Video game review #9: Judge Dredd: Dredd VS Death

 So its been just over 8 years since my last dedicated video game review? That's long enough right? Yeah not too bad.

Then again, consistency has always NOT been a characteristic of my timing on this blog so what's the harm in reviewing a long-forgotten FPS game based off of a much-loved sci-fi franchise?

Judge Dredd: Dredd VS Death is one of those little gems that, while maybe not leaving a huge overall impact on the gaming industry and the scene of FPS titles, still deserves credit as a fine example of simple gameplay and simple storytelling creating a compelling and enjoyable experience.

The Judge Dredd comics that are part of the 2000AD comic series and first published on 05/03/1977 have become the hallmark for action-based comics with dark and adult themes. The comics have rightfully earned their place as some of the most seminal in the medium and even spawned two films; a terrible but nonetheless fun cheesy popcorn flick in 1995 starring Sylvester Stallone and a 2012 film starring Karl Urban in a more faithful and grittier adaptation of the comics.

In terms of tone and style, I'd say that this 2003 first-person-shooter video game is somewhere between the two movies. It has a fair bit of grimdark, grit and realism that can be found in the 2012 movie but also the theatre, one-liners and set-piece moments of the 1995 movie. 

While the atmosphere is a good balance between grit and cinema, the actual gameplay is a lot more consistent. The shooting has a decent amount of impact but there isn't as much variation in the weapons as you'd expect from an early-2000s FPS. You get a selection in this game from a pistol, a rifle that doubles as a sniper rifle and assault rifle, two different types of shotguns, a laser rifle and a laser pistol that is about as powerful as a newborn kitten and a strangely ineffectual grenade launcher. The real standout though is the Lawgiver pistol which is a seminal part of the Judge Dredd mythos as it is a multi-weapon handgun that is linked to the biological ID of it's registered user who has to be a Judge like Dredd. It's easily the best weapon in this game showcasing a rapid-fire mode, heat-seeker bullets, armour-piercing rounds, immolating fire bullets and the one-solution-solves-all-problems that is high-explosive rounds. I quite honestly never found any need to use anything other than rapid-fire and high-explosive rounds on the lawgiver which is a bit sad as I would've liked to see more set-pieces where I was forced or inclined to make better use of the lawgivers' alternate fire modes. As it is, the gunplay still has a good bit of impact and you do really feel like you're an all-conquering law judge in Mega City One.  

Outside of the shooting, the gameplay is pretty straightforward and while it doesn't have the sleuthing segments of the James Bond PS2 games or the physics puzzles of Half Life 1 & 2, it does have a simple formula that is undeniably compelling and enjoyable. depending on where you are, you'll be facing gangs corrupting the underbelly of the city or a mix of vampires, zombies and death cultists bringing about untold destruction to the innocents of your city. With the more human enemies, you can capture them and sentence then to time behind bars or you can shoot your way towards justice and a safer Mega City One. The way the simplicity of that gameplay finds itself to be so compelling is by doing just a couple of things for the fundamentals of the game but making them as accessible and rewarding as possible.

That's not to say the gameplay is flawless though, I can imagine that some people will yearn for something with a bit more variety. However, the game is only 5-6 hours long with the single player in mind so its not like you'll be playing long enough for this to become an issue. The other main problem I had with the gameplay is that the civilian AI is impossibly janky and stupid. On one level in a mega mall, I had to rescue civilians being attacked by zombies in a nightclub. The civilian AI would follow me wherever I went but their natural pathing was so one-note and unintelligent that when they came to the 'specified safe zone' they'd horizontally line up. But if I led all of them in at the same time or walked centrally to the escape exit then the last of the survivors would get stuck behind the line of other civilians and the game would refuse to register me completing that objective. This definitely happened at least two more times thus forcing me to do minor restarts. Its not a total gamebreaker, but the AI is possibly the weakest fundamental part of the gameplay. 

The visuals are also another possible downside. They don't look like excremental doggy chowder but its not the most handsome game either. I gather they were probably going for a similar cartoon feel to the comics but its presented in a much less seamless way here. The design isn't the problem but the graphics and how said design is implemented has certainly aged chunkily in a visual manner. That being said, while the graphics have aged poorly, there is a definite rough charm to them and the game feels like a game of its time as a result of that in the best way possible.

