For a person who likes food as much as I do, I really should learn to cook. That's on the list for Hotlanta. This past weekend I went to St. George's Market, as I love to do, and walked past gorgeous tables of seafood -- scallops nearly as big as your fist, stringy squid, fresh hake, all so beautiful.
That's when I really wish I knew how to cook.
Until then, I'll leave it to the pros, and one chef that's come onto my list recently is a Northern Ireland competitor on a TV show called "Great British Menu." He has a restaurant near Killinchy -- well, Balloo, actually -- hey, near Strangford Lough, close enough! I am shocked and saddened to report that the other Norn Iron competitor lives and works in London. She is a ringer and is categorized categorised as from NI because she was born on the Antrim Coast. When she opens her mouth she sounds like the Queen. Veddy posh. Her name is Claire. In Northern Ireland, that's pronounced "Clur," not "Clahr."
I think on the way home from my Van Ards outing I will call into the Real NI Chef's place because the menu looks amazing.
Closer to home, I recently stopped into one of my favorites and had a wee salad. Toward the end I encountered a surprise: a small snail shell. This didn't upset me because there was only a shell in my salad, not a slug. I did leave it on my plate and the server was appropriately mortified.
"I am so sorry," he said. "Our produce is organic, and well, I am so sorry."
Turns out he used to live in the States. Guess where? Atlanta. There's lots of good eating there, he told me. No word on whether snails are a staple in the southeast, though.
Comments