Cafe Spice Namaste

I saw an article at the Evening Standard about Chef Patron Cyrus Todiwala and his restaurant Cafe Spice Namaste’s commitment to the environment and sustainability. The restaurant holds a Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice and was Highly Commended in the Sustainable Food Category of the 2009 City of London Sustainable Cities Awards.

Well, let's say from the entrance you see lots and lots of certificates and pictures on the wall, and one can't stop thinking...if you are really good, do you really need to prove it or can you just let people acknowledge it? That entrance put me off a little, I must say, but I was decided to check for myself.

Anyway, I went in and I was greeted by an Asian (Chinese) man which was a surprise! Did I get the wrong address I wondered...

The decor is an “India meets Egypt” kind of thing, very warm and vibrant colours, the menu is innovative and I could see their commitment to staff training.

I had the £15 at 15 Menu celebrating their 15th anniversary.

For starter I had Shammi Kebab, Mughal yellow peas cake served with date and tamarind sauce, which was very spicy (too spicy for my taste) and sadly dry.

For my main I had Goan fish crurry with coconut extract, butternut berry served with organic unpolished red rice. It was creamy and tasty with not very much on the plate. Nevertheless I enjoyed it.

The pièce de résistance was Mr Todiwala’s Rose and Cardamom ice cream - simply the best item of the menu.

Cafe Spice Namaste:  16 Prescot Street, London E1 8AZ

closed on Bank Holidays and Sundays

Trullo, truly delicious!

Good News! You don't need to go to Italy any more to find good hearty Italian food  One example is a restaurant in Islington called Trullo

 In the kitchen is Tim Siadatan, one of the original recruits to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen project, where I work. Front of house is run by Jordan Frieda, who used to be front of house at the River Café and my dear friend Sara who also used to work at Fifteen with me.

The place is different to what I'd expected: quite small and the walls are all white, with net curtains that give the place a cosy feel. I can't stop thinking that the place might have been a very ugly shop before. Now, it's totally transformed with kind of Trattoria-Chic feel.  Around me are a very distinct clientèle that seem to know what they expect from eateries... and Trullo doesn't disappoint!
We started with a generous bruschetta topped with caramelised onions and cheese sauce ( I recommend pairing this with a very chilled glass of Prosecco ) then we moved on to a fresh salad of blood oranges, duck breast and radicchio, my companion Jonathan had a puntarelle (chicory sprouts) and anchovies salad, I preferred mine.
Our main course:
I had a grilled T-bone veal steak with roasted aubergines and green salad, Jonathan had a roast rack of lamb served with beetroot and farro, a kind of Italian barley. They were both delicious!
For dessert we had a Caramel Panacotta followed by a plate of Italian cheeses : Umbriaco (drunken cheese), Taleggio La Baita and Gorgonzola.
All washed down by a bottle of Negroamaro - Puglian red wine. That's satisfaction!


The Trulli are an exemple of building technique that has survived from prehistoric times until to date.
they are individual buildings in Alberobello town, Italy.
Trulli are built using mortar: the stones are laid on top of each other.
They are also characterized by their dome-shaped roofs. The roofs are in some cases painted with magical or pagan symbol. Also it is said that this way of building makes it easier to quickly dissemble the house and relocate, or that in this manner taxes could be evaded.
I've been to Alberobello where you can also find the best mozzarella in Italy named Burata, very soft and creamy.

Trullo Restaurant
300 - 302 St Paul’s Road, London N1 2LH - t: 020 7226 2733 - e: enquiries@trullorestaurant.com 

Noted Eel & Pie Shop

Located in the heart of London's " East End", within Roman Road Market, G. Kelly is a family owned traditional eel and pie shop established in 1937. Unfortunately, it is a dying business: one the shops in the same road has already closed down. They serve hand-made pies with a crispy top and softer base. The beef pie is really delicious and is served with mash and liquor. I had mine without the mash.

The photograph above shows a special secret recipe kind of parsley sauce.

G. Kelly also serves vegetarian pies with a soya mince and onion filing as well as fruit pies - cherry or apple.

 and fruit crumbles.

and the famous Jellied "Eels", not my cup of tea, but very much appreciated by the English.
The first pie shops begun to open up in London around 1915 around Bethnal Green area. Before that, there were the "street pie men" and the "street-sellers of pea soup and hot eels". The pie men sold meat, eel or fruit pies and would travel around the streets and visit taverns, summer fairs and the races. The eel sellers traded differently, having stalls and stands in the street, many around Old Street. Around this time however, both the street pie men and eel sellers' trade went into decline. This was attributed to the establishment of the new penny-pie shops. Within a few years the street sellers had almost disappeared...

