Still in London

Well. I have not forgotten Mexico, but there is such a lot in London. This week saw us try a new restaurant in Soho, well new to me, it has been opened for 6 months only. Giles Coran reviewed it in the Times last week and declared it like the Apple genius Bar, but with food. ( for those of you are not Apple…. computer fans, might not understand this reference… All Apple shops have a what they call a genius bar, where super geeks, greet you with a smile, solve any of your computer/phone/tablet problems with a blink of an eyelid and are happy to have been of help…. all not very English really)

The restaurant in question is La Blanchette

(9 D’Arblay Street, London W1 (020 7439 8100; blanchettesoho.co.uk)

So long time London mate and I decided to check it out, and what a find it was. Funky and fun and cheap. The menu is very simple, there is Charcuterie ( it looked ample for a Lady who lunches) and cheese as well as the menu. There were 5 choices in each section, Fish, Meat and Vegetables, all priced around the £7-8 mark. We were told that the portions were small so we ordered something extra. We had and shared the Moules, which were delicious and being an Ex Belgian, Moules have to have Frites with them, and they were excellent, hand cut, double fried and crispy( not like the frozen ones being delivered daily to Nando’s or McD’s a stones throw from my house . They were accompanied by a béarnaise sauce, and not the normal Belgian way of mayonnaise.

This was followed by, friend choosing the smoked duck salad and myself the warm confit of Salmon with puy Lentils. Both dishes were excellent and I would have been happy with anything from the menu, all looked really good. A large Perrier and 2 cafe lattes completed our lunch and cost £20 each, which included a generous tip. Will go back, the staff were cheerful, friendly and funky. Oh what fun.

I LOVE markets, Flower Markets, fruit and Veg. markets, fish markets, bird markets, In Hong Kong, Singapore, Majorca, Barcelona,South Africa, Belgium, Flea Markets, Mexico, ( more on those later) Oh how I love markets.

So, my love of markets led us to an early morning trip to Billingsgate fish Market, which lies in the shadow of Canary Wharf, London’s new financial district, it of Sky scrapers to rival the best.Billingsgate is the United Kingdom’s largest inland fish market. An average of 25,000 tonnes of fish and fish products are sold through its merchants each year. The Market covers an area of 13 acres and is entirely self-contained. The ground floor of the building comprises a large trading hall with 98 stands and 30 shops, including two cafes; a number of individual cold rooms; an 800 tonne freezer store. The market is policed daily by an inspector who ensures that all the produce on sale, whether it be fresh or frozen, meets the required standards of freshness, quality and if frozen, the temperature it is kept at.

Billingsgate Market

Trafalgar Way
Poplar
London
E14 5ST

Tel: 020 7987 1118
Fax: 020 7987 0258

Email: billingsgatemarket@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Opening hours are from 4.0am until 9.am, Tuesday to Saturday. Parking is on site, or Docklands light rail road will take you there. Black Plastic bags are supplied, so you can carry your fish home. Shopping trolleys can be left at the door. I saw some today were secured by Bicycle locks, don’t want to have that nicked, when you have just purchased tons of fish! Also on site, but upstairs is

Billingsgate Seafood Training School

A cooking school, by any other name, and when I attended a class there it was given by by C.J. Jackson who is the Director of the Billingsgate Seafood Training School and she is a hugely experienced teacher who has worked at the Cordon Bleu School, Leiths School of Food and Wine, where she was Vice Principal and now at the Training School. She has written two books about fish, Leiths Fish Bible and The Billingsgate Market Cookbook.

Tel: 020 7517 3548/9
Fax: 020 7517 3544

Email: info@seafoodtraining.org

www.seafoodtraining.org

The other thing we did in the wee small hours this morning, was to visit, Smithfield Market, or London central Market

Smithfield Market is located in the City of London and is close to landmarks such as the Barbican, St Paul’s Cathedral and St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
The markets at Smithfield are open MONDAY to FRIDAY from 3am but are closed on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays, but buyers should arrive no later than 7am. Smithfield Market is over 140 years old but has been on the site for almost one thousand years, is a fully EU approved wholesale market. As with Billingsgate, this is where the retailers buy their produce and so as you might expect the prices are CHEAP, the downside of course buying is in bulk, 30 Sea Bass=£30 orAustralian/Scottish/Argentinan Ribeye +/- £15 a kilo!

London Calling

I am delaying the continuation of all things Mexican. There is so much to tell, but meanwhile back in London, there has also been a lot going on. This week, has seen us eating at the iconic restaurant that is known as the IVY as well as Côte in Islington, Quantus in Chiswick and Memories of China in Kensington.

So for starters, we had a house guest who had never been to the IVY, so we went. It belongs to Caprice holdings, which owns/runs many London restaurants, including La Caprice, Daphne’s, J. Sheekey, Annabels, Harrys Bar, as well as Côte, Grillshack and Balthazar, and until recently Wentworth. All I can say is that the service in all of these establishments is impeccable, but not at all stuffy, friendly and professional.

The Ivy is the ultimate people watching venue, and we were lucky enough to be facing into the room ( himself faced the window/wall, poor thing). As far as I could see, there were no rich and famous to focus on, but some American business men with their escorts ( Indonesian and female) and some English, boy next door types, with their English escorts ( Dusty Springfield look alikes, have not seen backcombed Beehives in years).

I and house guest ate the fois gras, which was divine,whilst himself had the steak tartare( raw meat to you and me), his disappointment was that he could not mix it himself. for mains they chose the calf’s liver and bacon whilst I had the dressed Dorset crab , with a side portion of chips. The crab salad was lovely but I have to say that I had to send the chips back, if I am going to have chips ( which I shouldn’t) then they have to be perfect, and the first ones were on the soggy side and only luke warm. I have to say that 2nd time around, they were perfect, crisp and hot.

