The return of Polpetto

Mussels, cannellini , three-cornered garlic

I knew I missed Polpetto but until today I didn't know how much.  Its original incarnation was Upstairs at the French House on Dean Street in the heart of London's Soho.  I wrote about it soon after it opened in autumn 2010 and by May 2012 it was no more.  An awkward room and too small a space (23 covers) caused owners  Russell Norman and Richard Beatty to find a more suitable location for their spin-off from Polpo.  I doubt they thought it could take this long but the new Polpetto is now a reality, having quietly opened this week on Berwick Street just a 2-minute walk from the original site.   In the intervening period Chef, Florence Knight, has become rather better known through TV appearances and writing a rather good book - One: A cook and her Cupboard. I suspect it would have been easy for her to go the celebrity chef route, had she wanted to, but, no, she's back in the kitchen.  So, has absence made the heart grow fonder?  Or did the passage of time cloud my memory?

Cavolo Nero, anchovy, burnt bread

I soon realised none of that matters.  I'm breaking my rule of at least two visits before giving an opinion because, two dishes into lunch, I was sure I would be coming back again and again, and that's what counts.  I love a chef who's confident enough to use very few ingredients in a dish. Florence Knight does this with dish after dish and flavours sing out with clarity.  It's an admirably short seasonal menu of 11 savoury dishes ranging from £2.50-12, 4 sides £3.50-4, and 5 desserts £3.50-7.

A plate of off-menu crunchy Camone tomatoes dressed with a little olive oil was served for the sheer joy of having such wonderful fruits in the kitchen.  Cavolo nero with anchovy and burnt bread turned out to be young leaves of raw black cabbage given the caesar salad treatment.  Despite the fact I grow cavolo nero I'd never even thought of eating it raw, but I will now.  The little croutons were, thankfully, far from burnt but crisp airy pillows of loveliness.  Sweet mussels came with cannellini beans and three-cornered garlic, the flavours heightened with mild chilli rather than the savage punch of heat all too often delivered.

Scallops, cauliflower, lardo

Perfectly caramelised scallops were on cauliflower two ways - pureed and roasted - and draped with wafer thin slices of luscious lardo.  It was a dish of so much promise I could barely wait for the plate to hit the bar before tasting it.  It did not disappoint.  Hare pappardelle was a deep-flavoured, gamey dish which slipped down far too easily.  Veal cheeks came cooked in white wine with slices of fennel.  The meat's gelatinous quality had melted deliciously into the sauce leaving soft, tender cushions of meat.  So far, so uncritical but there was a minor flaw in the form of a side dish of Wet Polenta.  In my mind's eye I ordered it thinking it was going to complement the veal saucing in much the same way as a buttery mashed potato does for an English stew.  It was too stiff to work as I had hoped, but that's a minor point.

Maple tart

A slice of Maple tart  was a divine, caramelic, custard of perfect wobbliness and a glass of Royal Tokaji paired with it very nicely.

Creamy Polpo house Prosecco and Corvina were good value choices out of a list of wines ranging from House at £18 to £83 for a Barolo 'Brunate' Marcarini 'La Morra' 2008, most also available by 25cl or 50cl carafe.

Anyone who has eaten at Russell Norman's restaurants before will expect attention to detail so no surprise that it's here in spades.  It's a nice space - 70 covers I think, though it feels more intimate.  The basement has four tables.  True they're on route to the loos but on the opposite side of the room you have the theatre of a great kitchen. I certainly won't be turning my nose up if offered one.

Dishes like Burrata, agretti and chilli; Bacon chop, whitty pear butter and walnuts; Milk pudding, rhubarb and rose, will all have to wait for another time.  And there will be lots of other times.

Polpetto
11 Berwick Street
London
W1F 0PL
020 7439 8627

Raspberry Ripple ice cream

Raspberry Ripple Ice cream
in the making

It's February.  Why on earth am I making ice cream?  Because I have a bag of frozen raspberries in the freezer and a great recipe.  In any case ice cream warms you up.  Really, it's true.  OK, the reason it's warming is that the body has to produce energy to digest the protein and fat content and, as every schoolchild knows, energy produces heat.  So, you see, it's good to eat ice cream in winter.  Personally, I don't need any persuading.

Last year we had a glut of raspberries so bagged a couple of kilos for the freezer. The thing with raspberries is, no matter how carefully you freeze them - yes I have tried spreading them on a tray - you end up with a soggy unappealing mush when they defrost.  Options for using them are limited, though I did find this Nigel Slater recipe worked pretty well.  Later in the year they'd be fine in a Summer Pudding, but I needed to start clearing space in the freezer now.  Making a raspberry syrup concentrates the flavour of the fruit, and it's perfect for swirling through vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry syrup

Adding salt to ice to lower its freezing point was known to the Arab world as early as the 13th century.  Using this technique, a container of fruit essence placed in the ice could be frozen.  Fruit ices were described in Italy in the early 17th century but the first written reference to "ice cream" appears in a 1672 document from the court of King Charles II.  If the recipe was written down, it remains undiscovered.  A hundred years later, the French found that frequent stirring of the ingredients gave a smoother, less crystalline result.  They are also credited with being the first to add egg yolks to enrich the mixture.

La Grotta Ices in
The Observer Food Monthly

I love ice cream but it's something I rarely buy from the supermarket as a quick look at the ingredients list most often shows sugar content way too high for my liking.  When you make it yourself, you are in control.  If you have a good recipe your ice cream won't be stacked with ridiculous amounts of sugar.  This recipe comes from La Grotta Ices who not only use the best quality milk, cream and eggs, but make a point of adding only as much sugar as is necessary, and not a spoonful more.

I've mentioned La Grotta Ices before, so if you want some background just click on the name.  I'll just say that I've never tasted better ices than those coming out of Kitty Travers' La Grotta ice cream shed.  Kitty's recipe for Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream, below, appeared in The Observer Food Monthly (OFM) magazine on 16 June 2013.  This is the first chance I've had to follow it and I can confirm it's a great recipe.

Raspberry Ripple ice cream

I made extra quantities of the raspberry syrup, and some meringues from the leftover egg whites. This gave me the opportunity to produce individual meringue desserts by lightly whipping up some cream, adding broken meringue and some syrup and freezing for later.  When you want to serve them, if you have more puree, you can pour a little over the top.  Note: I used dariole moulds but, if you prefer, the mixture can be frozen in a block and sliced for serving.

Frozen Raspberry meringue puddings

I'm giving Kitty's recipe for Raspberry Ripple ice cream here but you can follow the link to The OFM for the original with Kitty's invaluable insights on ice cream making.  Her advice to start making your mixture a day ahead does make all the difference to the result.  In case, like me, you don't have an ice cream machine, I've given the instructions for making it with or without a machine.

La Grotta Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream
(Serves 12)

400ml whole milk
200ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
Small pinch of salt
6 large free-range egg yolks
120g unbleached granulated sugar

For the raspberry syrup (yields 430g):
400g raspberries
150g sugar

Ice cream:
Pour the milk and cream into a pan.  Add the split vanilla pod its seeds and the salt.  Place on a low heat and, stirring occasionally, until it just begins to simmer.
While the milk is heating, briefly mix the sugar into the egg yolks.
Pour most of the milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
Return the pan to the heat and pour in the egg and milk mixture.  Slowly heat, stirring constantly, to a temperature of 85C (it will start to thicken at 65C).  Take the pan off the heat immediately and place it in a sink of cold water with ice cubes in it to cool the mixture quickly.
When the mixture is at room temperature, cover the pan with cling film, put the lid on the pan and place in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Raspberry syrup:
Place the raspberries in a bowl with the sugar and set it over a pan of simmering water.  Cook until the fruit bursts and the sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat, blitz with a hand blender and push through a sieve to remove the seeds.  When the syrup is at room temperature, chill in the fridge overnight.
(Kitty suggests stirring the raspberry seeds into a jug of water, leave in the fridge until the seeds settle, then sieve.  It gives you a delicious juice drink).

Next day:
Put a large, preferably metal, bowl in the freezer to chill.
Sieve the ice cream mixture into the bowl to remove the vanilla pod.  Blitz with a hand whisk for 30 seconds to re-emusify.

If you have an ice cream machine: Start the machine churning and pour the mixture into the ice cream machine.  Churn for about 30 minutes or until the mixture looks dry.

If you don't have an ice cream machine: Place the bowl in the freezer.  After 90 minutes take it out and whisk the mixture vigorously.  Repeat this procedure twice more.

Pour the syrup over the mixture, fold and swirl.  Scrape into an airtight container and freeze.

The ice cream will keep for up to a month in the freezer.

David Cook at Wright Brothers, Old Spitalfields Market E1

I've written in appreciation of the cooking talents of David Cook several times so I was really pleased to see him installed in the kitchen of the new Wright Brothers restaurant in Spitalfields. Having enjoyed his cooking at Moro, Bocca di Lupo and 40 Maltby Street, and spent a convivial evening cooking with him at Leila's, he is without doubt one of my favourite chefs.

Until now I only thought of Wright Brothers as a place for a good plate of oysters and a glass of porter hard by Borough Market.  Their new Spitalfields opening, on the run-up to Christmas, has them stepping up not one but several gears.  I've eaten there more than once, as is my rule, so it's time to give you the lowdown.

Smoked cod's roe and fennel

Located on the East side of Old Spitalfields Market, it sits squarely between Bishopsgate in The City and Tower Hamlets' Brick Lane.  As you'd expect from Wright Brothers, oysters and mussels are excellent.  Seawater tanks in the main restaurant and continuously refreshed holding tanks in the basement keep the crabs, lobsters and bivalves in peak condition.  You can sit at the beautiful deep Carrara marble bar and order half a dozen oysters, a plate of Fruits de Mer, a whole crab or half a lobster at any time of day but it's well worth seeing what the kitchen can produce.  The cooked menu changes in line with the catch.  Dishes I've enjoyed on my visits include a creamy Smoked cod's roe perked up with a seasoning of paprika served with sliced fennel and flatbread;  Salmon pastrami with lemon & rye; deep flavoured Crab croquettes; Fresh anchovies, butterflied, crumbed and fried served with tartar sauce; and Scallops on the shell simply served with a salsa verde.

Whole sea bass baked in salt

On one visit a whole sea bass was baked in salt and served up in juicy fillets dressed with good olive oil and lemon which makes you wonder why you'd ever want it any other way.  Smaller salt-baked sea bream were on offer on another visit.

Fillet of salt-baked sea bass

The salt-baked fish is always going to be hard to resist but there is one dish I think I'll return for again and again - a pillowy omelette of crab served with a jug of heavenly shellfish bisque. If you get to puddings, there might be a lemon granita with chantilly cream or a chocolate, caramel and cream pot.  To drink there are craft ales, ciders , wines, sherries and cocktails.

Crab omelette with shellfish bisque

This is one of those rare places where eating on your own would be a pleasure.  The staff are as friendly as you want them to be and that bar is exceptionally inviting.  It's difficult to say what you can expect to spend here as the market price for fish fluctuates but looking out my bills I'd say £35-40 a head including a couple of drinks and service.  What I can say with certainty is, with David Cook in the kitchen, you will eat well.

Update 2015: David Cook is no longer in the kitchen here.

Wright Brothers
8/9 Lamb Street
Old Spitalfields Market
London E1 6EA

Potluck harvesting and planning to plant

Cabbage January King

The allotment is no place to be on a January day.  Especially this year when rain and wind have done there worst  Boots squelch in the sodden ground and over-wintering alliums sulk in a watery grave.  Still it takes only the promise of a sunny day to feel the tug of temptation to 'just check everything is OK'.  The "everything" right now being the aforementioned onions and garlic and a row of leeks, a few brassicas and some frustratingly small parsnips.  It's a potluck visit at this time of year.

Potluck:  "… take a chance that what is 

available will prove to be good …"  

Fat-bellied wood pigeons heave themselves into airborne flight at my approach.  So far their efforts to strip my cabbage patch have been successfully thwarted thanks to a fiendish construction involving a wooden frame, heavy mesh and tent pegs.  These are possibly the most expensive greens ever grown but at least I'm winning, and that's what matters - right?

Leeks and chard

There's little to be done, save for checking that I tied-in all the summer-fruiting raspberry canes to avoid wind damage, but now is when there's time to think and plan.  The bed currently hosting those oh so tempting brassicas will, this year, I decide, be turned over to fruit growing.  The rhubarb crown I split has taken well, there, and a delicious crop of blackcurrants last year has convinced me you can never have too many blackcurrants.  Yes, the blackbirds love them but I've got the measure of them now.  Maybe a redcurrant bush would be good?

There's time to consider what else grew well last year - it has to be all the soft fruit and the borlotti beans; what wasn't worth the effort - peas (those blasted pea moths!); what I'd like to try this year - celeriac "Prinz", for one; and whether growing an old favourite is the 'right' thing to do.