Christmas Delight

For Christmas this year, 2010, I went to Exeter (Devon) to my dear Jonathan's family home and I had  Goose for the first time.
 Yes, Goose is back on the Christmas' menu!
The turkey appeared on Christmas tales in England in the 16th century, and popular history tells of King Henry VIII being the first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas.
The tradition of turkey at Christmas rapidly spread throughout England in the 17th century, and it also became common to serve Goose which remained the predominant roast until the Victorian era.
It was common for Goose "Clubs" to be set allowing working class families to save up over the year towards a goose.
Goose meat is richer and darker than turkey. It has a higher fat content, but a lot of the fat melts away during cooking leaving deliciously tasty and succulent meat.

After this delicious main course we had a traditional Christmas Pudding made with love and patience by Carol (Jonathan's mum). It took many hours to cook (6) and another couple to heat the beauty!

here it is, "blasting away" after the final touch, a Cognac bath, ignited!!!

Happy Christmas everyone!!! and thanks for reading...

See you next year!!!

Tuscany with "Restaurant Fifteen" Chefs

After Naples, last month, I went back to Italy for a special visit to Tuscany,this time, I was in the company of the chefs from Fifteen
We arrived in Pisa on the 23 rd , me and the chefs with our lovely guide Lizzie from Liberty wines, our wine supplier.
 Our first stop was at the restaurant called Adriano in Cerrete Guidi, where we tasted Poggiotondo Chianti wines -Serra del Masso (producer), we also tried delicious Antipasti : Parma ham, Sopressata, Salumi.
For Primi we had tasty Penne alla Bolognese with a creamy texture and for Secondi we had a Selection of meat: Pork, chicken and beef.

                                                                                                               

We depparted from Cerreto Guidi and arrived at Petrolo for a visit, dinner and overnight stay at Galatrona farm.

 

We had a great reception, tasted few Olive oils and had a lovely dinner hosted by Luca Sanjust. In the morning we visited Galatrona Tower, from where we had a great view of the surroundings.

 We departed  from Petrolo after breakfast and arrived at Fontodi for visit and tasting Panzano with Giovanni Manetti the owner.

After the wine tasting we arrived at Officina Da Darui an amazing restaurant for lunch with Fontodi

At the restaurant we met Dario Cecchini, at the top left, a passionate butcher who is the Restaunt owner and works near by in his Macelleria in Panzano town, Chianti.

 Dario has his own Grappa Label

Our next stop was Villa Pitiana where we checked in to spend the night. Villa Pitiana used to be a monastery. 

Next day, we headed to Selvapiana for a visit and dinner, our host was Federico Giuntini

we saw some rare wines and I spotted my year!

we also tried some Vino Santo, delicious dessert wine.

Our last visit was Capezzana, a great producer of Olive oil and fine wines.

We had one of the best lunch at Capezzana hosted by the owner Ugo. His son Fillipo, deals with Olive oil production and Beatrice heads the marketing.We tasted some Olive oil and a selection of their best wine. An Extra-virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production only, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste.We tasted at Cappezana a 0.025% acidity( first on the right) very mild, gently on the palate.Very nice on salads or bread.

Just before our depart to Pisa Airport we stopped at La Molina, Chocolate Factory and bakery.

where we tasted the most amazing Panettone and Cantuccini Cioccolato. 

Naples "Trattoria Nennella"

Near the Hotel I stayed in Naples, I had dinner in a rather peculiar Trattoria called Nennella.
I will tell you why. The food was delicious, very simple but flavoursome... that's what you expect it to be.
 The difference about it was, at Nennella, the staff were totally bonkers or acted like they were.
Every time they got a tip from a customer, they lowered a basket from the ceiling and everybody(staff) shouted:
-Grazie!
That's not all, they were excessively loud calling the orders through a hole on the wall and singing like there was no tomorrow followed by the kitchen staff, waving hands; the tables were moved in a manic way to accommodate more and more people coming, (it is a very popular eatery amongst young locals) without any care of not disturbing the guests who were already eating there; the waiter who served us seems to be stoned and that's not all, he teased customers from a table near mine with mozzarella "impanata" (deep fried) ordered by another table asking who was hungrier could get it first. Did I mention that he drunk quite a few glasses of beer and wine from different customers' glasses?

MSC sustainable fishing practises, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood, fish

Working at Fifteen London Restaurant I've learnt all about MSC, sustainable fishing practises to save our fish for the future generations, for more information about MSC look up the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYCsBroqGBE