Lidl Batt Brown sauce

My regular greasy spoon had the Lidl Batt Brown sauce so I got to try it.

It was surprisingly nice, I loved how sharp it was and it didn't have that annoying mince pie spices like the original.

Evil Snacks crunchy oyster mushroom chips

Evil Snacks crunchy oyster mushroom chips.
I love the freeze drying technology because it brings you textures not possible with frying.
Imagine a 100% crunchy oyster mushroom.
These crunchy oyster mushrooms are coated in a light batter.
Without the coating it would probably break in the packet and the coating has flavouring which makes it tasty.
There are three flavours: Zesty Thai (Tom Yum), Sour Cream and Original.
Zesty Thai and the Original are probably the best.
The Sour Cream was a total disappointment as it was sweet and didn't have any sour cream to it.
I would be angry if I was Polish or Russian because the Sour Cream flavours does not deliver as well as Eastern European sour cream snacks.
The original was ok but on the sweet side so Tom Yum is probably the tastiest but lacked some tang which can be fixed with lemon or vinegar.
For all flavours, there was no umami at all as labelled.

Would love to see a Salt and Vinegar flavour or Cheese for the UK market.

Portuguese canned mão de vaca (Cow feet with chickpeas) by Nobre

Portuguese canned mão de vaca (Cow feet with chickpeas) by Nobre

Another delicious cow feet stew, this time from Portugal which I tried last November and forgot to post until now.

There are so many different cow feet stews out there like Jamaican cow feet etc.

The Portuguese mao de vaca was really tasty with chickpeas and carrots, a very comforting savoury stew with rice.

After reheating it, the cow feet is soft and gelatinous and you will also find smoky sausages in the stew as well.

#ssgcanned

#maodevaca

Hungarian tripe stew with knuckle (Pacalpörkölt by Hazias Izek)

Just like old fashioned English tripe and onions, the Hungarians have this delicious tripe stew with knuckle.

I was really fortunate to get the can which saves me travelling to Hungary.

To be honest, there are so many good stews and casseroles in cans out there when it comes to tripe and knuckles.

The texture of tripe and knuckle are probably the only items that don't have a funny texture from a can where as things like beef and chicken are mushy.

Anyway, back to this stew, it was really tasty that you wouldn't suspect it came from a can.

It was loaded with so much tripe and knuckle slices as well as the meat from the trotter.

Also tried the Brazilian canned pork knuckle stew which I shall post soon hopefully.

#ssgcanned

[Nuts Review] South African Kola Nut

Spotted these pretty magenta coloured nuts so got some to try.

They originate from West Africa and interestingly they come from these pods that look like cocoa fruit.

Each nut is like a seeds that is like two halves stuck together which you can pull part.

The texture is crunchy like raw fresh beans but moist and seriously bitter that you want to spit it out.

Consumed by Africans because it is mainly caffeine and a stimulant.

#ssgnuts

#kolanut

[Vegetable review] Indian Cucumber Tindora

Spotted these tiny cucumbers at the local Indian grocery store, it turns out they are Tindoras, mini cucumbers.
Tried the raw and they were quite bitter.

Cockles, Jellied eels, Scampi tails at East Street Market

Seafood stalls are a dying breed especially in London.

I have been meaning to visit this seafood stall at East Street Market for ages however getting there is quite difficult.

This is one of the few stalls left which is only there on Saturdays but it was encouraging to see that there was continuous flow of customers.

They had almost everything from Micks jellied eels, cockles, brown shrimps, crayfish, winkles to whelks.

I ended up getting brown shrimps, crayfish, cockles and fresh scampi tails for £10.50!!!

The cockles were the best with lots of pepper, salt and vinegar, a true English classic which is less appreciated these days.

Brown shrimps are rewarding but time consuming peeling these tiny buggers.

The Scampi tails were nice but size matters as the bigger the better because there is less grit in them.

The crayfish just taste like the usual but not so briny.

#ssglondoneats