Rafi's Spicebox

Before coming to live in England I’d never tried Indian food in my life and for quite a while I didn’t dare to eat anything else than mild kormas fearing that all the other recipes were too spicy for my delicate Italian stomach. Then some Indian friends introduce me to REAL Indian food and I fell in love with it. Unfortunately I am not too keen on takeaways and our visits to Indian restaurants can become very expensive, given the quantity of food than my husband and son can consume. This was before discovering Rafi's Spicebox.

This isn't your usual kind of take-away. Rafi's Spicebox is a family run Asian delicatessen specialising in hand blended curry mixes. The first Spicebox in Sudbury was originally set up in 1989, by Rafi Fernandez, who after spending many years teaching Indian cooking wanted to supply people with the necessary exotic spices and ingredients that were hard to find. The shop soon evolved and today has become an institution. With 28 different curry mixes to choose from, you just need to add meat and vegetables and you have an authentic curry at home within minutes! The packs are made while you wait to your own specification and the expert staff are on hand to offer advice, recommendations and serving suggestions. The York store, which opened in 2004, is only the second Rafi's Spicebox in the UK. The shop also sells other Asian deli products, and is always popular with locals and visitors.

I've tried several dishes - the 'Ma's Paretal' above is amazing and a little bit different from your usual korma, tikka, balti, jalfrezi, etc. You can also order online on their website www.spicebox.co.uk. Just choose how hot you want the curry to be and P&P is charged per pack. For the cost of the spice pack plus other ingredients you can easily feed 4 people for under a tenner. Highly recommended.

Piling up on pounds

I was shocked yesterday when I went to my gastroenterologist’s for a follow-up visit. He hasn’t been able to sort out my stomach problems that I’ve had for quite a while and I didn’t expect any miracle yesterday, but I was shocked by his behaviour. Every time I go to the clinic they weigh me and compare my ups and downs. I do not go there because I have a problem with weight but because I sometimes have very bad pains. But when he called me in I immediately realized that he was in a terrible mood and I was going to be told off for something. He told me that I had put on ONE kilo since the previous visit and that was not on. I told him that his (very overweight!) assistant had weighed me with my boots on and the boots were heavy but he said that they take into account the clothing otherwise I would have put on much more than that! He was thoroughly unpleasant as according to him I’m not allowed to put on weight. I know I put on weight when I was in Italy but who can resist these?

("Pasticcini" from my favourite cakes shop in Italy)

I’m still size 10 UK although in my forties so I do not think I’m overweight. I know that I have rather brittle bones and I need to be very careful but his attitude towards me was really awful. So I told him to look around as most of the nurses and assistants in his department are as big as elephants and should bully them instead of me! I do not think he will want to see me again! Some of these consultants are very patronising and I can put up with that but I cannot accept when someone becomes offensive. I’m thinking of complaining about him with my GP but what can that change? Another foreigner who cannot understand the rules…Sometimes I feel like that. Anyway, got to go for a run now, trying to get rid of that “terrible extra kilo”…Yes, all in all the gastroenterologist got to me. Now I feel officially fat and misunderstood.

(one of my favourite Italian desserts with strawberries, raspberries and cream/custard)

An evening with Coldplay ...

...passing through the Manchester Christmas Market!

We’d been waiting for this day for ages, but did not start in the best way. After buying the tickets on ebay ages ago, they never turned up …[Hopefully we will get a refund from paypal!!! Fingers crossed. Beware of buying tickets on ebay!!!] Anyway, my two friends and I decided to go to Manchester MEN Arena and try our luck with a “friendly tout”….Bad weather conditions, roads as frozen as ice rinks, all trains to Manchester full (perhaps because of the concert?), but our “love” for Coldplay is too strong to get stopped by these small details…We decided to park at a Metro Station in Greater Manchester to avoid the traffic in the city centre (the MEN Arena is exactly in the city centre of course!!!). After 45 minutes trying to find a parking space near a Metro station finally we got on a tram towards the city centre.





In spite of not having any tickets yet, we headed toward the Christmas Market. Just to relax and not to waste the day totally. Fantastic! German, Dutch, French stalls offering any kind of merchandises ….




…but above all lovely food!!!!

Dutch cheese(s)...

German Wurst ...

French/Belgian chocs!

Here we are sharing a Super Bratwurst (don't be fooled, we had already a German Flammkuchen…)…

But this one was too tempting to share (for your information, Mini Dutch pancake with Nutella and cream)….

With a full belly and in a better mood we even got lucky with the tickets and went in….and we had quite decent seat positions…



Then finally the Coldplay…..what can I say…..divine!!!!!!!!!

Chris Martin, Coldplay’s frontman and dazzling performer…singer, composer etc etc.

Large globes were suspended over the stage; in them were projected colors, patterns, and footage of the band members appearing in dizzying montages, like here in the title song “Viva la Vida. “Viva la Vida” is their forth album inspired by the (French) Revolution but at the same time celebrating life, freedom and condemning the futility of all wars…

The high points were Yellow with large yellow balloons full of confetti and then Parachutes. As the songs built momentum, what seemed to be millions of multicolored paper butterflies fluttered down from above, a brilliant display that left the crowd's eyes as overwhelmed as its ears.

A performance with a great heart, deep soul, energy and even intimacy from a band often knocked for being expertly bland. We did get all the somehow predictable arena rock tricks – giant balloons bouncing around during Yellow; an acoustic interlude which saw all four members appearing on a podium at the back of the hall. But that’s what I like in a concert, it is not only the good music that I can always listen to from a CD, but show, “spettacolo”, being blown away by colours, music, dancing, singing ….

An evening to remember…