Pesto…

These days you can get every type of pesto imaginable and made with things that take the name literally. Pesto is a contraction of the past participle of a Genovese word to pound or crush (get me). So tomatoes, bell peppers, rocket (the Americans love this version made with ‘arugula’), almonds, cashews etc. You name it and it has been pesto-ed to satisfy our seemingly insatiable desire for the stuff…

…but it’s the Pesto Genovese that I’m on about. The others I eschew…I’m so rock and roll. It’s the original idea with the simple combination of basil, cheese and oil. However, I am also not a traditionalist as I never include garlic or salt in my pesto. Over time I’ve come to realise that I like a combination of parmesan and pecorino, I like very lightly toasted pine nuts (hardly coloured just heated enough to release the flavour) and Italian extra virgin olive oil (this is more a thematic choice I suspect). Garlic overpowers for my tastes and, hello, the cheeses are salty enough people!

I know you’ll just be bitter if I don’t give a recipe of sorts or the amounts so I’m going to add some here for a guideline only! You have to adjust to your taste that’s the whole excellence of having your own mind and tongue. So maybe about 200/250g of basil, about 50/75g of cheese, 30/50g of pine nuts and whatever amount of extra virgin olive oil you need to get the consistency you’d like…perhaps 250ml (I just made that figure up but it’s a good ballpark!)

I believe the proper recipe types would tell you to separate the basil leaves from the stalks and only use the leaves but I  use it all. Unless you’re cooking a soup or bolognese at the same time, and want to sling the chopped stalks into that, then what are you going to do with them? Oh…right throw them away…?!? Perfectly good food that cost hard earned cash…?!? I don’t think so Lady Jane…

I use a mini processor (comes with the hand blender thingie) as I only like to make a little at a time even though it’ll keep in the fridge, with some oil on the top, for ages.

Get everything ready first, yes like they do on the telly, because this is an additions game and subtractions are not possible. The main thing is the cheese prep…hold on we need to talk consistency here. As you’ll know by now, I’m a stickler for you not only knowing your own mind but, exercising your right to live it too! So give a thought to how you’d like the pesto to be at the end – I mean how big the ‘lumps’ of it might be. A smooth paste or a chunky crumble? Obviously this is controlled by the pulsing of the processor. If you’re a little gun-ho and tend to over pulse then you’ll be heading toward a pistou/paste. SO…cheese prep. If you want your pesto smoother then grate it first, if not then just break it into smallish pieces with your fingers.

Lightly toast the pine nuts in a hot, dry non-stick pan. Whether you just warm them through to encourage them to release their flavour or you want them to be toasted and brown is, of course, personal taste. Experiment and see! If you are planning to make pesto regularly (why buy it when you can have one tailored to your taste in minutes?!) then once you find a way you like your nuts toasted (that is not a euphemism), then toast more at a time for future use. Once they’re done the way you like, then transfer them to a plate, say, and allow to cool completely (another advantage of doing this ahead is not having to wait at this point…although it’s a great opportunity to pour a glass of wine and read your book for half an hour or so…yes! Even at eleven in the morning…sheesh…

Right, put the book down (and that bottle,  naughty!) and tear the basil into the processors bowl. Now as, or if, it is the first time you are making this, add a majority of each the other ingredients…not all. The reason I’m saying this is because it allows for adjustment at the end to your personal taste. Hoorah. Pulse this till it looks like it’s a couple of whizzes away from your desired texture. Taste. If you go all gooey inside then chuck the rest in and pulse a couple of whizzes for luck and hey pesto! If you think eeew and want less creamy nutty taste, or whatever, then chuck everything in but the pine nuts etc. and hey pesto! And so on…I think you get the picture…

Pour this into a jar and add a thin layer of oil on the top to seal it as-it-were and it’ll keep in the fridge for ages. I’d be disappointed if it lasted a week without being eaten (or added to other dishes) though! What’s that? Oh…you haven’t got a clean, sterile jar ready and prepped for your pesto?!? Jamie, always has…well…you’ll just have to chuck out the end of that novelty marmalade you bought two Christmases ago and use that jar. Or do what I do, cos I’ve never gorra jar either, and put it in a bowl with cling film. No one’s filming my fridge after all…

Basil is full of great stuff. It’s crammed with vitamin A, iron and beta-carotene and many other little darlings that will mop up those evil free radicals and help battle bacterial issues, inflammation and cancer.

Pecorino is a sheep’s milk hard cheese that, like many cheeses, has to be carefully considered in a diet where health and minimising weight gain are the main desires. It does contain fat and salt and yet does have a few happy pluses like calcium and some B vitamins as well as vitamin D. Properly grazed and reared sheep’s milk has a high level of an Omega-6 fatty acid in it which is very useful to us, but this fatty acid is not present in forced and modified product. So, as ever, read the labels!

Pine nuts are an excellent source of B-complex and vitamin E. Yes, they have a high calorie count (counting calories is pointless compared with eating correctly) and they do have ‘fat’ in them but it’s mono-unsaturated fatty acids we are talking about which are very good news, especially if you’re having any issues with cholesterol. These nuts also have a whole heap of other nutrients and essential minerals.

Extra virgin olive oil might also be making you recoil but again we are talking an abundance of mono-unsaturated fatty acids (outweighing the saturated fats and making it healthier than many other oils) and it is a very good source of vitamins E and K. Additionally , if you like that more pungent and woodier taste the extra virgin olive oil has, then it’s that compound that is a very powerful antioxidant. Result.

