Rushed / last minute / self-indulgent newsletter this week, soz. Mind has been elsewhere mostly. Plus I’m conscious that eventually I’m going to have leaked everything that’s in the next issue before I finish sticking it together. So yeah need to think how to use this. As always, if you’ve got something you wanna say about food and music (or anything in between), get in touch. Anyway. I miss cooking for bands rn, so here is the recipe for the thing I would most likely cook for whatever show would be in the Library basement right now:
I can’t in good conscience call this a jambalaya, so I’ve restored to a ‘Cheese-Style Slices’ definition. As I understand it, Jambalaya is a Creole/Cajun dish based around the Cajun ‘holy trinity’ of ingredients (onion, celery, bell pepper), built up with meat (usually chicken) and shrimp, various vegetables and then simmered with spices, rice and (depending on where you are) tomatoes. This is an already watered down recipe I nicked off a BBC website and adapted to make vegan/big. I’ve put celery as optional as it’s a divisive bastard, I sub mushrooms and tofu for meat but obviously switch to yr preference, and made my own spice blend as I never seem to have any Cajun seasoning mixes in (I swear some of them have milk powder in too?).
Recipe makes a lot. I can’t pinpoint exactly how much, but I like making it because it’s easy, tasty, it doesn’t take that much to fill you up and it generally goes a loooonnng way. It’s my band cooking signature dish, I guess. In past instances, a pot of this has fed a 20-strong drum troupe, innumerable touring hardcore bands (the hungriest creatures known to man) and the 10 or so bands at the All Tamara’s Parties alldayer last year with some leftover for the gig the day after. Should keep for a couple of days too.
WHAT YOU NEED
Oil
Brown rice - 750g (this makes a lot so adjust accordingly)
Red and Green Pepper, at least one of each, chopped
Onion, at least one, chopped
Garlic, at least 3 or 4 cloves, crushed
[Celery]
Mushrooms / tofu / whatever you use to substitute chicken and fish
Tins of tomatoes, a couple
Veg stock, 700-800ml
Cajun seasoning (a hefty spoonful/sprinkling of each, to taste)
Paprika (the dominant note)
Cayenne
Cumin
Oregano
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Couple of Bay leaves
WHAT YOU DO
Get a BIG pan, heat up some oil
Fry yr onions and yr garlic (and celery if using) for a few minutes or until translucent or whatever
Add in yr chopped peppers, fry for a few minutes
Add in yr mushrooms or tofu* or whatever and fry for a few minutes (*If I’m adding tofu, I sometimes fry it in a separate pan to get it all crispy before chucking it in to the main pot)
Add the Cajun seasoning - either a pre-bought blend or a mush or whatever spices you have. Stir and coat everything in the seasoning.
Add the rice, stir/integrate and let cook for a minute.
Add tinned tomatoes and stock. Stirrrrrr.
Turn heat down, put lid on, let simmer until rice is cooked (about 20 minutes or so). It shouldn’t need any more liquid but put a touch more stock in if it’s really struggling. The rice is always a little al-dente, but that should be fine.
Taste/adjust seasoning
Works fine on its own but can easily go with some nice bread or salad.
CHEWn IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE SUBSCRIPTION (EDITION OF 1)
*I AM LOOKING FOR A FLATMATE*
£550pcm (not including bills), great location opposite Brookes/Warneford Hospital, I will cook for you. Room available from around 1 July, contract officially starts late August, letting agent want someone in place by mid-June for some reason cos they’re lizards. Lemme know if you or anyone you know is interested pls I am stressed and I don’t want to move thx x
MORE PICTURES ABOUT FOOD BUT NOT BUILDINGS ALTHOUGH THEY WERE TAKEN IN BUILDINGS SO I GUESS THEY’RE MORE PICTURES ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD
Ben off of Scrap Brain and Another Subculture/Alternative Strategies makes this regular fancy breakfast - “eggs (or smoked tofu) with spinach, paprika, chilli on bagel with tangy hot sauce”
Ornella Mignella messaged me to Insta to send you all a pic of these handmade biscuits. From Italy, with love
Please keep sending me these!
ALL CARBS ARE BEAUTIFUL
Donate to the George Floyd Memorial Fund here. Donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to help those arrested while protesting here. Remember that white supremacy is everywhere. Read, be vigilant, empathise and act. (I need to do a lot more. If yr in the UK and haven’t read Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book, start there). And yeah. ACAB. Always. And that includes the ones you like on Brooklyn 99.
Bent Fest’s instagram have been running a bunch of talks with queer punks and creators over the past week or so, including Kirsty Fife, Sop and Cassie from Chips and Beans Podcast. The other day they did an interview with continuing CHEWn inspiration and actual perfect person Marcelo (DSFL Food Collective, Laricas Vegan) about cooking, creativity, band food and veganism, which I haven’t seen yet! They’re all up on the insta, go check them out.
Cook up some oatmeal, beans and poptarts with Fugazi, why don’t you?
London Centre for Book Arts weren’t able to secure emergency funding from the Arts Council this week, so go show them some support
The Gears for Queers book is almost out! In which Abi & Lili from Edinburgh Zine Library and the Recipes for Wild/Sick Vegan zines take their bikes across Europe and write all about it. Order direct from them here
Yngwie Malmsteen’s favourite kind of food is Indian food.
Some things I did:
Tried to set up a youtube playlist of food in music videos, which you can find here. Please add to it. It’s surprisingly hard. There isn’t much I could think of beyond trashy 80s, disturbing Katy Perry videos and Bjork. My fave is easily ‘Sunday Morning’ by No Doubt, where the band just cook a big pasta dinner together.
Someone on Instagram did a ‘What Oxford Pub are You?’ filter but it was yuppie bullshit (Head of the River? Red Lion? Is this a filter for accountants and tourists or summit?). In an attempt to redress this, I ransacked through my drawings of Cowley Road kebab shops and noodle joints and made this, which you can try (these filters are real easy to make - all you need is Spark AR, a zuck account linked to yr insta and this vid)
I am reading Isolarion by James Attlee and I’m not enjoying it. It’s meant to be about the Cowley Road but it’s more about the author being incredibly pompous and rambling on about irrelevant books he’s read or over-romanticising the work and livelihoods of migrant communities like the travel writer he is.
FOOD! I made vegan ravioli, which were super easy (I used pasta flour, but didn’t need a press or any fancy equipment) and hand-pulled noodles from this huge gal-dem article with lots of links to recipes and ideas. Also Oxford people, if you didn’t know, G&Ds is open. And it’s sunny outside, so…
MUSIC! I have mostly been listening to the Tara Clerkin Trio record this week. Proper Bristol drowsiness, heavy-headed organs and scatterbrain reeds, and a freakin locked groove at the end. Awesome stuff. Also the Beatrice Dillon record on a similar headspinning vein. Plus the Conditioner Disco Group, the new single from R feeo, Post for about the millionth time this lockdown 🍉, and this weirdo French petri-dish balladry that I’m looking forward to picking up next bandcamp day (Fri 5th)
Take care out there x