Tamarind and Thyme

We made it to Barcelona! There was no trace of snow on the runways or near the terminals at Heathrow when we left and when the plane made it off the ground (only one hour delayed), there was indeed a sigh of relief from me. This year, we were joined by my brother and it being Christmas, there was much family feasting together. I’m still trying to recover from all the wonderful overeating.

I just asked Blai’s mother about what is traditionally eaten here in Catalunya over the holiday season; this was only my second Christmas in Barcelona as I usually visit for New Year’s. Well, Christmas Day eating traditionally includes escudella i carn d’olla, a two part meal that comprises the first part of the meal. Part A is the escudella, a rich meaty broth in which galets, the traditional pasta shape, are cooked; Part B is the boiled meat and vegetables that were cooked to make the broth. The second course is usually a roast bird of some sort. The next day (that’s Boxing Day to most of us but it’s also the feast day of Sant Esteve – aka St Stephen), the meal would include canalons, a dish of Italian origin that the Catalans have taken to their hearts, and the filling would be made of the leftovers from the day before. I was looking forward to it all!

On Christmas day, the big lunch was with Blai’s extended family in their village outside Barcelona; Blai’s aunt had gone all out for the delicious meal. We started with homemade wild boar fuet (a type of dry cured sausage particular to Catalunya) and home cured olives (I think they were arbequina, judging from their size).

For the first course, there were the most delicious canalons (yes, on Christmas Day. This family switches things up!). The Catalan canalons are always served in bechamel – there’s no tomato sauce here. The filling is of meat lightened a bit with bechamel. It is rolled within canalon wrappers and then drenched in plenty of bechamel; Blai’s aunt added fresh wild mushrooms to the topping. Gorgeous!

For the second course, a roasted bird; that day, it was a duck, served with delicious pan-fried pears, plump prunes and toasted pinenuts.

Finally, for dessert, among all the other sweets was a large platter of torrons. I always overdo it with torró (the very sweet and rich confections made mainly with almonds) in Barcelona and so never bring any back to London!

The next day, St Stephen’s Day, or Boxing Day, was celebrated back in Barcelona. As we had canalons the day before, this was the day we would have escudella i carn d’olla. The delicious broth with galets was made all the more exciting by its being served out of a tureen that was at least 150 years old.

That was swiftly followed by the carn d’olla (the literal translation is meat of the pot). The huge platter of boiled meats included chicken, pork, lamb, botifarra negre (black/blood sausage) and a huge pilota (a big meatball of pork that’s divided up between the diners). The equally huge platter of boiled vegetables held leek, carrot, turnip, parsnip, potato, cabbage and chickpeas. Boiled meat may sound boring but it’s all quite delicious and I love the variety involved.

That’s my serving there.

The second course (though it already feels like the third by now!) was a most delicious vedella amb suc, a kind of beef stew. Here, Blai’s mother stewed roast beef slices with the most meaty mushrooms I’ve ever encountered, all in a gorgeous thick sauce. I must learn to make Catalan stews!

A fruit I always seem to associate with Catalan winter feasts is pineapple; slices of the most perfectly ripe pineapple always seem to end most Christmas meals. That and torrons, of course. One is never far from torrons during the festive season.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas celebration too, wherever you were. Now, what are your plans for New Year’s?

ETA: If you’re in London and are keen to try escudella i carn d’olla, Rachel of Catalan Cooking is hosting a pop up supperclub event on January 15 where you can try it. The menu looks good!

Today, we should have returned from a short holiday to Vienna (my belated birthday present). However, you’re probably aware of the difficulties facing travellers in London since Saturday and yup, we were affected too. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trip; I do realise, though, that we were the lucky ones as it’s much better to have a holiday cancelled here than to be stuck in another country. Rather than mope around (though I may have been a little guilty of this that morning!), we decided to try to make the most of our free time in London. Of course, when I say make the most of it, I mean eat lots – and eat we did, a good mixture of comforting regulars, a seasonal eaterie and a little something new tossed in too.

After waking up a second time (the first was to confirm that our morning flight was cancelled. We made numerous calls to the airline to rebook but our trip would just be impossible and after, we went back to bed.), we pulled on some warm clothes, strapped ice treads onto our boots and walked to Ealing Common. We treated ourselves to a fine lunch at Kiraku: a nabeyaki udon for Blai…

… and a tempura and chicken teriyaki lunch set for me. Their teriyaki sauce is just gorgeous – I could just eat that with rice.

The next day, we woke up quite late and decided to have some lunch at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. If we couldn’t visit the Christmas markets in Vienna, we’d visit them in London! A bratwurst, …

… sauteed potatoes with bacon and onions, …

… churros, …

… and a Nutella crepe filled our bellies and warmed us from within. It was very cold that day!

We then made our way to the centre of town. After some Christmas shopping, we headed to HK Diner for a light dinner. That is, if you can call mixed seafood noodles and Mongolian crispy lamb, to be wrapped in lettuce leaves, a light dinner.