The crop I'm agonising over is potatoes.  The very first vegetable I planted when I took on my plot - mostly because it's such a good crop for breaking up the ground.  Although I didn't have any problems with the two varieties I planted in 2013, incidents of blight seem to be increasing.  In response I lifted my maincrop "Pink Fir Apple" quicker than I would have liked.  I could grow a blight resistant variety like "Sarpo", but it's not a potato I'd choose to eat, so why would I.  I've reached a compromise.  Blight needs warm, moist conditions and usually strikes from mid-summer onwards, so this year I'll sow 2nd early Charlottes only.  I'll be digging them up in early July and they keep pretty well, so we'll see how much we miss a main crop.

I'll also be trying some comparison planting using my own saved seeds versus bought seed - Borlotti bean and pumpkin, in particular.  This year I will label diligently and not mix them up, so hope to have some conclusions for you.

Today there are signs of good things to come.  The blackcurrant bushes bear fat buds and the ever-reliable gooseberries can't wait to get going.  The spring broccoli plants are thick-stemmed and leafy, though not exactly upright.  In protecting them from marauding pigeons I failed to notice their sideways trajectory until it was too late - a novice mistake.

The fate of the over-wintering alliums is in the balance in this sodden ground.  I can live with an onion failure as I'll be planting more in spring.  Garlic is another matter as spring-sown garlic is never successful on this ground.

Six months seems a long time to wait before I'll be bringing home a varied harvest.  In the meantime, my potluck haul today is leeks, black cabbage, parsnips and a few leaves of chard. The makings of a 'potluck soup'.  A couple of shop-bought carrots and a little pearled spelt grain and I have a filling winter lunch.

Potluck soup with pearled spelt grains

Nobody needs a recipe for 'Potluck Soup'!

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed I've gradually cut down on the frequency of my postings as I've had less time to devote to it.  In 2014 I plan to post on this blog monthly unless there is something urgent I want to talk about.  

The Quality Chop House Shop

The Quality Chop House Shop 1

From its new incarnation towards the end of 2012, The Quality Chop House (QCH) has had a 'shop' incorporated into the wine bar side of the business.  Lack of space restricted this to the opportunity to buy kitchen-made produce such as pork pie, sausage roll or sandwich, and pick up a bottle of wine.  The ambition to offer more has now been realised with the acquisition of a shop next door to the restaurant.  Opening without fanfare on the run-up to Christmas, I noticed its lights spilling out welcomingly onto the Farringdon Road pavement.

The Quality Chop House Shop 2

Now, not only can you buy those wonderful pies or a hot sausage roll without weaving through a sea of diners, but there's all manner of other good things coming out of one of my favourite London restaurant kitchens.  It starts with the butchery occupying one half of the shop where Oliver Seabright, formerly at The Ginger Pig and Barbecoa, is in charge.  Right now, alongside the sides of British beef, pork, lamb, veal and venison, butchered how you want it, are game birds such as woodcock, snipe, widgeon, pheasant and mallard. There may even be a hare or two.  Having their own butcher, of course, means head chef Sean Searley has a ready source of quality meats for the restaurant, they can offer a butchery service and add value by producing cooked meats, pies and pates for the shop.  Other good things coming out of the kitchen might include tubs of smoked cod roe, remoulade or mayonnaise.  There could also be a treacle tart being sold by the slice, a tray of chocolate brownies or custard tarts on the counter.  QCH jams, chutneys, pickles and marmalades have shelf space alongside a small selection of the wines available.

The Quality Chop House Shop 3

Bread comes from Elliot's Bakery producing one of the very best sourdoughs in the capital.  Until recently, to get my hands on a loaf, I had to go to Elliot's Cafe on Stoney Street, Borough Market, and ask one of the staff to fetch one from the kitchen.  In the new QCH shop you'll find British cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy and Blackwoods Cheese Company, British, Italian and Basque charcuterie, Hanson & Lydersen smoked salmon and Nardin smoked anchovies alongside the staples of milk and eggs.  There'll be a few seasonal fruits and vegetables too as well as some lovely little treats like chocolate from The Pump Street Bakery and, maybe, a bag of honeycomb or marshmallows.

The Quality Chop House Shop
Vegetable crisps

The shop is still evolving so it's well worth keeping an eye on it.  Now if they could only fit in a fish counter and spare me some of that fabulous fish they manage to get for the restaurant ….

