My Life as a Courgette

It was the surreal name which first attracted me to French /Swiss animation My Life as a Courgette, when it previewed at the Derby Film Festival in May 2017.  It seemed fitting to write about a food monikered film for my first foray into movie reviews. Courgette is Swiss director Claude Barras’s feature length debut and it has been on general release since 2 June 2017.

The narrative is pretty grim; based on a novel by Gilles Paris, this is not a children’s film but a film about being a forgotten child.  We first meet nine year old Icare, nick-named Courgette by his alcoholic mother, whilst he is building a tower from empty beer cans in his bedroom.  From his window he flies a colourful paper kite, illustrated with a picture of his absent superhero father on one side, and a fluffy yellow chick on the other.  His dad, Courgette tells a policeman later, really liked chicks.  This gentle humour in the face of disturbing reality sets the tone of the film.  Despite his circumstances Courgette appears childishly innocent, delighting in his solitary games and decorating his garret with colourful graffiti.

Later, Courgette meets more children like him, with, as bully Simon puts it, ‘no-one left to love us’.   Small details cleverly highlight the sadness in the children’s lives, for example Courgette keeps an empty beer can as a sad memento of his mother whilst it is tragically clear that Simon’s bullying bravado is a desperate defence mechanism.

The claymation is cartoonish, yet painstaking attention to detail in the mis en scène adds grit and realism, for example the graffiti on the walls outside the children’s home.  The huge heads and large eyes of the characters allow nuanced emotions to show on their faces, so that they appear almost excruciatingly human.

Music is used to great effect, in one of my favourite scenes the children dance jerkily under a mirror ball to Swiss 80’s band Grauzone’s track Eisbaer, which I’ve been listening to on repeat since seeing the film.

Despite the dark subject matter, Courgette is remarkably uplifting, celebrating the children’s’ resilience and ability to retain their innocence.  It reminded me of the 2009 Australian claymation Mary and Max, with similarly quirky animation, and gallons of humour and pathos.  For the neglected, abused and marginalised characters, kindness and friendship offer hope and salvation and if the film has a message, it is that no matter what you have been through it is still possible to laugh and to enjoy the small pleasures in life.

The Coopers Arms

Checked out the Coopers Arms last night,since a good friend of mine has recently moved to Weston.  It has been years since I last ate there and in that time the pub has been taken over by the next generation of Coopers, son James and daughter Amy.

It has always had a good reputation for it's carvery but a carvery didn't seem right on Saturday night (although plenty of folks were going for it) so we decided to eat à la carte.  The menu is very reasonably priced and varied, pub classics alongside a few more unusual dishes, with good fish and veggie options.

I had a smoked chicken salad with celeriac remoulade, chicory and paprkia croutons to start, whilst my dining partners shared bread and olives (greedy, moi?)

 For my main I had red pepper gnocchi with asparagus and halloumi, a delicious combination of unctuous gnocchi, fresh asparagus and salty,chargriled cheese in a rich coconut and coriander sauce.

The others had the herb crusted rack of lamb and mussels, both deemed excellent.

The pub was very busy, but staff managed well and were friendly and welcoming. With a log fire going and groups of people drinking in all the little nooks and crannies the atmosphere was most convivial.

The downstairs dining room lacked a little atmosphere with a slight cafeteria vibe but that could easily be rectified with some better lighting.

Heading back for a Sunday carvery in a few weeks.

http://www.thecoopers-arms.co.uk/

Annie's Burger Shack

  I took the boy to Annie's for his birthday today and sadly, there were issues. I know it was the day after, what was possibly, a very busy bank holiday Monday, but the staff were seriously under motivated.  I asked which bottled beers were available and got the answer 'Estrella'.  When  I asked again I was told to go and look over the bar as there were too many to mention.  It was generally pretty hard to get their attention and we aren't a demanding pair.

The 'student pub with a hangover' atmosphere was not helped by the tinny, rubbish music blaring out (Brimful of Asha anyone?  No, thought not) and I hate to say it but the burger (I had a vegetarian, mushroom and Swiss cheese burger) was the kind of fare you'd get at a Scream pub,except it cost more.  The boy enjoyed his Lemmy burger, one of the less elaborate creations on the menu, although his Cajun wedges arrived incinerated.

Speaking of elaborate creations, a little constructive criticism; the burger list is toooo long, and there are a lot of rather unappetising selections which can only be there as filler?  If  I was Annie (and I'm not) I'd cut to the chase and halve the options available. There are some horrors on there, (The Elvis burger, with peanut butter and raspberry jam?) which sound like something you would only eat as a dare.

Maybe the whole 'gourmet burger' thing is just over, but I think I preferred Annie's when it was at the Navigation, having it's own place seems to have gone to it's head and it is sadly lacking the authenticity and the anarchic streak it used to pride itself on.

