Gooseberry Meringue Pie

Gooseberries and Elderflower

Gooseberries grow best in cool, damp climates.  England is excellent, in Scotland it's even better (where they are known as 'grosarts'), but they grow unhappily in France, hence their low status there.  The northern French do at least appreciate them as a sauce to cut the oiliness of fish such as mackerel, but certainly not as a dessert fruit.

Needless to say, the gooseberry has nothing to do with goose, the name being a mishmash of grosart, groser and groseille (French for currant), all of which go back to the German Frankish 'krûsil', meaning crisp berry.  The are the first fruits of Spring and the prickly shrubs can produce into August.  For me, it's the sharpness of the young green fruits of the plain old' Invicta' gooseberry that appeals.  Later they turn yellow and need less sugar to bring out their flavour, but nothing beats the crisp freshness of the early pickings.  There are around 300 varieties, some of which are naturally sweet enough to be eaten straight from the bush.

Elders come into flower just as the first goosberries appear.  I don't know who it was who first thought to pop a head of elder-flower into a pan of gooseberries and sugar but the pairing is exquisite.  If you do so, make sure you choose a flower from an elder which grows in clear, unpolluted air, dust off any insects and wrap it in muslin.  Once the fruit is poached you can remove the flower head to leave a heavenly scented compote.

Gooseberries are packed with vitamin C, and are rich in pectin, making them excellent for jam making.  Poaching the fruit until it just bursts, the resulting compote can be used for fruit fools, parfaits, syllabubs, tarts and cakes.

Gooseberry meringue pie

Here is a take on Lemon Meringue Pie, a delicious pudding in its own right, if a little rich.  This one is a bit lighter.  The essentials are a crisp, buttery pastry and a sugar meringue topping sandwiching a sharp filling.  Now that I'm picking gooseberries from my one lone bush (yielding 12lbs last year), it's time to ditch the eggy-lemon filling in favour of a sharp fruity one.  Melting the sugar in a little butter before adding the gooseberries enriches the juice and means you don't have to cook the fruit for long, helping it to hold its shape.  I noticed when I was cooking this that Jane Grigson has a richer meringue version 'Gooseberry Meringue Tart' in her invaluable 'Fruit Book'.

Gooseberry meringue pie slice

Gooseberry meringue pie
(20-22cm loose-based tart tin - Serves 6-8)

Sweet Shortcrust pastry:
110g (4oz) soft butter
55g (2oz) icing sugar
2 tablespoons beaten egg
170g (6oz) soft plain flour
pinch  of salt
A little coarse polenta to scatter on the baked pastry base

Goosberry Compote:
600g (20 oz) gooseberries, topped and tailed
30g butter
2 tablespooons soft brown sugar

Meringue Topping:
2 egg whites
125g caster sugar

For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, then gradually add the flour and salt, mixing to a smooth paste.  Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.  (This makes a very fragile, buttery pastry which is best if not handled).

In a wide-bottomed pan, melt the butter and sugar together.  Add the prepared gooseberries and cook until their green colour mellows, they burst but generally remain whole.  Remove from the heat and put aside.

Butter the tart tin lightly and press pieces of the pastry into the tin to form a thin layer- you will probably have more pastry than you need, the important thing is to apply it thinly. .  Push a rolling pin over the top of the tart tin to leave a clean edge.  Prick the base with a fork and place in the fridge for another 30 minutes (this helps to reduce shrinkage in baking).   

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).  Bake the pastry case blind for 15 minutes.  Remove the baking beans and return the tin to the oven for a further 5 or so minutes to make sure the base is lightly browned.  Remove from the oven.  Reduce the oven temperature to 140C (120C fan). 

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form then add half the sugar gradually, beating until the mixture is firm and fluffy. Gently fold in the rest of the sugar with a metal spoon.  
Scatter a thin layer of coarse polenta over the pastry base to soak up excess juice from the fruit.  Place the gooseberry mixture into the case and spoon the meringue on top taking it right to the edges of the pastry to cover the fruit completely.  Bake for about 40 minutes, until the meringue is browned.