So while the game is a little bit imbalanced, it is fun in a refreshingly simple way. So what's the story like? Again, its pretty simple but definitely mixed with a bit more complexity. It does help to have read a little bit into the mythos of the Judge Dredd comics but its not entirely necessary. In this game you have to deal with a death-worshiping cult who are trying to release the four demonic 'dark judges' who are perverse and dark parodies of Judge Dredd and his colleagues who come from a dead parallel world that is a dark parody of Earth after all life has been exterminated. The dark judges work off of the basis that living itself and consuming the resources that the world needs to operate is a crime and they aim to judge every living being by killing them. Its grimdark in its purest sense and ties perfectly into the ethos of a 2000 AD-type comic. What gives a good bit of narrative juice to the concept of the four dark judges is that they are loosely based off of the four horsemen of the apocalypse with Judge Death being marked as guilty by the hall of judges of not only murder (well duh) but also genocide and bloody omnicide (where you are found guilty of wiping out an entire species in a process that may also result in your own death). So yeah, I think the stakes are pretty high.

Throughout the game you're working towards the overall goal of stopping the dark judges from gaining fully material forms so they can enact their full powers with the aim of ending all life on earth. During the Necropolis event in the comics, the dark judges were able to turn Mega City One into a city of the dead by murdering 60 million of its occupants. With hints to their previous exploits in the lore being fed through character's basic reactions to their presence as well as chapter title cards, you get a well-balanced sense of just how dangerous and threatening the judges are. Considering they can kill you pretty quickly in the game (with the exception of Judge Fear), the dark judges hold an immersive sense of threat and magnitude that draws you into the story by the sheer magnitude of their evil and just how much they need to be stopped.

This game overall is like a cheeseburger, its simple and you know what you're getting in for but the key here is in the execution in the ingredients. Yes its a cheeseburger, but its a great cheeseburger in a seeded brioche bun with A1 Wagyu beef and lamb fat with top-tier gouda and cheddar as well as some artisan gherkins and dry slaw along with homemade burger sauce and bbq sauce along with a side of traditional Belgian fries that have been triple-fried. This game isn't super complicated but it doesn't need to be. Be it something wholesome and kid-friendly or something bloody and grimdark, you sometimes just need a simple injection of fun.

Gameplay 8/10

Story 6.75/10

Graphics 5/10

Soundtrack and sound design 8.5/10

Fun factor 9/10

Fundamental/overall/objective score 7.5/10

Uncle Ted's Recipes #16: Lemon juice & curd with vanilla and poppy seed cake

 This is a recipe that I thought of from scratch and while it is rudimentary it is simple enough that even the most green of bakers should be able to make it easily.

This is a fairly light cake although it is quite moist and dense so once you have tried it according to this recipe then try playing around with the ingredient amounts.

Ingredients:

350-400g each of both plain and self-raising flour (don't feel afraid to add a little more flour if the mix ends up looking not dry enough)

200-300g lemon curd

5 Large eggs

2 Tablespoons sunflower oil

400g honey instead of sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda or baking powder

lemon juice and grated rind of two lemons

100g poppy seeds

20-30ml vanilla extract

4-6 tablespoons brown muscovado sugar

Method:

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to either 200C fan-forced or 220C double-sided and line a deep baking tray with baking paper that you have crumpled and re-rolled out.

Step 2 - Sift the flour and bicarbonate/baking powder into a large mixing bowl and mix together and then create a well in the middle. On the side, crack the eggs into a bowl or jug and then beat them before adding in the oil and mixing well until the eggs and oil has a tiny bit of a cloudy tint to it

Step 3 - Pour the eggs and oil into the centre of the well in the flour mix and fold it until it is mixed all in. Afterwards, mix in the honey, lemon juice, vanilla extract and 2/3 of the poppy seeds and mix well until all is combined.

Step 4 - Spread half of the cake mix into the baking tray and then spoon in and spread all of the lemon curd on top of this. After the curd has been distributed as evenly as possible, spread on top the rest of the cake mix.

