The Off Topic Topic

[chipwich]

Is this video about the modern House of Lords faithful to reality?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U0LhurGWOc&ab_channel=UKParliament

[Sheilbh]

It's a generous take. But yeah broadly that's right.

[Josquius]

I've just solved one of the fundamental mysteries of history.

Jesus Christ.

Je Sus Christ.

Je Suis Christ

🤯

[Grey Fox]

Don't do that here, you'll never live it down.

[Tonitrus]

One of the petty things that pissing me off at a minor level these days is the much too frequent, and often mis-use of "just happen to be" in colloquial english.

That and the Covid-spawned "shots into arms", using "arms" as some hip way to refer to people.

I'm probably gaining curmudgeon status at too young an age. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

In roughly the same vein (  ) a lot of politicians and media folk are saying "ter" instead of "to"  , string 'em up I say it is the only way to stop it!!!

[Sheilbh]

So I get a seafood subscription - fishbox - largely from Scottish fish (hopefully all sustainable I assume ). Basically because I love seafood but for whatever reason I never buy it in the supermarket - so it's a bit like getting a veg box to cook new veg, this forces me with a few different bits and pieces. And generally it's been great (I look forward to innovating away from pan-fry the fish, make a butter, lemon and caper sauce - but not yet ).

But I now have a live crab in my kitchen and I am stressed out

I've never actually prepared fresh crab so I need to work out what to do and how. Which will be interesting - it should be very tasty though

[Richard Hakluyt]

 

Probably a special treat included for all their middle-class London clients.

My nana used to just boil them alive, which worried me even at the time; but in these more enlightened times it seems that the thing to do is to spike their nerve ganglia :

https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-is-the-most-humane-way-to-kill-crustaceans-for-human-consumption/#:~:text=Crabs%20can%20be%20killed%20by,long%20chain%20of%20nerve%20centres.

[Syt]

So I get a seafood subscription - fishbox - largely from Scottish fish (hopefully all sustainable I assume ). Basically because I love seafood but for whatever reason I never buy it in the supermarket - so it's a bit like getting a veg box to cook new veg, this forces me with a few different bits and pieces. And generally it's been great (I look forward to innovating away from pan-fry the fish, make a butter, lemon and caper sauce - but not yet ).

But I now have a live crab in my kitchen and I am stressed out

I've never actually prepared fresh crab so I need to work out what to do and how. Which will be interesting - it should be very tasty though

I'm having flashbacks to going to the weekly market's fish stand in my home town as a kid, and the crate of eels that was quite alive (or looking to be alive) with slithering creatures.

[Sheilbh]

Oh no

Just popped it in the pan (because it will need to cool before I can get in there). But I put it in the freezer for an hour beforehand so its metabolism should have basically slowed down to sleep.

I think it's because I've been using the "refer a friend" option to EVERYONE on the theory that everyone likes fish as much as I do, which is demonstrably wrong

[Sheilbh]

I'm having flashbacks to going to the weekly market's fish stand in my home town as a kid, and the crate of eels that was quite alive (or looking to be alive) with slithering creatures.

I love fish markets/stands but literally never even consider the live stuff (except for mussels). I'll eat it in a restaurant but it just freaks me out.

When I lived in the East End if we'd had a big night out or a house party and were still up at 3-4am we'd go to Billingsgate market which is a fish market in Canary Wharf that mainly caters to restaurants and opens at 5am. Pick up some v fresh fish or mussels or something and pop into the market caff for hair-curling tea before going home. Wake up in the afternoon, run to the shops and cook, say, moules frittes or whatever. Possibly my favourite type of London day - which won't happen now because (1) I live in South London and (2) I'm in my 30s now and have very little tolerance for staying up to 3-4am

In middle class London things despite it being a famous London food I've only had eel in sushi

[Maladict]

But I now have a live crab in my kitchen and I am stressed out

This happened to a friend of mine, who freaked out and released it in a nearby pond.
Where, presumably, it died a nasty death.