Tomato and rice soup…

Basically this story starts with a can of Campbell’s condensed soup – ‘mmm mmm good’ and all that. I loved this soup so much and then, as seems to happen with favorite items, the company discontinued it. Thanks Campbell’s. Okay, okay…they haven’t discontinued it, but they have repackaged it with the twee new name of ‘Old Fashioned Tomato Rice soup’…’You may also like Chicken With Rice…’, they chirrup…well, no, actually I would not, so naff off. Anyway, as I’m the snippy sort, I’ve turned my back on the tinned version and started making my own.

Hold on though, let me tell you something else. It’s december and I’m buying tomatoes?!?! What’s wrong with me?!? They’re not in season! Britain’s growing season is officially March till October (and that’s pushing it, love) so what in the name of Devi Annapurna am I doing buying tomatoes in December? Pur-lease. They’re not that great at the best of times but come on, some flown-in, carbon footprint wrecking, insipid tasting, red orbs that have been bred to please our body fascist aesthetics in some far flung land are hardly the way forward. No wonder I’m roasting the poor forced darlings…(breathe, breathe…)

Anyhoo…

As I’ve said before I’m a bit rubbish with the whole recipe malarkey as I usually make it up as I go along but I’m bowing to pressure and attempting to include one here…well…it’s a recipe of sorts…don’t judge me!

  • 16 tomatoes (cos that’s what I had) – try greengrocers or market stalls for tomato deals. Chances are they might think the tomatoes are at the end of their tether but that’s when they are ideal for this soup. Don’t be afraid of produce that’s not body-beautiful or a tad past it’s prime – everything has its time and place.
  • A right big beggar of an onion – chopped up
  • A couple of medium sized carrots – washed, trimmed and chopped up
  • Few choice herbs. I flung some dried basil in. Ubiquitous to add basil I know but the dried stuff seems to work and you’re more likely to have it as a store cupboard staple (arent you?!) I’ll be honest and tell you that as I was rummaging for a green herb to add I saw paprika so I pinched a soupçon (terrible pun) of that in too…I’m on the edge arent I?!?
  • Chicken broth – obviously this could be/should be vegetable stock (Marigold boullion being my choice of the powder form. This only applies if you’re not a pupil of Nigella and don’t have a freezer full of old ice cream containers with various stocks you’ve made earlier…) – anyway, I like the chicken undercurrent and it’s all there was today so…
  • A mug of rice. I use brown as it’s just better for you and the nuttier taste adds a certain something I think, but the original was of course bleached white grains that mushed in your mouth. Hmmm…gak!

Chop the tomatoes across their middles and place them on their heads and tails on a roasting tray. Brush a touch of olive oil over them and season if you fancy. Bear in mind the stock will be salty, unless you use a reduced sodium version, but even so go easy on the salt please. Let the flavour of the tomatoes be the queen here and not usurped by salt! Roast these for a good 40 minutes in a hottish oven or until they are starting to colour and seem to dry out as-it-were.

You could turn the oven down really low and just let them shrivel and intensify (not burn though!) and you’d have delicious slow roasted tomatoes which you can keep in the fridge for a good while (especially if you keep them in olive oil) and add them to everything. Bliss.

Anyhoo…after you’ve put the tomatoes in put the rice on to cook and then when the tomatoes are nearly done sauté the onions and carrots with the basil (keep them moving as you don’t want them to catch, just to surrender). After a few minutes add the stock and let the whole thing gently simmer till the tomatoes are ready. Add them to the broth and carry on simmering them to get them all to mingle like a middle class suburban swingers party. Get in! Or just turn off the heat, put a lid on it and let it cool down.

Once it’s cool enough to blend, do so. I use a hand held jobbie as I can’t be faffed with all the back and forth of a blender…but do what you have to do. Blend it to the consitency you fancy…that’s your choice and let no one take it from you! Add the rice…and voila!

BTW tomatoes are pretty good for you too. These fruits contain vitamins (A,C and E) and flavonoids (anti-inflammatories) and minerals. The biggest fuss is about their lycopene content. This is an antioxidant that mops up free radicals (that damage your cells), and therefore help in the battle against cancer, and has been linked recently to healthier, less wrinkly skin – score! Two very important factors to consider are that, firstly, the tomato must be eaten whole to get the true benefits (surely life’s too short to peel a tomato anyway…sheesh…!) AND the ‘meddled-with’ tomatoes that arrive from abroad have usually been bred to last longer and this can potential negate their health benefits…so, as I like to say at any opportunity, gorge on them when they are in season and then forget about them for the rest of the year…

…thank you.

Spam fritters…

First a word about Spam. The tins don’t have the nutritional values on them. I think I know why. A 2oz slice (roughly a sixth of the can) has not only the faintest trace of a vitamin, but 15g of fat in it (6g saturated) and 767mg of sodium! That’s a quarter of your daily allowance of fat and third of your daily allowance of salt in one slice! Some protein, and practically no carbs on the other hand (clutching at straws)…it’s hardly a fair swap before you get too excited…

I saw this before I even opened the can but pressed on regardless (something about angels and fools treading) and the first impact you get is from the smell, which is, to be frank, enough to send you reeling. Cold sweaty cat food.

 

The dog, however, moved faster than has ever been known and was drawn to the tin as if by some kind of olfactory tractor beam and she begged and quivered and gibbered around me. Make of that what you will…

Then the glistening lurid pinkness of it as it emerges (easier said than done it turns out) from the tin all congealed and claggy…oof! Still, I’m intrepid (read a fool) if nothing else, so I slice it into six slices and begin the trial. ‘Fully cooked. Ready to eat hot or cold’ it proudly boasts on the can so I bite into the cold candy pink slab…what can I say?!? Hell…it’s salty!! @*%k me!! Hmmm this is a problem. I love salt but even I think this is like a mouthful of the Dead Sea so I put a couple of slices in a dish of cold water in an attempt to draw some of the salt out.

