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A Korean Feast at Kimchee Restaurant

26 Mar 2012 4 Responses »

Mar 262012

Having only recently tried dolsot bibimbap for the first time (and loved it) I was happy to accept an invitation from Kimchee restaurant to a blogger event introducing their Korean menu to a group of food bloggers.

images from Kimchee website

The restaurant is very large, with an additional dining room downstairs, but the wooden panels break up the space pretty well. The design is meant to reflect a traditional Korean home, hence the prevalence of wood and simple lines. To me, it seems a little too much of a copy of the Hakkasan look (not a restaurant I liked) but that was probably based on traditional oriental design with a modern twist too.

Diners seated upstairs can watch the chefs at work, through huge glass panels into the kitchen. There is also a small water garden at the entrance, which is a pretty place to wait for friends.

Kimchee arranged for us to share a feast of different dishes, as well as some traditional Korean drinks. During the meal, we also learned a little about about Korean traditions, including how to address elders, how to pour drinks for each other and the way that food is usually served as a feast of many dishes on the table at once.

The alcoholic options weren’t to my taste, but I loved both the (cold) sweet plum tea and the aloe vera drink (which I’ve been buying from Wing Yip for a while – can’t get enough of it’s refreshing flavour and the strangely appealing texture of the bits of aloe vera suspended within the liquid).

To my surprise, the dolsot bibimbap dishes, served in huge stone pots, weren’t as full of flavour as the one I had at Bibimbap a few weeks ago. The seafood one in particular, I found quite bland. However, for me, they were the two weakest dishes of our feast, and I enjoyed the rest of the menu much more.

The lemon sole gui was delicious, with a crispy fried noodle garnish and fresh, green vegetables, this dish was reminiscent of Chinese dishes I’m more familiar with. The fish was tender and the flavours in the sweet miso and soy dressing were delicious.

As well as trying the main and side dishes, we also sampled the traditional accompaniments. Probably one of the most famous elements of Korean cuisine is kimchee, pickled cabbage. The version here was refreshing, crunchy and full of flavour. A small dish of kkakdugi (pickled radish) was crunchy and fiery hot. My favourite of these little plates was the modum namul – little mounds of beansprouts, spinach, radish, cucumber in a fantastic sesame oil and garlic dressing

A jeon is a Korean pancake made from a flour and egg batter. The pajeon, with spring onions, was simple and particularly tasty when dipped into the accompanying soy and chive sauce. The mung bean version (bean dae duk) was OK, but not as much to my taste. Lastly, the kimchee jeon, which I thought I’d like more, but didn’t really have enough of the distinctive kimchee flavour.

I loved the roseu puen che – thin slices of very lightly seared beef wrapped around crunchy vegetables and herbs. What made this was the mustardy-flavour of the wasabi and soy dipping sauce that came with it.

Pork belly is listed in the BBQ section and is a simple dish of marinated and grilled pork belly slices stir fried with green beans. These are eaten wrapped in crispy lettuce leaves. A little greasy but very good.

Probably one of my favourite dishes of the evening was the deceptively simple tofu kimchee. Fat, wobbly slices of silky tofu, steamed or boiled and served with minced pork and kimchee on top. A fantastic blend of textures and flavours, I couldn’t get enough of this one.

Jjigae probably best translates as a stew, though you could equally think of it as a flavoursome soup with lots of goodies added. We tried two versions, the kimchee jjigae and the seafood soft tofu jjigae. The latter was my favourite, but both were punchy, warming and with a lovely mix of textures.

Yuk hwae was another dish I loved. Raw minced beef served with thin slices of pear and cucumber, and a raw egg yolk mixed into the beef at the table. Essentially a simple beef tartare, the sweetness of the pear and the crunchy texture of both pear and cucumber, were unexpectedly delicious contrasts to the yolky beef.

The beef mari didn’t do it for me. A little like the wonderfully fresh and vibrant Vietnamese summer rolls but altogether lacking in flavour, these rolls of beef and vegetables wrapped in rice paper were bland, even with the accompanying sauce.

Soft shelled crab, breadcrumbed and deep fried… what’s not to like about that? Yes, I definitely enjoyed the crab tuigim with its simple plum sauce.

Despite the fried lotus root garnish, I didn’t find the beef bulgogi very exciting, though it was decent enough. The flavours were more pedestrian, less unfamiliar and exciting, than much of what we ate during the evening. The same applied to the chicken bulgogi we also tasted.

I think glass noodles are beautiful, and they glistened attractively in the jap chae dish, where they’d been cooked with beef and vegetables. The taste was richly savoury too.

After eating my way through all the dishes above, I didn’t think I had any space left for dessert, but the ice creams and chap ssal ddeok were so delicious, I managed to put away more than my fair share. Chap ssal ddeok are a Korean version of what I know as Japanese mochi, and had that same wonderfully gluey texture to the rice flour wrapper and the same sweet hit from the soft chocolate mousse inside.

The ice creams were very good indeed. We tried almond, black sesame, roasted green tea, red bean and sweet chestnut flavours and all were excellent.

The roasted green tea ice cream was the best green tea ice cream I’ve ever tasted, and was an absolute revelation. Even after the many delicious dishes we tasted through the meal, it’s been this ice cream that’s remained in my thoughts since the meal, and which I’ll be going back for as soon as I can!

Kavey Eats dined as a guest of Kimchee restaurant.

British Pie Week 5 – 11 March

07 Mar 2012 8 Responses »

Mar 072012

We don’t really need a special week to celebrate the wonder that is pie, but perhaps it’s no bad thing.

Many of us love pies, and I ‘m sure I’m not alone in being drawn towards a properly made pie, when I see it on the menu.

But how many of us make the effort to make pies at home?

Oh I know some do, and the photos shared on blogs and twitter look glorious. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll often cook dishes that would make great pie fillings (my beef cheeks bourgignon, for example) but seldom take it to the next step of putting that filling into pastry to make it into a pie.

