pinch of salt

Browns of Brockley, SE4: Cafe of the Week

2012-01-24T09:33:00.000Z

Halloumi and rocket bagel, Browns of Brockley

Every neighbourhood should have a cafe like Browns of Brockley. One visit to this laid-back coffee shop in SE4 and I was on the Rightmove app, checking out house prices in the area. The coffee's that good.

Browns of Brockley isn't trying to do anything flashy or ground-breaking. It's the kind of simple, white-walls-and-wooden-tables outfit you see all over the place in Sydney or Melbourne, for example. Smiley baristas ferry Square Mile coffees around the room: to locals perched at the communal table, dogs sleeping at their feet; to Goldsmiths students sat in the window absorbed in their laptops; and to commuters about to hop on the London Overground at Brockley Station, just yards from the cafe.

Square Mile mocha, Browns of Brockley

The coffee is flawless. Square Mile espresso and a brand-new La Marzocco machine is a winning combination, but you still need baristas who know what they're doing. Owner Ross Brown trained as a barista in the US and has obviously passed his know-how onto the friendly staff - the flat white had good oomph without being sharp or overpowering, and a mocha had a rich, chocolatey body topped with a light, airy foam.

A small but enticing selection of cakes and bready treats (custard tarts, brownies, bagels) in the window beckons in passers by. The toasted bagel with Halloumi, red pepper, rocket and a sweet, tangy onion jam pictured above was delicious - though admittedly it's hard to go wrong with grilled Halloumi. Oh, squeaky, salty wonder cheese.

A retro lemon slice had a crumbly bottom juxtaposed with a thick, creamy lemon curd and a pleasing bit of crackle on the top. It was sugary enough to drill holes in the molars though, and a slice split between the two of us was plenty.

Lemon slice, Browns of Brockley

Browns of Brockley has a really warm, community-driven feel about it. Everyone is greeted like a regular and there's a small noticeboard of flyers advertising the local farmer's market and other initiatives by the till. There's even a screen behind the counter displaying live departures for the station. Dogs are welcome and Ross's pooch, Ludd the pug, is both a regular fixture and the cafe's mascot, appearing on the menu and the loyalty cards.

Browns of Brockley, SE4

On Thursday nights the cafe is open late for 'Pizza Thursdays' with wood-fired Homeslice pizzas and craft beers from the Magic Rock Brewing Company. Pizza, dogs, friendly faces and excellent coffee: the residents of Brockley are lucky indeed.

Browns of Brockley, 5 Coulgate Street SE4 2RW.
Follow Browns of Brockley on Twitter.

Friday Find: Amy Walters' handmade foodie cards and prints for Valentine's Day

2012-01-20T09:45:00.002Z

Get Kettle on Love greetings card, Amy Walters

On my latest furtive Etsy.com-trawl, I came across these charming food-centric greetings cards from London-based illustrator, Amy Walters. The dreaded V Day is coming up and if you're looking for something a little cooler than your average cuddly bear card, Amy's fun designs work perfectly.

The 'get the kettle on love' postcard (£1) is also available as a print (£12.63), and the 'I love you more than a giant burrito' card (£2.33) is spot on if you or your paramour is addicted to Burrito Bros/Benito's Hat/Poncho No.8/[insert latest London burrito outfit here]...


Giant Burrito card, Amy Walters

This 'retro kitchen' postcard (£1) is less obviously suitable for Valentine's Day but I've included it here as it makes a lovely card for any bakers you know, especially those welded to their KitchenAid or dreaming of owning one. It's also available as a print for the bargain price of £12.63...

'Retro kitchen' print, Amy Walters

Amy Walters also designs bespoke prints of your favourite building. I love this one of my favourite London cinema, The Ritzy in Brixton...

Ritzy Cinema, Brixton print byAmy Walters

If your Valentine has a favourite cafe, restaurant or local building that's special to the two of you, Amy can design a print (from around £83). Chaps - this sort of personalised gift is lady catnip. Trust me, I speak as someone who once received an 'I Wuv U' cuddly devil from the Esso garage (rrp £2.99).

Visit Amy's Etsy shop.

Lavish Habit, Balham: Cafe of the Week

2012-01-17T14:41:00.005Z

Lavish Habit, Balham

In the Current Economic Climate TM, it seems a lot of clever cafe owners are opening hybrid caffs. London is now home to cycle repair shop-cafes (Look Mum No Hands on Old St, Lock 7 in Hackney), music shop-cafes (Notes in Covent Garden, Brill in Exmouth Market) and florist-cafes ( You Don't Bring Me Flowers in Hither Green) to name a few. It's a clever idea: by serving two different markets you hopefully provide two layers of insulation against the economic chill.

One of my favourite hybrid caffs is the charming Lavish Habit in Balham. Sisters Nicola and Vanessa Karan opened their dream cafe and vintage shop in 2011 (opposite that Balham landmark, The Bedford) and it's proved a huge hit with locals. Midnight blue/black walls, gold Moroccan lamps and dark turquoise metro tiles keep the decor the right side of twee. Around the edges of the cafe are rails of clothes, candles, and curios including the brilliant Quail creature egg cups and china. Downstairs in the basement there's a vintage furniture showroom selling everything from restored Ercol chairs and 60s sideboards to papier mache busts of Henry VIII (not sure I'll be finding room for that last one at Casa Salty, but I admire the creativity.)

Flat white, Lavish Habit Balham

Upstairs, everyone jumbles in together around communal wooden tables and stools. It's a popular place and you have to perch where you can. Lavish Habit serves Monmouth coffee - a rare commodity in this part of town. On our last visit, the potent flat whites were strong without being bitter - I was still twitching several hours later.

There is a small selection of savouries: homemade soups, red pepper tortilla, big fat sarnies. But I must confess, we come to Lavish Habit for the cake. To whit, this excellent carrot cake. Look at that creamy mascarpone frosting studded with walnuts. Behold the soft crumb...

Carrot cake, Lavish Habit Balham

All the cakes are lined up on the counter, beckoning at you from slate slab and under glass dome. They thankfully lean towards rustic rather than frou frou: I don't remember seeing a cupcake at Lavish Habit for example. My personal favourite is the coconut toast. It's subtly rather than cloyingly sweet, with a dusting of icing sugar and a seriously thick crust. It's served warm with a pot of salted butter, which sinks straight into the crumb like a jungle explorer into quicksand. It also comes with a little jug of runny maple syrup to pour over the top, but I find it doesn't need the extra saccharine. Get there early in the afternoon if you want a slice though, word of the wonderous coconut toast seems to have spread through SW12 and there's often none left.

Coconut toast, Lavish Habit Balham

Lavish Habit is a warm, friendly and creative place and I wish the Karan sisters every success with it - their vision has clearly paid off. Yes, this is Balham so if you're allergic to buggies and babies you'll need to stay clear. But really, just look at that coconut toast - if you do, you're missing out.

My only word of warning is to leave the credit card in a drawer at home. Otherwise you might pop in for a coffee and a bit of cake, and leave with a scented candle, a bag of Monmouth espresso beans, and a 1960s sideboard...

Lavish Habit, 75 Bedford Hill, London SW12.
Lavish Habit's Facebook page

Ginger and White, Hampstead: Cafe of the Week

2012-01-11T21:13:00.000Z

Ginger and White cafe, Hampstead NW3

‘We don’t do grande,’ declares a print on the wall of Ginger and White. In a city saturated with Starbucks it’s a clear statement of intent, inscribed on top of a turquoise, brown and orange Union Jack. Ginger and White is British to its bootstraps.

The counter of this small Hampstead cafe groans with Eccles cakes, home-baked scones and Chelsea buns (of which, more later) lined up on slate slabs.

At the oak communal table that dominates the little room, local mothers gossip over Square Mile coffees while the kids get their spoons stuck into soft-boiled eggs with Marmite soldiers.

Outside in the courtyard, a well-behaved child plays chess on his iPad and strokes the family greyhound while dad sips a flat white; at the window counter, a young woman finishes her Le Carre and departs, leaving only crumbs and a lipstick trace on her floral tea cup. Recession-proof NW3 might be full of delis and chain cafes but Ginger and White has a big band of loyalists, and there’s a queue running out of the door to prove it.

Ginger and White flat white

Coffee is a serious business at Ginger and White: flat whites, ristrettos and cortados made with seasonal Square Mile espresso blends (Ginger and White might be proudly British, but it’s not jingoistic – these are Italian and Aussie-style coffees made with London’s best beans). Our flat whites are note-perfect: rich and smooth, without a hint of bitterness.

After queueing for about 10 minutes, during which time we are kept updated on our minutes-to-table by a cheery waiter, we squeeze into the only available space: two stools perched in the window. The brunch menu proves tricky to choose from - how can you not love a place that encourages you to eat Eccles cakes for breakfast? Nothing costs over £5.95, which surprises me. This is Hampstead.

Homemade baked beans, Ginger and White

Roasted Bath Pig chorizo with avocado and rocket on toasted ciabatta is everything you'd hope for in a mid-morning pig dish. The sausages are firm and slightly sweet, while a squeeze of lime cuts through the rich meat and buttery avocado. It's not complex stuff, but it's executed well, with A-grade ingredients. Ginger and White name-checks its British producers on the menu, but doesn't go overboard. Just a few names scattered about to remind you there's some quality produce on your plate.

Home-braised beans are dark and smoky, but the beans are a bit tough, verging on pellets. They probably needed more time to soak. An optional scattering of pancetta or chorizo would add interest - I couldn't finish the generous serving of beans without some variety, though the sourdough toast it was served with was gorgeous.

Chelsea bun, Ginger and White

Having a little room left proved a blessing in disguise, as we were able to split the last Chelsea bun from the counter. Squishy, fudgy, fragrant, with plump currants and a soft crumb, this bun is still on my mind weeks later. Put it this way, I live at the other end of the Northern Line to NW3, but I'd get up early on a Saturday and ride that rail just to get my hands on one of Ginger and White's Chelsea buns. If there's any left, that is...

4a-5a Perrins Court, Hampstead NW3.

Gingerandwhite.com

The Long Table and London's night markets

2012-01-10T16:01:00.000Z

Big Apple hot dogs @ The Long Table: condiments a-go go

Happy 2012 everyone! It's good to be back on the blog after a festive break for mince pie-baking, baby nephew-cuddling and committed Quality Street-snarfing.

First up this year? I've written a piece for Futurespace about London's budding night market scene, featuring The Long Table in Dalston, The StockMKT in Bermondsey and Ms Marmite Lover's brilliant Underground Night Market in her Kilburn back garden. I'm going to stick my neck out and call this one as a big trend for 2012. Skip on over here to have a read of the article.

Have you been to any of London's night markets yet? Were you impressed?

How to make a Spanish tortilla: guest blog

2011-12-14T17:50:00.000Z


Spanish tortilla

Done right, a Spanish omelette is a simple but gorgeous beast. My boyfriend Jon Yeomans, a fellow journo, writes an excellent blog about all things Spanish in the city called Vidalondon.net. Jon lived and worked in Valencia for 2 years, where he was taught the secret of a perfect tortilla. So I asked him to write a guest blog post for Pinch of Salt (which doubled as a cunning way of getting him to make a big fat tortilla for lunch). Over to Jon...

How to make a Spanish tortilla

All self-respecting Spaniards know how to make a tortilla de patatas, and they are all connoisseurs of the dish. A good tortilla will be met with a nod of knowing appreciation. The life expectancy of a Spanish tortilla should be very short indeed.

You'll need a good quality non-stick pan, but, crucially, it mustn't be so heavy that you can't perform acrobatics with it later on.

Everyone has their own way of making a Spanish tortilla, naturally enough, but all you need to know is the purist's form, with precisely two ingredients: eggs and potatoes.

Get some nice white, waxy potatoes. Peel them, and slice them into the thinnest possible strips.

Add enough vegetable oil to the pan to almost submerge the potatoes, and put it on a high heat. Once the oil is hot enough, slide in your potato shards and fry them on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until they are golden and soft. Don't let them get too brown and burnt. You're making tortilla, not fried potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking, whisk up your eggs. My Spanish flatmates in Valencia reckoned on a simple formula of one egg per person plus one for luck. Depending on how big you want your tortilla, you may want to chuck in one or two on top of that.

Whisk your eggs in a bowl with a fork, like you're having a w*nk, as my flatmate's one-time, yokel boyfriend described it to me. Some cooking tips really stick in your head, don't they?

Add a little salt to the eggs. Once your potatoes are nice and soft, lift them out of the oil and drop them in the egg mixture.

Drain away most of your oil, leaving just tiny specks in the pan. Put it on a high heat and then pour in your potato-and-egg mixture.

Your tortilla should start to form in the pan. With a wooden spoon, scratch at the bits that don't have any potato in them; this will actually help shape the tortilla, even if it seems like you're tearing holes in the thing.

After a minute or so your tortilla should have a pretty solid skin underneath. Now comes the fun part. Turn the heat down and cover the pan with a plate (a plastic plate will be lighter and may help this next bit).

Hold the pan over the sink, in case it all goes horribly wrong. Place one hand on the middle of the plate. Flip the pan and the plate over. Remove the pan. Your half-fried tortilla should be sitting on the plate (ideally, someone else should shout "olé!" and clap at this point. If no one's around, you can shout it yourself).

Put the pan back on a high heat. Slide your tortilla back into the pan and fry the underside. Press down on it with a wooden spoon to get a nice golden colour.

After a minute or so your tortilla will be done. If you're feeling cocky, you can flip it again and serve it with first side you fried pointing up. If you don't want to tempt fate, just slide the tortilla out of the pan onto a fresh plate.

Serve with mayonnaise and a bit of guilt-assuaging salad.

Of course, like any omelette, the recipe can of be adapted to include garlic, onion, peppers, cheese, chorizo - anything you like. I once had an excellent potato and apple tortilla at a vegetarian restaurant in Valencia. But for some Spaniards, the only way to make a tortilla is the purist's way.

The Mince Pie Project

2011-12-11T13:17:00.000Z

The Mince Pie Project

Imagine the scene: it's Christmas Eve, the family are sitting around at home enjoying mulled wine, purple Quality Streets and a hastily compiled Spotify playlist of carols. You hand round the mince pies. They are the best mince pies you've ever eaten. 'Ooh, these are nice,' says gran, 'are they Taste The Difference?' No gran, they were whipped up exclusively for me...

...by Michel Roux Jr.

