Edinburgh Food Studio

Edinburgh is an exciting place - and especially so if you're a foodie. Innovative restaurants with curious new dining concepts are spawning all the time. I read about the Edinburgh Food Studio a couple of weeks ago during my weekend newspaper round-up and it sounded interesting enough that my friends Emma R and Emma B from Edinburgh Feasts and Edin Bug were happy to go along and check it out. 

The food studio is on Dalkeith Road (south of the city) and has a very calm vibe to it. We were the first in and the owners/chefs talked us through the food sequence and handed us a very intriguing drinks menu. 

We were also offered some lovely bread made with an ancient Scottish wheat grain - Rouge d'Ecosse and homemade salted butter.

Emma R was being very good but Emma B and I opted for the Gin with Cucumber and Fennel and the Spicy Vermouth respectively. Emma B's drink was potent, a very interesting mix and very good and mine less potent but refreshing.

The first course was tomatoes, chanterelle, broad beans, leeks and pigs ear - it looks like wonderful explosion of colour. Emma B had the vegan option which was minus the piggy.

The second course was an interesting mix of roast swede and pattypan squash with Good King Henry sauce, gooseberries and onions.

The third course was beautifully cooked monkfish with beach herbs and new potatoes in a delicious cream sauce. Emma B's version had what I think was oat seed and without the sauce.

For the fifth course, we were presented with Sika deer (served pink) with blueberries, piccalilli and foragers salad. Tasty but I was getting very full (the bread may have had something to do with it and a very large burrito at lunchtime!).

The vegan option was roasted pumpkin seeds (if I remember right) instead of the deer. Emma B seemed to thoroughly enjoy her course. The foragers salad was different - I'd like to have known what all the different leaves were but I knew that would take a long time and the place was now rather busy!

The pudding course began with a cherry granita - mine and Emma R's had custard in it which took the edge of the tart cherry. Emma B's was a bit more character building.

But Emma B had her compensation with the next pudding - a lovely raspberry sorbet with honeycomb and raspberries. It look lovely!

The non-vegan version was sheep's yoghurt, raspberries, rose petals and a syrup waffle. Very nice but I had little room for all of the waffle.

The final course was a jelly cake of seabuckthorn and spruce - very tangy yet interesting. I was trying to articulate the sum of our experience - and my articulation stopped with 'pushing the taste boundaries'.

The Edinburgh Food Studio really is all about new food experiences - not so much the showmanship  or instant gratification that we have come to see so much of these days - which is a good thing.

The 7 courses meal was only £35 which I think is pretty good value. Our aperitifs were £7 each. Worth checking out but be prepared to push some taste boundaries.

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Berlin -Part 1

Berlin is a gentle giant with a dark past. It is remarkably quiet (i.e. in decibels) compared to the likes of London or Paris and vast - very vast. It is edgy yet mature and I was amazed by how polite Berliners were (even if one of them tried to con me!).

My introduction to Berlin was slightly surreal. I was on a girls weekend but the rest of the group were flying in from London  whereas I flew in to Tegel from Edinburgh. As I'd booked us in at the restaurant in the Reichstag (an excellent way to get in without queueing for hours) at a specific time, I opted for a taxi to our hotel. The very friendly driver tried to con me by charging Euro 68 (instead of Euro 20ish max).When I challenged him about this he very swiftly sped off (with his car boot wide open) and shouting that he did not need any money. I kept thinking he must have pinched something off me but I don't know for sure!

The dome at Reichstag is one of my favourite Berlin sites. It was designed by Norman Foster (and symbolises the reunification of Germany) and works incredibly well against the older Baroque-esque structure.

The Reichstag is also a great lace to start your exploration of the city - it is close to the Brandenburg Gate, The Holocaust Memorial and Tiergarten.

After a lovely tea, wine and cake break, we walked around the Reichstag before making our way to the other places mentioned nearby.

It was getting late and our final stop of the afternoon was The Holocaust Memorial - a solemn reminder of the millions of lives lost during the period. Annoyingly, there were many 'tourists' who thought it was perfectly appropriate to be taking ridiculous selfies or monkeying around the area.

Berlin is quite flat and so you can see landmarks from a fair distance. The Alexanderplatz TV tower looked arty against the pinkish-blue evening sky.

