This special deal is a cracker, but, like the government, you have to go to the country
On one of the hottest days so far, we get in the car and head out from South London to Sevenoaks. We can’t stand another sticky evening, or standing over a hot stove, so the lure of the country is strong.
It’s an area I know quite well, all my school friends lived out that way, while I lived a bit further in. Driving out this evening I drove my wife mad as memories came flooding back of sixth form trips to pubs, to teenage parties and the time we rolled an overloaded Bond Bug down a local steep hill and it broke in half lengthways, leaving us all lying in a field wondering what had just happened.
Sevenoaks is a lovely old market town, the buildings well-preserved above the shop plimsoll line. Why do people ruin perfectly good old shops with plate glass? What do they have inside that’s so wonderful that it requires a clear view? I am talking about you, Nationwide.
In the centre, Number 8 is a venerable building from the outside with a charming open space in front. Once perhaps a rich merchant’s house, or a local dignitary’s
Inside it’s modern and chic, it reminds me of a boutique hotel. Everything is sparkling clean, it’s clearly a tightly-run ship with active staff and a warm welcome.
No surprise perhaps as Stuart Gillies who runs this, as well as the excellent Bank House, was CEO of The Gordon Ramsay Group for seven years and before that was chef at Michelin-starred restaurants including Daniel in New York, Hotel Lord Byron in Rome and The Connaught alongside Angela Hartnett.
The menu here looks very interesting, but we’ve come for Taco and Steak night, Two courses £25 per person, every Wednesday.
I like a simple choice and this couldn’t be simpler. Korean BBQ Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Cos Lettuce, Red Chilli Mayo tacos, or Crispy Beef Rib, Cos Lettuce, Grated Cheddar, Pineapple Salsa tacos. We order each.
Very delicious both, the chilli on the chicken is perfectly judged and all the taco shells are good and crunchy, but the crispy beef wins our hearts. It really is excellent and the pineapple salsa inspired.
Now the steak. Opinions vary on best cuts. Fillet I find boring, it’s okay en croute, indeed it’s the only viable option, but it lacks flavour. Rump, sirloin and all the other midfield players are fine, but if I want the back of the net I want onglet.
Or as I am delighted to see here, Picanha. This is a cut from the rump area, in the UK it can be often called Rump Cap. It’s very popular in Brazil and, let’s face it, the boys from Brazil know their meat.
Also available are Chart Farm 28 Day Matured Rump Steak (£2 Supplement), 6oz Chart Farm 28 Day Matured Sirloin Steak (£3.5 Supplement), and for the veggies, Black Tiger Prawn, Coconut & Potato Curry with Grilled Flatbread. Sauces are supplemental, but why drown your steak?
We both choose Picanha, and what a great steak it is. It needs only careful cooking to medium rare, and, if the chef is good, it will have been cooked with its fat cap on which will be removed before serving, and it will have had a sprinkle of rock salt. This is all done right, it’s delicious.
Full marks for the chips too, which have bits of potato skin on them so, unless it’s a very determined piece of forgery, I’d say they`re home made. A mushroom loaded with garlic is enjoyable.
Number 8 has a really excellent wine list by the way. Nothing too expensive but everything’s a bit unusual. They even have some Orange Wines, but I think that particular trend ship sailed some years ago. We had a Crianza, an up-from-basic Rioja, which was perfect,
Dessert is not included in the set price, but we share a Basque cheesecake with Kentish Strawberries and a basil syrup. Again, really good. We loved that basil syrup against the strawberries.
Number 8 has all kinds of meal deals running all week, so it’s well worth keeping an eye on their website. This steak and tacos deal is a very good one.
If you’re local you probably know Number 8. If you’re not, then get in the car. Just be careful not to roll it down the hill.
Low and slow is the recipe for success with this cut of meat. Smith’s Bar and Grill have pretty much nailed it
BBQ-ing brisket is a kind of religion in the US of A, especially in Texas. It’s a slow process, ten to twelve hours in a hot smoker, if it weighs around five kilos. Anything smaller will dry out.
It’s a labour of love and skill. I tried it once in my Weber Smokey Mountain and well after darkness had fallen the meat still wasn’t cooked and a small rebellion was going in our garden with guests demanding I go out and buy sausages as they were so hungry.
Available only on Mondays at Smith’s Bar and Grill restaurant in Paddington, this Beef Brisket Platter is slow-cooked for 13 hours and served with mac-n-cheese, pickles, corn and sweet potato fries.
I had to try it, to learn something about its cooking if nothing else, and on a hot day sitting by the Grand Union Canal seemed like a very good idea.
An idea that appeared to have occurred to a lot of people, as the terrace was full and the platters were flying out from Head Chef David Reyes’ kitchen at lunchtime.
