life & style // 16

theotherpress.ca

The Intrepid Gastronomer: Delightfully bland

» A review of Cockney Kings

K.P. Davis
Contributor

he history of fish and

chips is an interesting
one. Originally brought to
England in the 16th century
by Jewish immigrants, it was
a way of preserving food over
the Sabbath before the days of
refrigeration. Like any food born
of necessity, a basic functional
taste is all that is required. As
the chippie has become a staple
of metropolitan English cuisine
for centuries and the battered
fish the symbol of Britannia,
it’s not unbelievable that a few
places would make a go of it here
in Vancouver.

Fish and chips is one of
those meals that is really easy to
completely botch. And despite
the school of battered fish

: that was exiting the kitchen,

: Cockney Kings did pretty well.

: I started with the seafood

: chowder. Unlike other chowders
: I have had, this wasn’t creamy or
: tomato based, but a traditional

: salty broth filled with big

: chunks of fish, finished with

: celery, bacon, and green peppers
: and served with a nice fluffy

: white roll. Dinner was off toa

: great start.

The chips came out crisp

: and piping hot. It’s obviously

: expected that you drown them
: in your condiments of choice

: as they were quite plain, even

: lacking much in the way of

: salt. I happily obliged with

: malt vinegar and an unhealthy
: dose of sodium. The chips were
: delicious as long as they were

: fresh, but they lost integrity

: once they began to cool.

I had quite the selection of

: fish to choose from for my piece, : _
: and I was delighted to discover: amt
: that it didn’t have to be battered.

: As muchas J ama sucker fora
: nice grilled piece of halibut, I got :
: the battered cod. It came piping :
: hot and delicious. [tore into it, :
: singeing my palate slightly in the :
: process. The batter was alittle  :
: on the heavy side and I began

: to wonder how anyone could

: eat more than two pieces. The

: tartar sauce complemented the:
: cod very well, being a little bland :
: and not overly pickle-flavoured — :
: or vinegary.

The oyster that came was

: salty and plump, though I found
: the batter a little flowery and

: soggy on the bottom, whereas

: the prawns came out lightly

: battered and crisp. The coleslaw
: side was served ina paper

ramekin and I found it to be

: subtly flavoured—not bland,
: but also not strong enough to
: overpower the fish.

I must say that I was

presently surprised by my visit
: to Cockney Kings. They fry up
: a pretty good fish, even if the

   

Photo by KP Davis

: batter can bea little on the heavy
: side. Nothing overly peppered or
: salted, and the food cooked well,
: delightfully bland, and English.

Cockney Kings can be

found at 66 10th Street in New
: Westminster and at 6574 East
: Hastings in Burnaby.

 

Construction Site: Diary of amad costume maker

» Sewing by hand, making appliqués, and beading

_ Brittney MacDonald
@& Life & Style Editor

3 Mlifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca

 

L°* week I began discussing
the importance of detailing,
and I will continue with that
now because it is where most
first-time costume makers fall
short. As I said before, details
are key—but how can you make
sure that what you focus on will
stand the test of time? Sure,
fabric appliqués look pretty, but
how long will they last before
unravelling or falling off? Truth
is, they should last as long as the

rest of your costume, and though :
: hours.

it can seem like a lot of work,
making sure that your beading
and other craftsmanship is up to
snuff will save you a lot of time
in the long run since you won't
have to continually repair or
replace things.

Beginning with the
easiest thing I can think of,
that is oftentimes the most
mishandled: fabric appliqués.
For my costume I had to make
over 30 small, pink flowers with
beaded centres. I’ll get to the
beading ina bit, but for now
let’s focus on the appliqués
themselves.

When making appliques,
especially ones that will be
three-dimensional and not just
patchworks sewn flat onto the
surface of your garment, your
first step is finding a fabric that
will retain its shape. Gauzy

: silks may be pretty, but they’ll

: flop over and look wilted after

: too long. I find the easiest

: way to avoid this is to go with

: synthetic fabrics if you want

: something a little ethereal or

: transparent, or to use canvas

: should you want something a bit
: more rustic. For my purposes,

: Lused both. For my appliqués I

: wanted a feminine softness to

: complement the floral designs

: on the rest of the costume, but

: also wanted the pink to be

: fairly bold against the navy of

: the skirt. So I chose to do two la
: yers, pink taffeta on top of pink
: canvas. Pairing these two stiffer
: fabrics meant I wouldn’t have to

starch and iron them every few

For the actual process, I

made a stencil out of craft foam
: that was slightly bigger than

: Iwanted the flowers to be.

: Because I intended to scrunch

: the flowers a bit to add texture,
: I knew that visually they would
appear a little smaller than they
actually were, so I compensated
: by making my stencil bigger.

: Remember, you can always trim
: them down if they’re too big, but
: if you cut them too small, you'll
have to remake the entire thing.

Because both canvas and

: taffeta are woven fabrics, you

: risk them fraying if you leave

: them unhemmed. To avoid this,
: as well as to save time, I painted
: clear nail polish around the

: edges. It may stink for a bit, but
: it will seal them so you won't

: have to go back and replace all

: the damaged ones later.

With the fabrics cut and

: sealed, we move on to the bane
: of every tailor’s existence—

: sewing by hand. Sewing by

: hand is tedious, annoying, and
: slow; it’s best to avoid doing

: itas muchas you can. If you

: find you have to, don’t use the

: same thread you would use in

: your machine. Machine thread
: is often thinner and will break

: more easily should you use

: it for anything outside of the

: mechanical realm. I find that

: using wool or a thicker nylon

: thread works best because :
: they’re meant for heavier fabrics, :
: and will hold quite a bit of :
: weight even if your sewing skills
: are less than stellar.

For my appliqués I did each

: by hand, scrunchingthemup —:
: intoa desired shape and looping :
: the thread through the bottom:
: repeatedly till I was satisfied.

: This might not have been the

: most efficient method, but it

: worked and I was satisfied with
: it.

For the beading, I had

: originally intended to do the

: centres of the flowers as well

: as some beads added to the

: decorative buckle of the belt.

: I altered this though when I

: found some rhinestones on

: sale in the perfect colour for my
: belt. Remember that continuing :
: theme of adaptability?

: Sometimes, if you're stuck on

: how to do something, just go to
: the craft or home improvement
: store and look around. They

 

   

might have something that’s
: a bit unorthodox, but will work
: perfectly.

The beaded centres,

: however, remained the same.

For this I offer the same advice

: as I did with hand sewing—

: don’t use a machine thread. I

: prefer sticking to crewel wool

: thread because it’s stiffer and

: can offer a tighter hold, but also

Photo by Brittney MacDonald

: fine enough to pass through

: the centre of a bead repeatedly.

: Make sure it’s coated should you
: be unsure of the weather. Wool,
: like any natural fibre, will warp

: or change if you get it wet.

: Well that’s all for now! Good

: luck, and I hope to see you

: sporting your own creations

: soon!