Articles March 2010
Cracking crabs at Trishna
Crabs can look quite alien to us ugly humans. What with their shifty sideways glances and bollard eyes. Maybe that’s why dismantling them remains such a daunting prospect to cooks. So, Trishna to the rescue, the Indian restaurant in London’s Marylebone has decided to offer a series of crab-cracking master classes each Sunday followed by a three course crabby meal.
Fetzer wines. The green way to drink
As we decanted out into Kings Cross reeking of garlic, the general feeling was that, PowerPoint aside, Fetzer are good people making pretty good wines and should be encouraged. Eco credentials do not necessarily a great wine make but it’s certainly a route winemakers should consider going down, even if that route occasionally leads to a funny old converted pub in North London.
To market, to market...or not.
Walking out of my front door on a glorious early spring morning, carrying my hessian shopping bag, heading off to the farmers market to exchange happy banter and ten pound notes for a wild duck and some plum chutney, I cannot help but feel like a rather smug ‘foodie’. The emphasis on fresh, seasonal food makes my heart sing.
Creating the cupcake - we taste a few cookery courses to see which is the icing on the top
Apparently name-dropping the ‘cupcake revolution’ is the fashion equivalent of extolling the maxi-dress: very 2008 darling. But the cupcake trend is still on a [parchment baking] roll – except that in 2008 we were buying ‘em, now we’re making ‘em. Enter the cupcake class – tutorials for the disenfranchised office-worker, wondering if they too could clear four grand a month* just by knocking up a few of Nigella’s best and selling them at £2 a pop to London’s glitterati. Of course it would seem I’m suggesting that such an entreprenual venture might be as simple as it is appealing. Believe me, it’s not
A man for all seasonal food. We talk and eat with Jose Pizaro of Tierra Brindisa Soho
I love Jose Pizaro; although this may be the beer goggles talking. No, I think it’s a serious crush. The man is ‘keeping it real’ with his Tierra Brindisa; simplicity and quality and a changing menu. The train spotters have moved on, chasing the next new thing, now his restaurant has proper customers, regulars. As we leave I reflect our offices are just a Rioja fuelled stagger away, so we will regularly be back.
The magic of mushrooms. Recipes and more
They get a bit of a bad press do mushrooms. There are the naughty ones that make you see pretty colours, the ones that turn you into a berserk Viking bent on rape, and perhaps some light pillage if time allows, and then there are the ones that kill you stone dead.So consider the humble mushroom, virtually fat free, full of B vitamins, part of our 5 a day, filling, packed with antioxidants and minerals and sustainable when cultivated.
Seeds, dirt and a bitter taste
Organic food giant ‘Seeds of Change’ recently launched a new range of cooking sauces to accompany their ‘Great flavours, well grown” campaign. The sauces were used in recipes served up by organic enthusiast Arthur Potts Dawson, executive chef at Acorn House. After sampling the food we were also treated to a ‘dirt tasting’ demonstration by Garden Organic’s Director of Operations, Bob Sherman.
All rise! Gizzi Erskine's masterclass in baking real bread
‘It’s like squeezing a baby’s bottom,’ says Gizzi Erskine talking about how a well-risen, knocked back piece of dough should feel. I’m thinking of something else entirely but as the majority of people at this demonstration are women I decide to keep that to myself.
