Paris, undiscovered places and 'Comfort,' the cookbook.

September 9 2024

Canoeing under the Pont du Gard in Provence

Introduction

I’ve been in Provence and L’Occitanie for the last two weeks and haven’t cooked anything from the papers. as is my custom. We went to numerous markets, canoed down the River Gardon, swam in the Med, and all in all, had a great time. My guide to the markets coming next week. In a bookshop window in the small town of Anduze on the edge of the Cévennes, I spied a copy of Comfort by Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Tara Wigley and Verena Lochmuller on publication day, which shows how far such a book travels. I’m looking forward to cooking from it, now that I’m home, back in my own kitchen.

Books

Ottolenghi Comfort by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley

After last week’s recipes in the Guardian, there are also recipes in the Times for puttanesca-style salmon traybake, chicken with Steph’s spice and cheeseball lemon rice with chilli butter

and in the Independent with recipes for butter beans with roasted cherry tomatoes, cheese ball lemon rice with chilli butter and green  tea noodle

and in the Stylist with recipes for cheeseball lemon rice with chilli butter, egg sambal ‘shakshuka’ and Helen’s bolognese. The differentiating factor in the bolognes is that is ‘includes doubanjiang – a spicy bean paste made from fermented soya beans, broad beans and chillies.’

Romy Gill's India: Recipes from Home by Romy Gill

in the Telegraph with recipes for baingan and aloo sabzi (aubergine and potato curry), sakoon paneer (creamy paneer), Tandoori masala kukkad (Tandoori poussin) and Aloor singara (Bengali samosas).

Matt Tebbutt’s Pub Food by Matt Tebbutt

in the Independent with an interview here and recipes for rack of lamb with baby gem lettuce, peas, mint and bacon, then smoked haddock soufflé tart and chocolate pudding and mascarpone ice cream.

John and Lisa’s Kitchen: Everyday Recipes From a Professional Chef and a Home Cook by John Torode and Lisa Faulkner

in the Times with five recipes that John Torode and Lisa Faulkner cook at home including pan-fried crispy gnocchi, tomatoes, olives and rocket chorizo, (could it ever be fried in anything but a pan?), broken yolk smash with tomato salsa and John’s ‘cheat’ seafood fideuà.

Nights Out at Home: Recipes and Stories from 25 Years as a Restaurant Critic by Jay Rayner

with an extract in the Observer and recipes for chicken in a mustard sauce inspired  by the rabbit in a mustard sauce served by Henry Harris at Racine, charred  hispi cabbage topped with crushed Scampi Fries and Frazzles, inspired by the dish served at XO Kitchen, Norwich and thick vinaigrette, inspired by the version served with globe artichokes at Oslo Court, London

Restaurants

The Standard did the best breakfasts in London the Regency Café near Victoria which is an excellent place to go for brunch or lunch after a morning at Tate Britain. Also the River Café Café which is within walking distance of my house and is now a tempting prospect to have River Café food at a much more affordable price. Below an al fresco breakfast, (not today) with excellent filled cornetti and crostata di marmelata.

River Café Café breakfast went to

In the FT, Tim Hayward went to the Suffolk in Aldeburgh and liked it, ‘especially the fresh fish and good service.’

In the Guardian, Grace Dent went to Ibai in London ECI and wrote, ‘Don’t write Ibai off as a steakhouse for city boys; it’s much, much more than that. This hulking Basque pleasure palace signals that opulence and living it large are very much still “in”.’ William Sitwell went there too in the Telegraph and gave it five stars.

Grace Dent also went to the Ambassadors Clubhouse and thought it was many things: handy, ostensibly fancy but still semi-affordable, open late and easier to get into than Gymkhana. As did Jimi Famurewa in the Standard who decided ‘it was an utterly irresistible argument for indulgence.’

In the Observer, Jay Rayner went to Giovanni’s in London WC2 which has been here for the last sixty years and still liked it and to Little Dumpling King in Stoke on Trent which had ‘huge banging flavours’ -if you ever happen to be going that way.

In the Standard, Jimi Famurewa was also at Mauby in Brockley, a Caribbean restaurant and thought ‘the food deserved to be here for the long haul.Mauby is unique, charming and, in its own minor key way, quietly game-changing.’

In the Telegraph, William Sitwell also went to the Native in Tenbury Wells where Ivan Tisdall-Downes has taken over the building where Pensons used to be and thought it properly fabulous and well worth the journey with ‘Miraculous bread, world class mutton ‘

Travel

UK

Ten of the best gardens in the UK in the Observer including Great Dixter, Coleton Fishacre in Devon and Iford Manor where I went last year on a boiling hot day, where I would like to go back when it’s cooler. We had an excellent meal in the restaurant there.

Europe

How to have the perfect autumn city break in Paris in the Telegraph. The Centre Pompidou, is closing for renovations in November until 2030. They advise to ride the escalators to the top and admire the view one more time before doors close.

A local’s guide to Paris in Sawdays newsletter as well as two nights in Paris with Carolyn Boyd, author of Amuse-Bouche  and her recommendations about what to eat in Northern France 

In the FT , they go to the Île d’Yeu which is not is the Île de Ré, but another small island off the Vendée coast in France, which they liken to St Tropez 50 years ago. How do they know? Where they in St Tropez then? Anyway, they   took a ‘30-minute catamaran ride from Fromentine, a little port about 75 minutes’ drive south-west of Nantes. (There’s also an hour-long route in summer from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, further down the coast).’

A comparison of Provence and Tuscany in the Telegraph. My opinion, Tuscany for the art and the gardens, Provence for the markets and the sea.

How  to tackle the Camino de Santiago which they deem the world’s greatest pilgrimage in the Telegraph 

Tips on how to visit Vienna in the Observer

Two undiscovered places, Cantabria’s Costa Trasmiera (in the Telegraph) ‘covers about 30 miles between Santander and the fishing town of Santoña to the east  offers unspoilt beaches, terrific surf and outstanding food and Maratea in Italy, almost on the Amalfi Coast, in the Independent which is an hour by train from Salerno and away from the crowds.

Cadiz in the Times with a picture of the most tasty looking  prawn fritters. 

Reading the papers

People ask me how I read all the papers. I believe in paying for quality journalism and my husband and I have digital subscriptions to the Times and to the Telegraph. Sometimes my husband buys a Times on Saturdays or I buy a Guardian and I buy the Observer when it’s Observer Food Monthly. Otherwise I rely on what’s online, and on Twitter and Instagram. And occasionally, I ask a friend to save an article for me.

The Times gives you two free articles a week as a registered user and the Telegraph gives you access to one free article each week if you register an account. The FT gives a certain number of free articles

Local public libraries often have Pressreader which gives access to over 7,000 newspapers world wide for free or you can subscribe to it.

Sometimes, I use the recipes for inspiration. If they are from a cookbook, they may be in other publications as well for publicity, and you may find them or a similar version through a quick Google.