Yay Nostalgia!

It’s about time for me to geek out over something that is not Doctor Who and this time it’s going to be treacle. I was inordinately excited to discover treacle upon my arrival in Britain and am finally writing a blog to share my excitement. I recognized the word from Alice in Wonderland, but because Lewis Carroll used so many nonsense words in his writings, I originally had no idea that treacle was something real. Then I saw Jamie Oliver using it in a recipe right before moving to the UK, so it was flagged on my list of things to investigate upon arrival in Britain.

‘Once upon a time there were three little sisters,’ the Dormouse began in a great hurry; ‘and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well—’

‘What did they live on?’ said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.

‘They lived on treacle,’ said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.

‘They couldn’t have done that, you know,’ Alice gently remarked; ‘they’d have been ill.’

‘So they were,’ said the Dormouse; ‘very ill.’

Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: ‘But why did they live at the bottom of a well?’

What I imagined treacle to be like isn’t actually that far from truth. What I pictured was a dark brownish blackish sticky substance, which is exactly what Black Treacle is. This is akin to American Molasses. I bought this tin of Black Treacle over Christmas holidays and my sister baked some delicious homemade bread with it.

However, Alice was probably talking about Golden Syrup, the more common form of treacle. It’s used in baking recipes and you can use it as a sweetener in things like porridge. I tried porridge* thinking I could convince myself to like it, but my first bowl was awful and tasted of cardboard. Then a friend recommended I put Golden Syrup in it and now I’ve become a porridge convert! Some fresh berries are also nice. (I think the real reason Goldilocks preferred Baby Bear’s porridge is because it had treacle in it.)

Anyway, Alice’s story makes a lot more sense after eating this stuff and seeing how sickeningly sweet it is. I couldn’t imagine living off of it. You would indeed be very sick!

*Oatmeal vs. Porridge for the enquiring minds.

A strange bicycle I spotted in Kensington Gardens.

DepARTure, a lovely community cafe near Limehouse DLR station I keep meaning to study at. Some shots I snapped while wandering through on the way to my placement. Free wifi, tasty soup, second hand books, and drum tables. What’s not to love?

So, during our dissertation planning session we were asked to draw our “home” where we would write our dissertations. The door was your thesis question and you were to specify the other things you would need to write. I drew a tiny hobbit hole with inquisitive fairies that would keep up with my survey information, readings and emails, a mushroom fairy dwelling for my research compilation and pathways to the library. Oh, and fairy dust (i.e. the internet).

Just because I don’t think I’ve shown enough of the quirkier side of London…

On my way to the British Library.

Truly, you can wear anything in London and not turn heads. (Taken with Instagram at King’s Cross St Pancras Underground Station)