Antarctica: lourobbo's kitchen

This was always going to be a tough one. Penguin and seal steaks are not readily available in Sainsbury's, the best that I could come up with for recipes was an Antarctic BBQ "on the ice". But no food specific to the region, I guess that's unsurprising with a population of just over 3,600.

The Travel Book did however make one suggestion for drinks, an Antarctic Old Fashion. Developed in the late 1950s and perfected at Camp Michigan on the Ross Ice Shelf, it's a bourbon-based concoction.

Take some bourbon, mix with snow (err...in our case some chilled water) and throw in a couple of lifesaver sweets, preferably the cherry flavour ones. Shake until they dissolve. Serve on a slice of glacier. Not being aware of any glaciers within the M25, I settled for serving it on the rocks.

Couldn't find any penguin burgers either, but they did have the classic McVities penguins, so duly bought a packet to have with our aperitifs.

The chocolate biscuits were significantly better than the cocktails. Not being a bourbon drinker at the best of times, I found it truly disgusting. If I ever have the fortune to get myself a time machine, I won't be visiting 1950s Antarctica with this as the drink of choice.

But big thanks to the Whittens for kindly sending a couple of packs of Lifesavers over from the States to make this experiment possible, the one essential ingredient in this revolting cocktail.

This week was cheating really, but the Argentinian steak is so tantalisingly close that combining Antarctica and Antigua has got us through this cooking spell and back on the restaurant scene.

Next up - Wednesday night at Santa Maria del Sur in Battersea. Nom nom nom.