It’s not terribly easy to find the canal when you leave Paddington Statio if you’ve not done so before, or it’s been a while. So much has changed in a relatively short time. I went in a large frustrating circuit of the station and found myself pretty much back where I started, before a kind local put me straight.
It’s a lovely location with some houseboats bobbing on the water, some other boats converted into bars and restaurants, and well-heeled locals languorously drifting along what was once the towpath.
So the platter. £40 to share, which isn’t bad at all, and served on a wooden board as these things so often are
The corn has been sliced into quarters lengthwise, which is not a bad idea. It’s a lot easier to eat this way, less butter down the shirt. The mac n cheese is gooey in a good way, and who can resist a pickled gherkin? Not me.
The sweet potato fries I am not sure about, I like the taste, but they’re as limp as a politician’s handshake. I’d have preferred standard fries, but I know that Americsns do like sweet things with their meat.
Well what about that meat? I’m coming to that. I like to see a good ‘burned’ coat on slow cooked ribs and brisket but this didn’t have it. It’s called ‘bark’ and it comes from chemical reactions, as well the Maillard reaction and polymerization with the rub ingredients.
However there was ‘pinkness’ in the outer edges, clear evidence of smoke getting in, and it did taste very good. The meat was ‘cut with a spoon’ tender and with enough fat remaining to keep it all moist. We were actually rather impressed and tussled over the last slices, although there were plenty for two.
At £40 for two it’s a bit of a bargain and you can get a bottle of red or a white wine selected by Head Sommelier, Maurizio Titone, at 50% off every Monday. An opportunity to discover new fine wines at a fraction of the price.
If your cheap parmesan tastes terrible it’s because it’s not the real thing. I went to Parma to see how genuine, PDO protected, proper Parmigiano Reggiano is made and why it has a premium price tag.
‘So this cheese is twelve years old,’ says Simone Ficarelli, the international marketing officer of Parmigiano Reggiano, expertly wielding the short, stubby, knife that’s the traditional tool used to break off chunks from the giant wedges.
There are white lumps in it, a distinct mark of a mature cheese. These are calcium lactate crystals, and are perfectly safe to eat. In fact the crystals in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese are a sign that the cheese has been properly aged. When you eat the cheese the crystals spark out a nutty flavour that complements the saltiness.
DOP Parmigiano Reggiano has been made for over 900 years and is only produced in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna to the left of the Reno river, and Mantua to the right of the Po river. This is the area of the farms where the cattle for the milk are fed on locally grown forage. It can only be made with this skimmed cow’s milk, salt, and rennet for curdling.
The cows live in airy open-sided barns, with extra fan cooling in summer, and they eat bundles of the lush grass that surrounds them. Strict rules ban the use of silage, fermented feeds and animal flour. They seem very happy, with plenty of room to move, and their waste is regularly pushed out and used for the farmlands. Water is carefully rationed for cleaning, no more than is necessary. This is an eco conscious process with rainwater collected from the giant roofs
Making milk into magic
TIn the dairy later, suitably attired in hair net and white coat, I learn more. Their milk then travels just a hundred metres to the next door dairy where, after being left long enough for the cream to rise and be skimmed off, it’s poured into traditional copper vats to be heated. It takes about 550 litres of milk to produce one wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Rennet is added to curdle the milk and I watch the expert cheese makers sift the milk through their fingers to check the process. It’s a skill that a machine cannot emulate, only experience can work the magic.
When the expert decides the time is right, a large ‘whisk’, a traditional tool called a “spino”, is used to break up the curd into smaller pieces. It’s hard work but the men cheerfully put their backs into it. This isn’t just a job, this is a labour of love.
The cauldron is heated to 55 centigrade, and the granules slowly sink to the bottom forming a single mass. After about fifty minutes the large lump that’s formed is divided into two with a large wooden paddle and these are lifted out in muslin bags. The remaining liquid, the aromatic whey, will be sent off to feed local pigs and give us delicious Parma ham.
The next stage is to put each lump into the cheese moulds. These have a plastic lining embossed with all kinds of details of date, time and place, as well as a number that tells if the cheese was made in Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena or Mantua
This information embeds itself permanently into the rind as it forms, meaning the cheese has a ‘signature’ that’s impossible to fake or remove. Apparently though they are also experimenting with putting a microchip in the cheese to make it even easier to check provenance. As I say, there is big money in forgery and this product is so fine that the consumer has to be protected.
The cheeses then head off for a relaxing salt bath for about three weeks. Here modern machinery is used to do the regular lifting and turning. These cheeses are very heavy at this point, being still full of moisture. In the old days it must have been very tough work.
Age is key
The cheeses once out of their briny bath are never aged for less than 12 months. At this stage the aroma is of fresh fruit, grass and flowers and the cheese is almost sliceable. After 24 months the crumbliness develops, while at 36 months spicier notes arrive. 36 months is usually the cut off point for general consumption, but some cheeses are pushed on to 48 which is a bit of a connoisseur’s cheese.
