Neil Gits To Boil Rice

Growing up at home in the 70s & 80s, my mum was very traditional & unadventurous. Almost every meal we had seemed to consist of beef, ham, chicken or lamb with either mashed potato or home made chips. We never had pizza, pasta or anything “foreign” at all that originated outside the UK ! The only takeaways we had were, unsurprisingly, fish and chips – which tasted very different to the ones served up at home …

I finally moved out in February 1990 and lived for a few months with a girlfriend who worked in a school kitchen part-time and sharing a house with her meant I suddenly started experiencing food from all over the world – Italian, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Caribbean and more ! Much of it came with rice and in the last 34 years of mainly living alone, I must have eaten hundreds of kilograms of the stuff, whether fluffy, long grain, basmati, pilau, white, yellow, brown or any other colour available – but until recently I had never actually cooked it myself at home in a saucepan, only in ready meals !

Now I can add some fresh ideas to my meals list. So far I have tried tins of chicken curry and chili con carne from the supermarkets with it and have a tin of meatballs in gravy in the cupboard with a thought of putting them together with rice too ! A13 Annie does a mean concoction or two of her own and if she makes too much, I can sometimes grab a tasty portion of leftovers for the freezer to eat with my rice or maybe pasta … but that’s for another blog ! I am going to stop typing now – I have suddenly become rather hungry and the kitchen is just round the corner from my PC !!

There have been lots of tasty treats on my show so far in 2025, I think all my efforts from January are still available at our “Listen Again” page and you can also catch this week’s selection on the ‘Repeat Play’ this Saturday from 5-7pm just before the weekly UK Soul Chart Top 30 …

The Tunes – Monday 3rd February 2025

THS The Horne Section – Lady Shine (Shine On)
The Limit – Say Yeah
Crossroads feat Cler – Don’t Lose The Magic
James Brown – Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine
Funkadelic – (Not Just) Knee Deep
Freak Power – Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out
First Light – Wish You Were Here
Debra Laws – Meant For You
Al Jarreau – Never Givin’ Up
Drifters – Down On The Beach Tonight
Lou Rawls – One Life To Live
Final Touch – I’m Ready To Give Up My Love
Jackie Wilson – Open The Door To Your Heart
Ashford & Simpson – Don’t Cost You Nothing
Mike & Brenda Sutton – Anyway You Want My Love
Womack & Womack – Love Wars
Luther Vandross – Get Myself Together (Louie Vega Remix)
Sargent Tucker – The Presence Of You
Love Unlimited – Walking In The Rain With The One I Love
Maze – Can’t Stop The Love
Sharon Brown – I Specialize In Love
Jorge Montiel/Juan Laya/Andre Espeut – Universal Flow

Feel free to get in touch with your soulful request or just for a mention on the show – put a post on “The Old Gits Soul Show” page on Facebook, text (01268)833978 or message me via e-mail : [email protected].

The Old Gits Soul Show is broadcast LIVE from 7pm–9pm every Monday, repeated on Saturday evening from 5pm–7pm, on Gateway 97.8FM in Basildon & East Thurrock, across South Essex on DAB and available nationally via the Radio Player on your TV as well as online via www.gateway978.com You can listen on your smart speaker or your phone too … plus you can hear it again anytime you like via the “Listen Again” button on the Gateway website – just search “Cool Soul” !