Tea and Travel

Tea has a rich and chequered story. From its origins in China and its eventual expansion overseas, this leaf is inextricably linked with the cultural and political history of our world. The Dragonfly tea company has capitalised on the evocative nature of tea and created a sensory guidebook, Brewed with a View. This 'tea book' is in essence a collection of hand-crafted teas, each paired to a destination in Britain by virtue of its history and unique characteristics.

I've slowly been working my way through the 'book' and so far, my favourite is the silver needle white leaf tea. As I drank this exquisite brew, I played back the writer's imagination and reasons for pairing this tea with Wast Water in the Lake District. The views from there, across to the majestic Scafell Pike ( the cover image of this post) are not dissimilar to that of the region where the silver needle tea is cultivated in China.

Other tea pairing inspirations include Glamis Castle, Kibble Palace and Glengoyne distillery in Scotland, the  Roman baths of Bath, Ashdown Forest, Leadenhall Market in London etc. 

For more information, check out the Dragonfly tea website where you can also buy Brewed with a View for just £10.98! Far cheaper than an air or train ticket!

Hope this inspires you to put the kettle on, enjoy a nice cuppa tea and have a lovely Sunday! Ann x

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A Journey Across China

The concept of travelling vicariously through food isn't new. I often look up recipes from exotic places that I long to explore but am unlikely to visit soon. Travelling across China is one such dream but it is a little low on the priority list. When HKK (part of the Hakkasan Group)  offered me an opportunity to experience China through a ten course taster menu created specifically for the Chinese New Year, I simply could not refuse. The menu promised to take me on journey across the eight provinces of China that were most influential from a culinary perspective.

Up until now, my experience of Chinese cuisine was limited to food cooked by Chinese friends, and the sometimes westernised recipes that I'd tasted at restaurants across the UK and Asia. My mind and my belly were open to more authentic epicurean experience. As with most 'invitations to review', I was a little concerned that my judgement could potentially be clouded by the focused attention I would receive and that feeling of gratitude for being offered the experience. I took my objective thinking friend Raahil along as I knew that even if it was rubbish, she would give me an honest view.

We started off by ordered cocktails, I chose the Floating Goddess and Ra ordered Red Lotus. They were both tallish drinks that lasted us through most of the meal. You also have the option of going for a wine pairing course to go with the menu. As it was school night, we gave that a miss, as well as the temptation to have another cocktail.

We sat down to eat just before 7PM and finished well after 10PM. Each course was beautifully presented, with the steward recounting the history of the dish and its culinary origin. Ra chose a semi-vegetarian option which meant we got to see two different versions of the menu.  Everything we tasted was new and different to anything we'd tried before, and they all had a certain element of showmanship. Think colourful dimsum served with a paintbrush to 'paint' sauce on and a teapot containing a yuzu infusion to pour over chocolate dumplings. The Roast Peking Duck was one of my absolute favourites; the skin of the duck was perfectly glazed and crisp, and the meat cooked to perfection. It was definitely the best Peking Duck I'd ever had.

By the time we'd got to the fifth course, I was *stuffed*. Despite each course being quite small, they were surprisingly filling. I had to ask for a bit of rest period before we went on to the next course. The staff gently encouraged us on saying the best was waiting for us at the end. And they were right, that final item on the menu was Sheep's Milk Mousse and Pandan Curd with Caramelised Puff Rice which didn't sound like something I'd like at all but turned out to be exceptional (and not strongly milky as I'd expected it to be). 

By 10:15 PM, I could have really done with a cherry picker to take me back to my hotel, I was so full! So was Ra. And she loved the entire experience as much as I did. As with many grand things, this experience does not come cheap. But at £98 for ten courses, it works out to less than a tenner per course. I'd highly recommend it for a special occasion or a celebration. And when you do book, make sure you eat very little all day!

The Chines New Year menu is available until the 28th of February and full details can be found on the HKK website.

P.S: All photos courtesy HKK as mine simply didn't do the food justice.

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Ottolenghi Inspired Stuffed Aubergines

I've been recently reading Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's brilliant cookbook, Jerusalem.  This very engaging book took me right into the heart of the walled city and gave me insights into its rich history, its sights, smells and cuisine. I wanted to immerse myself into the culture of Jerusalem and bring the essence of it into my own kitchen. I quickly stocked up on some Zatar, pine nuts and sumac from Waitrose. Here is one lovely recipe from the book, tailored to suit what was available in my English neighbourhood.

