Travel
UK
The Telegraph has the best high streets in the UK for Christmas shopping and the Guardian has Britain’s favourite independent shopping streets, ‘where Christmas shopping is a pleasure’.
My motto for December is ‘enough is plenty’ and I don’t know whether I would ever find negotiating crowded streets looking for stuff that people don’t generally need, ‘a pleasure’ ……..but do see if there’s a street near you that you don’t know.
Wales features in the Telegraph with an article on the Welsh Marches, which it describes as ‘the beautiful border land with wild mountains and hidden villages – but hardly any tourists’ which is more my thing, and in the Guardian with a coast and hill walk to the Britannia Inn, on the Gower peninsula. There’s also a good round up article in the Guardian on the North York Moors.
Europe
The most important article was a study by Fodor on overtourism reported in a few papers, linked in the Independent here. I do realise the irony of this article in a travel newsletter but Barcelona, Paris and Dubrovnik are all namechecked in a section called “suffering cultural hotspots”, while Venice and the Amalfi Coast are on the list as two of Italy’s most tourist-flooded areas
It’s train travel time in Europe with a guide to travelling around Italy in the Telegraph and the Dublin coastline in the Times. When I was a student, I went to Naples and then the Amalfi Coast by train, stopping off at Rome and Florence on the way there and back as we calculated it was the furthest we could get for the least money. Now I would like to do it again and manage to eat things other than bread, ham, tomatoes and cherries which was all we could afford at the time. It was one of the best holidays ever, backpacking, staying in hostels we found in a torn out extract from ‘Let’s go Europe’ before the internet existed.
There’s shopping again with 10 of Europe’s coolest Christmas markets in the Guardian, guide to travel in Sweden in and one to travel in Serbia in the Independent. Sicily around Palermo is in the Standard.
Restaurants
An interview with Ruth Rogers in the Mail on Sunday which reminds me that the River Café winter lunch deal should be coming soon, which I think is one of London’s best set lunches.
The best restaurants in Notting Hill, London W11 in the Standard from David Ellis.
In the Mail on Sunday , Tom Parker-Bowles went to Burning Rose, a Thai restaurant in Balham and liked it.
In the FT, Tim Hayward went to Cavita, website here and thinks it redefined Mexican food in London
In the Guardian, Grace Dent went to Miznon, website here and enjoyed the carbs, as ever.
In the Observer, Jay Rayner visited the Black Bull Inn in Sedbergh in Cumbria or is it West Yorkshire, website here and loved it.
In the Standard, Jimi Faruewa went to Straker in Notting Hill, website here, made famous by the chef Thomas Straker being on TikTok and says, “There is more than enough at his buzzy, eponymous debut restaurant to suggest that sustained offline glory is very much within his grasp.”
In the Telegraph, William Sitwell went to Emilia in Ashburton, Devon, run by Clare Lattin, the co-founder of Ducksoup in Soho, website here. He loved it and gave it five stars and calls it an absolute corker of a place. I already follow Emilia on Instagram, and have plans to visit next year and feel mildly irritated that it’s another secret that’s out to the world. Come to think of it, this is probably the function of a restaurant reviewer.
In the Times, Giles Coren went to Noodle and Snack in W1 and he’s fallen in love ‘with this authentic Chinese restaurant full of Chinese students wanting a taste of home’.
Recipes
As yesterday was Advent Sunday, Christmas has come to the recipe pages.
The twenty best Christmas easy baking recipes in the Observer including both sweet and savoury including Jeremy Lee’ maple walnut biscuits, Tarumina Sinha’s masala chai pecan bundt and Honey and Co medjool date, honey and macadamia breakfast loaf as well as savoury ones such as Olia Hercules Christmas cheese and quince shortbread from Olia Hercules and Stilton and fig wholemal scones from Claire Thomson.
In the Guardian it’s all edible Christmas presents including chocolate mendiants from Ravneet Gill, marzipan brandy butter, barberry and Yemeni-spiced chocolate log, and coffee-laced tequila recipes from Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha’s vegan amaretti biscuits and Chetna Makan’s Christmas chutney recipes for ginger and chilli chutney, peanut and onion chutney and an apple, mango and pineapple chutney.
And Mark Diacono gives drink recipes including Krupnik, or Polish spiced honey vodka, Ponche crema, Aquavit, St Clementscello, Nutmeg syrup, Raspberry and lemongrass shrub.
Nadiya Hussain in the Sunday Times with with a ginger and pear trifle recipe, a Christmas mince pie squares recipe and a Christmas chocolate peppermint layer cake recipe
Pork, pecorino and oregano sausage rolls by Ravinder Bhogal following the party food theme in the FT
Mark Hix in the Telegraph gives recipes for a classic Cullen skink, Venison chop with autumn hash and a sweet beetroot tart
Mark Kempson in the Times with recipes for roast partridge with crushed pumpkin, chestnut and sage recipe, smashed venison sausage with sprout and parsnip gratin recipe, a pheasant shepherd’s pie with a juniper and bay crust recipe and a venison and winter roots casserole with bacon and cabbage recipe
Diana Henry in the Telegraph with German inspired recipes for Lübeck roast duck , Sausages with bacon, lentils and kale and onion and beer soup with cheese and mustard toasts
Sticky orange and maple chicken legs with quick pickled onion recipe in the Telegraph by Eleanor Steafel.
Nigel Slater has been away in Japan according to his Instagram, so instead in the Observer, there is Joe Trivelli with his recipes for crostini misti, gnocchi with cavolo nero, grilled pork with figs, and chocolate amaretto cake.
Books
The Times gives its best food books of the year including and also ones that have been in the papers and written about in past Substacks. Ones I have purchased include Cooking, simply and well, for one or many by Jeremy Lee, Moro Easy by Sam and Sam Clark. I’m surprised that Spice by Mark Diacono isn’t mentioned, nor Modern Pressure Cooking by Catherine Phipps and last but not least, my favourite book of the year, Notes from a Small Kitchen Island by Debora Robertson, from which I have cooked so many recipes.
Bliss On Toast by Prue Leith
an interview here in the Independent and recipes here for apricots, almonds and clotted cream on English muffin, chicken tikka with yoghurt on naan and tomatoes with English pesto on toasted focaccia.
Eating for Pleasure, People and Planet by Tom Hunt,
Tom Hunt is on a mission to raise awareness about the issues affecting our food system and the protection of biodiversity. He owns Poco Tapas Bar in Bristol and has written climate friendly recipes including borlotti bean stew with carrot top pesto and chickpea, chard, and chorizo hash in the Independent
Your substack is such a great resource Kate. I always make a note of something / somewhere I want to try as a result of reading. Thanks for the heads up on The River Cafe's Winter lunch menu - one I shall certainly put in the diary!