Have to get up and pee in the middle of the night? Not enough Texas Independence Day celebration? Behind on your coursework? The Knights of the Oblong Table have got you covered. In this podcast, we talk at length about how to solve problems big and small, coming to some surprisingly clear and somewhat helpful conclusions.
I suggested Robert Greene’s 42 Laws of Power, erroneously. Robert Greene has in fact spoiled us with 48 Laws of Power, which you can and should purchase here.
I will warn you, there are some mild profanities towards the end. This is a longer podcast than usual. I hope you’re seated comfortably.
Hartlebury Castle, former residence of the Bishops of Worcester, is a Grade I listed building near Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
I was unfortunate enough to be in Kidderminster last November for work and thought I’d make a day of seeing the main attractions in Worcestershire. These included Hartlebury Castle; Shipston-on-Stour and Worcester itself. The former impressed me the most. Recently, the Bishop moved to Worcester proper to lessen the hour commute between the two locations.
Truly the jewel in Worcestershire’s crown, the castle is home to historical recreations of many kinds. The first part of the visit comprises a relocated full scale cider press. Worcester, historically, was well known for producing the nation’s finest cider. This has moved to Somerset more recently.
Next was one of the largest collections of antique caravans in the country. This may not sound riveting but it is quite the sight to behold.
In the main house, there are a series of historical recreations including a scullery; Victorian school room; war tribute room and even a room filled with old toys. I really enjoyed my visit and found it quite refreshing and informative. It is not often one finds a museum so welcoming and so varied. Nor does one often find a museum housed in such a beautiful building.
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Hartlebury Castle is a great place for a day out with family or friends. You’ll find out about the history of the county as well as the most prolific trades there. Not to mention the resplendent beauty of the surrounding countryside.
The West wing is being refurbished and will open to the public in April, thanks to the £5m awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to the Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust.
February has been a discovery month of great and deeply moving music. With so much choice, it was difficult to choose only one album to laud. However, needs must. Hollie Cook deserves all the praise in the world for her masterful second album TWICE, originally released in May 2014.
Combining new reggae, dub and violins creates a seamlessly rich soundscape. The balance of bass, percussion and strings in reggae style makes for a listening experience which goes beyond anything I have experienced before. When you listen to Twice, you will be overwhelmed by the imaginative but subtle blend of intruments and music styles.
If you love Grace Jones and Sly & Robbie (ex Black Uhuru) as much as I do, you’ll notice how heavily Hollie Cook has been influenced by them. This of course shows her to be a woman of exceptional taste. Listening to track 3 (Desdemona) and Track 6 (Looking for Real Love), one can immediately hear aspects from Jones’ Nightclubbing (at 1.43). Of course, this is part of the reason why Hollie Cook’s Twice has made album of the month.
Another more personal reason is to honour my father (he helped me to build Cedric Suggests, styled its appearance and even helped me to name it. I am beyond grateful for his instrumental role in making this, once but a pipe dream, become a reality. And sharpish. He came to visit me in Warwick a few weeks ago to see Hollie Cook live at the Birmingham 02 Academy earlier this month.
Holly is as stunning LIVE as she is on vinyl. Backed by a wonderfully hard-working ultra-synchronised band (they even backed up the guest artists before Holly came on) she completely blew us away. Hers is the kind of music which leaves one in a trance state of pure joy.
TWICE is a masterful compilation of tracks which leave one desperately wanting more. I couldn’t recommend it enough. Listen and listen well to the rich combinations of sound in Cook’s work. They will mesmerise and astound.
Hollie Cook’s new album; Vessel of Love is available to buy from her website. Listen, too, to her new single, Angel Fire.
I’ll paint a picture for you, my friend. We find ourselves at Casa Batlló, the result of a total restoration in 1904, by Gaudí, of an old conventional house built in 1877. A crippling hunger strikes. My stomach overpowers me. I must eat or face the consequences. A quick peruse of TripAdvisor reveals we are within 1km of En Diagonal. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I intend to follow that trend.