Best served at room temperature to appreciate the flavour of the gooseberries. 

Gergovie Wines Update - Food Find

From 24 June 2011 Gergovie Wines change the Friday night formula from a sit-down set dinner to wines with food at the bar from 5.30pm.  I anticipate a scaled-up version of their popular Saturday (from 10.00) bar-with- food so you get more opportunity to taste the expanding range of natural, organic and biodynamic wines.  Expect high quality seasonal food matched to the excellent wines.

Gergovie Wines

The Ham & Cheese Co.



The Ham & Cheese Co.

For many years now I've been buying chunks of creamy parmesan, wafer-thin slices of Prosciutto and soft, glistening globes of mozzarella from Alison and Elliott at The Ham & Cheese Co. stall on Borough Market.  Though these days, thanks to Borough Market Management's bizarre decision to evict some of the best of their traders, I shop at the railway arch maturing rooms at in Bermondsey(currently Saturdays only).  It's taken me a while to get around to posting on them because I've got to know Alison and Elliott over the years and, well, it's  very easy to lose your objectivity.  A good time then to step back and take a long cool look at the range of products they now sell, which has grown over the years.

Starting out as The Parmesan Cheese Company, it was with a single-herd parmesan that they established a reputation for carefully sourcing a top quality product.  The Swiss Brown cows producing the milk are pastured in the foothills of the Apennines by the Avanzini family.  Fed on GM-free cereals and alfalfa grown organically on the farm, the cows produce enough milk for only 3-4 wheels of parmesan a day.  The aged finished product is rich and creamy but with a satisfying slightly-salty crunch to the texture.  It's still, I think, the best you will find in the UK.

After three years of searching, a Prosciutto di Parma finally met Alison and Elliott's high standards and the business turned into 'The Ham & Cheese Co'.  The Parma hams are produced by the Montali family using traditional methods which have largely been abandoned by mass producers.  Demand far outstrips production of this lean, tender and sweet meat.

The Mozzarella di Bufala is sourced from Campania but from the river plain of Piana del Sele.  South of Naples, this is still a largely agricultural area, rather than the more industrial plain north of the city.  Using unpasteurised milk, the production process is mostly by hand, creating creamy, velvety 100g and 250g globes.

Recently a Culatello de Zibello has been added to the table.  The Culatello ("little backside") is the most prized part of the pig and, therefore, the most expensive.  The Po river valley of Bassa Parmensa is renowned for its Culatello production.  The ham is matured in Polesine by l’Antica Corte Pallavicina.  This 14th century estate where the hams are cured is perfectly placed to take advantage of the fogs which roll across the river plain.  The specially constructed medieval cellar ensures perfect levels of humidity and allows for the longest ageing process of any Culatello produced today. With a drier texture and fuller flavour than Prosciutto, the 30-month aged ham selected by The Ham and Cheese Co is very special.

There is also a range of Basque country salamis made by Pierre Oteiza in the Aldudes Valley.  Having worked with local farmers to save the once endangered Cochon Basque, Oteiza raises his pigs outside all year round.  Foraging on the wooded hillsides for nuts and roots, their diet is supplemented by grains and beans to encourage them to remain close to the farm where they are brought down to straw-covered huts to farrow.  The Jésus du Pays Basque is a particular favourite.  Its moist texture and deep flavour is enhanced by the addition of peppercorns.

From buying a weekly hunk of parmesan I'm now spoilt for choice when shopping here.  The range has grown over the years but what you can be sure of is that each addition has been sourced with the greatest of care.  See the informative website below for the full range and to locate a market stall where you can taste and buy.  Look out for The Ham & Cheese Co at some of the best food fairs too.  If you can't go to them, they do mail order.

