Here’s a quote to add to IBM chairman Thomas John Watson’s famous “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers” as a leading misjudgement of the 20th Century:
As far back as 1931, when an American geologist called Karl S. Twitchell had begun an oil survey in the eastern Nedj [in Sa'udi Arabia], the green-eyed British legation staff in Jiddah, the administrative capital, were derisive: “It seems fairly clear,” one of them wrote, “that nothing of much importance will result from Mr. Twitchell’s investigations.”
(quote taken from Thesiger by Michael Asher, who refers to The Kingdom by Robert Lacey as his source).
Entrances to Hell is the best website that’s been drawn to my attention in the last, ooh, six-hundred and sixty-six years or so.
Bum. My email isn’t working.
I was wondering why I hadn’t had any spam for a few days. Turns out that, when I tried to backup Plesk a few days ago, and it crashed halfway through, among other disasters, most of which have since been sorted, the mail server no longer thinks that it exists, or something like that.
So if you’ve been getting bounced emails when trying to contact me, that’s why. My bradonpace.com address still works, so try that instead for now. Hopefully sumption.org will be working again later today.
I recently got my hands on the excellent Moro Cookbook. Bursting with must-try enthusiasm.
This weekend, I knocked up some gorgeous mezze - just-cooked carrots with chopped coriander and a sort of garlic-cumin paste, betroot with yoghurt and parsley, deep-fried aubergine slices with raw red chilli and a red-wine vinegar dressing. All made with fresh Beanies organic ingredients. Wonderful and incredibly tasty, reminded me of the mixture Mark and I devoured at Momo’s little sister restaurant in Heddon Street. The only problem with the recipes was that they all called for vast amounts of raw garlic in the dressings, something which burns my stomach and leaves me doubled up in agony and burping green fire. I used the quantities called for, but I poached it on the lowest possible heat in some olive oil for about half-an-hour, which made it far more palatable.
But even better than all this… the book gives directions for making your own live yoghurt (yeah, OK, it seems a little like cheating that one of the ingredients is… live yoghurt). Simply cook some full fat milk to reduce it by a third, stir in double cream, leave it to cool until you can stick your finger in the bowl for ten seconds, then add a few tablespoons of live youghurt and leave, covered with clingfilm and a tea towel, in a warm place for at least eight hours. The result is… well, it’s certainly not low-fat yoghurt! Halfway between cream and yoghurt, with gorgeous yellow lumps floating in it and with a richness that lingers around the inside of your mouth, and the satisfaction of something rustically home-made. Great on fruit salad.
They also give instructions for making sourdough bread. But I need a good couple of weeks free to try that.
What are little children made of? Sugar and Salt and all things at Fault.