London (1): Pictures and an Unusual Lunch

The National Portrait Gallery and Pick & Cheese

No Longer Neglecting London

I have been writing this blog since 2010 and have, so far, produced 548 posts covering 50 countries across four continents. Although I love foreign travel, I have not neglected home territory, 166 posts have a UK label, but until now, not one has involved the national capital.

London is 200km from home (as the crow flies), so much nearer and easier to get to than Shanghai or Mexico City, but they both have blogposts and Mexico City (Nov 2017) was some years after my nephew’s wedding, which occasioned my last London visit. I probably would not have gone now had not our daughter, Siân – who lives within the London commuter belt – suggested that Lynne and I join her for a jolly on her Wednesday day-off.

Nobody with an alternative would drive into London. Siân lives with her husband and two children in a village near Tring, so our journey started at Tring Station.

On Tring Station

Tring is a pleasant small town 50km north west of central London. It is undoubtedly the best English town named after a sound effect, less scary than Aaargh, livelier than Zzzzz and classier than Ding-a-ling (I blame Chuck Berry). It takes 40 minutes to reach London Euston where we dived into the underground and popped up a little later at Charing Cross.

City of Westminster

I like to head my posts with the flag or coat of arms of the place I am visiting, but Greater London, uniquely among England’s 48 Ceremonial Counties, has neither. However, each of its 32 boroughs has a Coat of Arms and we have just emerged in the City of Westminster - not just a borough but a city as well.

Greater London with the City of Westminster and Borough of Camden marked

Trafalgar Square

Charing Cross Station is by the bend in the river (by the 'r' of Westminster above). Also within the City of Westminster are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, a couple of hundred metres upstream, and Buckingham Palace a similar distance west. They were not our targets for today, but the attractions of central London are closely packed, and just round the corner we found ourselves in Trafalgar Square, with Nelson’s Column straight in front of us.

Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square in November sunshine

Sticking somebody on a column so high (52m) you can’t see them properly seems a strange way to celebrate their achievements, but building columns was popular in the 19th century.

The lions, designed by Sir Edwin (Monarch of the Glen) Landseer, guarding the bottom of the column are rather better.

One of the lions guarding the column (plus Siân and me)

I cannot remember when I lasted visited Trafalgar Square, but it was full of pigeons. There were once stalls selling pigeon food, but that was stopped in 2003 when Ken Livingstone also employed a hawk as a deterrent. There were undoubtedly too many, but are there now too few?

Disclaimer

The rest of this blog is about art or cheese. I have tried to ensure all facts are correct, but it would not be my blog if I did not occasionally offer my opinion. My qualifications for having opinions about art are zero. I do like looking at pictures, but any judgements I make, though thoughtfully considered, are dragged up from a deep well of ignorance.

I have no formal ‘cheese education’ either, but I have eaten a huge variety of cheeses from Oaxaca in the west to Yunnan Province in the east where the Yi ethnic minority make China’s one and only cheese - a hard goat’s milk cheese not unlike Ribblesdale. I must have learned something on the way

National Portrait Gallery

One side of Trafalgar Square is dominated by the vast bulk of the National Gallery, but we have all been there, Lynne and Siân quite recently, so we continued along Charing Cross Road to the back of the National Gallery where the National Portrait Gallery lurks like a poor relation. I am ashamed to say I had never been there before, but it is a fine place.

National Portrait Gallery

The Tudors

We started, almost by accident, among the Tudors. I love the painters' precision; they are almost photographic - though photographers are now rarely content with anything so literal. Many of the painters are unknown, indicating perhaps that they were thought of as craftsmen rather than artists. They had absorbed many of the technical advances of the Italian renaissance, but the cult of the artist was not yet so well established; it was the subject that brought prestige to the picture, not the painter.

Queen Elizabeth I

Many of them are familiar – they are the illustrations from school history books, and books all use the same pictures, because there are so few of them.

The portrait of William Shakespeare is by John Taylor (probably), and was painted from life (possibly). The less sophisticated likeness beside Shakespeare’s grave in Stratford was (probably) carved by Gerard Johnson who (perhaps) worked from a death mask.

William Shakespeare

There were some acknowledged artists, Hans Holbein the younger painted a portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chancellor - until his execution - now in the Frick collection in New York. The National Portrait gallery has an ‘after Hans Holbein’ copy.

Thomas Cromwell

I was disappointed not to see Hilary Mantell peaking over his shoulder. How could she have understood Cromwell so well without time travelling to Tudor England?

These are the best likenesses of Tudor people that exist, though they are not as precise as, say, 19th century paintings of botanical samples. The sitters were clients, whatever the status of the painter, they held the purse strings, and so expected to be flattered. One might wonder how much, if anything, Hans Eworth was paid for this portrait of Mary Neville and her son Gregory Fiennes, the 10th Baron Dacre.