The cheeses are stored for all this time in vertiginous racks in massive temperature controlled rooms, and regularly tested by tapping them with a special hammer, as has been done down the ages.
The sound it makes is just a dull thud to my ears, but it tells the experts how well the cheeses are maturing and any subtle tone variation will also reveal any fissures hidden inside the cheese. A fissure means the cheese, while perfectly good in every other way, must be rejected for sale as a whole cheese, the identifying rind will be removed and it will be broken up and used to make high quality ground Parmigiano Reggiano instead.
Cheese to please
The different ages result in cheeses for all occasions. The more mature being ideal for eating on their own as an aperitif, the irregular lumps really spreading the flavours onto the palate. Try some with a dab of honey and perhaps some walnuts.
Of course they are all delicious grated or shaved fresh onto salad or over pasta, but never please over seafood. Pasta with lots of butter, black pepper and grated Parmigiano Reggiano is a simple and delicious dish when made with such a quality ingredient.
It is of course delicious in a risotto, that final addition lifting all the flavours up
To keep a large block, which is a great investment, ideally wrap it in greaseproof paper, vac pack it, and put it in the fridge (never the freezer). It should be brought out to room temperature at least an hour before eating so the aromas and flavours reawaken.
If you have a large pestle and mortar then grate Parmigiano Reggiano in, then add the best basil you can find, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil to make the very besto pesto.
So don’t just use Parmiggiano Reggiano for your spag bog! This versatile cheese has taken a long time to get to your kitchen, so take the time to make the very best of it.
There are 200 Ocean Baskets around the world, I set sail for the Kingston outlet
‘It’s kind of like a Harvester, ‘ said a friend who knows the brand, ‘but one that only serves seafood’.
Some people might say that sounds harsh, snobbish even. I don’t agree, there is a place in this world for family-friendly restaurants that are consistent, well-priced and tasty. Harvester didn’t get where they are today by not knowing their market, and how to satisfy it.
Ocean Basket was founded by two Greek brothers whose family arrived in South Africa in the 1960s. They certainly knew what they were doing as they have successfully reached out around the world, and recently to the UK with a restaurant in exotic Bromley, as well as one here in rather posher Kingston On Thames.
They certainly have a lovely location in Kingston, so close to the river you could probably catch your own fish from one of the sought after balcony tables. The sun is belting down as we sit down, and with the smell of frying seafood coming out of the kitchen we could almost be in Greece.
Ocean Basket says that its buying power means it is able to source great quality, usually frozen, fish from all over the world and keep menu prices down. It also sources locally when it can, as proven by our platter of oysters from the UK.
These were decent examples, quiveringly fresh, plump and served on a bed of ice cubes (although crushed ice would have been more aesthetically appealing, and probably not cost the restaurant any more). Well shucked they had no shell fragments floating about, something I really get annoyed about when it happens in fine-dining restaurants.
We had slices of grilled halloumi alongside. Nicely browned on the outside and a salty compliment to the oysters. If I am being picky I would have liked the slices to have been slightly thicker so that the cheese wasn’t cooked completely through. That’s how I grill halloumi at home, anyway.
We’ve all had Greek salads in Greece, they can be a mixed bag, or bowl. Here the cucumber dominated the scene backed up with green peppers, tomatoes and some olives, although not enough olives for me, and a good-sized hunk of feta. It was all crispy and refreshing, the dressing perhaps a little underpowered.
Now onto the fish. There’s a hefty selection of dishes, stand -alones and platters. The restaurant’s deep fryer ‘basket’ seems to do most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, but grilled fish is offered too. All the dishes have nutritional information, which is handy but you don’t really need to be told not to overdo it on the battered food.
So we had one of the platters, its arrival drawing envious glances, but at £50 for two people, it’s not expensive for what it is. From left to right we had excellent plump mussels in a lemon garlic sauce, calamari ‘popcorn’ (deep fried squid tentacles, presumably called ‘popcorn’ so as not to frighten kids), wonderfully tender and small grilled calamari (specially sourced apparently), prawns butterflied and grilled, and some Cape Hake which we asked for grilled, not fried, as it seemed a shame to drown such an excellent fish in batter. Cape Hake is sold in M&S, so it’s obviously a good fish.
There was rice, Uncle Ben’s style, but actually perfectly okay, and chips which were fine but we stayed away from so as not to lose any space for the fish. The prawns were very tasty, the butterflying removing the vein and making sure the grill got to kiss all the flesh. A bit of a messy eat, I’d suggest supplying finger bowls on the table because we soon ran out of paper napkins.
As a SA restaurant you’d expect it to have well-priced and good quality wines and it did, a Benguela Cove Sauvignon Blanc served us well.