The Quality Chop House Shop
90 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3EA
Open 7 days a week

Brockley Market - Lucky Lewisham

Van Dough
 at Brockley Market

For my last blogpost of 2013 it seemed fitting to finish on a market, the lifeblood of London food.  London Farmers' Markets (LFM) now have 20 market sites covering areas from Balham to Wimbledon. LFM's principle of "We grow it. We sell it." is laudable but its rules and regulations can mean some good "local" producers don't quite qualify.  I shop at one or two LFM markets but they don't satisfy all my needs.  Some very good producers and traders who do not fit neatly into LFM's strict criteria find a home for their goods at Brockley Market in SE24.  That's not to say Brockley doesn't have high standards of its own, they're just different and, in fact, some of their stallholders also trade at LFM.

Brockley Market offers a cracking list of traders in a compact area where stalls are ranged around the car park to Lewisham College.  The estimable BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards described Brockley as "a market that serves a community without pretence or artifice, a model to be followed". Brockley Market is doing a great job of finding, hosting and presenting some of the best food and drink producers and suppliers.  Some of what's on offer is very locally produced and some not, but Brockley Market has most of the food bases well covered.  With a central area devoted to seating, it's a family-friendly place to shop and eat.  This adds to the relaxed and welcoming feel of the market.

So who's there?  To mention a few, there are two excellent Organic fruit and veg stalls in the form of Wild Country Organics from Cambridgeshire and Kent-based Perry Court Organics; meats by my three favourites, Jacob's Ladder Farms, representing a small cooperative of Sussex farmers rearing animals on organic and biodynamic principles, The Butchery, the Bermondsey-based whole carcass butchery owned by Nathan and Ruth Mills and poultry from Fosse Meadows Farms in Leicestershire; East Sussex-based Hook & Son for raw milk; Hartland Pies who I know also make the excellent pies sold by The Butchery using The Butchery's meats; Flavours of Spain with a good range of Spanish ingredients; Blackwoods Cheese Company selling a small selection of Neal's Yard cheeses alongside their own Lewisham-made fresh cheeses.  Food vans include Van Dough selling freshly-made pizzas baked in a wood-fired oven mounted in the back of a 1970s Citroen Hy van; Mother Flipper offering burgers; and Good & Proper serving tea with, that irresistible pairing, crumpets.  Coffee is represented by Dark  Fluid.

Blackwoods Cheese Company has quickly become a favourite of mine for their lovely marinated raw cows milk Graceburn.  The fledgling cheese-maker is already getting noticed, being stocked by both Neal's Yard Dairy and the recently-opened shop attached to the Quality Chop House restaurant on Farringdon Road.  Look out for a Blackwoods washed-rind cheese coming soon, I'm expecting it to be pretty special.

You really get a sense of passion from walking around and from looking at the Brockley Market website.  It's a market I want to go to more and if I lived closer I'm sure I'd be shopping there every week.  Luckily, I can shop on Saturdays at some of the same traders in Spa Terminus/Druid Street, Bermondsey.  From talking to those traders, I know that they love trading at such a well-run and well-supported market as Brockley.  I can see how hard the organisers work at getting the best and Lewisham is lucky to have it.

Happy food shopping in 2014.

Brockley Market
Lewisham College Car Park
Lewisham Way
SE4 1UT
Saturdays 10-2pm
The market is a stone's-throw from St John's train station (7 minutes from London Bridge)

Pear vanilla upside-down cake

Pear Vanilla Upside-Down Cake

There's something undeniably retro about an 'upside-down cake'.  Say the words and most people will have a memory of a pineapple, maraschino cherry and sponge cake.  Depending on when you were born it's either a classic or a joke.  If Fanny Craddock didn't make a Pineapple upside-down cake she should have done as, for looks alone, it's very Fanny and Johnnie.  Putting the fruit on the bottom of the cake tin means it will hold its shape beautifully.  It's a cake that has had its fortunes revived so many times that there's got to be something in the recipe to account for it.    

Slice of Pear vanilla upside-down cake

There are still devotees of the pineapple version.  It dates from the early 20th century when pineapples began to be available in cans, but 'upside-down cake' may go back rather further than that.  An old copy of Reader's Digest Farmhouse Cookery offers a recipe for Upside-Down Winter Pudding and refers to it as a "Victorian Pudding".  Pears provide the necessary fruit layer.  Golden syrup, black treacle and lard enrich the sponge and the addition of cinnamon and ginger make it positively festive.  I have made it and it's very good, if rather rich, and the Christmassy spicing might be just what you're looking for right now.  The version below is lighter and allows the delicate pear flavour to shine through rather better than the "Victorian" version does.  My spice of choice with pears is vanilla, and Muscovado sugar is highly recommended for a better 'toffee' quality.

Pears don't store as well as apples do.  They rot from the core so there may be no outwardly visible signs of decay.  If you see British pears in January they've probably been kept in cold stores where the oxygen has been removed.  All the more reason to choose pears for an upside-down cake right now.  Pear, caramel and sponge - all the makings of a good pudding.

A slice of Pear vanilla upside-down cake using ordinary caster sugar in the sponge

Pear vanilla upside-down cake

(for an 18-20cm round cake tin)

3 pears

2 tbsp mild honey (such as either Orange Blossom or Acacia)

1 de-seeded vanilla pod (save the seeds for the sponge)

50g softened unsalted butter

65g muscovado sugar

1 tbsp mild honey

125g softened unsalted butter

125g raw cane caster sugar

Seeds from 1 vanilla pod

2 large eggs, mixed together

125g plain soft flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 180^oC/160^oC fan/Gas 4.

Peel, halve and core the pears, place in a saucepan, pour the honey over them and add the de-seeded vanilla pod.  

Add just enough water to cover the pears and cook at a simmer until just tender.  

Take off the heat and leave in the syrup until needed. 

Cream 50g butter with 65g sugar and 1 tbsp honey until light and fluffy.   

Spread over the base of the cake tin.  

Drain the pears, remove the vanilla pod, and place the pears flat side down in the tin.

Mix 125g of butter with the caster sugar and vanilla beans until soft and fluffy.  

Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the flour if the mix starts to curdle.  

Sieve the flour and baking powder together and fold into the mixture.  

Gently mix in the milk.  

Smooth the mixture over the top of the pears.

Bake for about 55 minutes.  Turn out after a further 30 minutes.

Good served just warm or at room temperature - keeps well for a couple of days, though doesn’t look as pretty as on day 1.

This recipe is an adaptation of Nigel Slater’s 'Honey Pear Cake' 
published in The Observer magazine on 6 December 2009

Christmas Gifts for Food Lovers 2013

Tea towels at Thornback & Peel

As usual, most of my suggestions for Christmas gifts re modestly priced with one exception for anyone wanting to push the boat out. Many can be bought on-line but, living in London myself, I've given information for where you can buy directly in the capital.  I hope you find this list inspirational however much you want to spend:


Cotton Tea Towels from Thornback & Peel.  These 60% linen/40% cotton towels are British designed and made.  These deliciously quirky and humorous designs by Julia Thornback and Della Peel will brighten your day.  £12.00-12.95 each

Preserves from England Preserves.  Selection is highly seasonal and, from their Bermondsey HQ, priced around £4-£4.50 per jar or £10 for 3.  Right now I'd recommend the Swan's Egg Pear & Aniseed Butter.  If you can shop at their Bermondsey base, they also have a lovely Paul Nash design cotton tea towel at £12.00 each.

Nyeri Gichatha-ini Kenyan Coffee Beans from the Gikanda Farmers Society at Monmouth Coffee.  Delicious redcurrant and plum flavours with grapefruit acidity.  Price £3.60 per 100g.

A bottle of Bermondsey London Dry Gin from Jensen Gin (73cl, 43% proof). An original London gin, priced around £25.

Original Beans Chocolate 4-Bar Gift Library.  Filled chocolates have their place but, for me, nothing beats the pure taste of a good bar of chocolate.  Last year I recommended Marou chocolate bars and I'm really pleased to see this Vietnamese chocolate has gained in popularity.  Marou is still on my shopping list, but this year I find myself again returning to Original Beans rare cacaos from sustainable farming.  Price £16.95 (280g) from Natoora

Appleby's Cheshire Cheese.  At Neal's Yard Dairy right now this is tasting so perfect I'm recommending this one cheese rather than a selection this year.  It's an unpasteurised cow's milk cheese with a moist, crumbly texture and a savoury, minerally flavour with a cool lactic tang.   Prices vary depending on weight but less than £30 kg.

Wynad Black Peppercorns.  Prized as the world's best these highly fragrant single estate peppercorns are grown completely free of artificial fertilisers, ripened on the vine and hand-harvested.  You can buy them from my favourite spice merchant Spice Mountain on-line or at Borough Market at £4.50 for 75g.

Tiffin Box from Divertimenti.  A 3-compartment stainless steel tiffin, or dabbas, lunch box set.  Lovely to look at and practical.  Price £18.95.

