Posts tagged ‘food’

Jul 7

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Le Dîner – Coin Caché

Finding a good restaurant when you have no reservation is almost always a matter of luck. All too often, the temptation of every tourist is to dine at one of the very visible, very central tourist-based restaurants of a town, rather than risk wandering off into the great unknown and finding yourself walking, endlessly for hours until a restaurant is eventually found. However I learnt my lesson the hard way in Madrid when, one spring evening, clueless where to eat and with time ticking on, my family and I opted for one of the many restaurants which line the Plaza Mayor, Madrid’s main square. And my god, some two years after the event, that meal remains the worst of my existence – lamb so chargrilled that it was all bones and ashes, fish so hopelessly dry that it bore more resemblance to a sun-dried lizard corpse which had been rotting in the desert heat for 5 months. And the prices! Now they were worthy of one if not two Michelin stars just on their own, running well into three figures for eating brick dust.

On the approach to the squares behind the vast Papal Palace…

So that lesson learnt (and my tip to any Madrid visitor would be to avoid all of the Plaza Mayor restaurants at any cost!) I ensured that on our second night in Avignon, we walked further afield than the main Place de l’Horloge where similar tourist honey-pots seemed to be lurking. We walked for some time, finding that, since it was Sunday, many a guide-book recommended restaurant was closed, and just as we were starting to give into the realisation that it would be tourist-fodder or no-fodder, we stumbled upon the most magical square in Avignon – the Place des Chataignes.

Set against the backdrop of St Pierre’s gothic church, around the corner from the huge natural rock cliffs into which the Papal Palace is built, under the cosy shelter of huge plane trees and surrounded by little shuttered French houses and restaurants straight out of the picture-books, this square was a gem to behold, and had to be the discovery of the trip thus far. And yes, while the 3 or 4 restaurants filling the square no doubt catered for tourists, their superior quality was obvious – with one rather chic affair in particular catching our eye and beckoning us closer: Coin Caché.

Coin Caché offers something of a contemporary twist on French cuisine, serving up innovative treats such as chocolate hamburgers for dessert and miniature cauliflower cakes to start. It benefited from a stunning setting right in the centre of the square, and boasted its own resident fluff-ball of a cat – “Pom-Pom” – who kept us entertained with her fussy demands as to why pickings from our dinner were unfit for her sophisticated taste-buds.

Our own sophisticated taste buds on the other hand were kept aptly satisfied by the meal that was served up to our romantic candlelit table. I started with a melt in the mouth goat’s cheese and courgette bake, which was topped by salty cheese a crumble which was sweet like honeycomb. This was all balanced well with a side salad of sundried and fresh sweet baby tomatoes, flaked parmesan and croutons. Dominik, meanwhile, had that cauliflower cake of which I spoke – a creamy light affair, akin to a soufflé and deliciously caramalised on top.

Mains followed suit – for me, a rather sensational duck, perfectly cooked and tender, in a red wine reduction and served on a bed of rather unctuous pan friend gnocci and french beans. For Dominik, the winner of the evening had to be a soft flakey cod loin resting on a creamy rich pea and mint risotto. Simple fare, but delicately cooked. A little too delicate you might say for the accompanying 2000 vintage Chateauneuf du pape to which we treated ourselves that night in celebration of our 4th anniversary… But then as we were in the papal city, we could hardly leave town without a taste of the red stuff. It goes without saying that the wine was sensational – almost knockout in both alcoholic content and rich velvety flavours.

For dessert we were roundly finished off with a double dose of “chocolate hamburgers” which basically consisted of a “bap” made from a soft brioche like biscuit, with a “burger” of dense chocolate mousse and a generous helping of salted caramel “relish”. ‘Twas heavenly. But one would have done four times over – each coping with this overload of chocolate and caramel after a meal not lacking in generosity of portions, creams and cheeses was a struggle, but one which frankly I wouldn’t mind engaging again.

Coin Caché has no website, but their number is +33 490 820 731. A must on any visit to Avignon.

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day One – Journey South (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day Two – Le Pont et Les Papes (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon – A room with a view (daily-norm.com)

Jun 17

Going Khoo-Khoo for la Gastronomie Française

In a few days time I am leaving the windswept wet isles of Great Britain behind me in the woosh of a high-speed train all the way from London to Avignon in the South of France. I am practically delirious with anticipation, already envisaging my stripy blue and white t-shirt set amongst the rolling Provence countryside with a little black beret to match; spending my long sweaty journeys on the tube with teach-yourself-French flowing firmly into my ears; playing old French favourites Piaf and Trénet around my home; and now, super-indulging in la bonne vie of ultimate gastronomic excellence: French cuisine.

I don’t know all that much about French cuisine, being firmly inducted as I am into the Spanish school of cookery, but I do have one exeedingly pleasing French cookbook on my book shelves, and even that one I bought more for the fine pictures of Paris than through any hope of mastering French gastronomy. However, as technique goes, Rachel Khoo‘s Little Paris Kitchen certainly makes things less intimidating, and opening the book up for the first time in months, I set about creating a weekend fully loaded with French delights.