MRJ is just one of 36 top chefs taking part in The Mince Pie Project, a charity auction in aid of Action Against Hunger and the Jamie Oliver Foundation. Make a bid and, come December 22nd, Fergus Henderson, Anna Hansen or Edd Kimber could be baking you an exclusive batch of 50 mince pies. The pies will be couriered to you the same day by City Sprint. Bid on the batch you fancy, from Nigel Haworth's Swiss pastry numbers to Ashley Palmer-Watts' deep-fried pies.

The Mince Project is the brainchild of 23-year-old Pete Butler,who recently left his job in the City to pursue a career in food. Pete came up with the idea while on the treadmill in the gym just six weeks ago, and has pulled together an impressive roster of willing chefs in a really short space of time.

The auction closes at 6pm on 16th December. Head over to themincepieproject.com to place your bid and check out the leader board.

Cookie mix in a jar

2011-12-08T12:37:00.002Z

Cookie mix in a jar, image copyright IPC Media

How is it that everyday ingredients like flour, cocoa and, err, green peanut M&Ms look so much prettier when you put them in a Kilner jar?

I've created some Christmas food gift recipes and videos for goodtoknow.co.uk including Christmas cookie mix in a jar (and the Christmas cookies the recipients will turn them into), plus chocolate muffin mix in a jar.

Christmas cookies, image copyright IPC Media

All you need is a Kilner, some festive ribbon, the dry ingredients, and the ability not to mind if your work surfaces get a leetle bit covered in flour.

Are you making any homemade food gifts for friends and family this Christmas?

Dickens punch tour

2011-11-27T17:22:00.001Z

Dickens punch tour

The fog malingering over London in the last few weeks has given the city a Dickensian feel. The pea soupers shrouding St Pauls and masking our skyscrapers make the skyline look positively Victorian.

What better time then, for a Dickens walking tour? Especially one that involves punch. Strong punch. The Courvoisier Dickens Punch Tour is an hour-long ramble around Dickens' Covent Garden and Holborn haunts, starting at Bow Street Magistrates Court and winding up at The Old Curiosity Shop. Along the way, you'll learn a raft of Dickens facts (keep them up your sleeve for pub quizzes) and be 'surprised' by characters from his books making appearances.

One of these characters, a well known fellow from A Christmas Carol, will lead you to The Old Curiosity Shop where, after watching an enthusiastic, if rather hammy, two-man play you'll get the chance to help make a version of one of Dickens' favourite punches, the Smoking Bishop. The punch is referenced in A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge says to Bob Cratchit: 'We will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of Smoking Bishop, Bob.' The version we tried was laced with Courvoisier, as Dickens kept a secret stash of the French cognac, but in Victorian times Smoking Bishop was also commonly made with port, along with red wine and all those lovely festive things: oranges, lemons, cinnamon, allspice and mace.

Charles could clearly handle the strong stuff; after one teacup of the delicious Smoking Bishop I felt the tale-tell glow of the already-tipsy. I'm going to make the Bishop for a Christmas party, so look out for the recipe on Pinch of Salt soon.

The Courvoisier Dickens Punch Tour runs from now until December 3rd, Weds-Sat at 6pm or 7.30pm. Tickets cost £12. For more info, click here.

Brixton Village

2011-11-18T14:31:00.000Z

Brixton Village, photo copyright Nic0 on Flickr

Brixton Village is currently my favourite place to eat out in London Town. I've written a piece about this once-derelict 1930s covered arcade turned food-playground for Futurespace magazine, including issues raised by the recent rent hikes. Skip over to Futurespace to have a read.

Are you a fan of Brixton Market? Do you have a favourite place to eat there? Let me know in the comments below.

Friday Find: Trooping the Colour espresso set

2011-11-11T08:15:00.001Z

Trooping the Colour espresso set

I'm a sucker for vintage Londonalia, but do try to exercise restraint - there's a fine line between scattering a few retro items around your house and turning it into the London Transport Museum gift shop. But I'm finding this Trooping the Colour espresso set hard to resist.

The set was designed by designspark for Bliss Home with permission from Transport for London. The saucers feature designs from four vintage London Transport posters, all by different artists, while the porcelain espresso cups are emblazoned with the dates of Trooping the Colour ceremonies past. Oh what the heck, my kitchen can handle a little more London love.

Trooping the Colour espresso set

The Trooping the Colour espresso set is available from John Lewis, TFL, and the excellent London Transport Museum gift shop, priced around £32.

Hawksmoor at Home winners

2011-10-30T11:23:00.000Z

Hawksmoor at Home

Wow! You lot love your burgers. There was a fantastic response to the Hawksmoor at Home giveaway and the question 'what makes the perfect burger?' I'm delighted to announce that the three winners are...

Christian Vere
Emma
MJ Gauer

Congratulations! You each win a copy of the excellent Hawksmoor at Home (£25; Preface). Please email your address details to pinchofsaltlondon(at)gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who entered and look out for more giveaways soon.

Chocolate orange spice cupcakes recipe

2011-10-28T14:50:00.002+01:00

Chocolate orange spice cupcakes

Chocolate orange is a 'love it or hate it' Marmite combination. My former editor at Waitrose Food Illustrated, the irrepressible William Sitwell, once wrote an editor's letter about his hatred for the Chocolate Orange. The sack of responses was heavy enough to give the postie a hernia, and was divided 50:50 between outrage and agreement.

Admittedly it's not the classiest flavour duo, but I love a bit of chocolate orange. A Terry's in my stocking every Christmas (thanks mum), Jaffa Cakes, Green and Black's Maya Gold... if it combines cocoa and citrus, I'll eat it.

So these chocolate orange spice cupcakes are for the lovers, not the haters. The orange zest is complemented by a smidgen of ground all-spice for a heady, autumnal taste. I originally conceived these cupcakes as a Halloween recipe but of course the combination of chocolate, orange and spice is perfect for Christmas, too. The buttercream is made with melted Maya Gold chocolate and has a very light, almost mousse-y texture. When I took them into the office and got the response 'Oh my god, it's like a Terry's Chocolate Orange, but in a cake,' I knew I was onto something. Don't try squeezing them into Christmas stockings though, unless you have a fondness for washing buttercream off felt.

Chocolate orange: love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments below.

Chocolate orange spice cupcakes

Makes 12

150g butter
150g golden caster sugar
125g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
2 tsp ground allspice
Grated zest of 1/2 large orange
3 medium free-range eggs
2 tbsp milk
A few drops of good quality vanilla extract

For the icing
200g Green & Blacks Maya Gold chocolate
225g unsalted butter, softened
250g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
Pinch of salt
A few drops of good quality vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1/2 large orange, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas mark 5 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cake cases.

Cream the butter and golden caster sugar together with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, allspice and cocoa powder. Add 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar along with 1 egg and beat to combine. Repeat until you have added the rest of the eggs and dry ingredients. Beat in the milk and vanilla extract and then gently fold in the orange zest with a large metal spoon.
Use an ice-cream scoop to fill each cake case with a dollop of cake mixture. Bake in the oven for 15-8 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of one of the cakes comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before putting the cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, break the chocolate up into small chunks in a large bowl and melt on Medium in the microwave in short bursts, to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn. Once most of the chocolate has melted you can stir the remaining pieces into the melted chocolate with a wooden spoon and this will melt the rest.

Beat together the melted chocolate, butter, milk, salt, vanilla extract and icing sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, until you have a very light and smooth buttercream.

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, take a large dollop of buttercream and put it onto the centre of one of the cupcakes. Use the flat side of a palette knife to push the icing out to the edges of the cake and then smooth the sides with the edge of your palette knife. Decorate with a little orange zest.

Depending on how much icing you like, you may have some left over. You can freeze this buttercream to use another time, just defrost completely before using.

Pumpkin, Feta and chickpea salad recipe

2011-10-24T21:19:00.003+01:00

green pumpkin or possibly Crown Prince squash

I've invested in a pumpkin. And yes, invested is the right word. When a vegetable weighs 3kg and costs £7 from the greengrocer, it's time to spin a few dishes out of it. A bubbling vat of Moro's spicy pumpkin soup topped with cinnamon butter, toasted pine nuts and a swirl of garlicky yogurt (from Moro East) has only made an indent in the 'kin. It's a monster.

So day 2 of Pumpkinapalooza brings us to this unassuming little pumpkin, Feta and chickpea salad. It's partly inspired by a simple but delicious squash and chickpea salad I ate at French and Grace in Brixton Village last week (the new restaurant from Salad Club bloggers and supper-clubbers Rosie French and Ellie Grace.) And partly inspired by an incredible tapa of roasted sweet potatoes with pine nuts, red onion and Feta on the menu at El Parador in Camden. The salty cheese and caramelised sweet spuds melt together. It's insanely good. I think of it often. More often than is probably healthy.

You can serve this pumpkin salad warm or cold. The former works better if you like the pumpkin to soften the Feta a little. It can easily be adapted depending on what's languishing in your cupboards and fridge. I prefer the gentle sweetness of pumpkin, but butternut squash or sweet potatoes will work just as well, perhaps roasted with a little maple syrup. A few black olives would add a welcome briny note to the sweetness of the pumpkin, and of course there's chorizo if you need a little pig with your dish.

**27/10/11 an eagle-eyed reader has pointed out that what the greengrocer sold to me as a 'green pumpkin' is in fact a Crown Prince squash. They are very similar and you can use either pumpkin or squash in this dish. Explains why it cost £7 though!**

pumpkin, Feta and chickpea salad

Pumpkin, Feta and chickpea salad

Makes 2 huge portions or 4 modest ones

1kg pumpkin, peeled and de-seeded
400g tin chickpeas, drained
200g Feta, cut into cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
large handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Sea salt and black pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Cut the pumpkin into large cubes (about 3cm). Add the diced pumpkin to a large bowl and toss with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add to a large roasting tin and roast for 40 mins or until the pumpkin is starting to darken at the edges.

Drain the chickpeas and add to a large bowl with the warm roasted pumpkin (you can also leave the pumpkin to cool completely if preferred). Add the Feta, chilli flakes, lemon juice and another tbsp of olive oil and stir gently with a metal spoon to combine so the pumpkin doesn't break up too much. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley and serve.

Hawksmoor at Home giveaway

2011-10-13T15:35:00.003+01:00

Hawksmoor at Home cookbook

Restaurant cookbooks can be hit and miss. With a few notable exceptions (Moro, Ottolenghi) they tend to be full of high-end foamy show-off grub that no one with a full-time job and an average-sized kitchen is going to cook. Hawksmoor at Home is absolutely not one of those cookbooks. This fantastic book should, in the words of Mr H.Blumenthal: "be covered in fingerprints and splashes of food. It's a great hands-on book to use every day."

The first cookbook from the beloved London steak restaurants is a collaborative effort between owners (and self-confessed 'beef geeks') Will Beckett and Huw Gott, head chef Richard Turner, and Will's mum, food and drink writer Fiona Beckett.

The result is a book packed with achievable recipes, a wealth of practical knowledge and lots of wonderfully nerdy British and London food history. You'll learn how to make the perfect steak, the juiciest burgers and classic cocktails. Dan Lepard's photography and the whimsical illustrations, historic posters and essays make this the most stylish and informative cookbook I've seen in ages. Even better - all the proceeds are going to Action Against Hunger. What nice chaps those beef geeks are!

Pinch of Salt has three copies of Hawksmoor at Home (£25; Preface) to give away, courtesy of Preface. To enter, just leave a comment in the comments section below before Friday 28th October telling me what makes YOUR perfect burger...

** This competition has now closed. The winners will be announced on Pinch of Salt shortly **

Event: Something About Food, 12th October

2011-10-07T16:45:00.001+01:00

Something About Food at Mason and Taylor

Bored of Wednesday night telly? TOWIE rotting your brain, and not in a fun way? Then get thee down to Mason and Taylor in Shoreditch on Weds 12th October for Something About Food, a night of talks on the future of food.

Something About Food is organised by Daniel Tapper, staff writer at Waitrose Kitchen, and his girlfriend Thea Lenarduzzi, food editor of the Times Literary Supplement. Together they've put together an impressive line up for the first in a planned series of food discussions...

Speakers at the first Something About Food include Hanna Tuomisto PhD, the world's foremost researcher on the environmental impact of in vitro meat. AKA growing meat in test tubes. Sounds terrifying, but the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions if we all scoff lab burgers is huge. Should be a robust discussion.

Also speaking is James Watt, co-founder of cult brewery Brew Dog, who was recently, and controversially, chucked out of CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival. James will be arguing that 'real ale' is an outdated concept and bringing along some of his craft beers.

Being an out and proud coffee nerd, I'm really looking forward to the talk by James Hoffman, founder of Square Mile Coffee and 2007 World Barista Champion. James will be discussing the British coffee scene and what really makes a good cup of joe.

Something About Food will be held at Mason and Taylor, 51-55 Bethnal Green Road, E1 from 7pm on Weds 12th October. Tickets cost £5 in advance here: http://t.co/7nPmW933/£10 on the door. For more information and ticket details check out @somethinabtfood on Twitter, Facebook: Somethinabtfood or email @thefoodnight@gmail.com.

Holly Bell interview

2011-10-06T15:10:00.000+01:00

Holly Bell, Great British Bake Off Finalist

The Great British Bake Off is over for another year. Sob. But what a fantastic second series it's been: Sue's quips, Mary's pearls of wisdom, Rob and his shirts, and not forgetting *that squirrel*...

Without a doubt, one of the stand-out bakers of the series was finalist and mum of two, Holly Bell. I've interviewed Holly about all things Bake Off including pre-bake nerves, advice from Hollywood and the Berry, and her famous ruler. You can read it here.

Watch this space for more Bake Off interviews.

Friday Find: Scandi-style food posters

2011-09-16T08:29:00.002+01:00

Cathrineholm-inspired poster, approx £12.37, Etsy

Scandinavia has brought us many good things: crime novels, Moomins, saunas, world-class chefs with foraging fixations...

And, of course, design. Mid-century and contemporary Swedish, Norwegian and Danish design has had a huge influence on British interiors and household objects in recent years: who among us doesn't own an IKEA Smurg or Blopp?*

Norwegian design company Cathrineholm created colourful enamelware bowls, kettles and other kitchenwares in the mid 20th century. The company's signature leaf design items now go for a bit of a song on eBay. But there's a cheaper way of bringing a bit of Cathrineholm cheer into your kitchen, with these fun Scandi-style food posters from ReStyle design prints.

