Current Status: Holidays

351 Responses

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  • Gareth Ward,

    My holiday update - spent the last 17 days of it in Cambs, London and Paris where it was a "warm" day if it got over 1degree. I have read some of the stories in here and wept.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I'm with you on fillet (bet you that was McDonald's doing), but I want to be there next time you say the word "sachet".

    Well indeed. We take words from other languages wholesale, and some we pronounce 'properly' (or close to it), others we completely massacre.

    For people to be snobby about the former on the basis that "it's French!", and then to use the latter without blinking...

    They're now English words, and like much of the English language, they're ripped off from other languages. Also like much of the English language, they're now said in an 'English' way, which may, or may not be consistent with their origins. Deal.

    PS: I would hardly ever say 'sachet', I'm a 'packet' kinda guy really. Simple folk and all that.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    The thing about panini is that my server was actually right.

    Possibly, but that's not really the point. I call paninis "pretentious toastie pies" and the next service drone who gets snotty about it, will also learn my preferred sobriquet for food service drones with attiude.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I call paninis "pretentious toastie pies"

    I was impressed that the Victoria Park New World has many solid bacon, egg and cheese toasted sammies (presumably for their 3am crowd) rather than the panini I fully expected to see. Unconscious snobbery confounded, and tasty to boot.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    I call paninis "pretentious toastie pies" and the next service drone who gets snotty about it, will also learn my preferred sobriquet for food service drones with attiude.

    Good on you. You might make your point even more effectively if armed with a solid jaffle iron.

    "Toastie pies", ffs - ghod we can be such an effete little nation at times.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Good on you. You might make your point even more effectively if armed with a solid jaffle iron.

    Holy fnark... not only an offensive weapon, but you can imagine you're chowing down on something cute and furry after. (Call me a freak if you must, but I find koalas almost as creepy as clowns.) These are the moments I think the human race hasn't been a complete waste of time. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    "Toastie pies", ffs - ghod we can be such an effete little nation at times.

    I'll admit to finding panini quite a useful and well descriptive moniker. As well as the only foodstuff I find edible in certain New Zealand cafes, which haven't stuck with the old nor transitioned to an acceptable new. You could either call them panini or "not a pie that is room temperature on the outside and your average smelter's temperature on the inside," "not a godawful non-toasted sandwich with way too much beetroot and bread that I would give my dog," "not a pasta salad that looks like those overexposed pictures in old cuisine magazines, and is probably just as fresh", "not an oversized samosa which tastes of feet". And I could go on. "Panini" is shorter and therefore keeps the queue going faster.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    "samosa which tastes of feet" - you nailed that disturbingly frequent defect. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I get weirdly cranky about pseudo-bagels -- which are not made by punching holes in the middle of burger buns, folks. Half the pleasure of a real bagel is that you've got to work your jaw on the little mamzer.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I get weirdly cranky about pseudo-bagels -- which are not made by punching holes in the middle of burger buns, folks.

    Now that's classy.

    When you think about it, you could pretty much do doughnuts in the same way. Even easier, non-ringed doughnuts. Just add icing!

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    More donut for your buck in these recessionary times..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I get weirdly cranky about pseudo-bagels

    That is not weird *at all*. The pseudo-bagel is most annoying.

    I hate 'Cajun chicken salad'. For one thing, Cajuns don't eat salad, and for another, sprinkling Masterfoods Cajun spice (which is, admittedly, perfectly serviceable in making other Cajun foods) on chicken does not make 'Cajun chicken'. Bah.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    What does one sell the bit you removed from the hole as? If you added cocoa and coconut you could market them as truffles/rum balls.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Kyle, stop trying to lead me into 'history of the doughnut' pedantry, it's not fair.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Kyle, stop trying to lead me into 'history of the doughnut' pedantry, it's not fair.

    I think we need clicky-links.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Fine, I shall be a git. In the nicest possible way.

    The History of Doughnuts. (The story about the sea captain making the hole by sticking his Oliebollen on his wheel sounds like purest I-don't-think-so.)

    Also, Wikipedia on what to do with doughnut holes.

    I blame this on living in an area suspiciously high in Dutch cafes.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I blame this on living in an area suspiciously high in Dutch cafes.

    But is there anywhere you can go for an English on a Friday night?

    http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=u9SE_qJ_hkg

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    The local attempts at potato skins are pretty poor too; a very distant cousin of the crispy, crunchy skins I remember. Most local versions of Mexican foods are slop too. I was mightily disappointed in the food at the Mexican Cafe in Victoria Street (?)--over-priced, limp and lack-lustre food (but a good atmosphere). No one should have to pay $25+ for a plateful of what is everyday fodder south of the border.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Call me a freak if you must, but I find koalas almost as creepy as clowns.

    Arboreal wombats. Mating call like a two-stroke engine. My former mother-in-law was peed on by a koala she was cradling for one of those tacky souvenir shots. Something I never had the courage to do.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I was taught to make potato skins by a Bostonian academic. Baked potatoes in their jackets to just-cookedness: halve & hollow 'em out, leaving just enough potato flesh on the skins, then quarter/eighth the skins, and deepfry in olive oil...you will have already flavoured them with garlic & chilli & salt, and their crunchy goodness-especially with the rim of baked potato- is addictive.
    Aue! I've never found a place that makes them as well as Chez Moi...and I only like to cook them in large batches, so it happens about once a year.

    Arboreal wombats - heh! Joe, let's all be thankful that the giant koala (estimated to have weighed between 20-30k) went extinct...

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Arboreal wombats is Tim Flannery's description.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Ah, Flannery...should be compulsory reading for - well, anyone who hasnt read him.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Raymond A Francis,

    Agree about Flanner
    On the holiday theme went to "Fleur's Place" at Moeraki as we went past this evening
    Fleur does have a querky sense of humour, or it may have just been happenstance but last time I was there i did clean up a seafood platter for two by myself

    I ordered a baked Brill and when it arrived it covered the plate but oh boy was it a big plate. This was a plate big enough for a turkey
    Quite a few gasps around the room when it arrived
    I said to an American lady who commented that at least it wasn't one of those 48oz steaks they eat back home
    I only had two scoops of the home made icecream to follow
    Wonderful meal, wonderful company

    Islander; is it possible your brother was there, I see him around my home town and have talked to him and have been told that he is, I guess a conversation on whitebait would get to the truth of the matter

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Yo Raymond (you have the name shared by a much-loved uncle, who died in2001)-

    it's very possible Andrew (my younger brother) could've been in Fleur's-
    we (family) go there a lot (he's black-haired, brown-skinned, and relatively tall - his wife is also striking, as are their kids)
    BUT- Andrew doesnt 'bait much. I'm the obsessive there-

    brill is one of the BEST flatfish in Aotearoa-NZ - you lucky person you!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    one of the BEST flatfish in Aotearoa-NZ

    Diplomatically put.

    If anyone would like me to judge a competition for best flatfish (culinary division) do let me know.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

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