Or Krimo's Yacht in Pictures... Often in the past year, I have referred to HMS Tricomalee as My Yacht...
Krimo's Royal Yacht
Krimo Naval Gazing
Yesterday, as part of HMS Trincomalee Trust fundraising efforts to keep the ship afloat for generations to come, I launched a Flickr group, inviting photographers from all over the world to contribute with their photos of Hartlepool's Own Tall Ship.
The result has been staggering. In less than 12 hours, the group has acquired 20 members and nearly 100 photos featuring the Trinc.
Take a look
If you have or know of anyone who has photos of HMS Trincomalee, we would be delighted if you could post them at the above Flickr group.
Krimo's Yachting Pictures...
Krimo's Connections in High Atlas...
When my cousin, Jallel sent me an email saying that Jamie Oliver was about to visit the Ryad he manages in Marrakesh, I said: "Yeah, right! Pull the other one."
A jovial Algerian with a great Scottish accent, having lived and run restaurants in Edinburgh for a large part of his life, Jallel is a hyper-joker!
He moved to Marrakesh, -an amazing city to visit if you ever manage to get yourselves to Morocco- nearly two years ago to manage a luxury boutique hotel called Maison MK, which had just been voted one of the world's 100 best hotels.
Then out of the blue, I get the photo below. So, it was true after all.
Jamie Oliver was filming a program on Moroccan food in Marrakesh.
When I asked my cousin whether he would appear in it, he coolly replied: "Of course, Couz! I don't just work in Marrakesh!"
The photo was taken in the hotel's rooftop terrace. You may see the Atlas mountains in the background.
Krimo's Winners...
Mr and Mrs Skinner enjoying the Valentine's Day meal they won in our latest draw.
All our restaurants were fully booked last night. I cannot imagine there being a free table in the entire UK.
Many returning regulars but also many new faces.
Hands knotted across tables.
Shared nibbles.
Clinking of glasses.
Smiles.
Whispers.
Chocolates and roses flooded the Marina.
Rosé wines and champagnes led to a pink overload.
I am sure that the same scenes were repeated all over the world last night but for us, Hartlepool was the Centre of the Universal Romance.
Krimo's Valentine...
The Valentine Poll (top right hand) shows that only 1/3 of the voters believe that it is a load of hype! This goes to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that romance is still alive and kicking.
No matter on what day it falls, our restaurants could fill up several times over. Three years ago, Krimo's was voted one of the 50 most romantic restaurants in the UK by Remy Martin.
In September 1985, a few months after we opened, I placed a little advert in the Hartlepool Mail that said:
"Valentine's Day is only 19 weeks away. (I counted just to make sure) Do not disappoint your sweetheart.
The restaurant was booked up within two days."
I learnt two things from the experiment:
1. The power of advertising
2. The power of love
A few years ago a middle-aged couple came to Krimo's on Valentine's Day. The guy proposed, the lady accepted. They have not missed celebrating a single Valentine's Day with us since.
The winner of our Valentine's Day draw is Kath Skinner. She wins a Meal for Two (worth over £70) at Krimo's on February 14th.
She told me that when hinting to her husband that she wanted a little romance on Valentine's Day, he told to go and buy a couple of Mills and Boon books!! ;o)
In September 1985, a few months after we opened, I placed a little advert in the Hartlepool Mail that said:
"Valentine's Day is only 19 weeks away. (I counted just to make sure) Do not disappoint your sweetheart.
The restaurant was booked up within two days."
I learnt two things from the experiment:
1. The power of advertising
2. The power of love
A few years ago a middle-aged couple came to Krimo's on Valentine's Day. The guy proposed, the lady accepted. They have not missed celebrating a single Valentine's Day with us since.
The winner of our Valentine's Day draw is Kath Skinner. She wins a Meal for Two (worth over £70) at Krimo's on February 14th.
She told me that when hinting to her husband that she wanted a little romance on Valentine's Day, he told to go and buy a couple of Mills and Boon books!! ;o)
Is it any wonder that 85% of all the one billion Valentine's Day cards sold each year are bought by women?
Krimo's Tasty Olives...
There was a time when it was very hard to find olives in British supermarket. Nowadays dozens of different kinds adorn the shelves of even the smallest grocer. The following is but a small selection from Asda's olive offer: Stuffed green, Kalamata, Greek Olympian, Stuffed with garlic, peppers, jalapenos, anchovies, etc... Around 30 varieties!
For my own consumption, I usually buy a couple of jars of whole green olives (around 80p each) then add the following ingredients to create my favourite taste:
Two fresh garlic clove, halved
Chilli flakes
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Caraway seeds
Lemon, either fresh or pickled
Olive oil.