Available from Restyle's Etsy shop, several of the posters play homage to Catherineholm kitchenwares with cheeky slogans like 'Some Like It Hot' below a Cathrineholm teapot, and 'Love and food, it's all about spice' above a row of brightly-coloured spice jars...

Love and spice poster, approx £12.37, Etsy

The posters also feature tributes to the work of other mid-century Scandi designers including Swedes, ceramicist Stig Lindberg and kitchenware designer Marianne Westman...

Stig Lindberg-inspired poster, approx £12.37, Etsy

Marianne Westman-inspired poster, approx £12.37, Etsy

The posters are approx £12.37 each (unframed) and available from ReStyle's Etsy shop.

If mid-century Scandi isn't your designer bag, there's also some other brilliant designs including a Game Boy poster, vintage camera and a Star Wars series.

*Not real IKEA names. Probably.

Chocolate-chip banana bread recipe

2011-09-10T17:03:00.002+01:00

Chocolate-chip banana bread

It might not win a cake beauty contest, but I've always had a soft spot for banana bread. For starters, it's a self-effacing, everyday kind of bake. A cake you can legitimately eat for breakfast. The Aussies do it all the time, toasted and slathered in butter.

Secondly, it's almost embarrasingly easy to make, so it's a great cake to make when you're starting out baking - a 5hr Great British Bake Off technical challenge the banana bread is not.

Thirdly, banana bread appeals to my inner tight-wad. I hate throwing food away. So, ever since I read a piece by Molly Wizenburg on the joys of freezing whole bananas, I've never thrown away another bruised or battered banana. Instead, there's a drawer of our freezer that doubles as a retirement home for past-their-prime bananas, frozen in time until they can be recalled into service for muffins and banana breads.

If you've never defrosted a banana in the microwave before it can be a disconcerting experience. Split open the skin, blackened by frost, and out slinks a grey-brown slug. Don't panic! It's now the exact ripe and mushy texture to make banana bread.

Banana bread is a vehicle for lots of complimentary flavours. It works with most nuts and dried fruits. Plus, most importantly, chocolate. Two of my favourite versions are Molly Wizenburg's banana bread with dark chocolate and crystalised ginger from her book My Homemade Life, and Sophie Dahl's banana bread with coconut and crème fraîche, from her former column in Waitrose Food Illustrated.

Chocolate-chip banana bread is my own humble addition to the banana-y canon. It's certainly not going to make prom queen but it's a warm and cosy cake for this time of year, when the leaves are falling, the winds are gathering pace and you need something a little more comforting than cereal to ease you into the day. We've been eating it for breakfast, served warm with a big spoonful of sheep's yoghurt and a bigger mug of Earl Grey.

Best of all, banana bread freezes like a dream. So, in the same freezer drawer as the frozen bananas we now have bags of chocolate-chip banana bread. It's a perfect circle, people.

Chocolate-chip banana bread

4 medium-size ripe bananas
150g unsalted butter
150g light soft brown sugar
2 medium free-range eggs
150g milk chocolate chips
300g white spelt flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100ml sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

Mash the bananas with a fork (if using frozen bananas, defrost in the microwave on low for 1 minute first).

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy. Stir in the bananas with a large metal spoon.

Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add to the butter and banana mixture about a third at a time, followed by a third of the beaten egg. Beat well with the electric mixer after each addition. Add the oil and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Add the chocolate chips and fold them in with the large metal spoon just until they are distributed well throughout the batter.

Pour into the loaf tin and use a spatula or palette knife to smooth the top. Bake for 1 hr or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Serve warm.

What's your favourite thing to add to banana bread? Let me know in the comments below.

Pinch of Salt's summer holiday

2011-08-03T21:01:00.001+01:00

Photo copyright Richard Holden

Pinch of Salt is on summer break. Think of it like a Parisienne closing the shutters of her 15th arrondissement apartment, slinging her espadrilles in a Vuitton holdall and making for the coast. But less glamorous.

I'll be back in September with more recipes, cafe recommendations, food events and Friday Finds. Have a glorious August and thanks for reading.

Cakey Perry in pictures

2011-07-31T21:59:00.002+01:00

Detail from Nevie Pie's Cakey Perry cake

Cakey Perry, the 'high tea to melt your popsicle' on Saturday was great, sugary fun. The afternoon of cakes and confections put together by cake artist Miss Cakehead and inspired by Katy Perry's California Gurls video and the candyland-on-acid created by its art director Will Cotton (if you haven't seen it, do check it out on YouTube). Even the teapots contained ginger ale rather than tea. My teeth are still jangling, though that didn't stop us eating some of Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber's delicious post-box red macarons from our take-home box this afternoon.

Here's the menu and some pics from Cakey Perry, which was held at Prangsta in New Cross. With thanks to Miss Cakehead and Leishie Loves Cake for baking us some special gluten-free cupcakes...

The Cakey Perry menu, copyright Miss Cakehead

Yes, it's a tablecloth made of Love Hearts. Want. One.

The amazing technicolour cake of many colours.

Mini Cakey Perry and Snoop Dogg cupcakes from Buttercream Bakery.

Gluten-free cupcakes made by Leishe Loves Cake.

Nevie Pie's Cakey Perry Cake.

Cakey close up.

Another cakey close up.

Molly Bakes' Cakey Perry cake pops and rainbow cake push ups.

Recipe: Raspberry and dark chocolate muffins

2011-07-25T21:47:00.004+01:00

Raspberry and dark chocolate muffins

This is a weird way to start a post about muffins, but...I'm really not a fan.

Let me qualify that.

I love homemade cheese muffins, warm blueberry muffins - the deep purple berry juices staining the crumb, and I'm rather partial to a worthy muffin. You know the ones, as much about the grains as they are the naughtiness.

But... such muffins are rare treats. Fresh homemade comforts lost in a sea of mediocre shop-bought muffinery. Most commercial muffins feel stodgy and ennervating. Double-chocolate 'treats' with the consistency and flavour of compacted soil. A dieting friend once told me that one coffee shop chocolate muffin equalled her entire 'Points' for the day, and it was that muffin plus a stick of celery, or three well-balanced meals, I've never been able to eat a [insert famous coffee chain] muffin since. If I'm going to commit calorie Hari Kiri, it's got to be for something delicious. Something memorable. Not something 'feh.' Even in independent cafes where the flat whites flow and everything is baked fresh on site, the muffins are normally the last thing I go for.

Until...running late for work one day last week, I skipped breakfast at home and popped into The Table on Southwark Street. The Table is a fantastic little cafe and restaurant which buzzes all day. The coffee is Monmouth, the displays of fresh salads are Ottolenghi-worthy and the team behind the open counter and kitchen Know Their Stuff. There were two large muffin pans on the counter, their deep wells filled with large golden muffins, the tops spilling over the bulging cake cases. It was time to reconsider the muffin.

Back at my desk, I took the dark chocolate and raspberry muffin from its paper bag, pulled the muffin top away from the cake and took a bite. Oh My God. The crumb was so soft and warm, with huge chunks of dark chocolate and fat berries. The muffin top had a thick crust, crowned with a slight crunch of granulated sugar. It made my Wednesday and remains the best muffin I have ever eaten.

I've tried to recreate that muffin from memory. The spelt flour makes it a slightly 'worthier' bake than The Table's version and adds a little more texture and nuttiness (do remember to sift it though) and the recipe is my own - an edible homage. In less modest moments, I like to think of them as the second best muffins I've ever eaten...

Raspberry and dark chocolate muffins

250g white spelt flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
150g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
150g raspberries
100g golden caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, beaten
150ml vegetable oil
100g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a 12-hole muffin tray with muffin cases.

Sift the spelt flour and mix with the bicarb and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in the sugar, chocolate chunks and raspberries.

Add the beaten eggs, oil, vanilla extract and the melted butter and stir with a large metal spoon just until all the ingredients are combined.

Fill each muffin case 2/3 full and sprinkle the tops with a little granulated sugar. Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden.

Cool on a wire rack and eat while still warm and the dark chocolate is still melted and cosy inside the muffins.

Where food comes from: blackcurrants

2011-07-18T20:33:00.000+01:00

Ever wondered where blackcurrants are grown or where the mere 10% of British blackcurrants not destined to become Ribena berries end up? I've written a producer feature on Pixley Berries, a small blackcurrant producer based in Herefordshire, for the July issue of my alma mater magazine, Waitrose Kitchen.

Photos are by the brilliant Mark Read.

Click here for a read.

Friday Find: Shoreditch Festival tea towel

2011-07-15T12:35:00.000+01:00

Shoreditch Festival tea towel

What souvenirs do you bring back from a summer festival? Precious 'I was there' laminates and wristbands? A quasi-African carving that seemed like a stylish buy at 12am when you were high on cider and Vampire Weekend? Trench foot?

If you're heading to the Shoreditch Festival (today until 24th July 2011), make sure you pick up one of these exclusive tea towels. The official Shoreditch Festival tea towel features the festival's pigeon mascots going for a swim at the 'Shoreditch pigeon pool' which bears a striking resemblance to London Fields Lido. Pick up one of these exclusive tea towels for £5 at the festival or from Waterhouse restaurant in Shoreditch.

The festival includes a floating cinema, a food market, a 'floating forest' and 3 days of gigs along the Regents Canal. And it's free!

Friday Find: HAM mugs, tea towels and aprons + pop-up shop

2011-07-08T08:30:00.000+01:00

HAM teatowels, £8.50 each

A pig on a scooter...not something you see everyday. Sadly. But it could be if you buy one of these delightful tea towels, mugs or aprons from HAM. The collection, which also includes greeting cards and prints, is the brainchild of designer Jo Robinson who trained as a fine artist. Jo grew up on a farm and once had a pet pig named Primrose.

HAM aprons, £16

"HAM captures unexpected moments from the contented lives of a pig, a horse and a rabbit," says Jo. I love the witty silhouettes - a bunny on a trampoline, the pig on a rocking horse, a horse watering the lawn. It's like a benign Animal Farm.

HAM mugs, £9 each

HAM gets two thumbs (or should that be pig's trotters?) up for supporting British craftsmen. The mugs are made by a Stoke-on-Trent pottery, the cards by a family-run press in Herefordshire and the fabrics for the aprons and teatowel are made in Lincolnshire.

Stop by HAM's pop-up shop at 1.11 Kingly Court, Soho between 14th July and 14th August, or visit http://www.hammade.com/. You can also find HAM on Twitter @hamlikes.

Recipe: Smoked paprika cheese scones

2011-06-29T20:08:00.000+01:00

Smoked paprika cheese scones

Comfort to me is a cheese scone. Tea scones with jam and clotted cream (jam first, cream on top, always) are a glorious thing, but a savoury scone, warm from the oven with a lick of salted butter sinking into the crumb is a taste of my childhood, of home.

Cheese scones were one of the first things my mother taught me to bake as a small child. She often made them for me when I was poorly, and sulking under a blanket watching episodes of Campion and Lovejoy.

When I moved to London after university I was given an empty spiral-bound notebook covered with an old subway map of New York by a dear friend. I decided to fill the blank pages with recipes from family and friends. My mother grabbed the book and began filling it with my favourite childhood dishes. The second entry in the book (after Mum's Legendary Microwave Chocolate Cake, inscribed with the gleeful caption: 'cake in minutes!') is for her cheese scones.

To this day, my mother will make a batch of cheese scones for my father at least once a week. She also makes him a daily cake. My father is a lucky man, and annoyingly un-fat. She makes them with the classic combination of mustard powder and mature Cheddar. I've just tweaked her recipe a little, to add one of my favourite ingredients: musky, sweet smoked paprika. I also used a mature Double Gloucester as there was a block in the fridge at the time, but any strong hard cheese will work. That's another great thing about cheese scones - peek in your fridge and larder right now. I bet you have all the essential ingredients already...

Smoked paprika cheese scones

Smoked paprika cheese scones

Makes 10-12

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
75ml semi-skimmed milk, plus extra for glazing
100g mature Cheddar, Double Gloucester, Red Leicester or Manchego, grated
50g butter, cut into cubes
2 heaped tsp smoked paprika
Few sprigs of lemon thyme (optional)
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

Sift the flour and combine with the baking powder, smoked paprika and pinch of salt. Stir in the cheese and lemon thyme (if using) with a wooden spoon without over-mixing.

Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until you get crumbs. Start pouring in the milk just until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Work the dough into a ball with your hands.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about 2cm thick. Use a medium-sized circle cutter with serrated edges (a drinking glass or small jar will also work) to cut out the scones.

Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk to glaze them. Place on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy with a generous lick of salted butter and a cup of tea. Repeats of Campion or Lovejoy optional.

What do you like to add to your scones? And do you agree: jam first, butter second?

Friday Find: 'McKnities' biscuit cushions

2011-06-24T08:45:00.001+01:00

Custard Cream cushion by Sarah Kelly, £75

You know those days when you want to shut out the outside world and curl up on the sofa with a mug of tea and a biscuit? Well now you can, quite literally, cuddle up with your favourite biccie with these absolutely bloody brilliant 'McKnities' cushions by textile designer Sarah Kerry. Think Pimpthatsnack.com but with soft furnishings rather than sugar and trans fats.*

Jam cream sandwich cushion by Sarah Kelly, £75

I can't decide whether to snuggle up with a Jammy Dodger, hunker down with a Chocolate Digestive or get cosy with a Bourbon Biscuit. All the McKnities are made from 100% lambswool and, says Sarah, "every care has been taken to mimic the attributes of biscuits." She adds: "If you like, it's a playful comment on society's fetish with food. Or a really cool cushion."

Cushions from £70, www.sarahkelly.co.uk

*Thanks to my friend L, a stylist and a bloodhound for the cool and quirky, for spotting this Friday Find. Check out all the McKnities cushions and more inspiration on her blog, www.styledust.tumblr.com.

Friday Find: Salt and Pepper Robots

2011-06-17T08:30:00.000+01:00

Salt and Pepper Robots, Suck UK

If every household in the land bought a pair of these brilliant Salt and Pepper Robots from Suck UK, the phrase 'pass the salt' would become obsolete.

Why? These 'bots were made for walking. Wind up the little robots and watch them waddle towards your fellow diners, ready to season their dinner. Mobile condiments: it's the future, people.

Salt and Pepper Robots, £12.00 from www.suck.uk.com

Friday Find: Ay Up Me Duck mug

2011-06-10T12:57:00.000+01:00

Ay Up Me Duck mug by Andrew Tanner (£14.95 from Liberty)

Treacle-strong builders' tea, a couple of Digestives for dunking and a chinwag are all you need to go with this Ay Up Me Duck mug by Andrew Tanner.

The designer's 'Sayings in Stitch' bone china mug range features images of well-known regional sayings embroidered on a cross-stitch sampler. Also available at Liberty are his Southern Softie and Grim Up North mugs.

£14.95 from Liberty.co.uk

Event: Cakey Perry

2011-06-06T20:29:00.001+01:00

Molly Bakes' Cakey Perry cake pops

Cheesy American pop music and cake: two of my great loves. Yet so rarely do the two meet, refined sugar and buttercream not being exactly compatible with GaGa's bralets or RiRi's hotpants.

Until now. Cake artist and event organiser Miss Cakehead (she of Cakes for Japan) is organising possibly the greatest afternoon tea of our time...

Cakey Perry.

From 29th-31st July somewhere in London, you'll be able to partake of entire menu of cakes and sweet treats inspired by Katy Perry's California Gurlz video, and the technicolour candyland of its art director, Will Cotton.

The video is a goldmine of inspiration for the food artists involved including Molly Bakes and Bompas & Parr - it includes a candycane forest, malignant gummi bears, candyfloss clouds and Snoop Dogg on an ice cream throne. Glorious.

Menu items already confirmed for this unofficial 'high tea to melt your popsicle' include Molly Bakes' Cakey Perry cake pops (pictured above), strawberries stuffed with cupcakes, flying meringues, rainbow cake and bra cupcake macarons.

Early bird tickets for Cakey Perry are on sale now, £20 each.

Visit http://cakeyperry.wordpress.com for more info.

St Ali, Clerkenwell EC1

2011-06-04T10:00:00.005+01:00

Flat white, St Ali, Clerkenwell

Another month, another Aussie-run cafe opens in London. Good! The more places we Londoners can get a well-made coffee, a smile, and something eggy and delicious on sourdough the better. But just in case you've got Flat White Fatigue, you should know that the most recent opening, St Ali, has got serious chops.

This new cafe in Clerkenwell is actually the 2nd branch of St Ali. The first is 10,496 miles away, in Melbourne. Named for the patron saint of coffee, St Ali opened in south Melbourne in 2005, and is now a granddaddy of Melbourne's coffee scene, inarguably one of the finest in the world.

The cafe's small, discreet entrance belies a cavernous and impressive interior. There's two floors of wooden tables, and an in-house coffee roastery. The decor is very Clerkenwell-appropriate: exposed brick walls, Conran-y galvanised metal stools and a huge wrap-around counter in the centre of the room, not to mention a 2-storey 'living plant' wall and the hulking roaster which are both lit with natural daylight from a skylight above. Cafe Nero, this is not.

Service was both swift and chipper. When my friend A arrived ahead of me on a Sunday morning at peak brunching time, there was a fairly sizeable queue. When she reached the front, instead of requesting that she wait until her rubbish, stuck-on-the-bus friend (yep, me) arrived as so many establishments would do, the waitress gave A a prime spot upstairs and fixed her a flat white.

The flat whites passed with flying colours - punchy but not overpowering, with a silky finish. According to Time Out, St Ali's espresso machine was custom-made in Seattle and cost in the tens of 1000s. 'We cup then carefully roast the beans in small batches to make sure they keep their flavour,' says the cafe. Coffee is akin to religion here, and it shows.

The brunch menu is fun and diverse with some really interesting combinations of flavours, though the names of the dishes are a little too cute: 'Summer Glow','Banana Republic', 'World's Your Oyster.'

'My Mexican Cousin', St Ali Clerkenwell

A's' My Mexican cousin' was more sophisticated offering than the theme-bar name suggests: organic eggs, poached to a perfect level of runniness, perched on top of fat corn fritters, baby spinach, thick wedges of halloumi and kasundi, a punchy Bengali tomato relish.

'Dutch Oven', St Ali Clerkenwell

'Dutch oven' was a promising concoction of house-braised beans with ricotta, lemon, mint and a poached egg. Unfortunately, the egg was poached way past runny and was freewheeling to rubbery by the time it reached my plate, and the sourdough toast was blackening at the edges - it looked like it had spent 30secs too long under the grill. I put both of these down to easily-solveable timing errors, but the beans were a disappointment - the flavours of the lemon, ricotta and mint were barely discernable, and the beans lacked seasoning, real depth of flavour and tang - a little chilli and perhaps subbing in sharp Feta for the bland ricotta would've sorted things out . They were pleasant enough, but I began looking longingly at the good-looking, colourful plates of food flying past.

In sum: the coffee is superlative, and the menu has big potential. I'll definitely be back to scoff my way through dishes like the homemade banana bread with St Ali coffee-infused mascarpone, and French toast with West Dorset dry-aged smoked bacon and caramelised walnuts. I just wish I'd ordered them this time round.

Oh and St Ali doesn't split bills, so come with cash or a generous patron.

St Ali, 27 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5RM
http://stali.co.uk

Friday Find: Russian doll cookie cutters

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

Russian doll cookie cutter, photo copyright lindyscakes.co.uk

Babushka, babushka: it's a Russian doll Friday Find. I love it when I get a Friday Find tip off from a reader, friend or fellow blogger (if nothing else it means someone beside my mum is reading. Hello mum!) so I was really chuffed when Victoria Threader of Victorious Cupcakes posted a link for these fabulous matryoshka doll cookie cutters on the Pinch's Facebook page.

The matryoshka is designed by Lindy's Cakes, which regular bakers may know as something of an online treasure trove for unusual biscuit cutters and cake decorating gear. The cutter is available either as one large cookie cutter (£5.80), or as a set of 5 cutters in decreasing sizes (£9.95), apeing a traditional nest of Russian dolls and designed to be used to decorate the tops and sides of cakes. I can't wait to get busy with the food colourings and fondant to decorate some of these beauties.

Available from www.lindyscakes.co.uk

Urban Physic Garden, Southwark

2011-05-16T12:55:00.045+01:00

Urban Physic Garden

This summer, a derelict slice of land on Union Street in Southwark will be reinvented as the Urban Physic Garden. The project is by Wayward Plants, who last year turned the same grubby, lifeless patch into the Urban Orchard.

A physic garden, for the uninitiated, is one dedicated to plants with healing and medicinal properties. The most famous example is the enchanting Chelsea Physic Garden, where apothecaries first began tending to their shoots in 1673.

As well as strolling around the garden, you'll also be able to partake of talks, film screenings, workshops and other events. Popular roving supper club, the Rambling Restaurant, are transforming a decommissioned ambulance into a kitchen for a pop-up café, which will be serving a daily seasonl menu, big on homegrown herbs and leaves.

The Urban Physic Garden is open from 11th June to 15th August. The team is currently looking for volunteers to help with planting and painting, to find out more visit www.physicgarden.org.uk/volunteer

Exhibition: A Month of East London Mornings

2011-05-14T14:01:00.001+01:00

Six months ago I stumbled across a lovely blog called East London Mornings. Photographer Katya Katova explores the independent cafes and breakfast spots of the east and documents them with wordless photo montages. With just a handful of shots per cafe she captures the essence of much-loved morning hangouts in Hackney, Dalston, Stoke Newington and Shoreditch.

The next step for East London Mornings is an exhibition, 'A Month of East London Mornings.' Katova asked 20 local artists to pick a favourite east London cafe and illustrate it in their personal style. The results, including images of Climpson & Sons, The Hackney Pearl, Violet Cakes, Wilton Way Cafe and A Little of What You Fancy will be on display at Mouse & De Lotz on Shacklewell Lane from 17th May to 17th June. I'll raise a Square Mile flat white to that!

E5 Bakehouse, London Fields

2011-05-09T21:20:00.000+01:00

E5 Bakehouse cheese sandwich

Time Out London recently claimed to have discovered 'the perfect cheese sandwich'. This allegedly faultless marriage of dairy and carb is made by E5 Bakehouse - a small organic bakery with a growing rep, based nary a hop, skip and jump from Pinch Towers. I've been hearing good things about E5 Bakehouse for a while, so this 'perfect cheese sandwich' revelation was a call to open, greedy arms. I headed to the Bakehouse, which is nestled in the railway arches beneath London Fields station, to investigate.

It was Good Friday, which you may recall was a scorcher, and London Fields was teaming with hipsters and drifters. The tiny Bakehouse provided a brief oasis from the madness but it's a working bakery, not a place to linger.

There's a small glass takeaway counter containing banana and walnut cake,carrot and coconut muffins and the like. The right side of the minuscule step-in retail space consists of a few shelves stacked with brown bags of homemade muesli and gluten-free brownies. There's room for a max of about 3 people to queue at the counter and order. To the left is a busy, working bakery - walk in and a friendly head bobs up and over the top of trays boasting freshly-made fig and walnut bread, baguettes, Borondinsky (a Russian rye bread), and the Bakehouse's acclaimed Hackney Wild - a classic white sourdough.

E5 Bakehouse, London Fields

The exterior of the bakery is decorated with flowers, birds and slogans like 'work is love in action' and 'be here now.' The whole place has a certain hippyish, Alice Waters in Berkeley circa 1971 , grassroots project feel about it. But back to that sandwich...

'We only have one left,' said the cheery neo-hippy behind the counter. Clearly, word about 'the perfect cheese sandwich' is out. So J and I bought the last one and repaired to London Fields to examine/eat the evidence. And I tell you what, it is a bloody good cheese sandwich. The sourdough has a really thick, no-nonsense golden crust dusted with flour. And the bread inside is soft, springy and chewy. A slice on its own, dipped into good olive oil, would be pleasure enough. But fill it with mature Cheddar, thinly-sliced tomatoes, fresh leaves, and a layer of sticky onion jam, all spiky with chilli, and you have something a bit special.

At £2.80, it's an affordable slice of near-perfection, too.

E5 Bakehouse, London Fields

But not perfect. Why? We returned to E5 Bakehouse this past saturday for a cheese sandwich fix, only to be told that they don't make them at weekends. Readers, this is madness. You may or may not be familiar with the London Fields railway arches area, but Bishopsgate on a weekday, it is not. There are a couple of small businesses, a good pub, and a vintage furniture concern, but not much in the way of passing trade. Yet come the weekend, people pour into London Fields, buying little quiches, sausage baguettes, Vietnamese Banh Mi etc from Broadway Market and taking them into the park for a lazy picnic. To deny residents and food tourists alike a weekend cheese sandwich fix makes terrible business sense. To E5 Baekhouse I say "'perfect cheese sandwiches for everyone, 7 days a week." I've tasted cheese sandwich near-perfection and I don't want to use up my annual leave allowance to get more.

E5 Bakehouse, Arch 402, Mentmore Terrace, E8 3PH. www.e5bakehouse.com

Interview with James Ramsden

2011-05-04T09:30:00.000+01:00

Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden

I've interviewed food writer, supper club host and chap about town, James Ramsden, about his new book Small Adventures in Cooking, for Quadrille Publishing's new blog. Click here to read it.

Recipe: Cardamom shortbread hearts

2011-05-01T17:55:00.001+01:00

Cardamom shortbread hearts

It's time to roll up the bunting, eat the last curled-up cucumber sandwich and put the patriotic fervour in storage - yes, the Royal Wedding is over. But I leave you with these cardamom shortbread hearts, one of several treats baked by V and I for our Royal Wedding morning tea party. Live coverage began Friday morning at 8am sharp on the BBC, so all baking, bunting hanging and other prep had to be done on Thursday.

We began our Royal Wedding party prep by making a large bowl of healthy Coronation chicken, putting it in the fridge overnight to let the curry powder, juicy mango and sultanas, apple and bird all get acquainted. Then we cracked on with the baking- making a couple of airy lemon cream sponges (recipe to come soon) and these shortbread love hearts.

This recipe makes a buttery shortbread that holds its shape but crumbles to the bite. Flecks of crushed cardamom give the biscuits a delicate perfume, and a generous pinch of salt counteracts the sugar nicely. They were perfect for a morning gathering - not too sweet and the perfect accompaniment to a very large pot of English Breakfast and lots of cooing over Kate's Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen gown.

Cardamom shortbread hearts

Makes approx 16 biscuits

125g unsalted butter
55g golden caster sugar
180g plain flour
Pinch of salt
Approx 10 cardamom pods

Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

Cream the butter and golden caster sugar together with an electric whisk until very pale and fluffy.

Stir in the flour and pinch of salt to form a firm dough.

Lightly crush the cardamom pods with the back of a spoon or in a pestle and mortar to release the seeds. Discard the shells and lightly crush the seeds a little more, just to release their fragrance.

Add the crushed cardamom seeds to the dough and roll out onto a lightly-floured work surface.

Roll out the dough until it is 1cm thick.

Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut out hearts from the dough. Place the hearts on the lined baking tray and use the tip of a sharp knife to carve the lovebirds' initials in the hearts.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.

Place the tray of biscuits on a shelf in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up, or until the oven is at temperature.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly golden. Put on a wire rack to cool.

Friday Find: Classy Royal Wedding kitchenwares

2011-04-22T14:00:00.000+01:00

Vintage Royal Wedding cake stand by Esther Coombs

There is literally nothing, NOTHING, that entrepreneurial Brits won't slap a pic of Kate and Wills on in the run up to the Royal Wedding. I've seen press releases for Royal Wedding teabags, gnomes, dog clothes and prophylactics. Yes, for just five English pounds you could be the proud owner of some Crown Jewels condoms: "Combining the strength of a Prince with the yielding sensitivity of a Princess-to-be."

Yeech.

But amidst all the tat, there are some classier offerings. If you're looking for a commemorative souvenir that won't fall apart before Kate and Wills are back from honeymoon, or you just have a soft spot for what my friend Daniel calls 'Coronation chic' (faded Union Jacks et al), then now is a great time to splash out on some regal kitchenwares...

First up, there's this I Do commemorative tea towel from TCH, with the words 'I Do' subtly incorporated into the phrase In London, followed by the date. Spot the W & K carved onto the tree, too...


I Do Royal Wedding Retro Tea Towel, £11.99 from www.tch.net

Also from TCH, are these dainty Royal Wedding crown napkin charms...

Royal Wedding crown napkin charms, £4.99 for 4 from www.tch.net

Buy this sweet Street Party teapot, and proceeds go to the RNLI. There's also a creamer and a sugar pot in the same design...


Street party teapot, £24.95, www.rnlishop.org.uk

This beautiful one-of-a-kind cake stand is made by Esther Coombs using vintage crockery and glassware found in thrift stores and charity shops. It features London landmarks on the Royal Wedding procession route, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Mall...