We were well stuffed after all this, but I still succumbed to the lure of a Dom Pedro, a South African classic. It’s basically a milkshake made with alcohol and is very rich and thick.
So thick that my straw kept getting clogged and I wondered if perhaps a long-handled spoon might have been easier. Still though it was decadently more-ish and obviously a crowd-pleaser.
And that’s Ocean Basket, a crowd-pleaser. It’s not fine dining, and doesn’t pretend to be, but the fish is all well-sourced and high quality, and there’s so much variety on the menu I can’t imagine anyone would be stuck to find something they fancied to reel in.
Website 52A High Street, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1HN
If you don’t have a decent butcher on your doorstep don’t worry, you can still get the finest meat delivered
I don’t live in a ‘nice’ London postcode. Waitrose won’t set up shop anywhere near us and Ocado has an armed escort and throws the shopping at our door rather than risk stopping.
Well not really, but we do lack posh shops and the nearest proper butcher is many miles away. So we are at the mercy of the big supermarkets, and much as I like lamb, particularly at Easter, I have had too many expensive disappointments from supermarkets to ever buy it there again.
So Swaledale had me in interested with their talk of being an award-winning Yorkshire-based online butcher that works in partnership with small-scale, sustainable farms on The Dales. They specialise in heritage breeds of cattle, sheep and pigs, wild venison, and native game birds, supplying many a top restaurant.
The Dales are particularly noted for sheep farming, with hardy breeds such as Swaledale, Lonk, Dalesbred and Herdwick all foraging freely on the lush grass, herbs and flowers. The result is smaller, darker-fleshed lamb that tastes of the ‘terroir’, although I suspect many down to earth Yorkshire people would gag at such fancy French talk.
So we tried out some of their lamb by post. Lamb chops, because a perfectly cooked lamb chop chewed off the bone is one of life’s’ great pleasures. We also chose some Merguez sausages because we were intrigued to taste a Yorkshire merguez. Another great pleasure is eating merguez slapped into a buttery baguette, a staple snack at every French bric a brac market and always served with a barquette of freshly cooked from frozen frites and glass of raw vin rouge.
And just for ‘fun’ we also had some mutton chops. A lot of people give mutton a miss, it’s regarded as a bit old fashioned and can also be a bit too ‘gamey’ for modern tastes, but good mutton is well worth seeking out.
The lamb chops were excellent. The plan was to grill them on our new Weber, but while I factored in the weather I forgot it gets dark at 6pm, so we cooked them on a cast iron grill on the kitchen gas rings. Three to four minutes a side with the grill hot as Hades, the internal temp checked with the trusty Thermapen – overcooking lamb is a criminal offence, or should be.
The Merguez were the best I’ve tasted outside North Africa, quickly frying to an attractive gold colour and with a firm snap to the skins. We ate some cooked with red peppers dobbed with a poached egg, and the next day sliced into pieces in a couscous. My suggestion that we should also have them for breakfast was vetoed.
Finally the mutton chops. For these we thought we’d be a little adventurous and used the recipe from the take it easy chef for mutton chops karnatkas style. This involved pressure cooking the chops in some water and spices before adding a masala mix and simmering for twenty or so minutes.
Indian cooks use pressure cookers a lot, they’re fast and energy efficient. Here the cooker turned the meat very tender without taking hours of slow cooking. Lots of flavour and an authentic taste.
So we were impressed with Swaledale’s lamb. As traditional quality butchers become harder to find, and hard to afford, mail order meat is certainly a great way to go.
I’m not normally a fan of stereotypical American food, but I get kinda converted at a lavish preview
American food is often defined solely by the UK’s rather twisted lens. Watching TV we tend to think that all Americans ever eat is steaks bigger than plates and burgers so enormous you need to dislocate your jaw like an anaconda to fit them in.
Of course that’s not entirely unfair. Americans do things big and that includes food.
SOUND London is a very big space inside the Cumberland Hotel, so large it’s even got a London taxi in reception.
Walking in is like entering a classic bar in Florida, it’s all very colourful and bright and packed with people, and on the stage is a band. This is the kind of place usually called a Sports Bar where giant TV screens beam the big games with state of the art sound sound systems, and have live music at other times. The food is equallyloud and proudly Comfort American,
SOUND London at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch now has a brand new Americana menu with lots of small plates, burgers, BBQ meat platters with sharing sides and gravy, and the mighty 20oz Tomahawk steak for sharing served with mash, chilli greens, baked tomato topped with a garlic and herb crumble, as well as salsa verde and red wine gravy.
So I starved myself all day in anticipation.
We skirted around the sweet little robot server trundling cheerfully up and down, and nabbed a table in front of the stage where an acoustic trio were competently playing all the hits and more. Rather oddly the two seat tables are arranged so one of you has his or her back to the stage, it would be better surely to have seats side-on so you both can see?