With the remaining four slices I tried the following ‘fritter’ action…don’t judge me…

  1. The straight forward fry. Literally just fried it till it crisped up on both sides.
  2. A basic batter like for fish and chips (I used self raising flour as that’s what I had to hand, so just flour and water – no seasoning as that can retard the crisping process, I’m told – beaten to a smooth thin batter).
  3. Then the same as above but with a sort of Welsh Rarebit twist! I added wholegrain mustard, Worcester sauce and paprika.
  4. The above but with strong cheddar added (only cheese I had in). This seems like lunacy as the saltiness will be increased but I am clearly heady with mild hysteria and just throwing caution and sense to the wind. You can tell I was getting desperate to find something to counter act the Spam…render it edible…

Well, I think you can already imagine what it all tasted like. Yup…salt. Porky salt at times and then a surprise hint of mustard or cheese for a second then back to salt. The silver lining was I downed a couple of glasses of crisp, ice cold Chenin to quench my blinding thirst – the water had been turned off…apparently…

So what of the soaked slices…?

It’s so robust it didn’t even flinch from being soaked for an hour! So, I dipped a finger in the water and guess what…? (I know this is boringly predictable isn’t it?) Ah-ha!! Gotcha!! It didn’t taste of salt! The soaking hadn’t made any difference at all except it had left a weird film on the water…I’ve chosen to ignore that. An apprehensive nibble at the corner of a piece revealed it to taste exactly the same – although at this point by tongue felt like a piece of beef jerky so it’s not to be trusted. I’m so loathe to reject, waste or give up on any food that I started imagining what I could do to salvage the Spam and keep it in the canon of allowable food stuffs. It was probably the chenin but I begun to think that if I made a form of Spam-hash from it (no! Not to smoke…) the potatoes might absorb and disperse the saltiness etc and hey panko it’d be transformed into a good hearty brunch item, slap a fried egg on it…mmmm…then the glass began to slip from my hand and I woke myself up from this nightmare and chucked the lot in the bin.

Spam is banished. Whatever preparation the underlying fact is it’s painfully high in fat and salt so why bother? There is never going to be another mention of it and the remaining tin I have at home will be ceremoniously destroyed. I applied to have it jettisoned into space but NASA predicted its salt content alone would cause it to return to earth within ninety minutes and probably clobber me on the head…karma innit…

Just to really mess with all our heads I did the exact same with a tin of corned beef as well. I have no idea why. None. The tin was there and I figured I’ll never eat it otherwise and caught up in the craziness of Spamgate I just went with it. I even tried an extra stage with the corned beef though – I added Branston pickle to the batter…

…I need to go and lie down…

Durga Puja…

As I may have said already, although I am half Indian, I grew up in Mid Sussex so I know nack all about India really. However, recently The Father has been visiting from India and always around this time of the year, which happens to include an event that I have tagged along to for the last few years…Durga Puja (Worship of Durga). First then my version of who Durga is and the history of this festival. I say my version as it’s a complex subject filled with wondrous elements of Hindu philosophy and tradition, historical significance and the most lustrous artistry and ritual…and food.

Durga is one of the most powerful and popular incarnations of Mahadevi – the Great (mother) Goddess – an all encompassing female deity – and the irascible beauty is usually depicted in a warrior pose, with her many arms brandishing deadly weapons, and riding on a lion. Differing beliefs have her as an avatar of Parvati (the gentle yet powerful incarnation of Mahadevi and wife to Shiva and mother to Ganesh) or either created by the male gods to banish evil or, claim she is, in fact, an ancient and original Grain Goddess.

Durga’s most famous and enduring story is of her great defeat of the buffalo demon Mahishasura who had brought about a reign of terror in both heaven and earth. According to the story Durga was born out of the combined energy of the Hindu Trinity of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Maintainer), Shiva (Destroyer) as a fearsome warrior Goddess to defeat this rampaging and seemingly unstoppable demon as he could not be killed by a man or a god. Various gods gave her their weapons to arm her to defeat Mahishasura and it is this victory (and generally the victory of good over evil) that is celebrated at Durga Puja.

My Indian family is from West Bengal and Durga Puja is a big, big deal there, easily the biggest festival of the year and is basically a several day celebration! Before the worshipping and offerings can start there is a years worth of planning and intense work that has occurred to create and bring Durga to life. At temples and makeshift structures set up anywhere there is enough space (pandals) there are effigies of Durga and usually her associated children (Ganesh (via Parvati) – remover of obstacles, Lakshmi – wealth and prosperity (material and spiritual), Saraswati – knowledge, music, science and arts and Karthik – warfare and beauty. There are famous and much admired sculptors (and workshops) who make the more prestigious versions. As the event at the London Durga Puja is so huge and well supported they have a fantastic, beautifully sculpted set of gods. The Camden Centre is the home of the festival and their website says this about their gods:

‘Our present protima is a work of art, especially sculpted by the legendary sculptor Shri Ramesh Chandra Paul of Kumartuli, Kolkata on commission by the world renowned industrialist Mr Lakshmi N. Mittal Chairman of LMN Group/Ispat International Ltd., for the London Durga Puja Dusserah Committee as a gift.’

…and what a fabulous gift it is!

