A Little Slice of Heaven

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What's my standout for the day, apart from the glorious Spring weather we're currently being graced with, this weekend? It obviously, certainly, isn't anything the government or its PM have said or done in the last few days: same old, same old, but with the added spice of the Boris faction disappearing behind closed doors and conspiring for Sunak's defenestration, one could be forgiven for revelling in a little schadenfreude. The Tory party has never, ever exhibited this level of disunity in its entire history, and if this implosion hastens the eventual demise of this feckless bunch, all I can say is 'bring it on'...

It also certainly isn't the former Governor of The Bank of England, Mervyn King's piece in today's FT, effectively confirming that banking is no more sophisticated than bookmaking and chucking good money after bad horses. Neither was it Tim Harford's byline in the FT's magazine, basically confirming my belief that economics and economists are essentially spectators to events monetary and fiscal, and simply commentators in hindsight, to things already passed.

No, rather it was the encomium to the cheese toastie in the FT mag, by Tim Hayward, which caught my eye and enthused me to scribble this post. The toastie, in all its myriad forms, is a true culinary great, and deserves a place in the pantheon of haute-and-whatever-else cuisine by virtue of simply being that perfect marriage of two food staples: bread and cheese, combined with the essential transformational power of heat, converting sugars and fats into the caramelized unctuousness of the perfect sandwich. I wonder what the addition of a beaten-egg wash to the outside - a French toastie, no less - would bring to the party?

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