We’ve only made pies a couple of times, prompted to do so by recipes in cookery books I was reviewing. (Admiring gasps for my pie there, please, doesn’t it look good?)

Last week, Pete and I were invited to sample some of Britain’s best pies at The Windmill pub in Mill Street, near Oxford Circus.

Carl Smith has a well-deserved reputation for making and serving fine pies, at The Windmill and sister pub, The Guinea. There’s even a Pie Club of over 6000 members who enjoy special events, cookery demonstrations and pie dinners.

During our visit, we sampled his lovely fish pie (made with a selection of fresh fish, the unusual but successful addition of crayfish and some smoked salmon trimmings to add texture and depth of flavour). Rich, creamy, indulgent, it was definitely one of the nicest fish pies I’ve tasted.

The steak and kidney pie was smashing too. In fact, it’s won the National Pie award three times!

To celebrate the recipe’s 21st anniversary, Carl has created a video in which he shares the recipe, tips and tricks, which you can view on his youtube channel, along with video recipes for some of his other pie creations.

The steak and kidney filling was excellent, but so was the parsley-flecked suet pastry, which was a great match to the rich meaty goodness inside. And, three cheers for it being a proper pie, with the filling fully encased with pastry!

Pudds, for those who had space, were individual apple and rhubarb pies, served with custard.

British Pie Week is 5th – 11th March and The Windmill is offering a pietastic menu including beauties such as Chicken, Bacon & Leek Pie or how about Beef Bourguignon Pie or the Fish Pie and that glorious Steak and Kidney Pie. Veggies have not been forgotten, and can opt for a Spicy Feta, Lentil and Chickpea Pie.

Contact The Windmill for further information.

I hope you’ll be enjoying some fine pies this week!

I leave you with one of my favourite cartoons, over to Weebl and Bob!

Kavey Eats dined as a guest of The Windmill.

All Star Chilli Con Carne

27 Feb 2012 7 Responses »

Feb 272012

A few weeks ago, I was invited to All Star Lanes in Westfield Stratford to learn executive chef Steve Collins’ chilli con carne recipe and a few cocktails from mixologist Adam Seidman. The master classes were filmed as part of some new promotional material for Westfield Stratford’s website, though thankfully I’m only visible briefly!

Fashion and shopping aren’t really my thing, but I was impressed with the sheer scale of eating options at the new shopping centre, including Italian (Jamie’s and Franco Manca), Thai (Busaba Eathai), Mexican (Wahaca), Brazilian (Cabana), Moorish / Middle Eastern (El Cantara and Comptoir Libonais), Japanese (Umai and Yo Sushi), Vietnamese (Pho) and several more chain outlets such as Giraffe, Pizza Express and Spud-U-Like, to name just a few.

I wouldn’t make a visit especially to eat at most of these places unless I lived just around the corner, but I’d certainly be happy to stop for a meal if I did end up coming for some shopping.

Steve Collins is the executive chef for All Star Lanes and as such, he looks after the menu for all their branches. Chefs at the individual outlets do have the opportunity to add a few dishes to their local menu, but core items such as Steve’s chilli are made to his fixed recipe.

With all the ingredients already prepped and measured out for us, all that remained was for each of us to cook our own huge pot of chilli under the careful and helpful guidance of Steve. His recipe is for a UK style chilli con carne with American influences from his research trips to the States. It does include minced beef and kidney beans, so purists look away now!

Of course, being a commercial restaurant, Steve’s exact recipe is secret, though we did learn his tips and tricks as we cooked our own. A few of the things that struck me:

Steve has his beef ground quite coarsely, to add texture, and uses a mix of beef shin and chuck.
The volume of powdered spice he adds is more than I have used before for the equivalent volume of meat. Don’t be shy when it comes to the key flavour components. His exact spice mix and ratio is not for sharing, but on tasting, I correctly guessed that the key components were cumin, coriander and chilli powder.
A combination of red wine and strong beef stock reduces down to give a good flavour without any obvious wine kick.
The kidney beans are added for the last 10 minutes of cooking only, so they don’t disintegrate during the long slow cooking.

Once our chillis were finished, we compared the results, each one slightly different even though we’d followed the same recipe and sat down to enjoy a bowl of our own, served with fried tortilla nachos and a fresh salsa. I really enjoyed the flavours of the chilli, but would have liked to reduce the liquid down a bit further, as it was a touch runny for my tastes.

Here’s the video of the chilli being made:

Part way through cooking our chillis, once we’d added all our ingredients (save the kidney beans), we left our pots simmering gently on the stove and popped across to the bar for a master class with mixologist Adam.

We made (and enjoyed drinking) peach cobblers, pina coladas, dark and stormies and my favourites, pineapple and cardamom jars.

My favourite tip from the class was Steve’s recipe for cardamom syrup, made simply by infusing good quality green cardamoms in sugar syrup. Delicious!

Kavey Eats was a guest of All Star Lanes and Westfield Stratford. With thanks to the two Steves.

Happy Diwali!

26 Oct 2011 6 Responses »

Oct 262011

Today is Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Happy Diwali!

The name itself means “a row of lamps” and describes the traditional ghee-filled earthenware lamps which are traditionally lit in their hundreds and thousands. An unforgettably beautiful sight.

There are a number of different reasons and stories behind the festival which you can read about here and here.

In our family, we light a candle in every single room of the house, and also place one at each external door. Mum cooks a wonderful Indian vegetarian meal for us to share.

My favourite dishes include mum’s simple potato curry with gravy served with fresh, hot, crispy pooris.

image by Arne Hückelheim, Wikimedia Commons

This year, my personal Diwali celebrations started early, when I was invited to a Diwali-themed supper club hosted by Luiz (The London Foodie), catered by Maunika (Cook In A Curry) and sponsored by Tilda Basmati Rice.

This was a great coming together. Luiz is a consummate host and I’ve enjoyed many a wonderful evening in his beautiful home. The newly extended and refitted kitchen was even more envy-inducing than the old one, and is a fabulous venue for his regular cooking clubs and supper clubs.