Ingredients:

4 Aubergines

2 onions

500g lamb mince

2tbsp cumin

2 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp zatar

50g pine nuts

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp lemon juice

Olive oil , to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Flat leaf parsley for garnish and for the stuffing, to taste

 Method:

Heat the oven to 220 deg C for fan/220 degrees otherwise

Halve the aubergine, brush with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper generously on the and roast them for about 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool

Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add onions and half of all the spices and cook for about five minutes. Add the lamb mince, pine nuts, a small amount of parsley, tomato puree and salt & pepper and fry for about 15 minutes till the meat is well cooked.

Mix the lemon juice with 150ml water and the remaining spices in a little bowl.  Pour this mixture into the aubergine roasting tin. Stuff the aubergines with the lamb mixture (as in the photo), cover the roasting tin with tin foil and continue to cook in the oven at 195 degrees for fan and 175 degrees otherwise for about an hour. Ottolenghi recommends an hour and half but I thought my aubergines looked well ready in less than an hour. If you want a pulpy aubergine centre, cook for an hour and thirty minutes as recommended in the book.

Ottolenghi recommends serving this warm or at room temperature. I garnished mine with a bit of parsley,  extra pine nuts and served it with natural yogurt.

I recommend reading Jerusalem and giving the recipes a try. Perhaps you could start with this one here? Ann x

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Photography by Edward Chandler

Ice Cream Falooda

Can I cheat a little? Regular readers of my ex-blog 'Made by Ann' may remember my desire to cook a recipe from a different part of the world every month. Like many plans, that started really well; I cooked a lot of different international recipes. What I failed to do was take good photos and create blog posts. Now, even though I've deleted the old blog (but exported many posts over), I still fancy writing about recipes from across the globe. My rambling has a point; I've now made Falooda, a childhood favourite but I realise that it is also a popular Pakistani dessert. So I'm hoping to badge this as a 'Food Travel post too. See, a  little bit of cheating going on... Anyway, ice-cream parlours as the equivalent of pubs in India and Pakistan. The South Asian community in the UK clearly felt the void and so when we were visiting friends in Tooting ( big South Asian community here), we went to this extremely busy ice-cream parlour with long queues et.al. That trip, combined with our recent visit to India, inspired me to make falooda at home. Here is how I made it



Serves 2
Ingredients:
Falooda sev ( noodles)-handful
Basil seeds ( Tukmaria or Falooda seeds), 2 tsp
Rose syrup ( I used Mapro), 6 tbsp
Mixed nuts, 2 tbsp
Cranberries ( you can use chopped fresh fruit instead), 4 tbsp or as you please!
Semi-skimmed milk ( or skinny milk): 1/2 cup
Vanilla ice-cream

Method:
Soak the basil seeds for at leat 30 mins in water until they swell and multiply in size. Soak the falooda sev in boiling water for 5 mins and rinse in ice cold water. Use tall glasses and layer the ingredients starting with rose syrup followed by mixed nuts, cranberries or fruit, sev and milk. Pour the milk gently through the sides of the glass so as to maintain the layers. Add a teaspoon of rose syrup to the milk. Now add the basil seeds and top off with a scoop ( or two) of vanilla ice-cream. Your falooda is ready to be served!

I hope you have fun making this recipe and let me know how you got on. Ann x

Halo Halo There!

I've discovered that the joys of travel can be re-created within the confines of your home through poring over old photos and trying out exotic recipes. One of my most interesting travel food experiences was whilst we were in Manila. Ed and I walked into this little restaurant that was doing a buffet of local food. The place, though busy, did not have a single tourist in sight (other than ourselves) and I took that to be a good sign. We tucked into a variety of local delicacies including the most random dessert ever, Halo Halo. Halo Halo literally means 'mix mix'. Whilst the traditional Halo Halo recipes (including what we tasted in Manila) include beans, shaved ice, rice, coconut water jelly, jackfruit, yam and evaporated milk, you can be flexible with the ingredients. I've made two versions of the recipe so far and my favourite one is below.



And whilst I tuck into this little delightful dessert, I am reminiscing about an adventurous day off our cruise ship in Manila; exploring little alleyways, posing with lady boys, witnessing some incredible ice skating, taking in the city's culture and history and smiling at the best health & safety poster I'd seen in a long time.

Ingredients:

Sharon fruit, chopped

Kiwi, chopped

Nata De Coco ( can be bought from Asian stores)

Ice-cream (any flavour, I used vanilla)

Mixed nuts

Evaporated milk

Grenadine liqueur

Method:

Fill the glass/serving dish with 1 cm'ish layers of the various ingredients. Choose any structure you fancy. I started mine with a layer of nuts and followed on with grenadine, ice-cream, kiwi, coconut gel, ice-cream, sharon fruit, coconut water gel and some more ice-cream. Pour evaporated milk over this mixture and its good to serve. I'd love to know if you've made Halo Halo too and what your versions looked like. Ann x

Brevas con Arequipe: Colombian Caramel Stuffed Figs

Not so long ago I'd expressed a desire to cook a recipe from a different part of the world every month. This was of course inspired by some food travel blogs I'd come across thanks to a couple of friends. I started off with Brazil although it felt like it might as well have been South India. I then moved on to Cuba, Tunisia and Afghanistan, in no particular order. What I cook does not follow a strict list but merely depends on what I've got in the kitchen on an inspired day. A few weeks ago I cooked for some friends and decided to do a three course Colombian meal. This was dessert. I must admit that I heavily relied on a fantastic Colombian food blog, My Colombian Recipes. I used local recipes or substitutes where I could as the editor of the blog clearly had access to Colombian style ingredients.

Ingredients:

12 Figs

4 tbsp maple syrup ( the original recipe recommends panela)

1 tbsp lime juice

2 litres whole milk

500g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 Cinnamon sticks

Method:

Caremel/toffee sauce:
This takes absolutely hours and so its worth preparing first or overnight. Heat the whole milk and sugar in a pan. Add the baking powder and cinnamon stick and continue to simmer for about 3 hours ( sometimes longer) until the sauce starts thickening and it looks toffee coloured. Remove the cinnamon stick and continue to simmer until it reaches a thick caramel like consistency.

Figs:
Slice the figs as shown in the photos and soak in water for a couple of hours. In a saucepan cook the figs in water. Add 4 tbsp maple syrup, lime juice and a Cinnamon stick. Once the figs have softened ( about 60 mins of simmering), drain and set aside.

To serve, warm the figs in an oven and then stuff the figs with toffee sauce and serve with ice cream. Its a shame I forgot to take photos of the final product with ice cream. The photos below are a good indication of what the figs and caramel sauce look like though.

Enjoy cooking. Ann x

 

Thai Style Mussels

Following on from my previous post, I also had to come up with a relatively effortless main course that Ed would like. We love going to Loch Fyne in nearby Elton for a regular fish fix and they used to do a Thai inspired mussel recipe. I thought I'd try and re-create that taste. I bought a kilo of live Scottish mussels from Tescos and cleaned/de-bearded them over running water. This was the only time consuming bit.

In a casserole dish I fried some finely shopped onion and fresh chillies. To this I added some ground giner, garlic and lemongrass. I also added 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp nam pla ( fish sauce), and 1 tbsp lime juice. I let teh mixture cook before added 1.5 cups of water and bringing it to boil. Once boiled I added 1 can of cocunt milk and the mussels. The mussels don't take more than 5 mins to cook. You will know they are ready when they open up nicely like in the photo. I serve dthis with some lovely Tiger loaf.  A lovely meal for a summers evening ( although we are having an Indian summer really)

Sushi for Beginners

Once upon a time, in what seems like a lifetime ago, I used to hang out with a bunch of foreigners. We spent many evenings and weekends together, drinking, cooking and talking. What we had in common was our foreignness and disdain for the English reserve. What I remember most about those evenings was the cooking. We took turns to cook (mostly native cuisine) and I remember being introduced to some fabulous Thai, French and Asian food. One of the lads once cooked sushi and I was amazed at how simple it looked. Soon I set off to the local Chinese shop to  buy the sushi sudare, nori, wasabi et.al. and set about experimenting.  Making these pretty parcels was so satisfying. Time flew, life happened, differences appeared and foreigners went home. I stayed on, made new friends, found love and grew vegetables. Here's to old times and forgotten inspirations.

Tools and Ingredients:
Sushi sudare (rolling mat)
Sushi nori (seaweed)
Sushi rice-1 cup
Pickled sushi ginger
Japanese mirin (vinegar)
Wasabi paste
Soy sauce
Fillings- this could be a number of things including tuna from a tin, avocado, chicken, spring onions etc. This time I used mostly smoked salmon and finely chopped courgette and roast squash

Method: Cook the sushi rice as per the pack instructions. In a bowl mix  sugar and sushi vinegar for working with the rice.  Place the nori on the bamboo mat and thinly spread rice ( using the vinegar mix to dampen the rice). Add fillings of your choice about a third of the way up the nori. Carefully roll using the bamboo mat. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there showing you the technique. Once rolled, use a sharp knife and cut out the sushi rolls according to the size of your choice. Smaller the size, daintier they look but it also depends on the fillings. Serve with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi. Enjoy! Ann x

Squid Ink Risotto with Roast Vegetables. Caution: Not for the faint-hearted!