The Ham and Cheese Co
http://www.maltbystreet.com/


Djaouzia (white nougat) - Food Find

I was recently introduced to this fabulous soft white nougat - Djaouzia.  Called "La Ruche" it's made in Algeria by Dar Kasentina.  You can't buy it in the UK but anyone visiting Algeria should look out for it to bring back as a gift.  Made in traditional copper pans from honey and top quality walnuts, this artisan product is packaged in beautiful boxes hand-painted by students from the Algerian School of Fine Arts.

Jose, Bermondsey Street, London SE1

Jose
104 Bermondsey Street

The figure of José Pizarro standing on the corner of Bermondsey Street and Morocco Street, mobile phone glued to ear, was an all too common sight this spring.  Keeping a close eye on his first venture since leaving the kitchens of 'Brindisa' has paid off in a tapas and sherry bar with a truly Spanish feel.  Small it may be but, apart from a problematic constricted section of the bar which needs to be carefully managed, it has arrived perfectly formed.  Hams hang at one side of the bar, a glass counter at the other displays some of what's on offer.  Marble-topped counters give it a sleek look but wood, red brick, some tiling, old light fittings and warm staff make for a cosy atmosphere.

It's been in soft opening phase for a couple of weeks and the bills being reduced by 50% have pulled in the crowds, but the staff have hit the ground running and already it feels almost fully formed.  From tomorrow they have another hurdle to jump when they start charging full prices in a street that has a number of good eating options.   The neighbourhood feel of Bermondsey Street helps, but 'Josẽ has the feel of walking into the best tapas bar in Barcelona (and that's damn good).  Pizarro and his staff are in no way complacent.  A public holiday two weeks' after opening is a trial to any business, with suppliers taking a break and customers an unknown quantity. Arriving early for lunch today it was clear that some quick thinking about the menu was going on as fresh supplies came through the door but the customers who came in after us would not have known of the extra stress put on the kitchen.  All was calm and controlled once the orders started to come in.

The food is centred around the best seasonal produce.  Born in a small agricultural village in Extramadura, Pizarro grew up with quality fresh produce always available.  With an emphasis on "bright flavours, simple techniques and not too many ingredients", you will not get Spanish molecular gastronomy. The basics are here, from the perfect Pan con Tomate, using the lightest of breads from St John, the Classic Tortilla, Patatas Bravas to plates of silky Jamόn Ibérico and impeccable Jamόn Croquettes.  Asparagus cooked on the griddle and served with either Jamon or Manchego was seasonal and good but Hake fried in a feather-light batter with a dollop of allioli stood out, as did a dish of Peas, poached egg, migas and chorizo.  'Specials' when we lunched were a Tortilla of Spinach layered with walnuts and Picos blue cheese which worked really well and, from the plancha, the freshest sardines were plainly served and some large, juicy prawns with chillies and garlic provoked several more orders.

Sherries have equal prominence to wine on the drinks menu and, all are available by the glass or bottle .  A Palo Cortado Apόstoles matched the food well as did an El Quintanal Rueda.  Even at full price our bills would have come in at under £50 for two (service is not included) for food and a glass of sherry and of wine each.  I ate at Josẽ twice over the past fortnight for two reasons.  I wanted to make sure it was good before I sent anyone there - I've learned the hard way that first impressions can be wrong - and, well, who wouldn't at these prices.  I will definitely be back.

UPDATE: Pizarro restaurant is now also open a few doors down at 194 Bermondsey Street.
Josẽ
104 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3UB
Tel: 020 7403 4902 (no reservations)
http://www.josepizarro.com/

Breakfast Fruit and Oats

Breakfast Fruit and Oats
with blueberries and raspberries

Leaving home to go market shopping this morning the first thing I saw was a guy in a top coat, hat, gloves and scarf.  It's the end of May, what's going on.  Ten minutes later I passed a plucky London girl in shorts.  That's more like it, the summer wardrobe is out and it's staying out.  I don't know about you but, chill or no chill, I've had enough of steaming hot porridge breakfasts for a while.  Yet oats are so good for you.  

