Monday, August 31, 2015

Spaghetti Marinara

How to make the ultimate seafood pasta, and impress everyone (even yourself).

Let’s get one thing straight.  This is an article and recipe about seafood - specifically how to make spaghetti marinara. Though my International readership (in the US) may be confused.

Spaghetti is an Italian word.  It means “Italian egg flour noodles”.  They're  adapted from Chinese noodles discovered on a cultural exchange program with China by Marco Polo in the Thirteenth Century (he introduced Asia to rice in return… not that either food took off!).

I think we can agree on that. (Actually we can't... see comments below from yourself some months later ~ Ed.)

But “marinara”?  Does it mean “of the sea”? I’d like to think so.  Technically, you’d use the term “frutti di mare” in Italian, meaning “fruits of the sea” (which sounds highly suss).  In the US, they think “marinara sauce” is a tomato based concoction, that you might have “with or without clams”. But here en Australie you can readily buy “marinara mix” at fish shops and the supermarket.

So first up, this is about how to make the greatest seafood pasta you can possibly make.

Monday, August 3, 2015

“I See Young People” – Bar Reviews

Rupert on Rupert | Kustom Kommune | The Carlton | the Grace Darling | the Shaw Davey Slum

How do you know you’re getting old?  Probably when you go to a bar, and the people you're out drinking with are at least twenty years younger than you… and they’re all there legally.

Which is not necessarily a bad thing (i.e. you out drinking with youngies).

First up, they’ll be fitter and almost universally better looking than your usual cohort, they’ve yet to be ground down by the heel of bitter experience, and are prone to more outrageously entertaining behaviour than your more mature colleagues.

That said, I’ve been to a few bars lately as an older “tourist”, visiting the gathering pools of the hip and young(er) punters.  Here’s a couple of tips of where to go should you be craving younger companionship: