Tag Archives: Food

Happy Hampers At Xmas

Posted on by under Europe, food, food producers

Not sure what gifts to get friends and relations that live nowhere near you? A great British Hamper can send your best wishes as far away as Australia.

‘That’s called ‘sizzle’, a friendly packer tells me as I handle one of the elements that go into packing a British Hamper Company hamper for postage.

I feel like Gregg Wallace, but while he always feigns amazement, ‘Gor! Vat’s incwedible!’, I am genuinely intrigued..

Sizzle is the trade word for the shredded paper ‘straw’ that is used in vast quantities not just to protect all the items in transit, but to add to the visual appeal and the excitement when the lucky recipient delves into their hamper.

‘We do it in layers, as well as around the items, that way the surprises keep coming. It’s all part of the fun’.

It’s a happy place, The British Hamper Company. The regular staff of around eighteen are right now supplemented with another thirty to handle the demands of Christmas. There is no automation, no humming soulless machines, each packer finds all the items required for the hamper that’s been chosen online and adds them to the hamper by hand.

There’s an art to the packing and each item has its own rules to make sure it presents at its best. Even the ribbons are tied in a standardised way. ‘I love working here.’ one young seasonal worker tells me (and no, she was not in earshot of management) ‘best place I have ever worked. It’s good to know what you’re packing will be a lovely gift for someone and doing it well is satisfying’.

It’s a family business, James Tod is the co-founder and MD, his dad Mike is the other founder and Chairman, and his sister Alice is Sales Director. In 2014 they decided to get into e-commerce and from experience in his world travels, James felt there was demand from expats for much loved British food, as well as British gifting.

A website was set up and the best British artisan producers found. At first, working out of a gazebo office and a barn, sales were slow, around sixty hampers a month. Then came the first Xmas period and sales hit a thousand a month. Now sales are around 30 thousand a year, and they have a proper warehouse facility just outside of historic Lincoln.

‘Thirty five percent of our hampers go overseas’ explains James as we eat a ‘picnic lunch’ using a variety of delicious goods from the warehouse, ‘although’ he says, gesturing at the table, ‘of course those going out of the UK can’t contain perishable produce like this smoked salmon’. It’s very good smoked salmon, and I help myself to some more luscious slices. I also eat more than I should of the All Butter Cheddar Biscuits,  which are absolutely delicious and fiendishly addictive.

‘We begin planning for Christmas in March,’ James explains,’then start test-tasting new products and ordering the stock in May. Finally in September we begin to pack 500 – 600 hampers a day with the dry goods. These can be stored ready and then just before dispatch in go any perishables such as cheese and salmon, as well as any personal message. Delivery is guaranteed within a few days in the UK, often the next day.’

Each year artisan producers all over the UK approach the company hoping to be selected, a tasting task that the family relish. Whilst everything in the hampers carries only TBH branding, the volume they can sell makes it well worth it for the producers because that income supports their businesses in a reliable way. ‘They can focus on creating great products and we do all the rest,’ says James.

So what might lucky recipients find in their hampers, which come in all sizes from bijou to whopping?  Well a £55 Xmas hamper has Sweet & Salty Popcorn, Caramel Sea Salt Fudge Gifting Tin, Bean to Bar Milk Chocolate, Jalapeno & Lime Mixed Nuts, Festive Spiced Cookies, Sea Salt & Black Pepper Corn Crunch, All Butter Cheddar Biscuits and Bean to Bar White Chocolate. The options are almost infinite and all very tasty.

At the very top end there is the £1000 Grand Extravagance Hamper with whiskies, cheeses, and superb English sparkling wines, amongst a plethora of other treats, all in of course an eco-friendly traditional wicker basket. Hampers also come in cool cardboard boxes, too.

In between there is a massive choice to suit all tastes, including vegan, gluten-free, halal and other specialty options. About thirty five categories in all, which makes picking the perfect hamper very easy.

Prices include packaging and carriage to your chosen destination. And with a hub in the Netherlands, hampers and gourmet produce can be shipped across Europe with fast and reliable delivery and no additional customs fees.

‘We also do a good trade year round in providing corporate gifts.’ adds James, ’many big companies like to fly the flag with their customers and a luxury hamper of British goods is a great way to do it. We can personalise their hampers, too.’

Down in the warehouse, I have a go at packing. It is actually quite good fun, although my attempt would not pass the quality control. My sizzle action is praised though ‘Nice and tight’.

Maybe I can come back next year.

You’ve still got time to order a gift hamper for someone special for Xmas, although the last dates for abroad are fast approaching.

Make your choice at www.britishhamper.com

Med Sallah Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

In the heart of Kangaroo Valley, this small but perfectly formed Vietnamese restaurant is properly delicious

It’s not really fair to call Earls Court ‘Roo valley anymore, but back in the 60s just about every young Australian lived there. Today its grand old houses are more likely to be hotels than bedsits, but the area still has a certain rundown aura.

Down under one of the big houses, in what would once have been the servant’s domain, there is still a kitchen at 32-36 except now instead of boiling cabbages it’s grilling delicious fish and meats and simmering some wonderful Phos.

Med Sallah is the new restaurant from Med Pang and Koi Lee, the people behind critically acclaimed Malaysian favourite Med Salleh Kopitiam.

Once down the steep little steps you enter a compact place warmly painted and with a market scene across one wall. The chairs look like they’ve been rescued from a 1920’s British open topped car, they’re very covetable and also very comfortable.

Koi’s Vietnamese wife Syphong Lam is in the kitchen and out front is a welcoming and friendly team. Most of the customers also appear to be Vietnamese, which is usually a very good sign.

We sat back and let the team choose for us, after wimpishly specifying ‘no offal’ and we certainly got the works.  Translucent prawn summer rolls with dipping sauce were packed with crispness and great clumps of fresh herbs, the prawns eerily visible through the wrapper skin as if hiding behind a shower curtain.

Rather cleverly the prawns are divided in half lengthways so they appear large but are in fact light and delicate. Veggies can have the version with mushrooms.

Moving on, a mango and prawn salad has the classic Vietnamese interplay of sharp, sour, sweet and hot. Tomatoes, grated carrot and lettuce all up the freshness. Personally I would have upped the fish sauce quotient too, as well as the lime, but I have no doubt this is done correctly for Vietnamese tastes. It was delicious all the same.

Med Sallah focuses on street food and in Vietnam that means things cooked over the simplest grills, literally on the street.

We have three superb lamb chops, crusted in spices, grilled and perfectly pink-ish. Lemongrass and chilli seem solidly represented and they are very gnawable right down to the bone where the best flavour always is.

Also grilled is a squid, the whole tube and at sea-monster size too. It’s not easy to cook squid well, it either needs to be cooked very fast and very hot, or slowly braised. In between it’s rubbery. Here it was spot on, and again generously but not overpoweringly spiced. The waitress cuts it into rings with large scissors, a very useful aid to eating. We have a little tussle over the tentacles, for me the best bit.

Bun Cha is cold vermicelli rice noodles with meat marinated in lots of lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce and soy sauce. You can have it here with grilled chicken, beef, prawn or mushroom. We have excellent beef and chicken, the cold noodles are a bit odd at first but we come to love them. I imagine they are wonderfully refreshing in a hot climate.

And Pho. Created in Nam Định, Pho Phở is of course broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. The meat cooks in the hot broth when mixed at the table.  Here we had a version almost certainly not eaten on the average street, unless perhaps it’s Bond Street, which was their Classic Signature Truffle Wagyu Pho.

Well it was superb, the dense flavours of the stock pricked by the truffle and the beef was remarkable. Soft, melting and all too soon gone, but drinking the stock kept the flavours going.

And to end something from the mists of time, a deep fried banana with ice cream. This made me very nostalgic as  I burned my tongue just as I used to do all those years ago. Mind you,this was fresh crisp batter, and back in the day that was unheard of.

You have to like Med Sallah, its cafe style relaxed atmosphere, the great food and the lovely people. Take a first date there and impress them with your knowledge of places not on the radar.

