French trains, Easter lamb and Semlor buns
April 3 2022
Travel
UK
There’s a guide to Oxford in the Independent and how to explore Northumberland in a Land Rover in the FT.
Europe
The Telegraph advises a trip to the heel of Italy, Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia and Campania, for glorious beaches and pretty villages without the crowds. Ryanair have added a new airport, Lamezia in the area.
The restaurateur, wine importer and magazine founder Dan Keeling who founded Noble Rot restaurant and is a wine importer told us his favourite places in Burgundy in the FT. Gregory Marchand shared his secret eats in Paris in the FT which are in Sentier, especially the Rue de Nil. There was also a list of extraordinary train journeys in France in the Times including exploring the Basque country on slow trains and Le Train de la Rhune which I am going to do this summer. I actually have a note to book it when the ticket office opens in June as it gets very popular. France and mountains, two of my favourite things.
The Telegraph described a charming weekend in Barcelona as well as giving a guide to free things to do there. Also a budget guide to Girona in the Daily Mail if you fancy visiting both together.
Restaurants
The Standard gave a list of London restaurants awarded Bib Gourmand status by Michelin promising “good quality and good value” food
In the FT, Tim Hayward called Socca a ‘French-Med bistro of overwhelming excellence.’ In the Times, Giles went there too but insisted he was reviewing Poons Wontoneria because of the last two paragraphs, a pop up until May 7
In the Guardian, Grace Dent visited Toba, an Indonesian restaurant in London SW1 and thought ‘St James’s Market may be soulless, but places like Toba and its neighbour Fallow keep dragging me back for the dependably good food.’
In the Observer, Jay Rayner ate Southern Thai food in London W1, and wrote, when presented with the vivacity of Speedboat Bar, in the style is completely irresistible.
In the Standard, Jimi Famurewa reviewed Rambutan, in Borough Market, run by British chef and cookbook author Cynthia Shanmugalingam and thought it a palate-rattling trip
Recipes.
Lots of ideas for lamb this week including Florence Knight’s Easter recipes in the Sunday Times for lamb, chard and crème fraîche, Jersey royals and asparagus; sea bream, radish and chilli; and rhubarb and rose granita and custard.
Diana Henry’s Easter menu for roast leg of lamb stuffed with ricotta, oregano and lemon, purple sprouting broccoli with olive oil mash and mango and passionfruit mess with basil and pistachios was in the Telegraph. I always make o her latest leg of lamb recipes each Easter Sunday so this will be the one.
There were Semlor buns by Ottolenghi in the Guardian as well as his recipes for Boulangère lamb and roast pepper salad and sweet buns with labne and passion fruit by Nigel Slater in the Observer as well as a pork and kimchi stew. Nigel Slater also gave a nice sounding recipe for almond and lemon shortcakes for that citrus marzipanny Easter flavour.
Chef Max Rocha shared his recipes from the hit restaurant Café Cecilia in the Times, including grilled mackerel, marinated tomatoes and horseradish crème fraîche, chicory, blood orange, Stilton and hazelnuts, potato rosti, fried egg and anchovy and their most popular dessert, brown bread semifreddo with chocolate sauce
Rowley Leigh explained how to make burnt leeks with polenta and romesco sauce in the FT.
Eleanor Steafel gave seven steps for a stress free dinner party and a recipe for osso bucco with saffron risotto and gremolata in the Telegraph.
Books
Sweet Enough by Alison Roman
There was an interview in the Telegraph here about the author’s comeback after being cancelled and then her recipes for birthday cookies, salted lemon cream pie, hard roasted pears and chocolate tart. My daughter made the lemon cream pie at the weekend for a family celebration but we all decided that we liked Good Housekeeping’s lemon crunch pie better which doesn’t have egg yolks in it and isn’t cooked. It’s similar to the one in the Hamlyn colour cookbook.
Rice Table by Su Scott
After the birth of her daughter, the author explained in this interview in the Independent how she questioned her identity as an immigrant mother in the UK, Cooking Korean food felt like the most immediate, tangible thing she could do to make sense of who she was. The book ‘is a love letter to her daughter, spanning identity, immigration and how we build a story of our heritage through food with recipes including Korean fried chicken, tofu with buttered kimchi and sweet rice doughnuts.