And since it was a “light” dinner, we thought we’d treat ourselves to a little something afterwards. I’d been wanting to try Gelupo for absolutely ages (and I do still need to visit Bocca di Lupo across the street) but I’d not done so as I just couldn’t find it every time I was in Soho. But I’d finally got my bearings straight and there we were, choosing between all the delectable sounding gelati and sorbets and granite. I know it seems a little insane to have gelato on such a cold night but it was very warm and cozy in the shop! We first shared an exquisite pistachio gelato and refreshing blood orange sorbet…

… before turning back to the counter to buy a small taster cup of burnt almond granita. What amazing flavours in all their products; I do believe we will be regulars here.

Fingers crossed that we can go visit Blai’s family for Christmas later this week. Good luck to everyone trying to fly in and out of London or anywhere else affected by lots of snow this winter! Happy holidays, everybody!

Kiraku
8 Station Parade
Uxbridge Road
Ealing Common
London W5 3LD

Winter Wonderland

HK Diner
22 Wardour Street
London W1D 6QQ

Gelupo
7 Archer Street
London W1D 7AU

Yashin Sushi is tucked away in the most unlikely of places – behind the Tesco Metro on High Street Kensington. A few blog posts alerted me to its existence (it only opened last month) and its blow torched sushi and I was keen to try it out, especially with its close proximity to my workplace. Two weeks ago, I met Rahul and Marco there for lunch and we sat at the sushi bar (in addition, they have one large table upstairs and a number of smaller ones downstairs with the bar) with great views of all that was going on sushi-wise. The sushi bar on the ground floor is, of course, the place to sit as you can see the sushi chefs at work and all the blow torch action in the middle. A neon sign above the chefs announces that the sushi comes Without Soy Sauce; it and wasabi are already added to the sushi by the chefs.

From the lunch menu, we all opted for the £30 Omakase Eight: eight pieces of nigiri and the roll of the day. Of all the lunch sets available, this one sat somewhere in the middle of the price range. First, a large teacup of miso soup with mushrooms started us off nicely, taking the chill out of our bones.

A salad with what I think was an onion dressing and garlic chips followed and that was quite delicious with plenty of dressing and chips to keep one entertained (how entertaining are plain leaves otherwise?).

The roll of the day turned out to be gorgonzola marinated tuna rolls. I’m sorry, but what?! The name alone had us silent in shock; my Italian friend raised a skeptical looking eyebrow. I watched as he put one roll in his mouth and began to chew very very slowly. He smiled! With that encouragement, I stuffed one of the massive maki rolls in my mouth too – the gorgonzola wasn’t overwhelming but it was certainly there, giving a bit of funkiness to the tuna mixture.

Onto the nigiri! Counterclockwise from the top right (because that’s the way it was all introduced to us!): yellowtail with sliced jalapeño, prawn with foie gras, sea bream with rice cracker, tuna, sea bass, fatty tuna, razor clam, and salmon with ponzu (?) jelly. Now, I don’t profess to be a sushi expert but it’s very clear that the fish and seafood are all of excellent quality and freshness so I won’t dwell on that; instead, I was surprised by the different and very unique toppings they chose to pair with them. The prawn and foie gras was quite the stunner; the slivers of blowtorched fatty liver just perfumed your mouth when you ate it. The razor clam (no topping) was another that truly surprised me, being extremely tender and flavourful. Surprisingly, my favourite may have been the yellowtail with the jalapeño, the chili a wonderful fruity complement to the fish. The only slight dud was the salmon with the tart jelly; the amount of jelly on top overpowered the fish and next time, I’d knock off about half of the topping. I do have to say that I’m not fond of their huge wedges of pickled ginger; the fibres got all caught in my teeth when I bit into them.

I returned with Blai a week later for lunch again. This time, it was his turn to try the Omakase Eight, which that day contained a few different pieces of nigiri to what we had the previous week. (The roll of the day was again the gorgonzola one – I suppose there’s a rota for the week.) He loved it all.

I wanted to try one of the more budget sets and so went with the Salmon set (£12.50) – five pieces of salmon nigiri (two were blow torched), all with a different topping (also served with the miso soup and the salad). As the restaurant was quite empty that day, we got our plates of sushi very quickly and so the blow torched pieces were still warm: they are wonderful when served immediately! (Previously, there was quite a wait as the chefs assembled a number of plates at a time and any textural difference due to the blowtorching was lost.) The nigiri were all excellent with my favourite toppings being the jalapeño and the garlicky ones.

The roll accompanying my set was a spicy salmon inside-out roll which was perfectly pleasant even if it wasn’t spicy in the least.

As I thought it wouldn’t be enough food, I ordered a Soft shell crab roll (£5.90) from the dinner menu (also available at lunch time though these orders may take longer). Of course, it turned out that the salmon set is perfectly enough for lunch and this just took us over the top to belly discomfort. However, I cannot resist soft shell crab rolls and this one was pretty good – lots of the deep fried crab and flying fish roe, just the way I like it.

