So much has happened since we last spoke. I have been to Canada and not just that, I was in sub arctic Canada walking with polar bears. Before I left, I managed to acquire a black eye in a stumble (I am very clumsy, always have been, it takes a toll). The first I have had since I was about 6 years old and walloped my eye against the corner of a chair. Attempts at cover up rendered me looking more like Beetlejuice on a bad day. It makes life interesting. Everyone can see it but no one wants to ask. Silver lining? It is a conversation starter and a terrific excuse to wear your favourite sunglasses on a dark day. 

On this trip I went to a province that was new to me, Manitoba, for a bucket list trip. I was not seeking out a particular dish, cook or ingredient, this time I was going to see polar bears on a spectacular stretch of Hudson Bay in northern Canada. I am a little wildlife obsessed being a biologist originally (majoring in physiology but I studied zoology too). I have been to Borneo to see orangutans and proboscis monkeys, and more of my bucket list trips involve seeing grizzly bears, spirit bears, pandas, awesome Japanese monkeys, gorillas, bonobos, chimps, and where ever possible, in the wild. 

This is the second post in a series of dispatches from my recent trip to Quebec City and surrounds. The first was my two day trip to Charlevoix, specifically Baie St Paul. Today, I am focussing on my best eats and drinks in Quebec City itself. Enjoy! 

Quebec is a city that is dear to my heart, there is something a little magical about it. The architecture is beautiful, a walk around Quebec City feels part fairytale, especially as you ascend the ancient funicular to the old town below. Steep pitched zinc roofs top chateau like houses, painted red, blue or proud in silver, sometimes copper turned green with age and the rain. It is just the right size, big enough to have lots of options and small enough to walk around. Quebec City has music, art and a vibrant Bohemian culture. There is also an excellent food and wine culture here.

Quebec City has a proud francophone heritage, and the food is certainly influenced by this but not defined solely by it. Quebec is the largest producer of maple syrup in the world, and even though summers are short and it can get very cold, there is a new culture of wine making there with respected winemakers setting up. I have heard excellent things about natural wine maker Pinard et Filles which I suggest you seek out (and let me know how it is!).

My visit to Parma and the Festival of Parma Ham was sponsored by the Parma Ham Consortium. This is the second of two posts on Parma ham. The first was a post on the Festival of Parma Ham in Parma, which I visited recently.

Italy is one of my most visited countries and I make a lot of Italian food at home. Yet my first bite of gnocco fritto was not in Italy nor my tiny frenetic home kitchen, it was in Toronto (more than a few) years back. I was at a restaurant that I have come to love over several visits, Buca. The first time was one of my meandering solo lunches that I indulge in when I travel (and often at home). The menu was bright and interesting, my eyes were drawn to the pasta but also to the gnocco fritto, which were served at the time with an excellent house cured lardo. 

Thus sparked an obsession. I seek gnocco fritto out wherever I can and I make them at home. Gnocco Fritto simply translates as fried dumpling. They are a simple yeasted hollow bread that is fried not baked, traditionally in lard but oil will do. The dough is allowed to rise, pummelled and then rolled flat before being cut into rectangles which puff into glorious crisp pillows when fried that are hollow inside (apart from your expectation and some glorious sweet doughy air).

My visit to Parma and the Festival of Parma Ham was sponsored by the Parma Ham Consortium. This is the first of two posts on Parma ham. Check out the second post, which is my recipe for fantastic fried bread dumplings, gnocco fritto. (You do NEED to make them and they are easy too). One of my favourite things and a perfect snack. 

Emilia Romagna is a much visited part of Italy for me. Known as the belly of Italy, you can see the attraction. Home to some of the most recognised Italian food products: parma ham, parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar of Modena. Mortadella is originally from Bologna too, and that most recognised of British dishes spaghetti Bolognese is inspired by the original Tagliatelle with Ragu from Emilia Romagna, and it takes its name from Bologna. Although best not to mention spaghetti bolognese to anyone there, it tends to enrage them (and when you have the pasta there, you can see why).

Emilia Romagna is a joy to travel around. Small cities with their own proud specialities are easily accessible by train (or by car if you prefer). There are common threads in each city. You will always see tagliatelle with ragu, stuffed pastas like tortelloni, passatelli (beautiful parmesan noodles) and cappelletti in brodo, a gorgeous small stuffed pasta in rich broth. Added to all of this, each city will have its own specialities. In Parma, those are specifically Parma ham and parmigiano reggiano (aka parmesan cheese). 

