The last person to visit London?

I know, it’s hard to believe that I hit the ripe old age of 26 before adorning my finest tourist getup and boarding the shuttle to London. My reasons for not having visited our capital city prior to last week were fairly unremarkable. Being the opportunist that I am, I tend to opt for more exotic climates, where my disposition generally becomes a little sunnier. The prospect of visiting a city where I could understand the native tongue was an alien one, but having returned with some of my preconceptions being both met and shattered in the same weekend, it was certainly time for me to give London a true and honest first hand evaluation.

Upon arrival, and after negotiating the Stansted Express, we piled into a taxi, where I was given an impromptu tour of the streets of London. As we made our way towards Mayfair, I was astounded by just how busy it was. Professional looking people charged through the streets, cappuccino in hand, ripe for any sort of networking opportunity. I however was more than ready to find my hotel, and more importantly seek out some lunch.

Our hotel, The Millennium Mayfair exceeded all expectations. Generally, hearing the words ‘free upgrade’ can only have positive connotations. In relation to our beautiful room this was certainly the case. A quick brush and spruce up later we hit the streets of London in search of some good honest lunch time fare. With the lack of Lebanese cuisine in Edinburgh, I decided this would be a trip of firsts, resulting in me opting for a selection of delicious mezze at the wonderful Messina. We opted to share stuffed vine leaves, bread and hummus and pitta breads stuffed with minced lamb. It was a delicious start to our trip.

Stuffed vine leaves

Lamb pittas

Known for our meandering along the streets of Edinburgh, we applied the same principles to London, walking all the way from Mayfair to Covent Garden for our evening meal at Carluccio's Italian restaurant. We shared a typical antipasto, with Parma ham, grilled vegetables and mozzarella, which didn’t disappoint. I followed with spaghetti and clams, whilst Rob opted for the risotto with chicken and asparagus. I loved my pasta dish, which was subtly flavoured with garlic and chilli. The risotto however was overloaded with cheese, detracting from the flavour of the current seasons asparagus. We ended the evening with a selection of homemade ice creams, which were authentic and beautifully flavoured, accompanied by a glass of Vin Santo and homemade biscotti. Overall the experience was good, and for £65, I was impressed in terms of value for money, considering we were in a city renowned for its expense.

Antipasto at Carluccio's

Risotto at Carluccio's

Spaghetti with clams

Not content with all we had just eaten, we could not avoid the entrancing window at Paul's Patisserie. The window was a veritable mix of every pastry imaginable, and with purse in hand, poised to make my selection, I realised that my status as a greedy guts had been firmly rooted. Consumed later on that evening, I would go as far as to say that it was the best cake I have ever eaten. This prompted a return the following day for a fresh baguette stuffed with ham, olives, cheese and salad. Again the freshness and quality were second to none, and I left one happy customer.

Paul's Patisserie window

Baguette from Paul's Patisserie

I had merely uttered the words, “London isn’t quite as expensive as I thought”, when we stumbled across the super trendy nightspot Sketch, where a French martini, albeit the best one I have ever drank, was just shy of £12. Needless to say my purse wasn’t quite heavy enough to last the pace, so I took my jealous self off to a more modest watering hole.

The high standard of the food in London set the tone for everything else, and as a girl who loves culture, interiors, fashion and of course food, I found myself in a city that offered this in abundance. My attachment to Edinburgh is so strong that I failed to see the appeal of living in the hustle and bustle of our capital city, however, I could see why so many people want to make it happen in ‘the big smoke’. I enjoyed London, and being able to finally say I have been there is a welcome alternative to the usual look of disbelief from seasoned London goers, who find it difficult to understand why I haven’t penetrated their bubble. I wait, in anticipation of a return to the red part of our united flag. 

Crail calling

With the sun shining, the wind in my hair and a grumbling tummy, I embarked upon my trip to Crail last Sunday. As a new visitor to Crail, I was entirely objective as to what I might find. I pictured a small seaside town ripe with neighbourly camaraderie, the sort of place where every corner you turn there are huddles of locals catching up on the recent happenings. Upon my arrival this was confirmed, but what I didn’t expect was a village that exuded such beauty. A village where a great deal of effort has been made to keep things as traditional as possible, and in so many ways, the villagers have triumphed.

In an attempt to add yet another notch to the already booming belt, local guesthouse and tearoom owner Graham Anderson is championing the Crail Food Festival. Taking place from the 17^th June – 19^th June 2011, the festival has been organised in order to raise awareness of the melting pot of local culinary offerings available in and around the Fife coastal area. Graham, owner of The Honeypot, has been relentless in his campaign to get local food producers involved. After chatting to him on Sunday, some of his passion had clearly rubbed off on me, as I wandered around the village, taking in the local bounty.

Excited by the prospect of the festival itself, I was so pleased to hear that there will be a launch night for the festival on the 23^rd of April. This will be an opportunity for locals and producers alike to meet over a drink and some nibbles to discuss the outline of the festival, whilst encouraging those from near and far to make the most of the delicious local produce on their doorstep.

The event itself promises something for everyone. With stalls exhibiting locally grown products, tasting stands, children’s entertainment and the grand finale of fresh lobster on the harbour, Crail Food Festival is a guaranteed date for the diary. So if like me, you have never ventured much past Elie, you are missing out. This village has such a wealth to offer, that I am already counting down the days to my next visit.

This year's must have.....the aubergine!

Being generally attracted to all things of the purple variety has led to my adoration of the aubergine. However, rather than being able to recount my numerous dalliances with this versatile fruit to one and all, I have always felt in the minority with my love for this purple gem. My nearest and dearest all seem to have had an unpleasant encounter with the eggplant at some point in their lives, ranging from trying a piece raw to having delved into the pickled variety.

Considering the versatility of the aubergine, and how widely used it is across a range of cuisines, I have always found its unpopularity a little hard to bear. By masking it using a number of guises, I feel I have helped to create a small cohort who are now much more 'melanzane' friendly. I converted Rob through making a tomato based sauce, slow cooked and laced with aubergine. My concept of trickery seemed to work, and before I could utter the words, 'Yes it's an aubergine', I heard winning sounds of delighted taste buds. Hurrah, I had successfully reeled in my first convert, and was armed with more recipes, ready to entrance the rest. This took on the form of luring friends with slices of grilled aubergine, served alongside a range of antipasti. Had it not been containing a mixture of aubergine infused wonders, my jaw would have hit the floor when they asked for more.

Based on my recent research, I predict big things this year for the aubergine. Should anyone have any further ideas on how to appropriately treat my purple friend, all suggestions are welcome.

Demo and Dine

My obsession with food seems to know no bounds. In fact, if such a thing exists, I am in essence a bit of a back seat cook. I can never let anyone just be, always looking over their shoulder and making a nuisance of myself. There was no room for this sort of behaviour at a recent demo and dine session I attended at Cookingmania in Stockbridge, where I was concentrating so intently on not missing anything, that my usual home cook urges were laid to rest for the night.

We were welcomed into the plush surroundings with a lovely glass of Prosecco, and as I sat at the sturdy wooden demonstration bench, I couldn't help but admire the beautiful glossy red kitchen. As our chef for the evening, Graziella, introduced herself and talked about her wonderful culinary background, I was firmly put in my place. This was not someone I could poke with a wooden spoon, urging them to check their seasoning.




We were treated to the insider scoop on how to make the perfect chicken curry. Starting off with a demonstration of knife skills, we were guided through, step by step, on how to perfectly spice the dish, how to keep the chicken moist, and most importantly, those bewildering secrets on how to keep washing up to a minimum!

To accompany our chicken curry we made a glorious raita, which frankly if nobody had been watching, I would have devoured all on its own. This traditional Indian dip was served alongside a generous helping of the chicken curry and rice. The dish was as promised, delicious. With fluffy white rice, succulent, moist chicken and the perfect balance of spices, this was a truly excellent curry, accompanied by a wonderful experience.

Cookingmania offer a range of cookery courses, from demo and dine to a Sunday baking club and men only evenings. You can find all of this and more on their website http://www.cookingmania.co.uk/

What, no microwave?

These were the words that literally flew out of my mouth upon starting my new job and discovering that there are no microwaves. To put this into perspective, I am generally the type of person who is happy to go with the flow. I'm not bound by the laws of habitude, or plagued by the necessity of routine. However there is one exception, and that is my over reliance on the work microwave. I love a hot lunch, and in a bid not to give fifty percent of my salary to Marks and Spencer, I regularly make huge pots of soup to suppress my hunger, whilst saving me a few pounds in the process. So the news that this lunch time habit would be no longer, has had me re-evaluating my current tried and tested regime.

To further complicate matters, I'm not a huge fan of the classic sandwich. This dislike isn't rooted in childhood memories of boring ham sandwiches, but rather the opposite. Being brought up on an Italian diet, my lunchbox as a child was filled with cheese, parma ham and olives. These treats now go hand in hand with a glass of wine, which I'm pretty sure will be frowned upon in the staff room.

I have therefore been looking for creative ways to make cold lunches interesting. Now I'm sure that many a foodie will frown upon my lack of initial inspiration on this front, but as an advocate of the hot lunch, it was definitely something that needed thinking about. So as far as getting over the lack of facilities, I'm still working on that, but in terms of embracing a new way of midday dining, my mouth seems to be permanently watering. So far this week, I have indulged in a grilled aubergine and quinoa salad, bulgar wheat with coriander, chilli and beef and a slightly less inventive tuna salad.

If you have any suggestions for how to make my cold lunches more interesting, I'd love to hear them. And who knows, with your inspiration I may forever become a cold lunch convert.

Progress?

I have been very naughty. I have not been updating my blog, and to be quite honest my excuses are fairly lame. Although this particular post should really have been completed at least a week ago, I thought rather than ignore it, I would just go ahead and publish it now.

My last post outlined a challenge I had set myself to only eat things I myself could realistically make. As well as being a food experiment, it doubled up as a financial one, as I didn't quite anticipate the positive effects it would have on my bank balance.

Initially, I was really excited by the challenge. Convenience went out the window, and I had to think much more carefully about what I was going to eat, and how long it was going to take to prepare. My purse certainly felt heavier in a week where grabbing a coffee and sandwich on the go suddenly became forbidden. If this experiment showed me anything, it is that I spend a worrying amount of money on coffee!

However, what I did find difficult was socialising. Sitting drinking an ice old cold glass of water, whilst everyone else is having tea was not my idea of fun. But since I can make tea, it was off the cards whilst I made progress towards drinking those recommended eight glasses a day of the clear stuff.

All in all, I enjoyed this challenge. On reflection I didn't save time, but I did save money. I had also engineered this to take place on a week where I wasn't working. I therefore intend to set myself this challenge again, on a week where I have to juggle work and sacrifice convenience. I wonder how I will feel about things then? Watch this space....

Things to make and do

Although it pains me to admit it, I have fallen foul of the January cliché. I have joined a gym, vowed to lose the festive bulge, and have become rather neurotic concerning my Wii fit stats. However, if the previous 26 years have taught me anything, this is a fad. A fad that plagues me throughout the year, namely in January after the Christmas and New Year splurge, in summer when  the thought of exposing any skin gives me the fear, and around November time, when I seem to think its acceptable to lose weight only so I can feel better about putting it back on again over Christmas. I am forever destined to fail.

In an attempt to actually succeed at something other than drinking copious amounts of coffee, I have set myself another challenge, where I am hoping to come through the other side victorious. My aptly titled 'Things to make and do' challenge is a minor foodie experiment, where I am not allowing myself to eat anything that I havent made myself for one whole week. To ensure there is absolutely no cheating, (I promise), here are the rules I will be following:

1) If I can make it I can't buy it. No more sandwiches from the Broughton Street Deli, no more soya lattes from Artisan Roast. I will have to make my own bread, and brew my own coffee.

2) My morning smoothie courtesy of Innocent will have to either be home made or replaced with an alternative breakfast, of course made by my own fair hands.

3) A trusty user of all forms of ready made stock, this will also be off the cards this week, and will be replaced with homemade alternatives.

In a bid not to fall at the first hurdle, I roasted a chicken for dinner on Sunday. This trusty bird has so far provided us with a lovely roast chicken dinner, a homemade chicken curry, a chicken salad and two litres of stock. Tomorrow the last of it will be put to good use in chicken fried rice, yummy! Taking this approach has so far made the challenge a little easier. The hard part is going to come tomorrow, when I'm out and about and can't just pick up a coffee to perk me up, or grab a cereal bar when I get a little peckish. Fingers crossed I don't fall off the wagon. To be honest, I'm worried I do it without even noticing. That would add yet another cliché fail to my list!