Method:
Place olives and brine in a large bowl.
Add all the above ingredients.
Mix well and store in plastic tub or glass jar.
Leave for a couple of days before tasting.
Enjoy!
Krimo's Pigeon Flight...
A man was arrested for an alleged breach of quarantine rules after getting off a flight to Australia with two live pigeons in his trousers. Courtesy of BBC News
How long does it take to fly down under?
What about the droppings?
What about deep-vein thrombosis?
No wonder the price of a single pigeon breast has now reached 95p if people keep pinching them to take back to Australia.
Below is our supplier's latest price list!
Krimo's T-shirt winner
Will Spoors (6) is Portofino's latest T-shirt winner.
Once a week we dig into the chef's hat and draw the name of one of our younger regulars.
The next time they have a meal at Portofino, and lately at Casa del Mar, too, we present them with one of our Tshirts. We carry various sizes to accommodate children from 5 to 13 years of age. We offer larger ones for sale as souvenirs.
Our operation is not on the same scale as that of the Hard Rock Café whose Tshirts one often comes across on the busy streets of capital cities or sometimes even in the remotest Amazon village. No, our Tshirts are a rarity, mostly worn as nighties. Size 5-6 is huge!
Will's mother said that he was not one to stand still long enough to have his photo taken. On this occasion she was pleasantly surprised that he calmly stripped off the sweater he arrived in to pose in our exclusive T-shirt.
His younger sister cannot wait to pinch it.
Our operation is not on the same scale as that of the Hard Rock Café whose Tshirts one often comes across on the busy streets of capital cities or sometimes even in the remotest Amazon village. No, our Tshirts are a rarity, mostly worn as nighties. Size 5-6 is huge!
Will's mother said that he was not one to stand still long enough to have his photo taken. On this occasion she was pleasantly surprised that he calmly stripped off the sweater he arrived in to pose in our exclusive T-shirt.
His younger sister cannot wait to pinch it.
Don't forget to tell us what you're planning for Valentine's Day. Poll top right.
Krimo's Onion Knowledge...
Every now and then I blow my own trumpet. I only do it if I've achieved a major sporting feat or discovered the cure for an unknown disease. After all if you can't blowing your own trumpet, who's going to blow it for you?
Today, I'm blowing it to say I think I know my onions!
Anyway, let me get on my pedestal and tell you why...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the dreaded Credit Crunch, January's figures are up on last year!"
Drum roll.
"Thank you, thank you!"
You may wish to refer to a post I wrote earlier called the art of surviving recessions.
Many elements have to come together in various proportions to achieve business success and survival.
Location, product, demand, value, customer trust, marketing, business acumen, etc... to enumerate but a few, not forgetting the odd ounce of good luck which can also be added to the mix.
The simple reason why we are not feeling the effects of the crunch:
If people have only a certain amount of money to buy a given product or service they always go for the tried-and-tested. As simple as that!
In the meantime, to avoid tears, please watch the following video.
Krimo's Departing Joy...
She's on her way. Our Joanne, Joey, Jo... Five and a half years at Portofino.
Joey started with us at the tender age of 16, did her A-levels and then went to University. All the while, she progressed from trainee to head-waitress, from a shy teenager to a very confident young woman.
She has at last found a full-time job in her field of expertise.
Joanne is very much like many of the young employees who have helped us grow from a tiny restaurant, seating 32 people at Seaton Carew to three busy restaurants around the Marina.
These young kids start with us straight out of school and remain at least two years, while they take their A-levels. A few stay on even after they have started at one of the four local universities, Teesside, Durham, Sunderland or Newcastle. These turn out to be very valuable to the continuity of our operation. They get to coach and train new recruits fresh from school, shaping them in a very short time, into very capable members of staff.
This cycle has been going on for the last 24 years. Many of our earlier recruits often visit our restaurants with fiancés, husbands or wives, and quite often teenage children.
We have employed their younger brothers and sisters without even interviewing them. The mark left by their siblings was recommendation enough. As it happens, Joey's sister Nicole has been with us for the last two years.
(Nicole has just pointed out that she has been at Portofino for 3½ years!!!! Time flies when you're having fun, chick. I stand corrected. Sorry!)
Just like Nicola who left Krimo's a year ago to the day, Joey will be part of Portofino for a long time to come.
Thank you, babe!
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)
Krimo's Food Evolution...
We were tubing our way to the Natural Science Museum to see how the Darwin exhibition was evolving when Karen said: "Why don't we stop at Harrods on the way?"