You could easily walk past it, but it is not a restaurant to be missed. No bigger than my bedroom (kitchen included), En Diagonal was set to surprise us in ways we could not have imagined.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get a table. Once seated we were brought the menu and gasped at the low prices proposed. We did what any sane frivolous person would do and ordered almost everything on the menu. And this time we took an abundance of pictures. Here are some to start us off, an amuse yeux, if you will.
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I shall try to use less sensational language than in the previous post.
The wine-cooked chorizo tasted phenomenal. It was just the right texture. I feared it would be too tender but it was perfect. You want chorizo to resist your chewing. That way, defeating it feels like a victory.
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Next, featuring my dearest’s elegant hands, the garlic butter mushrooms. This is the sort of dish which you have already decided to eat and will continue to eat regardless of how many times you frequent the restaurant, or how many options there are on the menu. Deliciously crunchy, rich and innovative. I’ve never considered just slicing the garlic in the middle (at the back of the plate) and cooking it with mushrooms. What a lot of time I have saved coming to this restaurant.
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I was unsure about pimientos del padre. We had been given one with a foie gras and beef carpaccio canapé at Agua Barcelona two nights before. What I didn’t know was that there are in fact no seeds in these peppers. The salt adorning this dish feels deeply encrusted within the soft skin peppers themselves. Top notch dish.
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Patatas bravas are always showstopping. These were no exception.
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Though we felt as though we were about to burst, we thought it best to order even more food. This time we decided on the ham, and chicken croquettes. They must have had some sort of bechamel (white roux and milk sauce) in them because they were so light yet so filling. It goes without saying that the Iberico ham tasted superb.
I like restaurants where you are served on slates, the dishes keep their heat more effectively and you feel as pretentious as you sound, when eating. Maybe that’s just me.
This place is special. En Diagonal is exclusive; distinctive and honest. You enter and you know you’re in for a treat. The food speaks for itself, it’s high quality is undeniable.
I did not believe it possible for alimentation to bring a man to tears. Big Kokka proved me wrong. Whilst savouring the butterfish marinated in miso with pickled Nikkei, I shed a tear. I was not aware, in my meagre experience, that anything so seemingly banal could move me. The fact that this dish was cooked over coals makes it even more extraordinary. Now as I have mentioned before, I don’t like fish – but this was a unique experience.
Though it was love at first bite and I have yet to cease thinking about the butterfish, I must tell you about the other dishes we sampled. We devoured everything with such frightening speed that only the desserts were left standing to be photographed. In essence, you’ll have to take my word for it.
I ate the chauffa black rice with duck – another revelatory dish. Beautifully cooked, succulent and married wonderfully with the duck. Perhaps uncharacteristically of this restaurant, this portion was large.
Finally we shared the Iberian pork rib braised at low temperature with sweet potato and Criolla. Once again, perfect. Crispy mouth watering ribs with the softest sweet potatoes. A comparatively simple dish, executed wonderfully.
By dessert we had slowed down enough to take photographs.
The Muscova cake with passion fruit cream umeshu gelatin was really well put together. The flavours blended into one another majestically but what really struck me was the infusion of umeshu sake in the jelly. Umeshu is a unique apricot liqueur, though the Prunus Mume tree, from which Ume (the fruit) originates is related to both prunes and apricots. The crux of my diatribe is that the jelly was infused with fruit liqueur, and that is was outstanding.
The chocolate mochi, too, was great. I seem to be running out of emotive adjectives. Having been to Japan and tasted phenomenal mochi in Numatsu (Fuji) and Okayama, I was not prepared for how accurate the flavour of this mochi would be. Authentic mochi are prepared with rice flour and beaten to within an inch of their life with big hammers. Look it up on YouTube, I’m not joking. This one was perfectly sweet and the chocolate filling was not too dense, which I was mortified about, as you can imagine.
And to top it all off, it is available to book on The Fork (for now) so you will even get a discount!
In all, eating here makes you forget about all life’s worries. There are no trials and tribulations: just you; the girl you love and spectacular food.
