Be my Valentine

February 13, 2013 //
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It’s Valentines Day tomorrow so love must be in the air.

The history of this event is a little murky but it all leads back to one romantic Saint Valentinus, so I guess we have him to blame! Having started from a well meaning, loving gesture, the 14th February now means lots of stress in loads of ways and the parting of something like £800m in the UK ($17.6bn in the US!!). Now don’t get me wrong: it is a beautiful thing to express your love in whatever way you can, but sadly the commercialisation of each and every celebratory opportunity has overtaken the sentimentality. Have you seen the price of flowers during this week? and the cost of a meal? I say avoid convention and find a little something that is more meaningful and intimate than a dozen red roses.

Fleur

 

Romeo

 

Top of my list are these cute biscuits from biscuiteers.com. Fleur and Romeo are only a couple of characters from these clever online biscuit makers and for me are the perfect token to send.

Laduree heart

Alternatively, you could go classic and depend on Laduree. You can’t really go wrong with macarons for the girl in your life and with new flavours such as rose tea and cognac cream there is something for every taste. Or splash out on a giant heart shaped creation encasing rose petal cream with raspberries and lychee.

The religieuse

For the ultimate love token, Laduree pastry chef Vincent Lemains has created a limited edition choux pastry number made up of two halves: pink chocolate containing mini puff pastries with rose-tea cream on one side and dark chocolate with cognac cream stuffed pastries on the other. Joined together, they create one impactive version of the classic Religieuse French pastry. Quite why their pastry chef thought it clever to make a version of this for Valentines Day amuses me, since ‘Religieuse’ translates into ‘a nun’ and this pastry is supposed to represent a nun in her habit. Maybe Vincent has an ironic sense of humour.

Paul Young Val Choc

Master chocolatier Paul A Young has created a range of chocolates to perfectly match your loved one. There is of course the generic Love Potion which contains jasmine flower, ylang-ylang, geranium, vanilla and lavender. It strikes me as a strange mix for such a potion and in particular in a chocolate, but who knows? Apparently the choice for your man is either a black pepper & treacle caramel ganache truffle or a Cocoa nib Bourbon tobacco sour. Now call me cynical, but I can’t imagine what it says about you or indeed your man should you match them to these flavours. Panic not – he could choose to match you with a black pudding truffle with ginger biscuit & beer! The safer option by far are his signature brownies which get a romantic twist through the addition of chipotle chilli, sea salt and a sugar crust. This sweet and spicy combo with added heat seems so much more to suit my tastes in both chocolate and men!

Winner of worst idea for a food gift is a new aphrodisiac jam created especially by F Duerr & Sons in Manchester. This strawberry and Champagne jam has horny goat weed as its added ingredient which is an ancient Chinese natural male sexual stimulant. The serving suggestion for this jam is to ‘spread the love liberally on toast’…I won’t add my suggestions to this!

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Categories Food, Uncategorized

Shout louder for Gouda!

February 8, 2013 //
0

SONY DSCI was invited to have dinner this week at the home of Dutch Cheese Girl.

She and her husband are my next door neighbours at the moment as I am working on a new farm project in the country and sleeping there during the week. It was lovely to be embraced by two wonderful, warm hearted, entertaining people along with their beautiful dog. We had much to talk about, issues to debate and the world to put to rights.

Still, we didn’t really get to the nub of cheese. It is an interesting debate to agree the ultimate cheese board. Nowadays the fashion is much more towards having one large cheese rather than lots of small pieces that remind me of 1970’s eating. And then there’s the politics and opinions surrounding cheese making: raw milk vs pasteurised, mechanisation vs hand made, and then there’e the whole ageing process.

Dutch_Girl_Organic_Farmhouse_Herb_Infused_Gouda_cheese

Dutch Cheese Girl keeps things close to nature using the traditional hand made methods using a traditional vat and press. It is wonderful to hear someone so excited by her job talk about the making of cheese and see the master at work. Her signature cheese is Gouda which may not be known to you, but is definitely worth looking up. I am looking forward to hearing what else will grace her board and sharing it with you.

If you want to see the best array of cheeses then go to La Fromagerie in Marylebone High Street. I celebrated a birthday there a few years ago with Patricia Michelson hosting the evening. She waited til the actual day of my celebration to choose the freshest of the cheeses which really surprised me. Who knew cheese could be that fresh? The meal started with parmesan crisps to accompany bubbles, then progressed to a board complemented by white wine then a final one with red wine. Everyone had loads of fun and I would definitely recommend it.

SONY DSC

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Categories Retail

The Korean food revolution

January 27, 2013 //
0
Bibimbab

Bibimbab

Korean cuisine came to the forefront of the culinary world when David Chang burst onto the scene some years ago in New York with Momofuku. Since then, he has expanded his empire across New York and into Sydney and Toronto. He also achieved two Michelin star status at Ko and has become a leading light amongst fellow chefs for his innovative creations. His pork buns retain a legendary status and are fast becoming a street food favourite with the likes of Yum Bun doing such a great job at recreating this bite sized treat.