Dubliners

Dublin! I've never been to Ireland before and I felt very excited about exploring this brand new (to me) city, which felt both familiar and strange.

We arrived late into Dublin airport and enjoyed a short and stress free transfer into the city, on the Aircoach http://www.aircoach.ie/

Our accommodation was a smart, comfortable apartment on Townsend Street which we booked through Air B&B, more privacy and space than a hotel room and bags more character. If you've not heard of Air B&B yet, where ya been?  https://www.airbnb.co.uk/

Here's some of what we got up to:

Day 1 

We took the DART train out of Dublin to the tiny harbour of Howth, rich pickings for fantastic seafood. We opted for somewhere pretty informal for lunch, Octopussy's seafood tapas bar http://octopussys.ie/ boasts fresh as feck seafood, great service and fantastic views of the harbour.

 We gorged on a selection of warm tapas, including small but succulent scallops with chorizo, Dublin bay prawns and crab sliders,whilst guzzling a ridiculously good bottle of Prosecco and watching seals cavort in the harbour.

After a big lunch we didn't want to sit down for dinner and decided to pursue a mainly liquid repast back in Dublin proper.  We started with some fine pints of the black stuff in Mulligans on Poolbeg Street, http://www.mulligans.ie/ a brilliant little pub with a great atmosphere which is on the edge of the Temple Bar area, but isn't too touristy. 

After warming our cockles here we sought out some more serious alcohol at the Vintage Cocktail Club, http://vintagecocktailclub.com/ It isn't easy to find; you enter via an unmarked black door in a side street.  We were really lucky to get a table without booking.  The cocktails are amazing and the atmosphere is truly louche.   The cocktails are described as 'magical creations' and the menu is a hefty tome spanning centuries of heavy drinking history. My favourite was a simple but very effective Bittered Sling.

The food looked really good too but we didn't partake, having decided to round off our night with a kebab at Zaytoon's http://www.zaytoon.ie/.  Something of a Dublin institution, the large premises was seething with Dubliners and tourists in varying stages of inebriation, all good humoured and waiting their turn at the end of the scarily efficient kebab conveyor belt.  Zaytoon's donor was on a par with Berlin kebabs, nuff said.

Day 2

Having escaped without too bad a hangover, we braved the rainy streets and an uninspiring buffet breakfast, before whiling away a few enjoyable hours in the writer's museum and the cinema.

Dinner tonight was on my folks who purchased us a generous gift voucher for the Winding Stair Restaurant just across the Liffey over the Ha'Penny bridge http://winding-stair.com/

This is an atmospheric, efficiently run little place, historically somewhere Dublin writers, artists and creative types met.  There is a cracking bookshop downstairs.  Food came quickly and portions were generous, we really enjoyed our meal here, thanks folks.

Day 3

We took a walk through Temple Bar and along the Liffey (past the imposing Guiness factory) to check out the Irish Museum of Modern Art.  http://www.imma.ie/en/index.htm  It is worth visiting for the building and grounds alone; housed in a former hospital for convalescing soldiers, an atmosphere of calm pervades the place.  We made the trek to see a specific exhibition, 'What we call love, from surrealism to now'.  I've seen some excellent exhibitions this year (Bacon and the Masters in the Norwich Sainsbury Centre was a highlight) but this was outstanding. Including works from masters of surrealism such as  Dali, Picasso, Man Ray, photography by Nan Goldin, a Damien Hurst sculpture, and a mind blowing installation from Rebecca Horn this is truly worth seeing if you get the chance (on until 7 February 2016).

Day two and three it goes without saying we ended up in Mulligans!  We were sad to leave this gem of a pub.  The aircoach shuttled us back to the airport at an ungodly time on Monday morning leaving us feeling we'd only scratched the surface of what Dublin has to offer. We'll definitely be back.

Edin's Kitchen

Edin's has long been a Nottingham institution, with Edin's kitchen, a relatively new addition to the Edin's empire, opening in 2013.

The vibe is shabby but elegantly chic, with higgledy piggledy tables and chairs, slightly dog-eared menus and exceedingy laid back staff, all mingling to create a warm, welcoming and informal atmosphere. The open plan kitchen is situated downstairs with an additional dining room upstairs, we opted for a perch downstairs  as upstairs was nearly full, where we could see what was going on in the kitchen and who was coming through the door.

We kicked off  proceedings (annual Christmas get together) with a glass of prosecco and nibbled homemade hummus, bread and some splendid olives as we checked out the menu and specials board.  I was happy not to be forced into ordering from a festive menu, always a pain at this time of year.

