World Food Thursdays

Country No. 27: England

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The Anglers, Walton-on-Thames

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Attendees: Ben, Kim, Lee, Ellen, Becky, Maor, Max, Poppy, PK (venue chosen by Poppy)

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£30 a head

 

Three years is a long time, over 1,000 days*, 36 months. Time enough to impregnate a spiny dogfish shark**, nurse the mother to giving birth, and buy bouncing little baby basking shark a first birthday present. Big Sam Allardyce could have been hired and fired from the England job 16 times and still had time leftover for two weeks in Lanzarote. Now that puts things into perspective. However 3 years was not long enough to destroy the ties that bind this intrepid band of roving gastronaughts together. Surviving births, marriages, twitter storms, Acton, Cuban food and the most pungent cheese shop on the face of the Earth we were now ready to celebrate in style – with the most English of traditions – the Sunday roast.

 

Choosing an appropriate location to celebrate our anniversary was no mean feat. Firstly the food had to be good. This ruled out a lot of pubs. Secondly the setting had to bring together everything that England is known for. It had to have a roaring fire, it had to be dog friendly, it had to serve warm ale and ideally it had to be in the countryside. Bunting would have been eligible for bonus points. Fittingly the group elected to go for a Thames side pub in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Walton (literally Welsh Town – epic fail for the WFT) home of the first teen disco in the UK – The Walton Hop***.

 

In typically English fashion it was drizzly and cold on the Sunday we visited. Spirits were lifted with spirits – bloody marys to be exact (virgin mary’s for those driving or pregnant). Understanding the size of the incoming feast starters were forsaken, although Max enjoyed a healthy ration of rice cakes and the genial waiter brought a small platter of delicious bread served with alarmingly foreign olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Vinegar, with bread? That’s for chips in’t it? Whatever next, melon with ham?

 

Only partially sated by the bread the gang were keen to order mains. Although the menu was intriguing, and deep like the mind of Minolta, there was a two-way fight for most popular order with Roast Beef correctly edging out the decidedly un-English hamburger – an Americanism of the most holy of English snacks – the sandwich. After a brief and none too unpleasant wait the main courses arrived. The burgers were served stacked, with Lee’s surely breaking some kind of record for world’s tallest, sloppiest burger, with his addition of an additional patty and chipotle sauce making for a challenging feast. The roasts were served rare, atop a plethora of roasted parsnips, carrots, red cabbage, peas and potatoes all magnificently accompanied by the English classic, the yorkshire pudding. Swiftly and democratically additional requests were made for horseradish sauce, ketchup, mustard and an additional gravy boat – for burger dipping of course.

 

15 minutes later and all plates were clean, Ben having hovered up leftovers from anyone foolish enough to have paused to catch their breath. The meal was rounded off with a selection of teas in front of the fire before the gastronaughts departed to whence they’ve came.

 

Bravo!

 

English Facts:

• Yorkshire puddings were originally intended to be eaten in advance of a meal to fill the stomach as meat was too expensive

• A genuine question on the UK Citizenship test is: What cricketing series pits England against Australia with the prize an historic relic

 

* I eventually ran out of fingers

**theoretically impossible, and generally not advised

***frequented by pop luminaries such as Chris Denning, Tam Paton and Jonathan King