A taste of India

April 22, 2012
Review

I’d been meaning to get myself down to the Southbank Centre to sample the delights of The Real Food Festival for a while. The weekend I chose to pay a visit saw the festival celebrating the best in Indian street food with the Taste of India Festival.

After a little searching for the festival itself, when I arrived I found it full of many types of stalls with various street food on offer. It was time for a walk around the market to see what I was going to eat first.There were simply too many things to choose from.

However, first up was a harissa chicken wrap with lettuce and riata. I’d like to tell you who I bought this from but the stall seemed to have absolutely no branding what so ever (It may have been ‘On the spice trail’). Bringing me on to LESSON #5 – make sure people know who you are.

The branding may have been invisible, but the stunning flavour of the chicken wrap was all there. The spice didn’t overwhelm the taste of the chicken and the cool riata meant that the spice remained at a pleasant level on the tongue. However, I could resist getting in a pint of my favourite beer from the Meantime Brewery. I usually drink their London Pale Ale, but took the chance to try a new beer called Yakima Red. With a clean, citrus taste – it was a perfect beer for the spicy food on show. Must make sure I get some in for when I next make curry at home.

Next up was a Mauritian Chicken Curry courtesy of Curry Masters. After the heat of the wrap, the curry was a bit of a come down. The very mild curry was fairly pleasant, but would have been something to try if you’re not really used to spicy food. With each bite I wanted a bit more kick.

The final choice was a Lamb Peshwari Box from Community Kitchen. The box featured a chickpea curry, spicy rice, tomato chutney, chapli lamb, finished off with fresh herbs and riata. It was great getting so many things into the box as each mouthful brought a slightly different combination of flavours. Personally, I’d have liked to have had the lamb slow-cooked as opposed to minced – but that’s just a texture thing.

Streetfood #9
On The Spice Trail
Harissa Chicken Wrap with riata
£6

Streetfood #10
Curry Masters
Mauritian Chicken Curry with Pilau Rice
£5

Streetfood #11
The Community Kitchen
Lamb Peshwari Box
£6

Chorizo Simple

April 7, 2012
Review

This week I revisited an old classic. The Chorizo stall outside Brindisa at Borough Market.

Unsurprisingly, there was a queue for a Chorizo roll. But, when you know what you’re going to get at the end of the wait, who cares? I felt a little like a geek in the queue for the latest offering from Apple. Staring at other people as they walked off with their newly purchased prized posession and giving them a smile or nod if I caught their eye. The nod of a fellow Chorizo nerd.

The further I got to the front, the bigger my smile became. And after handing over my £5 (you have to go for the double, right?) I soon had my paws wrapped around the toasted roll filled with chorizo, piquillo peppers and rocket. There’s just enough of everything in this roll. Soft peppers and crunchy rocket. A roll that has a little crunch from the toasting and then soft bread goodness. And then the star of the show. A double helping of beautiful, smokey, grilled chorizo.

The Brindisa chorizo roll, for me, is a lesson in keeping it simple and doing one thing well. It’s consistently brilliant – so I don’t care how long I have to queue for. I know what I’m getting and I know it’ll be as good as the last time. I just always look forward to the next one.

Streetfood #8
Brindisa
Chorizo Roll with Piquillo Peppers and Rocket
£4.95

Brockley Blintz-ania

March 23, 2012
Review

I’ll be completely honest. I didn’t know what a ‘blintz’ was until I visited Brockley Market last weekend. And if you don’t either, read on as I enlighten you the savoury and sweet marvel.

A blintz is essentially a thin pancake – not unlike a crepe. They’re then filled with ingredients, rolled and then fried. Great. I’ll try one.

After a brief lesson in what blintz was (via tapping it into my phone), I order one from Blintz Boy. There were to varieties on offer. A savoury pork sauerkraut with cucumber and dill salad and also a cheesecake blintz. Both looked equally tempting, but I was in a savoury mood and pork won the battle of my belly.

