Part 1 of an occasional rant about restaurant nonsense.
Provenance.
Sometimes it useful to know where a steak comes from; the weight, how long it has hung for, the cut etc are all key to the eating experience. In some ways its also nice to know that scallops are diver caught, or that fish is line caught, that the lamb is Salt marsh. Its a reasonable assurance that the animal was treated well, before cooking at least.
However, I can't see the point of current restaurant practice of naming the farm where the lamb comes from. Neither do I wish to know the name of the goat that produces the cheese (I once ate cheese from a goat called Ethel, apparently). How am I supposed to know if Hefin's farm produces the finest lamb for miles? And perhaps Ethel is a skanky old beast who brings misery and suffering to other goats... Or perhaps the farmer has 200 goats, all called Ethel. Except for one called 'Lucky Dave'.
Where should it stop? Perhaps they should list the voting preferences of the producer, so I can choose not to support anyone who might have tory leanings:
"Blackleg chicken raised on a diet of cashew nuts and owl spit by farmer Bob Blackshirt of Felton Chimp, Lincolnshire. Farmer Blackshirt is a lifelong Tory voter, and likes to spend his leisure time doing jigsaws and dogging."
Er, OK. I'll have the fish then.
Provenance.
Sometimes it useful to know where a steak comes from; the weight, how long it has hung for, the cut etc are all key to the eating experience. In some ways its also nice to know that scallops are diver caught, or that fish is line caught, that the lamb is Salt marsh. Its a reasonable assurance that the animal was treated well, before cooking at least.
However, I can't see the point of current restaurant practice of naming the farm where the lamb comes from. Neither do I wish to know the name of the goat that produces the cheese (I once ate cheese from a goat called Ethel, apparently). How am I supposed to know if Hefin's farm produces the finest lamb for miles? And perhaps Ethel is a skanky old beast who brings misery and suffering to other goats... Or perhaps the farmer has 200 goats, all called Ethel. Except for one called 'Lucky Dave'.
Where should it stop? Perhaps they should list the voting preferences of the producer, so I can choose not to support anyone who might have tory leanings:
"Blackleg chicken raised on a diet of cashew nuts and owl spit by farmer Bob Blackshirt of Felton Chimp, Lincolnshire. Farmer Blackshirt is a lifelong Tory voter, and likes to spend his leisure time doing jigsaws and dogging."
Er, OK. I'll have the fish then.
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