You’ll have to excuse what follows as being something more of a pictorial indulgence than an ingredient-by-ingredient recipe rehash. While I will try to stay faithful to Khoo’s recipes where I can (and of course reminding Daily Norm readers that the recipes are entirely her copyright, and of course urging you to buy her picture-perfect book ;-)), or otherwise link up to them where I can find them already published online, this post is really an unapologetic celebration of food, of the beauty of ingredients, of fresh produce, of flavour combinations and of the results that can be achieved through a toil in the kitchen.

So first up was a simple Gratin au poisson fumé, a rather simple little light lunch to make, once you master the creamy rich béchamel sauce. It’s also a great way to use up odds and ends from your fridge. For the béchamel, you need to melt 30g of butter in a large pan over a medium heat, adding 30g of plain flower and beating hard until it becomes a smooth paste. Take off the heat, leaving to cool for a couple of minutes, before gradually whisking in 500ml of milk. Place back on a medium heat, add 1/4 peeled onion, a clove and a bay leaf and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Finish by removing the onion, clove and bay leaf and seasoning with a little salt, white pepper (if poss) and a pinch of nutmeg. Then it’s just a case of mixing this with around 750g of cooked, sliced baby potatoes, 200g of smoked haddock or other smoked fish, a handful of chopped parsely and sprinkling a handful of comté or gruyere on top and then popping into the oven or 200 mins at 180C. Serve with a fresh salad to cut through that creamy, cheesy sauce. I sprinkled my bake with a little pimento (you can take the boy out of Spain, but not Spain out of the boy…).

An alternative use of the béchamel is to mix it with 300g of cooked macaroni, and placing that in the oven with a load of cheese sprinkled on top – it makes an awesome macaroni cheese which easily beats the supermarket favourites thanks to Khoo’s welcome addition of aromatic flavourings in the sauce.

My macaroni

Onto the plat principal, which in anticipation of our voyage south just had to be a fresh summery fish dish. I wanted to make Khoo’s Trout en papillote dish, but failing to find any trout stocked in my local fishmongers, settled on a freshwater char, which I gather is a close cousin of Monsieur Le Truite. I did however opt for the en papillote technique, the masterful and easy method of cooking fish efficiently, ensuring that the moisture and flavour is all locked in and doesn’t escape the dark cavernous entrails of an oven.

My Char and her fellow ingredients pre-papillotte

My Char and her fellow ingredients pre-papillote

Basically, all you need to do is take one trout per person (or one large char did it for the two of us), and rub its insides with a marinade of the grated zest of one lemon, salt, pepper and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Then fill the fish’s belly with finely chopped fennel, and rest slices of almost cooked baby potatoes alongside the fish (sufficient for the number of people the fish will serve). Then that’s it – lie the fish & co. on a large piece of baking paper and seal closed ensuring that those juices can’t get out – and if you’re wondering how this should be done, check out Rachel Khoo demonstrating herself! I served the fish with a good dollop of thick creamy crème fraîche and a little salad by way of pretence that I am in fact very healthy (and pigs will fly etc etc). The fish was unctuous, tasty, moist and so beautiful to look at – well before it was cooked anyway.

Pre-papillote

All wrapped and ready to go

The less beautiful but delicious finished dish

Finally, les desserts, and I went for two French classics which, while a little technical, are made pleasingly approachable in Khoo’s book. The first was Îles flottantes (floating islands), which I can very handily give you a link to to save me trying to unsuccessfully summarise what are three fairly complex processes to make this well-worth-the-effort delicious dessert. I first had some floating islands – unctuous soft meringue floating in a creamy vanilla custard soup – at La Bofinger in the Marais in Paris. After making may way through an indulgent multi-tiered mountain of oysters and seafood, this seemed easily the most decadent way to close a French meal, and now having made it myself, I am delighted to have so easily mastered what is surely one of life’s most decadent of desserts. I particularly love Khoo’s almond praline touch – sprinkled on top this gives the subtle eggyness of the meringue extra sugar and a much needed crunch.

For dessert number two (made the following day I might add – we’re not that greedy), I decided to indulge cataclysmically, with a creamy, ambrosial champagne based dessert, perfect to accompany the glasses of champagne which were already bubbling away in the hands of my partner and I by way of celebration of our fourth anniversary. Rachel Khoo’s ultimately delicious Sabayon de Champagne avec fraises just had to be the winner of the weekend. It was quite simple to make, and way too simple to eat – we finished off this exquisite elixir in mere seconds, but it was worth those few mouthfulls of pleasure.

Anniversary champagne

To create this delight, simply whisk 4 egg yolks with 25g of sugar over a bain marie (heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water) until the mixture is thick and pale yellow in colour. Then add 100ml of champagne and whisk until the sabayon is very thick and foamy – this takes around 5-10 minutes, and you know when it’s done when you draw a shape in the mix and it stays put. Then simply pour into bowls and serve with stawberries. Oooo la la what a summer’s delight!

Vive le France! We’re coming to get you!

For more details of Rachel Khoo’s cuisine check out her BBC series page.

