When we used to do the weekly shopping for Mrs H’s parents, we were mildly amused that four egg custards were always on the shopping list. We associated a liking for egg custard with the older generation, ours having more sophisticated tastes.
And yet…
This morning we decided to whizz off to one of our favourite cafes where we have recently acquired a taste for… er… umm… coffee and a slice of egg custard.
Does this mean we have officially joined the ranks of the oldies? Possibly it does. Maybe a liking for egg custard could even be used as a test for Covid-19 vulnerability.
10 comments:
With a bit of astute marketing ("actually originated among and sustained an oppressed group of people in Central Asia...") it could catch on among hipsters in London. Blokes with big beards and tattoos serving it as a follow up to your smashed avocados and home-roasted Albanian coffee. Yours for only £6.50 a slice.
Nutmeg, in sufficient quantities, is an hallucinogen. Although it has some unpleasant side effects.
Cardigans, you know when you are getting old when you start wearing cardigans.
DJ, I have heard that the initial side effect is nausea. The later side effect is less unpleasant but can be embarrassing.
My mum was always making egg custard, and thinking back, all I can remember is the nutmeg flavour!
At least it was nicer than junket, which often didn't make the grade...
"Pastel de nata is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry dusted with cinnamon." Delish.
Available in East Anglia wherever there is a concentration of Portuguese agricultural labour.
(About whom, by the way, I've never seen any complaints - unlike various other imported agricultural labourers.)
The custard tart, on a trip to the town center Morrisinghs only yesterday the huge pile of custard tarts on offer had already had a big hole made in in it by 9.30 in the morning, find it hard to believe all the sales were to OAPs though we did buy some, Morrisinghs do the best of the supermarket versions, I know I have tried them all.
Footnote the wonderful Eccles cakes they do seem to have disappeared, I shall investigate, standards are slipping!
Custards - yummy! Another old favourite which brings problems of its own is the vanilla slice: how do you eat one in polite company? My way is to dismantle if layer by layer, which ratjer defeats the craftsmanship employed in creating it. It's either that or bite in and see it explode all over the table - or your lap!
We find the baking at Waitrose routinely disappointing so it is with some wonder that I can recommend their almond croissants and cinnamon buns.
Which reminds me it's years since I enjoyed a real old-fashioned bread and butter pud, crisp on top and lots of dried fruit, soaked in what is basically egg custard but much tastier.
Sam - Sam especially if the whole thing could be given that baked on hot stones look.
DJ - so the flamingos on the reservoir may not have been real?
Andy - oh dear, I found myself looking at cardigans the other day.
Scrobs - my mum made egg custard too and fortunately I don't think she ever made junket.
dearieme - we've also acquired a taste for Portuguese egg custard tarts. I looked up a recipe once but it was too fiddly for my modest culinary skills.
Wiggia - we don't have a handy Morrisons or we'd probably use it for added variety. We used to buy really good Eccles cakes from a local deli but it closed some years ago.
Jannie - I never go for vanilla slice. I wouldn't want to dismantle it and I'm not going to risk the alternative, at least not in public.
Anon - almond croissants and cinnamon buns sound good. While on holiday in the summer we visited a cafe which had been recommended for its cinnamon buns but they had sold out when we went.
Woodsy - worth looking up a recipe because it doesn't sound difficult. I do a simpler version which is also good, but not as good as the real thing.
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