I regularly find myself salivating when reading Maunika’s twitter stream, as she describes in loving detail the many fabulous Indian dishes she cooks on a regular basis, both at home and in her career as private chef, food writer and radio presenter. Born in Bombay, Maunika has researched and become an expert in the many varied cuisines of the Indian subcontinent and shared several of her favourites with us during the evening.

The unique properties of basmati rice – the magical flowery scent and woody undertones – are well known. Tilda is a brand that has been associated with sourcing and selling top quality basmati rice since the late 1960s, when it started a business importing and selling to the immigrant Asian community in the UK. Today Tilda’s rice is readily available in the UK and over 40 more countries worldwide. If you are of the mind set that “rice is rice” and surely all basmati rice is much of a muchness, I set you the challenge of buying a bag of Tilda and a bag of the cheapest value brand of basmati you can find. You will notice the difference!

My favourite dishes of the evening were a Paneer Haraa Tikka for which Maunika marinaded cubes of paneer with garlic, chillies and sprinkled them with kala namak (dark Indian rock salt with a distinctive pungent taste from the dissolved sulhur), a fantastic Pineapple and Black Pepper Chutney, a flavour-packed Haraa Masala Chicken hailing from the Khoha community of India, full of coriander, mint and caramelised onions and a Keralan Fish Curry called Meen Moilee, consisting of moist fillets of sea bass in a rich coconutty gravy. Maunika’s Lamb Yakhni Pulao, made of course with Tilda Basmati, included succulent morsels of lamb mixed with rice that had been cooked in lamb stock and butter.

All delicious and very enjoyable. Thank you to Luiz, Maunika, Tilda and Wildcard for a wonderful evening. Happy Diwali!

Abergavenny Food Festival 2011

12 Oct 2011 5 Responses »

Oct 122011

For some years now, I’ve heard fellow food lovers proclaim Abergavenny as the most enjoyable food festival in the UK. And for almost as long as I’ve been hearing that, I’ve intended to find out for myself.

This year I finally did.

And they were right!

I absolutely loved the festival and can completely understand how it captivates my friends.

Entry pricing is reasonable; one doesn’t feel that one is being fleeced just to gain access, given that one is spending again at the various classes and stands inside.
There are fantastic talks, demonstrations and master classes throughout the festival and these are all very reasonably priced. The calendar is packed and the quality and variety of the schedule is amazing. I enjoyed every single event I attended and would happily have attended a third day of festival if it had given me the chance to squeeze in a few more.
The quality of the exhibitors is excellent; virtually every stand was of interest to me. That’s the complete opposite of many large food shows I’ve attended in recent years. Stalls aren’t given to any old business that has scant connection with food, just to sell the requisite number of stalls. There is a focus on a quality experience for exhibitors and visitors alike.
The stands are spread out across the town centre, giving exhibitors and visitors plenty of space. Even on Saturday, it never felt like the normal food show conveyor belt, shuffling slowly through the crowds from stand to stand, eventually reaching another only to be faced with a stall holder so busy that he or she is unable to spend any time interacting with customers or explaining much about the products.
I had some enthusiastic, eye-opening and delightful conversations with many exhibitors; they had a readiness not only to sell but to interact with visitors (and fellow exhibitors) and share a joint passion for great food and drink.
It was such a pleasure meeting up with friends over the weekend. I hadn’t realised quite how many wonderful friends I’ve made in the food industry, and it was wonderful to see so many of them at the festival whether they were exhibitors, speakers or fellow visitors. It made an already welcoming festival feel even more so.
I did a Rudehealth rant! I was hugely nervous to stand up and rant in front of so many people, especially following Rufus Carter, who’s a superb speaker and really engaged with the crowd. I sped through my rant, and cut it short a little here and there, convinced I was boring the audience. But in the end it went OK and I’m glad to have done it!

Exhibitors

Marc Demarquette, The Ethicurian, The Bath Pig, Forage Fine Foods, Simply Welsh Cakes, Halen Mon, H J Edwards, Hand Made Scotch Eggs, Womersley, The Tomato Stall, Holly And The Ivy

Of course, we also visited many other stalls that I failed to photograph and had wonderful conversations with so many exhibitors.

Master Classes and Tutored Tastings

Entente Cordiale between Richard Bertinet and Henry Harris – confit duck toasted sandwich and scones with cream and jam (sorry it’s out of focus, my camera focus isn’t working properly)

The Nordic Terroir with Signe Johansen and Trina Hahnemann – smoked fish with pickled plums, apple and beetroot salad, baked celeriac and many more

José Pizarro and James Swift Making the Most of Charcuterie – a veritable feast of dishes was served

Again, we also attended a number of other events including a cookery demonstration and interview with Angela Hartnett and a surreal beer chat by Paul Ewen, Ian Marchant and Pete Brown.

Ranting for Rude Health

And, lastly, despite the fact it makes me grimace with embarrassment at my strange voice and odd mannerisms, here’s the rant I did for Rude Health on why supplements on fixed price menus attract my ire.

Touring By Twitter: A Visit To Bath

01 Oct 2011 2 Responses »

Oct 012011

When invited by Bath Tourism Plus to spend a day in Bath, taking our advice on what to visit from twitter, Pete and I jumped at the chance. We started asking for suggestions in the run up to our visit and by the day itself, the advice was flowing in at a great rate.

Both twitter friends and complete strangers came to our aid and between them, gave us lots of great ideas on how to spend our day.

The Pump Room Restaurant
The Roman Baths
Minerva Chocolate
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
The Star Inn
The Raven
Bath Ales’ The Salamander Pub
Paxton & Whitfield
Sally Lunn’s Buns
Thermae Bath Spa
Other Attractions
Next Time

The Pump Room Restaurant

We started our day with breakfast in the Pump Room restaurant at the Roman Baths. Shown into a vast and elegant room with a trio playing live classical music on the stage.

Starving after an early start, I went for the enormous Beau Nash Brunch (£12.95) which resulted in two enormous and very good eggs benedict, a pot of tea, a small glass of fresh orange juice and then, when I could barely eat another mouthful, toast and jam.

