Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year Nearly Round-up

Protectors of Chinatown
Dragons of Chinatown

2009, what a year.

I don't know about you guys, but it certainly was an interesting one for me. In January, I was in a hospital bed wondering what the hell this year had in store. I had just had a kidney transplant, kindly donated from my mother after 6 years of dialysis. As I lay motionless in my bed, it gave me plenty of time to try and get my mind in focus. Of course, all I did was watch TV, play computer games and do sudoku.

Chicken and ham hock salad @ Skylon Grill
One of my favourite dishes of the year, a chicken and ham hock salad from Skylon

What it also meant was that a whole new world of food was opened up to me. Previously, I had to watch what I ate and drank quite closely. My diet had to be finely balanced, too much potassium, salt and water amongst other things may have odd effects on me. With the new kidney, I could eat again without worry. And that's sort of where this blog came from. Bored and my minding slowly melting to jelly after hours of daytime TV prompted me to look for other avenues for mental stimulation other than Jeremy Kyle and endless Stargate Atlantis. Treefroggirl suggested I write a play, but not knowing where to start, a rather unusual chinaman was born.

Seattle
Pike Market in Seattle

It started out as musings, an online diary of every day comings and goings. It swiftly dawned on me that all I did was eat so the natural evolution of the blog gravitated towards that. During this year, I have met many new people and made many new friends. I have eaten many things I never thought I would and have also been able to travel again since July, which saw me head to Edinburgh, Dublin, Seattle, New York and Las Vegas. So after all that waffle, here are some highlights of the year.

Best Meal of the year - L'Ecrivain, Dublin

Dinner at L'Ecrivain

It was a tough one, as I have been fortunate to eat at so many great restaurants this year, but when I think of this place it just brings a smile to my face. Having visited on a quick 3 day trip with my younger cousin, every dish was finely balanced and packed with my favourite ingredients. Amazing flavours and a thoroughly warming environment just added to a wonderful evening meal. Other notable mentions include the Ledbury (an enjoyable and comfortable dining experience in a formal space, supplemented by superlative cooking) and Goodman (amazing steaks).

New friends

As I mentioned earlier, the food blogging world has introduced me to many, many new people. Through this network, I have met the weird and wonderful, people from all parts of the world, truly diverse in nature. But one thing unites us all and that is our love for food and the search for that perfect dish. Here are a few of the people who have made much of this year a pleasure.

Catty from the Catty Life (not cattylife) - Pint sized blogging powerhouse, with an inimitable way with words.

Mark from Food by Mark - Big cuddly bear with plenty to say but not enough time to blog about it ;)

Kang from LondonEater - Blogger/Photographer and rubber enthusiast

Charz-Siu from Tasty Treats - International woman of mystery and fountain of food knowledge.

Lizzie from Hollowlegs - Big opinions, big heart and an even bigger appetite. Cake and curry queen.

Danny from WMPC - One man dinner blagging machine who even got me to cook for him.

Carla from Canbebribedwithfood - Crazy and lovely carrot hater

Jassy from Ginandcrumpets - She makes mince pies with beef mince. Awesome

Rachel McCormack - No blog but a weegie who likes food and dislikes zombies

Helen from WorldFoodieGuide - An inspiration who has gone into retirement. Honorary tweatup member.

There are so many more. Thank you all.

Other notable events

The day we won the Ashes

Easy, we won the Ashes and I was there. Amazing.

Resolutions

As a rule, I don't believe in these. But I thought I would put together a few I know I can keep.

1. To say I write about food with pride
2. Keep on expanding my culinary horizons (including trying goose and maybe an anchovy)
3. To get others to try more (carrots Carla?)
4. Be a better son
5. Spend more time in my kitchen and cook
6. Enjoy my life

The Future

Who knows what's going to happen in 2010. Big things are happening at work and trips have been scheduled to Malaysia and Bali as well as the big one, nearly 3 weeks touring South Africa during the World Cup with my bru @cyberdees.

Food wise, hopefully I will make it to the Fat Duck and who knows, maybe this year I will get that elusive reservation at El Bulli. Explore a bit more outside of London and continue on my quest for the perfect roast duck and crispy pork and rice.

Thank you all for reading this and I hope I can keep you all coming back for the year to come.

And just for you Cat!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this immensely. Written so well and from the heart. I feel privileged to 'know' you. Thank you for entertaining and illuminating us,
Sarah (@brockhallfarm)
PS: all the very best for 2010. You deserve it!

Hollow Legs said...

Awwh. It was really great to meet you too, and I know we'll stay firm friends.

I knew I'd bend you around trying that anchovy ;)

catty said...

UN that final photo is the best new years present anyone could give me! I {heart} you so much, and so happy to have met you this year also. Strange, like you said, how putting some words down on a virtual page can lead to true and wonderful friendships.

Happy new year buddy.

x

kang said...

Euwen - its been brilliant meeting you as well mate, heres to an even more gluttonous 2010 :)

Charmaine said...

Thank goodness for that one fateful day when our paths crossed over the controversy known as the 'oriental vs asian' debate ;)

Here's to more laughs, meals and epic gmail threads in 2010!

LexEat! said...

I think your inspiration for starting your blog is fantastic. Lovely to read about discovering food again! and also great to meet you recently.

Happy New Year!

Wild Boar said...

Rawr you're going to SA2010? Lucky bastard.

Su-Lin said...

Going to agree with LexEat here - your start to this blog is quite something! Happy New Year!

Mark said...

Ah... that bloody asian vs oriental debate. I'm both.

Happy New Year mate.

And thanks for getting my website right!

ginandcrumpets said...

Wow, that is quite an eventful year you've had – delighted to see meeting me merits a mention! Blogging is a great way to meet lovely people and eat lots of lovely food. Here's to more of it in 2010.

tehbus said...

@Sarah - Thanks Sarah. I loved your cheese and would love to meet the goats some time in the future :)

@Lizzie - I will only try one once our bet is over.

@tweatup crew - Love you guys

@Lex, Su Lin and Jassy - Thanks! 2009 definitely had a lot of ups and downs, but lovely to have met you all and looking forward to meeting more in 2010!

@wildboar - Damn right! Got tickets for 6 games and going on a road trip with my SA friend.

Greedy Diva said...

Great round up - here's to an even feastier 2010!

goingwithmygut said...

Thanks for sharing this. Very heartfelt.

Hope to have some great tips for you for South Africa. And as for trying anchovy -- the anchovy soldiers dipped in parmesan custard at Le Cafe Anglais is probably the best introduction I can think of.

May all your days in 2010 be delicious ones. Keep writing.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Totally agree with Going With My Gut about the anchovy toast at Le Cafe Anglais. A great introduction!

My mother is a renal nurse and I remember visiting her at work one day in QLD - 35C temperatures and patients waiting for their dialysis who hadn't been able to have a drink of water. Glad you got your transplant!

tehbus said...

@goingwithmygut Would love those SA recs!

And thanks to you and @foodycat for the kind words. I have actually tried the anchovy toasts at Cafe Anglais, but one nibble was pretty overpowering. Not sure if I am going to be able to conquer that one!