I was a little unsure how to tackle it at first, but decided to go for the grab and stuff method over using the supplied fork. It reminded me of a soft spring roll, filled with porky goodness. The accompanying salad gave the dish bit of zing and complimented the pork beautifully.

I really enjoyed my first munch on a blintz. I’d be interested to keep an eye on what other fillings will be available. Will definitely try the cheesecake version next time. I think it’d make an amazing dessert.

Streetfood #7
Blintz Boy
Pork Sauerkraut Blintz with Cucumber and Dill Salad
£5

Spanish Rarebit (sobrasada on olive bread, topped with manchego cheese)

March 21, 2012
Recipe

During a visit to Brockley Market, I tried all kinds of meat from Flavours of Spain. I picked up some sobrasada (spreadable chorizo) and decided to make a kind of ‘Spanish Rarebit’ with it. Here’s the recipe.

Olive bread

I used a bread maker for this and added the wet ingredients first:

1 1/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped couchillo olives

Then the dry ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp smoked salt

I then left the bread make to do it’s thing.

Once baked, I spread the sobrasada onto the bread, topped with manchego cheese and popped under the grill until the cheese had melted.

A great little brunch dish. Although next time I would add a little chilli flakes and cheddar to the cheese mixture and pop a fried egg on top. Or maybe spread the sobrasada onto the bread and add honey like I was told!

You can catch Flavours of Spain at Borough Market or Brockley Market.

The Applebee’s Knees

March 11, 2012
Review
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I think I could spend an awful long time at Borough Market. I’ve always promised myself that one day I will take the day off work and have breakfast, lunch and dinner there – with a few drinks at The Market Porter pub in between. I’m struggling to think of a better way to spend the day. In this instance however, I was just spending a well-deserved lunch break on Friday.

I’m lucky enough to work near Borough Market, so have eaten there plenty of times. And with so much great food there, it could almost fill a blog all on its own – so I’m sure there will be many more entries in the future. But I thought the first post should also be a first for me. Something that I’ve never had there before.

It almost surprises me to say that the first goes to Applebee’s Fish Shop and Cafe. It’s a stall that sits out the front of the cafe and sells freshly made wraps. As you enter the market the smell fills the air and tempts you to join the queue. So that’s exactly what I did.

The nice thing about standing in the queue is that they smell so good. And the nearer you get to the front, the better and stronger the smell gets. I also really enjoyed watching the fresh fish and prawns being cooked to order. It was making me feel so hungry that I almost ordered two. And I wish I did. Not that one wasn’t enough.

I went for a Cajun Fish and Prawn Wrap. But you could also have Garlic Prawn only. Both with salad, creme fraiche and sweet chili sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. The wrap itself was perfect. What I loved was the fact that each bite gave you something different.

The spices on the fish were just enough to give some interesting flavour without overpowering the fish itself. And the prawns were big, juicy and perfectly cooked. It was really satisfying to eat. And put a big smile on my face as it feels as fresh and healthy as it no doubt is. I don’t know why it took me so long to try one. But I know I won’t be leaving it too long for the next one.

Streetfood #6
Applebee’s
Cajun Fish and Prawn Wrap
£5

Slow-cooked Rich Chili Beef

March 11, 2012
Recipe

Good quality, well-hung meat is always something most people associate with a steak or Sunday joint. However, I don’t think you should underestimate what something like a good quality mince can bring to your dishes. And after getting some beautiful (35 day aged) mince from Garlic Wood Farm at Venn Street Market, it was only fair to make something equally beautiful. My perfect chili.

I thought I’d share my recipe for it for you to enjoy too. I would thoroughly recommend getting the best quality mince you can. It makes such a difference to the finished dish. So much so that I’m not sure I could now use any other mince.