Despite feeling ridiculously full, Blai immediately perked up when he saw the dessert menu – only four different ice creams or sorbets were listed. There’s always room for ice cream! We shared the Shiso leaf sorbet (£4.90), which came with a small cupful of fruit salad. It’s certainly not a conventional flavour but the citrusy-herbalness of the sorbet was delicious and I loved its almost chewy texture.

This is definitely going to be my place to visit for lunch on a weekday when I feel like I need a treat! Not an everyday lunch for sure (I’d be broke!) but for the occasional treat, it’s just perfect. The dinner menu is longer and features a few small dishes (but the main thing is the sushi here) and as I mentioned before, is available at lunch time; they have a homemade tofu dish that I hope to try next time. Yashin may not be a traditional sushi joint but I like it!

Yashin Sushi
1A Argyll Road
(off High Street Kensington, behind the Tesco Metro)
London W8 7DB

The woman behind the counter at Duri, a new Korean shop and cafe in Ealing Common, was looking interested in what I was purchasing. In an attempt to explain, I said that I was making kimchi jjigae at home.

“Wwoooaaaaahhhh! Kimchi jjigae?!” She looked again at what she was just about to place into a plastic bag. Kimchi. Gochujang. Choco Pies (ahem, not for the jjigae). “You also need tofu.”

I waved my other plastic bag at her, having purchased some at the nearby Japanese shop Natural Natural. She burst into a big smile, finished up with my order, and sent me off with further approval of kimchi jjigae. Apparently they served some the other day and it sold out quickly.

Yes, kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew, is delicious and as it’s served piping hot, it’s perfect for a cold night (and surely you know those). I reckon it’s also a gentle introduction to kimchi if you’re a bit nervous of it. All that’s required on the side is some white rice. Slurp.

Kimchi Jjigae
serves 2.

200g pork tenderloin (or belly), thinly sliced
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium sized onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 loose cupful of kimchi, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups water
1-2 tbsps gochujang
1 block of soft tofu (silken, if possible)
3 spring onions, chopped
salt to taste

Heat a pot over medium heat and pour in the sunflower oil when it is hot. Add the onion and fry until it has softened. Add the garlic and stir fry for another minute. Add the sliced pork and again fry until cooked. Toss in the kimchi, fry for another minute, and then add the water and bring it all to a boil.

Stir in the gochujang (add to taste) and reduce the temperature so it all simmers away happily. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes though longer wouldn’t hurt it at all. Cut the block of silken tofu into cubes and carefully drop them into the pot. Stir them in gently and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt to taste (you may not need any – I found mine fine as is) and throw in the spring onions at the end. Serve piping hot with white rice on the side.

Weekends are when I tackle the serious cooking. Dinner might be something particularly complex or something that just requires long hours on the stove or in the oven, both situations that are just not feasible on a weekday. Last weekend was one of those weekends when I thought I’d make Italian-American spaghetti and meatballs, an idea I’d got into my head a few days previously. (The list of things I want to make is as long as my arm but they keep getting superseded by the latest idea that pops into my head.)

Half the fun of the cooking for me is the putting together of the recipe; I rarely stick to one particular recipe, preferring to mix and match elements that come from all over the place (sometimes based on whatever I have in the kitchen). And while I’ve certainly made meatballs in the past, this time called for an investigation into what makes the perfect humongous Italian-American meatball, sometimes described as an intriguing ‘fluffy’. When one meatball came up again and again as being one of the best meatballs in New York City, well, one pays attention. That honour was bestowed on the meatballs served at Frankie’s Spuntino, a restaurant I had not heard of before, and lucky for me, they’d recently brought out a cookbook and so that meatball recipe was everywhere. I used the one posted on Serious Eats, tinkering with no part of it.

These meatballs are pretty incredible – beef, bread, pinenuts, raisins, parsley, parmesan. I reduced the recipe by 2/3s and formed exactly a dozen balls, larger than a golf ball but slightly smaller than a baseball. While not fluffy like a kitty cat, they are indeed softer and lighter than a meatball made of pure meat and an absolute delight to eat with the thick tomato sauce in which they wade. That sauce is ridiculously easy to put together but requires hours of slow simmering.

To complete the Frankie’s Spuntino experience, I made wine stewed prunes and mascarpone, a recipe I found on The Wednesday Chef and is a dessert that’s also served at the restaurant.

This was an incredibly rich dessert which may not have been the ideal thing to eat straight after the meatballs but they were so delicious. The prunes plump up in the wine which in turn reduces to an alcoholic syrup and they make for a gorgeous mouthful with the creamy mascarpone. I halved the recipe; the original serves a lot of people.

We had plenty of leftovers the next day and I served them up in the way the restaurant does, without spaghetti – just the meatballs in tomato sauce, with the sauce to be mopped up with plenty of bread. I couldn’t help tweaking here though and showered the hot meatballs with plenty of grated parmesan and grilling them until the cheese was golden.

With a side of good bread and a green salad, the final 7 of these babies made for a fine meal. These are seriously good meatballs. Excellent meatballs, in fact. They and the slow cooked tomato sauce they sit in will definitely be made again here.