Royal Wedding cake stand by Esther Coombs, £148 from www.notonthehighstreet.com

This cheeky Corgi Royal Wedding tea towel is exclusively designed by Gemma Correll for todryfor.com...

Corgi Royal Wedding tea towel, £9.95 from www.todryfor.com

And who else but the Cath Kidston team could've designed this unabashedly retro tea towel (there's also a matching mug and tote bag)?...

Royal Wedding tea towel, £10 from www.cathkidston.co.uk

Event: Dishoom's Chowpatty Beach, Southbank

2011-04-17T09:30:00.001+01:00

Dishoom's Chowpatty Beach, Southbank

Popular Covent Garden restaurant Dishoom is making it an Indian Summer by transforming an area of the Southbank into a replica of Mumbai/Bombay's Chowpatty Beach.

From 13th May to 4th September the concrete plaza outside the Southbank Centre will be home to 48 tonnes of sand, a beach bar, Gola-wallahs selling authentic Bombay ices and live music performances. Transforming this...

Image via Wikipedia

Southbank Centre

Into this...

Image via Wikipedia

Chowpatty Beach

Image via Wikipedia

Chowpatty Beach

"Chowpatty beach is where all Bombay comes to snack and stroll," says the restaurant. "Every Bombayite has nostalgic memories of magical evenings with family and friends, enjoying the view of the Arabian Sea at dusk and the lights of the skyline across the bay. The ramshackle food stalls that pepper the beach are revered for serving the tastiest Pau Bhaji in India. Everyone has their favourite Gola-wallah, who shaves ice from huge blocks, packs it onto a stick and douses it in delicious syrup."

The beach bar will be decorated with an arched walkway made of recycled carrier bags, coloured barrels for stools and reclaimed railway sleepers for benches, plus dozens of hanging jam jar lights, all a nod to jugaad (which translates as 'making do' in Hindi.)

I'm a fan of Dishoom (its black house dahl is genuinely addictive), so I'm looking forward to washing down a few of its signature bacon naans with a Spiked Colaba ice this summer. Let's hope it's a hot one.

Tsuru Mansion House, London EC4

2011-04-11T22:40:00.003+01:00

Tsuru Mansion House, photo copyright Tsuru

Delicious, sustainable, reasonably affordable sushi in London. It shouldn't be a huge ask, right? London is, after all, the capital city of an island nation, with world-class salmon, scallops, mackerel and crab all landed not a million miles from The Smoke. Yet, your chances of finding a good, mid-range sushi spot in London remain slimmer than a Ukrainian model during Fashion Week.

So if you can't afford to sup saki with the oligarchs (Zuma, Nobu, Roka et al) and you don't want turgid conveyor-belt nigiri, what's a London sushiphile on a budget to do? Turn, my friends, to Tsuru.

This budding chain of delicious (tick), sustainably-sourced (big tick) and affordable (tick) sushi spots fills that big maki-shaped hole in the mid-range Japanese restaurant market. The first branch opened a couple of years ago in Southwark, the second in 2010 on Bishopsgate in the City, and Tsuru Mansion House opened near St Paul's Cathedral in February 2011.

Tsuru-addicts come mainly for two things - the katsu and the sushi. At lunchtimes, the Southwark branch near my office heaves with suits and magazine hacks in search of their katsu curry and salmon and avocado roll fix. The katsu curry, made to a traditional recipe, is crazily addictive stuff. Crisp, crunchy pieces of free-range chicken, beef or salmon drowning in a thick, deeply savoury but also slightly-sweet sauce. The new Mansion House restaurant has the same short and effective lunch menu as the other branches, but the dinner menu is longer with some new offerings.

When we visited Tsuru Mansion House on a Friday night a few weeks after opening, only 4 tables out of about 12 were occupied, and Tsuru lacked the buzz that defines its hectic lunch hours. But what it had lost in frenetic katsu-downing, it gained in mellowness. The Asahis were cold and the tealights were out on the low-slung wooden tables.

Highlights from the Mansion House dinner menu include the yakitori chicken (£4.25) - meat juices dripping from the chunks of free-range chicken thighs, skewered with spring onions. The pork and vegetable gyoza are both light and crisp (£5.75 and £4.95), and the Aburi Saba - mackerel sashimi with mustard (£6.45), packs the kind of flavour-punch you should probably resist on a first date.

Niku Miso, Tsuru Mansion House

And then there's the Niku Miso (£4.35), a dish I've been a little bit obsessed with ever since I ate it. Take a block of cool, silky tofu and add a big dollop of red miso paste mixed with beef ground to minuscule pieces and a scattering of spring onions. I couldn't see it on the website just now so please, Tsuru, from a katsu junkie turned Niku Miso addict, if you've dropped this dish from the menu please reconsider. It's worth a trip to Mansion House alone.

If you haven't tried any of the three Tsuru branches yet, I implore you to do so. As far as the question about where to find affordable but delicious sushi in London goes, at the moment Tsuru IS pretty much the answer.

PS the coffee at Tsuru Mansion House is from none other than Kiwi flat white maestro, Allpress.

Tsuru Mansion House, 10 Queen Street, EC4N 1TX. http://www.tsuru-sushi.co.uk/

Friday Find: Portmerion Dawn Chorus collection

2011-04-01T09:00:00.005+01:00

Dawn Chorus teacups £13.50, teapot £26.50, cake stand £20 and large jug £20, Portmeirion

I'm not usually a fan of official days and weeks. You know the ones - National Itchy Elbow Day or National Turnip Awareness Month. Press releases for such spurious occasions ping into journalist and blogger inboxes several times a day and most of them, I'm afraid to say, go straight in the delete folder.

There are exceptions of course. National Chip Week is only to be encouraged, National Pie Week frankly makes the world a better place to be, and I'll bake pink cakes until my oven breaks to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now I can add to their ranks a delightful new 'day', Dawn Chorus Day.

Dawn Chorus Teacup and saucer £13.50, Portmeirion

International Dawn Chorus Day will take place on May 1st. It's supported by The Wildlife Trust and billed as a worldwide celebration of morning birdsong - how lovely is that? Apparently hearing birdsong in the mornings on a regular basis does wonders for your wellbeing and stress levels. I can well believe it - here in east London we have the 'Hackney chorus' - sub police sirens for blackbirds and thrushes and you get the idea. Not soothing.

To promote Dawn Chorus Day, Portmeirion has created a beautiful collection of Dawn Chorus tableware...

Dawn Chorus teapot £26.50, Portmeirion

There's a teapot, cakestand, cake slice, cutlery, teacups, plates and saucers. The pretty birds and flower designs are full of the joys of spring and most fitting for an al fresco breakfast come May 1st.

Dawn Chorus large jug £20, Portmeirion

For stockists or to order visit www.portmeirion.co.uk

Friday Find: London Cupcake Case set

2011-03-25T08:22:00.003Z

London cupcake case set, £8 from the Great Little Trading Co.

You know what it's like, you wait ages for a bus and then 24 Routemasters mounted on cocktail sticks come along at once. At least they do when you buy this London cupcake case set from the Great Little Trading Co. Just the right side of twee, this fun set features double-sided cupcake toppers of London icons including the aforementioned (and much-missed) Routemaster, plus Big Ben, black cabs and what the site describes as Beefeaters, but looks more like a soldier from the Queen's Guard (them what do the Changing of the Guard and that). I am willing to stand corrected if any London supernerds can clarify...

London cupcake case set, £8 from the Great Little Trading Co.

The London cupcake case set also includes 24 cases featuring Union Jacks and more Beefeater's/Queen's Guard. It's perfect for baking with kids, or for Royal Wedding parties. I'll definitely be skewering some Routemasters and cabs into my cakes and Coronation chicken sarnies come April 29th.

£8 from the Great Little Trading Co.

Cakes for Japan: See the cakes

2011-03-21T20:48:00.001Z

cupcakes by Molly Bakes, photo by Julian Frentzel, © Miss Cakehead

Cakes for Japan was a huge chocolate-laced, sprinkle-strewn, buttercream-filled success. The event at Maiden in Shoreditch, which was organised by the indefatigable Miss Cakehead, raised more than £2000 for the Red Cross and sold out in just three hrs.

Dark chocolate and cherry brownies, photo Nathan Pask

Almost all the cakes had a Japanese theme, ingredient or twist, including the fantastic sushi cupcakes by Molly Bakes pictured top, and my brownies (pictured above) which contained a couple of fistfuls of sour cherries (not technically a Japanese ingredient, more a nod to sakura, the delicate cherry blossoms which will soon be in full bloom in Japan). To see more of the cakes in their glory, the Cakes for Japan Flickr stream is here.

For more information on Cakes for Japan and holding your own event, visit http://cakesforjapan.wordpress.com/

And for the Red Cross appeal, click here

Cakes for Japan and other ways to help

2011-03-16T19:32:00.000Z

Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo 2005

Beautiful, mercurial, proud, generous Japan. We are thinking of you.

If you're watching the news here in the UK and feeling helpless, here's some ways to help Japan, just a little bit...

Cakes for Japan

Cakes For Japan is a series of pop-up bake sales raising money for relief efforts. The main sale is taking place at Maiden, 188 Shoreditch High Street, EC2, this Friday 18th March. There'll be sushi and Japanese-inspired cakes including these genius sushi cake pops from Molly Bakes...

Sushi cake pops by Molly Bakes

There'll also be cookies from Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber, green tea cupcakes, painted cherry blossom cookies, Geisha-inspired cake pops, brownies with an as-yet-undecided Japanese twist from yours truly, and cakes from top bloggers Gastrogeek and LibertyLondonGirl.

Cakes for Japan is the brainchild of Miss Cakehead, and she's encouraging people to hold Cakes for Japan events across the UK - there are already events planned in Leeds, Edinburgh and Manchester. Check out the website for details on how to hold your own.

If, like me, one of your favourite sights is the green Ocado van pulling up outside the front door, you might wish to contribute to the delivery company's Japan fund. Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing, whose mother is Japanese, has set up a Just Giving page. The company will match the first 20k pledged by its customers and all the money raised will go to Mercy Corps to Peace Winds Japan, a Tokyo-based NGO.

Google also has an excellent page of resources dedicated to Japan, and other ways to help.

This post is for Mino, Doug and Ana who were all so kind to me and took me into their homes while I was in Japan, and for James and Misaki. We are thinking of you all x

Event: Friday Food Club pop-up at Meza with Ravinder Bhogal

2011-03-14T20:56:00.001Z

Photo copyright Meza

Meza bar and grill in Soho is turning pop-up restaurant in March and April. The D&D restaurant is playing host to Anna Hansen's acclaimed Modern Pantry restaurant from 22nd March to 16th April. It's a fun idea - one successful restaurant from a different corner of the smoke (Clerkenwell in this case), guest starring at another restaurant Up West.

Also at Meza, for three Wednesdays in a row, the restaurant will be taken over by popular sarf-east London supper club and "food movement", Friday Food Club. Run by husband and wife, Lee (a trained chef) and Fi, Friday Food Club has already played host to guest chefs like Anna Hansen (her again!), Mark Hix and MasterChef 2010 winner Dhruv Baker. On 30th March, Ravinder Bhogal, presenter of C4 show Food and author of Cook in Boots will be guest cheffing at the Friday Food Club Meza pop-up.

Ravinder Bhogal - 'that's what I call a knife'

Ravinder's provisional menu is five courses of aromatic gorgeousness. To wit:
Mumbai shot

Crispy Soft Shell Crab and Aubergine with a Spicy Triple Nut and Tamarind Sauce

Home-ground Ras al Hanout Lamb Cutlets with Spiced Green Lentil Rice, Crispy Fried Onions and Pomegranate Yoghurt

Orange and Cardamom Scented Champagne Rhubarb Jelly, Rose Pannacotta, Rose and Pistachio Praline

Rose and Cardamom Truffles

£60 for 5 courses including wine. Register with bookings@fridayfoodclub.com

Meet the winning Royal Wedding cake...

2011-03-11T12:38:00.000Z

Kelly Douglass's Royal Wedding cake

Behold the winner of goodtoknow's Royal Wedding baking competition - Kelly Douglass from Northolt's brilliant street party cake. The standard of entries was really high and it was incredibly tough to pick the winner, but Kelly's cake stood out for all the imaginative details.

Check out all the little details: the buns, cucumber sarnies, Champers, jam roly poly and tea on top of the cake. The bunting, the little tressle table and table cloth. Heck - even the cobbles and petals strewn on the pavement...

goodtoknow's winning Royal Wedding cake

Click here for a gallery of the winning cake, runners up and a selection of entries.

Friday Find: Personalised London street mugs

2011-03-11T08:30:00.001Z

Disco Butterfly Personalised London street mugs, £17

Loving these personalised London street mugs, £17 each from notonthehighstreet.com. You can pick the house number, road and borough and design team Disco Butterfly will do the rest. It could be your current home, the location of a first date or, if you're slightly immature like me, perhaps one of London's more medieval and, er, earthy street names. Cock Lane or Bird-in-Bush road anyone?

A quick look around Disco Butterfly's Not on the High Street storefront reveals some other personalised kitchen gems...

Mug pets...

Disco Butterfly mug pets, £16,50 each

Russian dolls...

Disco Butterfly personalised Russian Doll mug, £14.95

Bespoke personalised alphabet coasters...

Disco Butterfly bespoke personalised alphabet coasters, £3.75 each

Friday Find: Paperchase egg cosy kit

2011-03-04T08:20:00.003Z

Knitted rabbit egg cosy kit, £25 from Paperchase

Good old Paperchase. If ever I'm in need of a birthday card with Russian dolls on or some natty new pencils for my stationery drawer, I know where to turn. But kitchen stuff, not so much. Which is why I was delighted to discover this adorable knitted egg cosy kit in the store's spring offering.

Ok, so it's a bit previous to start talking about Easter gifts, but if, like me, you lack anything beyond the most rudimentary knitting skills, then you'll need from now 'til Easter weekend in late April to turn this egg cosy kit into something resembling a rabbit. Loving both the muted colours and the big kilner jar, which you could use afterwards to store sensible food stuffs (rice, flour) or a mountain of Mini Eggs. Guess which gets my vote?

Knitted rabbit egg cosy kit, £25 from Paperchase

Wilton Way Café, Hackney E8

2011-02-21T21:33:00.002Z

Wilton Way cafe, Hackney

Hackney is blessed with quality cafés. The fantastic Taste of Bitter Love might have left Hackney Road for pastures tbc, but there are still plenty of places to get your flat white fix in E8 and E5. Hidden down a residential street in central Hackney, you'll find Wilton Way café. And while expertly-poured lattes and nice things on sourdough may be two-a-penny round these parts - how many cafés have you been to with their own in-house radio station?