Mary Neville and he son Gregory Fiennes

The Rest

Later paintings that caught my eye include, Kitty Fisher (1741-67) by Nathaniel Hone 1765

Kitty Fisher was a courtesan, launched into high society as a teenager by a client, though which client is disputed. Famed for her beauty and wit, she had affairs with several wealthy men, and had her portrait painted by Joshua Reynolds (as well as the lesser-known Nathaniel Hone). We ‘met’ her at Croome Court where, aged 17, she became the mistress of the owner, Lord Coventry (aged 57). She enjoyed a spirited rivalry with Maria Gunning (Lady Coventry) whose career was not that different, but being the daughter of an impoverished aristocrat she had been able to marry her conquest. Both women died in their 20s, Maria Gunning poisoned by the arsenic in her makeup, Kitty Fisher from tuberculosis or smallpox – or maybe also of arsenic poisoning. Is this picture more than just a celebration of child abuse?

Kitty Fisher. He has caught some sort puckish vivacity
and I like the visual pun of the cat fishing in the right hand corner

Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) after Joseph Wright of Derby 1770s

Doctor and polymath, Erasmus Darwin was a member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, an informal dining club and learned society which met regularly from 1765 to 1813, sometimes in Darwin’s house in Lichfield (we visited 2017). His writings discussed the possibility of different animals evolving from common ancestors, an idea his grandson, Charles Darwin, would pick up and run with.

Erasmus Darwin

George Chinnery (1774-1852) self-portrait c1840.

Born in London, Chinnery left for Chennai in 1802 aged 28 and spent the remaining 50 years of his life in Asia, the last 27 in Macau. He painted portraits of the rich and powerful, both Asians and Europeans and as the only European painter resident in Southern China in the mid-early 19th century, his depictions of the life of ordinary people and the landscape of the Pearl River Delta are especially important. His paintings can be seen in the British Museum, the V&A and various galleries in the USA, Hong Kong and Macau. We first 'met' him in Macau, where he is among the more notable residents of the Old Protestant Cemetery.

George Chinnery

Siân takes a selfie with ‘her boys’ from ‘GCSE Lit context’.

Siân and a couple of her 'boys' (Locke, Hobbes and crew)

Marcus Rashford (b1997) photographed by Misan Harriman 2020

A couple of years ago, when footballer Marcus Rashford was one of my Christmas heroes, for his successful free school meals campaign, I had difficulty finding a photograph I was free to use, so here he is now.

Marcus Rashford

In Tudor times, images were rare and treated with reverence. Today they are cheap and easy to make – and everybody knows what the subject looks like anyway - so the photographer plays with us by hiding half of his subject’s face.

Seven Dials

Camden

From the gallery we took a short walk into the Borough of Camden and the interesting – and to me previously unknown - Seven Dials district. Seven narrow roads converge on a small square where an obelisk supports 6 (not 7!) sundials. Next to the theatre district, this was once the place theatregoers strayed if they wished to encounter a cutpurse (much more romantic than a ‘mugger’) or contract a sexually transmitted disease.

The sundial column was erected in 1684 but demolished in 1773 to "rid the area of undesirables." There is nothing new about tackling a problem from the wrong end!

I failed to take a photograph of the modern 7 Dials, so here is George Cruikshank's 1836 view

It was a place of appalling poverty where misery clings to misery for a little warmth, and want and disease lie down side-by-side, and groan together, as Keats cheerily put it.

Seven Dials was tarted up in the 1970s and became a conservation area, a new pillar being unveiled in 1993.

In one of the seven streets is Seven Dials market which describes itself as a chic multi-level food court with dozens of micro-restaurants & bars. Our destination was Pick & Cheese, which might indeed be a micro-restaurant.

Pick & Cheese

As my father discovered to his chagrin, our children are their own people, not clones of their parents. Armed with that knowledge I happily accept Siân’s interest in manga comics and Studio Ghibli films and her dismissal of competitive physical endeavour as ‘sportball.’ But it would be odd and dispiriting if we had nothing in common and cheese is one of our areas of mutual interest. We both enjoy cheese and like to seek out new and different examples – Siân refers to ‘curating a cheese board,’ and I now shamelessly borrow the expression as if it were my own. Ironically, my father would have enjoyed this experience, too, while my mother, who regarded all cheese with horror, would not have come through the door.

Pick & Cheese uses a conveyor belt like those more usually found in Japanese restaurants to serve up endless plates of British (and one Irish) artisan cheeses. Each has its accompaniment ranging from predictable (tomato chutney with Keens Cheddar) to ‘are they serious?’ (fudge with Cornish Gouda). The odd plate of charcuterie aside, that is all they serve. Siân had visited before with a ‘birthday voucher’ and thought that her parents would enjoy the experience.

Here comes the cheese, Pick & Cheese

The colour coded plates cost between £4 and £5.50 and you can quickly run up a sizeable bill. To avoid this, we had bought 'bottomless plates' giving unlimited access to the cheese for 1hr 15mins, they are not cheap, but we would have spent far more without them.

Lynne and Siân drank a glass of tawny port each while I enjoyed my Jurançon from the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is a sweet, golden wine focussed by a refreshing streak of acidity.

