Lentils

Yesterday's lentils, despite being nominally the same as those at reference 1, turned out quite differently. The reduction in lentil cooking time from 90 to 70 minutes and the switch from saucisson to lardons, both from Sainsbury's, do not seem to be an adequate explanation. Perhaps I added a lot more onions and/or a lot more celery, both of which would increase the amount of water in the mix.

Furthermore, looking back to reference 1, it looks as if the onions were chopped on that occasion - rather than sliced segment-of-orange-wise. It is also the case that the lardons were probably basic lardons, rather than the superior M&S lardons; dry cured, smoked and all that sort of thing. But I don't see either of these filling out the explanation.

The leftovers will be served as soup today, that is to say Wednesday, despite what it says at the top, and maybe then the light will dawn.

For the avoidance of doubt, the problem is more why the change than the palatability of the product, which was fine.

Later on, I was amused to read that the Chinese regulators are bearing down on the whizzy new computer controlled, recessed door handles which are, apparently, all the rage with the arty/nerdy types in charge of car design. Even more amused to read all the comments about what a pain the fancy controls of today's cars were. Take out the touch screens! Bring back switches and knobs! Give control back to the driver! And, which is where the regulators came in, let's have a car which I can get out of when the computers go wrong.

A lot of Financial Times articles are comment-enabled and usually there are no comments. But after the Chinese, I came across another article which had attracted a lot of comments. And I was rather shocked at how coarse and intemperate they were: I thought that such people lived on X, not in respectable organs such at the FT.

Which I think reflects a serious problem. The tone of public discourse is rolling steadily downhill and this is, to my mind, all to apt to end in tears. Democracy is not working. I grant that my own discourse tends to the loose and informal, but then it is scarcely public and certainly more or less under control.

PS: the second outing for the lentils, on Wednesday evening, with the addition of a little left over rice and cabbage. A throw back to the days when our lentils were always served in a soup format, with bread rather than with vegetables. With a very small amount surviving until breakfast this Thursday morning.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/11/more-lentils.html.

Reference 2: China bans Tesla-style hidden car door handles: Common feature in electric vehicles has raised safety concerns - Gloria Li, Financial Times - 2026.