Arriving at the Brit’s home, the first to greet me was Peter, her home-grown long-eared rodent. “Its so cute!” It was caged near the entrance. So my friend opened the cage-door, and pull it out by its ears, gently. “Oh.. wouldn’t it hurt?” “But this is the way rabbits are held” he seemed confident. I was drawn to the little furry, defenseless mammal, crouching in the arms of a man until I went forward to touch it, it hopped from his arm to under the dinning table! “Quick, catch it!” A cosy home now ran into a frantic chase! At last, caught it! and back to the cage where he probably feel safer. “Phew! That was close!” We had a good laugh!
I went to the kitchen to check on the host. She was completely into her work, totally oblivious of us chasing after Peter. She was preparing the side dishes, I saw blanched cauliflowers, mashed carrots and turnip (this is her home recipe), bangers and the oven was oozing with... its a whole roasted chicken! “Need any help?” “Yes please, just add some salt to the cauliflowers to taste” That was easy. I hold the dish and presented it on the table which was already laid with cutlery, neatly. Fork and knife by the sides, dessert-spoon above the plate, wine glasses standing tall by its side.
“Its ready!” This was what we were looking forward. A proper English dinner by our dear friend from Brit. “This is how we do at dinner” She begin to share how Brits should be eating, cutting, bringing the food to themselves by the fork and other protocols at a dinner. It was eye-opening for us yellow-skinned urbanites. She then cut the chicken and started to distribute food around. After saying Grace, dinner commenced. Clink! We drank a toast to our friend “Cheers to the Brits!”
I started with the mash... it was so creamy! She passed me the gravy and said it should go with the mashed potato. Indeed, the gravy enhanced the flavour and smoothness. “You know, I added almost half a tub of butter to this” Half a tub? How big was the tub?? Nah... I love the mash alright! It was what it matters! Thumbs up for a start.
I went on to the roasted potato and pumpkin chunks. The parts where it burnt, was a hit! Especially the pumpkins. It was genuinely sweet and sticky I could have it for dessert instead. It was perfect to have them with the roasted chicken. “Its the first time I did a whole chicken” Well done Brit! The best part of it was the skin, soft and slightly crispy. It was a tasty game.
The bangers and vegetables completed the meal, but hold! We have a big surprise waiting in the fridge! “Time for dessert” She seemed thrill. And there, we were presented a mega double-tiers Victoria Sponge, oozing with goodness of cream in between. It was humongous! It was more than 20cm in diameter, about 10cm tall.
The top was layered with generous serving of chocolate icing, in wavy design. Then a thick chocolate sponge, followed by the cream. This cream was no ordinary confectionery, it was whip with icing I believe? I could feel the tiny crisp in it. Lastly, another layer of chocolate sponge as thick as the first. The host had to stand cutting the cake. “Here’s one for you”, we held our plates for her.
And there, sitting before me, a triangular piece of chocolate Victoria sponge. As it was chilled, the icing resembled a chocolate bar, wrapped around a sponge. Combined the icing and sponge, it tasted like brownie with chilled chocolate. But when I came to the middle portion, I realized I had the cream of the crop! The soft creamy goodness was like ice cream that never melts! Now I know why there were so much of the in-between... Besides the cake, we had English tea as well. It was a soothing way to end the course. Once again, big thanks to the Brit!
(The Victoria Sponge was home-baked, courtesy of the Brit. Recipe anyone?)
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