Pete, being far more restrained, opted for the Tompian Treat (£6.25) and enjoyed two hot-buttered crumpets with blackcurrant jam, a pot of coffee and an apple juice.

The food was excellent and seemed reasonably priced, especially given the grandiose setting and live music. However, service, was slow and it proved extremely difficult to attract attention despite the high number of staff working in the dining room.

The Roman Baths

Of course, after our indulgent breakfast, we couldn’t miss a tour of the Roman Baths themselves. Wanting to cram as much into our day as possible, we opted to skip the headset audio tours and do a short sweet walkaround.

Most visitors took advantage of the audio guides, which lead to an oddly quiet crowd meandering slightly myopically around the attraction but the lack of annoyingly voluble and high volume chatter was actually a relief. That said, on our weekday visit in late August, it was frustratingly crowded.

There’s a huge amount of information to please history buffs and if I could go back and spend a few hours there, without the company of the madding crowds, I would love to take it all in properly.

This under floor heating system took me immediately back to (happy days) studying history at school.

This golden head of the goddess Minerva was found in the old temple ruins. We’ll come back to her head later.

Adult entry is £12. £7.80 per child. Or buy a family ticket (for up to two adults and four children) for £34.

Minerva Chocolate

After our visit to the Roman Baths, Pete and I went in different directions. I was invited to a special chocolate workshop with Philippe Wall, chocolatier and founder of Minerva Chocolate.

I confess, I seem to have a bit of a thing for French men at the moment; I can’t help myself. Especially ones that humour me and let me rabbit away in French to them. Yes, yes, Philippe is Belgian but he’s a French-talking Belgian which, as he put it himself, is totally the same thing as a Northern Frenchman anyway!

It didn’t take long for me to fall utterly for Philippe’s charms. I challenge you to find a more jovial, affable chap in all of Bath!

I only just resisted sticking my mouth under the tap of hot, melted chocolate. But was quickly distracted by a cup of rich, delicious hot chocolate.

Philippe gave me and Tim (this year’s Masterchef winner) a short workshop on working with chocolate.

First we tempered some of the melted chocolate and then we made chocolate buttons, dipped whole English black cherries, finished off some pralines and Tim poured a tonne of chocolate into a strange Buddha mould.

Philippe has many custom moulds including some in the shape of Minerva’s head, the Roman goddess for which his shop is named.

I’m hoping to return to Bath and do a full length chocolate workshop with Philippe when I do.

Do visit Minerva Chocolate for a drink and tasty snack (takeaway or eat in), to buy some great chocolates or to attend a workshop with Philippe.

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution

Initially planning to visit the Herschel Museum of Astronomy but finding it closed until later in the day, Pete turned to twitter and was quickly pointed towards the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.

He enjoyed a quick tour of ‘Earth + Fire = Vessel’, an exhibition of pottery and artefacts from throughout human history.

Entry was free and the institution has a wide range of exhibitions, talks and events on offer.

The Star Inn

Pete’s next stop was The Star Inn, a small traditional pub which is the brewery tap of Abbey Ales, who describe themselves as Bath’s only brewery. Of course, Bath Ales may disagree! However, Abbey Ales are the only brewery still physically located within Bath itself.

The Raven

Next on Pete’s list was a visit to The Raven for another quick pint. It’s a small, attractive pub serving decent real ale including a few beers brewed especially for them by Blindman’s Brewery. Likewise, they are well known for delicious pies, made for them by Pieminister.

Bath Ales’ The Salamander Pub

Bath Ales’ Moussa, taken later that evening

We’re no strangers to Bath Ales, and have a great twitter friendship with their social media guru so it was great to finally meet Moussa for a Bath Ales lunch at The Salamander, where we also reunited after our solo explorations.

It’s a lovely pub, just the place to stop and rest weary bones, grab a pint or two and indulge in some simple but very tasty food.

In the photos above, is Mark Dredge, one of the UK’s top beer bloggers. He organised our lunch time meet.

The Salamander has a great location and a very warm welcome.

Paxton & Whitfield

I can’t imagine there’s a single reader of Kavey Eats who hasn’t picked up by now that I adore cheese. So it’s no surprise we popped in to Paxton & Whitfield on John Street.

(Sorry for the variable photos, some were taken on my phone).

Martin, the Bath store manager, talked us through a number of cheeses and we tasted a few, my favourite of which was the truffled Brie. Unlike most versions of this that I’ve tried, which have a vague smell but no real truffle flavour – even though you can clearly see a smear of black truffle across the centre – the Paxton & Whitfield version was heady in it’s truffly aroma and then, to my delight, kicked in with a very clear truffle taste. So heady that I was unable to leave without buying a generous slice to take home!

It’s always great to buy cheese from genuine turophiles, like Martin, who can educate you about the cheeses on offer and help you work out the right ones for you.

Sally Lunn’s Buns

Sally Lunn’s is not the only provider of Bath buns in Bath. But it’s probably the best known.

According to the ever handy wikipedia, a traditional Bath bun is “a rich, sweet yeast dough shaped round that has a lump of sugar baked in the bottom and more crushed sugar sprinkled on top after baking. Variations in ingredients include candied fruit peel, currants or larger raisins or sultanas.”

The cafe’s website relates their version of the history of the Bath bun: Sally Lunn was a Huguenot refugee (better known as Solange Luyon) who came to Bath in 1680 via Bristol, after escaping persecution in France. Finding work with a local baker, she introduced the light and delicate bun to the town. The bun quickly became popular and its fame spread far and wide. Apparently, the original and secret recipe is passed on with the deeds to the house and still made there by hand. Strong insistence is made that their true Bath bun differs greatly to the London copycat version which is also called a Bath bun.

On the other hand, I have found reference to the claim that the Bath bun descended from the 18th century Bath cake, devised by one William Oliver, a doctor treating visitors who came to Bath for the famous spa waters.

Whatever the truth of its history, we were determined to sample the famous buns and chose to do so at the most famous purveyor.

