A-Z challenge 2022 - H is for Holiday

Welcome to the conversations in my head with my friend Alice, previously seen in my 2019 A-Z posts and loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.  At least that's the plan.

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Have you enjoyed a change of scenery Alice?

When it wasn’t raining.

Yes it did do a lot of that but our south east corner of England gets much better weather than the lake district but we did have some spells of sunshine.

And of course you were wrapped up in those pesky grandkids so there wasn’t much conversation going on with me.

They’re not pesky grandkids Alice they are delightful grandchildren.  Well some of the time at least.  And yes it has been a bit full on.

Full on?  Train rides on smoky old trains.

Steam trains Alice, steam trains.

Whatever!  Then gawping at very strange looking creatures.

Fish Alice, fish.  We went to the aquarium.  And there was more than just fish.

Yes I noticed you steered away from the one with the snake in.  And the ants were a little bit too close for comfort.

Nathan enjoyed it though and it was very wet that day so good to find something to do indoors.

It was wet on the day when you walked around Tarn Hows too but you still did that Wendy.

Well it was nice to explore a bit of scenery Alice and it didn’t rain all the time.

Just as well, the roads were scary enough as they were.  I bet you were glad Nick was driving, especially down the narrow lanes.

I was a bit.  Then of course there was the meal out last night.  That was delicious.

But the portions were sooooo small!

It was a tasting menu Alice.  You get lots of courses but each one is quite small.   If they were big you would never finish the meal.

Hmm well I’m not sure I would have liked them all.  What were they again?

Well for appetisers we had freshly baked sourdough bread with smoked salmon.  Followed by fried chicken.

Fried chicken?  You can get that anywhere.

Not just any fried chicken Alice.  It was fried twice and had a lovely sauce inside and it was yummy.

Next we had smoked North Sea Halibut on a bed of burrata and a beetroot infused sauce which I think was one of my favourite dishes.  It was delicious.

I then had an extra course which was a langoustine prawn mousse, topped with trout roe and a miso flavoured sauce.  Again this was soooo edible.

Then we had the only course which disappointed in a way.  It was a cup of Duck broth.  They did explain how many ducks were used and details of the cooking process which of course I’ve totally forgotten but it didn’t really excite me in the way other courses did.

Yes all the explaining about the dishes got a bit boring when you kept hearing it being repeated to other diners Wendy.

Well at least we were fortunate to have been the first diners there last night as we really were surprised on each course.  The people sitting closest to us, although not that close, only had to check out what we were having to know what they were getting next.

What came after the disappointing Duck?

Umm I think that was when Nick had his extra course which was Fois Gras and although he enjoyed that again it wasn’t quite what he expected as it was more of a puree consistency then pate but very rich.

Next?

Ah well this was another challenging one for me.  It was called Pine nut “Cacio E Pepe”.  Apparently Cacio E Pepe is an Italian dish usually served with spaghetti and features cheese and a lot of pepper.  The version we had used softened pine nuts instead of spaghetti.

But you don’t eat nuts Wendy!

Not usually Alice no, I don’t like the texture.  But actually the pine nuts were quite soft and didn’t have the same consistency as nuts but I still didn’t like the texture.  The flavours of the cheese and peppers were good but Nick had to finish that course for me.  But I did at least try.

Are we done yet?

No Alice, 3 more courses to go!  The final savoury course was a BBQ Saddleback pork chop served with a type of turnip and that was delicious and then we moved onto desserts.

Desserts?  As in more than 1?

Yes Alice, 2 dessert courses, a lingonberry sorbet on clotted cream with granola and pecan brittle followed by a chocolate dessert that was to die for!  The chocolate flavour was so intense and it was mixed with grapefruit jelly which I didn’t think I’d like but together the whole thing was delicious!

Phew I’m feeling full just hearing all about it Wendy.

Actually Alice I wasn’t overfull.  I hate getting to the end of a meal and forcing down the dessert, because after all that’s the best bit, but then feeling so uncomfortable because I’m too full.  But last night there was still room for a cup of tea to finish.

And then you had to go home.

Well yes but not until after an overnight stop in Bakewell where the bakewell tart originates from.

Do you ever stop thinking about food Wendy?

Not for long Alice, not for long!