Push open this small café's unmarked door (look for a black shopfront engraved with the legend A.Johnson & Son), and before you even reach its counter you'll notice the tiny radio station set up in the corner by the window. This is London Fields Radio, and its volunteers broadcast culture, music and entertainment live from Wilton Way café; the low clatter of forks and coffee cups in the background, presumably.

It's a merry little spot to pass some lazy weekend hours, if you can get a seat. Rainbow-striped pendant lights dangle from the ceiling. Seats are squat stools and vegetable crates, with wheels ingeniously added so they can roll under the wooden benches that run around two sides of the room.

I've never seen anything quite like the counters - a series of wood-topped corrugated steel circles, heaving with cakes and drinks. The tallest one, at the back of the café, seems to house the 'kitchen.' Resembling a converted pissoir, this curve of metal houses a large toaster and, one presumes, a small fridge. There was no sign of an actual kitchen anywhere in the café - perhaps they prep many of the ingredients for the short, toast-centric menu in advance? I'd be fascinated to know how they do it because they've pulled off a catering miracle here - the food is good, and spankingly fresh.

Avocado on toast, Wilton Way cafe

Avocado with chilli flakes and olive oil on sourdough (£3.80) was a deliciously simple marriage of the creamy and the chewy-slash-crunchy, but it needed a pinch of salt to save it from blandness. A ciabatta roll stuffed with Brindisa chorizo, piquillo peppers and rocket (£4.50) was faultless. Other toasted delights wafting by included a crispy bacon bap with avocado and tomato sauce (£4.30) and Wilton's rarebit with buttered leeks (£3.40).

Guinness and ginger cake, Wilton Way cafe

A slice of sticky Guinness and ginger cake was the perfect foil for a smooth and just-the-right-level-of-creamy cappuccino. The coffee beans are Climpson & Sons, brewed to perfection on Wilton's La Marzocco espresso machine.

If Wilton Way café was in Central London, it could hold its own against Flat White, Lantana and co, and would be packed to the rafters. The fact that it's not in Soho but hidden down a side street round the back of the Hackney Empire, has had a fraction of the press coverage of those places, and is still packed to the rafters speaks volumes: get thee to Hackney.

Wilton Way cafe
63 Wilton Way, E8 1BG

Friday Find: App fridge magnets

2011-02-18T08:30:00.002Z

App Magnets, £16 from Urban Outfitters

Got a blank fridge door just begging for some fresh adornments? There's an app for that. Or rather, 18 apps to be precise - in the form of these brilliant App Magnets, new at Urban Outfitters.

All your old iPhone favourites are there - Messages, Weather, Settings, Maps, YouTube, iTunes, Compass, Stocks (anyone else shuffle those last two off their screens to make room for PacMan and Facebook, or is that just me?). So now you can giddily and geekily recreate all the fun of your iPhone on your fridge.

Rumours of an Angry Birds magnet could not be confirmed at time of going to press.

App Magnets, £16 for set of 18, http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/

Friday Find: Valentine's kitchenware special

2011-02-11T07:32:00.001Z

heart-shaped coasters, £3 for 2, http://www.johnlewis.com/

Valentine's Day - truly the Marmite holiday. You either love it or you hate it. Or, like me, you love it and hate it in equal measures. And chaps, if you're buying your beloved a token of your affections, begrudingly or not, it doesn't have to be flowers from the garage forecourt, scratchy pants or an 'I Wuv You' Cuddly Devil - there is another, classier way. These beautiful Valentine's and heart-adorned kitchen items are for life not just February 14th...

Set of six heart-shaped teaspoons by Rustic Angels...

heart-shaped teaspoons, £20 for 6, http://www.notonthehightstreet.com/

Brown sugar hearts to sweeten your coffee year-round...

Brown sugar hearts, £20.40 for 64, http://www.coxandcox.co.uk/

Beautiful pewter napkin rings from Lancaster and Gibbings...

Lancaster and Gibbings Pewter Napkin Ring with Heart, £12, http://www.johnlewis.com/

This jolly teapot is part of the new Cornishware Red range...

New Cornishware Red teapot, £26, http://www.tggreen.co.uk/

Boys, Dairy Box from the newsagents = bad. Rococo = gooooood...

Hand-painted chocolate forget-me-not heart, £7.95, http://www.rococochocolates.com/

Personalised Tweet Towel...

Personalised Tweet Towel, £10, http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/. Photo copyright Red Online

Recipe: Rosewater and almond cupcakes

2011-02-09T22:52:00.002Z

Rosewater and almond cupcakes

Behold some unapologetically pink cake-age. These rosewater and almond cupcakes are for a Valentine's bake sale on Monday. But it's only Wednesday, you cry, won't these cakes be hard as golf balls come Monday? Fear not, the cooled cupcakes and buttercream are in the freezer, waiting to be adorned with decorations come Monday morning. In the freezer in separate containers I might add - freeze your cupcake and your icing together and the defrosted result will be one soggy pink mess.

I orginally got the idea for these cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery's rose cupcakes. But I've simplified the method and added almonds and a pistachio topping alongside the rosewater for an altogether more Turkish take (thanks to the wonderful Ericyes minimarket in Hackney which keeps me in flaked almonds). Less is more when it comes to the rosewater - a few drops is delicate and delightful, any more is 'bleurrgh - bubble bath.'

Rosewater and almond cupcakes
Makes 12

For the cakes
150g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
3 medium free-range eggs
150g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp rosewater
25g flaked almonds, chopped into very small pieces
2 tbsp milk if needed

For the buttercream icing
140g butter
240g icing sugar, sifted
few drops pink food colouring
few drops rosewater
1 tbsp milk
pinch of salt

To decorate
Pistachios, shelled and chopped into small pieces
Crystallised rose petals
Flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5

Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy.

Add the rosewater and the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour between each. Sift then fold in the rest of the flour and the chopped, flaked almonds with a large metal spoon just until all the flour is incorporated. Add the milk if required.

Bake for 15-20 mins or until the cakes are golden and a cocktail stick or small skewer inserted into one comes out clean.

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the icing, cream together the butter, rosewater, food colouring, pinch of salt and sifted icing sugar until the latter is fully incorporated. Add a little milk if you need to loosen the mixture. When the cupcakes are completely cool, spread a dollop of icing on top of each using the back of a teaspoon to create a small well in the centre of the icing.

Add crystalised rose petals, a few roughly chopped pistachios or a few flaked almonds to the centre of each cake.

Food events: Mixed Grill

2011-02-02T22:03:00.001Z

Fire and Knives Mixed Grill

Paging all food nerds. Here's a festival with our dorky name on it. The Fire & Knives Mixed Grill on 12 Feb is Glastonbury for food geeks, a Coachella of culinary obsessives, the Hay Festival for greedy guts.

What is it, you cry? The brainchild of Guardian food journalist Tim Hayward, Mixed Grill is "a day of talks, lectures, rants, performances, debates, panels, presentations and party pieces on the endlessly fascinating subject of...

Bird watching.

Only joking. It's all about food - of course! Fire & Knives is, for the uninitiated, a literary food quarterly. Its eclectic output and impressive roll call of contributors are reflected in Mixed Grill, the magazine's first food event. Held at Conway Hall in central London, Mixed Grill will be giving visitors one helluva bang for their buck. Speakers include Matthew Fort on food in detective fiction, BBC2 'gastronaut' Stefan Gates on the world's weirdest foods and food historian Liz Calvert Smith.

Fire and Knives

There's also a pop-up restaurant hosted by underground restaurateur Ms Marmite Lover, an ether bar from jellymongers Bompas & Parr, music, levitating Chihuahuas and something called a Fruit Salad of Death. What more could you ask for on a Saturday in February?

Mixed Grill, 12 Feb, Conway Hall, London WC1.
Tickets cost £20 and are going like, what else, hot cakes.
Get yours here

Allpress Espresso, Shoreditch E2

2011-01-29T11:58:00.004Z

Allpress Espresso, Shoreditch

Antipodean cafes continue to spring up around London like the Neighbours cast at panto season. And thank goodness. The Dark Ages of watery coffee from faceless chains, before the Aussie and Kiwi Enlightenment of Lantana, Flat White, Nude Espresso and co, don't bear thinking about.

Allpress Espresso, Redchurch Street

The latest Kiwi kid on the block is Allpress Espresso in Shoreditch. According to my Kiwi chum A, Allpress is a big deal in New Zealand. It started as a small group of cafes in Auckland, and now its Costa Rican espresso beans are one of New Zealand's best-loved coffee brands, with outlets in Australia to boot.

So A was understandably excited to discover Allpress had landed in London. The first thing you notice arriving at this new cafe on Redchurch Street is the hulking coffee roaster taking up half of the cafe, resembling a contraption from Dr Who. Allpress Espresso is one-part cafe and one-part roastery selling beans to the trade and the public.

Allpress's coffee roaster

This has the slight disadvantage of cannabalising the floor space and making the cafe area, all cream-coloured bare brick walls and wooden tables, rather crowded. Allpress was heaving on the Sunday afternoon we visited, with punters huddled by the door or standing around the communal tables waiting for a seat to open up. The word is definitely out.

flat white, Allpress Espresso

A cup of all-important flat white (the control test for any Antipodean cafe worth its salt) passed with flying colours - rich, full-bodied and smooth, made with Allpress's gleaming La Marzocco espresso machine.

scone of glory

A wooden slab by the till groaned with the homeliest-looking scones this side of a WI tea party. These fat cricket balls were soft and airy, an indecent amount of clotted cream and strawberry jam crammed in the middle. A slab of apple and almond cake (pictured above) was filled with a light, creamy custard and served with a generous dollop of clotted cream. If this is the cake offering, I'm definitely coming back for brunch.

Welcome to London, Allpress.

Friday Find: Stuart Gardiner tea towels

2011-01-21T08:00:00.004Z

Wildfood tea towel

For this week's Friday Find, I have to thank the lovely Elly, who runs The Pear Cafe in Bristol, and who tweeted me to nominate this splendid tea towel for a Friday Find.

The Wildfood tea towel is designed by chap called Stuart Gardiner. It features a seasonal guide to 70 British forageable foods - from crab apples to seaweed. If Hugh's Big Fish Fight has inspired you to cook some of our more unusual fishy friends, there's also a British seasonal fish tea towel.

When I looked at Stuart's website, I discovered his East London-based design studio is also responsible for several kitchen items I've been coveting lately, including the exceedingly badass Glove and Hate oven mitt, which you can buy from La Bouche on Broadway Market and Rosie's Deli Cafe in Brixton among others...

Stuart Gardiner Love and Hate oven mitt

And this Drop Scones not Bombs tea towel...

Staurt Gardiner Drop Scones Not Bombs tea towel

Aaaand these adorable Teat-Owls (do you see what he did there?)...

Stuart Gardiner Teat-Owls

Tea towels, all £10 each
Glove and Hate oven mitt, £14
All from http://www.stuartgardiner.co.uk/

Recipe: Spelt drop scones with bacon, avocado and maple syrup

2011-01-18T22:09:00.000Z

Spelt drop scones

Down with self-flagellating new year's resolutions! Honestly, it's grotty, grey and cold in January - why would you choose this of all months to renounce wine, chocolate and vegetating on the sofa watching Glee? But that doesn't mean I'm immune to the shiny promise of the new year's resolution. I've just decided that my resolution for 2011 will involve something I love...

...food.

So I resolve to spend 2011 cooking from my cookbooks. That doesn't sound too hard does it? But like many people I have far more cookbooks than I use. 73 of the blighters at last count. I probably use 15 of them on anything resembling a regular basis. At most. The guilt is getting to me - this forest of words and pictures sat unused on what the boyfriend refers to with a resigned shake of the head as 'the cookbook shrine'...

the 'cookbook shrine'

The rules are to use one cookbook each week, and cook at least one recipe from it. Preferably more. Working my way down the bookshelves from top to bottom. And in the process hopefully discover exciting new dishes and new ways to cook old favourites. I'll also blog some of the recipes as I go.

Last week it was the turn of the cheery and useful River Cottage Everyday. I cooked a couple of vegetable dishes in the week, and then adapted the recipe for wholemeal drop scones at the weekend, omitting the sugar and using spelt flour as I have a large bag of the stuff freewheeling towards use-by. Drop scones are basically fat, baby pancakes - perfect brunch fodder served up with crispy bacon, avocado and a slick of maple syrup...

Spelt drop scones with bacon, avocado and maple syrup

Spelt drop scones with bacon, avocado and maple syrup
(adapted from River Cottage Everyday)

Serves 4 (makes about 25 drop scones)

For the drop scones
275g spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
2 medium free-range eggs
275ml milk
50g butter, melted
A dab of sunflower oil

To serve
3 rashers of streaky bacon per person, fried until crispy

2 avocados, cut into thin slices
Maple syrup to drizzle

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Pour in about half the milk. Whisk, gently at first until you start to get a thick paste. Then add more milk and the melted butter. Beat until you get a creamy batter a little thicker than double cream.

Put a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add a dab of oil and rub with a wad of kitchen paper to oil the pan very lightly. Or use an oil spritzer if you have one.

Drop a tablespoon of batter into the pan to get a disc about the size of a Digestive biscuit. You should be able to fit 4 or 5 in the pan.

After about a minute, small bubbles will begin to appear on the surface of the scones. As soon as these bubbles cover the surface, flip the scones over with a spatula - be warned, the first batch may stick.

Cook the other side for 40-60 secs, then transfer the drop scones to a waiting plate.

Cook the remaining drop scones in batches in the same way.

Serve with a little butter or streaky British bacon, slices of fresh avocado and a drizzle of maple syrup.

*Do you use all your cookbooks or do you harbour a collection of pristine, unused recipe books? Do you have any tricks for remembering which recipes you have in those books? Let me know in the comments section.*

Friday Find: Robot cupcake moulds and cake tins

2011-01-14T08:00:00.004Z

Robot cupcake moulds, £15 for four from John Lewis

Baking paraphernalia leans, let's face it, towards the girly. A pink sprinkle shaker here, a flowery cake-case there. So where does that leave aspiring baker boys? With these seriously cool robot cupcake moulds from John Lewis, that's where. The silicon moulds are part of the new 400-product-strong John Lewis Little Home range, which launches on January 16th. Also part of the range are these cake tins, festooned with smiling robots...