The buns are available with a range of toppings including butter and strawberry or blackcurrant jam, cinnamon butter, traditional thick cut orange marmalade, rich raspberry topping, lemon curd, coffee and walnut butter, chocolate butter, ginger butter or brandy butter, most of which are homemade.

The menu also offers a wide range of savoury and sweet snacks including sandwiches, soups, rarebits, pates, a small range of full hot meals and sweet cakes, pies and tarts.

Pete chose half a Sally Lunn Bath bun with homemade lemon curd and I went for the homemade coffee and walnut butter on mine.

When the buns arrived, we were a bit aghast – they looked huge and we’d not long had a generous lunch. But they were much lighter than we expected and we polished them off pretty quickly.

They’re simple buns, and those expecting a truly novel experience or a bun utterly distinct from all they’ve tried before, may be disappointed. But we were glad we stopped here. They may be simple but they’re awfully good and we appreciated the homemade toppings.

We will be hunting down recommended recipes to recreate the Bath bun here in North West London!

As an added attraction, the kitchen museum at the same site shows the actual kitchen used by Sally Lunn back in the 1600s. Entry is 30 pence.

Thermae Bath Spa

Although I am a huge fan of spas, I probably wouldn’t have taken time out of our day in Bath to go to the Thermae Bath Spa had we not been given complimentary 2 hour entry. And that would have been a huge, huge mistake as I truly loved the experience!

Located just a short stroll from the Roman Baths, the Thermae Bath Spa has been built to give modern-day visitors the opportunity to take the famous Bath spa waters in a modern-day setting.

The main building is called the New Royal Spa and comprises a large indoor mineral pool called Minerva, which has a ‘lazy river’ current that moves floating swimmers slowly around the pool, a series of steam rooms, each with differently scented steam and a roof top thermal pool with magical views over neighbouring rooftops and Bath Abbey.

There is also a small separate facility just opposite, which offers a small open-air thermal bath with its own changing facilities. This is known as New Cross and is ideal for small group bookings. Entry for New Cross is not included with entry to the New Royal Spa facilities but we were taken across to have a quick peak before starting our own spa session.

Of course, spa treatments are also available, including regular, hot stone and hydro massages, body wraps, facials and so on.

Image courtesy of LuxeGuru, another bathtwitrip participant

During our visit we enjoyed the Minerva thermal pool, the steam rooms and the roof top thermal bath.

The steam rooms were wonderful but the enormous waterfall shower in the centre of the room was underwhelming and the individual foot baths around the edges of the room were difficult to access, tight and more than half were broken.

It was the roof top pool that stole my heart; bobbing in warm waters and admiring the magical view out over the historical city of Bath is an experience I will not quickly forget.

Images from Thermae Bath Spa website – New Cross, New Royal Spa rooftop thermal bath, Minerva pool and steam rooms

There were only a couple of frustrations: The cleverly designed lockers were operated by electrical keys integrated into unusually poorly designed wrist bracelets which constantly came loose. It was also frustrating that showers and toilets were on a different floor to the changing rooms.

To my surprise, prices for entry are very affordable with New Royal Spa charging £25 for 2 hours, £35 for 4 hours and £55 for a full day providing access to the indoor and outdoor pools and steam rooms as well as a cafe restaurant. Entry to the more limited facilities of New Cross costs just £15 per person for 1.5 hours or £150 for private group hire for the same period, for up to 12 people.

For a really different perspective on Bath, I wholeheartedly recommend the Thermae Bath Spa and will definitely be visiting again next time I am in town.

Other Attractions

We were very pleased to be able to take in the Wild Planet Exhibition by London’s Natural History Museum. Featuring 80 spectacular images from Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, we lingered over the wildlife and landscapes whilst enjoying live classical music and singing from buskers in the open square in front of the Abbey and Roman Baths.

Image from store website

It’s down to will power that we managed to visit the wonderful Kitchen cookshop on Quiet Street without making any purchases, though had the bank balance been healthier, we absolutely would have done. It’s a paradise for cooks and I could easily lose hours inside.

Next Time

Although we packed as much into our day as we could, in the end we had time to visit only a fraction of our twitter recommendations which included favourite cafes, delis, bakeries, restaurants and more. It looks like another trip to Bath is in our future!

We’re also hoping to do a course at the charming Richard Bertinet’s cookery school soon.

If you have your own Bath favourites, please do share them in the comments.

With many thanks to Bath Tourism Plus for their invitation to participate in this hugely enjoyable day.

Mamta’s Kitchen Curry Sauce on Leon Restaurant Menu!

28 Sep 2011 13 Responses »

Sep 282011

I’m very excited to share the news that you can try a delicious Mamta’s Kitchen curry on the new Autumn Winter 2011 menu launching at Leon restaurants today. With both a chicken and a vegetarian option available, we hope the rich, well-balanced flavours will appeal to Leon customers, new and old.

See full menu

So how did Mamta’s Kitchen dishes end up on the new menu?

A year ago this month, I was invited to the launch event for the second cookbook from Leon, the small chain of restaurants aiming to offer food that not only tastes good but is healthy and affordable too. Launched in 2004 by partners Henry Dimbleby, John Vincent and Allegra McEvedy, Leon now has 11 outposts and I imagine there are more in the pipeline.

Leon invited customers to make wishes from which they would choose a selection to grant on the night of the launch.

“Why not?” I thought, and entered a wish of my own.

It would be great fun, I said, to work with the Leon team in developing a recipe to feature on their menu. Not convinced I had any great creative insight of my own, I suggested we turn to my mum for inspiration, and work on an Indian recipe from Mamta’s Kitchen.

During an initial chat Henry, mum and I decided that the most useful menu item for Leon would be an Indian curry sauce that could be served over either meat or vegetables, allowing two menu dishes to be offered using the same sauce.

And so it came to be that Henry Dimbleby and Toph Ford, the new head of food, came to lunch at my parents’ house. Mum showed them how she makes her basic curry sauce and also two others. And we sat down to a delicious lunch. Henry and Toph left with samples of the three sauces and mum’s recipes for each one.

