) terms derived from those languages.

One of the advantages of having broad interests is that you can understand, unfamiliar things by being able to place them in context. For example: I am currently planning to build a 1/72 scale model of a Roman trireme. As I want to do this properly, I not only need to know more about Roman triremes, but I also need to understand how such ships were rigged. And right now, my knowledge of ships’ rigging is currently pretty much non-existent, but when reading through guides to rigging ships, I can understand what they mean by a “ratline” (or similar) by how it is used in context.

 

As for having opinions, why not? Voice them and stimulate debate - you might learn something (as I did from @Hroth’s post about malt vinegar.

 

Which brings me nicely to @Flying Fox 34F‘s question: to be honest I’ve never used fruit vinegars, not using vinegar (of any type) much in my cooking. The three vinegars I do use on a fairly regular basis are red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and Japanese rice vinegar (used for making sushi rice and tsukemono [Japanese pickles])

 

Edited August 28 by iL Dottore
Word tense

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I make no bones about having wide interests and of being (moderately) well read. I read voraciously about anything and everything that fascinates me.
 

Something I can do because I

• can read fast (I took a test of my reading speed - I clock about 1500 words per minute, about 800 wpm if very technical)
• don’t need to move my lips or use a finger whilst reading 🤣
• have no difficulties with polysyllabic words.
• have enough French, German and Latin to understand those technical (and other) terms derived from those languages.

One of the advantages of having broad interests is that you can understand, unfamiliar things by being able to place them in context. For example: I am currently planning to build a 1/72 scale model of a Roman trireme. As I wanted to do this properly, I not only need to know more about Roman triremes, but I also need to understand how such ships were rigged. And right now, my knowledge of ships’ rigging is currently pretty much non-existent, but when reading through guides to rigging ships, I can understand what they mean by a “ratline” (or similar) by how it is used in context.

 

As for having opinions, why not? Voice them and stimulate debate - you might learn something (as I did from @Hroth’s post about malt vinegar.

 

Which brings me nicely to @Flying Fox 34F‘s question: to be honest I’ve never used fruit vinegars, not using vinegar (of any type) much in my cooking. The three vinegars I do use on a fairly regular basis are red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and Japanese rice vinegar (used for making sushi rice and tsukemono [Japanese pickles])

Well that's the last time I pay you a compliment.😋 It's a good job I'm not in the habit of doing it very often as well.

[Happy Hippo]

Yesterday, I partially watched an episode of 'Bargain Hunt'.

 

Bought for some astronomical sum was an ex BR(W) bullhead rail chair.

 

Estimated sale price was £30+  (I have a couple which we use as guides for the garden hose.)

 

It went for £5.00!

 

I bet the bloke that bought it worked for Network Rail🤣.

[iL Dottore]

19 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Well that's the last time I pay you a compliment.😋 It's a good job I'm not in the habit of doing it very often as well.

I noticed!
 

Forgive me, if I only implied my appreciation, the compliment was appreciated, doubly so given the high standards you have for issuing such things.

 

You do realise, Winnie Dear Boy, that you and I are (perhaps reluctantly?) “comrades in arms” - being both shedless, sans hangar if you will; looked down upon by those mega-shed toffs who model in the “expensive scale”.

 

So, Comrade WB, let’s not forget there will come a day when the scythes will be sharpened, the pitchforks polished and the tumbrils will once again take the avec de très grands hangars to their appointment with Madame Guillotine!

 

Courage mon brave!

[Happy Hippo]

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

You do realise, Winnie Dear Boy, that you and I are (perhaps reluctantly?) “comrades in arms” - being both shedless, sans hangar if you will; looked down upon by those mega-shed toffs who model in the “expensive scale”.

 

So, Comrade WB, let’s not forget there will come a day when the scythes will be sharpened, the pitchforks polished and the tumbrils will once again take the avec de très grands hangars to their appointment with Madame Guillotine!

 

Courage mon brave!

So to keep safe in the expensive scales, you must have a portable model railway that is too big to fit into your shed or garage when fully erected.

 

Therefore Jamie and DH merely need to extend their railways so they no longer fit into the currently allocated spaces.

 

Alternatively, once all these grand hanger owners have been eradicated, who gets to use the vacated hangers?

 

I'm sure that anyone who had the audacity to set up another masterpiece in such an structure would be earmarked for the second tranche of cuts.

[Winslow Boy]

30 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I noticed!
 

Forgive me, if I only implied my appreciation, the compliment was appreciated, doubly so given the high standards you have for issuing such things.

 

You do realise, Winnie Dear Boy, that you and I are (perhaps reluctantly?) “comrades in arms” - being both shedless, sans hangar if you will; looked down upon by those mega-shed toffs who model in the “expensive scale”.

 

So, Comrade WB, let’s not forget there will come a day when the scythes will be sharpened, the pitchforks polished and the tumbrils will once again take the avec de très grands hangars to their appointment with Madame Guillotine!

 

Courage mon brave!

Sorry to disillusion you but that's just another day in Manutopea.

 

On another topic I have just learnt that Our Great Leaders (Manutopea Division) are predicted to have a 'slight' aka £50 million overspend in the pocket money. It's said that's it's due to spending too much on the kiddies.

 

Well all I can say is stop purchasing them deltics with sound. Let them make do with the margarine tubs and there own sound effects like I had to.

 

It never did me any harm apart from not having a shed of course.

[Winslow Boy]

11 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

So to keep safe in the expensive scales, you must have a portable model railway that is too big to fit into your shed or garage when fully erected.

 

Therefore Jamie and DH merely need to extend their railways so they no longer fit into the currently allocated spaces.

 

Alternatively, once all these grand hanger owners have been eradicated, who gets to use the vacated hangers?

 

I'm sure that anyone who had the audacity to set up another masterpiece in such an structure would be earmarked for the second tranche of cuts.

Your on the special, special list.

[Winslow Boy]

39 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I noticed!
 

Forgive me, if I only implied my appreciation, the compliment was appreciated, doubly so given the high standards you have for issuing such things.

 

You do realise, Winnie Dear Boy, that you and I are (perhaps reluctantly?) “comrades in arms” - being both shedless, sans hangar if you will; looked down upon by those mega-shed toffs who model in the “expensive scale”.

 

So, Comrade WB, let’s not forget there will come a day when the scythes will be sharpened, the pitchforks polished and the tumbrils will once again take the avec de très grands hangars to their appointment with Madame Guillotine!

 

Courage mon brave!

You know what they say - the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[TheQ]

9 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

In the Eastern side of Scotland they will ask if you want salt and sauce. I never quite figured out exactly what the sauce is.

Brown sauce , often diluted with extra vinegar   non brewed condiment. To make it as cheap as possible.

[The White Rabbit]

9 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

I remember that word from way back; used in a national kids' spelling bee, I think it was.

 

9 hours ago, skipepsi said:

I remember that word from way back; used in A level history 1815 onwards IIRC the disestablishment of the church of Wales it was more than 50 years ago ... 

 

Yes, a good word for a spelling bee and something I did actually think of when Bear was teasing me about 'plenipotentiary'. My first encounter was via the TV, Blackadder the Third - "I shall return before you can say 'antidisestablishmentarianism".... 

 

Two days later, after 'distinctly minty ... um ...' and various similar burblings from Prince George, the next scene started.