Here in London, Korean is a lesser known Asian cuisine although it is gaining more prominence lately. Last night I ate my first authentic Korean BBQ in London at Asadal in Holborn.

We walked past another Korean restaurant on our way and both places boasted very long queues in this unlikely area of London to house just such a cuisine. Thankfully we had booked, so we swanned past everyone and found ourselves in a lovely corner table, wondering just what it was that brought so many people to this very spot.

It was easy to understand once we had experienced the meal, because we had ticked so many of the boxes that people are embracing in the eating world at the moment. Firstly, there is a basic premise that this is a sharing experience as dishes are brought to the table for you all to tuck into.

Don't stab the pork belly!

Don’t stab the pork belly!

The lovely thing about this was the BBQ in the centre of the table. It was a shame that it wasn’t charcoal, but the gas burner sufficed and we had much fun searing the marinated meats ourselves. In fact, we took much umbrage to the waiting team who seemed intent on stabbing the life out of our meats with increasing levels of aggression but once we had reassured them that we were more than happy with DIY, they left us to it. Thankfully the health and safety militia were nowhere to be seen so we could risk burning ourselves or poisoning ourselves as we saw fit.

Each meat was meltingly soft with a wonderful balance of flavours although our favourites were those with extra spiciness. Mr Jones unveiled a trick to creating that fabulous texture which he learnt when in Korea and apparently it is all down to the addition of pineapple in the marinade because the enzymes break down the meat and tenderise it. Well, whatever the trick, it was yummy.

Kimchee

Kimchee

The next fashion to be addressed in this meal was served by the appearance of the signature Korean dish: kimchee, alongside all the other pickles and sides that accompanied the meat. This preserved Chinese cabbage dish is a wonderful balance of fermentation and spice that really does complement the meal. As well as being delicious, it is also very good for you which is a real bonus. The trend for pickled and preserved anything continues and couldn’t be better served than by this traditional dish.

Finally, the whole meal just felt healthy, in a Japanese, Asian kind of way. There was very little fat in any of the dishes and each plate was freshly cooked but with a lovely balance of flavour coming through. I positively skipped out up the stairs feeling like I hadn’t been too naughty and yet having indulged to way beyond my fill. How wonderful.

Empty plates all round

Empty plates all round

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Categories Restaurants

Waste not, want not

January 11, 2013 //
1

Today I finally got round to making Melrose and Morgan’s Chestnut Soup.

Nick gave me a taste of this luxurious velvety soup when I was in their office before Christmas and I have been thinking about it ever since. I know they recommend it for Christmas but with the temperatures dropping by the day, this is a wonderful rich heartwarming treat, even without the cream or sherry, which I left out. Such a simple way of using up old root veg lurking at the bottom of the veg drawer or in that veg box delivery that always seems to be just one or two items too many for that week. In my case it was also a chance to make the most of an old box of cooked chestnuts that was hidden away in the depths of my cupboard for many a year now. It was also a chance to christen my new blender which was my big Christmas pressie this year. How wondrous to be able to achieve such smoothness in seconds. Thanks Mum & Dad!

falcon-enamelware

Incidentally, I roasted my veg in last year’s Christmas present, a red falcon enamelware tin and then deglazed it with the stock to get all those caramelised bits into the soup. Those tins are simply a wonderful buy and should be in every kitchen. I love them.

There has been so much publicity this week about food waste and so all this using up is definitely a good thing. Having come from a retail background, I know that use by dates are necessary but have always been one of those people who used them as a guide rather than a religion, endorsing Oliver Thring’s advice to treat them with scepticism. There is nothing wrong with my 5 year old chestnuts, so I am happy to simmer them until they are as good as new.

The person who has most influenced me on my shopping and wastage habits is the wonderful Sofagirl from campariandsofa.com. Living in Cape Town means that the life of fresh produce is harder than ever to retain but somehow Sofagirl gets it spot on each and every week. I can arrive at hers and open the door to an empty fridge thinking there is nothing at all for dinner and the next thing you know, there is a fabulous feast served up for all to share.

The secret, I am told, is in the larder and freezer ingredients. Who can’t make something out of the remains of the fridge and some pasta, or one of those wonderful other pulses that we know and love. The freezer is truly the gift that keeps on giving in this circumstance as it not only offers treats to defrost if necessary (I always have raw jumbo prawns in there, plus peas and wonderful poilane bread to toast) but it can also be the store cupboard needed when I have over catered, which is most of the time.

Today I queued behind a lady in Waitrose who spend £247.13 on her shop, charged to her black AmEx card, and I wondered what she thought of the 2 billion tonne food waste statistics. Oliver Thring also wrote that if you could somehow take all the UK food waste and get it into the tummies of those starving around the world, then 2/3 of them would no longer go hungry. Now that is food for thought.

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Categories Uncategorized
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