32-36 Hogarth Rd, London SW5 0PU

medsalleh.co.uk/viet-earls-court

Viking Feast at The Glyde Inn Review.

Posted on by under Europe, Northern Europe, restaurant reviews, seafood

Seafood of the finest kind is served at this ancient Irish pub, but horned hats are optional

Looking over my shoulder I can see my fellow viking crew members pulling hard at their oars. Turning to the right I can see the shoreline and our settlement. A quiet voice in my head is telling me the history of the place.

Ten minutes later and I’m back in the pub, readjusting to the world as it is now.

The Glyde Inn, Annagassan County Louth has stood for centuries on the site of what was once a major viking settlement. It was ‘National Irish Pub of the Year’ in 2018 and from the front it seems no more than a small pub in a terraced row of houses, but pass through the cosy 1770s interior and head out back and you come across breathtaking views of both the enormous Dundalk bay and the Mountains of Mourne.

The enterprising owners Paul and Ann O’Neill have built up the business since 1976 and recently created an engrossing VR headset experience to illustrate the village’s viking settlement history, a time when it was Linn Duachaill, a Viking Longphort.  It really is the last thing you’d expect to find in an Irish pub once the evening haunt of C.S Lewis, author of the Narnia tales.

Viking tales aside, I’m here for the beer and the Viking Seafood Feast. These waters produce superb seafood and have done so since the Viking times, one of the reasons they chose to settle here about an hour’s drive from what is now Dublin. After a surely very difficult and perilous journey around Scotland, to find this earthly paradise must have been a relief.

I’m relieved to find it too. While the weather outside is unusually fine for October, a cosy pub is always a pleasure to dive into.

With the VR goggles off it’s time to don beer goggles for a bottle of Linn Duachaill Irish Pale Ale, the house beer of The Glyde Inn and made in small batches for them by the Brehon Brewhouse. Nicely hopped, not like the London hipster pale ales that taste of urinal cakes, it’s a good palate teaser for the first dish- Carlingford oysters from nearby Carlingford.

Superb oysters, screamingly fresh, plump and briny, you’ll be hard pushed to find better. The beer is a perfect pairing.

Next crab legs, again pulled out of the nearby waters. Massive things simply dressed with Irish butter aromatised with lemon. I wield my ‘crackers’ with what I assume is skill,  but manage to explode a leg so that butter, and fragments of crab, go everywhere, some of it on other diners. This being Ireland it’s taken in good spirit.


I spend a happy ten minutes teasing every last piece of the deliciously sweet white meat out of the shells. So simple, so delicious. I drink a glass of Fairy Trees Chardonnay aged in Irish Whiskey Barrels for 3 months with it. The grapes are grown not far away on the banks of the River Dee. Who knew wine was made in Ireland? Not me. The creamy texture and hints of whiskey work well with the crab.

Like a true Viking I plough on. Next up are razor clams, one of the most delicious seafoods there is. Again fished straight from Dundalk bay, cooked they’re served in a garlic, white wine reduction. For anyone that’s not had razor clams, the texture is soft but firm rather like a cooked king prawn. The tip is usually more tender than the base, which is a bit more chewy. Lovely.

And then something new to me, Cloggerhead Black Sole served on the bone. What a fish, the flesh lifts away perfectly, while dripping butter, and soon only a Tom & Jerry skeleton is left. What a London restaurant might charge for such superb fish I can only guess at and it’s academic anyway, it would never taste as good if it had to travel hundreds of miles rather than hundreds of yards.

It comes with Colcannon mash that’s made gloriously green with sea radish that I saw chef foraging earlier from the shoreline. And with that I breathe a deep sigh of happiness and down a Bailey’s before heading off back to modern times.

This really is the kind of seafood meal that would be all over the Sunday magazines if it were in Spain, and yet this kind of excellence is available just next door to Britain.