I remember a few years back The British Museum hosted the entire building and sculpting of the set of gods right in the atrium and I went there to watch the amazing, mind bogglingly skilful creation of these beautiful and majestic effigies. Here’s a link to some photos of the event:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/past_exhibitions/2006/archive_durga/construction_process.aspx

I love the ritual and mass gathering and celebrations that attending this festival brings. The place is packed and buzzing with hundreds of families and individuals all coming along to give thanks, be blessed and have a good catch up. Various stages of the Puja are celebrated on different days and during the day there are many announcements for opportunities to be blessed or make offerings.

Being as this is a mass of Indians there has to be food involved! A form of Kitchari (a delicious and gentle mix of daal, rice, vegetables and spices that is ideal for detoxing) was being served but I was drawn to the samosas and vegetable cutlets that where being offered at a makeshift corner stall! These Bong (Bengali) specialities are so good it’s almost bad. The vegetable cutlets are a sublime combination of mashed potato and spices with peas and then some (or all) of many other variables like green beans, grated beetroot, carrots, cashews and coriander leaves. It’s the thin crust of breadcrumbs that’s so amazing though. Not some heavy handed gloopy coating but a fragile and crunchy shell. Wow! 

Bengali style samosas (singara) are a rare treat too! Crispy but soft outer casing crammed with a potato based filling. It’s the whole seeds that make these so tasty I think. Panch phoron (puran) is a ‘five spices’ combo used often in East Indian cooking consisting of cumin seeds (jeera), fenugreek seeds (methi), nigella seeds (kalonji), fennel seeds (saunf), black mustard seeds (rai).

They were being sold in threes so I mumbled something about an OCD issue about eating things in odd numbers and bought six…for the family at home of course! But sadly I must have left them on the bus on the way home as they never made it through the front door…(smiles innocently…)

There were various sweets available at the festival too, but I’ve never been a huge fan of the super sweet, soaked or syrupy varities. However, there was a sweet that you don’t see that often in regular places…it’s called Kanchagolla. I’ll grant you it’s a little like Rasgulla (Rasogolla) but without the syrup…kinda…anyhoo…it is absolutely fabulous. Made with full cream milk paneer and a little sugar (it’s not as sickly as other Indian sweets) and cardamon.

These I didn’t ‘lose on the bus’ and even those who usually find Indian sweets too rich, and overwhelmingly clawing, loved ’em! Apparently they are very easy to make…hmmm…maybe I’ll give them a go. All in the name of appeasing Durga you understand…I mean, we wouldn’t want her to get angry would we? We wouldn’t like her when she’s angry…

My eating escapade…part 2

I suppose normal people would have enjoyed the dessert at Bill’s and stopped there and languished in the lemony glow (maybe lit a tab in a post summat-or-other way…) but I have an issue with normal and Lucy thinks it’s a swear word of the most unpleasant proportions when connected to eating so…I had barely scrapped a finger around the inside of my Hedgerow Fizz glass for the eighth time when madam looked at me and said, ‘cactus taco?’. Who can refuse a beautiful blond woman who hits you with that chat up line…?!?

The taco in question is the ‘must try’ (they say) on the menu at Wahaca – the place for ‘Mexican market eating’ http://www.wahaca.co.uk/.  It has a funky, almost other-worldy air of confronting you with a brash desire to give you a good time and a glorious crash, bang, boom of colour and energy (the website will give you the general idea!) Which means, of course, I already love it without sampling a single thing. But we all know that style over content is just plain wrong and bad. Wacaha can deliver though. The super friendly staff at the Wardour Street branch (a cavernous place with some crazy-ass lighting fixtures!) were even happy to let us just sit and have the tacos (I think they could tell by the intent (read ‘manic’) look in our eyes we meant business). Other things caught our eye though, you’ll not be at all surprised to hear, and so we settled down to Horchata – an almond and rice milk drink with a hint of cinnamon, and a Chelada – a beer (in this case Pacifico Clara) with lime juice and a salt rim! Beer tequila style! (There is a tequila bar downstairs at this branch but I stayed well away from it. Me and tequila are arch enemies. Only a Paul A. Young chocolate with it in is allowed…actually encouraged.) Chunks of crisp fried sweet potato with an amazing smoky, caramelised version of mojo de ajo arrived. Mojo de ajo is an amazing thing you can make yourself and use for seasoning, marinating, cooking, dipping or generally dousing things in. I recommend the garlic and chilli (chipotle) version although there is an only garlic one too. Okay, if you picture a big green spiky thing with ‘arms’ or Road Runner whenever you hear the word cactus then it may not be the first thing you’d order but if you’ve never had cactus then I recommend it very strongly. I know you are asking what it tastes like, but the answer is truly it tastes like…cactus. Okay, okay but don’t let the following list of things put you off if you don’t like them! Promise? Okay, so, I guess it’s taste and texture is a cross between courgette, green beans, un-sweet melon, very mild green pepper…this isn’t helping! Just try it! FYI the cactus in question is the ‘paddles’ of the Prickly Pear cactus (the red pear shaped fruits are edible also and have a similar taste only sweeter) and it is good for you too with a fair few vitamins and minerals and a reported ability to reduce cholesterol – a massive boon for Lucy and me considering our recent intake! The tacos are delicious and have a thin wafer of crisp grilled cheese on them and they are topped off with guajillo oil. Guajillo oil is another garlic and chilli (guajillo chilli’s this time) concoction and adds a touch of heat (if you make your own then the more seeds left in the more heat) but a great contrasting, earthy depth to the light and bright taste of the cactus and courgette.

