Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Sweetness is my weakness (from the Sunday Telegraph)
February 5th, 2012
As Valentine’s Day looms, men everywhere are panicking. This is a day when the Englishman is called upon not only to declare his feelings openly, but also to demonstrate them with lavishness and taste. Money is tight. Options are limited. What is a chap to do?
Answer: let the pudding do the talking. That’s what Fred Ponnavoy, head chef at Gü – who invents those impossibly indulgent chocolatey things you see on the shelves – recommends. And he should know. Firstly, he is a top pastry chef. Secondly, he is French.
“There is nothing that impresses a woman like a pudding you have made with love and attention,” he says. “It says I love you, you are sweet like sugar, you melt my heart.” Ah, the French.
We are standing in the Gü inventing room. Everything is made of brushed steel. A sous-chef stands attentively in the background with an almost elegant subservience. Ponnavoy’s mission? To show me how to make “high impact” puddings that will make my wife “feel passion like when the first time she met you”.
The idea is to focus on three puddings, each of which may offer a unique route to a woman’s heart. First up is a white chocolate and ginger crème brûlée. “There are two important things to remember,” says Ponnavoy as he arranges the ingredients on the table. “Number one: to make sure the crème is cold and the sugar is hot. You need contrast. Number two: the sugar should be very thin. When you make it, put it on, tap it off. A thin layer will remain. This you brûlée. If you leave it thick, like they do on Come Dine With Me, it will not caramelise easily. And it will be revolting.”
Under Ponnavoy’s supervision, I add some grated ginger to a mixture of heated milk and cream and leave it to infuse. Then I need to melt some chocolate. Surprisingly, Ponnavoy recommends using the microwave. “I do not want unnecessary heat in my kitchen,” he explains. “The microwave is perfect.” The trick, however, is to take the chocolate out before it loses its shape. If it turns to goop – güp? – there will be a danger of burning.
All this is mixed with egg yolk and sugar, cooked in the oven “until the middle goes wobbly”, and cooled in the fridge. Then Ponnavoy demonstrates a rather stylish alternative to the Demerara topping. He cooks sugar to make a liquid caramel (quickly, to avoid bitterness), adds lime zest (which marries perfectly with ginger), allows it to harden, then reduces it to powder in a spice blender. Blowtorching a thin layer of this caramel-lime powder lends a vibrant complexity to the brûlée.
The second pudding is a passion mango and chocolate caketail. Continue reading on the Telegraph website
At last: an Indian haggis (from the Telegraph)
January 25th, 2012
As Burns night draws closer, Scots everywhere are getting ready to lift a dram in honour of the bard. However, another literary great is also having an anniversary this year, as India marks the 150th anniversary of great poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Like Robert Burns, Tagore became an icon of his native culture. A poet, philosopher, musician, writer and educationalist he was explicitly inspired by Burns, and his own well-known song ‘Purano shei diner kotha’ (Memories Of The Good Old Days) was an Indian response to Auld Lang Syne.
In celebration of Scotland’s connections with India, award-winning Scottish Indian chef Tony Singh – known for his fresh and innovative approach to food – has created a fusion menu blending some of Scotland’s best produce with authentic Indian spices.
“As a Scot myself and a lover of all things food and drink, Burns Night is a date on the calendar I always look forward to,” says Tony. “As I also raise my glass to Rabindranath Tagore, it seemed appropriate to design a Burns menu which combines the two gastranomical traditions.”
Scots and Indians, he argues, have much in common. “We both love a tipple and a good laugh,” he says, “and haggis has always had a spice to it.”
Anything but hair of the dog (from the Times)
October 6th, 2010
How do you test a cookbook of hangover cures? Jake Wallis Simons started with cocktails, pear cider and a bottle of merlot
In search of a hangover cure
A night on the town with Milton Crawford, author of The Hungover Cookbook, followed by a 3-course curative breakfast. Nice. Well, sort of.
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As I enter the dimly lit flat owned by Milton Crawford, I am reminded of a bit of vintage P. G. Wodehouse. Rather like me today, old Bertie Wooster is suffering from “morning head”, having attended a “rather cheery little supper” the night before. In the blink of an eye, Jeeves whips up a secret drink involving raw egg, chilli and Worcestershire sauce. Bertie knocks it back and is instantly revived: “The sun shone in through the window; birds twittered in the treetops; and, generally speaking, hope dawned once more.”
The guilty pleasures of TV dinners (from the Times)
September 9th, 2010
One of life's last few guilty pleasures?
Let’s not play silly buggers. You do it, I know you do. Probably more than once a week. Everyone’s at it, including, as you’ll see overleaf, celebrity chefs. Yep, there’s no doubt about it; eating in front of the telly is one of life’s last few guilty pleasures. And according to food critic Jay Rayner, it should stay that way.
“The whole point of TV dinners is that they’re taboo,” says the foodie in a sonorous baritone. “If you took away the guilt, there’d be no pleasure either.”
So let’s celebrate the great British tradition of taking one’s victuals — guiltily — before the Forbidden Temple. What is so seductive about the combination of TV and dinner? One’s a delicate activity that requires concentration if you’re not going to make a mess of your shirt. The other is life’s biggest distraction. If you had to explain it to a Martian, you’d have a hard time. “I think it takes us back to our childhood,” Rayner explains. “Kids with flu are always allowed to eat in front of the telly. It’s a comfort blanket.”
Read the full article on the Times website (subject to paywall restrictions)
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