We are home again after our travels and feeling very fit and healthy after a South East Asian diet which is light on meat and fish, has almost no wheat or dairy but uses masses of rice, rice noodles and vegetables plus, especially in Vietnam, lots of fresh herbs. So we decided to keep this diet up. A week of rain and chilly winds drove us gladly into the arms of a beef casserole - lots of meat, some vegetables and traditional flavours rather than chilli and fish sauce. I have always said there is a link between climate and how we eat and that the food which suits one place and one type of environment just isn't the same anywhere else. A view completely contradicted by the British love of curry which comes from a hot and humid environment. Anyway I have cooked one Vietnamese dish, an attempt at pho. But although I made the stock with bones and tried to flavour it, it hadn't got the depth charge which the real thing gives you. I shall try again as I now have a wonderful cookbook given me as a birthday present by K. If I master this delicious soup I shall put the details on here. We didn't eat any cakes for three months and planned to continue denying ourselves, but life needs some cake it turns out and now that resolution has also gone west. My next post will be for chocolate expresso buns and lemon meringue pie.
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