Step 5 - Sprinkle the remaining poppy seeds, grated lemon rind and brown muscovado sugar on top of the cake and then place into the oven for 30 minutes. Check when the cake is cooked by inserting a knife into it and if it comes out as mostly dry or with just a bit of lemon curd on it and no moist cake mix then its nearly cooked.

Step 6 - Leave to cool for 1.5-2.5 hours before serving with lemon and ginger tea or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a glass of white wine.

Uncle Ted's Recipes #15: Saag Paneer with pulses and pre-marinated paneer

Sorry if the lack of updates on this blog has left your appetites for film and video game reviews or recipe posts insufficiently satisfied but here I am again with an old recipe that I have updated a bit during my time spent experimenting with recipes during lockdown.

So here is a recipe I built up for saag paneer with pre-marinated paneer and extra pulses that is suitable for most occasions and is simple enough that it can be adapted to different dietary needs.

Utensils:

• Chopping board
• Sieve/colander
• Garlic crusher
• Large chopping knife
• Small vegetable/herb knife
• Wooden spoon
• Cast iron or stainless steel saucepan or pot with a lid
• Measuring spoons

Ingredients:

• 2 medium white onions
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 400g tinned or frozen spinach
• 400g low-fat coconut milk
• 3-5 tablespoons chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons Garam Masala
• 2 tablespoons allspice
• 2 tablespoons ground tumeric
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons tikka curry powder
• 1 lemon
• Vegetable oil
• 400-500g diced paneer (preferable), chicken breast or tofu
• 400g kala chana
• 400g green lentils
• 200g chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon cardamom pods
• 1 tablespoon caraway or cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon curry leaves
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds or cloves

Cooking method/process:

1. At least 2 hours before beginning cooking, dice the paneer into a tupperware box and squeeze all of the lemon juice into the box along with grating the lemon rind. Also add in a teaspoon of oil, a few shakes of salt and the tikka curry powder. After mixing all of this into the paneer, put on the lid, wrap in clingfilm and place into the fridge for at least a couple of hours
2. Heat up a few tablespoons of oil in the pan at about 20% heat along with the seeds, pods, chilli flakes and curry leaves along with a handful of shakes of salt before stirring and allowing to lightly simmer for 5 minutes but be VERY CAREFUL to make sure this doesn't burn.
3. Dice up the onions and add them to the pan along with the garlic after it has been crushed before stirring and turning up to 50% heat and allowing to simmer until the onions are moderately soft while keeping close attention to the pan to make sure this mixture doesn't burn. Just before dicing the onions, it would be a good idea to rinse the beans and pulses in a sieve/colander so that they have at least a few minutes to drain.
4. In a mug or bowl, pour a couple of tablespoons of oil before throwing in all of the ground spices aside from the tikka powder with a couple more tablespoons of oil and a few shakes of salt on top before mixing well and setting this curry paste mixture aside for a few minutes.
5. Get the paneer out of the fridge and add it into the saucepan along with the beans and pulses and mix well with a few shakes of salt and allow to cook for 10 minutes at 40% heat.
6. Add the curry paste to the pan and stir well before turning back up to 50% heat and cooking for 10 minutes.
7. Turn the pan up to 75% heat and add in the spinach, coconut milk, tinned tomatoes and a few small shakes of salt before mixing well and adding in boiled water if the whole mix still looks a little dry and allow the mix to cook at this level for 5-10 minutes before turning it right down to 20% heat and allowing it too cook slowly for 1-1.5 hours (keep a careful eye on the pot during this period to make sure it doesn't burn or boil over.

Serving suggestions:

Serve the curry with spinach and sweetcorn or lentil samosas, garlic naan bread, mango chutney and pilau rice with a garnish of a few leaves of coriander on top.

Serve with an ice cold glass of water or bottle of Cobra beer and after you've finished eating, have a warm cup of turmeric tea and a vanilla milkshake.

What to do with leftovers:

At the end of the week, if there is any of the curry left after you've eaten most of it, try heating up the remainder in some vegetable stock water with half a teaspoon of saffron, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 150g of stewed lentils to make some saag paneer dhal soup.