The menu is not massive ,but it certainly inspires big hunger. We had a cocktail each and were undecided for starters between Stuffed jalapeño poppers, Jumbo prawns with spicy mango salsa, Grilled corn ribs, Buttermilk Chicken Tenders and the ‘Ultimate Onion Ring Tower’.
We had the peppers and the prawns and also succumbed to our server’s insistence to try the onion tower – well, when in the U.SA etc.
The peppers were great, ideal for accompanying drinks, ideally ice cold beers. The prawns fat and juicy, the batter crisp and fresh. And the onion rings? Well these were impressive and certainly towering.
They were also extremely, deadly, hot. We both had serious problems through taking too big a bite, the batter burning us and the onion inside annoyingly reluctant to be bitten through. We decided to let them cool down and concentrated on our other dishes. If your kids order the tower, and this is a kid friendly place, be careful.
We wanted the Tomahawk steak to share, who wouldn’t, but apparently it’s marinaded in red wine and J is allergic to tanins. We agree to share the The Smokehouse Platter instead – BBQ-glazed smoked beef feather blade, pulled pork shoulder, glazed pork ribs, Texas hot link sausage, grilled corn ribs, BBQ ranch beans, red cabbage slaw, pickles and tear ‘n’ share mezzaluna bread.
It’s brilliant, a real feast of America. The ribs fall apart perfectly, the shoulder easily falls to the fork and we devour it all hungrily as the band lurches into an acoustic version of Oasis’ Stand By Me.
Anyone not on the red meat train could go for the Big Bird Platter -BBQ-glazed skin-on chicken breast, slow-roasted chicken wings in a choice of BBQ or Buffalo Hot Sauce, buttermilk chicken tenders, grilled corn ribs, BBQ ranch beans, red cabbage slaw, pickles and tear ‘n’ share mezzaluna bread and it looks good,.
And if you want a burger well fear not because the Burger Studio has The London Double Decker, crispy buttermilk chicken Clucky and smokey BBQ Pulled Pork. And they are biggggggg!
We watch them go past rather wistfully, as we are now sated, and just about manage a House Apple Cobbler, and a thick Millionaires Brownie. We are stuffed and then some.
Take me home, country roads. Or rather, take me home Northern Line. I did enjoy our visit to America.
A beautiful room and some seriously stunning cakes, this afternoon tea certainly made my day
They say English Afternoon tea originated in the 1840s, a light meal to tide over genteel ladies of quality until dinner at 8pm.
Lunch it seems was not an English thing back then, a posh person had a biggish breakfast and then toughed it out until the evening. No nipping down to the mansion, or the castle kitchen, for a sneaky snack.
So to combat afternoon energy drops, ladies began taking tea and delicate sandwiches at around four o’clock in the afternoon. Soon no society hostess could afford not to invite or be invited to tea, it was ‘the thing’.
Today it’s something many tourists actively seek out, a quintessentially British experience in London’s best hotels. With so many on offer though, many a disgraceful rip off, it pays to be selective.
The Kensington, part of the Doyle Collection, is one the very best. Just a short walk from South Kensington station and the Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall and V&A, it appears to have been created by joining four elegant 19th Century stucco fronted houses together. Entering through the grand front door, held open by bowler hatted porters, you turn left into a gorgeous double aspect lounge.
On any day it’s a well lit room, warmed by a real fire, but on this sunny early Spring day it shines and dazzles. The furniture is a mix of modern and antique and just what you’d expect to find in the townhouse of a tasteful member of the aristocracy. Understated elegance.
We take a table in one of the bay windows, noting the excellent china cups and saucers as well as the crisply folded napkins. Every detail matters when taking tea.
The menu offers a variety of The Rare Tea Company teas and infusions, from the classic ‘breakfast tea’ to exotic single suppliers. They are all the same price and are served ‘bottomless’, although you’d not utter such a common phrase here. A pre tea glass of champagne is appreciated, if not exactly traditional.
Up to a point the food is classic, which is a good thing. I’ve tried afternoon teas in places where they’ve gone crazy with the sandwiches, creating monsters that can’t be eaten without mess. The whole point of AT sandwiches is that they must be dainty, easy to hold and to nibble at.
Our tea arrives in silver pots too heavy to lift, which is okay as the charming staff are there to pour tea for us. Milk first or last? Last of course, because that way you have a chance to adjust the tea’s strength
I have delicious Rooibos while P has Cloud Tea, a fragrant black tea from the “Abode of Clouds” in the cloudy hills between Assam and Darjeeling.
From the elegant tiered stand come sandwiches which are pukka and properly finger shaped – there is St. Ewe Egg with watercress, Chapel & Swan smoked salmon with lemon cream cheese, Cucumber with mint cream and Pastrami with gherkin and horseradish. All beautifully delicate and the teas make them taste even better.
