Category: Food

My coffeemaker was kaput, and the new one I had ordered, landed on the porch today.

blatjang
/ˈblatjaŋ/, /ˈblatʃaŋ/

noun
A tangy sauce made of dried fruit (usually apricots) and chillies cooked in vinegar; chutney.

Archaic forms: blaatgham, blatcham
Origin: Afrikaans, Malay
It is probable that in late 19th century Afrikaans this word still had two meanings:
1. A. Pannevis’s Afskrif van Lys van Afrikaanse Woorde en Uitdrukkings (1880) defines ‘Bladjang’ as being made of dried chillies and stewed dried apricots in vinegar;
2. H.C.V. Leibbrandt’s Het Kaapsch Hollandsch (1882) lists ‘Balachan’ and ‘Blatchong’, both with the same meaning as the Malay belachan; and the Woordelijst van het Transvaalsch Taaleigen (1890) includes ‘Blatjang’, defined as ‘een zeker gerecht’ (a certain dish).

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When you say ‘blatjang’ or ‘chutney’ in South Africa, you really mean ‘Mrs. Ball’s Original Recipe Chutney. It is nonpareil.

The Woodstock, Cape Town factory that first made Mrs. Balls’s chutney, opened in 1917.

I bought some Red Anjou pears at Amazon Fresh. They are not nearly as red as ones I see in pictures online, but that’s OK. They taste fine.

My favorite pear is still the famous bell-shaped Bartlett pears, though.
(Also called Williams’ bon chrétien pear. The origins of this pear is uncertain).
My mom served up for canned Bartlett pears with custard, as a quick dessert.

Last night we had little chocolate cones after our beers and dinner.
The chocolate comes from Ukraine.
(Thanks to Ken & Steve for finding the intriguing chocolates!).

I recently filled out a crossword clue that said ‘Source of milk for manchego cheese’. Answer: EWE.
As placed my Amazon Fresh order last week, there it was: sliced manchego cheese.
So I added it to my order, just out of curiosity.

‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ was a slogan on a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939, to prepare the country for World War II.

I had a picture of my vaccine card ready as we stepped into Two Beers Brewing Co. in Seattle’s industrial district, tonight. As of Monday, proof of a coronavirus vaccination —or a negative test— is required at most indoor businesses in King County.

Checking for one’s proof was done at the counter serving the beers, and even then it was very cursory. The place was busy and they seemed a little short on staff, as is the case in most places these days.

I made another Sunday night run out to Amazon Fresh on Jackson Street last night.

They were again out of the Amazon branded milk and Chobani yogurt that they had previous times, and that I was looking for. It’s not a big deal; I was just a little surprised.

On the plus side: I discovered that they stock these biscotti called Nonni’s Biscotti ‘Originali Classic Almond’. 
The biscotti are so dry that I dunk them for less than one second in my coffee, and then they are all soaked up and ready for eating.

We walked down to Chuck’s Hop Shop in Central District for our beers tonight It was barely 60°F/  15°C, with a little wind chill.
The beer was good, though, as were the burgers and chicken sandwiches from the food truck nearby.

A large piece of the 12″ Key lime pie I had bought at Costco ($14.99) is left over from yesterday.
I had a piece for dessert tonight (of course).

There is rain on the way, that will arrive early in the morning. The rainfall here in the city has been low the last few weeks: at 0.69 inches (normally 1.60 inches this far into May).
Late afternoon, I walked to The Chieftain pub on 12th Avenue with my amigos, for a beer and a bite.

It was time to open my tub of Marmite today. Whoah!

All three of my regular grocery stores were out of Marmite.
Well, I want my Marmite, and so they ‘forced’ me to search for it on Amazon, where it was available in tubs.
Whoah. Sign me up, got to get some of that! I thought.

These are the beers I had picked up on Sunday, at the enormous store called Total Wine & More, on Armory Way. They only had one six-pack of the Beck’s left, but I got more at the Whole Foods grocery store nearby.

I ran into a super-simple recipe for pasta sauce in the New York Times. Canned peeled tomatoes, butter, onion, a pinch or two of salt. That’s it.

The recipe mentioned San Marzano tomatoes. Would these be available on Amazon? I wondered.
Yes .. the original product from Italy! and so I ordered some.
Below is what I did to cook the sauce tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a little basil with the tomato in the can.
I used Kerrygold Irish butter and white onion.
The onion is taken out afterwards.
I tossed the sauce with the pasta, and that was it.
No parmesan, so that I could savor the sunny, earthy tomato flavor better.