The last time Karen went to Harrods, she brought back a tiny jar of pesto. It cost her £12! I was quite Pestoff!
Under duress, I let myself be dragged into Al Fayed's Egyptian bazaar. I snappily whisked Karen past various crocodile shoes and bags and into the famous Harrods Food Hall.
There was food, food and food. Raw, cooked, ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Lebanese... Foods from the whole world, in fact.
Fruit and vegetables I had never seen let alone heard of.
A sushi counter fit for a sumo wrestler's diet.
An atomic display of mushrooms.
Enough fresh dates to fill a two-year diary.
There was even a travel-agency style counter manned/womened by smartly-dressed models taking food orders from posh people who believe an Aga is just another religious icon.
We finished our visit with a swift fly-over the chocolaaaaaaate department. I shut down all five senses and raced out of Harrods. Torture?
If there ever had been a moment when I longed to return to my scouting days, it was that day. I could have gladly volunteered to camp in that Food Hall for at least a whole year.
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)
Krimo's Royal Yacht...
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, HRH QE2's hubby, Patron of HMS Trincomalee Trust, will visiting my yacht in March!
Well, The Trinc, as she is affectionately known is not MY yacht really, but most of the young kids who visit Portofino believe me when I tell them she is.
Very often, their pizzas get cold as they sit, spellbound by the presence of such a beautiful ship just outside Portofino's windows.
Prince Philip paid a visit to the ship in 2001, long before she was totally restored to its present glory. I think he will be pleasantly surprise with the improvements.
Eight years ago, I managed to snap him from upstairs. This time, I may be shaking his royal hand...
Hartlepool's own tall ship!!
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)
The Dream is now a reality...
The wait is over...
Change was long overdue. Change has come.
If the world is to become a better place, Obama is the start of things to come.
The USA are often seen as arrogant, unfeeling, biased, etc...
I really feel that Obama has now the unique opportunity to change all that.
Congratulations and Good Luck!
Krimo's Holiday Reports...
Our Portofino second-chef, Chris Wilkinson was looking forward to his well-earned Dominican Republic holiday... until that is, I began thinking of putting the frighteners on him.
Last week, I reported that an earthquake had hit the place. He laughed nervously at first, unsure whether I was kidding. It did not take him long to realise that I had invented the fictitious report.
The following day, it was a hurricane that swept over the island.
Running out of ideas, I googled the online Dominican newspapers and came across a report on the Solenodon, the world's rarest mammals.
A few minutes of Copy and Paste, and I came up with my own version of the report.
Chris read the report with a smile on his face.
Tomorrow he flies off for a couple of weeks of sunshine.
I wonder what his reaction will be if he comes across one of those solenodons.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)
From Krimo's with Love...
Our previous poll asked: Where will/did you spend New Year's Eve?
The results showed that 2/3 of us spent it with family/friends and the rest of us worked.
I did both!
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)
Our friend Stan Laundon took this shot from his balcony window.
I have no idea who's in the helicopter and I can assure you it is not me. I have never been close to a helicopter let alone flown in one. According to Stan it landed just behind the Marina lock office, on the bottom right of the shot.
I wonder whether its owner had lunch with us at Krimo's. You may just see the sign on the other side of the lock gates.
Doesn't it look like a scene from James Bond, especially with the speedboats and yachts.
From Hartlepool with Love...
Krimo's New Year Resolution...
Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.(Poll in the top right hand corner)
I gave up smoking on 31st January 1985. Nearly 24 years ago!
Why the end of January?
I realised it would take time to motivate myself to give up. One whole month when I told everyone I knew that I was going to stop smoking by the end of it.
It also took me a long time to chose a substitute for the cigarette. I once saw a poster at Sunderland Poly with the following headline "I gave up smoking eating prunes!". But what I remembered most was the scribbled line underneath that said "...And now I am trying to give up prunes."
My mother, though she never smoked in her life, had a habit of chewing coffee beans. Goodness only knows why.
So I decided to go for coffee beans as an alternative to cigarettes. Nicorette patches and gum had yet to be invented.
And it worked!
For years, my breath smelt of fresh coffee and my teeth were pebbledashed with ground coffee because every time I felt like a cigarette, I dug a couple of coffee beans out of my pocket.
Nearly 24 years on, I must admit that I still enjoy chewing the odd coffee bean every now and then.
This year, my resolution is much simpler than giving up smoking.
I have resolved that all our restaurants shall give even better value while offering the same standards to which our customers have become accustomed. Check out our websites for details.