It’s another excuse to travel to County Louth for a short break of a foodie kind. Skol!


www.theglydeinn.ie

Aer Lingus fly to Dublin with 9 daily flights between London Heathrow and Dublin, Ireland. One-way fares start from £59.99 each way including taxes and charges. For more information visit www.aerlingus.com”

Nick’s visit was facilitated by www.discoverboynevalley.ie



Revery Bar Afternoon Tea Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

“Tea, Cakes & Cocktails,” is a twist on Afternoon Tea and redefines the quintessentially British pastime with a modern angle.

I’ve done a few afternoon teas this year but Revery’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” is the winner so far.

Tucked away in the London Hilton on Park Lane, the menu features the usual array of savoury and sweet treats but they are all outstandingly good. And at £65 a head, a bargain too.

In addition to the traditional tea offering, you also get mixology experience that includes one cocktail and one mocktail, prepared tableside for an interactive and personalised touch.

We began with canapés – Beetroot Cheesecake and Mushroom Pate Tartlet, followed by the “Finger Feast” course featuring Mini Poached Lobster Roll with Marie Rose Sauce, and Devon Handpicked Crab on Sourdough Toast with Citrus Bisque Jelly. Each was incredibly well made, looked a treat and tasted superb. The Black truffle macaroon with chicken liver pâté was particularly good. Revery’s pastry chefs are geniuses.

The sweet course had Carrot Cheesecake, a Triple Chocolate Sandwich, and then both Plain and Raisin Scones with Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream. All excellent.

Drinks began with cocktails, a nice change from champagne, choice ranges from Earl Grey Sour to the Pistachio Bliss – a blend of pistachio liqueur, amaretto, and cream. I had a Mexican breakfast Patron Silver tequila infused with English Breakfast Tea, it wasdelicious.

Non-alcoholic options include the Blooming Blossom, featuring elderflower syrup and fresh strawberries, and the Moroccan Souk – a blend of orange juice, ginger, cinnamon, and mint.

And of course there was tea. Revery Revery has partnered with London Tea Exchange to offer a selection of over 300 premium and rare teas sourced from twenty different countries. These teas are some of the rarest and most sought-after by connoisseurs globally.


We ended with a selection of Revery’s pic ’n’ mix, including Apple Jelly, Vanilla Fudge, and Dark Chocolate Truffle.

Revery Bar’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” is a wonderful treat and it’s in one of London’s most iconic hotels as well. Definitely one to savour.

Revery’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” costs £65 per person and is available to book Thursdays – Sundays from 12pm – 6pm.

Revery Bar, 22 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1BE

Bookings can be made here: www.reverybarparklane.com

You Be Chef. Light Up Your BBQ Game

Posted on by under chefs, Europe, food, food producers

These boxes of deliciousness from the Isle of Wight  are just the thing to make your barbecue sing

Okay yes I know, the weather has been a bit awful. Not that it ever stops me BBQ’ing though because I have the best BBQ in the world, the Weber Kettle, and it has a lid.

In the UK we tend to refer to anything cooked over charcoal as BBQ but, to be more accurate, what we Brits tend to do is grill.


BBQ means the food is not cooking directly over the charcoal, but instead is ‘oven cooking’ with the BBQ lid on, This is what traps the delicious smoky aromas and is perfect for large pieces of meat. That lid also means you can cook in the rain. I also have a remote thermometer so I can monitor the temperature inside the meat without leaving the house. Cunning, eh?

So we got ready to cook with one eye on the sky and the lid at the ready.

You Be Chef comes from the Isle of Wight, via chef Robert Thompson. Not only does he have an MBE, but he also won a Michelin star in 2007.

Robert is a champion of Isle of Wight produce, and is a big part of the Island’s food scene. His idea was to take the island’s produce, write recipes around it, and send the food and instructions all over the UK.

Our trial chilled box arrived on the hottest day of the year (so far) and was thoughtfully left on the front doorstep, in the blazing sun, by a delivery driver who obviously didn’t think it was worth ringing our bell.

Luckily he did at least send me a text and so I was able to call my wife to rescue the parcel before it melted away, or became victim to our local ‘porch pirates’. They will pinch anything round here, even though they have no idea what it is they’re nicking.