For dessert,Herself, chose the sticky toffee pudding, which she declared half way through, “I should not have, I can not finish it”, and himself had the frozen berries with hot white chocolate sauce. this is such a splendid pud and sooo easy to make. The Food at the Ivy would not be called fine dining, BUT the menu is very eclectic, that it is very hard to decide what to have, so much to choose from and then every two weeks they change some of the dishes out, so even if you are dreaming of the fish cakes, or fish pie, or the best hamburger, it might not just be on the menu when you get there. That just means you have to go again, and why not!

Côte I have written about previously, a good place to go for lunch with girlfriends, or breakfast with hubby, pre theatre, post theatre, the standard is consistent, the quality good, the service excellent and the price is right.There are now 47 Côte locations with 24 of them being in the London area, so if there is one near you, do check it out.

Onto, last night, I went to a wine tasting event held by Naked Wines.

Naked Wines is an online wine retailer which launched in the UK on 1 December 2008 and founded by Rowan Gormley.

They fund independent winemakers from around the world, in return for exclusive wines at wholesale prices – and they currently ship wine throughout the UK, the USA and Australia.To get the best price from this company, you have to become an Angel. This costs only £20 a month and it remains you money, as every time you buy, the £20 is deducted from your bill. Some of the discounts are up 40-50% so well worth the investment. Anyway, I went with friends, tasted some excellent wines and then had dinner in a great Chinese restaurant called “Memories of China” This is Ken Lo’s restaurant which opened 30 years ago, and although the food was good, I think it is probably a little jaded. With so many other restaurants in London, it will have to up it’s appeal as on a Saturday night it was fairly empty. Our waitress who was from Nepal, was charming.

So if you like fine wine, from small independent producers, check out NAKED WINES> you will not be disappointed! Back to Mexico, next time!

Eating our way through Mexico Part Two

On leaving the Yucatan we headed to San Miguel de Allende a city far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City or a three-hour drive ( or if #1 daughter is driving make that just 2 hours)! Historically, the town is important as being the birthplace of Ignacio Allende, whose name was added 1826. However, the prosperity of the town waned during and after the war of independence, and at the beginning of the 20th century was in danger of becoming a ghost town. However its colonial structures were “discovered” by foreign artists who moved in and began art and cultural institutes.

2014-04-16 14.21.04 — View of San Miguel from the Terrace

This attracted foreign art students, and a very large number of foreign retirees,North Americans, especially those wishing to escape the freezing temperatures of the North America, artists, writers and tourists, which is shifting the area’s economy commerce catering to outside visitors and residents.

2014-04-16 13.09.29 — View of the Cathedral

The main attraction of the town is its well-preserved historic center, filled with buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The town was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2008.

We rented a house overlooking the town and the main cathedral, with Bougainvillea all around. It was Semana Santa, or Holy Week, or Easter, and as such there were parades almost all day. Deeply religious and almost shocking in their intensity we witnessed enormous parades, with children dressed in white carrying various forms of crucifix or statues of bloodied martyrs.

breakfast pastries — Pastries at Cumpanio

The restaurant scene here is very much alive and kicking and I have to admit that we ate out every day. For breakfast, we ran down the hill ( we always took a cab back up, I hasten to add) and went to a restaurant by the name of Cumpanio. It is famous for the pastries as well as the wonderful breakfasts.

Huevos Poche, are poached eggs in a small casserole, with either a red sauce or green sauce, and cheese, but meanwhile the crepas de chicarron, is pork scratchings in a crepe with again a red sauce over it. Himself said, OK BUT! Meanwhile, I tried the stuffed cactus, convinced that if I tried it enough times I would eventually say, “YEAH!” but so far I have not.

Breakfast cactus stuffed with string cheese

Moving swiftly on, #1 daughter and I enrolled in a cooking class. This class has been featured in several publications, including Texas Monthly, Austin Home & Living, Travel Lady Magazine, the Miami Herald and The Washington Post.

The school is called La Cocina, and the classes are conducted in English and Spanish with the chef, being Mexican. The school is in the centre of San Miguel in a beautiful old building, lovingly restored with a central courtyard. There were about 12 of us in the class, predominately Americans some of whom were expats making the most of cheaper living in San Miguel. Also in our group were some tourists like us, a honeymoon couple and a couple from Canada. We started out with a trip to the local market to buy our supplies, including a ready roasted chicken, interestingly the spit roasted chicken which we purchased had no skin on (not sure how they do it). So, a skinny bird!

In the class — Hard at work in the kitchen

Between us we cooked a number of different dishes, including a smoked salsa, stewed cactus, Guacamole (wonderful to get an abundance of ready to eat avocados) the best we can do here in the UK either a local ethnic market, where some of the produce can be a bit iffy, or a supermarket, where likewise it can be a hit and miss experience. Sometimes when it says “ready to eat”, it really means “ready to eat next year, not today”!

some of the dishes that were cooked — Some of our work

We spent a long morning at the cooking school and was a good experience, we learnt a lot and it was mostly a “hands on experience”. This really depended on how pushy one could be, one American woman always seemed to be the first to put her hand up or grab the apron or smush the avocados. For me that was fine, but # 1 daughter only managed to chop the cactus! Maybe this did not appeal greatly to pushy woman.

Finally everything was ready and we ate lunch, ample quantities of everything including margaritas and strawberry daiquiris. Now that is what I call a cooking school!

We finally caught up with husbands and small ones, who it seemed had spent the day touring the toy museum and eating pastries and ice cream! More on that next time…

oystersandchampagne

Good food , good places to eat, great recipes, tried and tested

Month: June 2014

Still in London

Billingsgate Seafood Training School

London Calling

Eating our way through Mexico Part Two