From its humble origins as a cheap stomach-filler, its status has risen to 'superfood' level with reports that oats are good for everything from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol to increasing brainpower and libido.  So, rather than abandon it entirely in the "heat" of summer, why not tweak it with the seasons.  Used as a base for seasonal fruits and nuts you can vary it throughout the year and make the most of our outstanding home-grown fruits.

Breakfast Fruit and Oats
with cherries

The original "Bircher" Muesli, on which this dish is based, was introduced by the Swiss Dr Bircher-Benner as a nutritious dish for his patients.  The recipe contains oats soaked in water, grated apple, lemon juice, a little cream and a few hazelnuts or almonds.  I've been served this for breakfast in Berlin and it's very nice if a little worthy, and, like porridge, I can see it could become a bit boring.  To ring the changes, I soak the oats (rolled oats are best and the mix can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days) in apple juice or milk instead of water, use yoghurt instead of cream, and add seasonal fruits as well as nuts.

Breakfast Fruit and Oats
with blueberries

Fruits can be changed to reflect seasonality from spring to late autumn - raspberries, blueberries and blackberries work best but strawberries, rhubarb compote or sliced apricots ring the changes.  In the winter months, raisins or sultanas are good soaked for a few hours in apple juice. As for the nuts, for me hazelnuts are the best choice but in summer their sweet, milky cousin Kent Cobnuts are delicious, or try almonds.  I also add a little honey to counteract any acidity in the fruit, the amount will vary depending on which fruit you choose.  Here is my basic recipe.  It's not only good for you but moreish rather than worthy.

Breakfast Fruit and Oats
(Serves 4)

5 tablespoons Rolled Oats
100ml milk or apple juice
150g plain yogurt
2 apples, cored (but not peeled) and grated
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Honey to taste
A handful of nuts, halved (toast them briefly in a frying pan if you have time)
300g of fruit (see above)

Soak the oats with the milk or juice overnight or for at least 2 hours.  To your soaked oats, add yoghurt, grated apple, lemon juice, honey and nuts and stir to combine.  Fold in the fruit and serve.

Josẽ Pizarro is OPEN - Food Find

Finally, what we've all been waiting for, the doors are open at 'Josẽ' on Bermondsey Street SE1.  Authentically Spanish, it already feels like it's always been there. A refined list of sherries and wines, a good focused short menu of regular tapas dishes plus daily specials could make this serious competition for Barrafina.  Josẽ is currently in soft-opening phase, with reduced prices.  More after my second visit (which will be very soon).
Josẽ
104 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3UB

Jacobs Ladder Farms - Food Find

Jacobs Ladder sells meat from a collective of Sussex farms - principally Montague, Hophurst, Old Plaw Hatch and the biodynamic Perry Court.  Phill, their first class butcher, has now moved from Borough Market to 104 Druid Street  New to the counter are delicious firm-fleshed Chickens and Guinea Fowl.  To be added to Jane's mailing list for weekly updates, email  jacobsladderfarms@googlemail.co.uk

UPDATE: New website http://www.jacobsladderfarms.co.uk

Prufrock Coffee

Billy at Prufrock Coffee (Woodhouse)

My first taste of a Prufrock espresso was on a cold, grey, wintery day in London.  Cutting through Whitecross Street (EC1), picking my way through the City office workers out to grab a quick street lunch, I was stopped in my tracks.  The foodstalls here are pretty good but it was the guy with the coffee machine who caught my attention.  The chalkboard showed simply four options: an espresso shot £1.50, and three measures with milk - 4oz/£2.00, 6oz/£2.20, 8oz/£2.40 - no gimmicks. This, I learnt, was Prufrock.  The name meant something to me; snippets of a poem;  "Let us go then, you and I when the evening is spread out against the sky ....."  I was in a hurry.  My espresso was pulled with great care and tasted fantastic.  I knew I'd be back.