Another option to use up any leftovers is to mildly heat it up and then place in a slightly warmed up paratha wrap with pickled red cabbage, dry vinaigrette slaw, cucumber and mint rajita and then closing up the wrap and lightly toasting it in sesame seed oil so that it can be closed up as an Indian kind of, sort of burrito.

Uncle Ted's Recipes #14: Hearty but light chicken breasts

 Usually this is a type of cooking I reserve for fish and seafood (mainly salmon, prawns or cod) but I tried it tonight with chicken and it works pretty well for that too. This is a hearty dish good enough for any night of the week that can be served with a wide variety of additions and side dishes/foods but first things first, let's get to the point of cooking the chicken first.

Utensils/tools:

1 small meat-cutting knife

1 medium baking tray & 1 oven

greaseproof paper or high-quality tin foil

Plate (you can choose to eat straight from the oven with your hands but I would not recommend it)

Ingredients:

2 medium skinless chicken breast pieces

20-30ml soya sauce

4 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons pickled ginger

1/4 chilli flakes (optional)

2 bay leaves (optional)

Cooking steps/method of preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C double-sided setting.
2. Lay some greaseproof paper or tin foil over the baking tray and place the chicken breasts onto said prepared tray. Use the knife to slice the chicken breasts down lengthways once halfway through and then four times sideways across the original cut a quarter through the chicken meat.
3. Pour the soya sauce all into the cuts made into the chicken but do not worry if it spills over the sides of the chicken pieces and into the parcel of paper/foil you've made on the baking tray.
4. Peel the garlic cloves then use a garlic crusher to crush the garlic over the chicken and then extract all the bits of the crushed garlic and spread over the breast pieces along with the pickled ginger. Alternatively, if you do not have a garlic crusher, get the cloves on a cutting board, crush them with the flat of the blade of a knife (with your hand on the opposite side to stabilize it) and then roughly dice the crushed garlic up.
5. Wrap up the parcel by folding it over the top and twisting either end shut and twisting them upwards.
6. Place the tray into the oven and cook for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and place onto a plate that has been pre-heated for 3-4 minutes and serve

Uncle Ted's Serving recommendations

• Mash potato, ratatouille and roasted kale (this is my favourite way of serving this kind of chicken as it's probably the easiest to do considering roasted kale is easy to make and most supermarkets sell ready-to-microwave mash and tinned ratatouille).
• Brown rice cooked in vegetable stock, chilli flakes and red kidney beans with a side of wilted spinach and kale.
• Served on top of a udon noodle, vegetable broth and pak choi Chinese-style broth soup.
• Slice the chicken up and then serve it on top of a salad of avocado, petite pois, mint, bulgur wheat, cucumber, bean shoots and chives.
• Serve as part of a South-East-Asian mixed grill including kung-pow pork loin, Vietnamese pork belly bibimbap, chicken teriyaki and tempura beef.

Uncle Ted's recipes #13: Fruit & rum fudge cake

Considering that people have been asked to keep going out to the shops to a minimum during the lockdown I made this easy and minimal cake recipe so that people can have something nice to snack on with a cup of tea during these trying times.

Ingredients (makes 8 portions):
500g mix dried fruit
200-350g clear honey
15ml white rum
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 eggs
250g rice flour
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (optional)
100-200 diced fudge

Method/cooking process:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 210C double-sided
2. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and then stir together before making a well in the middle
3. Beat the eggs in a jug or large mug before pouring into the centre of the well in the flour mix and folding into the mix until it is largely or entirely mixed in
4. Add in the rum and honey and mix normally until it is all mixed in and if it ends up being too liquidly then add in a few more tablespoons of rice flour and fold it in
5. Mix in the fudge and fruit before placing into a deep oven tray that has been lined with greaseproof paper
6. Place into the oven for 27 minutes while double checking at the 20-25 minute mark to make sure the cake isn't burning
7. Remove from the oven once the cake is finished cooking and remove from the pan before folding the paper down on the sides and letting cool for 2 hours
8. Cut up into eighths and serve with a cup of cinnamon tea or hot chocolate

Uncle Ted's Recipies #12: Vegetarian protein-packed curry

Hey guys hope you're all keeping well, washing your hands and staying safe in these trying times what with the COVID-19 crisis going on at the moment.