 

I really can't remember where or when I got the idea of cooking with squid ink. It was sometime early 2008 and I remember looking for hours in shops and online for a bit of squid ink. I finally bought it off  Rick Stein's website and paid four times the cost of the product for delivery. My first experiment back then went quite well and I served the risotto with some homemade Greek style yogurt and peppers.  Now that we have a lottie and enough veg to feed the city, I decided to cook a simple recipe with an assortment of veg. I must admit that not all offers to cook this at dinner parties were accepted. Shame really as it does have a special flavour. Anyway, here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Squid ink

250g risotto ( 4 servings)

2 cups chicken stock-use 1 cube

1 Courgette

1 Aubergine

1/2 Acorn Squash

Onion
3 large tomatoes

Method:

Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan and add the risotto and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the squid ink and continue to fry. Now add stock and stir until the risotto is smooth, creamy and cooked. Meanwhile, chop and season the vegetables and roast them. I like spicing my veg but you can do whatever you like really. Serve the risotto topped with roast veg. Finito!

Gyoza Anyone?

'What else can I cook with bloody cabbage?!' I thought the other day. As I sat on the bed watching TV whilst doing mental arithmetic of the various veg and how to store/cook/freeze them, I chanced upon a Jamie Oliver show. Jamie was making a Japanese favourite of Chinese origin, Gyoza. I found my solution to the cabbage conundrum! The recipe was simple enough.  And I could either make the gyoza wrapper myself or find some. I cheated and chose the latter. Our local Chinese shop stocks most asian food items and it only cost me a pound something. Here is how I made the gyoza.

I shredded a cabbage and chopped an onion and fried them in a bit of olive oil. To add my own twist, I mixed some dessicated coconut to the frying mix. I fried the mix for about 10 mins and the added it to a bowl of 500g pork mince. I mixed all the ingredients by hand and took it back to the pan for frying. I believe the traditional recipe does not require the pork to be cooked in advance but I did not fancy that method.

Once cooled, I spread a spoonful of the mix into a gyoza wrapper, crimped the edges of the wrapper and set aside. Once I had a batch of these dumplings I placed them in a saucepan and fried them for a few times before adding 1/4 cup of boiling water, closing the lid and letting the dumplings steam. The result is a dumpling that has a crunchy bottom but is soft on the inside.

To make a dipping sauce, mix soya sauce and chili oil in equal measure and serve. Douzo meshiagare = enjoy your meal! Ann x

Quail Egg Salad for Big Kids

 

I found quail eggs at Lidl's last weekend and thought it would make an interesting  addition to a canape or starter. We had a girls night in a few days ago and I found the perfect excuse to use these. I looked around for recipes and found one on an Estonian food blog. Rather interesting as my first encounter with quail eggs was at a restaurant in Talinn. I pretty much stuck to the recipe but with minor tweaks. I loved the cuteness of this salad and it  seemed quite simple to make. Peeling the tiny boiled quail eggs was a bit challenging but otherwise it was easy peasy.

Recipe: Boil a dozen quail eggs and cool. Peel the eggs and take a tiny bit of the top and bottom. Halve a dozen Pimlico tomatoes and use the top bits for the toadstool effect. I used cress for the meadow effect and as it complements the egg and tomato flavours. A bit of mayo on top for the dotted toadstool effect, a drizzling of olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper and presto!

Note: Do check if you friends like egg as its not for everyone as I found out to my peril! I got a bit carried away trying to make a pretty salad that I forgot about checking with my mates!

Vietnamese Bo Kho

We had some diced beef that needed cooking and so instead of doing a bog-standard casserole or curry, I wanted to try something different. After scouring the Internet and checking out various cooking videos, I chose Bo Kho. This was partly because I had most of the ingredients and also because it seemed like a hearty recipe for cold evenings. My husband and  I absolutely loved the result and the stew pairs nicely with French bread or rice. Here is the recipe.

 

Ingredients:
500 g Diced beef
small cup of chopped shallots
1 onion
2 carrots, small chunks
1 cup chopped Tomato
3 tbsp fish sauce, Nuoc Mam
2 star anise
crushed garlic, 3 cloves
3 tbsp fresh ginger paste
2 tbsp lemongrass paste/2 stalks of lemongrass
1 tsp chilli powder
1.5 tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tsp muscovado sugar
1 cup beef stock
2 bay leaves
Thai basil (optional)
1 tsp salt

Method:
Marinate the beef in a paste made of the fish sauce,muscovado sugar, lemongrass paste, ginger and Chinese 5 spice. In a casserole fry the shallots and onion lightly and the add the marinated beef. Cook for about 15 mins until a gravy is formed from the juices. Add garlic and chilli powder and cook for another 5 mins. Add the tomatoes and carrots, cover the casserole and let it cook for about 10 mins. Now add stock and cook till meat is tender. Usually takes about 45 mins. Enjoy!

Profiteroles