Krimo's, Portofino, Casa del Mar.
Krimo's New Year's Eve Parties...
Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve. The New Year will be bringing even better value in all our restaurants. Check out our websites and you will be pleasantly pleased.
(Poll in the top right hand corner)
All our three restaurants were fully booked last night.
Portofino and Casa del Mar had two sittings. One early on from 5.30pm till 8pm then once the tables were vacated, they were reset for the second sitting. It was nice to see children included in the celebrations. They added to the entertainment.
Krimo's served a Gourmet menu and all our New Year's Eve regulars were delighted with the offering.
Many stayed till after midnight to bring in the New Year with a glass of bubbly.
Later we drifted along to Casa del Mar, where live Latino music echoed around the Marina. A DJ finished the evening with lots of Salsa hits. A few of us were strutting our stuff early into New Year's Day.
We wish all our customers, friends and employees the best of things for 2009. 
Krimo's Christmas Colours...
Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.
(Poll in the top right hand corner)
According to Eat Out Magazine, it appears many diners are going to see how the festive mood takes them, with 17% saying they are just 'not sure' if it's going to be a 'cut back' Christmas or whether they will dine out more or less frequently, compared to this time last year.
In Hartlepool , everyone in the business reported a drop in customer numbers since mid-November compared to the same period last year.
Over the holidays, shops, restaurants, cafes, etc... were full to capacity. Let us hope the mood continues into the New Year.
At home we went for the usual favourites:
Family gatherings...
Friends...
Pomegranates, Duck, Tuna, Turkey...and lots of Christmas spirit.
Pools lost twice but didn't put a damper on things:
A Boxing Day trip to Scunthorpe to watch them lose 3-0.
And losing 4-1 at home against bottom of the league, Crewe Alexandra.
Let's hope we start the New Year with a better result on Saturday against Stoke City in the Cup.
Krimo's Christmas Stuffing...
Just after struggling through the last mouthful of Christmas Pudding back in December 1985, following a busy shift on our first Christmas Day at Krimo's, we decided never to open again on that day.
We felt, just as our last poll concluded, that Christmas is for families, kids, presents, lots of food and drink but no work whatsoever...
No work? Maybe for some but I've still ended up cooking dinner for a minimum of a dozen people every year since then.
But it's not real work, honest. I really love preparing and cooking the Christmas dinner. Karen is charge of the table and the desserts with an "s"... Thousands of calories!
By the time I've finished cooking, I'm as stuffed as the obligatory turkey. But I still try to make something different every year.
This time, I've plumped on three small starters.
An espresso cupful of cauliflower and cheese soup.
A piece of seared tuna in sesame seeds and wasabi dressing.
A couple of slices of pink roasted duck breast with sweet chili dressing.
For main course I've decided to serve the turkey boned and rolled with a chestnut stuffing. This will save the hassle when it comes to carving. I've often tried the same with chicken and the result is quite good.
I will also have to cook a piece of beef for those who don't like turkey.
We felt, just as our last poll concluded, that Christmas is for families, kids, presents, lots of food and drink but no work whatsoever...
No work? Maybe for some but I've still ended up cooking dinner for a minimum of a dozen people every year since then.
But it's not real work, honest. I really love preparing and cooking the Christmas dinner. Karen is charge of the table and the desserts with an "s"... Thousands of calories!
By the time I've finished cooking, I'm as stuffed as the obligatory turkey. But I still try to make something different every year.
This time, I've plumped on three small starters.
An espresso cupful of cauliflower and cheese soup.
A piece of seared tuna in sesame seeds and wasabi dressing.
A couple of slices of pink roasted duck breast with sweet chili dressing.
For main course I've decided to serve the turkey boned and rolled with a chestnut stuffing. This will save the hassle when it comes to carving. I've often tried the same with chicken and the result is quite good.
I will also have to cook a piece of beef for those who don't like turkey.
Usually Karen insists on 1 million different vegetables but this year, I am going to resist and only serve four or five including potatoes.
I've also decided to cook a few Conference pears in red wine and cinnamon and serve them with lemon sorbet. Very refreshing dessert!
And I'll fall asleep just after that.
I've also decided to cook a few Conference pears in red wine and cinnamon and serve them with lemon sorbet. Very refreshing dessert!
And I'll fall asleep just after that.
Please feel free to make your voice heard in our new poll.
The turkey featured below is last year's. I think we've still got some left for sarnies...
Krimo's Naval Gazing...
When Hartlepool Marina began taking shape in the early nineties, my dream was to open a casual bistro serving from pizzas to fresh fish, pasta to steaks, somewhere very close to water.