Although I am half Indian, I grew up in Mid-Sussex so could have ended up knowing naff all about India really but the genes will out they say (ain’t that the truth about everything?!?) so I adore Indian food. I am spoiled, though, and have eaten Indian food in Indian homes (if you haven’t then I promise you it will revolutionise the way you approach and eat Indian food – hmmm…I see a future post forming! Shall pilfer The Sister’s recipes…) so that mix of preparation and flavours is the only way forward for me. Everyday dishes and street food basically. So, when I was walking behind Selfridges one day and found myself down wind of the most excellent Indian kitchen smells I did what any glutton would do and abandoned my previous mission and followed my nose. Following the stream of scent like the kids in the Bisto ad I walked into Roti Chai http://www.rotichai.com/. So, when Lucy said she fancied some Indian food I knew exactly the place to return to. Roti Chai discretely opened it’s doors (i.e they didn’t tell me about it…bloody cheek…) and is the solo venture from Rohit Chugh previously MD of the renown Cinnamon Club. It’s a restaurant of two halves, the upstairs dedicated to ‘The Street Kitchen’ and the down stairs to..er…well, other things! I don’t know about downstairs as I’ve never made it down there. The draw of Papri Chaat, Railway Lamb Curry and their superb Tarka Daal never allows me to descend into the murky under world of ‘The Dining Room’. I love street food and I think ‘Chaat’ type snack food is sublime. The word Chaat is used to describe savoury snacks, especially the road-side kind, but distilled down from various derivations could mean ‘a delicacy to lick and devour noisily’! The Mother and I used to frequent Ravi Shankar on Drummond Street http://ravishankaruk.com/ for various puri combos (and the Dahi Vada!) and the sensational Mysore Masala Dosa. YUM! A lot of reviewers of Roti Chai will encourage you to have the more famous Bhel Puri but I urge you to have to Papri Chaat. Papri refers to the crisp dough wafer that is usually piled high with pieces of boiled potatoes, chick peas, yoghurt, a tamarind chutney or sauce, sev (thin strands of deep fried noodles made from chick pea flour) and some chaat masala (A combination of spices like cumin, dried mango powder, black salt, ginger etc – I think it’s all about the black salt though!) RC serves a long plate of these intensely delicious north Indian snacks. The combination of a big gob and greed means I hoy the entire thing in my mush in one go. The flavours all withstand each other and step forward to present themselves and take a well deserved bow. Please try it…it’s actually sublime! The Railway Lamb Curry is so beyond words that I’m struggling to describe it. It’s rendered me speechless…and anyone who knows me knows that’s damn near a miracle…! So, I’ll digress (as per) into a mini history lesson. This type of dish was developed during the days of the Raj when travelling by rail was quite cool and really the only way to transport oneself from the hot, grimy heat of the cities up into the leafy, lush and cooler hill stations. Slightly tart (from the tamarind juice) and quite mild, yet with deeply earthy flavours, matching the meltingly soft lamb, makes this a dish for all curry lovers. Tarka Daal (a daal finished off with garlic) is my absolute favourite. A staple food of a huge majority in India, daal (and) rice and a stunning combination in it’s simplicity and nutritional value. I think of it, like many Indians I know, as comfort food. The Tarka Daal at RC is like I remember from India and gives me such a serious comfort rush! It also has curry leaves in it which I love so much it’s actually a bit perverse. Mixed with rice (I had white at RC but at home I’d totally go with some nutty brown or even a mix with some crunchy, woody wild rice) it is a dish fit for kings and eaten by all ages, classes, castes and beyond. At RC they have a signature drink. It is a cocktail in a teapot. Camp? Well, yes. But worth the risk. A lychee martini arrives in a teapot (for two people technically but…yes, you guessed it…we had one each) and is poured into robust tumblers, another example of the split personality of the restaurant. The exotic floral sweetness of lychee swirled around the other dishes and brought out, and yet brought together, all the elements to make for one hell of a good meal!

Swooning as I was from this heart-achingly delicious saunter through Indian street food I allowed myself to be led like a lamb to the über hyped shrine of Barrafina http://www.barrafina.co.uk/. The stools only, seated around the bar, sister restaurant to Fino is a first come first served tapas bar in the heart of Soho’s Frith Street that has the creed that fresh ingredients are served with no fuss and no frills. It’s self-assuredly busy from the minute it opens at noon. A line forms and everyone seems actually keen to wait so that has to be a good sign. There are people there having a swift few plates for a quick meal and others there seeming to be hunkered down to try everything on the menu till they burst in some unseemly Monty Python way. Luckily we found a two spot and wedged ourselves in. Now I should point out at this point we were thinking we would have to reign ourselves in a bit, but faced with a menu of items that trigger a spark of lust deep down somewhere unmentionable then what’s an addict to do?!? Pimientos de Padron could arguably be a dish we could have skipped but why deny yourself the roulette of eating these. Huh? I hear you say but the ‘fun’ is that one of these searingly green mini peppers will be scorchingly hot! Whether the odds are it’s one in ten or ten per cent or whatever…all that pales into insignificance if you pick the one pepper on the plate that is going to rip you a new sinus system and have you praying you put water proof mascara on! Sod’s law would have it that yours truly picked that very rascal first time and bit a big healthy chunk out of it before the heat hit. Crikey. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected and I ended up enjoying the volatile oils punching their way into my mouth and took my mind off the heat by thinking about the health aspect (I didn’t do anything of the sort, of course, but we will now…) Padrons contain good things like vitamins, iron and calcium and they are reported to be beneficial for your digestive system, circulation, blood pressure and cholesterol…the little darlings…well, except for that hot one. We coveted an octopus dish (Octopus and Capers) we saw glistening and succulent in front of our neighbours. I do understand if you’re thinking ‘eew’ because I used to be a tad squeamish about things that look like the thing they ‘were’ (suckers and tentacles never have eat-appeal I think) but I made a vow with myself that if I was willing to eat a nicely, politely packaged homogenised part of a creature then I had to embrace the less neutralised bits. Octopus has a wonderfully meaty texture and isn’t ‘fishy’ or chewy (when it’s fresh and cooked right) and is a low fat source of protein and contains all sorts of useful things like taurine, omega-3, several vitamins and ace minerals like iron, phosphorous and selenium…but it does look like what it is/was so be brave and embrace the challenge! Next up was a plate of Salt Cod Fritters. I love salt cod (cod that has been salted and air dried to preserve it) but can’t usually be **sed to cook with it myself as it’s a bit of a fanny on to rehydrate etc. so I am drawn to it when I see it on a menu. Fritters not a fishcake offered here therefore no potato (loathe a fishcake that is really just potato that’s been wafted in the general direct of fish). Also arriving was the item I was the most excited about, the Jamon and Spinach Tortilla. The enthusiastic chap behind the bar recommended the Classic Tortilla and going against recommendation could be considered foolhardy but in truth it’s unlikely any of these tortillas are anything but divine.