We have plain and fruit scones, cosily wrapped in a soft napkin. They are still warm. Thick clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam are slathered on.
And now, as we wipe some off that jam off our shirts, we come to the art in the Art of Afternoon Tea.The sweet cakes have been inspired by artists and are quite incredible, so much detailed work has gone into them that it seems a shame to eat them so we look for a while instead.
These are inspired by Jackson Pollock, Yayoi Kusama and Alicja Kwade. The Pollock uses his ‘drip technique’ for a dark chocolate mousse tart with passion fruit parfait, Japanese artist Kusama’s cake is polka-dot pumpkin of mango mousse shrouding coconut yoghurt cream, and visual artist Kwade’s spheres are made from white chocolate vanilla mousse with pineapple compote centre.
Our photos do them some justice, but they are even more remarkable in the sweet, sugary flesh. A bit messy to eat, but I think that’s allowable.
We have our teapots refreshed and sink back into the deep cushions. The ceremony has done its job, we are no longer hungry but also feel that by dinner time we will be ready for more.
Everything done right traditionally and with a modern ‘arty’ twist. This Afternoon Tea is one you will savour.
Prepared and served fresh daily, The Art of Afternoon Tea is available everyday from 12pm-4.30pm for £58 per person or £70 per person including a glass of champagne.
Looking out the window you might be forgiven for not thinking about barbecues right now, but summer is coming (honest) The BBQ Gods at Weber are getting all set with new products, now with the added ingredient of Jamie Oliver.
Jamie’s role is to be the front man, adding his cheeky chappy endorsement, as well as coming up with recipes encouraging people to move away from basic bangers and burgers and have more fun when it comes to outdoor cooking. It’s a good fit; after all if any famous chef seems genuinely at home with BBQ and cooking for friends, it’s our boy Jamie.
Weber really is the biggest and probably the oldest name in BBQs. It was in 1951, that their original round charcoal kettle grill was built by George Stephen Sr., who part-owned Weber Bros. Metal Works a sheet metal shop in Chicago. All he was doing was trying to improve on the brazier he was using to cook outdoors at home.
The metal shop fabricated round buoys for shipping, so it was simple to take two of the sheet metal half-spheres, put a grill in one half and make the other the lid. A legend was born.
You can still buy the original style Weber Kettle Grill, as it was then called, and it’s still a very good BBQ, but Weber, now named the Weber-Stephen company, has a lot more to offer.
So what’s cooking this year? We went to the Jamie Oliver HQ in North London to see the new kit in action, plus eat some Jamie food.
Starting with the smallest, there’s the new Weber TRAVELER Compact Barbecue Grill
This looks at first rather like a fold up pram, but within seconds this mini version of the award-winning, Weber Traveler Portable Gas Barbecue is up and ready to go with an innovative, one-handed setup and assisted fold-down.
Its high-quality, porcelain-enamelled finish means it can take a lot of knocks and once folded down it’s easy to store in a small garden or to overwinter indoors. Of course it’s also easy to take out with you on trips to the beach or countryside (where allowed).
It will be on sale soon in stores and at weber.com. We helped Weber’s team grill up some superb Jamie-style lamb chops coated in a pomegranate and olive marinade, which were done in no time. Seared on the outside, pink in the middle – perfect.
Gnawing on these, we next got to see the somewhat bigger all-new 2024 SUMMIT top-of-the-range smart gas barbecue. FS38X
This is, as Weber proudly states, the most technologically advanced, versatile, premium offering in the Company’s gas portfolio, a ‘high-performing culinary showstopper for outdoor space’.
Well you better have a good bit of outdoor space because this is a big BBQ
A fancy new feature is its extra-large, colour, high-definition touch screen, or you can work the whole thing from your ‘phone or pad,
You can set and change the barbecue’s temperature, select the preferred cooking method – direct or indirect grilling – and based on the chosen setting, the SUMMIT barbecue will show you precisely where to place food on the cooking grates for perfect results.
You can also monitor quick start and preheating steps so you know when the barbecue is ready to use
And what’s more you can continuously follow the progress of a cook remotely but also, when needed, the SUMMIT barbecue will automatically self-adjust its heat levels to maintain an accurate temperature, or smoothly manage temperature changes with precision to ensure dishes are not over or undercooked,
I am not saying you should go to the pub and monitor dinner from there, although that would be a good idea, but at the very least you can sit down with guests and not have to constantly hop and down to go and check the BBQ.
Gas level is also monitored so you know when it’s time to refuel, you get alerts when food is ready to be removed from the grill and you can shut down the barbecue remotely.
It has a top-down IR broiler to rapidly sear and caramelise dishes and supersized FLAVORIZER bars, a cavernous cook space, r and the powerful PUREBLU burner system, it cooks as great as it looks.