Unboxing was fun, each panel revealing a message, and it was good to see most of the items were in recyclable packs, some sort of cardboard material. 

We had the Tandoori Lamb Burger for two. So we had the burgers (natch), and then in various packs – Sesame Challah Buns,  Pont Neuf Potatoes with Garlic and Flat Parsley Butter; Onion Rings – Fried in Curious IPA Beer Batter with Black Onion Seeds; Rose Harissa Hummus; and Crushed Avocado with Lime, Beef Tomato slices, Feta, and Baby Gem Lettuce. Oh and there was Red Onion, Mint and Lime Salad and flavoured grilling oil.

It all appeared good, but for the lettuce leaves, which clearly had not enjoyed their journey and were rather limp and tired looking.

Juggling the oven times for the chips and the onion rings was a bit tricky. After some thought we cooked the rings first in our brilliant Ninja Foodie,  then took them out and kept them warm while we cooked the chips, then we put the rings back on top for the final minutes to get them hot again.

The burgers were a large diameter, I had my doubts they would fit in the buns, but once cooked they became the right size.

Now I am no chef, but I was surprised when the instructions said to give the burgers six minutes a side. I was so doubtful, that after rubbing them with the supplied grill oil,  I only gave them three minutes a side, after which time my trusty Thermapen read 62C in the centre, which is just right. I suspect there may be a typo in the instructions and it really means six minutes in total.

We added, as per instructions, the feta to the top of the meat for the last minute to warm it up, then split our buns (ooo err madam) toasted them lightly, and put the lettuce on the bottom (it’s important to ‘waterproof’ the bun from the juices), then added all the other ingredients to create an impressively stacked burger.


I’m a survivor of the burger craze which swept social media a few years back, ending only when the biggest influencers realised they were killing themselves eating so many monster burgers a week and gave up, so I know what to look for and this burger was perfect.

It had size, but with heavy pressure it was compressed to be eatable. And very good it was too, with the lamb superbly juicy and spicy. The other ingredients all added to the pleasure, particularly the salty feta and the limey avocado. The buns were a bit sweet for me, but fine.

The Red Onion, Mint and Lime Salad was rather like shredded pickled onion, no bad thing and mint is always an ideal partner for lamb.

The onion rings were crunchy and also sweet. We liked them a lot, but couldn’t eat all eight, and the chips were excellent, although dangerously hot inside so we had to leave them to cool for a bit. They were great dipped into the hummus, which was not as spicy as feared.

It really was a great BBQ blow out. Having everything ready made was a game changer and made it all so easy. And it didn’t rain.

Order your boxes at www.youbechef.com

Nanyang Blossom Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants, seafood

A bit of everything makes up Nanyang cuisine. Chinese, Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese,  Indonesian and even Filipino but that doesn’t mean it isn’t focussed. Flavour comes first.

irst though you have to find the place. It’s in a stumpy little pedestrianised street, barely a hundred metres long, almost opposite Harrods. The street’s main purpose is to cut the corner between Knightsbridge and the Brompton Road. It’s called Knightsbridge Green.

Ah yes, Knightsbridge so, spoiler alert, this is not going to be a cheap restaurant. The question is whether the price is worth it for us mortals watching the pennies. The sound of supercars going down the Brompton Road suggests that the locals at least are not short of disposable income.

Nanyang Blossom is small on the outside, but Tardis-like larger within and set over two floors. It’s opulently furnished with thick fabrics and smart chandeliers and the staff have uniforms and are all swish operators. Chef de Cuisine Daren Liew was once Executive Sous Chef at Hakkasan Group, while General Manager David Chan. David used to run Zen in Hampstead and Phoenix Palace, Marylebone.
It’s busy at lunchtime with many customers of Asian appearance, which is normally a good sign.

The menu is large and, while we wander around it, we eat marinated skinned cherry tomatoes. I pity whoever has that job in the kitchen, still though it’s nice for the customers. These are quite good tomatoes, but as I have an allotment they don’t beat mine fresh off the vine and still warm from the sun.

