Harrow on the Hill garden. Photograph by Angela Lansbury, copyright 2017.
Problem
How do you feed a group of ten to twenty people?
Answer
Vegetarian Pizza from Papu Miya, Hatch End, Pinner.
Story
Toastmasters International speakers' clubs and club contests all over Singapore rely on pizza for filling food for large groups of people. For a contest in Singapore they will have some vegetarian and some meat.
House in Harrow
In London, recently, we held a committee meeting in a house on Harrow on the Hill. Harrow on the Hill is the home of Harrow School - where Winston Churchill went to school.
The house backs onto the hill. Although the road outside is level, the garden is extremely steep.
An ex president of the club had brought along two large pizzas, costing ten pounds each, to feed about 15 people. (Admittedly the hostess cooked c h i l i can carne, minced meat with boiled rice, in two kinds, spicy and not spicy.)
We also had pot luck. Everybody brought something. That meant that however many we were, no chance of running short of food.
Potluck Extras
After we ate the instantly available pizza, followed by the doled out chill con carne, we continued on to the pot luck. Committee members brought along: red fruit juice, salads, tomatoes, grapes, profiteroles, carrot cake, chocolate filled doughnuts, a cheese board, and brown bread. We finished with alcohol filled chocolates and dates.
Planning So-called Potluck
It wasn't really pot luck in the sense of unplanned. The hostess had asked us to email in advance what we would be bringing so that she could ensure we had something of everything and no duplication.
The food extras were laid out on the kitchen table and the kitchen. However, we ate outside in the back garden on that dramatic slope of Harrow on the Hill.
We started with the pizza which arrived hot and ready, picked up on the way. (Maybe pre-ordered by phone?) The pizza was ample food. Thick, full of things to munch. Sweetcorn. Slices of large tomatoes.
One version had olives. The other was the same but without the olives.
It was filling. I felt like I had had a proper meal. Often pizza from other places seem to be just a slice of bread smeared with tomato puree and varnished with cheese.
At this point we ought to have stopped eating. If we had, we would not have felt hungry.
Later the c h i l i con carne was heated and came out.
Surprisingly we did not suffer from any flies or midges.
We were entertained by a cat fight between two of the host family's cats. The hostess disconcertingly told us, "Don't worry. Both cats are ours. Lovers' tiff. They are brother and sister."
How to Remember the Pizza Parlour's Name
Long ago I read that the name of the Pizza parlour was named after family members. I always used to have trouble remembering it. But I think I've now got it. I think PAP as in papa, who I presume runs or started the place, U, because you enjoy the food, MI, like me, and YA, like yes. PAPU MIYA. Papa, you, me - ah! PAPU MIYA.
Where is it? Next to the Tesco Express. If you are lucky, you can park outside in the slip road.
Anybody giving you driving directions will tell you that it's not in Pinner proper, but in Hatch End. The post office and the history books will tell you that Hatch End is part of Pinner. You will struggle to find Hatch End in TripAdvisor.
Hatch End is a suburb in NW London, within driving distance of Pinner and Harrow. Hatch End station is on the Euston to Watford line.
Papu Miya Pizza Parlour
371 Uxbridge Road
Hatch End
Dinner
Middlesex
HA5 4JN
Tel: 020 8421 2112
England
UK
Website: www.papumiya.com/Contactus
They are also on Facebook.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. The delicious dates we ate are in the next post. Please share posts.