‘The Little Paris Kitchen’: Rachel Khoo puts a fresh spin on classic French fare (o.canada.com)
https://daily-norm.com/2012/04/12/madeleine-melody/
Salmon en papillote (feedthepiglet.wordpress.com)

Jun 2

5 Comments

Weekend Review – Candy floss and tutus

Sometimes when a weekend is so bounteous in treats, both planned and unplanned, it becomes a chore to try and sift through the experiences and feature one or two on my blog. And since the alternative – which is to write about none of them – does not sit well with the spirit of blogging, nor indeed with what is, after all, meant to be an epnoymously daily blog (although admittedly I’m not currently doing all that well on that front…) I thought I’d just tell you about the whole darn lot!

So, on Friday afternoon, as the clock hand clicked past 5 and I started to feel the rush of weekend relief fill my worked-out body, I rushed home to start the weekend. For me this meant three things: First the completion of my new painting, “Composition I”, an entirely new direction of painted expression (which I’ll try to post up on the blog in a few days time) with which I have discovered gouache paint for the first time. It’s a work inspired partly by the Choucair exhibition I attended last weekend and partly by a typical luncheon by the sea in Marbella, with squid, and patatas – the perfect weekend on any view.

But back to Blighty, and with paint brushes put aside and a wooden spoon picked up in their place, I commenced cooking up a risotto feast – the perfect creamy end of week pleasure, and a good one for using up odds and ends of food after a week’s exhaustion of supplies. In this case it was half a packet of palma ham, some rather old chorizo, a few tomatoes, half a bulb of fennel and a little fresh mint which made it into my rather indulgent left-overs risotto. And what a treat to eat it al fresco too, on our warm London balcony, watching commuters aplenty passing by, the majority with a bounce in their step, overjoyed as we were that the weekend had come at last.

My “odds and ends” risotto

Dining al fresco…

But as ever the al fresco air inspired us to go out into the open air in search of dessert, and a walk across the vast expanse of Clapham Common and back towards Northcote Road in the Clapham Junction area brought us to a new entrant on the restaurant-lined street. In place of what had once been a rather chic Austrian eatery is now a cute little Spanish restaurant AND sherry bar, Rosita. Unsurprisingly we headed straight for said sherry bar in search of our dessert. The fact that we then ended up with two glasses of wine and a few savoury tapas dishes was perhaps inevitable, but dessert did eventually follow, in the form of deep friend sweet potato cakes in a honey syrup. Delicious.

Rosita’s sherry bar

Now too fat to move, we bemoaned our over indulgence and returned home, exhausted, to bed.

May 9

9 Comments

Marbella in May: a photography experiment (ii) – Cappuccino Cocktails

You join me on the second post sharing my photos from a little weekend’s experimenting with my new Sony Cybershot DSC-HX20V camera in Marbella, Southern Spain. By lunchtime on day one of our stay, I was already at ease operating this simple to use camera, and taking full advantage of its excellent 20x optical zoom facilities.

Today’s photos see me catching the mellow halcyonic lunchtime atmosphere in the sun drenched pine tree sheltered garden patio of my favourite of all cafe-bars, Cappuccino Grand Cafe Marbella, which is situated in the beach side grounds of the plush Gran Melia Don Pepe hotel.

Sitting in the sunshine sipping upon a cool glass of Albariño wine and indulging in that always satisfying past time of people watching, I became captivated by the vividly colourful cocktails, green bottles and fruity rose wines being carried around by the crisp model-like waiters. With a long zoom at my disposal, I was able to capture the kaleidoscope of colourful thirst-quenchers, their jem like glow augmented when shimmering against the potent midday Marbellan sun.

I love the ability of the camera to focus out the surrounding diners, concentrating on the vivid colours and the clarity of light. And of course I have to thank Cappuccino for providing the most chic of all surroundings as inspiration for these simply satisfying images.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Mallorca (Part I) – Day 1: Banoffee bienvenido back to the good life (daily-norm.com)
Norms at Cappuccino Pollença (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part IX) – Day 5: Picture-Perfect Pollença (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part X) – Photography Focus 3: Favourite Shots (daily-norm.com)

Apr 9

4 Comments

Mallorca (Part VI) – Food Focus 2: Simply Fosh

Ranked a cool number 4 of Palma’s best restaurants on TripAdvisor, as rated by the discerning food-loving public themselves (Forn de Sant Joan, I should have said the other day, is number 5, and deservingly so), Simply Fosh is the eponymous creation of chef, Marc Fosh. Housed in the cool, minimalist surroundings of the chic Hotel and converted 17th century Convent de la Missio, and bedecked with moody artwork showing close ups of Mallorcan salt on stark black backgrounds, as well as a cascading wall of water and, at least in the summer, an open-air courtyard, Simply Fosh is a restaurant which sets out to impress.

Whether or not the restaurant name is meant to imply that the restaurant emulates the heart of its chef, pure and simple (it’s one of a chain of 4 restaurants, the remainder of which are perhaps less “Foshy”) or whether its objective is pure simplicity is unclear, but one thing is certain: asides from the minimalist surroundings of the restaurant, the food, impressive in complex flavours and a finely finessed presentation, is far from simple.