Ulcigrai Panettone.  The Ulcigrai family panettone from Trieste is still unbeatable for me.  Available at Leila's Shop in Shoreditch and also sold at Monmouth Coffee's Covent Garden and Borough Market shops.  Priced at £17 it is far from the most expensive around but I believe it is the best.

Stemless Riedel varietal wine glasses from John Lewis.  I like these for their practicality on the dinner table.  Price £20-25 depending on size for a box of 2.

A bottle of natural wine from Gergovie Wines.  Take Raef Hodgson's advice but perhaps a sparkler for Christmas morning such as Domaine Les Hautes Terres Josephine, Cremant de Limoux priced around £19.

Duralex Lys Stacking Bowls. These chip resistant tempered glass bowls are attractive and incredibly durable.  Available in 6's at Leila's Shop or individually at Heals in sizes 9cm/14cm/26cm priced at £2/£3/£8.

A Jesus Salami from The Ham & Cheese Company on-line or from their maturing rooms in Bermondsey on 14, 21 & 23 December (normally open every Saturday)  Price around  £25.

My luxury suggestion this year is a traditional Japanese Chazutsu Tea Caddy from the Kaikado company of Kyoto, the oldest maker in the world.  In materials of brass, tin or copper, these exquisite containers have been made in Japan by the Yagi family for generations.  Normally made to order, Margaret Howell on Wigmore Street, London W1 have a small number in stock.  Over time the caddies take on beautiful patinas from regular handling.  Priced from £110 up to £235 for a boxwood-handled version.

My final suggestion is to buy and plant a native tree.  Cost negligible, pleasure rating enormous.

HAPPY SHOPPING

Books for Food Lovers 2013 - My Selection

There are plenty of book recommendations around at this time of year.  Most concentrate on books published over the preceding 11 months.  I don't feel constrained to limit my list in this way.  Two of the books below were published in 2013 and share a certain philosophy of food; one stems from 5 years of conversations about food and hit the bookshelves in 2012; another first appeared in 2009 with my copy being from 2012; there's a paperback first published in 1997 and, sadly, as relevant now as it was 15 years ago; the final book is a 1984 encyclopedia updated in 2004.

This mix of publications over such a long period owes something to my bad habit of letting books pile up to enjoy when I can give them my full attention.  I never seem to learn that the perfect time doesn't come.  I've just discovered the Japanese have a word for this habit:

Tsundoku - buying books and not reading them, letting them pile up.

The Modern Peasant
by Jojo Tulloh

The title 'The Modern Peasant' didn't hook me, it was the subtitle 'Adventures in City Food' that did.  Rooted in this maddening, chaotic, fascinating city of London, it pays to have an adventurous spirit, not least where food is concerned.  It's not the multiplicity of cuisines on offer in this cosmopolitan metropolis that the author, JojoTulloh, finds so enthralling.  It's the new wave of small urban producers that interest her.  Buying food from them, growing some of her own and making simple food from scratch - "rediscovering an earlier tradition of cookery" - has reconnected her to the source of food.  She sees the word "peasant" not as a negative term but as a description of a person producing high quality food.  Whether they are doing so for pleasure, profit or out of necessity - these are her 'Modern Peasants'.  Read more ...

Published 2013
Book courtesy of Chatto & Winds

The Ethicurean Cookbook

The 'Ethicurians' Jack Adair-Bevan, Paûla Zarate, Matthew Pennington and Iain Pennington share a philosophy: "eat local, celebrate native foods, live well." It's a credo that appeals to me, so, my attention was immediately engaged.  This book emerged from the glasshouses and kitchen garden of Barley Wood, a Georgian Estate in the bucolic Mendip Hills of Somerset.  "British seasonality, ethical sourcing of ingredients and attention to the local environment" are the declared foundations of the business which took form in 2010.  The menu changes on a daily basis according to what is available and this book is, not surprisingly, chaptered seasonally.  Recipes and techniques sit alongside vignettes of growers and suppliers, appreciating the seasons and observing local customs and festivals.

Most of the 120 recipes are striking in their simplicity, albeit in some cases calling for unusual ingredients and maybe the aid of a helpful forager - 'pineapple weed' for one.  The writing and the beautiful photographs by Jason Ingram are as seductive as the recipes.  A simple winter dish of Beetroot Carpaccio with Honeyed Walnuts glows on the plate; Ewe's-curd-stuffed Courgette Flowers with Fennel Sherbet make you feel summer can't come quickly enough; and Deepfried Aubergine with Rose Hip Syrup make you wish you'd made time to gather those hips when you had the chance.  Recipes marked by me to try this winter include Sea Robin (Gurnard) with Fennel Butter Sauce and Herbed Pink Firs and Milk Stout and Chocolate Steamed Pudding.