Added features are extra-large prep and serve side tables, a side burner and NIGHTVISION motion-sensing lid-integrated LED lights that illuminate the entire grilling surface – from the side table to the grates.
All SUMMIT barbecues come in stainless steel or Weber porcelain enamel with a tuck-away rotisserie, soft-close cabinet doors, and a stainless-steel smoker box. Additionally, they come ready to use with the WEBER CRAFTED Outdoor Kitchen Collection of grillware, which includes a variety of accessories such as sear grate for the perfect sear marks on your steaks, pizza stone and many more options.
From the classic One Touch we ate ‘beer can chicken’ using Weber’s special chicken roaster pan to make Barbecued Roasted Chicken with Salsa Verde. Delicious sharing food.
Summer IS coming, but even now cooking outside is possible, and pleasurable, with Weber’s range of time-tested and innovative BBQs. Turn up the heat!
All of these new products, including a massive new version of the ever-popular One Touch, will be available in the shops and at Weber.com soon, well in time for a great British summer.
In and around Newlyn, restaurants are cool, creative and it’s now a food destination that has to be tasted to be believed. I take a trip to taste for myself.
Just past Penzance on the south coast of Cornwall, and about as far west as you can get before falling into the sea, sits pocket-sized Newlyn home to one of the largest fishing fleets in the UK.
Small winding lanes, many impassable for cars, conceal the cutest cottages often still lived in by the fishermen and their families. Up the hill, larger houses enjoy panoramic views of the ever changing coastal comings and goings.
Once Newlyn was only food- famous for its Cornish Pasties, which are still delicious and home made at Aunty May’s, the place to score a proper steak pasty.
These are best eaten straight out of the bag, while sitting on the harbour wall swinging your legs, but the food scene has all changed recently with new and exciting restaurants popping up all the time.
Aunty’s Pasty
‘It’s different down here,’ says Rich Adams who styles himself owner/sous chef, ‘but these days mostly fish sourcer!’ of Argoe, a restaurant that’s a stylish hut located on the harbourside, cosily nestled among the fishing boats.
ArgoeRich Adams
‘Not so long ago all the amazing fish and seafood caught here went straight out in lorries to London and beyond, which was such a shame.’ Rich points out. ‘Now there are new restaurants here in the port and all around all doing great things with our local produce. After all, the best place to eat fish is always by the sea!’
Argoe is definitely one of those places. As the afternoon February sun beams down on Rich and his team as they make more simple restaurant tables and chairs (he once trained to be a cabinet maker), go behind the pass to see the most important part of this kitchen, the charcoal grill.
Argoe StarterArgoe Menu
Here they cook very simply, ‘fish, salt, olive oil, top quality charcoal,’ says Rich. It’s cooking in the style of the Basque country, such as you’ll find at places like Elkano near San Sebastian whose grilled turbot ‘rodaballo’ is legendary. At Argoe they use instead Megrim Sole, an ugly local fish underappreciated by most as it’s so cheap. It is, however, very tasty.
That night in Argoe I find the sole is soled out, so instead I have superb locally caught hake three ways, griddled on the coals and served with Kokotxas, the hake’s throat, a gelatinous delicacy in Spain that’s often discarded here.
CuttlefishWhite fish
Rich’s father runs a big fish wholesaler over the road from Argoe, and Rich tells me he goes over to his father’s place to take the unwanted Kokotxas for the restaurant, often trimming them out himself.
Kokotxas also feature as starters at Argoe, served with chilli and garlic, but we had Braised Cuttlefish and Fried Potatoes, the cuttlefish sweet and meltingly tender in a rich inky sauce.
Wines are natural, chosen by another new Newlyn place, Lovetts, a tiny wine and coffee bar on Newlyn front ‘The Coombe’, serving a range of superb wines, and, as we found out, some rather good charcuterie as well. It’s a great place to make friends, as you’re so close together it’s impossible not to fall into conversation with other couples.
On ‘The Boat’
We had a couple’s retreat par excellence in Newlyn, The Blue Place, rented via Aspects Holidays, a marvellous converted old workshop a little way up the hill and a few minutes walk from the harbour.
St Michael’s MountThe ‘Boat’
Wooden, and so blue on the outside we could see it from the harbour, this quirky cosy place is cleverly ‘upside down’ so that the lounge and kitchen get the great views, as does the outside deck.
We took to calling it our ‘little boat’, as it felt so much like one, a cosy place to end the day’s exploring with snug underfloor heating and tight insulation. Fast wi-fi, and a TV that was internet enabled, took care of entertainment but really watching the harbour comings and goings was entertainment enough.
Downstairs was a comfortable bedroom with high quality linens, as well as a very smart bathroom with large walk in shower and lots of fluffy towels. Outside a pretty courtyard was just big enough to accomodate an average sized car, a very useful thing as parking in Newlyn is scarce. All in all, it was perfect.
