Finally, scrambled eggs and salmon
The evening was the wrong way round. Someone had given us an Italian Pannetoni cake and a bottle of port. We consumed this between six of us at 5.30 pm. Two of us met up later for a glass of Blackridge shiraz at the bar Just St James, which was crowded with what appeared to be young city trader types. At this point, with 9 o’clock looming, it was time to eat something. Fortunately scrambled eggs and smoked salmon was on the menu at the Cork and Bottle in Leicester Square, and there was a table free under the spiral staircase. They do this dish very well there, and we ate it with a glass of Roxburgh sauvignon blanc from New Zealand.
And in agreement with Jackie, both of these dishes scream out for freshly ground black pepper, which was asked for and duly supplied. There’s no comparison between the grey, pre-ground pepper found in a pepper-pot and the stuff you grind yourself from peppercorns in a hand mill. I grind black pepper into most dishes I cook, and onto many I eat. I did wonder in one post if I were turning into a black pepper junkie! I just bought someone a matching set of black pepper and rock salt hand mills for Christmas, and am confident the hand ground pepper club will acquire an enthusiastic new member.