Published 2013
The Random House Group

McGee on Food & Cooking
by Harold McGee

If you have a culinary question, you'll almost certainly find the answer here.  First published in 1984, Harold McGee's fantastically useful encyclopedia was revised in 2004.  Hugely appreciated and valued by chefs, cooks, food writers and the plain curious, once you have this book you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.  Whether you have a question on food storage, the science of water baths, how bees make honey, how to tell whether eggs are fresh or stale, how to temper chocolate or who wrote down the first recipe for ice cream, the answer lies within these pages. Then there's the Chemistry Primer.  Invaluable.

Published 2004
Hodder & Stoughton

The Vegetarian Option
by Simon Hopkinson

It's difficult to think of a British cookery writer I admire more than Simon Hopkinson. With this book he reclaims vegetarian cooking from the bizarre world of fake meat and 'rice & veg' some vegetarians inhabit.  The chapter on 'Vegetables' is broken into Simon Hopkinson's signature style such as 'Asparagus & Artichokes', 'Ginger & Spring Onions' and 'Chillies & Avocados' - before going on to Herb, Pasta, Pulses & Grains, Rice, Eggs, Fruit.  The recipes are beautifully simple throughout, from the thoroughly English spring dish of Warm salad of asparagus and new potatoes to the Paul Bocuse inspired rich autumnal Pumpkin Soup and a Persillade of ceps & potatoes.  A dish of Congee with bok choy, golden fried garlic, green chilli & soy is definitely on my 'to cook' list, along with a Potato pie with Beaufort cheese; Blackcurrant jelly trifle; Damson & almond sponge pudding and …..   This one is definitely earning its space on my bookcase.

Published 2012 (original 2009)
Quadrille Publishing Limited

Claudia Roden
The Food of Spain

It took Claudia Roden 5 years to research her most recent book The Food of Spain.  Each visit to Spain unearthed more food memories than she could have hoped for.  Each contact came up with yet another person to meet.  She would talk food favourites, festivals and folk history in kitchens as "people open up in the kitchen, not in the living room".  Most, be they workers or nobility, spoke of peasant cuisine being central to their food memories.

Claudia's thesis is that Spain's history of conquering armies meant a population on the move and tastes were, by necessity, unsophisticated. The aristocrats despised vegetables and ate meats, mostly game, though rabbits were left to the lower orders.  In Bourbon and Habsburg times the Spanish nobility ate French cuisine.  They followed the lead of King Philip V who employed cooks trained in the French court at Versailles.  The current haute cuisine in Spain, she was assured, was a cuisine of "today", though chefs claim to look to the roots of Spanish food for inspiration. 

A quote from the Catalan writer Josep Pia "A country's cuisine is its landscape in a cooking pot" is apt.  The diversity of the landscape of Spain has led to three styles of cooking: the sea; the plain; and, the mountains.  Claudia pointed out that, unlike Italy, dishes are not contained within regional borders.  Read more ...

Published 2012
Penguin Group

Cod
by Mark Kurlansky

I never thought I'd be recommending a book on the subject of Cod as a rollicking good read.  This paperback was given to me a year ago and received with polite thanks.  Finally I picked it up and couldn't put it down.  First published in 1997 it is, sadly, just as relevant today as it was then.  It's a celebration of one of nature's great gifts and what happens when we don't treat it with the respect it deserves.  The book takes you on a fast-paced ride through historical fact, folklore, fighting and fishermen's secrets.  Stuffed with detail and written in a lyrical style, Kurlansky's book is fascinating whether describing the life-cycle of the cod, the social history of a fishing community or offering guidance on 'The correct way to flush a cod' - from Hannah Glasse to W H Auden and Louis MacNeice via Emile Zola.

Published 1999
Vintage Books

Books I would like to read in 2014:

Eat by Nigel Slater

The Art of Simple Food II by Alice Waters

One Good Dish: The Pleasures of a Simple Meal by David Tanis
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson

How to Boil an Egg by Rose Cararrini

The Honey & Co Cookbook by Itamar Srulovic & Sarit Packer (due to be published Summer 2014)

I hereby resolve not to commit Tsundoku in 2014.