About me
-Manifesto-
...The way things are in Whorlow’s world...
Well, a very warm welcome to one-and-all!! And thank you kindly for dropping by!
It seems pointless to make the statement that- this is a food blog- Stevie Wonder in a welding mask could see that. No, no, this is much more than simply a forum on food, this is rambles, essays, diatribes, excavations, observations, inquireries, confusions, explorations, revelations, catastrophes, calamities, resurections, interjections, collaborations, botched attempts, happy accidents and gleefull discovery. This is my real life on a virtual plate. This is my inexhaustable quest to not only travel the world, but to eat as much of it as possible along the way. This is what I like to think of as my -Forays in Food, Life and Libation-
I cannot promise that this website is suitable for one-and-all, indeed, like the great Mr. Marley so eloquently observed; “You can please some people some times, but you can’t please all the people all the time.” So, if you’re after grey areas, happy mid-points, or that kind of sit-on-the-fence mediocrity, then I bid you adieu, this is not the site for you. But, on the other hand, for those still willing to hang around, for those happy to stay seated at my table and join me in a glass or two, and share with me food for thought, as well as food for flavour, then what I can promise is distinct opinions, determined thought patterns, devout research, absolute conviction, oh, and some shit-hot, tasty-as-hell food and drinks to get your eager chops into.
If you’re still reading, then both thankyou, and congratulations, we have a weird and wonderful path before us. . . . . think The Yellow Brick Road, but an edible one, with a pub on every corner!
Waffle; and by that I don’t mean the Belgian delicacy, is the order of the day here. I am a great believer in the backstory- recipes do not exist without them! I want the spiel, I want anecdotes, scenarios, narrative, I want the ramblings of a madman, I want to discover something new, something unexpected, I want to laugh, gasp, wince, maybe even weep a little- I want to have that ‘well bugger me, I never knew that!’ speech-bubble pop-up inside my head, because without that happening, without some sort of revelation or titilation, I’m simply giving you a set of instructions to follow, and if that’s the case, you should get serious, enroll in catering college and stop reading the pickled prose of a nosh fiend. If, on the other hand, you like a bit on the side, some sauce with your steak or flap-trap with your fondue, then hopefully me and my scribblings are bang-up-your-Boulevard.
-A brief history of Paul Whorlow (that’s me)-
Right, lets get one thing straight; I posess about as much formal food training as Donald Duck does trousers. I do, however, posess a BA(hons) in Three Dimensional Design from Middlesex Uni, England. And this, if nothing else, must mean that I at least have some kind of bubbling font of creativity from which to tap into. Indeed, that leaky faucet has been dripping all things artistc since as long as I can remember. I’ve spent my life making art in all its various guises, I photogrpah a lot, (even won an award once, you can see that at www.paulwhorlow.com) I make furniture, pen poetry, sculpt, travel as much as funds will allow, and get ever so fundamental about anything quaffable or squaffable.
At school I had no time for books, it was only when at Uni, and forced to read in order that I complete the various essays and dissertations, that I began to comprehend the power of the written word, since then (a couple of decades ago now), my immediate surroundings have become awash with faded Post-it Notes, scraps of paper, beer mats, hotel stationary, grafittied envelopes, napkins, scrawlings on the back of my hand (the portable Post-it Note), oh, and an arsenal of note books, sketch pads, journals, clipboards, folders, exercise books and so on. So, yeah, nowadays I scribble down my thoughts quite a bit- which made me think, finally, for good or ill, it’s probably time that people should be able to read the fermenting logic that’s bubbling around my bonce.*
As far as the rest of my likes, lusts, loathes and life go, well, they’ll reveal themselves over the coming years, through all manner of wayward and wonky essays, articles, observations and declarations; it is, afterall, of absolute importance to have an opinion and to take a stance! Oh, and it’s an even greater necessity that one posess a ravishing hunger and a rampant thirst- not just for fine food and hard booze, but for experience, enrichment, for life. . . . . .
Now, where’s my pint?. . . . . .
Paul Whorlow, June 11, 2014
*For some readers (particularly my friends across the pond) the odd word, phrase, slang, coloquialism, or ingredient may seem foreign or obscure, I will endeavour to produce a glossary of terms to explain said slang. Otherwise, just get in touch and I’ll explain.