Choice is hard, it all sounds good, but we stay fairly conventional at first with chicken satay ‘Melaka’ (Malaysia)  skewers. These are clearly thigh meat, which is a good thing, although I do wonder if it is a little bit undercooked. Doused in a sweet and sour sauce it’s enjoyable and there is only a small amount of peanut sauce, which is a bonus as the unusual pineapple and cucumber relish does a far better job of partnering the meat.

Prawn toasts in a standard Chinese restaurant are usually pretty awful. Here though they are very pretty and elevated to fine dining by being fluorescent green ( the colour comes from edamame beans we are told, and not seaweed), and a topping of flaked almonds that makes them resemble Mr Kipling’s finest slices. They are very good indeed, the almonds adding a whole dimension of texture.

Talking of texture, we had squid sambal next which always makes me think of the Chinese restaurant joke that’s no longer acceptable. ‘Waiter, this squid is rubbery!’’ Why thank you very much sir!’

Of course this is not rubbery at all. The sambal is spicy and sweet and it’s all topped with what I think is deep-fried bread. Pomegranate seeds add a sharp note that’s very effective.

We’re not sure about the Knightsbridge Crispy Beef Ribs though as they aren’t crispy at all and are very fatty and sweet with Medjool dates and pineapple. The only dish we’d not order again

However Seafood Nyonya Sambal Fried Rice is gorgeous, in some ways it’s an oriental Paella, as the rice has absorbed all the good flavours as it cooks. Lobster, octopus, and prawns all served in a claypot, we scraped that pot out and then chased the last rice grains with our fingers. Superb.

And finally Lemongrass chicken, something of a staple on my home BBQ. Plenty of char here, and char is where the flavour is. I have never topped mine with tamarind and mango kerisik (kerisik means ‘dry’) as they do here though, but I shall try now. A simple dish but done very well. I have to give a shout out to the baby Pak Choi side dish too, so sweet to look at and wonderfully tender to eat.

Bananas always seem to feature on Chinese restaurant dessert menus, usually over-battered and deep fried. It’s a favourite Southeast Asian snack. Done well it’s crispy and not greasy, which is how it’s served here. For the first time I actually enjoyed this classic.

We downed a bottle of decent Picpoul with the meal, it was crisp and citrusy. It worked well with all the dishes

Verdict? All very good, bar the Beef Ribs, and the space and service are all charming. I could definitely head back for  the Seafood Nyonya Sambal Fried Rice which was outstanding.

Of course the prices are, as I hinted, high. However in this area they are actually average while the food is very above average. So if you have the cash to splash, I’d definitely recommend Nanyang.

12 Knightsbridge Green, SW1 7QL








Jamie Oliver Catherine Street Review

Posted on by under chefs, Europe, Northern Europe, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

Jamie is all over the place, but his restaurants no longer are. I try a recent new one in the company of some actors

To be honest, I am not actually at the same table as the actors, but next door is a Very Well Known TV Actress and an equally Very Well Known TV Chef, plus some other people I vaguely recognise.

As I wait for my wingperson to turn up, while grazing a mix of olives dusted in oregano and  served, rather unusually, on ice, I also try to keep my own cool. Nonetheless when I momentarily glance over She looks up at the same time and our eyes meet. ‘ Big fan’, my eyes say, ‘Oh God, a stalker!’ say hers.

You’d expect to find actors in here for lunch though  as it adjoins the back of the Theatre Royal. A space between the buildings is now roofed over to create a spacious and airy mini dining atrium, so thesps only have to walk a few yards for a meal.



We are eating inside today though, in what was once the ground floor of an office block, not that you’d ever know it after a splendid refurb. The place has a Grand Cafe kind of buzz to it; classy without being snobby.

There are trendy artworks on the wall, classic old photos, unusual lighting, comfy banquettes plus Sade on the sound system. Apart from the latter it could almost be a Jeremy King joint, another restaurateur who has had his ups and downs.

It’s family friendly;  there are kids here and a kids’ menu. The seasonally changing menu itself is a one sided affair, colourful but disposable, it tells diners this is easy-eating. A two- or three-course set menu is available Monday–Saturday from 12–6pm, Sundays offer roasts with all the trimmings. 

