Coastal walking, picnics and barbecues
June 5 2023
Introduction
A later than usual newsletter this week because of ‘technical difficulties.’ including remembering the password to my own laptop. It was a good weekend.
I haven’t cooked brand new recipes from the newspapers so far. Instead, I made grapefruit, avocado and feta salad from a Waitrose recipe card which has been pinned on my board in my kitchen for a long time.
I haven’t been questing continually for the new but instead Ive been making older recipes such as marinated aubergines with tahini and oregano from ‘Ottolenghi the cookbook’ which was published in 2008. I can’t find an official version online but I do remember fondly cooking my way through the whole book and the apple and olive oil cake with maple icing is one of my favourite cakes.
Travel
UK
This week, it’s practically all walking in remote quiet places, and especially by the sea which suits me fine. Paul Bloomfield in The Times says he’s walked 1000 miles of Coast Path in the UK and his favourite bit is Valley of Rocks in North Devon. I feel instantly competitive with how many miles I’ve done but have never worked it out. My favourite is St Anthony’s Head to Place in Cornwall and my husband says Bolberry Down to Overbecks in the South Hams, Devon, which we did again last month, pictured below.
A guide to Norfolk in the Telegraph and then a walk from Hunstanton to Holme Dunes and Thornham in North Norfolk in the Times and to finish the East Anglia theme, a Cambridge city guide in the Independent.
The Southern Lake District in the Telegraph featuring Cartmel, Coniston, Ulverston and Holker Hall, which are less crowded than Ambleside and Windermere.
Shetland Way in Scotland in the Times sounds hard and the weather inhospitable. A warmer option might be walking in the Scilly Isles which is in the Guardian and seven of the best walks in the Cotswolds in the Independent.
If you don’t fancy a swim in the sea on your coastal walk, why not try out Brighton’s new 50m outdoor swimming pool, Sea Lanes in Brighton, the subject of an article in the Times with a brief guide on where to eat and stay.
Finally, I love the series of arty weekends in the Guardian, Barnard Castle this time.
Europe
And to link the two sections, readers’ favourite coastal walks in UK and Europe in the Guardian.
A Van Gogh art trail in the Netherlands in the Independent from Zundert where Van Gogh was born to Etten-Leur and Nuenen where there is a museum.
Driving through Catalonia in the Telegraph, a Dubrovnik city guide in the Independent, walking in Grindelwald in Switzerland in the Daily Mail, and exploring Nîmes in the Daily Mail. Sintra for a weekend in the Times.
Finally, the Hauts de France in the Observer, otherwise known as the bits near the English Channel, useful to look at for tips for a short French break or an overnight on the way down south.
Restaurants
In the FT, Tim Hayward went to Lasdun, the new restaurant inside the National Theatre in London and so did Jimi Famurewa in the Standard. They both describe how everyone rushes at once to pay their bills after having the pre-theatre set menu and wanting to get to see the show and how the staff think it’s weird. How could that be a a surprise?
In the Guardian, Grace Dent was at Homies on Donkeys, a taqueria in Leytonstone, east London, E11 and thought it ‘vibrant and nonconformist. You leave very full and the bill is utterly reasonable. It’s from £12 a head.’
In the Observer, Jay Rayner went to the gastropub, the Parakeet in London NW5 and thought the food is great but didn’t like all the dogs which created a furore in the comments.
In the Telegraph, William Sitwell was at the Bottle and Glass Inn in Henley, Oxfordshire and thought it ‘an heroic island of good old-fashioned warmth, flavour and charm, standing proud in 21st-century Henleyshire.’
In the Times, Giles Coren loved the ‘extraordinary Ecuadorean-Indian food’ at Palmito in Brighton and also advised trying the North Indian food at the Three Falcons in NW8 and East West, an Italian/Indian pizzeria in London NW5.
Recipes
There’s an outdoor theme in the recipes as well with picnics and barbecues coming to the fore. India Knight has barbecue tips in the Sunday Times, one of which is to spread chicken and fish with mayonnaise to stop them sticking, keep the moisture in and help them become golden brown. I already do this on the outside of toasted sandwiches. A recipe that could be done on the barbecue is Honey & Co’s blackened pork tenderloin with cherry tarragon sauce in the FT.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s picnic and camping recipes in the Guardian, smoked trout quiche with basil pesto and dukkah, chicken, grape and za’atar salad and giant couscous with black beans and quick pickled green peppers I have to say, if I were camping, which I’m not likely to do these days, truth be told, I’d go to the pub.
José Pizarro’s recipe for crisp chicken wings with mojo rojo and Rachel Roddy’s recipe for a picnic pie with greens and Parmesan, is based on a recipe protected and promoted by the Consorzio dell’Erbazzone Reggiano as well as raspberry oat crumble slice by Rosie Sykes in the Guardian, which looks ideal for picnics.
Nigel Slater has a green vegetable crumble and cucumber, microgreens, wasabi in the Observer and his melon, tomato and basil soup and puffed rice with cucumber and spices are in their breakfast special. This also includes the best cafés and restaurants to start your day including my favourite, the Elder Press on the River Thames near Hammersmith.
Clodagh McKenna’s 30-minute summer recipes in the Sunday Times, summer minestrone soup, chicken and broccoli salad with lime and yoghurt dressing, and coconut and lime fish curry.
Very vinegary chicken with warm chicken fat bread and peppers from Eleanor Steafel and thrifty head to tail fish recipes from Mark Hix, both in the Telegraph with red mullet with summer vegetables recipe, fish soup, and a summer berry trifle.
Books
Comfort and Joy by Ravinder Bhogal
with an interview on cooking with spice and dessert recipes for stone fruit with burnt honey ice cream and sweet dukkah, orange and fennel cake with candied fennel and oranges, and spiced apple and blackberry meringue roulade. All in the Times.
Kung Pao & Beyond by Susan Jung
in the Telegraph with recipes for Mom’s fried chicken with garlic, ginger and soy, Korean fire chicken and Sriracha chicken wings.