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while but I'm going to try and slowly get back to getting a trickle of content slowly back into this blog at the very least and to start that off I've got a made-up-from-scratch vegetarian curry recipe for you all to enjoy! My idea with this one is that it lasts for a few days at least and gets the most as is possible out of the spices lying around in your cupboard. Hopefully you won't have to get too much extra on top of what you already have lying around your place but in any case, I really hope you all enjoy this one or at least find a good way to adapt it.

UTENSILS:

1 Medium saucepan
1 Lid for the saucepan or at least a china plate that can cover it
1 Large-medium frying pan
1 Medium chopping board
1 Large vegetable cutting knife
1 Wooden spoon
1 Medium-small glass jar
1 Teaspoon
1 Tablespoon
Weighing scales if you're bad with judging weighing amounts by eye (no shame if you are bad at that considering no one is perfect)
1 Standard-sized coffee mug

INGREDIENTS:
Basmati rice
1 Large white onion
400-500g Quorn mince or mixed & pre-soaked red & green lentils or pre-marinated tofu
300-400g Pre-soaked Kala Chana or chickpeas
400g Tinned chopped tomatoes
400g Low-fat coconut milk
6-8 Cloves of garlic
Vegetable or sesame oil
Salt
10-15g Dried chilli flakes
8-10 Cardamom pods
5-7.5g Caraway seeds
5-10g Ground smoked paprika
5-10g Ground gram masala
5-10g Ground allspice
7.5-10g Curry powder
5-10g Ground cumin
5-7.5g Dried coriander
A chilled bottle of Cobra, an icy glass of Sauvignon Blanc or a mug of turmeric tea to drink while cooking (optional but recommended)

METHOD/COOKING/PREPERATION:

1- Mix 2-4 tablespoons of the oil along with all of the paprika, allspice, gram masala, cumin, curry powder & half of the chilli flakes along with 4 pinches of salt in the glass jar before sealing it shut, shaking it vigorously for 30-50 seconds and then checking if most of the mixture is mixed together. If not, use the teaspoon to mix it around, close the jar up again and try shaking it for another few seconds and also consider adding in another teaspoon of oil if it looks a tad dry. Wrap the jar of paste in clingfilm and then set aside in your fridge.

2 - Prep the basmati rice by measuring it out by half a coffee cup per person and then washing the rice in cold water with your hand 3-5 times in the pan. Then set aside and place half the corriander and 6-10 pinches of salt into the water.

3 - Begin heating up a couple of hearty glugs of oil in the frying pan at a medium heat. Once you can feel the heat with your hands from a couple of inches above the pan, throw in the remaining chilli flakes, cardamom pods and caraway seeds and toast for 2.5 mins while occasionally mixing and then add in the rest of the coriander and toast for another 2.5 mins. While this is going on, dice up the onion, while being careful not to do the same to your fingers, and add the onion into the frying pan and mix with 6 pinches of salt after the initial spices have finished toasting.

4 - Let the onion & spices simmer for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the garlic and red peppers. While doing this, feel free to add in another touch of oil in case the pan looks like the mix in it is getting a tad dry. Peel the garlic and crush a couple of times with the flat of the knife before pulling apart with your hands and throwing all of the garlic into the frying pan and stirring it for about 5 minutes now and again. While that is going on, prep the peppers by taking out the green tops, cutting in half, hollowing out the white and seeds and then washing before cutting into 1cm wide strips and throwing into the frying pan before mixing in and letting simmer for 5-10 minutes. At this point, add in the protein be that either lentils, tofu or Quorn.

5 - At this point, start heating up the water & rice saucepan onto boil by whacking the ring it is on to full blast. Once the water gets to the point where it is fully boiling you need to turn it down halfway and place the lid/plate over the top and let it simmer until the rice has fully or 95% absorbed the water. During this time, occasionally check on the rice and if it looks like its getting dry, do a taste test and add in a small bit of boiled water from the kettle. Once it is soft but firm & has absorbed all of the water, remove the rice from the head and keep the lid on until you are ready to serve.