Was it my Mediterranean feet itching to dangle in the sea?
Was it my Naval Architecture past at Sunderland Poly tugging me back to the shipping lanes?
I wonder.
All I know is that our Pizzeria-Bistro, Portofino couldn't have brought me closer to my dream!
I listen with pride to our customers' wonderful comments about Portofino's location.
On the right we have HMS Trincomalee, Britain's oldest warship afloat, bobbing up and down so close to our windows that, when I tell our younger diners that she is my private yacht their eyes light up with disbelief.
Out of our front windows, Hartlepool Marina glistens invitingly in the sunlight or moonlight, transporting us back to happy Mediterranean holidays. After a few glasses of Rosé, it is often compared to Puerto Banus or St Tropez...
Right here on Hartlepool Maritime Experience!
Many a morning, I've sipped a coffee at table 9 while proudly guarding MY yacht and MY swimming pool.
Please enter our Christmas Day poll... (top right)
Krimo's and the power of crunchy carrots...
The Eating Out Poll showed that the majority of us eat out once a month followed by once a week.
I am a once-a-weeker... But I call it market research. Whenever I eat out I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.
Crunchy Carrots!!!
I feel like writing a letter to Tesco to help them save a bit of money in this current economic climate. By adding the word "crunchy" to the packaging, Tesco have unnecessarily wasted quite a few quid in extra ink.
To the best of my knowledge, carrots have, since the beginning of Time, always been crunchy. So why the emphasis?
Are there any other varieties of carrots that we haven't yet discovered?
Squeaky carrots? Silent carrots? Soft carrots?
If a carrot is soft, it's because it is defunct and is only good for the compost bin.
What next? Sweet Sugar, Salty Salt...
But, guess what? I ended up buying two bag of crunchy carrots!
I must have been subliminally enticed to buy them...
(Actually I'm joking! They were two for the price of one... They might come in handy for these dark nights.)
Please enter our Christmas Day poll... (top right)
Personally I cook our Christmas Dinner for the whole family... Grrrreat!!!
Krimo's Al Dente Offerings...
2008 has been a very hard year for business in general and catering in particular.
It began with huge increases in food prices: butter, flour, meat, fish, (cooking) oil, etc...
The finger pointed at the price of (the other) oil, last summer's floods, the ongoing wars, Indian Ocean pirates, elections, etc...
Anything and everything, really. Just take your pick.
Then came the dreaded C.C.
Do you know that in the last few months, the most Googled phrase has been Credit Crunch?
I love anything al dente but not sure about this one.
Everyone is predicting gloomy times ahead and sadly there will be many casualties.
I sympathise with anyone starting a business in this current economic climate.
Having said it before, I shall repeat myself as usual.
When people do not have much cash to play with, they will invariably stick to what they know.
At Krimo's we are lucky to have gone through many lean times over the 24 years we've been in business, not only survived them and but come out stronger.
Our Eating Out Poll is showing that more people dine out once a month. (A couple of days to go)
So, as long as they come to one of our restaurants every three months, we will survive...
Saturday Night Flavour...
Christmas is only twelve days away. The party season is reaching its last fortnight and peak. But there is no escaping the credit crunch. Up to the middle of November, Christmas party bookings were slow in coming as everyone was being very wary of making long term plans. But on the day, customers have arrived in their droves.
Next week is pretty booked up solid in all three restaurants. Last year, Noel, Portofino's head chef kept a tally of the number of customers in the last full week leading up to Christmas Day. Over 1200 customers!
I doubt whether we will beat that record this year, but we won't be far off it.
I took these photos last night while going round our restaurants to watch revellers eating, drinking and being merry.
I caught Barry Anderson with a bit of tinsel in his hair. He threatened never to grace us with his patronage again if I published the photo on the blog.
I'll just have to blackmail him. Maybe a good bottle of red wine once a week...
By the way, don't forget to vote in our "Eating out poll" (Top right)
Cooking wisdom...
The Poll on Swearing in the Kitchen showed by 80% to 20% that we do not agree with foul language in kitchens and especially TV kitchens.
Thanks to all those who entered, all 35 of you.
Rising to his own defence, Gordon Ramsay pleads: "People say I'm a monster, but I'm not a monster... I just have to maintain a high standard that people are paying a fortune for. I seem to be the only chef in the country who gets upset when things go wrong."
Chefs in their kitchen are like sea captains aboard their ship.
They have to have the last word on what goes on. You can only laugh when they laugh. If they're quiet during service, you'd be a fool to utter a word that has nothing to do with food. I know this because I was a chef!
