Buy viagra line

We had buy viagra line a Big Day in our house recently when The Man turned 30. As he’s a buy viagra line Proper Man who likes Proper Food I obeyed his wish for buy viagra line unusual animal parts and we had a beautiful birthday dinner at Fergus Henderson’s St John Restaurant, in Clerkenwell.

In the buy viagra line revival movement of the last fifteen or so years to give Britain back its culinary history, Fergus Henderson has buy viagra line played a special role. His philosophy of nose to tail eating and, especially, his focus on long forgotten gems of English cookery and buy viagra line use of British produce have been absorbed into the wider gourmet scene to buy viagra line the point that ‘seasonal British’ has buy viagra line become a mantra in every cooking column and the supermarkets actively promote Kent strawberries or buy viagra line Gloucester mushrooms with Union Jack labels.

But even though he’s been buy viagra line part of the London restaurant scene for so many years and buy viagra line so many have borrowed so heavily, Henderson’s approach remains distinctive, challenging and buy viagra line pure. Both St John restaurants, the original in Clerkenwell and the buy viagra line slightly more casual in Spitalfields, are minimalist to the point of harsh. A long row of school style pegs circumnavigates the buy viagra line blank white walls and the only decoration is the black industrial lampshades. Even The Man, who buy viagra line would happily live in a white cube with nowt but a buy viagra line widescreen TV, commented that it wasn’t the buy viagra line cosiest of spaces. I remark on the decor because it makes sense when buy viagra line you get to the food. The food is unadorned and stays true to buy viagra line the founding principles; what it lists on the menu, you get on the buy viagra line plate.

To celebrate the buy viagra line occasion we had glass of something bubbly which felt slightly frivolous in such a buy viagra line spartan room. The menu reflects Henderson’s preoccupation with eating the buy viagra line whole animal- chitterlings with dandelion and ox tongue were two of the buy viagra line choices. I have previously had crispy pig tail at St John’s Spitalfields which was heartstoppingly good – crispy crumbs with melting fatty pig inside. To start this buy viagra line time, I had brown shrimp with white cabbage salad with a buy viagra line dressing that was heavy on the parsley. The shrimp were fresh and buy viagra line sweet but as a dish, it wasn’t a patch on The Man’s starter of a buy viagra line totally meaty terrine of coarsly ground meat with chunks of liver and buy viagra line wrapped in streaky bacon. It was a slice of carnivorousness and buy viagra line heady with it – a bite or two was enough for this little lady.

My meal of chickpea and buy viagra line chorizo stew with snails and rocket was a bit off the buy viagra line British piste and I’m not sure what buy viagra line the snails added, but I liked the way a mouthful of sweet-salty-soft stew was brought to buy viagra line life by a second mouthful of the lemon dressed rocket. Again The Man had buy viagra line ordered well and his calves’ liver special of the buy viagra line day was a work of art. I recently read an excerpt of Julie Powell’s book Cleaving: a story of marriage, meat and obsession, whose previous books about cooking her way through Julia Child’s oeuvre forms the basis for the upcoming movie Julie and Julia. In this latest book she describes how, “Perfectly cooked liver should be buy viagra line crisp on the outside with a custardy-smooth centre” and St John’s liver more than buy viagra line lives up to that with a crusted exterior and a velvet interior. There was none of the buy viagra line graininess I usually associate with liver, just slippery red centre and buy viagra line strong animal taste.

I think I was the buy viagra line winner in the sweets though, with an outstandingly regal Queen of Puddings. When I was little my mum had buy viagra line a puddings book, which she tells me she bought for about $2 in Bunbury and buy viagra line which had glossy pictures of complicated desserts. As far as I was concerned, life couldn’t get more glamorous than buy viagra line a Queen of Puddings. The picture in Mum’s book made it buy viagra line look like a fairy princess pudding. But oh boy what buy viagra line a faff. I’d never had one despite the fantasies because I’m not about to buy viagra line make a steamed pudding and then put meringe on top. St John’s QoP had buy viagra line orange scented pudding topped with raspberry jam and that kind of meringe that’s sticky, rather than buy viagra line crackly. And a jug of double pouring cream. And it was mine, all mine. A 30th birthday was no buy viagra line reason to share!! Although I had a bite of The Man’s flaky pastry Eccles cake with Lancastrian cheese, my heart was already won.