We were delighted with this meal which, from beginning to end was accompanied by smooth, efficient service, and which provided a selection of stimulating dishes which, while not always scintillatingly innovative in flavour excitement, certainly pleased with a consistently high standard of ingredients and an excellent presentation.

Once settled with a bottle of ice-cold Albariño which the attentive waitress helped us choose, patiently giving us a number of choices to try (I wish I had made a note of the wine – it had an exquisite bouquet) we were first tantilised by an amuse bouche of celery soup, served with a taster of cod with and small cube of lime and vodka jelly and some almond dust for texture. The dust worked like a typical Spanish “picada” to granulate this otherwise velvety soup and work against the cool lime zing. I wasn’t getting the vodka flavour though which, to be fair, was probably a good thing.

Celery soup amuse bouche

Next up we opted for two chilled soups. My partner had the special of the day, which was an exciting yellow gazpacho, served with what appeared to be a dam of super-fresh, almost undercooked langostines, a bank of fluffy cous-cous, and a sweet thai and mango salad. The gazpacho was amazing – my partner even controversially declared it to be better than the authentic gazpacho we had devoured so enthusiastically in Cordoba in 2010, and henceforth declared to be the best in all of Spain. While the yellow gazpacho has now presented itself a keen contender for that crown, I was less impressed with the white version, a chilled Ajo Blanco with Soller prawn & aubergine ravioli and marinated pears. The flavours of the cold garlic weren’t shining through as they should (perhaps catering for the lesser garlic-tolerance of Mallorca’s predominantly English/German clientele?) and the presentation, while initially pretty, became something of a drowned unsightly swamp when the soup was poured over the ravioli, which promptly fell apart and descended into a mush. Still, the flavours weren’t bad, and I completed the dish with moderate relish.

Yellow gazpacho

Up next were the mains. My partner struck gold again with wild sea bream with parsley, licorice and parmentier of anchovies – the flavours were beautiful balanced, and the various complex sauces jovially presented in an almost polka-dot formation. My choice, a corn-fed chicken breast with celariac, chestnuts and cranberries, was very well cooked and also beautifully presented, but I think, on reflection, I made a bad choice, because the mixture of chestnuts and cranberries was just too christmassy to be fully enjoyable on what I was at least pretending was a warm summer’s evening, while in the meantime, I found the celeriac sauce a little too cloying.

Sea bream

The Chicken

But with dessert, an uninterrupted sugar binge of dynamically indulgent proportions was to follow, with my chocolate “cremoso”, a rich chocolate mousse perfectly balanced alongside marinated pears, a moorish walnut ice cream and light yoghurt mousse, while a coriander reduction made for a very innovative twist. Meanwhile my Partner had equal success with a dessert of almond cream on a sandy bed of spiced hazelnut, littered with a pieces of orange and caramel which resembled seaweed and coral washed upon the hazelnut beach by a current of bergamot flavourings.

Chocolate “cremoso”

Almond cream

And with that gastronomic manifestation of the mediterranean coast, full of its Moorish flavours and citrus undertones, we left the restaurant with a satisfying flavour of Spain lingering on our tongues, and the pleasant intoxication of that chilled Albariño embracing our souls and tugging our eye-lids towards sleep. Another day, another amazing Mallorcan meal, and still two more days to go. La Dolce Vita.

Simply Fosh is on the Carrer de la Missio, in central Palma, close to the Plaça de España. You can call 971720113 or reserve online.

Mallorca (Part I) – Day 1: Banoffee bienvenido back to the good life (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part II) – Photography Focus 1: Semana Santa (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part III) – Day 2: Port d’Andratx and Es Baluard (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part IV) – Food Focus 1: Forn de Sant Joan (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part V) – Day 3: Moorish Mallorca and the Sóller Ferrocarril (daily-norm.com)

Apr 7

6 Comments

Mallorca (Part IV) – Food Focus 1: Forn de Sant Joan

We were spoilt for choice when it came to Mallorca eateries, and unlike so many European cities, whose central arteries are clogged with tourist-trap restaurants whose superior central locations and extravagant prices are seldom equalled by quality food, it at least appeared as though the majority of Mallorcan restaurants were popular with both locals and tourists alike, attracting both factions with good food and reasonable prices. Frankly, while I would have been happy to dine in Cappuccino Grand Café day and night, I thought it only reasonable that I try to diversify, for the sake of gastronomic exploration.

My first choice therefore, on the back of excellent tripadvisor reviews, was Forn de Sant Joan in the c/Sant Joan (bang in the centre, close to the Passeig de Born). Feeling slightly sceptical having had a look at the restaurant’s website and seen that they have an entire tab devoted to their celebrity clientele (thus screaming tacky – although to be fair, we were sat next to the Polish superstar actor Piotr Adamczyk) we could not deny the sheer popularity of the place which more or less overflowed from its rather elegant reception area. Guided into the restaurant by a very welcoming front of house, the place seemed to go on for ever – I think we were sat at least two floors up, although to be honest I got a little lost on the way in and was far too merry on the way out to notice. Nevertheless the restaurant was not uncomfortably big – rather the old building featured a series of small cosy rooms, full of quirky furnishings and bright art works.