This tortilla was a piece of culinary art. I’ve made versions of these ‘Spanish Omelettes’ heaps of times and, although I’ve managed to keep the centre soft and squidgy, I’ve never encountered a version like this where cutting into it rewards you with a runny (but not spooky runny like under cooked eggs) golden centre, like plunging you into a warm Spanish sunset. Bliss. Lucy realised it’s been literally minutes since our last sweet dish so scanned the dessert items for an eye catching choice. A discussion with the good looking bar staff and we quickly settled on a Crema Catalana but this became protracted as the entire set of them launched into attempting to describe what it actually is. A sister to Crème Brulée but with citrus peel and cinnamon infusion is what I learned from the discussion, but they would be keener on me passing on that it is the original (i.e before the French) and is lighter, less fat and also often served warm. All of this paled into insignificance when the actual dessert arrived. A thick, very crisp, burnt sugar top plundered to reach the glistening super smooth, pale soft beige coloured (the only time beige is allowed anywhere) custard within. Hints of orange and a mild under pinning of musky spices makes this a sublime treat. We shared (grudgingly) but I urge you to order it and devour it by yourself. After all you deserve a treat, right? Incidentally there are heaps of people crammed behind the bar and this includes the chefs! It’s like watching some kind of Michael Clark installation as they weave amongst each other and never seem to clash. But there is literally a couple of feet of space and dozens of people. The three waiters we had serving the six foot area of bar we were sat at were all perfectly formed, petit, hairy and arrestingly handsome. The food is good too…

What was about to happen has to be a secret between us. Time was running out and the last place we wanted to try is called Ceviche. All well and good except it is literally across the street from Barrafina (we sat with our backs to Barrafina in case they busted us!), meaning we walked out and 23 seconds later were sat at the bar at Ceviche perusing their menu and had already spotted and decided upon a drink and the first menu item. All done with an air of French actress nonchalant coolness, bien sûr! (Actually, less Jules et Jim and more Kath and Kim…) Ceviche http://cevicheuk.com/ is a Peruvian restaurant, and no ordinary one either. Founded from frustration at the lack of Peruvian food available and now committed to offering up the freshest and most sublime dishes of the country. As per I’m coming to the party late (takes so long to wrangle my hair…) Ceviche has been open for six months already, which is half a year I’ve lived without their macaroni cheese (Huancaína Macaroni – Peruvian cheese and amarillo chilli sauce with macaroni pasta). I don’t know how I did it but I guess ignorance was bliss…but now I’m doomed to waking in the middle of the night and thinking….mmm could just go a dish of that Ceviche mac’…can I tell you how incredible it is? I mean, actually can I, rather than may I? (Grammar Geek.) I don’t think I can so I’ll just include lots of pictures. Sigh. (The Amarillo chilli is a medium heat, vibrant orange chilli that is the most commonly used in Peru.) Oh, we had heart too! Corazón (tender beef heart marinated in Panca chilli, Anticucho sauce with choclo corn). I love heart! I’ve been making heart for ages. (Lamb’s in my case as the local butcher gets amazing fresh ones). They are such an inexpensive and nutritious source of loads of healthy things and are tasty too…oh come on! Be brave my friends! I’ll write a heart post and convince you! Maybe for Valentine’s day…? The dark red Panca chilli is another very popular chilli in Peru and it adds a slightly smoky , sweeter and mild spicy base taste to lots of dishes. I think the Anticucho sauce might be something I need to incorporate into my life on a more regular basis! This tangy, piquant sauce fuelled with pinging bursts of garlic, vinegar, cumin and warmed through with chilli is just a dream. Traditional Peruvian elements ideal for fusion into other dishes…

The final thing we tried for the simple fact that it is the dish that the restaurant is named for. Ceviche is fresh raw fish in a citrus based marinade with added bits and bobs like coriander or chilli. Citric acid in citrus fruits causes the proteins in the seafood to ‘cook’ (actually become ‘denatured’) – just watch lemon juice on smoked salmon to see it happening before your eyes! Ceviche (the restaurant) marinades in ‘Tiger’s Milk’, which is their, lime based, version of the marinade, and they serve it straight away so the process is truncated. I wonder if a longer marination might be better in truth but I’ll have to attempt this at home to see as Ceviche clearly think otherwise (and who am I to argue…I was just thinking out loud that’s all…!?!) If you like sashimi then you’ll love ceviche with its added thrill of a citrus burst (sounds like Harpic)…

