Rant number 324
On my way home from band tonight - I came across rather a strange radio programme which was a bit of a lecture on the subject of cheesecake.
Despite myself, I couldn't help but be rather absorbed into what the guy had to say about cheesecake and & American diner staples in general.
Although the analysis was mainly on American cuisine - the guy made a point that really struck a chord with me.
He compared these foods (particularly cheesecake - not surprisingly) to a Monarch. Odd I know - but he brought up a quotation that makes sense of this somewhat farcical metaphor:
'It is hard to be a good king but, it is also hard to be a bad one'
That is to say, a king has to work hard in order to be considered good and just however, he is surrounded by many councillors etc who prevent him from really making a mess.
In terms of food - this then is easily applied. Fried chicken for instance: Its easy to make fried chicken that is at least tolerable (KFC for instance.) To make it great however, its really hard.
I feel like there is just too much monarch based food about these days.
Look at Subway for instance. You can go to Subway and get a sarnie with chicken, bacon and cheese for a couple of quid - and it'll satisfy you. The truth of the matter is though - that its rubbish, and you know it. The bacon will be cooked to death and fatty, the chicken will be reconstituted and of a crappy grade and the cheese will be of the type that has never met milk.
Why do we settle for this kind of thing? Its total crap. It's not that hard to make a brilliant sandwich if you buy the stuff yourself - or if you go to somewhere decent to buy it.
The same can be said for many of our great staples. Pork pies can be at their best a real pleasure. High grade pork, crumbly pastry, that weird jelly stuff that no-one really knows what it - its brilliant.
We don't eat those pies often though. Mostly we have a greasy mass produced mess from Melton bloody Mowbray.
Don't let these kings get away with it. Make sure that they are the best food they can be - and don't settle for crap - unless you are drunk - in which case its probably not really going to make much difference.
Rant over.
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