[Syt]

I'm having flashbacks to going to the weekly market's fish stand in my home town as a kid, and the crate of eels that was quite alive (or looking to be alive) with slithering creatures.

I love fish markets/stands but literally never even consider the live stuff (except for mussels). I'll eat it in a restaurant but it just freaks me out.

When I lived in the East End if we'd had a big night out or a house party and were still up at 3-4am we'd go to Billingsgate market which is a fish market in Canary Wharf that mainly caters to restaurants and opens at 5am. Pick up some v fresh fish or mussels or something and pop into the market caff for hair-curling tea before going home. Wake up in the afternoon, run to the shops and cook, say, moules frittes or whatever. Possibly my favourite type of London day - which won't happen now because (1) I live in South London and (2) I'm in my 30s now and have very little tolerance for staying up to 3-4am

In middle class London things despite it being a famous London food I've only had eel in sushi

It was a popular trip to go to the Hamburg fish market on Sunday mornings which started at 5 or 6 am and went till 9 am (it's called fish market, but other commodities are also sold, and there's food, drink, and music these days). Most trading was for wholesalers, but there were stands for private customers, with fishmongers who would put on a show for their customers, and a good way to get fish cheap.

[Malthus]

So I get a seafood subscription - fishbox - largely from Scottish fish (hopefully all sustainable I assume ). Basically because I love seafood but for whatever reason I never buy it in the supermarket - so it's a bit like getting a veg box to cook new veg, this forces me with a few different bits and pieces. And generally it's been great (I look forward to innovating away from pan-fry the fish, make a butter, lemon and caper sauce - but not yet ).

But I now have a live crab in my kitchen and I am stressed out

I've never actually prepared fresh crab so I need to work out what to do and how. Which will be interesting - it should be very tasty though

Reminds me of one of my grandfather's favorite anecdotes.

He had a group of friends from the province of Nova Scotia he kept in touch with for many years. Every year, they met for a reunion at a specific seafood restaurant, where they always had the same meal - a dish of crabs. Every year, they were served by the same waiter, Pierre. He was practically one of the group, they would always chat and joke with him.

One year they met for their crab dinner, but the waiter was a different fellow, not Pierre. The dinner was excellent as usual, but afterwards they asked to speak to the manager, to find out: where was Pierre?

The manager heaved a sad sigh and replied "it's a terrible thing. Pierre walked over the ice last winter, and it was too thin - he fell through. They didn't find his body until spring; and then, all they found were the bones - the crabs done picked him clean".

[Barrister]

So I get a seafood subscription - fishbox - largely from Scottish fish (hopefully all sustainable I assume ). Basically because I love seafood but for whatever reason I never buy it in the supermarket - so it's a bit like getting a veg box to cook new veg, this forces me with a few different bits and pieces. And generally it's been great (I look forward to innovating away from pan-fry the fish, make a butter, lemon and caper sauce - but not yet ).

But I now have a live crab in my kitchen and I am stressed out

I've never actually prepared fresh crab so I need to work out what to do and how. Which will be interesting - it should be very tasty though

Reminds me of one of my grandfather's favorite anecdotes.

He had a group of friends from the province of Nova Scotia he kept in touch with for many years. Every year, they met for a reunion at a specific seafood restaurant, where they always had the same meal - a dish of crabs. Every year, they were served by the same waiter, Pierre. He was practically one of the group, they would always chat and joke with him.

One year they met for their crab dinner, but the waiter was a different fellow, not Pierre. The dinner was excellent as usual, but afterwards they asked to speak to the manager, to find out: where was Pierre?

The manager heaved a sad sigh and replied "it's a terrible thing. Pierre walked over the ice last winter, and it was too thin - he fell through. They didn't find his body until spring; and then, all they found were the bones - the crabs done picked him clean".

I don't believe that for a second - but it's a good tale.