Peas Mussolini? Tarrant’s rant at pretentious menus
FOR decades diners have been bewildered by pretentious menus, often too embarrassed to ask what the elaborate language actually refers to.
But Chris Tarrant has struck a blow for all those left at a loss about what to order just because the chef decided some fancy vocabulary would impress the clients.
Describing a menu he encountered at a ‘not-very-special’ restaurant, the 70-year-old presenter said: ‘I was meandering as best I could through a particularly incomprehensible menu in a not-very-special restaurant last week, when I came across this gem: “A delight of North Sea cod with pommes de terre diced in the classic styling and peas mussolini”.
‘Pommes de terre in classic styling? So just bog-standard chips, then. And what on earth are “peas mussolini?” It’s another world.’ The menu may have been referring to peas mousseline, rather than a dish devised by Italy’s wartime dictator.
He added: ‘On the same menu was salt-baked beetroot, deconstructed lemon meringue… romesco and ‘nduja. ‘Had I arrived on the planet Zarg? What inspires people who write menus to make them incomprehensible?’
Writing in Woman’s Weekly magazine, the former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host also railed against statements of the obvious – such as ‘green peas’ and ‘sea scallops’ and suggested that some of the wording must simply be made up.