More recently, I accompanied Toph to the Bighams factory site where we tasted and commented on development versions of the basic curry sauce Leon had chosen to take forward, and then watched for 2 hours whilst an enormous Bratt pan of the sauce was cooked from scratch.

I was able to see how closely they had stuck to mum’s original recipe. Cardamoms and curry leaves were used whole, fresh tomato slices were added towards the end to add texture (as opposed to the tinned tomatoes added earlier on) and various spices were added at the right stages of the process. They had made a few minor tweaks, mostly to account for scaling up the recipe and ensuring a consistent and rounded flavour. But the end result really did taste like mum’s curry sauce. To my delight, I was even able to propose a (minor) change to process to better allow the garam masala to combine properly into the curry sauce.

Just a few days later, Toph confirmed that the two menu items they were offering were a chicken curry (serving the sauce over grilled chicken) and a pea and squash curry (serving the sauce with fresh peas and roasted butternut squash).

The new autumn and winter 2011 menu launches today.

We would love to hear back from those of you who try the dishes featuring mum’s curry sauce!

Put Pork On Your Fork

07 Aug 2011 11 Responses »

Aug 072011

Now and then we drive past enormous pig farms. Great expanses of mud, not a hint of greenery in sight, rows upon rows of corrugated iron pig huts. and lots and lots and lots of fat pink pigs as far as the eye can see. Not a bucolic scene!

Jimmy’s Farm

That is not what Jimmy’s Farm, which I was invited to visit as an introduction to the Put Pork On Your Fork campaign, is like at all. Unlike those barren mudscapes, Jimmy’s Farm is the very image of a rural idyll.

Jimmy Doherty came to the nation’s attention in 2002 when BBC 2 aired a series called Jimmy’s Farm, featuring the story of Jimmy setting up a new business breeding rare pigs at a farm on the outskirts of Ipswich, Essex. As he had no previous hands-on experience of farming, the audience identified with the challenges he faced. Two further series about the farm followed. I missed these, but really enjoyed the episodes I caught of Jimmy’s Food Factory, where he learned more about common supermarket products by having a go at making them himself.

Jimmy’s Farm is currently home to about 600 Essex, Saddleback and Gloucester Old Spot pigs.

He uses radial paddocks – wedge-shaped pens in a cartwheel around a central area from which one can easily move the pigs from one pen to another – and houses a small group of pigs in each one, allowing them to socialise and giving them plenty of space to snort and snuffle, wallow in the mud and munch not only on their regular deliveries of feed but also on the fresh clover and other greenery that carpets the ground.

It’s the antithesis of intensive farming.

Jimmy is a natural ambassador for the Put Pork On Your Fork campaign, which aims to encourage us Brits to eat more pork. Whilst we do love our bacon, roast pork with crackling and fat pork chops, not to mention Chinese or American style ribs, we don’t really make great use of the rest of the pig and there are many other great cuts we can use.

As Jimmy told us on the day, whilst we often remark that a dog is man’s best friend, it more commonly used to be said about the pig which is not only a sociable and intelligent animal but one that can be trained to root out truffles before providing many very fine meals indeed.

“Everything is edible except for the squeak!”

Having tried Pierre Koffmann’s signature stuffed pig trotter dish last year, not to mention fallen for deeply delicious pig cheeks, I absolutely agree!

In addition to teaching us how to make better use of pork, the campaign also invites us to show our support for British pig farmers by buying British.

After a lovely walking tour of Jimmy’s Farm, admiring the pretty paddocks of happy pigs and enjoying the sunshine (the pigs and us both), we meandered through the rest of the attractions including Jimmy’s butterfly house (he used to be an entomologist), guinea pig village, ferret enclosure, chicken safari and pretty gardens.

Central to the visitor attractions is a huge converted barn which houses a deli farm shop and a spacious restaurant, where we enjoyed a pleasant lunch.

Everything But The Squeak

The most useful part of the day, for me, was the butchery demonstration and talk by Jimmy and his butcher friend Joe Collier, from Berkhamsted.

To our surprise, the pork Joe was butchering was a deep, ruby red – more akin to the colour of beef than pale supermarket pork. Jimmy’s rare breed pigs get a lot more exercise than intensively farmed ones and he raises them for 6 months before sending them to slaughter. (Larger intensive farms dispatch their pigs much younger). Plus the breeds themselves produce great, tasty meat!

Jimmy pointed out that one of the reasons some of the rare breeds had fallen out of favour was the dark black hairs on their skin. Modern domesticated pigs have pale white hairs, hard to notice against the skin even if a few hairs happen to remain. These days, customers find the occasional black hair that is left on the skin abhorrent, even though it’s just the same as a white one!

Sadly, I didn’t think to make notes so I don’t remember all the great advice we were given by Joe, but first and foremost was to forge a strong relationship with your butcher to help you make your pork budget stretch further by recommending suitable alternative cuts of pork for your needs.

If only I had a local butcher, I’d be delighted to do so!

Most meat loving food lovers have long, long known about belly of pork, so much so that it (like lamb shanks and feather steak) is no longer as cheap a cut as it once was.

Joe also recommended roasting shoulder joints rather than the more popular and expensive leg.

Chump end is also great for slow roasting or can be chopped into cubes and skewered for the BBQ.

Sheet ribs are apparently often discarded by butchers so you should be able to get these very cheaply, or even free, if you’ve established that good relationship with your butcher that I mentioned earlier!

The same goes for flare fat – highly saturated fat found in the abdominal cavity, surrounding the kidney, liver and other organs. It’s considered the highest quality lard available and is particularly good for pastry. Pete and I have a huge jar of pig fat rendered from a pub hog roast and we use it for roasting potatoes – a great alternative to goose fat!

Here’s a short video, from Put Pork On Your Fork, of Joe and Jimmy running through the various cuts and how to use them.

Why Buy British Pork?

