A variety of determinate plum tomato which has a meaty texture. It is an early and productive plants producing small, round red fruits weighing around 55-85 g (2-3 oz) and having green shoulders.
A cocktail named after Mary Tudor, a Queen of England who was called "bloody" because of her persecution of Protestants. The cocktail consists of vodka, tomato juice, a little lemon, and Worcestershire sauce, with added Tabasco, salt, and pepper, sometimes celery salt, for those who like them. A Virgin Mary is all the above but without the vodka.
Sanguin. A mushroom quite similar to the saffron milk cap but less common. It exudes a red milk sang poivré when cut.
A variety of crisp, juicy eating apple which arose in Scotland and which is recorded from 1883. It is a deep, dark blood red and even the flesh has pink stains. Legend has it that a ploughman was scrumping apples on a Scottish estate, was caught and shot. The apples came into the possession of his widow, who threw them onto a compost heap, wanting nothing to do with them. A tree grew from one of the seedlings and the apple was renamed accordingly. It is a mid-season variety, harvested from mid-September in South-East England, is stored and is at its best between September and November.
A white or grey, almost mouldy looking dusting which appears on the surface of some fruits such as grapes and plums. It is harmless. It is also the name for a grey streaking and blotching on the surface of chocolate, usually resulting from storage in too warm a place.
A crusty loaf of bread, glazed with beaten egg or salt water. It has several diagonal slashes on the top to increase the surface area becoming crusty.
A name for Blenheim Orange, a large, crisp, dry, aromatic, yellowish-fleshed, pippin apple with a sweet, slightly tart flavour and dull, yellow skin washed and speckled with orange-red. It is a good-looking eating apple which cooks well and is preferred in tarte tatin as it is soft-textured but does not lose its shape. It was discovered growing along the wall that was the boundary of the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock in Oxfordshire around 1740 by Kempster. It was originally named Kempster's Pippin but the name was changed with the approval of the Duke of Marlborough around 1904. It was awarded the Banksian Medal of the London Horticultural Society in 1822. In the 1920s it became widespread throughout Europe and the United States. In France it is known as Bénédictin. A traditional Christmas, mid- to late-season, apple which is harvested from late September to early October in South-East England, is stored and is at its best between October and December. In the United States it is harvested from October to December.
Blowfish or fugu is the deadly poisonous fish renowned in Japanese cuisine. In 'blind' tastings, the flavour is said to be bland and uninteresting. However, the risk of death seems to heighten people's appreciation of the taste and most report its flavour with rapture.
A triple-decker sandwich made with toast and filled with bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. When I first lived in the States in the late 60's one of my treats was to go to Woolworth's in Danbury to have a 'BLT on toast' for the grand sum of 75 cents. In New York I'd go to Bloomingdale's for my fix. Coming, as I did, from a village in the west of England, I thought this was thoroughly exotic.
