Hours and hours on a train that was delayed and then delayed again. All stuffed in like cattle on the Virgin Pendelino 'superfast' service from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. The train was so overcrowded that if you weren't lucky you had to stand all the way - and there were loads of people who had to. The journey took over 4½ hours and for over half of this time the buffet car was closed, so you couldn't even get a drink of cold water if you were thirsty.

So much for Richard Branson and his idea to bring quality back into the British rail system, this was truly crap, quite the worst train journey I've had in years. Somebody should be fired or hung, or both.

Anyway - by the time I got back to Manchester it was gone ten o'clock. I was tired, hungry and in no mood for cooking up anything complicated. Fortunately I have emergency stores and am prepared for such an eventuality.

Some time ago I saw some tasty looking little pasta thingies in a Turkish supermarket near where I live. I didn't know what was inside them and there was no writing in English anywhere on the packet - it's all Turkish and nothing else. I assumed they were savoury (a gamble I will admit as the Turks generally love sweet food) and I had no idea what was inside them or what to serve with them. I decided to cook them anyway.

While the 'ravioli' bubbled away I made myself an excellent starter with some of the cured meats and salad things that were lying around and waited excitedly to try my new discovery.

After about 12 minutes I thought I'd taste one to see if they were done and what exactly they were. Well, it was definitely a savoury dish, but what the filling was I have no idea. It was yellow, that much I can say without fear of contradiction, but what the yellow matter was, is a complete mystery. I decided that it needed something spicy to give it some oomph and made a dressing from some chilli oil and wine vinegar (plus a few other assorted spicy condiments).

It's not exactly home cooking, but for 11.00 on a Sunday night, when you're dehydrated, tired and pissed off, it wasn't too bad at all.

And if you see that Richard Branson chappy, can you give him a punch in the balls from me?

Thanks.


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Lemon Bundt Cake: From Cafe Ritazza


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