Robot cake tin set, £10 from John Lewis

I like to think if these tins were around in the 60s, a young Nigel Slater would've used them to transport his lemon meringue pies back from home-ec class.

PS if you're in the market for a robot proper, do check out the exceedingly great My Robot Friends on Cheshire Street, just off Brick Lane.

Friday Find: Gaugin Tea for One Set from Tate Modern

2011-01-07T08:06:00.001Z

The blockbuster Gaugin exhibition at the Tate Modern is in its final days, which means Soviet queues and squinting over shoulders at pictures of Tahitian lovelies. I tried to book tickets today with no joy, but I did discover this gem of a Friday Find in the Tate Modern gift shop.

This Gaugin Tea for One set features the French emigree's Still Life with Idol (1892), which he painted while living in Tahiti. The nifty pot for one is part-tea pot, part cup - with a saucer thrown in for luck. The teapot holds two cups of tea and is made from New Bone Ceramic.

£25 from the Tate Online Shop. Get it while it's hot.

Recipe: leftover lamb with Puy lentils, pomegranate and a warm mint dressing

2011-01-03T20:19:00.003Z

Lamb with Puy lentils, pomegranate and mint

Happy New Year from Pinch of Salt!
Hope you like the new look.

To kick off the Pinch's 2011 - here's a recipe for the first thing I cooked this year. We woke up on Jan 1st with belligerent hangovers...and bountiful leftovers. For New Year's Eve supper, I slow-roasted lamb shoulder with anchovies, rosemary and garlic. Which is basically this marvellous Jamie Oliver recipe with added umami action courtesy of the anchovies - a traditional Mediterranean combination.

There was a hunk of lamb leftover on New Year's Day so I broke off the soft flakes of lamb shoulder and used them in this segue-into-healthiness dish - well, there's pulses and green things in it - a pretty good place to start.

Leftover lamb with Puy lentils, pomegranate and a warm mint dressing
Serves 2

Ingredients

Leftover lamb shoulder or leg meat, shredded
125g Puy lentils
A bay leaf
1/2 pomegranate
A large handful of rocket
Salt and pepper

For the dressing
One bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped
300ml boiling water
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Add the lentils to your saucepan with the bay leaf and cover with twice their volume in water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, shred the lamb and deseed the pomegranate.

To make the dressing, chop the mint very finely. Place in a bowl or jug and add the sugar and boiling water and stir. When the mixture has cooled slightly, add the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and whisk together thoroughly.

Drain the lentils. Pour over the warm mint dressing, then gently fold in the lamb, pomegranate and rocket.

Adjust seasoning and serve.

Pinch of Salt is one today...

2010-12-29T13:13:00.001Z

Photo copyright clevercupcakes on Flickr

Pinch of Salt is one today!

I can't believe it's been 365 days since I wrote this, then nervously clicked the 'publish now' button - hoping someone other than my mum would read it.

It's been an amazing year for me and my little London food blog. A year filled with culinary adventures great and small - tea with Marguerite Patten, juding the British Pie Awards, Pinch of Salt mentioned in Grazia, Victorian gin carriages, bee swarms, ash clouds, supper clubs, naval rum rations...and lots of Friday Finds.

Thank you so much to everyone who's taken time to read the blog, leave comments or send me an email. I can be a bit rubbish at replying to all the comments, but I appreciate every one. Pinch of Salt will be back in the New Year with a facelift (the subtle kind, not the Bride of Wildenstein kind) and more recipes, cafe and restaurant recommendations, London food events, unusual kitchenware and giveaways. Until then...

Out to lunch

2010-12-04T11:11:00.001Z

Photo copyright Kelvin Truong

Pinch of Salt is, to quote Ross from Friends, on a break at the moment. I'll be back soon with more Friday Finds, cafe and restaurant reviews, London food events, giveaways and... a shiny new look.

Thanks for reading

K x

Friday Find: London Tray

2010-11-12T13:27:00.001Z

Presenting London...on a tray. This slice of graphic fabulousness is by Swedish illustrator Maria Holmer Dahlgren. I love the witty details you spot on closer inspection - pigeons, Eros in the centre of the second O, and - appropriate this gale-ridden week - it's raining cats and dogs in the top right corner...

Each tray is made with sustainable silver birch from Scandinavian Forests. It's available from Our WorkShop, an online collective of designers and craftmakers, founded by London-based graphic designers Pui Lee and Gemman Stanton. The pair are planning a pop-up Christmas market at London Bridge - click here for more information.

London tray £27. Ourworkshop-shop.co.uk

Friday Find: SPAM apron

2010-11-05T13:00:00.001Z

The lovely people from Gilliankyle.com ("spiritual home of the Teacake") got in touch with me on Twitter after last week's Friday Find - the biscuits tea towe l. I checked out their website, and was impressed. Gillian Kyle set up her textiles business after graduating from the Glasgow School of Fine Art. Her bags, tshirts, tea towels and aprons are all made with organic cotton, using inks that cause minimal damage to the planet. But it's the designs that really won me over - humorous takes on Scottish (and sometimes British) food icons such as Irn Bru and Scott's porridge oats, plus sporrans, Scotty dogs and the like.

Kyle's signature image is a giant Tunnocks Teacake. The TT appears on bags, mugs, tea towels, and these aprons...

But it was the SPAM apron that made me laugh the most...

With honourable mention to this winsome Westie...

Aprons from £15 - £16.50; Gilliankyle.com

Ps for more on SPAM, check out this hilarious piece by food blogger Helen Graves on her day as Spam Cook of the Year judge.

Draft House Tower Bridge

2010-11-04T13:15:00.003Z

Charlie McVeigh knows a thing or two about running a cult dining spot. The restaurateur owns Le Café Anglais in Queensway (home to the glorious Parmesan custard with anchovy soldiers) and The Draft House, a small, growing chain of pubs with an extensive beer list, good grub and a loyal clientele. The first two branches are in Battersea, and now McVeigh has brought this most neighbourhoody of venues up to town.

In the shadows of Tower Bridge, the third Draft House is the best yet. The decor is a blend of American diner meets serious pub. It shouldn't work but somehow it does - the metal tables, pea-green banquettes and rock posters create a clean aesthetic that seems familiar and new at the same time...

And oh! The menu. One of those menus that you scan voraciously, peepers flitting from dish to dish before the inevitable cry of 'I want everything.' I was tempted by the burger - made with 28-day-aged Charolais beef from Oxfordshire, but there were too many interesting dishes to 'burger up' for mains. But then, a furtive glance at the top left of the menu and what did we find...

The snack burger. Yes, that's right, the same mature Oxfordshire beef, cooked rare, its rich juices dripping onto a mini sweet brioche bun, toasted to the same deep-gold shade as Jordan after a trip to Tanfastic...

Burger as Starter - one of the great innovations of our age?

Everything on the menu comes with a suggested beer pairing, and the knowledgeable staff can run you through other apt choices for each dish. We washed down the Burger as Starter with thirds of light, fruity Chalky's Bark (named for Rick Stein's late, irascible terrier).

Home-cured Arbroth salmon with fennel and orange salad and sorrel sounds like a dieter's starter (heaven forfend!) but this main featured an almost embarrassing amount of smoked salmon - the thick, silky tranches were piled onto the plate and lifted by the aromatic combo of fennel, watercress and a delicate orange dressing that gently cut through the fish without being too sharp. It paired perfectly with a Rothaus Eisbeer.

A side plate of British garden leaves with classic vinaigrette was disappointing. There was a rumour of dressing, but it was far too scant and watery to be properly detected. The mashed potato was a thing of glory, however - so maybe there's a lesson in there about ordering healthy sides.

J's sea bass with broccoli, butternut and brown shrimps was another winner. The skin had crisped up a treat on-top, aided and abetted by some judicious seasoning. It coupled well with a third of Chalky's Bite (which, as an aside, must make Chalky the world's only deceased dog with not one, but two, beers named for him).

The description of every pud on the menu made me drool, but we opted for an apple and damson crumble. They warn you there's a bit of a wait as each crumble is made from scratch (as it should be). It was no hardship at all to wait 15 mins, thirds of Kriek in hand, for the best crumble I've ever eaten (sorry mum, sorry Claremont Primary dinner ladies). The fruit was as ripe and juicy as you'd hope for but it was the topping wot won it. Crunchy and unapologetically buttery, with variable-sized crumbage (incidentally how Nigel Slater prefers his crumble topping), it was crowned with a sphere of creamy Jersey Milk Ice Cream. Bliss...

And finally...how can you not fall in love with a pub that has Ghostbusters wallpaper on the stairs? To quote another 80s movie icon, I'll be back.

The Draft House Tower Bridge, 206 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1.
www.drafthouse.co.uk

Friday Find: Family Favourites Tea Towel

2010-10-29T12:29:00.002+01:00

LOVING this biscuits tea towel. It's a who's who of 80s snacks, a rogues gallery of refined-flour fun. All the greats are there - the iced ring, the underrated Nice biscuit, the Jammy Dodger and the (currently endangered) Tunnocks Teacake.

The Family Favourites tea towel is designed by Charlotte Farmer and available from www.newhousetextiles.co.uk for £9.50.

PS this post is dedicated to a currently sicky Biccie.

Friday Find: John Lewis mugs for Shelter

2010-10-22T17:38:00.001+01:00

design: Richard Woods

Ah, I love it when style and a good cause cross paths. And, in a timely coincidence, what charity could be more appropriate this week than Shelter?

design: Rob Ryan

This exclusive collection of limited edition mugs was designed for John Lewis (or Johnny Lew-lew as my friend Amber calls it) by four artists working in different mediums: milliner Stephen Jones, artist Richard Woods, illustrator Sanna Annukka and famed intricate cutter-outter Rob Ryan. Each mug costs £7 and 50% from each sale goes to Shelter.

design: Sanna Annukka

John Lewis Designer Charity Mugs, £7 each; http://www.johnlewis.co.uk/

Friday Find: Breast Cancer Awareness goodies

2010-10-15T12:44:00.000+01:00

Breast Cancer Care cookie cutters, £8 (see stockists below)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a campaign close to my heart - and not just because that's where my boobs live. Someone I love very dearly was diagnosed with breast cancer last autumn, and is currently in remission. 4,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer this October alone, according to Breast Cancer Care. So this week's Friday Find is a special round up of some of the best limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness kitchen products. Go forth and shop dear readers...it's all for boobs.

KitchenAid Pink Blender, rrp £149 (call 0800 988 1266 for stockists). £20 for every blender sold goes to Breast Cancer Haven.

Brita Water Filter Pack including Orla Kiely re-usable water bottle, rrp £25. £1 from each pack sold goes to Breast Cancer Care.

Breast Cancer Care Bag for Life, £5. All proceeds go to Breast Cancer Care. Bag, water filter and cookie cutters are all available from www.breastcancercare.org.uk/shop

Supper club: The Secret Larder, Holloway

2010-10-10T18:40:00.001+01:00

When the broadsheets first started swooning over supper clubs early last year, at the height of the recession, the general assumption was that these gourmet speakeasies were a crunch-time fad.

But here we are at the tail end of 2010 and London's underground restaurant movement just goes from strength to strength. According to this list, maintained by one of the first at-home restaurateurs, Ms Marmite Lover of The Underground Restaurant, there are at least 60 supper clubs now operating in London alone.

So if you still haven't tried a supper club a) what are you waiting for? and b) you could do a lot worse than point your compass towards The Secret Larder in Holloway.

The Secret Larder is run by 25-year-old food writer and cook James Ramsden, and his artist sister Mary. The indefatigable pair host 20 people in their gorgeous, eclectically-styled flat every other Thursday. Many of the nights are themed or feature guest chefs and other 'curators'. On my recent visit (well okay, not that recent - it was August but I have been very slack at writing this up) it was New Orleans Night, with an exhibition of photos from the New Orleans Jazz Festival from music photographer Ed Hawkins....

Donald Harrison (top) & Jack White (below) by Ed Hawkins

Compared to most conventional restaurants, supper clubs like the Secret Larder offer phenomenal value. On New Orleans Night, for a suggested donation of £30 we got to chow down on four courses of lip-smacking soul food:

Prawn gumbo

Oyster po-boys

Bourbon short ribs served with Cajun potatoes and a homemade coleslaw

Chocolate bread and butter pudding

This feast (which was, without exception, delicious) was washed down with a complimentary Mint Julep and followed by a speakeasy-strong Bourbon coffee. Add in some good chat with our table-mates (I recall a long, random and Bourbon-fuelled conversation about Argentinian shoes), our pair of genial hosts and thoughtful touches - bowls of homemade pork scratchings, place settings with Ed's pictures of jazz greats, and you've got yourself one hell of an evening.

The Secret Larder is currently fully booked for October and November, but contact details for the reserve list are here. Alternatively, you can join the Secret Larder Facebook Group or follow @jteramsden on Twitter for news of last-minute cancellations (which happen more often than they should to even the best supper clubs.) Forthcoming themed nights include Game Night on 28th October and Soviet Night on 25th November.

Friday Find: Cookery Poster

2010-10-08T12:50:00.004+01:00

Such a simple idea, this. In a world of ubiquitous cooking gadgetry (and I speak as someone addicted to the Jamie Oliver app, replete with disembodied Jamie-voice), designer Cressida Bell's Cooking Poster* is obstinately lo-fi. And ruddy useful.

Entitled 'How to Cook Real Good Easy Cheap Food', the poster features 20 thrifty recipes derived from the three staple ingredients in the middle: tomatoes, onions and beans. So yes, it would be a very useful addition to any student kitchen wall (cover the damp AND make piperade) But it's also stylish enough to grace the home of cooks of all ages and budgets.

Cressida Bell is based in Hackney and posts to addresses across the UK. Contact her for more info if you live outside the UK.

A2 poster; £10 + p&p

*Found via India Knight's Posterous, the writer's wonderful blog of lovely finds - from uplifting YouTube vids to handbags

Carriage of Curiosities

2010-10-05T13:47:00.004+01:00

The Hendricks Horseless Carriage of Curiosities chugs into London for a second year from 11 - 17 October as part of London Cocktail Week. This converted Victorian carriage is opening its slam-doors in Clerkenwell for dinners created by Bompas & Parr, free G&Ts for visitors with 'unusual libation-inspired stories' and a bartender croquet cup.

