Fast Food

Too fast or not fast enough? And what's the hurry, anyway? Taste and nutrition are what we're after. Where have those important things gone in the equation? 

Tomatoes are grown and picked to ship now, not to eat. Most chickens are unhappy prisoners in an overcrowded space. Their taste makes me unhappy. I paid real money for a wedge of  Parmigiano-Reggiano. It's tasteless and dry and hard as a rock. Pecorino Romano? Forget it. I've been forced to put an English cheddar on my pasta! The ghosts of the Caesars will haunt me. 

They now call fast food "street food." It sounds hip and jazzy. It doesn't improve the taste though. Real street food is sold on the street, not in a restaurant. Is street food healthy? Maybe some of it, maybe none. 

Liverpool is not a great restaurant town. It's better with traditional pubs but that's less important to me. San Miguel de Allende, a much smaller place than Liverpool, had far better bistros. It's not Lyon or Bologna, but I was impressed. In San Miguel, when you order guacamole, they make it from scratch. I also found better restaurants in Montreal, Lisbon, Seville, Galway, and even in Sligo. 

But Liverpool is a distinctive city of almost a million people and I've been here for a year now. I've found more than a half dozen places I like. Of course, the pandemic lockdown has not helped things. 

I've been alternating between three breakfasts at home—the one above with berries, yogurt, walnuts, and a broken-up muffin, and the one below, with scrambled eggs, ham, and a muffin. My third was pancakes with fruit. I've stopped that last one; too much sugar and too much white flour. 

Oatmeal used to be the top dog in my breakfast kennel. But I can't get the preps right in this miserable, little kitchen. I fear an oatmeal explosion of some kind. I hope to work things out.

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I'm sure everyone keeps up with the International news regarding the coronavirus and the financial crisis. Here's the latest on Liverpool's partial lifting of the lockdown and my life on the periphery.

Shopping scousers are legion now. On the high street, they are buying and looking to buy again. Security will not let them into the shops if they're not wearing a mask. Bistros are different; you can't eat or drink with a mask on. 

Businesses here and everywhere have already been closing. More will follow. And Whitehall has yet to make a deal on Brexit. I went up to the City Council Office on the top level of St. John's Shopping Centre Friday to pay my tax. It was closed and a security guard told me it would not be reopening in the future. Oh my. I'm trying to give them money. Now I have to figure out how to pay my taxes online.