As I've mentioned before, I've lived in Sweden in the city of Gothenburg since the late 80's, and although there are things that I miss about England, I'll never move back there. It's merely a question of routine however, as I understand very little about how things work in England nowadays, and would quite frankly feel somewhat adrift if I were to try to settle there again.
One thing in particular that I often find my thoughts drawn to is English food. I have on numerous occasions heard Swedes mention the fact that we don't have any notable cuisine in England, and that the only dish we're recognized for is fish and chips. They are of course wrong, obviously never having tried a saveloy, and usually not having experienced England outside of the typical tourist guide areas of London, where one would be hard pressed to find any traditional English dishes*, settling instead for a plate of ribs or a curry. Hang on; I think curry might be considered traditional by now.
What then, is traditional English food? If I try to explain about Sunday roasts, (something I miss most of all from my time still living in England) people always look at me as though they're thinking: Nope. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but I'm just gonna keep smiling agreeably, with that fond, reminiscent expression on my face until I can change the subject. Yorkshire what? Eeeeuuuurrrrgggghhhh. Oh God, please stop talking. Basically, much like any other country I can think of, national dishes encompass anything that has traditionally been eaten by anyone but the wealthy, often composed of sausages, liver, minced meat or leftovers stuffed into pies or batter mix or sometimes thrown in with what basically can be described as edible waste, and given whimsically diverting names like Toad In The Hole, Spotted Dick, or Bubble & Squeak. No, people should definitely keep their weird, stodgy traditional food to themselves.
Another thing I can get a yearning for is being able to walk into a pub and get a ploughman's lunch, with decently fattening pork pie, a doorstop of good strong cheddar, a car-park-sized slice of thickly cut crusty bread, pickled onions and all the trimmings. Yum. But one can make do, if one knows where to look for ingredients and is prepared to spend a little more money, imported foods being smashingly expensive compared to domestic produce. We are lucky enough to have a specialist food shop here in Gothenburg called, unsurprisingly, The English Shop, and therein among the tightly packed shelves, one can find most of the old favourites, from Twiglets to Bisto Gravy Granules, to Quality Street. As I said, it's a little pricey but in my opinion, well worth it. Having said that, some foods are much cheaper and more readily available here. Yesterday for example, I fried some smoked kippers for dinner, which were picked up by a good friend of mine from a fish smoker north of here, who has a small shop on a boat. I served them with fresh mushrooms and aubergines, that I'd butter-fried with chives and a sprinkling of lemon pepper, and I have to say they were probably the most delicious kippers I've ever eaten.
Buuuuurrrrppp!!!!
Today's film mention is The Road, directed by John Hillcoat, and adapted from Cormac McCarthy's** novel of the same name. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Kodi Smit-McPhee, with a somewhat short appearance by Charlize Theron, and is the story of a man, (Mortensen) and his son (Smit McPhee) as they attempt to survive a post-apocalyptic America. Very little is said about the nature of the apocalypse, and we are left to assume that it was some form of environmental disaster that has killed virtually everyone and everything on Earth including all plant life, and has completely obscured the sun, causing temperatures to plummet to brutal depths. Bleak and honest, the story focuses on the duo as they pick their way south in the hopes of finding a better climate. Their path is strewn with hazards however, and they are forced to deal with everything from near-starvation to bands of wandering cannibals. A competent appearance from Robert Duvall as a lonely old traveller adds more human drama as the two traverse the desolate, lifeless wastelands in search of anything edible and adequately sheltered resting places. Other films have broached the subject of impending ecological doom, such as the ambitious but nonsensical The Day After Tomorrow, but few manage to deliver their message as effectively as Hillcoat's dark tale, and the secret is in its simplicity, and the fact that the aftermath, which is the film's focal point, is far more terrifying than the event itself. A fine performance by Mortensen, who has come an awfully long way since starting his screen career as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir's wonderful Witness, in 1985. Expect more good things from this powerhouse actor, whose next project will be playing none other than Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg's 2011 release A Dangerous Method, which I'll probably watch while eating a jumbo bag of salt & vinegar flavoured Monster Munch. Can't wait.
Quentin Beck
July 26th 2010
*Short of perhaps some of the traditional pies and puddings served at Porters restaurant-cum-winebar, just off Covent Garden
**Who also wrote the brilliant No Country For Old Men
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