October 24 2022
places to go, food to eat
I’ve been having a think about the way to take this newsletter forwards after a chat with my elder daughter, who works as a PR strategist, and pertinently asked me to describe my brief. I’ve come up with “to inspire people who are interested in food to enjoy themselves by going to good quality affordable places.” And we agreed that it’s my edit, and not a comprehensive press cuttings service of everything that’s been in all the newspapers.
I like independent travel, a weekend break staying in a pub or B and B in the UK or a self catering apartment or villa abroad. I love living in London and experiencing everything it offers, but I’m also a member of a mountaineering club and heave a sigh of relief on seeing an open landscape and a big sky.
As people who do winter sports generally know where they like to go, there won’t be any links to skiing articles, nor will there be boat cruises as that is my idea of hell.
I won’t cover the restaurant reviews from all the newspapers as it’s pointless circulating a bad review, and I won’t cover expensive places in London that are obviously the result of a PR invite or are already well known. I want to feature places that you would want to bookmark to visit.
I want to cook seasonal food and to choose recipes that don’t have twenty five ingredients and say they are for a midweek supper. I’m eating more and more vegetarian and vegan meals and my newsletter encourages me to try things I’ve never cooked before. Do let me know what you think about this.
Travel
UK
The Daily Mail had some of the winning photos in the 2022 UK Landscape Photographer of the Year awards. They are on show at Paddington Station in London from October 31 and then around the country. I’m going to go and see them and then go on the Elizabeth Line for the first time. Simple pleasures.
In The Sunday Times Style section, they tipped five new country hotspots including Batcombe in Somerset where Margot Henderson is opening a restaurant, Glenelg in the Highlands and Clapham in North Yorkshire. Some good recommendations on places to stay and to eat.
EUROPE
The Guardian had the most heartwarming article about three brothers walking the Camino de Santiago on one of the routes through Spain. It made me want to put my boots on and start training.
The islands of Achill and Inishmore in the west of Ireland are in The Times and you can fly into Knock. They are the setting for the new film, The Banshees of Inisherin.
The FT has an article on Paris, based on Ernest Hemingway’s, ‘A moveable feast,’ chronicling his years spent living there. I’m ordering the book.
The Guardian has readers’ best value autumn breaks in Europe including Malaga, Northern Bavaria and Alicante. The comments can be helpful too. The Times has been to Oviedo in Spain, The Telegraph to Trieste in Italy which it likens to Venice but without the crowds, and The Guardian has a local’s guide to Antwerp.
Restaurants
In The Guardian, Grace Dent went to the Old Stamp House, Ambleside, in the Lake District here to see if it lived up to the title of ‘Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the World’ as deemed by TripAdvisor and thought it was fabulous.
In The Observer, Jay Rayner travelled to the Moonfish Cafe in Aberdeen, here, which he thought a ‘civilised place to be’ with a ‘certain kind of magic.’
In The Telegraph, William Sitwell went to Shropshire to the Bear Inn in Hodnet, here, which he thought magnificent.
In The Times, Giles Coren loved The Baring, here, a pub in London N1, saying ‘I haven’t seen a better menu so perfectly executed for a long time.’
InThe Standard, Jimi Faruewa visited Milk Beach in Soho, London, here, and said “when it comes to a certain mode of confident, culturally-nimble sunshine food, Australians might do it better.”
In The Sunday Times, Marina O’Loughlin went to three restaurants in Cardiff, Bacareto, Kindle and Nook, all of which she liked, and also stayed in a nice hotel, Asador 44.
Recipes
In The Times, there were a lot of autumn cheesy recipes that you might already make such as macaroni cheese but I made the goat’s cheese and red pepper tart, pictured above this week. I’m always up for something to put on top of puff pastry and it has a base of tapenade and then red onion, red peppers, cherry tomatoes and goats cheese scattered on top with a scattering of urfa chilli or paprika. I used some pigment d’espelette and am not sure it needed it but I would definitely make it again.
In Mark Hix’s menu in The Telegraph , there was a pigeon and apple salad, a classic slow-cooked osso buco and a perry-poached pear with blackberries.
Some doable vegetarian dishes in The Guardian, including a courgette potato béchamel bake recipe by Rachel Roddy, a squash risotto with chestnut chilli oil recipe by Thomasina Miers and a cauliflower bhaji chaat recipe by Meera Sodha.
As usual, Nigel Slater has delicious sounding ideas in The Observer with recipes for chorizo, prunes and almonds and baked pears, marmalade and oloroso.
Ravinder Bhogal did a double: recipes in The Guardian for a Kashmiri lamb and turnip curry and a beetroot, cheese and walnut crumble and The FT with a pig cheek and fennel ragu recipe. I always forget about pork cheeks in the summer but now I want to make this.
Candice Brown in the Times gave a Amaretto Basque cheesecake recipe, a Bourbon biscuit cheesecake recipe and a miniature berry cheesecake recipe.
Books
Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well by Tim Spector
He talks so much sense and there’s an interview with him here in The Times.
Cook and Share by Mary Berry
Recipes here in The Independent with spaghetti with peas and pesto, Tuscan chicken and ultimate chocolate brownies.
Borough Market: The Knowledge by Angela Clutton
Interview and recipes in The Times including mixed root hasselbacks with miso butter
Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes by Giuseppe Dell’Anno
Bake Off winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno’s Italian dessert recipes with an interview and recipes in The Times for torta tenerina (little tender cake), a coffee pannacotta and a polenta sponge cake.
The Fast Five: shortcut to deliciousness by Donna Hay
with details and more recipes in The Mail on Sunday including Thai coconut red curry salmon and lamb meatballs stuffed with feta.
Any feedback on this newsletter is really welcome.
I’m going to read the article about the Camino! It’s partly why I had my knee fixed, I’ve wanted to walk at least 100 k and get a Certificate, for years! My neighbour in Brittany walked it, and said it was amazing. And I’ll try the goat cheese puff pastry, sounds perfect, we’re having a vegetarian week (our daughter’s home from school), I think we’ll all love these flavours.