The Blue Place also came with a wonderful welcome hamper of remarkable Cornish produce, including sea salt that we put to good use one night on brilliant takeaway haddock and chips bought from the legendary Lewis’s on the Coombe.
We’d heard from friends in Cornwall of another special place in Newlyn, the Mackerel Sky Cafe. “The queues are enormous, whenever we drive past’ said our friends.’ We don’t know what they’re selling, crack cocaine perhaps?, they joked.
‘The queues do get a bit long,’ laughs chef Paul when I mention it to him when we meet before the day’s opening,’ we don’t do reservations and, as you can see, it’s a small place’.
It certainly is, although there are outside seats which, as I’d seen the night before, people seem happy to use even on a chilly February evening, the food is that good.
Mackerel Sky was opened in May 2015 by Nina and Jamie MacLean who’d previously wowed locals and tourists alike in Penzance. Like Argoe it keeps it simple, letting the fish do the talking.
MackerelMackerel Sky
‘We don’t have any freezers, only fridges,’ says Paul ‘the boats text us with what they’re coming in with and every day we prep fresh fish for our service 12 am until 9pm. We can also call up fresh fish anytime of day if we’re running low, after all the sheds are just across the road.’
‘If people are waiting too long, and the queue is down the road, we send them to Lovetts to have a drink or recommend other restaurants in Newlyn, we all help each other out, we’re not rivals.’
PaulThe Hake
‘Our dishes are small plates and the whole experience is not geared to lingering; get in and order a load of dishes, enjoy and move on. We also do takeaway, if you’re staying in Newlyn.’
That night we timed it right to get a seat and soon found ourselves oohing and aahing over plates of Salt & pepper squid with aioli; tender perfectly fried squid seasoned just right, then some Grilled mackerel, pickled cucumber, horseradish – something of a signature dish – was redolent of the sea.
Finally grilled local white fish, samphire and capers. The fish also turned out to be hake that night, but we weren’t complaining. Hake is such a great fish that for some reason the British fail to appreciate fully. We washed it all down with St Ives Meor, a crisp IPA perfect for fish.
Good news is that Mackerel Sky will be expanding in time for the summer, taking over a small space next to Newlyn Cheese and Charcuterie, a wonderfully compact and aromatic artisan cheese shop with cheeses from all over the west county and France.
We ran out of time and couldn’t eat at The Tolcarne, which at ten years old is one of the more venerable ‘new’ restaurants in Newlyn, and one the most-respected, but I did get to speak to co-chef and owner Ben.
“We had been looking for a pub for some time,” he tells me. “It was a bit of a gamble at the time as Newlyn wasn’t on a ‘food map’ so to speak, but it had this raw appeal and I just thought – that’s where I want to be, I can make it work.”
“Simple dishes, which highlight excellent ingredients – that’s how Matt and I both like to cook. We spend more time removing components from dishes than adding them!”
At The Tolcarne you might find Spiced monkfish, hummus, fine beans, pomegranate molasses, dukkha on the lunch menu, and Hake, pancetta and fagioli bean stew, broad beans, salsa verde, pangrattato on at evening time. Hearty food that flits across borders, but is solidly built on Newlyn produce.
The boats keep coming in. The fish gets served. Newlyn is a food paradise, at the Land’s End.
Of course Newlyn is just the start, check out its antiques scene, the prestigious Newlyn Art Gallery, the remarkable fresh fish and shellfish at Trelawney Fish and Stevensons Fish, and try the baked potato and crab at the timeless Ship Inn in beautiful, bijou, Mousehole just ten minutes away.
Top tip, take the bus because Mousehole has limited parking and is unsuitable for larger cars. You will lose at least one door mirror. Ask me how I know.
And further afield, and nothing is very far in this part of Cornwall, is Lands End itself, the rugged beauty of Zennor, the sands of Sennen and the remarkable grandeur of St Michael’s Mount clearly visible from Newlyn.
Oh and we have to mention the cafe at The Lizard, the southernmost point of the UK – lovely home made fruit cake, a dollop of clotted cream and a view of the rocks and waves to die for, if you don’t watch your step.
We stayed in one of Aspects Holidays Cottages, a Cornish company which began as a family business in 1989 and still feels like one. Their selection of quirky yet luxurious cottages is one of the best in Cornwall.
Discovering the Catalan dishes and landscape that inspired Gaudi, Picasso, Miro and Casals.
I’m holding a large loaf that I’ve just hollowed out, it’s now filled with herring, roasted tomatoes and garlic and a very great deal of olive oil.
Biting into it I temporarily lose sight of the beautiful convent at the foot of the mountain across the fields from the village of Horta de Sant Joan in Catalunya.
Bread completely fills my vision and olive oil runs down my sleeves. Now this is what I call a sandwich. Continue reading →
The Culinary Traveller 