I was lucky enough to visit the Curious Carriage on its visit to Manchester last year. To give you a taste of what to expect in 2010, here's a piece I wrote for the Londonpaper (RIP) about the Curious Carriage which never ran as the paper folded before the article was due out...

"When a dinner invite arrives in the form of a magnifying glass hidden in a spy novel, you know you're in for a peculiar night.

It turns out the invite is the least random thing about the Horsless Carriage of Curiosities. This 1890s railway car has been converted into a travelling collection of eccentric objects, dining room and bar by Hendrick's Gin. It reaches London in October.

The carriage is easy to spot. In Manchester, I just follow the chaps on penny farthings and ladies with parasols. Bemused locals are encouraged to join in by donating their "weirdest possessions" to the collection. Everyone who contributes gets a gin and tonic. Some don't quite get it - peering into the glass case I spot some Charles Worthington hair serum and a Nokia phone.

The improbably-named Louis Xavier Lewis-Smith, Hendrick's brand ambassador, saunters over with a G&T. "We've had some exceptional oddities," he assures me. "In Edinburgh someone donated a pair of duelling pistols."

Louis Xavier Lewis-Smith

Dinner is hosted by David Piper, a "dandy performer" with a Terry Thomas accent and some natty harem pants. As Louis hands round the cocktails, David reads from Rudyard Kipling. There are ten of us crowded around a table surrounded by objects of suspicious authenticity - a skeleton of Siamese twins, a 'Victorian tickling device'. Are they real? It doesn't really matter.

The 'Degu-station' menu has been conjured up by cult jellymongers Bompas & Parr. Sam Bompas appears, brandishing some quails' eggs and what looks like Turkish Delight. They're actually lavender marshmallows with methylamine - a potent aphrodisiac. Maybe it's the cocktails, but conversation immediately takes a fruity turn.

National Rail refreshment trollies inspire the next course, except the 'frazzles' are shards of crisp bacon and the egg sarnies are Scotch Woodcock - the egg yolks, cream and anchovy concoction beloved of Queen Victoria. By contrast, a platter of quails with marmalade feels almost conventional.

Pud is Bompas & Parr's famed glow-in-the-dark jelly - there are UV lights hidden under the table. Petit fours cement the vague Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole feeling I've harboured all evening: pills of 'miracle fruit', a West African berry that makes everything taste sweet. Eating a 'sweet' gherkin after five cocktails feels all kinds of wrong but marks an appropriately strange end to the evening. "

For more information and to book visit: www.londoncocktailweek.com or www.hendrickshorselesscarriage.com
12-16 October, 100 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5RJ

Meeting Marguerite Patten

2010-09-30T11:51:00.004+01:00


Marguerite Patten, July 2010, copyright Eva Vermandel

On a blisteringly hot day (remember them?) back in July, I travelled down to Sussex to interview the grande dame of British food, Marguerite Patten OBE. The delightful, witty and sparky Marguerite, who turns 95 next month, entertained photographer Eva Vermandel and I with fascinating anecdotes about the Blitz and a slap-up spread of smoked salmon sandwiches and chocolate eclairs.

In front of the camera, late 1940s

Just in case you're unfamiliar with her work, Marguerite worked for the Ministry of Food during WW2, encouraging Brits to make the most of their meagre rations. After the war she begain presenting TV shows and has published around 170 cookbooks, selling 17 million copies over seven decades.

You can read the full interview in the October issue of the magazine I work for, which is out today.

Event: Experimental Food Society Spectacular

2010-09-26T16:12:00.000+01:00

The queue snaked down Brick Lane: we the random-lovers, lured here by the promise of seeing water turned to wine, giant chocolate paintings of the Queen, landscapes made of cheese and perhaps, if we were very lucky, a cast of our hands sculpted in bread. Just four of the food-art installations at the first Experimental Food Spectacular, held yesterday at The Brickhouse.

The brainchild of PR Alexa Perrin, the Experimental Food Society is a collective of artists, bakers and other creatives. Perhaps its best-known members are jellymongers Bompas & Parr, chocolatier Paul A Young and author and presenter Stefan Gates.

Going on the popularity of the exhibition (a banquet was held in the evening where 100 lucky guests feasted on the exhibits), London can hopefully expect many more delightfully random events from Perrin and her band of merry pig-cake bakers/marg-sculptors/trend-predicters and foodscape artists. Here's just a few of my favourite exhibits...

gorilla by Louise Hill of Love to Cake

carvings by Melon Man

TV's Paul O'Grady - in jelly beans

margarine sculptures by Simon Smith

life-sized suckling pig cake by Michelle Wibowo

Friday Find: Rose & Grey Flasks

2010-09-24T12:40:00.000+01:00

British apples are tumbling from the trees, and pears aren't far behind. Yes, there's no denying it, autumn is here. It's time to don wellies, bobble hat and scarf and head for the hills on a improving walk. Perhaps with some fruit picking thrown in. But you're going to need liquid refreshment (be it tea, cocoa or hot toddy)...and something to transport it in. Enter these jolly apple and pear flasks from Rose & Grey, available from Notonthehighstreet.com. What could be more redolent of harvest time?

Pear or apple flask, £18.50 each. Notonthehighstreet.com

Ps, if you don't have time to escape the city, Time Out has put together a great list of urban orchards in London: www.bit.ly/urbanorchards

Guest blog: Ravinder Bhogal's green bean, cashew nut and coconut salad

2010-09-18T13:22:00.002+01:00

Photo: copyright Sunripe

I'm delighted to welcome a guest blogger to the Pinch: my dear friend Ravinder Bhogal. Along with Jay Rayner and Anna Richardson, Ravinder is presenting a new six-part show, Food, on Channel 4. If you watched the first episode on Wednesday you would have seen the intrepid Rav follow the Kenya green bean from source to supermarket. Kenyan green beans are often held aloft as a symbol of unacceptable food miles but the truth, as Rav found out, is a lot more complex. Here's her exclusive account of her trip to Kenya and a rather scrummy recipe for green bean, cashew nut and coconut salad...

Over to Rav:

Words like “sustainability” “carbon footprint” and “food miles” have been thrown around by the press like cheap fertiliser - germinating confusion, guilt and food neuroses. Facing a media roasting have been Kenyan green beans, demonised due to the 4000 miles they travel via airfreight to get to our supermarkets. The trouble is, it’s not that simple. The distance food is transported is not necessarily an accurate measure of its environmental impact.
Where the food miles issue is concerned, there is a danger that by focusing on the easy target of transportation, we miss the bigger picture. Yes it’s true that the beans are being flown over, but what is less known is that they are coming over as cargo on passenger planes which would take off regardless. So a jolly trek to the Masai Mara and a packet of beans in our trollies amounts to the same thing.

Further still, we need to examine the overall carbon emissions of a product rather than just the transport issue. British produce is not magically more environmentally friendly because it is grown locally - most green beans in Kenya are grown by smallholders who farm by hand in the old fashioned way compared to industrial British farming that produces a far larger dent in the ozone.

What struck me most however is that by not buying these beans, we are simply denying Kenyans a livelihood. The bean industry is big business – bigger than tourism, and giving trade rather than aid assures these people of a sustainable income. I saw first hand the magic of these beans when I ate dinner at the home of Elizabeth, a bean worker who explained her job had given her and her two young children a lift out of poverty. Before the green bean dollar came to her village, the children were too poor to go to school and close to malnutrition. Now, the funds from the industry have helped build a local school and provide a healthy diet.

When I go shopping I know what I’ll put in my basket – the question is what will you put in yours?

Green Bean, Cashew Nut and Coconut Salad

This South Indian inspired salad is more-ishly good on its own, or makes a happy plate partner to fish. Serve at room temperature or cold – the flavours develop over time, so I prefer to make it in advance.

250g green beans, trimmed and cut into three

a generous slug of groundnut oil

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

a whole dried red chilli

a pinch of asafoetida

2 tablespoons of split Bengal gram

15 fresh curry leaves

50g cashew nuts

a large handful of desiccated coconut

Salt to taste

the juice of one small lime

Place the beans in a pan, and cover with water from a freshly boiled kettle. Simmer for one minute and then drain and refresh in icy cold water. The beans should still be toothsome.

Toast the cashews in a hot dry pan and set aside. Toast the coconut till pale golden too – keep your eye on it as it does go from golden to charred rather quickly.

Heat the oil in a wok or pan and once it’s smoking, throw in Bengal gram. As soon as it begins to colour, sprinkle in the mustard seeds. Once they begin to sputter, add the asafoetida, dried red chilli and curry leaves. Stir in the green beans and cashews, season to taste, pour in 30mls of water, cover and cook for 4 -5 minutes.

Remove from the heat, scatter over the coconut and squeeze over the lime juice.

Ravinder is co-presenting Food, a six-part series on Channel 4.

Events: Tea and Talk charity party, East Dulwich

2010-09-10T13:19:00.000+01:00

People of SE London. Do you like cake? Do you like charity? Good. My lovely friend Emma has just started her own vintage afternoon tea business in East Dulwich. She bakes cakes to order from scratch, shows up at your gaff with her large collection of vintage crockery, cake stands, bunting etc...sets up and even clears away afterwards.

Next Friday 17th September, Emma is teaming up with another local business, I Love Languages, for an afternoon of tea, cake and free language lessons. It's all in aid of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust and all the deets you need are right here...

Friday Find: Anthropologie Shell Measuring Spoons

2010-09-10T12:51:00.004+01:00

When the first UK branch of Anthropologie opened in October 2009, women across London did little jigs of joy en route to Regent Street. This US import, an emporium of what Little Britain's Emily Howard would term "lotions and potions and ladies things" is a trove of (admittedly overpriced) clothes and homewares. It's owned by the same company as Urban Outfitters, retail fact fans.

Anthropologie, which now has a second homewares-focused branch on the Kings Road, stocks a large collection of kitchenalia. I'm particularly smitten by these stoneware measuring spoons, in the shape of scalloped seashells. The set of two measures out 1/4 tsps, 1/2 tsps, 1 tsp and 1 tbsp, ideal for recipes that call for diminutive amounts of seasoning and spices.

Shell measuring spoons, £10.

Anthropologie, 158 Regent Street W1 and 131-141 Kings Road SW3.

http://www.anthropologie.eu

Little peach and blackberry crumbles

2010-09-05T21:34:00.001+01:00

People, can you hear it - the Call to Crumble (CTC)? September is here and I can't be alone in the compulsion to cover late summer fruits in floury, sugary goodness and bake the daylights out of them? This year's CTC began with an ice cream tub of squidgy blackberries picked by Ma Salty in the woods near her in Kent. Add to the collation a punnet of ripe plums from London Fields Farmers' Market, the odd mouth-puckeringly tart Bramley and some bruised peaches from, er, the corner shop. The result? A fridge full of mix n'match crumble fruits.

Crumble has a special place in my heart because, not only was it one of the first things Ma Salty taught me to cook at home, it is also the only thing I can remember from Home Economics lessons at school. If we were taught anything else in those generally uninspiring classes apart from infinite varieties of crumble (and one random, disastrous attempt at Spanish turrónes) I sure can't remember now. Yet somehow this hamster-on-wheel approach to cooking lessons didn't put me off the crumble, but rather cemeted my love for its frugal, infinitely variable simplicity.

Crumble is comfort blanket food at its most foolproof. My innoculation strategy against drab autumn evenings goes thus: draw the curtains, pour the red wine, put on the Mad Men DVD... eat some crumble. It's one of the easiest puds you'll ever make. Just remember these basic rules:

* Stick to a ratio of half fat to flour in the topping
* Use a deep ovenproof dish
*Sprinkle sugar to taste. I find most recipes demand far too much sugar, particularly in the crumble mix - you really don't need that much as the sweetened fruit should contrast with the more wholesome topping
*Don't be afraid to experiment - try oats, spelt flour, ground almonds or ground hazelnuts in the topping. Fruit loves vanilla sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and mace. And for a real '70s number, try a veggie crumble with a mature Cheddar and wholemeal flour topping.

Little peach and blackberry crumbles

Serves four

For the topping
50g plain flour
50g spelt flour
25g caster sugar
50g butter, cubed

For the filling
4 ripe peaches, stoned and cut into small chunks
200g blackberries
2 tsp caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4

Mix the flours and 25g caster sugar in a large bowl. Rub in the cubes of butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

Divide the blackberries and peach chunks between four deep ramekins. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp caster sugar over each.

Cover the fruit completely with the crumble topping.

Bake for 1 hr, or until the fruit is soft and tender and the tops of the crumbles are golden.

Serve with custard, double cream or ice cream (or, if you are Pa Salty - double cream AND ice cream)

Friday Find: Tate Modern Apron

2010-09-03T12:59:00.001+01:00

Is this the coolest apron in London? Quite possibly. With its indigo-on-white graphic of the Tate Modern this apron, from Lucas Bond in Balham, knocks those omnipresent 50s floral numbers (for her) and six-pack trompe d'oeils (for him) into a cocked hat. The cotton apron is made in Britain by a design company called Snowden Flood who specialise in these reliefs of London landmarks, on aprons, tea towels, plates and mugs. If you're a dedicated sarf Londoner, you might prefer their Battersea Power Station design, also stocked in Lucas Bond:

Aprons, £17.50 each from Lucas Bond, 45 Bedford Hill, London SW12 9EY.

Lucasbond.com

Snowdenflood.com

Pinch of Salt in Grazia

2010-09-01T12:59:00.002+01:00

There is an air of giddyness at Salty Towers today. Pinch of Salt has got a mention in my favourite fashion weekly, Grazia. Yep, after the news and the shoes, there's a really thoughtful piece on food blogging by Rachel Loos with a shout out for the Pinch. I'm honoured to even be mentioned in the same piece as world-leading blogs Cannelle et Vanille and Orangette. There's a namecheck for the wonderful Love and a Licked Spoon too. If you're new here because of the Grazia piece - welcome. I hope you like what you read. Oh, and I promise some more recipes and reviews soon!

Friday Find: Quail Otter Face Egg Cup

2010-08-27T12:22:00.006+01:00

The second I saw these egg cups in Liberty's window, it was love. Look at it: isn't it just the most daft yet glorious vessel you've ever seen? It's an otter egg cup for pete's sake. And a stern looking otter at that. These ceramic beauties by Quail also come in badger, duck, Scottie dog and other random beasts. Fellow blogger Liberty London Girl snapped the full line up here:

http://tweetphoto.com/39177280

£10.95 each from Liberty of London and online at www.liberty.co.uk.

And as Bank Holiday bonus, here's a link to some otters holding hands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno