Getting a flavour of modern life writes Andy Mitchell

This was 40 years ago, of course, when bravery wasn’t really a factor is choosing a menu.

Since then, I’ve been restrained in my choice of diet to the point where it actually marks me out as a Lancashire lad. A constant diet of hot pot and steak and kidney pies has defined me as Northern, to the point where anything regarded as “fancy” has been subconsciously reserved for foreigners and those “down South”

All this changed on Sunday, when the world of Haloumi was opened up to me whilst trying out a new restaurant.

I looked it up. It’s a cheese from Cyprus. It’s like a cross between goats cheese and rubber (pictured). It comes coated in breadcrumbs and can be dipped in a sauce.

On this occasion it came accompanied by a tasty salad containing chicken and bacon. I already felt I was doing myself a favour in the quest to lose some weight and look a bit fitter.

Apparently, they eat Haloumi all the time out in Cyprus. It’s up there for entertainment value with a trip to the Astra cinema, Episkopi. That’s all I know about it, but it revolutionised Sunday teatime in a way prawn butties followed by peaches and Carnation milk never could.

Having considered whether eating Haloumi now made me as cool as the cool kids who eat in over priced “kooky” restaurants in Shoreditch, I mused whether a venture into the equally trendy world of avocados might just be moments away.

I posted a message about my brave new world of food on social media. “At Last!” commented one of my workmates who specialises in the sort of home cooking and varied menus one can only dream about.

So in the same way I took the plunge and had a Pop Tart all those years ago, now I’m aiming to be down with the “Moderns” once again in a world of continental cheese and soft fruits.

Life was never this varied in Bispham all those years ago… maybe a move towards being more cosmopolitan might do me good, and indeed, surprise my Mother.

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