Why is it a big deal to buy British? I did some research on getting home and this is what I learned:

Firstly, British pig farming is in crisis, with pig farmers often making a loss for every single pig they sell, leading many farmers to give up. Why does this happen? One reason is because supermarkets have such strong buying power that they can bully producers to sell at very low prices. Farmers that don’t accept these prices will simply lose business to imports from overseas.

But how can overseas pig farmers produce pork at much lower prices?

The answer is simple, the welfare standards for their pigs and the quality of their pork are simply no match for British standards and British pork.

To give you an example, here in the UK, we have banned the use of farrowing crates. As Chris Wildman of Paganum Produce explains, “farrowing crates do not allow a sow to turn round or move much at all. Intended to protect piglets from crushing but often misused in intensive factory farming units.” Danish intensive pig farming methods (also used in other countries) enable the producers to make cheaper pork products which UK supermarkets snap up.

Whilst we don’t use farrowing crates in the UK, some producers certainly still use intensive farming practices. David Thomas of Chalk Newton tells me that the demand for “next to nothing prices forces farmers to produce the pork in as quick a time as possible to increase product output. To achieve this the farmer feeds animals very high protein feeds to get the animal to the desired weight as fast as possible. Very often these feeds also include medications including antibiotics to prevent illness. Give anything antibiotics on a regular basis (for no real reason) and you’re asking for trouble. These pigs will normally get to the desired weight in half, or less than half the time a free range “high welfare” animal. More quantity less quality.”

Rearing free range pigs outdoors (sometimes referred to as extensive, as opposed to intensive, farming) has its drawbacks. Sow aggression just before and after farrowing (giving birth) can lead to injuries of the sows themselves and also to infant mortality. The latter is also a risk when sows are not restricted in crates and can accidentally crush one or more of their off spring. Additionally, it takes longer for piglets to grow on natural feeds.

The pay off, of course, is that the pork is so much better than the insipid intensively farmed stuff.

What should you look for when buying pork?

In a supermarket, look for a Red Tractor assurance label. Whilst this doesn’t require pigs to be free range it does mean that the animal has definitely been reared in the UK (and can be traced back to the farm of origin) and to an accredited higher level of welfare (free from hunger and thirst, free from discomfort, pain, injury or disease, free from fear and distress and free to express normal behaviour), that rigorous food safety, hygiene and vermin control standards have been met, that farmers have been required to look after the British countryside, take care of wildlife habitats and avoid pollution of streams and rivers and that all staff and contractors are properly trained and competent in achieving the required standards of production. There are also regulations covering medication, vaccines and feed as well as handling of deceased animals and livestock transportation.

Of course, Red Tractor is a voluntary accreditation and one that farmers need to pay for. Many of the smallest, independent farmers do not participate in the scheme but follow the same or higher standards. Ask them about their standards before buying from them directly.

Want to go further?

Look for free range pork. The pigs will have been fed in a natural way and spent all (or most of) their life outdoors. They will not have been fed high protein feeds or given needless antibiotics (medicated only when required not as a catch all or preventative). And they will often have been reared for longer before they are considered ready.

Best of all?

Free range, rare breed pork! You’ll pay more but you’ll be repaid in better texture and flavour.

If you have a good local butcher, ask them for free range, rare breed pork. They should be able to tell you about the breed, the farm of origin and give you lots of extra advice about which cuts are suitable for which cooking techniques.

You can also buy directly from the farm.

Chris Wildman of Paganum Produce rears Oxford Sandy & Black pigs, a breed known for having a friendly and docile temperament, being hardy, and producing excellent pork & bacon. His rare breeds are free range, roaming the beautiful Yorkshire Dales by day, and are Red Tractor assured.

Chalk Newton also rear Oxford Sandy and Blacks and offer an Adopt A Pig scheme, whereby once your adopted piglet reaches 7 months of age, you’re sent a range of pork cuts.

And of course, Jimmy’s Farm also sells his fabulous free range, rare breed pork via his online shop.

I’ve made a promise to myself to be more adventurous about buying and cooking pork and I’ll be sharing some pork recipe ideas in coming weeks.

I hope you’ll join me in putting pork on your fork. And don’t forget to buy British to support our pig farmers.

image courtesy of Helen at fuss free flavours

Pete Drinks: The Great British Beer Festival

04 Aug 2011 5 Responses »

Aug 042011

This week sees the Great British Beer Festival once again hitting Earls Court in London. Being both a beer fan and Londoner, it’s something of an embarrassment that I’ve never managed to attend before, so this year I made the effort and headed down this afternoon (in a cunning attempt to avoid the worst of the crowds…)

I have some thoughts and pictures that I’ll share in a longer post in the next few days, but for those of you yet to go (you have until Saturday to get down there!) here are some of the beery highlights.

Champion Beer of Britain Winners

As often seems to be the case at beer festivals, the overall gold medal winner, Mighty Oak’s Oscar Wilde was sold out. While I’m used to it, I find it a little disappointing – it’s not like the GBBF is a small organisation, and it should have been possible to get enough stock in to last as far as half-way through the festival. It can’t have been a surprise that everyone wanted to try some!

The silver medal went to Marble Chocolate, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed before.

The bronze overall, along with the gold medal in the Bitter category, went to Salopian’s Shropshire Gold. I have to say, I found this one rather disappointing – it had all the elements there, a little sweetness, some biscuity malt, a fairly generous hop bitterness but it didn’t really balance well for me. It was ok, but no more than that, which makes me wonder just how out of touch with the CAMRA judges I am!

I explored some of the Speciality Beer category winners, with much happier results. The gold medal went to Oakleaf’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Bitter – a well hopped lager, sweet, creamy textured and oh so tasty.

Silver went to Amber’s Chocolate Orange Stout which had been recommended to me as one to try already and rather disturbingly delivers everything the name promises. It smells of chocolate and orange, and tastes of it too without going overboard. It’s a little odd, but very tasty.

And The Rest…

As well as wanting to explore the various winners, I wanted to take the opportunity to finally try various beers which have been on my ‘to drink’ list for a while. Top of that list was Thornbridge’s Jaipur IPA which is one of those beers that I’m always hearing about and somehow never found on tap. Pale and sweet, with a good punch of fresh hop aroma and a massive hop finish that leaves your tongue literally tingling. Its’ a magnificent beer that richly deserves all the awards it seems to spend it’s time winning – and a perfect way to celebrate International IPA Day.

I also had the chance to finally try some of Brodie’s Beers, one of those young London breweries that had so far eluded me. Their Amarilla was a sensational glass of hops – fresh, sweet, citrusy and simply delicious. And their Superior London Porter was, well, superior – big, bold, chocolate and coffee and a real alcoholic kick at 7.1%. The only negative was that they only have two beers at the festival and I’m even more determined to track down and try their whole range!

A final mention for Redemption’s Fellowship Porter. Despite having gone with the intention of only drinking new beers, I couldn’t resist a glass of this wonderful sweet, coffee filled porter and neither should you.

Ice Cream Wednesday: Jean-Christophe Novelli’s Summer Baked Alaska

03 Aug 2011 17 Responses »

Aug 032011

Two Wednesdays ago, Pete and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the Novelli Academy, the Cookery School run by handsome French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Located in Tea Green, a small village on the outskirts of Luton, not far from the airport, the Academy is located in a beautiful 14th century farmhouse where Novelli also lives with his family.

Novelli has teamed up with well known ice cream makers Carte d’Or and developed a set of recipes using their range.

During our session, we were shown how to make Baked Alaska, Rum & Raisin Pain Perdu and a chocolate trio (below).

We were also treated to a marvellous lunch of sea bass in a tomato sauce, cider and honey braised pork (with a coffee and cocoa gravy), boulanger potatoes and vegetable alongside. Although the pork was cooked long and slow, we watched Novelli making the other dishes before us, learning many useful tips along the way.

Novelli is an animated and enthusiastic teacher, keen to really engage with his students and share his own passion for eating well. Throughout the session we were invited to smell, taste and get involved.

Also helping during the day was Felice Tocchini, an Italian chef from Lucca, Italy. Felice owns two restaurants in Worcestershire and teaches some of the classes at the Academy.

Novelli is very focused on creating tasty food without throwing in unnecessary calories. He cuts back on saturated fats and sugar as often as possible, anywhere he can do so without compromising on flavour.

In fact, when he made his summer Baked Alaska, he used only 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 grams) of caster sugar for 6 egg whites! To our surprise, the meringue held its shape perfectly well and it worked, though I found it just a little too lacking in sweetness for me. But it completely put pay to the belief that meringue won’t work without a minimum of 50-60 grams of sugar to every egg white. I’m definitely intending to experiment to find a midway point between the austere 40 or so grams Novelli used on the day and the 250 grams he lists in the standard recipe.

I was also very happy to learn how to make spun sugar spirals and delighted when I succeeded! And as we had a little time at the end, Novelli also did an adhoc demonstration of making choux pastry, with more great tips about how to ensure the best results.

Jean-Christophe Novelli’s Summer Baked Alaska

Novelli’s Baked Alaska combines a traditional summer pudding with a simple Baked Alaska. Instead of a plain cake or bread base, the ice cream sits on a summer pudding full of fresh, delicious summer fruits.

The recipe refers to making individual individual puddings but for our demonstration, Novelli made a single larger one instead.

Serves 6

Ingredients
450g soft fruits – strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries
Splash of water
Star anise
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Approximately half a white loaf or very thin slices of Genoese sponge cake
Sprinkle of caster sugar
Carte D’Or Cherry Blossom ice cream (300g)
Caster sugar for dusting
For the meringue:
6 egg whites
Pinch of salt
250g caster sugar
½ vanilla pod

Method

The night before…

Toss the fruit and the spices, along with a splash of water, into a hot pan and let it simmer. After 3 minutes, take it off the heat and remove the star anise before you cover up your purée and let the flavours infuse.

Cut the crusts off the bread and lightly toast the slices. Or if you’re using sponge cake, cut it very thinly and toast it in a dry hot pan.
Drizzle a bit of fruit puree into the bottom of 6 dariole moulds and line them with the toasted bread (or sponge). Remember to keep some slices back for the tops.

Spoon in the rest of the fruit purée mixture and top with a toasted slice, then press it all down firmly. Balance a heavy plate on top of the puddings and leave them overnight in your fridge.

On the day…

Place six scoops of Carte D’Or Cherry Blossom ice cream in the fridge for 3 hours prior to serving.
Now for the meringue. Add a pinch of salt to your egg whites and roughly whisk, then add 2-3 teaspoons of caster sugar, along with the vanilla seeds and start whisking again until the mixture is stiff.

Sprinkle in the remaining sugar and spoon all of the mixture into a piping bag.

Turn out the puddings onto a heatproof plate and balance a scoop of Carte D’Or ice cream on the top of each one.

Quickly pipe the meringue over the ice cream and cover the puddings completely.
(The dessert can be put aside in the fridge or freezer at this stage, and then finished just before serving.)

Give them a dusting with caster sugar and flash them under a hot grill until the meringue is golden. Speed is of the essence.

Serve immediately and tuck in at once, before the ice cream melts!

You can find more of Novelli’s ice cream recipes at the Carte d’Or website.

Kavey Eats attended the Novelli Academy as guests of Carte d’Or and Jean-Christophe Novelli.
Many thanks to Neil at GolinHarris.
Additional images provided by GolinHarris.

Older Entries

A Korean Feast at Kimchee Restaurant

British Pie Week 5 – 11 March

All Star Chilli Con Carne

Happy Diwali!

Abergavenny Food Festival 2011

Touring By Twitter: A Visit To Bath

Mamta’s Kitchen Curry Sauce on Leon Restaurant Menu!

Put Pork On Your Fork

Pete Drinks: The Great British Beer Festival

Champion Beer of Britain Winners

And The Rest…

Ice Cream Wednesday: Jean-Christophe Novelli’s Summer Baked Alaska

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