THE MODERN MINT BLOG
For those people who have followed this blog closely enough to have seen our 2017 updates about the best gin and tonic, we have found this rather odd complimentary product on the BBC….
GIN AND YOGHURT. TOGETHER.
Really. We know. Gin and YOGHURT!
Ridiculous. But then these food consultants (development chefs?) are suggesting there is more to come. We get Heston Blumenthal doing some wonderful things, but do you really trust Sainsbury’s with your food?
When Heston Blumenthal makes a weird mixture of a dish, it is so expensive – which is appropriate – because then it becomes an event. You pay a lot of money to eat something weird.
The price validates the dinner.
When Sainsbury’s make something weird, they try to make it cheap. So everyone can have a bit, everyone can like it, they can make money.
It is not an event, with Sainsbury’s, it is an assault on the senses!
Please don’t bother buying it, or trying it. It won’t be worth it.
Though we doubt that poor sales will be proof to Sainsbury’s that they should stop messing about with our grub. It will probably just make them work harder, longer hours, whipping and roasting their development chefs until they are steaming from the ears with new ideas for ugly recipes.
Pan-fried llama with a concrete topping?
Fish and Chupa Chups?
Leek and Annyong Soup?
Stick to what works well, especially when it comes to Gin.
Which means checking out our tried and tested recommendations for the best gin in the UK this year. Go now! Enjoy!
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …
ClipFest 2025
On Sunday June 22nd there will be Clipfest 2025 at Ichi-Coo Park in Surrey. It is a celebration of all things pruning and topiary, and I will be there in my capacity of teacher at the European Boxwood and Topiary Society to demonstrate tool cleaning and sharpening, and how to clip. Tickets can be found here on Eventbrite. We are hoping for great weather and to see lots of keen pruners getting their shears out and joining us at this amazing garden! And for more on topiary…
Secateur Holders
A present arrived from Norway today, from a student who visited last February to work with Chris Poole and I on learning topiary. His new hobby – a beautiful and neatly stitched secateur holder. Thrilled with this! The holder will save me keep losing my secatuers too…! Thank you Bernt! It was the same student who introduced me to the APA with whom I am doing a talk at the end of March. Tickets can be bought here for ‘Defining The Essence – Aesthetic Pruning in the Garden’. Do join the European Boxwood and Topiary Society for that!