Last Friday the office was struck down; famine stalked the edit suite, the meeting room AND the studentcooking.tv office. Granted, it was only 11.35, but seriously we were very hungry, biblically so.

I don’t know about any of you, but when I get hungry I start obsessing about all the most amazing foods I can think of. I taunt and test my aching, empty stomach with Google image searches of everything from juicy roast joints of beef, thick ribbons of parpadelle with porcini and garlic, to huge beef burgers, smothered in melted cheese and Jalapeños. As a recovering fatty, these actions are definitely steps backwards and wholly futile, however it happens, tragically, every time hunger strikes.

This Friday afternoon however, we went one step further; “If you could eat anything right now what would it be?” My mind skipped through all the most amazing meals I have ever eaten hurriedly trying to find the solution, Saltimboca in Bologna? Giorgio Locatelli’s red wine and Castelmagno cheese risotto, the kebab I had at Zurich train station in 2008? My mind landed on two dishes, the dishes of the gods, Foie Gras and the dish that made Hull famous, the Pattie. Tragically neither would be available in deepest darkest North Leeds and in the end a pack of Seabrook Worcestershire sauce crisps would have to suffice.

Now, when I get food on the brain it is there until I have devoured whatever is the target of my culinary lusts so with this in mind I decided to go to that Mecca of gastronomy! the jewel in the cuisine crown! no not Paris… Hull!

Saturday morning saw a quick bus ride into the city and a mad dash to the legendary Bob Carvers for a battered, deep-fried hockey puck shaped mound of potato, sage and fish. If you aren’t familiar with a Pattie, it is pretty much native to Hull, like a little grey sponge full of flavor, covered in vinegar and salt, served with dark, evil looking (but fantastic tasting) mushy peas. I always ask for “an old one”, one which escaped the jaws of one of last weeks eager customers and has now become hard and chewy, only to soften with the addition of Christ’s last drink (vinegar). It was delicious, a tour de force for the mouth and set me up perfectly for a day of loitering and pub stops. By hook or by crook, I managed to locate a little, delicious nugget of Foie Gras while I was in Hull that made the weekend! Lovingly fried and served with a bit of crusty bread nothing else bothered me that weekend, football results, girls, trains, weather. All these paled in my gastronomic accomplishments!