A couple of days later I stumbled upon another 'man with a machine', this time at the front of a mens' clothing shop on Shoreditch High Street.  At the risk of offending the barista, it was the machine that caught my eye.  A beautiful, gleaming, hammered-finished La Victoria Arduino, which I still covet.  It was paired with a Mazzer grinder and the result was delicious.  That name again, Prufrock, and that same attention to detail.  Who was this Prufrock?  As so often, the best things come to you when you aren't looking for them.  I'd encountered Gwilym Davies (none other than the World Barista Champion 2009) and his business partner Jeremy Chandler.  Together they are Prufrock, though they are quick to credit their whole team for how their business is now taking off. 

These days barista, Matthias, is most often to be found at Shoreditch.  It really is a one man set-up.  If there's a queue and you're in a hurry, go elsewhere.  Coffee this good can't be rushed, and it's well worth any wait.  Prufrock have recently opened a two floor cafe in Leather Lane EC1 - between Farringdon Road and Gray's Inn Road.  It has plenty of space to stretch out, a Nuova Simonelli machine along with another La Victoria Arduino, some comfortable Ron Arad chairs and well-trained, engaging staff with mostly arts backgrounds.  It's the kind of place you pop into for five minutes and are still there half an hour, and a couple of espressos, later.  You can also perch on a stool at the brew bar to watch the performance art involving siphons and burners, if that sort of thing presses your buttons.  They've still got work to do to get the food right but this is being addressed as I write.  Barista training is also on the menu at this their flagship cafe.

As for the beans and roasting, Prufrock are currently happy to buy in.  The coffee they use is roasted by one of London's best, 'Square Mile'.  This week they were trying out a double blend espresso roast but the single estate delivers a smoother, satisfying shot for me.  Given the choice, I prefer my coffee in a glass - an espresso with just the right amount of milk for me.  That's definitely not a Macchiato, as most Baristas seem to think.  So, whenever I can, I get a double shot of espresso and a jug of hot milk on the side rather than try to explain just how much milk.  If the place is good and the barista's know their stuff, I can ask for a Spanish 'Cortado' and get pretty much what I want from an espresso.  At Prufrock their 4oz cup or glass delivers a single estate creamy, caramel dose of perfection. 

Their latest opening is a one-man machine in Woodhouse menswear shop smack in the middle of Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill.  It's also where they've installed their first Kees van der Westen machine.  Barista, Billy, delivers a first class espresso from a fabulous looking 'Mirage'.  UPDATE - no longer at Westbourne Grove but you'll usually find Billy pulling shots at Leather Lane.

Prufrock haven't weaned me off Monmouth coffee but out of all the new coffee businesses popping up, this really is 'the business'. *"I measured out my life in coffee spoons ...".   Poetry in motion? (I'm so sorry).

* The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock - TS Eliot

Prufrock

23-25 Leather Lane, London EC1

Mon-Fri 8-6pm; Sat 10-4pm

Tube: Chancery Lane or Farringdon

Prufrock @ Present, 140 Shoreditch High Street, London, EC2

Tube: Shoreditch High Street or Old Street

Prufrock coffee carts at Whitecross Street Market EC1 and Colombia Road Market E2

http://www.prufrockcoffee.com/

Gergovie Wines and Food

Gergovie Wines

GO HERE FOR A 2013 REVIEW OF 40 MALTBY STREET

The popularity of underground 'supper clubs' is evidence of the appetite for a different experience in dining out.  Eating in a stranger's private home, knee-to-knee with a bunch of people you don't know is proving a hit with some diners.  So what's the appeal of supper clubs? 

Well, I guess there's the thrill of the unknown, the daring to be different, and the hope that you will strike up new friendships.  It's adventurous, sociable and intimate in a way that a restaurant usually isn't.  Paying £25-35 each you don't know what the menu is going to be or how good the food will be yet you'll take along a bottle of wine in the hope it will be a reasonable match for whatever comes out of the kitchen.  The scene is changing though as some high profile chefs get in on the act by opening up their own homes and charging up to £100 a head.

