Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The cold creeps in, Cherie& Gordon, dreaming of meatpie

It's beginning to feel quite cold in the mornings and the evenings and I suppose that soon I will have to dig out my warm clothing, swop my light soled summer shoes for my thicker soled winter ones and begin to contemplate the cost of heating.....

The barbecue the other night was a qualified success- getting there was a nightmare as there were so many roadworks going on and the Northern Line was closed so I couldn't get on the tube. I was amazed at how intolerant of traffic I had become- I, veteran of three hour long sweltering, packed solid, no movement traffic jams almost throwing a tantrum because of an hour's delay.....Anyway the food and company more than made up for it- even if there was no meat proper- the burgers, sausages and salmon were just right- and unlike the case at many barbecues I've been to, the host actually managed to produce well-cooked, juicy food without burning any of it.....

Yesterday I decided to be adventurous and had a Jamaican meat pattie for lunch. What I had really wanted was a Nigerian meat pie and the patty did not quite measure up. Cornish pasties which also look like meat pies and which I've tried as a subsitute have ended up being stuffed with more vegetables than meat which as every Nigerian knows is the first no-no for a real meatpie.....the sort that Kingsway used to sell with thin, crusty, flaky pastry and thick savoury meat before they morphed into Mr Biggs and started selling the mass produced starchy nonsense that they sell now.....Perhaps I'll just have to make my own....

The news here is filled with stories of the Labour Party conference- it appears that the verdict on Gordon Brown's speech yesterday was good but not great. But it was overshadowed by the allegation that Mrs Blair had been seen saying "Well that's a lie" when Mr Brown spoke of his warm and productive working relationship with her husband- Tony. Apparently there has never been any love lost between Cherie and Gordon- and she hasn't really refrained from showing it.... I suppose not being a politician she can afford to be more frank than her husband.... Amazing how little things change...look what I was blogging about a year ago
http://uknaija.blogspot.com/2005/09/leaders-squabbling-with-their-vices.html

The political jostling in Nigeria continues to unfold- with allegations of Senators being bribed to impeach the Vice President- and refutals and various "leaders of thought" and senior citizens calling on the President and his vice to sheathe their swords as their exalted offices are "being damaged" by the ongoing feud. As far as I'm concerned, both parties should continue with their revelations- I believe the whole process strengthens rather than weakens the Nigerian democratic process......

I'm reading and enjoying Howard Jacobson's Kalooki Nights which was also longlisted for the Booker this year.Jacobson, himself of Jewish heritage explores Jewishness in a half humorous, half serious way that is engaging. You can almost sense in the writing the author's own struggle with what it means to be a Jew as he paints various perspectives including that of the Orthodox Jews, Liberal Jews and atheist Jews.....it's a great book and one which I approached with some skepticism but am enjoying....

7 comments:

ayoke said...

Like you, I do believe the whole OBJ-Atiku war strengthens rather than weakens the Nigerian democratic process. We're just waiting to see how it'll end.

Anonymous said...

Off the record. I had 5 Naija made meatpies yesterday, still fresh for Lagos. (Wonder how they passed Customes)

& yes ... (OBJ/Turaki) This whole process will strengthen rather than weaken the Nigerian democratic process......

ayoke said...

5 meatpies? Hmm.

Anthony Arojojoye said...

Imagine myself who's here in the nation never linked the disappearance of Kingsway to the emergence of Mr. Biggs. I thought they happened on their own. You definitely can't know all going on around ya!
@Aba boy, and u are sure those pastries came from Nigeria? With this tight regulation palava? Well, sebi dem customs are Nigerians. Anything can happen.

Unknown said...

This Obasanjo & Atiku saga is unfolding daily!! Let them bring out all their dirty linen for us to see where the whole saga will end!! Not indeath I pray!!

I wanna blag about Mr Duke - CRS Governor. Details on my blog!!

Pilgrimage to Self said...

Naw! To have a true Jamaican pattie, you gots to go to Jamaican, mon! Seriously though, there is nothing like the Jamaican pattie on this earth and there only place to experience it is in JA itself!! The Nigerian meat pie pales seriously in comparison. Now, if you're talking puff puff, well that's another matter...

PS Where've you been? No pressure..

Anonymous said...

nice piece, was lookin for meatpie recipe and was brought here. i may b tempted to copy to link to my fggc girls website...they could do wiff a guy like u. no comment on the politics though i think nigeria is headin towards the right place now.