But when they're relaxed they are very amiable beings, always willing to impart a few pearls of wisdom.
Delia Smith, our famous TV chef once said: "Football and cookery are the two most important subjects in this country."
Obviously, she has an interest in both. Football being her second love as she is joint majority shareholder in Norwich City FC.
Woody Allen, though not a chef, but a brilliant actor and director said: "I will not eat oysters. I want my food dead. Not sick, not wounded... Dead!"
Miss Piggy, serial dieter has this piece of advice for us: "Never eat more than you can lift."
How often do you eat out?
Please vote now. (Top right hand corner)
Ballot stuffing...
I've just discovered a Blogger widget which I've placed on the top right of my blog.
See it?
Personally, I do not agree with swearing anyway.
I think Gordon Ramshead is a great chef and an even better businessman. But does he really need to swear every other word to be funny? A few years ago, when a hidden camera caught him demeaning a French waiter, I began worrying about the message this would send to young catering students on their way to real life in a hotel or a restaurant.
Bullying? What the program showed was more like verbal assassination!
We often hear moans of the fabric of society being eroded, the young don't respect anything anymore... A couple of TV presenters take this abject practice to the limit...
Come on!
Isn't about time "Role Models" like Gordon Ramsay realised that every time they appear on our screens, they have a moral duty to educate young people with the skills they have honed over the years rather than make them laugh with gratuitous foul language.
There is a time and a place for that kind of thing and I certainly don't agree that it should be on a TV cookery program!
Please make your vote count if only till the end of next week.
How to carve a turkey...
I'm quite certain that the following has happened to some of us at one time or another on Christmas Day.
We've cooked our vegetables al dente, roasted our potatoes golden and crisp, set the table beautifully and then....
HACKED OUR TURKEY TO SHREDS!!!
This useful video is the way to present a turkey on Christmas Day.
But don't wait until the last minute to watch and practice.
Try carving a chicken once a week. I know that most of us prefer boneless breasts but how much easier and more delicious can it get, sticking a whole chicken in the oven and roasting it on the bone.
Practice makes perfect!!
BON APPETIT!
Good things come in little packages...
I discovered Chopitos a few years ago, on a Spanish holiday.
"Chop yer toes?"
Well, they do look like deep-fried giant nail clippings.
They are in fact tiny Mediterranean squid, the size of a finger, tossed in seasoned flour, lightly deep-fried and served in a heap of a dozen or more depending on how relaxed the chef feels on the day. A slice of lemon and sometimes a pot of garlic mayonnaise, if that same chef happens to be on duty.
If, unlike me you are averse to seafood, you could be fooled in thinking they were some kind of fishy popcorn and maybe fall in love with them.
By the way, do not forget to enter our £50 Meal Draw on our websites.
Sadly or thankfully, depending on your fishy tastes, the meal will not include Chopitos...
Paesano...
Necessity is the mother of invention.
I devised this dish within weeks of our restaurant opening at Seaton Carew.
The menu included among many other things, three dishes with beef fillet as the main ingredient. Two required one eight ounce piece of fillet, known as Tournedos and one, the Bellini used three medallions.
I was left with the tail end which I could not use after slicing the fillet. So I used to quickly sauté the leftovers, cut them into strips and share them among those present.
After a few weeks I realised that those nibbles cost exactly as much as the Tournedos itself and my kitchen gross profit began suffering.
I decided to try and “invent” a dish to use them up. In food, you can be assured that everything has already been invented. It is just a question of playing about with various combinations of basic ingredients and hopefully ending up with something palatable.
Using various condiments, herbs, alcohols, etc… I experimented over a period of two or three weeks. Karen was my chief taster, my barometer not to say my guinea-pig. If she liked a dish, I knew that everyone else would. If she didn´t like it, then she pulled no punches.
For days she turned her nose up at all my early attempts. Just as I began losing hope of ever creating a new sauce, she smiled and the Paesano was born!
Why Peasano?
Krimo’s started out as an Italian restaurant also serving pastas and pizzas. Paesano is the Italian for peasant. No idea where the brainwave came from but that was all I could come up with at the time.
Karen fell in love with the dish and I put it on the menu she sold it and sold it.
Within a few weeks, the fillet ends were not enough. I began using whole fillets cut into strips to meet the demand.
To this day, it is still the most popular dish on our menu. The recipe is very simple: garlic, sage, mustard and cream.
