| Rat, not ratatouille, on menu
DINERS at two Taiwan village restaurants smell a rat each time they sit down to eat. And they love it. The Ho-la Diner and the Jiashing restaurant opposite have run five or six rat eateries out of town over nearly six decades of business to become the top two ahead of the Year of the Rat, which begins on February 7. Both display hairless rat carcasses in their kitchen windows before chopping off the heads and throwing the pint-sized bodies and tails into pots with basil and sweet, black sauce. Both restaurants are full at meal times as the rat race for gnawing customers reaches fever pitch. "Competition isn't too bitter yet, and we like customers to compare the two places," said Ho-la owner Lin Ming-chih, 54, whose father opened the diner and whose son cooks the rats. "Most people who come in here at first have a psychological barrier, but once they take a bite, they don't mind." The rats grow up on crops from fields surrounding the 18,000-strong population village of Lucao in Chiayi county - which means they are not dirty rats from sewers, Mr Lin said.
Set your Super Bowl table
As far as I know and as near as I can tell, we purveyors of food come in two basic types.
On the one hand are the last-gaspers who revel (as well they should) in their ability to pull off one of those miraculous "only start cooking when they come through the door" wonders. On the other side of the culinary fence are we who know for sure that do-ahead disher-uppers are the only way to go.
With this Sunday's Super Bowl ever on our minds (well, maybe not the game itself -- but, oh, those commercials!), a pair of Forum cooks share the perfect game plan, regardless of your own particular whichever-whatever timing preference.
For starters, no pun intended, Camano Island cook Susan Bender offers us the how-to for one of her crowd-pleasing nibbler-snacker specialties.
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Upside-Down Ham Loaf
Measure cornflakes, then use a rolling pin to crush them into coarse crumbs. Combine meats with eggs, milk, salt and green pepper. Mix well. Add crushed cornflakes and mix thoroughly. Pat brown sugar into bottom of loaf pan, 9-1/2x5-1/2x2-3/4 inches. Sprinkle with cloves. Add meat mixture, packing down carefully. Bake in a moderate 350-degree oven about 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until loaf is thoroughly cooked through to center. Turn out onto a platter to serve. Flick out cloves with a fork if desired. Serve with Plum Sauce. Makes 8 servings. To make plum sauce, heat juice to boiling with cinnamon. Mix cornstarch and salt with cold water and add to boiling juice. Stir constantly until mixture boils again and is thickened. Add remaining ingredients; simmer slowly 10 minutes. Serve hot over ham loaf or ham slices.
George MacDonald Fraser
For two years he received rejections from publishers, with one American house adding that Flashman was the wrong name for the character. The book was finally accepted by the small firm of Barrie and Jenkins. Although some critics saw the series as a satire on Victorian morality, its continued popular success was due to Fraser's ability to make learning history enjoyable. The richly comic narrative moved with a military dash worthy of Anthony Hope or Rafael Sabatini while spoofing the wholesome sensibilities of the heroes of Buchan and Henty. Though later instalments perhaps strove for effect, with some critics tiring of Flashman's priapism and finding him braver than of old, the broad comedy was always underpinned by Fraser's meticulous research. On Desert Island Discs he chose to take with him the Oxford English Dictionary, and he rightly prided himself on his command of 19th-century trivia and slang, often drawn from contemporary issues of Punch.
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