lucy24 - 6:27 am on Jul 13, 2011 (gmt 0)

if you send something into London by barge unrefrigerated it is going to be half rotten by the time it is eaten so you have to just boil it to death.

Or drench it in an array of spices, heavy on the pepper, so you won't notice. Food brought overland into monster cities like Peking can't have arrived in tip-top shape either, but they managed to develop a pretty decent cuisine anyway.

I no longer have the nerve to make Norwegian-style eggnog even though I remember it fondly. You don't know where that egg has been or how long it's been there-- and you can't stick eggs in the freezer for a couple of weeks to kill off the creepy-crawlies. (Or can you? What happens to an egg if you freeze it?)

Canned tomato soup is still a good comfort food though.