We were immediately struck by brilliantly efficient service, which lasted throughout the night. Our waiters, like so many Mallorcans, spoke perfect English (as well as German, it seemed, which comes in even more useful in Mallorca than English), made suggestions, never let our glasses go dry and, most importantly of all, gave us a free dessert to sample, in addition to the two we had already ordered.

But let’s not jump the gun. Before we got to dessert, first there was the small matter of some savoury samplings.

Forn de Sant Joan has a large menu, with a whole range of innovative tapas up for grabs before you even get onto the starters. Wanting to sample both, we went for a tapas of mini cornets filled of a cerviche of sea bass and langoustines with coconut foam, and a starter thai salad with mango, papaya, coriander and grilled prawns. The cerviche was incredible. Served with cones stood up on a mini beach of pebbles, one bite in and the cornet exploded like a tidal wave of sensational flavour running over the tongue – utterly fresh, zinging with citrus acidity, but still allowing the perfumed subtleties of the fish to shine through. Less enticing was the thai salad which, despite being hand-tossed for me at the table by a waiter “so that the dressing is mixed properly” (I’m not overly sure why they didn’t just mix the dressing properly in the first place), was fairly ordinary, rather lacking in the much promised tropical fruits, and including bog standard little prawns the likes of which sit happier in your average supermarket prawn cocktail, and certainly showing no signs of having been grilled.

Cerviche of sea bass

Thai salad

Onto the mains – for me a grilled bream with mashed potatoes, lobster cream sauce and herring caviar. While a little light on the caviar for the price, the fish was undoubtedly delicious – the lobster cream sauce rich and flavoursome, and the potato devilishly creamy. My partner had a grilled fillet steak with grilled teriyaki vegetables and potatoes au gratin (I neglected to take a photo, sorry!). I’m not necessarily convinced that the gratin and the teriyaki married naturally together, but on their own, the components were delicious.

Sea Bream in a lobster sauce

The real stars of the show were those desserts however. We were spoilt for choice, and walking away from the restaurant, I remained tempted to go back in and order one of each of the desserts on offer, such was the temptation engendered by their description in the menu. Luckily, thanks to the generosity of the waiter, we were able to sample a taster of allegedly the most popular dessert of the restaurant, and something of a signature dish – strawberries filled with creme brulée (“baccio di dama”). This bite-sized dessert was a nice idea, but the creme brulée was too subtle in flavour to stand up against the bold natural flavour of the strawberry. However, the desserts we did chose were much more successful – for me “Chocolate looks to Asia” – a moorish grainy chocolate mousse with toffee, lemon grass cream and ginger crumble was a harmony of spice and chocolate which had me secretly transported on a mental magic-carpet ride to some far off spice market, munching upon sumptuous dark chocolate as I went. For my partner, a semifreddo of passion fruit with a praline and chocolate ganache made for another finely balanced, light and elegant combination.

Baccio di dama

Chocolate looks to Asia

Semifreddo of passion fruit

So while the food wasn’t always perfect, there is no denying the excellent service and great choice of food on Forn’s menu – looking around the room, some of the other tapas dishes on offer looked really quite exciting. And as far as celebrities go, we had a Polish one bang next door to us. So in that respect, the Forn de Sant Joan really were true to their word.

Details of the Forn de Sant Joan can be found on their website, and reservations made online.

La Seu by night

Mallorca (Part I) – Day 1: Banoffee bienvenido back to the good life (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part II) – Photography Focus 1: Semana Santa (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca (Part III) – Day 2: Port d’Andratx and Es Baluard (daily-norm.com)
Valencia (ix) – Food Focus 2: Seu-Xerea (daily-norm.com)

Mar 11

8 Comments

Dodging the rain: A weekend in Marbella

Even by my standards, booking a last minute trip to Marbella in southern Spain for a mere weekend seemed extravagant. Was it really worth trekking some 1000 miles out of London for just two days? The forecast on my phone had already dispelled any hope of a weekend in the sunshine, and the 2.5 hour flight time is always inevitably extended 3 fold by the time needed for check in and security on one end, passport control and the luggage carousel on the other, as well as multiple additional journeys linking airports both from and to my permanent and holiday accommodation. But unperturbed by these concerns, I set out last Friday lunchtime from Westminster tube station (taking the afternoon off work to give me a head start), quite determined to make a jolly good go of it. Joining my family (who are staying longer) on a trip to our Spanish holiday home, it was my intention to squeeze in the best bits of a Mediterranean holiday into a tight weekend, ready to back at work in London again the following morning. So how did it go?

Just look at those colours

I love these cacti planted by the sea

The Marina

Despite 15 hours total travel and days spent constantly dodging the rain and running into the sunshine, I had a fantastic weekend as these photographs are testament. No sooner had I stepped out of my taxi into the quaint old town streets of Marbella, and eagerly breathed in the fresher air perfumed with the citrus scent of orange blossom and the subtle hint of garlic being cooked up in the old town cottages, I knew that in a matter of hours I had been transported to another world.