Many local restaurants have tried but sadly failed to reproduce this simple sauce. On several menus, I have seen “Paesano” spelt various ways, pisano, passano, etc…
Imitation is the best form of flattery…
Credit Crunch...
I'm sure that most of us have gone through a few of those in our life, survived and even gained a few pounds. Well, I have.
We humans are resilient and we adapt. We can all make a penny stretch if we have to. We all know how to save money on food. We can all make panfuls of soups, slow-cook cheaper cuts of meat, grow vegetables, keep chickens, etc...
But all these money-saving ideas demand dedication, motivation and getting up from in front of the telly.
Are we prepared to act now or shall we wait until the fridge is empty before we begin panicking?
When I was a student, a million years ago, at Sunderland Poly (1976), my food intake followed the same pattern every month.
The beginning of the month, having just received my grant, I used to splash out on nice bottle of Medoc, a leg of lamb and green beans.
But as my funds dwindled, the daily menu went from a feast to a famine in just thirty days:
Fillet steak-sirloin steak-stewing steak-minced meat
Chicken breast...chicken leg...chicken thigh...chicken drumstick
Spag Bol...Spag and tomato sauce...macaroni-cheese...macaroni-butter
Chicken soup...chick pea soup...warm water...cold water
By which time I was gasping for the end of the month to arrive along with my grant.
I think I inherited my resilience from my mother, bless her soul. She was a very inventive cook and a great motivator. At least three times a week she converted us kids into vegetarians without even preaching. She just couldn't afford meat...
Cartoon Courtesy of The Guardian.
Time flies when you're having fun!!
Before my grandaughter, Evie sat down for her first pizza at Portofino when she was about 2½ years old, it was just an empty room on the Historic Quay.
In the hands of a small team of dedicated workers headed by Malcolm the joiner from Seaham, that empty space was transformed into what has turned out to be the most popular pizzeria (allegedly according to our customers) in Hartlepool.
They worked from July to October sometimes seven days a week to follow my unwritten plans.
Every day we started with a new idea, a new way of titivating the place.
From mosaics to murals, window shutters to balconies... Nothing was planned.
The joiner's mate turned out to be a graphic designer and we got him roped into creating a mural. A patisserie shopfront. Delightful.
A long-standing friend, now in Canada helped tile the toilets among other things.
The whole family contributed. Painting, stencilling, cleaning...
Nowadays, on a busy night when the place is bouncing, I look around and remember the days when, alone well into the evening, I chopped tiny bits of tiles and stuck them onto the walls in various patterns invented on the spot.
Yep! The proof is definitely in the eating...
New York never sleeps...
And neither does Colin...
Friday morning, I texted to wish him a good time, as he happens to be in New York for a pre-Christmas break. I asked him to say hello to Obama from me if he happened to see him.
He texted back:
"Will do. It's great here.
Went to a restaurant called Gilt last night. Check it out online. It has 2 stars. Was awesome as the Yanks say.
By the way it's 5 hours behind here. Lol."
Oops... I had forgotten about the time difference and had sent him a text just after 9 am.
I wonder whether Colin will bring us back a doggy-bag from Gilt..."Will do. It's great here.
Went to a restaurant called Gilt last night. Check it out online. It has 2 stars. Was awesome as the Yanks say.
By the way it's 5 hours behind here. Lol."
Oops... I had forgotten about the time difference and had sent him a text just after 9 am.
Spookery Programmes...
They spook me out!
Cookery programmes that are transformed into a lukewarm foody version of the X-Factor.
Down to the incidental music, the tic-toc, the suspense, the bated breath...
"The chef who is coming back next week isssss..."
Before the name is announced, you have ample time to head for the kitchen, whip yourselves a three-egg omelette, two slices of toast and a cup a tea.
"The chef who is going home this week isssss..."
Fancy a quick pizza? You have all the time in the world to make the whole thing from scratch. Flour, yeast, cheese, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, etc...
Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramshead, Raymond Blanc, Jamie Oliver, Anthony Worrall-Thompson, Michel Roux, Jean Christophe Novelli, Ronald McDonald... The whole lot of them are getting on the bandwagon!
Yesterday afternoon, I flicked to ITV and there was gentle Rosemary Shrager teaching a bunch of budding chefs how to make pastry, ice cream in relaxed, beautiful surroundings.
A breath of fresh air of a cookery programme...
...That is until she got up on her pedestal and put on her X-Factor voice and said:
"The chef who is coming back next week isssss..."
I got up and went to work.
Fireworks...
Tonight, Hartlepool skies sparkled with shooting stars...