More on Berlin soon. Hope you are all having a lovely week. Ann x

Wearing Isabel Marant jumper, Gap skinny jeans, Tom Ford shades and Nike spotty trainers.

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Holy Island of Lindisfarne

We've been hoping to visit Lindisfarne (of Lindisfarne Gospels fame and an important place for Celtic Christianity) for a long while but the weather, tides and our diaries just didn't seem to work in sync. The glorious weather (by Northern standards anyway) over the Easter bank holiday weekend gave us the perfect opportunity to explore the Holy Island. We studied the tide tables which provided us with a good window to explore the island - this is very important unless you don't mind being stranded for hours.

Lindisfarne is about an hour and half's drive from Edinburgh and is easily accessible by road (just a few miles off the A1) and slightly less so via train (Berwick Upon Tweed and then bus). Our drive (all the way up to the parking lot at Lindisfarne) was uneventful although it did get busier once we got to the causeway. We first explored the ruins of the ancient priory before going on a walk around the island.

Lindisfarne priory was built circa 634AD by Irish monks (led by St.Aidan) who travelled from Iona to establish a christian settlement in Northumbria. The patron saint of the North, St.Cuthbert was part of this monastic family and was originally buried here before being moved to Durham Cathedral.

It was a beautiful (alabeit slight chilly) day and we  decided (after a coffee and brunch stop in a local pub) to hike up to Lindisfarne Castle. The island is beautiful and on this sunny day the waters and the skies complimented each other in the most beautiful shades of blue.

Modern day Lindisfarne castle is a Lutyens designed building using parts that of the old Tudor fort that once stood here. It was built for Edward Hudson who was the founder and editor of Country Life. 

We explored the castle for a little while before slowly making our way back to the car - stopping very so often to take in the beautiful views.

Hope you are having a lovely week. Ann x

Wearing Bimba Y Lola Coat, Topshop hat, Bella Freud Lion jumper, old levis and New Balance trainers.

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Gozo and Comino

Gozo means 'joy' in castilian and I can think of many reasons why the island's Spanish invaders thought it was a joyful place. A short sail from the Maltese mainland, Gozo is the second largest island within the archipelago. It is smaller and sleepier - both of which adds to its charm. Comino is a tiny island near Gozo and is surrounded by stunningly turquoise waters and worth visiting en-route to or on the way back from Gozo.

You  can get to Gozo using the local buses from Malta but our friends warned that this could be long and time consuming. so we decided to go with a local tour group instead - it wasn't expensive and we had a clear plan for the day.

We stopped by Gozo's main town Victoria (locally known as Rabat) for a walk around town - a coffee and bite before heading to the stunning rock formations of Dwerja Bay. It was heaving with tourists (like us!) but a wonderful place nevertheless.

Gozo felt more Arab than Italian - I think it was partly the landscape and partly the architecture. Our tour guide took us on a bus ride across the island and pointed out a number of different structures, temples and forts.

After spending all morning and the early part of the afternoon in Gozo, we stopped by Comino for a few hours of swimming and jet skiing. The jet ski took us closer to the cave formations around the island - it reminded me a little of a similar tour of Islas Ballestas in Peru. Comino is delightful - I wonder why the Spanish didn't come up with an equally joyful name for it - instead they named it after cumin!

 

Having lived with not a lot of sun in Scotland for over a year - I got badly sunburned on Comino ( yes, brown people do get sunburns!) whilst hanging out by the water and despite factor 50 on. All I can say is keep topping up that suncream if you happen to visit - especially on a summer's afternoon!

I do recommend making some time to visit the islands if you're heading to Malta - but try avoiding a DIY tour using public transport unless you have bags of time.

Happy Sunday people! Ann x

Wearing Muji t-shirt, Clover Canyon skirt, Helene Berman straw hat, Marc Jacobs bag, Tom Ford shades and Toms shoes.

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Arashiyama Bamboo Groves

A short bus/taxi/train ride from Kyoto, the Arashiyama bamboo groves are a world apart. They possess the same zen like character of many Japanese places but just a bit more amplified. The forest has been around for centuries but its origins and purpose (when planted) are not very clear.

The bamboo groves are a bit of a walk from the main town area so Ed and I fuelled up on Japanese fried snacks and matcha ice-cream before we started our trek. The area is serene and quiet with the lovely sound of bamboo trees whistling in the soft breeze. This is a very popular and highly photographed area so it was no surprise that the place was busy. However, Japanese tourists/day-trippers tend to be very quiet and respectful so it was all very pleasant.