Finally, yes finally, one simply cannot be in a Pisco bar without having a Pisco based product! I ordered a Eucalyptus Chilcano (natch!) which is eucalyptus infused pisco with ginger ale, lime and Amargo bitters (peruvian bitters made from heaps of herbs, peels, roots and lord alone knows what to enhance and transform a cocktail). It was a (sub)lime – see what I did there? – experience. Lucy had a pink thing which due to the consumption of the eucalyptus thing I cannot remember anything about. It was lovely and it had egg white in it…oh and pisco, of course! Clearly I was a bit pisco-ed…

 

 

My eating escapade…part 1

When the divine Lucy S, author of the hugely popular food blog and twitter @LucyintheLarder, http://lucyinthelarder.com/ asked me if I fancied sampling a few eateries in london during her whirlwind 12 hour trip, I said sure! Little did I know I’d eat 20 dishes in the time it takes most people to do a days work…

The serious business of planning a hard days eating began bright and breezy at Caravan Restaurant and Bar http://caravanonexmouth.co.uk/ with strong, proper temperature coffee and a conflab. Various places and specific items were touted as a ‘must try’ and a hit list drawn up. I like a map so we noted the places and plotted a  route. Having heard murmurings that the breakfast was worth a go at Caravan we ordered creamy soy mushrooms on chargrilled sourdough and some cornbread French toast with avocado and bacon. I literally adore mushrooms on toast – it’s so simple and yet hearty with some throwback nostalgia to my youth I’m certain…or maybe it’s just the butter… These earthy mushrooms drenched in their soy based sauce did not disappoint, and matched against the milky sour charred bread made for a very pleasant start to the eating frenzy…and a rather filling one too! Oh well, one down 19 to go…and for your information eggy fried cornbread with smooth ripe avocado and crisp salty bacon is a right combo! 
Choosing to walk from Exmouth Market through Holborn down into Covent Garden meant walking off that breaking of our nighttime fasts and building an appetite for the next stop which was the much adored (by me) Fernandez and Wells. Most Londoners will know one of their beautiful coffee and sandwich locations and surely everybody loves their stark yet warm environs (lots of bleached wood which gives it a feeling of sitting around a huge chopping board…I mean this as a totally brilliant thing!) But above the aesthetic beauty is the spectacular food. I love the Lexington Street branch http://www.fernandezandwells.com/lexington.php and this started another theme of our day which was sitting at a bar, a way of eating (and drinking) that we both like very much. I have burned on my memory, from previous trips to F&W, their Morcilla (Spanish style black pudding), smoked anchovy fillets and an absolute all time favourite of mine, the prize Tuscan salami, Finocchiona (with fennel seeds). So the Morcilla got another airing (perfectly smooth and buttery soft and paired with crisp flattened bread which we spread it on like pâté) and smoked mackerel this time (buttery, smokey fillets that were meaty yet melt in the mouth) and Lomito (lomo) Iberico ham. It seemed down right churlish of us not to have a glass of Fino (a pale, dry type of fortified wine or sherry) with this feast (traditional surely?!) so we demurred and, all in the name of ‘having the full experience’…knocked it back…well, the sun was over the yardarm somewhere wasn’t it?!
Another much lauded (again by me!) place that made the list, and involved yet another perching at the bar experience, was our next stop (a shamefully few minutes later) at Spuntino. http://spuntino.co.uk/ Unlike F&W which nestles its outlets in hip areas or landmark buildings, Spuntino hunkered itself down in the still slightly less than salubrious part of Rupert Street.
Nonchalantly inhabiting its space with gay bars akimbo, a herbalist and a full nude striptease with hot girls (we’ll be the judge of that, dearie) it sits with the restaurant version of an invisibility cloak on. It’s industrial and anti-announcement street presence is the ethos of its brilliance. Entering into the former butchers, knocking shop and lord alone knows what, you are immediately transplanted into the buildings history and a casual air of depression area, speak easy rawness. There’s no telephone and no reservations…you just pitch up. We were daytime crowd so sat between a middle aged, but hip, natch, couple having an awkward date (and proving it never gets easier) and a uber cool couple (self proclaimed) of which the woman proceeded to try to interest the man in her ‘super hot girlfriend’ who is totally into money, has had a string of celebrity lovers but is SO down to earth and SO normal. The entertainment is free. The food is paired down, not quite to finger food but to hand food, and you just order whatever catches your eye. The very jolly and authentically accented barman (Canadian but lets not split North American hairs) inspired us and suggested and chatted away. Bear in mind we were pacing ourselves and had another three lunches to go we decided against the much coveted macaroni cheese and went with the fig, coppa (ham made from pig’s neck) and Gorgonzola pizzetta, a beef and bone marrow slider (mini burger) and the egg and truffle oil on/in toast. Nothing too rich then…
Lucy and I had devoured a brace of pizzas in Rome (on an hourly basis) and especially admired an apple and Gorgonzola masterpiece (which I will be attempting to recreate one of these days) so the fig version reminded us and was equally splendid. Sliders are big business it seems these days. ‘Dude Food’ is the absolute way forward in Oz apparently and you can see why really. Small yet packing punch with flavour, a cross between a taster and a starter, perfect for pre drinking lining of stomachs I thought (but kept to myself…one doesn’t want to seem too Prosecco addicted). I’d tried the egg toast before and remembered its utter indulgence and clawing richness. It’s really not for the faint hearted but has to be tried! The truffle oil kick is unctuous and heady so be warned but be brave…! Lucy was introduced to Dandelion and Burdock too. I described it as a cross between Vimto (or Dr Pepper) and TCP! Again meant in a loving way as a love Vimto and TCP is beyond criticism…
Having seen a restaurant with ‘Bill’s’ emblazoned upon it many foodie types may have at first made a connection to Bill Granger the celebrated Aussie restauranteur and food author. But it’s actually Lewes’s Bill Collison (ok, yes it’s not quite the grocery shop cafe it was in Lewes but that’s corporate roll out for you…) http://www.bills-website.co.uk/ I like it a lot and although came late to the party (didn’t go in my first Bill’s till it opened in Coventry Garden..it was so five-minutes-ago by then…) I have made up for it since. I was about to lie. Yes, actually, bald faced fib, and say it’s the lovely food and the bulging shelves of beautifully designed and colour drenched produce, the chalk board charm and whole ‘just walked into a posh green grocers’ ethos…but it’s none of these. It’s the Hedgerow Fizz I go for. So sue me. It’s the simplicity of it and the ultra quaffability! Make it at home with sparkling wine (try the English ones they are so special!), a dash of elderflower cordial and a blackberry floated in it. It’s the daytime version of a Twinkle (a vodka, elderflower cordial and sparkling wine cocktail. Bliss. Although I’ve gone off the name since a friend told me it’s what she calls her privates…! Anyhoo…I digress…) The blackberry turns the drink a glorious pink colour after a while…so I’m told. I really must try to wait long enough to observe this one of these days… We had no plans to eat at this point, thinking that a small rest might be in order and a chance to test my personal theory that a glass of bubbles settles the stomach and makes room for further indulgence…and two glasses (perhaps not in such rapid succession for future reference) would do the job twice as well. Then we spied the following collection of words that filled both our greedy hearts with joy…”lemon meringue pie cheesecake ‘in a glass’ with yoghurt ice cream”…well, I never! But did we ever! It’s a many varied taste experience, texture experience and even a warm and cold dual play…and all in one glass! The tingly tartness of the lemon shoots through everything and the clinging sweetness of the merengue is off set softly by the gentle yoghurt ice cream and the salt tinged crunchy biscuit base…swoon… 
Before I finish part 1 of this display of gluttony I think I should mention that, of course, I engineered our walking route to take us past the irresistible front door of Paul A Young’s multi award winning house of chocolate! http://www.paulayoung.co.uk/shops/wardour-street-soho/ I mean, Lucy had to try the international award wining sea salted caramel, right?! Proof that Brits know about chocolate and the European snobs (jealous) just have to get over it! And slinking into the shop under the guise of sampling a trade mark chocolate means the chance to try the other superlative flavour combos that include Marmite, black pudding, Bakewell Tart, black pepper and crystallised mint, tequila…ad lib to fade…
to be continued…

