A few of my favourite things

Ate in Mildred's, the vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Soho, today. It was predictably packed and we had to wait over 45 minutes for a table, but it was worth it to gorge on their fabulous food. There's nothing non-fattening about their menu but because it's wholesome and largely organic fare, it's easy to feel virtuous even after you're completely stuffed.

We had main meals of mushroom and ale pie with mushy peas and chips, and puy lentils and roasted veggies for the main course and then an apple and prune crumble (which came with custard but I didn't want it because the crumble was so delicious) and banana and maple cheesecake.

It's enough to turn any confirmed carnivore into a vegetarian. Enough, but not quite! I was vegetarian for 11 years and vegan for 2, but got turned back onto meat in, of all places, India.

The food inspired chat about our favourite dishes and I realised that for all my love of cooking and eating, my favourite foods are not rich and complex but incredibly simple. Here are a few of my favourite things to eat (and drink):

Juicy mango, ripe papaya, fresh pineapple, red grapes, mashed potatoes with cream and salted butter, a glass of full-fat Jersey Gold milk, pak choy stir-fried with garlic and soy sauce, lightly steamed spinach, broccoli and toasted sesame seeds, boiled fresh beetroot, pickled onions, baked Bramley apple with sultanas, rare filet mignon, poached salmon, roasted red peppers and red onions, lightly-spiced red lentil dahl, crispy fried bacon, freshly-squeezed orange juice, single malt Scotch whisky, very dry martini, vanilla ice cream (from organic to Wall's), black olives, black cherries, houmous and wholewheat pitta strips, marmite on toast, Cheddar cheese on toast with tangy dollops of Worchestershire sauce, creamy porridge and prunes, fresh strawberries, cherry tomatoes dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, beefsteak tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella salad with a drizzle of olive oil and cracked black peppercorns, Hass avocado scooped straight from the skin with a teaspoon, a pint of Adnams ale, a glass of rich-bodied Shiraz, pea and ham soup, red cabbage sauerkraut with apples, miso soup, basmati rice, puy lentils and mushrooms stewed in red wine, scallops and garlic, maple syrup over thick and soft pancakes, chocolate mousse thick enough to have the spoon stand upright in it, corn bread, plain risotto, jasmine tea, real coffee, roasted sweet potatoes smothered in butter, sashimi, lemon and garlic roasted chicken, plain tofu (which I can eat straight out of the pack)...

But if I could choose my last ever meal, it would be an egg poached so lightly that the yolk oozes out onto hot buttered granary toast, with a sprinkle of rock salt.

Afterwards, we heard Beethoven's 8th and bombastic 9th symphonies performed at the Royal Festival Hall. An exhilerating show with the animated Kurt Masur at the helm once again.

Other links today:
+ A selection of recipes from The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark. The honey-black walnut bread looks particularly yummy.
+ Malcolm Gladwell mania. See my reading list to the left.
+ What is it with the Japanese and robots? Answers on a disc please.
+ The tyranny of choice. "Scientific American reports that recent research 'strongly suggests' that, psychologically speaking, more choice is not always better than less."
+ What you'll wish you'd known. Paul Graham discusses what he wishes he'd known at 16.