After our maiko spotting in Gion, we were very excited to see what we thought was another maiko in Arashiayama. We eventually found out that we were wrong - apparently maiko/geisha dress-ups and photo-shoots are a popular activity amongst young Japanese women.

After a few hours of wandering the forest, exploring nearby temples and gardens, we made our way back to the train station to catch a train back to Kyoto. I must also mention that we taxied to Arshiyama and that was an interesting experience - we were under-charged (!!) for the taxi ride as when I originally asked the driver how much the fare was likely to be, he estimated the fare to be lower than it turned out to be. And he refused to let us pay the actual fare! Just another reason why I think Japan is quite wonderful.

Hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend! Ann x

Wearing Carven Paris map print dress, Helene Berman straw hat, Longchamp bag and Toms shoes.

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Seville Orange Marmalade

It's been a while since I've a) blogged  b) shared a recipe and I'm about to rectify both these matters. Back in the days when we kept an allotment, I fancied growing oranges in our polytunnel and making marmalade with them. That didn't quite work out. When Mr. Tesco's offered Seville oranges earlier in the year, I decided it was time I finally made my favourite conserve.

I've blogged about jamming all sorts of fruit here but marmalade was a bit different to those previous experiences. It's messier. And takes longer. And its a bit more effort. Nevertheless, the outcome is highly rewarding. Here's how you do it:

Ingredients:

1 kg Seville oranges

2 kg granulated sugar

2 lemons

2.5 litres water

Method:
Halve the oranges and juice them. Set juice aside.
Scoop out all the pulp into a muslin cloth - tie the cloth up once done to form a bag.
Slice the orange peel into thin strips and set aside.
Extract lemon juice.
Add all of these into a large pan and top up with water and simmer for around 2 hours - you know you're ready for the next step when the orange peel starts to look soft and slightly translucent

Remove the muslin bags and extract all the juice from them as this juice is rich in pectin. Now add sugar and continue to heat the mixture until to gets to setting point. This can take 20 mins or up to an hour in my case. In the mean time, set a couple of spoons and small plates in the fridge to cool - you will use this to test the setting point of the jam

The key is to ensure that the mixture gets nice and frothy ( as in the picture above) and to not get impatient with the setting process.

Once set, decant the jam into sterilised jam jars, seal and allow to cool. Your yummy marmalade is now ready for consumption and should keep for a couple of months if stored in a cool dark place ( or the fridge in my case).  Happy preserving! Ann x

Martin Miller's Gin Masterclass X The Last Word Saloon

When an email from the PR folk at Martin Miller's popped into my inbox inviting me to a gin masterclass at my favourite cocktail bar in Edinburgh, I could not refuse. The event was not advertised anywhere and I did not know who was attending but as it was The Last Word Saloon this did not bother me at all. I have spent many a Saturday night sampling their fabulous cocktails (sat at my favourite cushioned window seat) and I was delighted to be going back - even if it was only a Tuesday!

That said, I delighted when I found my friend Emma from Edinbug nursing a strawberry and peppercorn gin cocktail.  Emma had not been there before and I suggested that she ask for the Last Word Revisited - my favourite and served with great showmanship at this bar.

After sampling a couple of strengths of Martin Miller's Gin (Original and 40% Westbourne) we moved on to cocktail making. I knew the evening would be a hit as The Last Word Revisited was indeed the first cocktail we 'mixed'. 

I am partial to cocktails ( especially Gin variants) as I do love the variety the offer and indeed the showmanship. I *loved* that our next cocktail was served in a light bulb no less!

 Matty Hutchison (who hosted the event) took us through the gin's history and cocktail making followed by Euan from Penhaligons who talked us through the science of flavour (although I was far more interested in his stories of Grasse - its on my list for this year!)

All this early eek cocktail sampling was beginning to take its toll and I was relieved when the folks at Bon Vivant sent us a range of canapés  to keep us upright.

Overall, it was a super evening and I now know far more about Martin Miller's than I did before ( which was very little). And here's a final shot of the wonderful bar - I have tried to capture its quiet, civilised, grown-up ambience which is why I prefer to to some others in the city.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend. Ann x

Wearing Bella Freud 1970 jumper, old levis and Ash suede ankle boots.

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