Tag Archives: Book clubs

The Bombay Boys Book Club Discussion Points

We all love our neighbourhood Book Club. It is a wonderful opportunity to get together and discuss the latest book that we’ve read and okay yes, there is often wine involved and dare we say gossip?

The Bombay Boys is the perfect book for your Book Club as it covers a wide variety of controversial subjects. We never agree at our club and that is what makes it SO fun. Here are some suggestions:

  • The book starts in the British Raj in India pre-Partition in 1947, the “Jewel in the Crown” of colonialism – Do you think the British did more good than harm? Should we be making reparation for some of the mistakes that were made? How would you feel if you were a national subjugated to the British?
  • Spiritualism was highly accepted in the early twentieth century – Do you believe in ghosts? If so, why?
  • Throughout the book there is an underlying theme of racism against people of colour which was at its height in the era of Enoch Powell – Are we seeing a resurgence of racism today, if so in what way?
  • Joe Benedict turned to crime to support his family – Is this ever acceptable?
  • London in the 50s was just beginning to move on from post-war austerity but there was little television and no social media – Was it a better time before the internet?
  • Is there such a thing as an Anti-hero? Nick Benedict is handsome and charming but at the end of the day a ruthless gangster – why do we love a villain?
  • The Australian Immigration Programme of the “Ten Pound Poms” – Any thoughts or experiences? Australia now has a very restrictive immigration policy – Views? Should the UK do that?
  • Indian Food has become one of the favourite types of cuisine in the UK – Do you like it and if so, what is your favourite

Guernsey Potato Peel Pie, not just a book club review, but a recipe too

I am extremely lucky to live in a road with the most brilliant neighbours. They are fun, generous, don’t live in your pocket but are always there if you need them. Even better, we have our own neighbourhood book club which nicely complements our Tomato Growing contest (more to follow on that later in the year)  in ensuring we all see each other regularly. Once a month, we meet and discuss the merits of a designated book, which is always a lively discussion aided by lots of wine and the fact that we all love a good debate. Last month, the lovely Helen, pictured below was our host.The designated book was ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society’ which was a light and enjoyable read. The book is set in Guernsey during the Occupation and highlighted many of the hardships that the islanders went through, many of which I have to confess to being completely unaware of, however it also highlighted the extremes they went to to feed themselves and in the course of the book, a potato peel pie is mentioned.  Having a few old King Edwards knocking around in the fridge, I thought it might be fun to try and create a potato peel pie to take with me to book club, instead of the usual bottle of wine. I confess that in the interest of making it taste good,  I have not used the austerity measures that the original recipe called for and have liberally added cheese, cream and garlic, and the result was that it tasted really good! So if your book club is reading this and you fancy trying to make one for the occasion, or you want a very simple vegetarian potato and cheese pie, give it a try!

My attempt at the Guernsey Potato Peel Pie: You will need:

For the pie crust:

  • 3 large potatoes – skin grated, including some of the white flesh
  • Teaspoon of oil to grease the pie dish
  • 1 small, finely chopped white onion
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 25g plain flour
  • 25g grated parmesan
  • 1/2 teaspoon of paprika

For the filling

  • Remainder of the potatoes above
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 100g cheddar grated
  • 50g parmesan grated
  • 1 tablespoon of cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Preheat the over to Gas mark 6/220 fan/240 non-fan
  • Grease a small pie dish with the oil
  • In a bowl, mix up all of the ingredients for the pie crust
  • Press in to the pie dish, to form a nice thick crust and place in the oven for 20 minutes
  • In the meantime, place some water in a saucepan and add the chopped  potatoes and garlic. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender
  • Drain and allow to cool slightly
  • Add the remaining ingredients and mix well
  • Turn the mixture out in to to the cooked pie crust and smooth out so it looks like a flan
  • Reduce the Oven to Gas Mark 4/160 fan/180 non-fan and cook for a further 12 to 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown
  • Serve immediately

It turned out to be a rather lovely, slightly different Cheese and Potato pie.

Next month’s book is”The Hunger Games”…that could be interesting…