Our theme this month is ?revolution?. Nothing has revolted me more today than the bambasting some jumped up juvenile Guardian hack has just given the Island. It?s one thing to provide critical commentary but it?s quite another to propose that ?only weirdos and the Barclay brothers roam the Channel Islands?. You can read our response to the author, a one Oliver Thring here
I realise that it?s a dog eat dog world climbing the ladder as a journo hacks, regardless of the middle class nature of your vocabulary but managing to completely lose the point of a food article trying to berate the Island and all who live here using ill considered 80s stereotypes derived from a fictitious detective show is a little weak. Sure, you and I both know what we?d rather drown in the Bollinger that flows from our Clive Christian taps than the water 20 feet down from the fly deck of our 58ft motor cruiser. We know that the Island is full of prostitutes of both the sexual and financial variety and child and coconut molesters abound. Perhaps we don?t notice them as we walk around firmly fixated on counting the wads of cash in our greasy little palms. No, hang on…wait, I?ve slipped into Oliver?s fantasy Jersey.
Recent times have seen many an aspiring journalist trying to mimic the zeitgeist of journalistic strategy, the Clarkson / Gill school of critique and deviance from the subject in hand. Oliver seemed to completely miss the positives of both the Island and its food and slip comfortably into the editorial lowest common denominator like an Oxford grad slipping his pedicured feet into some custom fitted loafers.
It?s easy to pick on something. Friends of mine used to ?race? snails with the assistance of a lighter. I would imagine that someone who defines his life by words of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam would never dream of doing such a thing. Perhaps he should therefore have put down the lighter when it came to Jersey and concentrated on the Escargot at hand.
I?m not even from Jersey (shock horror!) but I?m pretty passionate about the positives of our golden cage. Sure, it needs a revolution in some areas, some of which are discussed over the coming pages. However, when it comes to food, I?d challenge Mr Thrings to find a comparatively sized town in the UK that offers the standard of both local produce and quality restaurants found in Jersey. We just missed Oliver as our Appetite eating guide came out just as he left. Perhaps we?ll send him one and invite him back. Golden pitchforks at the ready everyone….
