Table talk
British rice to the occasion as East meets West
Japan may be zealously proud of its sushi, but now the Brits are getting in on the act at the Matsuri in St James's, London. The winning entries in a recent "design your own sushi" competition held at the restaurant are now on the menu. They include eggs Benedict sushi, a combination of poached quail's egg and smoked salmon on a bed of rice, topped with hollandaise sauce. Kunihiro Kondo, a director of Matsuri's owner, the central Japan railway company, said: "This competition was founded as an effort to combine the imagination and ingredients of the West with centuries of traditional Japanese cuisine to inspire a totally new sushi, a British sushi".
Not exactly fine-dining taste in music
Anyone searching Gordon Ramsay's CD collection in the hope of unearthing clues to the chef's flair and brilliance would be sorely disappointed. Nearly all his recent selections for Radio 4's Desert Island Discs came from compilations such as Now That's What I Call Music. In fact, the only song he liked enough to actually buy the proper album was (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams, which despite being the longest-running number-one hit in British pop music history, is generally considered to be the musical equivalent of tapioca pudding.
Hotel bright spark had a real baptism of fire
On his first day as new general manager of the Headland hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, Scott Poole was greeted by smoke billowing from the roof. Just off the plane from Australia, he battled with jet lag and wondered if someone was playing a joke on him, but keeping his wits about him, he called the fire brigade. Three engines were at the scene within minutes and the blaze was out in an hour. Owners John and Carolyn Armstrong might have wished for a different first test for him to tackle, but were nonetheless impressed by Poole's performance.
Firemen got the hots for chilli ice-cream
The Purbeck ice-cream company in Dorset has scooped the world by producing an ice-cream that is both hot and cold at the same time. Chilli Red, devised by owners Pete and Hazel Hartle, was road-tested on local heat experts - the fire brigade. Pete explained: "A fireman friend was having a Mexican evening and had all kinds of chilli foods but wondered if we could make a chilli ice-cream. We developed a special recipe and the firemen loved it." Pete and Hazel are now rushed off their feet keeping up with demand for the fiery dessert.
Locals hopping mad over frog famine
The 30th annual Frog Fair of Vittel, in eastern France, takes place at the end of the month when the locals will feast on seven tons of frogs' legs. However, since the commercial hunting of domestic frogs was banned in 1977, the French have suffered the indignity of having to import the amphibian delicacy from Asia. Roland Boeuf, head of the Brotherhood of Frog Leg Tasters, lamented: "Unfortunately we have to make do with frozen Indonesian frogs. There is no comparison with the succulent, fresh French frog, of course, but we must keep up our traditions as best we can."