The Cheese

What follows is just a taste of the tasting. I have photographs and comments for every cheese I ate, but I realise not everyone is as invested in the Adoration of the Fromage as I am, so I will confine myself to five favourites. In no particular order they are:

Dazel Ash

One of two cheeses on the conveyor belt made by Chris and Clare Combes for Rosary Goat’s Cheeses on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. They use the milk from their own herd of British Saanen goats.

Dazel Ash with rosemary honey and shortbread

Dazel Ash is a goat log made from pasteurised milk and rolled in ash which matures into a crinkled edible rind. The slightest drizzle of rosemary honey brings the best out of this lovely soft cheese.

Truffled Baron Bigod

The five Barons Bigod (two Hughs and three Rogers) were Earls of Norfolk from 1095 to 1306. Their fiefdom included the land near Bungay where Jonny Crickmore’s Fen Farm now stands. He uses milk from his own Montbeliard herd to produce a cheese based on Brie-de-Meaux which he calls Baron Bigod (pronounced by-god). To produce Truffled Baron Bigod a thin layer of truffle-infused Fen Farm mascarpone is inserted. The cheeses mingle as the mature Bigod oozes, resulting in lingering flavours of warm earth, farmyard and mushrooms. This is as sumptuous as cheese gets.

Truffled Baron Bigod

Achari Spiced Salami

Taking a break from the cheese: 2011 Master Chef finalist Tom Whitaker and 2014 winner Dhruv Baker make artisan charcuterie at Weybridge in Surrey where they butcher, ferment, cure and age all their products.

Achari is spiced with fennel seeds, Tellicherry black pepper and fenugreek. Fine salami with the fennel’s gentle liquorice overlay proved an excellent refresher before more cheese.

Achari Spiced Salami

We passed through Tellicherry (or Thalasseri) while driving down the Malabar Coast in 2010. Pepper grows like a weed throughout Kerala and I was unaware that Tellicherry pepper was any different from the rest.

Spenwood

Spenwood is a hard sheep’s cheese inspired by Sardinian Pecorino. Anne Wigmore started Village Maid Cheeses in 1986 in Spencers Wood, near Reading and Spenwood was her first product.

Spenwood with mushroom duxelles

Like Pecorino Spenwood, is firm, nutty, sweet and salty. Lovely stuff.

Yarlington

Yarlington is a collaboration between King Stone Dairy in Chedwoth, Gloucestershire, and Yarlington Mill cider. During maturation the forming rind is periodically washed with cider.

Yarlington with candied peanuts

The better-known Stinking Bishop is made similarly, though using perry instead of cider. Yarlington may be less pungent, but it resembles the odorous prelate in its surprisingly well-mannered flavour. It is a fine cheese, though pairing it with candied peanuts seemed…well… odd.

At this stage Siân took a photograph. Apparently, Lynne thinks I have had enough cheese…

Someone thinks I've had enough

…but I was not finished yet....

Lincolnshire Red

Simon Jones started making Lincolnshire Poacher on the family dairy farm beside the Lincolnshire Wolds in the early 90s. Now working with his brother Tim and cheesemaker Richard Tagg, almost all the milk from their 230 Holstein Frisians is used for cheese.

Lincolnshire Red and chilli green

While most British artisan cheesemakers look towards France or Italy for inspiration (Lincolnshire Poacher owes something to Comté as well as Farmhouse Cheddar) Lincolnshire Red has a local inspiration being based on the traditional Red Leicester recipe. Matured for 6 months, Lincolnshire Red has a moist creamy texture, a delicate buttery flavour and a clean, lingering finish. It went well with the lower two thirds of the chilli, but no cheese on earth could have coped with fiery top third.

Cheesy Afterthoughts

There is a limit to how much cheese can be eaten at one sitting. I gave up after 45 mins of our allotted 75, Siân had also had enough by then, Lynne would have stopped earlier. Tasting this array of artisan cheeses was a wonderful experience, but despite the variety of styles, it is all cheese and after 45 minutes the palate tires.

There were 25 numbered plates on the menu (though I am unsure if all were available). One was a plate of pickles, three were charcuterie, the other 21 were cheeses. Of these 1 was Irish, the other 20 British - 12 from the south of England, 6 from the Midlands, 1 from the North and 1 from Wales which may show regional bias, or maybe it is just that London is in the south.

16 were made from cows’ milk, 3 from goats’, 1 from sheep and 1 cow/sheep combined. I imagine this roughly reflects the traditional British breakdown.

Factory cheesemakers use pasteurised milk, artisan cheesemakers have the freedom to use unpasteurised (raw) milk. I have eaten some excellent unpasteurised cheeses over the years and have come to assume the best always come from raw milk. That may not necessarily by true, 13 of these were made from pasteurised milk, 7 from raw and 1 used ‘thermised’ milk (pasteurised light). The debate is complicated and Formaggio Kitchen has an informative blog on this subject.

And so, we headed home, the rail links worked perfectly and Siân was in plenty for the necessary child collections.

Finally, a big ‘thank you’ to Siân for thinking up and organising this day out for us. I liked the art, even though I know little about it, and I loved the cheese. I also rather enjoyed being in London, perhaps we should go there again. I have called this post London (1), so maybe there will be a London (2).