6 - After the red peppers have finished simmering for their 5-10 minutes in the frying pan, throw in the rest of the ingredients including the pre-prepared curry paste in the glass jar in the fridge and mix well. Afterwards, turn the frying pan onto boil and letting the curry sauce boil for approximately 10 minutes to reduce the liquid content a little bit by about 1-2cm. Stir regularly while doing this and then turn down to 10% heat and stir occasionally and gently and don't feel afraid to add a splash of boiled kettle water in case it looks a tad dry. This is so that the curry sauce has enough time to let the flavours mellow together and keep warm while the rice finishes cooking.

7 - Once the rice has finished cooking, dish it up onto a mildly warmed-up plate with about 1-3 ladleful's of the sauce per person. You may want to add more or less depending on how hungry you are of course. I recommend serving this with either a butter or garlic naan bread, some green lentil and/or mix vegetable samosas, mango chutney and a chilled bottle of either Kingfisher or Cobra lager. Garnish the curry with a couple of sprigs of fresh coriander and enjoy!

Uncle Ted's Recipes #11: Porky Power Pasta

Ok so before we get into things I'd like to apologise for not having uploaded anything on this blog in quite some time but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and produce more content on all of my online platforms. Hopefully this is the start of something great but only time will tell but anyway...on with the recipe!

Today we're going to be taking a look at a recipe that I cooked up (pardon the pun) last week while trying to think of what to do with some leftover breakfast meats that I had left over from some fry up breakfasts that I'd made earlier in the week. I had some sausages and bacon leftover that I couldn't really think of any other days last week where I'd want to have them for breakfast so I decided to incorporate them into a nutritious dinner where their saltiness and meaty textures would be nicely complimented. So here we go with the recipe proper and let me know if you guys have any suggestions to change or add to the recipe in the comments below!

Utensils:
1 large iron or cast iron pot or saucepan
1 medium meat slicing or fillet knife
1 medium vegetable knife
1 large chopping board
1 draining sieve or colander
1 fork
1 teaspoon
1 or 2 baking tray(s)
a roll of tin foil (possibly optional)

Ingredients:
1 diced large brown onion
200-300g spinach already washed and drained
100-200g petite pois peas
2 diced medium vine ripe tomatoes
3-6 rashers smoky back bacon
4-6 pork sausages (either standard pork or possibly pork and sage or Cumberland)
700-750g wholegrain fusilli pasta
200-300g Dijon mustard
vegetable oil
salt
ground smoked paprika
dried basil

Cooking method/Cooking steps:

Step 1 - Starting heating the oven on the grill setting to 250C while filling the pan/pot halfway with water and a couple of medium splashes of oil and start heating to the midway point on the dial.

Step 2 - Cover a baking tray with tin foil and then pierce the sausages 2 or 3 times on each side before placing in the tray and baking for 15-16 minutes while turning over halfway through.

Step 3 - Bring the water to a boil and throw in all of the pasta with a few pinches of salt and basil while giving a stir with the fork. Boil the pasta for 10 minutes and stir every 2 minutes very briefly while it is cooking again with the fork.

Step 4 - About 5-6 minutes before the sausages are finished cooking, cover another baking tray with foil and place the bacon in it to bake in the oven, remove the bacon from the oven at roughly the same time as the sausages. Once the meats are cooked, take them onto a chopping board and dice up with the meat knife and place into a bowl on the side for the time being.

Step 5 - When the pasta is cooked, drain it in the colander in the sink but do not lower the heat on the pan. Instead, place the pan back onto the heat and throw in a few splashes of oil along with the onion, a few pinches of salt and stir frequently while it cooks for 5 minutes. After this point, add in a few teaspoons of smoked paprika and stir to mix before adding in the tomatoes and mixing while cooking for another 5 minutes.

Step 6 - throw all of the spinach into the pan and stir until it is all wilted before adding in another pinch of basil and the diced up meat. Stir to mix before throwing in the pasta and mixing that in as well while also turning the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

Step 7 - throw in all of the mustard into the pan and mix in and then leave to heat up for about 3-4 minutes before adding in and mixing in the peas then leave to heat gently for another 4 or so minutes.

Step 8 - Serve on a gently-warmed plate either as it is or with a very light garnishing on top of parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Recommend washing this dish down with either a glass of sparkling water or a fizzy Eurocentric beer like Stella Artois or San Miguel Fresca.