Consider plain food.

[Otta]

Hot Meals on wheels are quite rare these days, the frozen ones delivered weekly are the norm now.

[Tarot]

HAL9000 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------The only one of a few intelligent replies on this thread that has given a mature answer.

> Tarot Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I think there is too much chillie in all

> products now ...

>

> You may be right in the sense that chilli is

> probably more common than most people realise.

>

> Many supermarket ready cooked or pre-prepared

> meals include chilli (i.e. cayenne pepper), often

> indirectly as part of a seasoning (e.g.

> Worcestershire sauce - so not listed as an

> ingredient), or the milder bell peppers, which are

> used as cheap, colourful bulking agents.

>

> It probably makes commercial sense: the

> capsaicinoids, the active ingredients and sources

> of peppery heat, are addictive.

[DJKillaQueen]

Reading 'raw scotch bonnets' just made my intestines ache!

As for mustard, I tend to prefer French course grain.......lovely in a dressing or on a steak.

[peterstorm1985]

What I find so interesting about this is the sense that something has changed and yet I remember that back in the 60s just about every meat stew, shepherds pie etc had Worcestershire sauce in it. Cheese on toast never went without a splash. My mother went through bottles of the stuff. And she was a very traditional English cook. Now, it's a far less common condiment to find in a kitchen cupboard. I have some but just noticed the date on it (Binned!)

It is very true that sweet (bell) peppers are much more common today - I don't ever remember seeing them as a child, but they shouldn't be any sort of irritant.

[Pugwash]

Appetito meals cover both frozen or heated.Southwark Social Services use both. If you want to order ready prepared frozen meals try Wiltshire Farm Foods and Oakfields. Both have special diet sections and small portions.

[intexasatthe moment]

Delivered meals on wheels ready to eat aren't rare in Southwark .

Although I understand that current Appetito staff are loosing their jobs because a different firm will be providing the service and bringing existing staff .

[Captain Scarlet]

Tut,tut you really have a downer on Tarot..Has he upset you Annette?touched a nerve somewhere?.

I agree with him that some food is too spicy being sold in mainstream

Supermarkets.Packets should be more clearly marked with the active ingredients

which might cause a bad reaction for some sentive digestive systems.

[Voyageur]

Captain Scarlet Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> .....I agree with him that some food is too spicy being

> sold in mainstream

> Supermarkets....

Couldn't disagree more. Supermarket ready meals are generally uber bland so they suit the masses. On the rare occasions I buy them I have to add several spices to make them remotely edible.

Pretty much all meals in supermarkets have the ingredients listed, but I think they could make the text bigger for those with eyesight problems.

[edcam]

I'm sure this had nothing to do with chillies. If Philip Schofield turned up at my place I'd probably burst into tears too.

[Annette Curtain]

Captain Scarlet Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Tut,tut you really have a downer on Tarot..Has he

> upset you Annette?touched a nerve somewhere?.

> I agree with him that some food is too spicy being

> sold in mainstream

> Supermarkets.Packets should be more clearly marked

> with the active ingredients

> which might cause a bad reaction for some sentive

> digestive systems.

No not a downer, though I can see her/his stupid bigoted game clear as.

Why, wanna pick a fight or something.

NETTE(?)

[Tarot]

You.ve changed Annette since your Millwall days I remember you wasnt so P.C back in the day.

Not all people are what they appear to be on here are they!!.

You still crack on the same though no change there.

[Annette Curtain]

Tarot Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You.ve changed Annette since your Millwall days I

> remember you wasnt so P.C back in the day.

> Not all people are what they appear to be on

> here are they!!.

> You still crack on the same though no change

> there.

No hands up, you're right there Tarot

I mean I DO have a penis.

(though I keep it tucked away safely most of the time)

And being a Gooner through and through, I'm not sure it's me you've met down the Den.

Still either way Tony, have a nice white Christmas.

Nette:)-D

[Annette Curtain]

Captain Scarlet Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Tut,tut you really have a downer on Tarot..Has he

> upset you Annette?touched a nerve somewhere?.

> I agree with him that some food is too spicy being

> sold in mainstream

> Supermarkets.Packets should be more clearly marked

> with the active ingredients

> which might cause a bad reaction for some sentive

> digestive systems.

-------------------------------------------------------

Re: Consider plain food.

Posted by: Tarot Today, 07:10PM

You.ve changed Annette since your Millwall days I remember you wasnt so P.C back in the day.

Not all people are what they appear to be on here are they!!.

You still crack on the same though no change there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not a gambler.

