October 31 2022
places to go, food to eat
Travel
The Times had a list of the best hotel foodie breaks for Autumn, including Osip in Bruton , the Pentonbridge Inn near Carlisle, Bistro Lotte in Frome and the Checkers in Powys to mention some of the more affordable one
There were walks in the Guardian which mention places to eat including the Forest of Bowland and Portmeirion to Coleg Harlech in north-west Wales. There will be more online later.
Abroad
The Times had a thought provoking list of places that don’t want you to visit because of over-tourism. Venice, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, the Balearic Islands, Lisbon, Santorini, Amsterdam, Iceland, the North Coast 500 in Scotland and Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales were just a few of the destinations. I went to Venice in May this year and it was busy but fine but I don’t think the cruise ships were back.
The Times had a mini-break in Warsaw, the FT has the best bars in Barcelona and the five top spots to raise a glass of natural wine in Paris and the Guardian, tips on Deauville. The FT also rediscovered Brescia and Bergamo, which it deemed Italy’s twin treasures. It’s easy to get to Bergamo with Ryanair and I started an Italian holiday there a couple of years ago but then got two very expensive parking tickets as we tried to get to our hotel and unwittingly drove where we weren’t supposed to.
The Observer has finally gone to Aix-en-Provence on the trail of Cézanne after all the other newspapers have been there, ( see previous newsletters) in conjunction with the Cézanne exhibition at Tate Britain. I’ve already seen this once and am going back. It’s stunning.
The Times has an article about the Vinho Verde wine region and walking the Menalon Trail in the Pelponnese, Greece.
The Independent has done a Netherlands Travel Guide and a Finland country guide, both full of useful basic information. There are many more of these guides on their website.
Restaurants
In the Daily Mail, Tom Parker-Bowles went to the Methuen Arms in Corsham, Wiltshire and liked it. Website here
In the FT, Tim Hayward went to Speedboat Bar, Luke Farrell’s new Thai restaurant in Soho and observes that Farrell’s obsession with creating an experience extends to the food which he called ‘sensational.’ The website is here.
He also discusses the trend towards dining earlier here, saying “Dine out at 6pm? I’d rather not, thank you.”
In the Guardian, Grace Dent visited Milk Beach in Soho, London, an Australian restaurant and thought ‘it offered some of the most accomplished cooking I’ve seen in Soho for some time’ and ‘the service is warm and toasty’. Website here.
In the Observer, Jay Rayner went to Jinseon, a Korean barbecue in Coventry, which he loved. Website here.
In the Times, Giles Coren travelled to Green Lanes in London N4 to Hala, a typical Turkish restaurant and liked it. Website here.
In the Standard, Jimi Faruewa went to Mount St restaurant in Mayfair, London, website here, the latest place by Hauser and Wirth and he thought it was “deserving of both attention and acclaim.” I’d like to go one day just to see the art, with a Lucian Freud on the walls.
In the Sunday Times, Marina O’Loughlin took aim at Gordon Ramday’s burger chain, Street Burger. I said I wouldn’t include reviews of bad restaurant but as this is Marina O’Loughlin’s last review for the Sunday Times, I thought I would. She says, don’t go there, go to Black Bear burger instead if you are in Clerkenwell or Brixton and fancy a burger.
Recipes
There’s an autumnal and a vegetarian and vegan theme in the papers this week.
Honey and Co had a dual recipe in the FT, spinach rice with feta and then using the leftovers to make rice balls. I’ve made the spinach rice pictured above but have yet to make the rice balls.
In the Mail on Sunday, there was a squash and pesto tart recipe , one in the continuing series of recipes everywhere of what you can do with a sheet of puff pastry.
Mark Hix’s autumnal squash recipes, including squash salad, squash curry and jewelled rice, and chocolate and squash pie and Phil Howard’s recipes for winter pasta, bucatini with vegetable bolognese, ribbon pasta with chicken livers, and gnochetti with sausage (which sounds similar to the River Cafe penne with a slow cooked sausage sauce which I happened to make last week) are all in the Telegraph.
Rachel Roddy’s rosel or north Italian potato cakes recipe which she describes as a ‘rosti crossed with a pancake’ as well as Meera Sodha’s recipe for Malaysian dal curry, mash with tamarind and lemon grass are in the Guardian. I want to make both of these. There are also Ottolenghi’s recipes for movie night snacks including sticky chicken wings and pickled things, peanut butter and sour cherry rice pop squares and mushroom quesadillas with plum salsa.
Nigel Slater’s has recipes in the Observer for pumpkin rolls with pomegranate molasses, and baked apples with maple syrup.
Jamie Oliver givse tips in the Times for making perfect pasta.
And finally, Skye McAlpine obviously didn’t get the memo about the vegetarian theme this week and concentrated on simple fish recipes in the Sunday Times, sea bream with baby tomatoes and artichokes recipe here, sea bass with baby new potatoes and lemon recipe here and baked salmon with salsa verde here.
Books
Spice by Mark Diacono
There are recipes in the Telegraph for Bún riêu, (tomatoes, meatballs and crab,) and chilindrón stew made from wild boar. The author asked other cooks for recipes and Sumayya Usmani provided a recipe for Kunna gosht which is a rich Punjabi wedding dish made of slow-cooked lamb or mutton shanks and garam masala.
I have bought this book and it’s going to be so valuable to extend my knowledge of spices and recipes using them. Ive already been to Spice Mountain at Borough Market to buy grains of paradise to make something.
Hoppers: The Cookbook by Karan Gokani
is featured in the Mail on Sunday and there is a recipe for Kalupol roast chicken which was one of the first dishes they served at its London restaurant, as well as a red chicken curry and a tamarind prawn curry recipe.
The Fast Five: Shortcuts to Deliciousness by Donna Hay
There are recipes from the Times for polenta cake with orange blossom syrup and choc caramel fudge recipes here, Earl Grey, lemon and blueberry cake and chocolate truffle cake here and pear ricotta cake and fig and coconut tart here and passionfruit pudding cup and chocolate mud pie here.
River Cottage Good Comfort by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
There is an interview with the author here and recipes here for chicken and chorizo rice, squeak and bubble and hot chocolate pudding all from the Independent.
Food for Life: the new science of eating well by Tim Spector.
Tim Spector was in the Guardian, with a summary of the conclusions of his book as well as a list of 18 foods to boost your health and the planets. I went to see him speak this week and he provides compelling evidence based arguments on how to eat more healthily and sustainably. I’ve bought the book but I would recommend these articles as an introduction to his work and then you might want to buy or borrow the book too.