Spinach Filo Pie…

So, there I am minding my own business (that’s a first) and I meet a woman, a beautiful, sexy woman who is clearly a Bollywood film star or Mediterranean royalty. It turns out she is much more than all that she is a foodie!! Bliss! And not just any old foodie either, it’s only Tonia Buxton – the award winning presenter and author of ‘My Greek Kitchen’ and ‘My Cypriot Kitchen’!! Well, knock me down with a dolmade! There’s simply nothing this lady cannot do. Check out her website to get the full picture www.toniabuxton.co.uk.

I’m heading into the kitchen armed with ‘Tonia’s Greek kitchen’ (cookbook) and some Yamas! Smoked Greek Cheese which the lady herself gave me to try. A rummage through the freezer produced a packet of filo pastry (I’m so Nigella…) and cowering in the crisper drawer of the fridge is a bag of depressed spinach so this can mean only one thing…spanakopitta! With a smokey twist…

I have to admit at this point that I’m a lazy cook and tend to fling stuff together and freewheel through recipes in the most disrespectfully cavalier way. Tonia’s fantastic recipe is available in her book or on line so this is just a quick version of what I did and as Tonia says, ‘there’s room for interpretation’, which is a green light to me! So if you’re of a sensitive mind then look away…

So I chopped some spring onions (I started finely at the stark white end and the pieces got bigger and bigger towards the tubular emerald green end) and sweated them off in some olive oil, chucked in the spinach and wilted it into submission.

Then drained and cooled it and added the eggs and seasonings and the all important Smoked Greek Cheese. Yamas! (Greek for cheers!) are the only people who make this and it’s feta cheese (but you can’t call it feta once it’s smoked apparently…always learning!) that has been naturally smoked over beech wood. Yum.

As I had two packets I slung it all in! Actually, I ate a lot of it first during the ‘tasting’ stage when I was seeing what it was like. Amazing how many times you have to taste something before you can be sure it’s nice all the way through…

Layering the filo sheets with a brushing of the guilty pleasure that is butter and then the aromatic, dark green filling specked with creamy white cheese (tasting as I go…under the excuse of ‘…then taste for seasoning’ and yes I do need a whole tablespoon full to test the seasoning. Thank you…) and, finally, repeating the layering of the pastry sheets.

Cooking this, as I am, in an Aga meant a little guess work on the timings but the transformation from the pastey, cadaverous white of the uncooked dish (that spinach gets everywhere…!) to the St Tropez golden, brittle topped, finished product is a wonder to behold.

This was so easy to make and I can already imagine variations akimbo that I’ll be trotting out at any possible moment. Be warned dinner guests…

 N.B I drained the spinach mixture quite thoroughly and I used an extra egg. I also used two packets of filo ready made pastry (which I didn’t cut to the roasting tin’s size, I just ruched it about a bit to fit it all in). Yes, yes I could have made baklava or some such with the couple of remaining sheets but I didn’t. So there. I just cooked them all. I’m lazy (and greedy), what can I say…