James Hamilton on Culture, Technology and Art
One of the greatest advantages of coming from a moneyed background is that you can pursue literary or artistic achievement full-time, without having to worry about making a living. George Orwell’s experiences between the wars supporting working class writers brought home just how hard it could be to sustain long, developed artistic projects without resources….
Once ingredients and equipment are taken care of, the single set of skills that can do most to improve your cooking out of all recognition is to master three of what are called the French mother sauces. If you can make hollandaise, bearnaise and mayonnaise, then the way is clear for you to embark on…
If you have any lingering notion that British art isn’t riven to the core with ideas of class, consider Alfred Wallis. Because Alfred Wallis, in his lifetime and in the seventy years since his death, has been the most patronised man in the country. Wallis was a Cornishman, a sailor by trade who, on…
These days, Ashington, a former mining town fifteen minutes’ drive from Newcastle, is best known for giving birth to the Charlton brothers Jack and Bobby, World Cup Winners with England in 1966. But before World War II, this place, lacking public library or art gallery, became famous for something quite different: its painters. The story…
A sermon from an eighteenth century might seem an off-putting place to find advice for leading the life of a Laughing Garreteer. I’ll admit the title is not the catchiest and starting off with a quote from Ecclesiastes – ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity’ – might make this seem like a…
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By James Hamilton In the end, I was in my twenties before two Italians taught me to cook, over a long Easter in a mansion flat high over Wimbledon Common. Little wonder really: as a boy, I’d never really been all that welcome in the kitchen. And an English Sunday dinner, with its roasts and…
Some cookery writers are sometimes a little bit snobbish about dried herbs and spices. Dried may mean less flavour but better that than no flavour at all. As a Garreteer, you may lack a space that is proper for growing your own. The kitchen at Laughing Garreteer Towers, for example, lacks a window and therefore…
Five Easy Ways to Cut Your Supermarket Bill This Week (Or Any Week) Go vegetarian for a week. The meats in your trolley might just be the most expensive things in your weekly shop. Check for special offers before you shop. Your favourite supermarket will almost certainly have a website. It will list special offers…
We chose the Baby Belling as our benchmark cooker because there’s a good chance that that, or something better, will be available to you. But what if you end up living for an extended period with no cooking facilities at all? How do you keep yourself alive and healthy in those circumstances? After all, it…
Although it might at first glance seem to be a guide about what not to do, the cult film Withnail & I (Bruce Robinson, 1986) offers wise advice about positive steps that can be taken when one is strapped for cash. Our two eponymous heroes do not realise that a lack of funds is not…
What your local public library can do for you Libraries have always been a part of the Garreteer lifestyle. Local public libraries provide free book loans, newspapers on tap, expensive reference books, and even a place just to sit and think. I worked in a public library in the UK from 1996 to 2000 in…