There is a third way - take a south London railway arch, an open kitchen and bar, a welcoming and enthusiastic owner and a good professional chef, add carefully sourced ingredients and natural wines matching the food.  A run of trestle tables, a few vases of flowers, lots of candles, delicious aromas and adventruous people turn an unpromising Bermondsey railway arch into a cathedral-like dining space.  This is Gergovie Wines *Friday night dinners - SEE UPDATE BELOW.
 
Gergovie is introducing a new generation of natural winemakers from the South-East France/Northern Italy/Slovenia winegrowing areas.  Employing ethical methods of growing, some organically or biodynamically, with little intervention in the development of the wine, produces some interesting and surprising results.  The yield from these growers is small, hence the labels on offer at Gergovie are ever-changing as they find more good, artisan winemakers.

The ethos of the business is heavily influenced by Raef Hodgson's Neal's Yard Dairy/Monmouth Coffee background.  Hodgson, having worked with business partner Harry Lester (ex-Eagle in Clerkenwell and Anchor & Hope in Waterloo) and in the kitchens of similar beacons of straightforward cooking, has teamed up with Lester to set up a new venture in this Bermondsey railway arch.  When Harry isn’t cooking there himself, the talented Dave (with experience at Moro and Bocca di Lupo) is manning the stove.  Athough Raef leads the wine side of the business, he knows exactly what he wants from the food to complement his carefully sourced bottles.  The team is completed by brother Kit's skills in the kitchen and Harry Darby's front of house expertise.

The food subscribes to the admirable philosophy that if you are going to eat an animal you should pay it the respect of not wasting any of it (cf Fergus Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating).  At a recent dinner we were welcomed with breaded deep-fried olives stuffed with minced pork over a glass of refreshing cidery, Pignoletto Frizzante from Alberto Tedeschi.  Around 40 of us sat down at two tables to a starter of chard with ewes milk cheese followed by warm salad of lamb "pluck" (the heart, liver, and  lungs - there may have been kidney too but, it being a communal dish, I possibly missed it).  Then the main course -platters of tender and sweet roast suckling lamb, new potatoes and spring greens.  Next came cheeses - all excellent but the Lincolnshire Poacher stood out.  Bowls of simple, zingingly fresh leaves of bitter chicory with an AgroDolce and olive oil dressing cleared the palate.  Caffeine cravings were satisfied by sensational soft, intense espresso biscuits served with a creamy hazelnut pudding with a contrasting jellied layer.

Taking Raef and Harry D's advice, we drank wines by the glass - apart from the Pignoletto, I don't recall the wine names but I enjoyed each well-matched glass.  A herby Grappa-like digestif brought the meal to a satisfying end.

The guys are lovely, the food and wine is great, the setting atmospheric, and the diners a mixed bag (which in my book is far more appealing than "just like us"). Oh, and it will cost you £25 per head plus wine (by the glass or bottle). 

On Saturday mornings you might find Dave at a trestle table rolling fresh pasta to make the most of anything which wasn't used the night before, married to fresh fruit and veg from Tony Booth's arch 100 metres away. Last Saturday, lunch at the bar included Corned Beef Hash, Pappardelle with Beef Cheek, Lentils with All-spice and Goats Cheese, a Frittata, and New Season French Peas in a basil-scented broth, as well as Gergovie's own charcuterie and Neal's Yard and Mons cheese plates.  All of the meats come from trusted sources, fruit and vegetables mostly from Tony Booth and bread from St John Bakery round the corner.

I love it and think you will too.  Book ahead for dinner as word is getting out, or turn up for a glass and a plate on Saturdays late morning/early afternoon, when lots of the food arches are open, and maybe take away a bottle or two, or more.


Gergovie Wines
40 Maltby Street
London SE1 3PA
Currently open Thursday and Friday evening
Saturday currently from about 10.00 to late afternoon (just turn up)
http://www.gergoviewines.com/
http://www.maltbystreet.com/
* Update: the format is now drop-in bar with food - now open Thursday & Friday evenings and 10-5pm Saturday.  No booking required.