Apart from the icy olives there are other nibbles on offer.  Now that S has finally arrived  we try croquettes made with pureed Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese with leeks, and dobbed on top with pickled walnuts and they are one-bite tasty, the cheese gooey and sharp. Shame they are served in threes though and not twos or fours.

Jamie has said the food’s inspired by what he grew up eating at his parents’ pub, which explains the prawn cocktail on the menu, although it’s a bit more than that – it’s a seafood cocktail with British crab, brown shrimp, prawns, yuzu cucumber, Marie Rose sauce (natch) and focaccia crisps


It’s an impressive dish, the focaccia crisps are large sails powering the dish towards me. The prawns are a bit watery, the rest is good, especially the crab. I’d have liked some more Marie Rose sauce, my mother used to always sink our family Prawn Cocktails in the stuff and I used to also surreptitiously eat it out of the jar.

Mr Forty Minutes Late For Lunch has a Scotch Egg made with Stornoway Black Pudding, a Cacklebean egg and mustard mayo. It’s the sort of thing we ate a lot of in the late 80s and 90s, a Gastropub thing, and he reports it’s fine but not overly exciting. It’s a well-golden egg though and it is cooked perfectly.

The menu is full of Jamie’s other culinary memories and I recognise a few pasta dishes from the old BBC Executive Canteen, better known as the River Café, and some from legendary Fifteen as well. I go for the Dayboat Fish though, which today is Stone Bass, (or ‘Wreckfish’ or ‘Meagre’ ). A fish normally farmed and not caught, it comes swimming in a lake of “Champagne Cream Sauce, Dulse, Royal Kombu, Green Peppercorns, Herb Oil”. 

It’s a chunky fish, not quite as good as Sea Bass but firm and white and generously sized. The sauce is excellent, but it needs a spoon (or even a straw) to eat it. I instead use my ‘Koffman’s fries’ to blot it up. Good fries, but they needed more salt IMHO

Also a day special is a whole split lobster with linguine and tomatoes. A big plateful, it rather intimidates S who finally has to admit defeat trying to eat it all. The pasta has absorbed lots of good juices from the tomato and shellfish, but it also makes it rather heavy going. He doesn’t regret trying though, it was a good lobster.

We’re drinking Pale Ale made by one of Jamie’s ‘mates’ in Walthamstow. Unlike most hipster ales it hasn’t gone overboard with the hops, so it doesn’t taste like drain cleaner. I like it so much I have two.

S is still suffering from lobster overload, so I have dessert alone, a rather nostalgic Jelly & Ice Cream, although this is very grown up jelly. Made with Provence Rosé, it wobbles like Keir Starmer being asked what a woman is, and raspberry and vanilla ice cream and summer berries finish it off. Really enjoyable.

This new Jamie puts bad memories of his Italians to bed, although there is a sense that the kitchen is being run by people doing a professional job and not a passionate one. With a menu that is obliged to cover all bases, from pasta to burgers, seafood to grills, that is perhaps not surprising though.

It’s certainly an excellent space and the food is highly competent, although the prices are somewhat higher than you might expect. The staff are charming, all commiserating with me as I waited and waited and waited for my guest to finally turn up.

And you may even get the chance to freak out a famous actress. What’s not to like?

6 Catherine St Covent Garden London WC2B 5JY
www.jamieolivercatherinest.com

Opening Times: Sunday to Wednesday: 12:00 – 10:30PM Thursday to Saturday: 12:00 – 11:00PM

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3084 7565

Reservations: reservations@jamieolivercatherinest.com

Tacos and Steaks At Number 8

Posted on by under Europe, Northern Europe, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

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.

8 London Rd, Sevenoaks TN13 1AJ

01732 448088

info@no8sevenoaks.com

Beef Brisket Mondays at Smith’s Bar and Grill Review

Posted on by under Europe, food

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.

Proper Parmesan Takes Its Time

Posted on by under cheese, Europe, food producers, Italy, Restaurants

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.

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