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Summer is here so hurry up and bring on the fun!
In this weekly series we like to make a few extra comments about where we stand on the current food-related talking points. We begin with a discussion on singing with food in your mouth, real mint choc chip ice cream, and pretending to be summering abroad.
This year should be about fun, as we get our first taste of freedom, frankly all restrictive social norms should be relaxed. The sun is shining, there’s football to watch, and we’re not back in full lockdown just yet so the people’s happiness comes first!
Would you sing with chicken salad in your mouth?
You’ve probably complained about food at some point – whether you’ve been served something mouldy or something that is not what you asked for – but have you ever complained about how people eat? We bet.
In this weekend’s Observer Magazine a piece about our purse-lipped, passive aggressive island of complainers brought up the infamous KFC advert in which call centre workers were singing with their mouths full of chicken. Back in 2005, that commercial for the Zinger Crunch Salad racked up 1,672 complaints, and it continues to be a record. People were in uproar: how uncouth for such behaviour to be encouraged on television!
The Advertising Standards Agency let it show in the end, but would you sing with your mouth full of food? Gretel would, because she does what she wants. It is gross, but if you find yourself talking or singing with your mouth full it’s probably a sign you’re in good company. That’s more important now than ever given that so many of us have spent too long apart from those we care about lately.
It’s summer, so have fun!
Every time summer comes around in mainstream newspapers the talk is about salad, or raspberry tarts or maybe lemon sorbet. All of this stuff is fantastic, but where’s the proper kebab? Where’s the fried calamari? Where are the slushies? If the pandemic has made us realise one thing it’s that you have to live in the moment and enjoy it, so let’s drop the obsession with healthy eating just for a while.
The lovable Joe Wicks is a case in point – after all he’s an exercise guru. His easy, healthy recipes in The Times on Saturday included: salmon fritters (the most exciting one), asparagus kedgeree (sorry Joe, we want something more fun than egg with our asparagus), and avocado mint choc ice cream (why the avocado?)
Unhealthy alternatives include croquetas de jamón (who doesn’t want to go to Spain immediately and eat these fried delights filled with ham and cheese), and a whole tub of real mint choc ice cream, or a real or fake mint chocolate magnum (heaven on a stick).
We approve of pretending to be abroad
In Eater, London a review of a new pop-up, which is part of this years “Summer by the River” festival reads, “The facsimile of a Greco-Ibero-Italo-Franco restaurant has its bright spots, despite dispiriting connotations.” For those of us who live in the concrete city that is London, imagining being abroad where the streets are less grey and the buildings are designed for the sun is in no way dispiriting. “A miniature Santorini on Thames” the review called the pop-up restaurant just west of Tower Bridge. Idyllic.
Even if we are actually going to be hanging out by the filthy Thames, we all need a moment of escapism. The “Summer by the River” festival has got to be cheaper than booking to go abroad and quarantining (or not quarantining depending on what on earth is going on), and that we also approve of.
When it comes to hipster beers – go independent
Last week BrewDog came under fire for their failure to acknowledge sexism in the workplace; their CEO apologised. Unfortunately, sexism is widespread in the beer industry and in any case, the allegations are not the only issue we have with the company: their beers are overpriced and simply not exciting anymore.
If you’re in the mood to spend, you can get delicious beers from the array of craft beer shops that are dotted around town. Take IndieBeers Holloway Road: they source a range of beers from sours to stouts and lagers. The price range is rather expensive but if you’re going to go with the hipster aesthetic, go the full way and get something that is truly snooty (and actually tasty). Watching the football at home? One of their sours is an excellent way to enjoy the spectacle (in fact it is the best way to enjoy fruit in the summer – raspberry in particular).
Words by: Scarlett Sherriff