Who needs organised displays when you can sit in your car up in the heights above Hartlepool and watch an amazing array of fireworks coming from gardens, back streets, and pub car parks light up the horizon.
Wouldn't it be great if we could synchronise the lot and turn the town into one MASSIVE display?
Very simple!
Get a map and a box of pins. Ask all those who intend to light up fireworks to do so at an exact moment in time.
Get a map and a box of pins. Ask all those who intend to light up fireworks to do so at an exact moment in time.
Ok, ok... I thought of everything!
Everyone would have synchronised their watch before the start... Hah!
Everyone would have synchronised their watch before the start... Hah!
Then at around 8pm get the show started, let's say in a circle from the outskirts, moving slowly across town and culiminating at the Marina!
What do you think?
Speaking of fireworks, didn't Obama do well?
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Precious Herbs...
In a land far, far away, a million years ago, that is Seaton Carew (Hartlepool) back in 1985, when fresh herbs were as rare as Marijuana, as a budding chef I searched high and low for these essential ingredients to flavour my dishes.
Parsley was not so bad because I could occasionally get it from our friendly greengrocer's Heckels and Hunter, who thought I was mad to add anything else but a pinch of salt to food. Herbs such as coriander, rosemary, sage, fennel or dill, etc... were unheard of.
I suddenly had a brainwave! A tiny ad in the Hartlepool Mail.
Fresh herbs desperately
wanted by restaurant.
Please call...
I suddenly had a brainwave! A tiny ad in the Hartlepool Mail.
Fresh herbs desperately
wanted by restaurant.
Please call...
The same afternoon as the advert appeared in the paper, a reporter called and offered to help me in my quest for fresh herbs.
The following day my photo, with chef's hat and all, appeared on the front page! There mustn't have been any major crimes to report that day. A two-column story followed.
"Chef... Herbs...blah...blah...blah"
My restaurant was besieged by gardeners and housewives loaded with herbs... Parsley, Thyme, Green Sage, Purple Sage, Apple Mint, Spearmint, Lemon Mint, Rosemary... and... LOVAGE! I had no idea such a lovely herb existed.
I was overwhelmed by the response.
The next day the Mail did a follow-up story in which it passed on my thanks to those helpful people, especially the ones who who had anonymously placed bagfuls of herbs through the restaurant's letterbox. A practice that went on for months.
Nowadays, just go to any neighbourhood supermarket and you will find an amazing array of fresh herbs.
That's the Power of the Press for you...
The following day my photo, with chef's hat and all, appeared on the front page! There mustn't have been any major crimes to report that day. A two-column story followed.
"Chef... Herbs...blah...blah...blah"
My restaurant was besieged by gardeners and housewives loaded with herbs... Parsley, Thyme, Green Sage, Purple Sage, Apple Mint, Spearmint, Lemon Mint, Rosemary... and... LOVAGE! I had no idea such a lovely herb existed.
I was overwhelmed by the response.
The next day the Mail did a follow-up story in which it passed on my thanks to those helpful people, especially the ones who who had anonymously placed bagfuls of herbs through the restaurant's letterbox. A practice that went on for months.
Nowadays, just go to any neighbourhood supermarket and you will find an amazing array of fresh herbs.
That's the Power of the Press for you...
PS:
Will the person who keeps dropping dead leaves in front of our restaurants every autumn please remove them. They are NOT herbs!
Telephone Wind-up...
aThe US election reports have now been pushed into second place in the news agenda by Russel Brand and Jonathan Ross's telephone antics. Brand has now quit the BBC and Ross has been suspended for the next three months.
The younger generations don't see all the fuss while old foggies like me think that they really went too far this time. I personally will never agree with swearing on the telly. Filthy-mouth Gordon Ramsay has a lot to answer for.
But I am all for telephone wind-ups when they are funny!
Just like the time, when our most famous local DJ, Paul "Goffy" Gough set me up by getting an impersonator to pretend president Mandela wanted a table at Krimo's...
The guy really sounded like our Nelson, but did I fall for the scam?
No Way, José!
Later Goffy sent me a copy of his wind-ups CD. Funny but not obnoxious!
Read The Hartlepool Mail Story.
We have the X-Factor...
On a very cold Saturday night in Hartlepool, Portofino was warmed up by the appearance of a young lady who had reached the X-Factor final with the girl-band, Bad Lashes.
Sophie was a surprise present for her father's birthday.
She performed with the well known Hartlepool guitar player, Andrew Ingledew (My teacher).
Several new customers enquired whether this was a regular occurrence.
We could've told a small fib but preferred to own up and explain why the X-Factor fever had reached Portofino....
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