How To Help Kosher or Hindu or Halal Guests

Flag o India from Wikipedia.

Landlords And  Hindu Tenants
As a landlady I was asked by Hindu residents to supply only new or unused plates. I just rushed along to the supermarket and bought a set of four of everything, brand new, cheaply, on offer.

Hindu In-Laws
You might have to visit in-laws with dietary restrictions, or cater to visitors from overseas. A friend of mine who was Christian (Catholic) married to a Hindu. Her husband was liberal. Her mother in law came to stay and was more fussy.

Cooking Utensils
She asked for a set of cooking utensils which could be reserved for herself.
Before using the frying pan and wok, she washed each one and scoured it with salt.

This might not work if you have non-stick pans with special coating. If you can afford it, easier just to invest in new cooking utensils. Or the guest can bring some as a present. Leave them behind for you to use as you wish if not likely to return. If likely to return, to avoid contamination or embarrassment or further expense, wrap the new items in their origin box in a see-through container, and seal and label it, maybe keep it in the attic or loft or basement or garage, ready for the next visit.

Just Ask
Really, the simplest solution is to just ask. People are usually delighted to tell you whether they need something special, or if they are more liberal, that you need not bother.

 The same applies to kosher and halal.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and Photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts

Welsh Cakes From The Train - What To Do and What Not To Do

Problem
Welsh cakes bought on the GWR train from Fishguard to London were delicious. At least one of them was. The one I ate on the train was awful. What was wrong?

Answer
What Not To Do
I ate it cold.

What To Do
Today I found the other one and ate it hot. Delicious. I added butter and jam, but you don't need to.

What Not To Do
I did, however, make the mistake of trying to cook it in the toaster. What happened. It disintegrated. I smelled burning. I rushed to the toaster. The Welsh cake was stuck. I could not get it out.

I thought: I could put a knife or fork into the toaster. That's dangerous.  I did it.

The little teacake broke up further. Oh, crumbs, I shall end up with crumbs.

I can't put my fingers inside. I risk burning my fingers. I have to tip it out. Where? Not onto a small plate or breakfast bowl. Bits will fall all over the work surface. I will either lose half the food, or eat unhygienic food, and the bits I miss will feed insects.

The sink is bigger. The lost crumbs will be easy to wash away. However, I'll lose most of the cake which will turn to goo in the wet sink and I shall worry that I've eaten something contaminated with washing up liquid.

What To Do
I looked down and saw my frying pan. Tip the toaster over the frying pan. First unplug the toaster .... Then tip out the Welsh cake.

That does it. Is it still hot? Barely. Not enough to melt butter. But no time to play more games, Just eat.

Oh - wow! You wouldn't think it was the same food I ate previously. Heating makes all the difference.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

How to cook a crumpet by Trevor Sharot

Problem
Do you ever come home from a trip and want to eat the item you just had on holiday. Your local shop doesn't stock it. So how do you cook a crumpet, English style?

Trevor Sharot told me how he made crumpets and sent several photos.

I was wondering how you encase it.

This picture shows you how. He cooked it in a frying pan. The shape was made by encasing it inside a quick-release tin.

Crumpet Cooking In Frying Pan inside a quick release tin. Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot. Copyright.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Cooking while camping overnight up a mountain update with websites at end

I was astonished to hear that Sherpas had cooked a birthday cake on the way up Everest for one of the climbers. How do you cook on a mountainside? How do you cook when you don't have sherpas and yaks or other animals carrying all your cooking gear?

When you are climbing a mountain and eating lunch or company overnight you may want to cook. But because you are walking uphill you want your cooking get to be as light as possible.

A second consideration is that you cannot take some kinds of larger cooking devices on airplanes when flying to foreign destination.

One solution is the compact solid fuel stove which cove with fuel. All you need is your food, your match or lighter and a small saucepan (or a cook in the pan meal if you can find one or make one with a base suitable for over a stove like this).

I have photographed it with a spoon, knife and fork to show how small it is. 

Pull it out of the pack and you find a small hanged metal container which opens from the centre like a double door. The white fuels are shown.

This is what it looks like with a normal size frying pan on top.

This model of cooker is designed in two positions, one for use when in normal weather conditions and the other when there is wind. This one was bought from Amazon for a trip up a mountain in Indonesia.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Cooking while camping overnight up a mountain

I was astonished to hear that Sherpas had cooked a birthday cake on the way up Everest for one of the climbers. How do you cook on a mountainside? How do you cook when you don't have sherpas and yaks or other animals carrying all your cooking gear?

When you are climbing a mountain and eating lunch or company overnight you may want to cook. But because you are walking uphill you want your cooking get to be as light as possible.

A second consideration is that you cannot take some kinds of larger cooking devices on airplanes when flying to foreign destination.

One solution is the compact solid fuel stove which cove with fuel. All you need is your food, your match or lighter and a small saucepan (or a cook in the pan meal if you can find one or make one with a base suitable for over a stove like this).

I have photographed it with a spoon, knife and fork to show how small it is. 

Pull it out of the pack and you find a small hanged metal container which opens from the centre like a double door. The white fuels are shown.

This is what it looks like with a normal size frying pan on top.

This model of cooker is designed in two positions, one for use when in normal weather conditions and the other when there is wind. This one was bought from Amazon for a trip up a mountain in Indonesia.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.