Prices are quite breathtakingly budget, and I couldn't resist a steak (rump) which set me back less than £12.  The steak was top quality and cooked medium rare as requested.  It came with chips done just right, the unusual but tasty addition of celeriac puree and a pat of decadent garlic butter, of which I intended to just sample a scraping, but managed to scoff the lot.   My friend sampled a beef ragu which she declared equally delicious.

We moved on to drinks here there and everywhere but would certainly recommend starting the evening at Edin's, great food in a relaxed, convivial atmosphere and it certainly won't break the bank,what's not to like?

For more info check out:

http://www.edinsnottingham.co.uk/

Smoke BBQ Sheffield

Okay, so we're a little late to the whole 'American BBQ' party, but the places closer to us (Red's True BBQ and Rub Smokehouse in Nottingham) seemed a little inauthentic so we hadn't rushed to try them. Smoke BBQ was recommended, natch, raved about to us by friends of friends, so as we were in Sheffield we decided to  give it a try.

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't an aircraft hanger.  The restaurant is huge and filled with the aroma of smoked meat, and appeared to be doing a roaring trade despite recent revelations from the World Health Organisation.

Sheffield was the original Smoke BBQ but they have now branched out to Leeds and I'm sure there are further franchises in the offing.  With the paper menus and industrial vibe it did feel a tad formulaic.  We were seated and given a glass full of salty popcorn to nibble. The drinks list is heavy on the bourbon, but happily I located Freedom Organic lager, albeit only available by the half pint or in two pint jugs? Presumably because a single pint would last you no time after that salty popcorn...and jam jars instead of glasses, really?

Sadly the organic, free (range) ethos did not seem to extend to the meat on offer.  Although the website claims they use 'the best meat Yorkshire has to offer', the menu is resolutely muddy about it's point of origin. I eat less and less meat these days (what the hell am I doing in an American BBQ joint, I hear you ask?) and am keen for the meat I do eat to be good quality, locally sourced and ethically produced.

Ethics aside, the smoke sharer plate we ordered was a beast to behold.

It consisted of smoked sausage, ribs, chicken thighs, pulled pork and an almighty turkey leg,plus 'twice cooked' chips and another side of your choice (all a bit cheeky Nandos) we opted for slaw.  The smoked flavour was good, but the meat all started to taste the same after a while.

Still, we did alright:

I'm glad I have now experienced the American BBQ shtick myself, but I don't think I'll be going back, it wasn't that there was anything particularly bad about Smoke BBQ, in fact there were plenty of little touches I did like (the chalkboard walls in the bathroom are pretty cool) and it is obviously popular, it just seemed a bit gimmicky to me.  I'd be interested to hear if anyone has been anywhere they considered really special, BBQ wise?  Or am I going to have to keep planning my 'pig'rimage to and through the good old US of A?

The Kedleston Country House

The much anticipated re-opening of the Kedleston Country House occurred last week, so with a birthday to celebrate this weekend (the boy's mother) we gave it a whirl for Sunday lunch.

It is fantastic to see this characterful building restored to its former glory by the Derby Brewing Company.  Their website humbly declares them to be a 'family run microbrewery' but in recent years they've successfully revamped several neglected Derby venues, including The Greyhound on Friargate.  I noted a gratifying level of attention to detail in the decor, with plenty of plants and vases of flowers, artfully mismatched crockery and a set of statuesque stone dogs to greet you at the entrance.  There is an appealing snug and a study, as well as a bar and a separate restaurant area and ample outside seating.

We ate in the light and airy Orangery, (complete with real orange trees) which I thought was the nicest area of the restaurant.  Very 'country cottage' but not too twee. We were brought a jug of water and a basket of fresh bread. The drinks menu is an extensive volume, but only one copy per table meant we had to take turns choosing a beverage (a very drinkable prosecco, local Freedom lager and a formidable Belgian beer).

The choice for Sunday lunch was between roast 'striploin'of beef, stuffed lamb, a vegetarian option, fish and chicken.  We all chose beef, bar one black sheep who went for the lamb.  Meals arrived promptly but not before we'd had chance to graze on the bread and butter.  Portions of meat and Yorkshire pudding were generous and the beef was very tasty.

Sides of green vegetables, a slightly watery cauliflower cheese and very moreish honey roasted root vegetables came separately for some reason and we had to request serving spoons.  Some more information on the menu, regarding the provenance of the meat, would have been welcome.  We finished with coffee rather than  dessert.

Price wise I would say it was perhaps slightly above average, although certainly not extortionate. Staff were all friendly and polite and seemed to be doing a very efficient job, as they were evidently busy.  Overall the Derby Brewing Company have done a commendable job and it is sure to be a resounding success, can't wait to get a look at the rooms sometime.

http://thekedleston.co.uk/

http://derbybrewing.co.uk/