But i'll take a x-mas punt.

If Tarot & Captain Scarlett are not the same person, then i'll eat mine & Santa's hat in the same pie.

3/10

NETTE

[Annette Curtain]

A door bangs on its hinges, and Tumbleweed blows down Tarot Street.

Then, nothing but silence.

Maybe all that chili pepper has done for her/him.

NETTE:-S

[maxxi]

Spices? SPICES!?!?

When I were a lad if we wanted spice we had to sit next to a foreign gent on the bus and squeeze his sweat onto our chips. Spices? Hah!

[civilservant]

anyone implying that spices are a non-English taste is talking nutmegs...

I haven't yet been able to find any reliable sources spice-based medieval or Tudor recipes, but this http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/6902.php points out that Samuel Pepys enjoyed hippocras - which is wine mulled with sugar and spices including cinnamon, ginger, cloves and 'long pepper' - which would probably have both Philip Whoever and his Granny weeping buckets.

[Voyageur]

and a little more 'old spice'

'Chili peppers, cayenne peppers and paprika -- the latter made from grinding the fruit of the bell pepper -- became very popular once they arrived in England. These peppers were particularly useful as meat was preserved in salt. The spices made from peppers helped mask the excessive saltiness.

Oriental Spices

Explorers brought back ginger, cinnamon, cloves and saffron from the Far East, thus creating the Oriental spice trade. These spices were used to flavor stews and, again, were added generally to disguise the taste of salt.

Typical Meals

Sweet and savory flavors were often combined, as many meat dishes contained cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Pies were stuffed with meat that had been mixed with pepper, cloves and mace. Fruits like apples, pears and strawberries were also cooked in cinnamon. Strong flavor combinations were typical'

http://www.ehow.com/info_8470730_elizabethan-spices.html

[civilservant]

There is a socio-economic context to this as well - spices, being imported, were of course expensive in England. Pepper was once worth its weight in gold. So spicy food was a taste that could only be indulged by wealthy people.

The poverty of what poor people eat, and the way that cheap spices (and fats and sugars) are used to jazz up rubbish food - now that's a subject for a proper discussion, not the insidious infiltration of foreign muck into 'English food'.

I think Tarot's original point got lost somewhere along the way.

[Annette Curtain]

civilservant Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think Tarot's original point got lost somewhere

> along the way.

We could ask Captain Scarlet/Tarot to elaborate on the subject, maybe ?

[Huguenot]

Potatoes? POTATOES?

Foreign TURD.

Brought by the bloody effing Spanish from dark skinned people. Who pissed on them.

[Ridgley]

Food should be palatable does not need to be spicy that is the main thing.

[Voyageur]

Ridgley Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Food should be palatable does not need to be spicy

> that is the main thing.

I think food should be enjoyable, palatable sounds so......bland. If you don't like heat/spices plump for the plain stuff. If you do, pile it on.

[maxxi]

Does not NEED to be spicy no, but when you get the taste for it...

When I first tried a vindaloo many years ago I thought I had been permanently damaged in the taste buds and that anyone who ate it was an idiot, a show-off, a liar or a masochist.

I now love vindaloo and naga and all spicy food - I have been known to put Flying Goose Chilli Sauce on everything from a cheese sandwich to a fish finger (yes, I am a gourmand).

For me this is because when the initial pain of that first vindaloo died away I felt/tasted something wonderful and highly addictive hiding in the background. I have been chasing it ever since.

[Ridgley]

I don?t think so just because the food is not hot and spicy, does not mean it bland there are so many spices that make food taste nice that is what I was referring to. Coming from a culture where most food as hot spice or peppers is not really a good thing most people I know suffer from high blood pressure which is one of the causes.

[Voyageur]

Ridgley Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don?t think so just because the food is not hot

> and spicy, does not mean it bland there are so

> many spices that make food taste nice that is what

> I was referring to. Coming from a culture where

> most food as hot spice or peppers is not really a

> good thing most people I know suffer from high

> blood pressure which is one of the causes.

Really? Not sure I concur. Capsaicin is apparently supposed to assist with lowering BP according to some studies. Raised BP would tend to be exacerbated by diets high in fatty/salty foods allegedly - nowt to do with heat/spices.

For goodness sake everyone - there is enough choice in supermarkets to eat bland/spicy/palatable/hot/tasty foods. Eat what suits you and your taste buds. Simples! Jeez.....

Edited to add - some find supermarkets ready meals too spicy, some (me!!) find them horribly bland - which probably means they are about right for the masses. Solution - cook your own meals and add what you darn well like!