Ingredients:

1kg minced beef
2 large red onions – diced
4 cloves of garlic – diced
2 sticks of celery – diced
4 fresh red chillies
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp corriander
1tbsp oregano
1tsp paprika
1tsp smoked paprika
2tsp cayenne
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
2tbsp tomato puree
800g tinned tomatoes
800g tinned red kidney beans
1 pint of beef stock
25g dark chocolate (I use Green & Blacks)
A good handful of fresh coriander

  1. Take a large saucepan and brown the mince in olive oil. Do this in batches to make sure the meat doesn’t stew. Allowing the meat to come to room temperature will also help.
  2. Once the meat is browned, add put this into a separate bowl and put to one side.
  3. Reduce the heat and add the diced onions, chillies, garlic and celery to the pan. Cook for around 5 minutes until the onions are soft. Be sure not to let the onions ‘catch’ on the pan.
  4. While that’s cooking, mix the other spices into a bowl.
  5. Add the spices to the pan and stir. Cooking the spices for around one minute.
  6. Then add the browned meat to the mixture and stir.
  7. Next, add the tomato puree, give this a good stir and cook for one minute.
  8. Then add the tinned tomatoes and beef stock and bring to the boil.
  9. Pop in a bay leaf (or two) and place in the oven for around 4-5 hours at 140 degrees.
  10. Check the chili isn’t catching on the bottom of the pan. If you find the chili is a little dry, top up with some boiling water.
  11. After 5 hours, drain the kidney beans and add to the pan along with the chocolate.
  12. Return to the oven for 1 hour and turn the heat up to 180 degrees.
  13. Stir in a good handful of the freshly chopped coriander (I always use the stalks too) before serving with either basmati or long grain rice (I’ve never found a better long grain than M&S) and a dollop of sour cream.

You’ll also find this gets better the following day. If you can resist eating it all in one go.

 

From New York to Cuba via Brick Lane

February 26, 2012
Review

I very rarely venture out East. However, I think it’ll be something I do a lot more after my first visit to Brick Lane to try out some street food. And with the amount of street food available, I could probably go once a week and still not have the same thing twice in a year.

It was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed everyone had the same idea I had. The streets were full of people strolling around the streets looking for some great food to eat. And we were all spoiled for choice. There was literally every type of food available from all four corners of the globe. And I have it on good recommendation that it’s pretty authentic too.

After wandering around the various stalls for a couple of hours, I couldn’t help but indulge in something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. A hotdog from Big Apple Hot Dogs. I felt slightly guilty that with all the World’s cuisine on show I chose a hotdog. However, I convinced myself this was only a starter and ordered The Big Dog – served simply with onions and mustard.

One bite in and I knew my choice was a good one. The hotdog had a nice coarse texture – not like those processed franks that you find in most places. This was real meat. There was a lovely crunch with every bite of the skin. And then the flavour hits. Really flavoursome meat with a perfectly balanced smokey flavour. I didn’t want the hotdog to end. It was simply the best I’ve ever had.

Still high after my sausage fix, I wandered around the market again until I was ready for another pork hit. This time I chose the authentic taste of Cuba with some roast pork with plantain, Congri rice and salad topped off with some mango sauce from El Ranchon del Guajiro. What a disappointment.

After queuing for a little while I saw people take away plates of lovely pork. I guess I was a little unlucky when it came to my turn. The pork itself was an end piece, which I agreed to have as sometimes the first cut of roast meat can be the best. This, however, wasn’t the case. The burnt pork took away any flavour that the pork had. The plantain were also a little burnt too. It felt as if I was popping a mouthful of coal into my mouth every third bite. Sadly this couldn’t be rescued by the salad and mango sauce – which I was hoping would have a little chilli kick or zing to refresh my tongue. It didn’t.

Such a shame as I now felt that of all the things I could have picked – I chose this. But to be fair, I’m not sure I had the same experience as everyone else. I didn’t let this put a dampener on what was the best place in London, so far, to experience some of the World’s best street food.

Streetfood #4
Big Apple Hotdogs
The Big Dog
£4

Streetfood #5
El Ranchon del Guajiro
Roast Pork with plantain, Congri rice, salad and mango salsa
£5

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