Albeit snapped quickly on my iphone, this small selection of photographs is testament to a weekend which had its fill of glorious spring-time sunshine, blues and turqoises the vibrancy of which you’d be hard pushed ever to find on the streets of London, food fit for a king and, inevitably, a fair dose of rain. Being that the trip was only 2 days, I felt constantly energised not to waste a single minute. Consequently from the moment of my arrival at 10pm on Friday night, I made the most of my stay, heading straight away to the nearest tapas bar where with a glass of full-bodied rioja in one hand and a fork-full of manchego, serrano ham and octopus salad in the other, I toasted the weekend of all weekends, the stress and worries and cold of London swept well away, and the summer pleasures which reignite with every new burst of sunshine slowly creeping through my wintered pale skin.

Some food highlights…

Coffee by the Marina

A Fritura Mixta (squid, prawns and asparagus)

Zozoi’s indulgent pavlova

Cappuccino’s Tarta de Platano is to die for…

From Friday night onwards, a shamelessly indulgent trip of restaurant trips, coffees by the marina, lunch by the seaside and dinners in quaint old eateries commenced. Strolling through the old town streets I sucked in every scent and visual delight, poking my head into old churches to see the tronos of the town’s easter parades already set out, ready to be adorned in flowers for the forthcoming Semana Santa parades, pricking up my ears to the rhythmic sounds of flamenco wafting from the doors of a nearby bar, and revelling in the tranquil atmosphere and picturesque pleasures of this awfully quaint old town.

Blue skies (and a little wind)

Some birds drop in on lunch at Cappuccino Grand Cafe

The Paseo after a recent rain shower

The Alameda park after a shower

Tronos ready for Semana Santa

So was it worth the effort? Of course it was! Leaving at 4.15pm on the Sunday for a 7.45pm flight back to London, I sat on a coach back to Malaga with my stomach doing inevitable cartwheels at the thought of leaving so soon, but equally delighted at how succinctly and fortuitously I was able to dip into this paradisal environment for a small weekend. It wasn’t sunny all the time, and quite often we would eat one course outside in the sun and run inside for dessert as a storm cloud passed over – but this added to the fun and pleasure of this Spring weekend, in which clement temperatures, even under the clouds, made me feel like I was somehow tricking the seasons.

One minute in the sun…

And a few minutes later its drenched in rain

Paradoxical March – sunshine in the rain

They say good things come in small packages, and for this weekend in Marbella, the words wrung beautifully true. Back now in London, horrendously cold, I feel not exhausted but enlivened by this mini-holiday in Spain – a hint of the summer, just at the time when we frozen Londoners need it most. Viva España, perfectly accessible for the holidays, and for a mere weekend too.

On the plane ready to go back to London

Mar 5

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Valencia (ix) – Food Focus 2: Seu-Xerea

Readers of my blog will know that asides from exploring, photographing and culture-spotting my way around a city, my fourth greatest pleasure of any city trip or holiday is to discover the location’s gastronomic culture. Last year I was lucky enough to sample faultless dinner after faultless dinner in both Spain’s Salamanca and Italy’s Bologna, while in Portugal’s Lisbon, artistically elegant food was served at peasant prices. I would love to follow suit now, in cataloguing my Valencian adventures, and describe dinner after dinner of exciting gastronomic discovery. But I can’t. Why? Not because the food was in any way bad… just because I so rarely got to sample it!

Our great mistake, it appears, is that we stayed in Valencia from Friday to Tuesday. This is a reasonable long-weekend timetable to my mind, but for the restaurants of this city, it’s a no go. So while we had no problem dining out in the fabulous Palo Alto on the Saturday (and would no doubt have dined similarly well on the Friday had our flight not been delayed (*groan*)), Sunday and Monday nights were pretty much a write-off as we found one restaurant after another closed. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that some restaurants like to have a night off (although why they can’t just give their staff alternate nights off and keep the restaurant open daily mystifies me), but two nights in a row?! And this in one of Spain’s largest cities and most popular tourist destinations.

So, on both Sunday and Monday, it was good old Cappuccino Grand Café who cleared up all the diners wandering around Valencia looking lost, the Mallorcan café chain who clearly have better business brains when it comes to their opening hours. Now don’t get me wrong, Cappuccino are a consistent eat, good service, beautiful atmosphere, even more beautiful staff, but one likes to be adventurous. To do that in Valencia, I had to extend my adventurous spirit one step further than intended, and make my final stab at gastronomic dining on Tuesday lunchtime, just before leaving the city. Luckily for us, this last food experience, decadent in its daytime occurrence, lost nothing for being consumed by day light. Rather, our last hours in the beautiful city of Valencia were spent indulging in a tapas degustacion menu, quaffing upon beautifully selected delicate local wines, and sampling the inexorable delights which come hand in hand with the restaurant Seu-Xerea.

Seu-Xerea is the creation of anglo-burmese chef, Steve Anderson. Favourably reviewed in many a Valencia guidebook, and located in a beautiful old town house just north of the Plaza de la Virgen, the restaurant is a chic, trendy food retreat, which brings to Valenica a fresh, asian twist on Spanish classics, and whose well balanced and elegantly presented food is not overshadowed by an enormous price tag. Rather, for lunch, for 32 euros each plus 8 euros extra for wine (both white and red) plus water and coffee, we were treated to a tasting menu which comprised some 5 starters, a main and a refreshing and indulgent dessert.

The interior…

The starters incorporated a panoply of both asian and Spanish flavours in an almost faultless combination of spice, acidity, sweet and sour, all delicately and artistically presented, giving diners visual delights to accompany flavour diversity in every dish. Now don’t get me wrong – Heston Blumenthal this was not, but for a “light” tapas lunch, one couldn’t complain.

Up first was a cream of mussel soup, subtly imbued with saffron, indulgently creamy but not heavy, with a few chives to give oniony balance to the richness of the mussel liquor. Our bouches sufficiently amused, we went on to croquetas of free range chicken. But the name was probably all that was Spanish about these, served with a curry and yuzu mayonnaise, and a kind of pickled shredded cucumber salad, the ingredients of which I couldn’t quite make out, but the freshness of which was undoubtedly welcome amongst the thrilling spicing which the freshly unctuous croquets were duly dipped in.

The tapas starters were on a roll now, as the next dish of artichokes al la romana presented itself before us, the tender heart of the artichoke being subtly flavoured, not like these pickled kinds one buys so often in the UK, thus allowing the creamy centre of this wonderful vegetable to shine through and compliment the accompanying cardamom and tupinambour purée.

Then, heading full throttle down the modern asian route, a satay of delectable juicy fresh kind prawns in a very subtle peanut sauce with vegetables so fresh that they tasted like they had been plucked from a freshly irrigated farm that very morning, and a steamed bread bun with sio bak-style pork belly and hoisin sauce – basically a posh version of the pork buns one can easily munch upon in a dim sum restaurant, and no less flavoursome for its ascension to the tables of the gourmet world.

The starters done (and apologies for the lack of/ rubbish photos – I was drinking wine at lunch time after all!) it was onto the mains. There were some three to choose from, and seeking variation on our table, we went for different options. For my mother, a dish of lamb and couscous, artfully concealed within a ball of cabbage and served on a bed of chickpeas. The real winner of her dish was the small but potent helpings of both lemon curd and the super-spicy harissa, the two working in perfect union as a twosome accompaniment to this tender meaty dish. Meanwhile, I had a grilled risotto with mushrooms, Iberian pork and a parmesan cheese broth. This was perhaps the less successful of the two, the grilling of the risotto drying the total dish out somewhat, but I enjoyed the caramelisation which the grilling achieved, as well as the foamy parmesan broth with which the food was lightly fondled.

Outside…

…and in

The grilled risotto

Dessert came swiftly (it was by this time mid-afternoon and doubtless the popular restaurant was hoping for a break before the dinner stint) and was pleasing both in appearance, quantity and in its zesty refreshing flavour: a pot of passion fruit and white chocolate, this dish benefitted from a much needed contrasting crunch provided by pistachio and what tasted a bit like aerated and dried white chocolate. Best of all, the tart passion fruit cream was broken up with immersed flakes of white chocolate – exquisite.

With coffee, our excellent meal came to an end, a few hours of perfect gastronomic sanctuary, with fine Valencian wines helping us to forget the impending return journey back to the UK, and delicious food enabling us to forgive Valencia its almost absurd double-day restaurant closures. But we’ll know for next time…

Seu-Xerea is at C/ del Conde Almodovar, just behind the Plaza de la Virgen. Open for lunch and dinner, but not on Sundays or Mondays!

Valencia (ii) – Food Focus 1: Palo Alto (daily-norm.com)

Feb 23

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Valencia (ii) – Food Focus 1: Palo Alto

Review websites such as tripadvisor have easily become the best friend of the tourist, but often the enemy of the hospitality industry, which so easily falls victim to the foul mouths of internet trolls who would never complain to a restaurant’s face (so to speak), but unleash their cowardly fury online to the detriment of the business’s future trade. And yet, when a restaurant knows its stuff and presents a brilliant service, this is more often than not reflected on the said review websites. It is for this reason that before visiting a new city, I tend to check out the top 10 or 20 restaurants as reviewed by visitors on tripadvisor, and more often than not make a few reservations as a result. For Valencia however, I had insufficient time to scan through the various Valencian offerings, and decided to take Valencia like a bull by its horns, and leave my restaurant reservations to chance.

Imagine my surprise then when, after stumbling upon this little neighbourhood gem, Palo Alto C/ Conde de Montornes 30, and enjoying every little expectation-exceeded detail, that I should find said restaurant is only at number 406 of 1266 tripadvisor reviewed restaurants in Valencia! To be fair to them, they only have one review, and that review is a full 5 out of 5 which, while not surprising, should be replicated many times over. I hope therefore that in writing this review, I will play a small part in lifting Palo Alto far up the tripadvisor rankings and into the hearts of Valencia visitors henceforward.

We were quite lucky to chance upon this restaurant. Always on the lookout for something quirky (and always ensuring that I avoid any restaurant which 1. has waiters/ maitre d’s standing outside beckoning/ forcing tourists inside or 2. those whose menu comprises 80s-style yellowing photographs of ideal dishes, to which the actual presentation bears very little resemblance) and heading back to the hotel after our traipse around Valencia’s fine art museum followed by another around the Jardines del Real, I was attracted to this place by the unique interiors (special admiration went for the variously angled wood suspended from the ceiling like a continuous wave rushing along the shore, complete with oversized lightbulbs hanging at differing heights) and the very reasonable menu. For only 44.25 € each, we would get 5 courses, bread, a bottle of wine, water and coffee. Bargain.

Delicious wine, all included

So turning up later at the allotted time, we found ourselves attentively looked after from the start. Pleasant waitresses asked us whether we would like white or red wine, and on choosing the latter were given an excellent tempranillo rioja “Valdemar, 2011” which far exceeds the normal plonk one may be given as a house wine or as part of a set menu. Smooth and perfectly chilled at the recommended mid-teens centigrade, this wine flowed like liquid velvet upon the tongue, slipping down the throat in perfect unison with the food.

Speaking of which, each and every course of our sampling was delicious, flavourful and each uniquely different. The first, a panfried foie gras with a reduction of pedro ximenez sherry, honey and raisins was a perfectly balanced dish. The reduction had been taken a little too far, with the result that it was a tad sticky in between the teeth, but the sharp sweetness was a beautiful accompaniment to the rich creamy saltiness of the foie.

Foie with a sherry reduction

Onto dish two, a beautifully presented salad of super-fresh scallops, sitting in their little mermaid bikini shells surfing the waves of a verdant salad, dressed in a citrus vinaigrette and topped with that much needed “crunch” supplied by crushed pistachios and crispy iberico ham.

Salade of Scallops with iberico ham and crushed pistachios

There were two mains, the first a dish of hake (or “merluza” in Español), served on potatoes with a basil and garlic purée. I could smell the pungent garlic as the dish wafted over from the kitchen (or rather the garlic vapours did) and relished the potent mediterranean flavour. My mother found the garlic a little strong for her more refined anglicised palate and perhaps wisely left a little of the sauce to the side – had I done the same, I may have better appreciated the more delicate flavours of the subsequent main, a tornado of beef wrapped in bacon and served with mushrooms and asparagus. What can I say other than it was delicious, tender and perfectly cooked?

Hake with a garlic and basil sauce

Tournado of beef with bacon

Ok, it’s meat juices I know, but the marbling is beautiful

Finally, onto the unctuous spongey chocolate cake with a strawberry reduction – perfect for the Valentines weekend, although for obvious reasons this was not at the forefront of my mother’s or my mind (!). I can barely remember quite how delicious this cake was, such was my unapologetic embrace of over half of that delicious tempranillo, and my undeniable intoxication by a meal which was, in every detail, on point. Having almost forgotten how reasonably priced this set menu was, the final bill of 88 € came as something of a shock, but was worth every centimos. Palo Alto – may you rise to the altos of tripadvisor. You deserve it.

Chocolate cake with strawberries

Palo Alto in on the C/ Conde de Montornes 30 which is a few minutes east of the Cathedral and close to the bed of the old Turia River.

Valencia – Part I: Beauty and the Bell Tower (daily-norm.com)

Jan 30

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Patatas a lo Pobre

Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest. One of the greatest pleasures for me is going along to a classic family-run Spanish restaurant on the corner of the Paseo Maritimo in Marbella heading East towards Cable Beach. It’s off the tourist track, and far from the glitz and glamour of the Golden Mile and Puerto Banus, and that is why the restaurant, frequented as it is by the Spanish locals, serves some of the best food along the Marbellan coast, albeit cheaply and without pomp or ceremony.

Pretty much every Sunday when I am in Marbella (and how I wish I was right now) I head to that café on the corner, to eat a simple serving of squid with salad and, on the side, a large plate of oily, simple Patatas a lo Pobre. Literally translated as potatoes of the poor man, this typical Andalusian dish is awfully simple (it comprises mainly potatoes, onions and peppers), but completely delicious. And so, when a cold chill nipped at my spine this week, and when all I did was yearn for my beloved España basked in the summer heat, I set about recreating my favourite Sunday lunch.

My adored Marbella

Its calm winter beaches

The fisherman’s huts of Cable Beach

The patatas are really simple to make. Take one large onion and slice. Sauté the onion gently in oil until it softens, and add to that two chopped red peppers (deseeded), 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely, seasoning, a small teaspoon of pimenton and a few bay leaves. This should all be cooked, again, until the pepper is softened. To that, add around 6-8 peeled potatoes chopped into bitesize pieces and a good glug more of olive oil, and cook the whole dish further until the potatoes are tender, but not falling apart (I find that peeled new potatoes work best for this as they can be sliced into neat round disks and keep their shape easily).

Serve your patatas drizzled in further good quality olive oil and, if you want to recreate the whole experience, some grilled squid and a hearty side salad (sadly I was unable to get my hands on any huge squids like those so frequently available on the Med, but when in London…well, we have to put up with seafood on the smaller side). This dish guarantees a burst of Spanish flavour with the added benefit that, as the name suggests, it’s really very cheap to make – highly suitable for that post-Christmas poor man’s January then.