Festival del Prosciutto / The Festival of Parma Ham 

Each September, the people of Parma celebrate their ham with gusto at the Festival del Prosciutto. In its 20th year this year, the Festival of Parma Ham is a celebration of all things prosciutto di parma with a pop up bistro downtown serving freshly sliced ham and excellent ham sandwiches packed with it. There are also Finestre Aperte, or Open Doors, where Parma ham producers open their facilities to the public for tours and tastings. 

What makes Parma ham special?  

The production of Parma ham is highly regulated and controlled via regular inspection. It has a designated PDO (since 1986), a Protected Designated of Origin. A PDO is only awarded when there is a group of producers who can prove that their product can only be made in their geographic area and in a particular traditional way. Champagne has it, parmesan has it, and Parma ham has it too. You can recognise Parma ham by a crown stamp on the skin of the leg. In Europe only this ham can be sold as Parma ham and it is very tightly regulated.

Parma ham is simply Italian pork leg cured with pure sea salt and time. The pork is from Large White, Landrace and Duroc pigs fed on maize, barley and whey from the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Each leg is approximately 8-10kg weight. Traditionally the process would start when the weather changed with the advent of winter, now with refrigeration it is possible to make it year round. 

Finestre Aperte / Open Doors at G. Tanaro in Langhirano 

Langhirano, Parma

I visited G. Tanaro in Langhirano during the Parma ham festival as part of the Finestre Aperte, and was brought on an excellent tour of the facility by owner Paolo Tanara. His father Giancarlo started the facility, and they still make the ham as his father did. Paolo detailed the procedure and brought us through the ageing rooms.  The smell is sublime as it ages, every food lover should stand in a Parma ham ageing cellar at one point in their lives. Divine. The tour finishes with a tasting of their wonderful ham. These tours are also available to the public at the time of the Festival of Parma Ham. 

How is Parma Ham made?

The legs are salted on arrival by the maestro salatore (a highly trained salt master) and hung in temperature and humidity controlled conditions. A second coating of salt is applied a week later, and the legs are left to hang for up to 18 days. The hams then hang for between 60 and 90 days in refrigerated and humidity controlled rooms. The hams are then washed and dried to remove excess salt and impurities before being dried on frames in long rooms lined with windows which are opened when the temperature and humidity are favourable. This is key to the flavour of the ham. After about 3 months the exposed parts of the ham are greased with pork lard and salt to protect them, and then the hams are dried further in ham cellars, rooms with less air and light. All Parma ham is cured for a minimum of 1 year (from the first day of salting), up to 3 years.  

The hams and facility are inspected many times over the process, both internally and by consortium inspectors. Any hams that do not pass muster are discarded. The quality of the ham is tested using a needle made from a horse bone. It sounds medieval, but the horse bone communicates the smell of the ham as it ages purely and directly to the trained nose of the ham makers. 

And now you know why it tastes so good, right? Parma ham and your many makers, I salute you. 

For more information on the Festival of Parma Ham please see: http://www.festivaldelprosciuttodiparma.com/en/  

I travel a lot but I never go on holiday. This is a balance that I am keen to reset, downtime is so important to reset a frazzled brain. Travel for work is wonderful but it is always work. From first light to when I switch off the lamp at my bedside, I am on. Looking for every photo opportunity, taking notes, looking for that little something different that maybe others don’t see. Every meal is an analysis, for quality, for difference. Every flavour good or bad, is a string of adjectives, a story possibility. Of course I enjoy it, but switching off is a joy and it is all too rare. At times it feels impossible.  

My kitchen garden has been a busy somewhat wild space again this year. A space of solace and slug related rage. Foxes, occasional rodents too. The downside of living opposite the common is that when word gets out about the tomatoes, they come and explore. And I shriek. They are a garden pest, and I despise them. But I love my garden, so I will persist. I have only seen one, but one is too many. 

If you are still here after the dreaded R word, let’s talk details. This year I put down 3 wonky wooden raised beds (2 metre square and 1 metre long but narrower). In these I planted tomatillos for salsa verde and other as yet unimagined things. They are a curious vegetable (or are they too a fruit?), secretive in their green hoods, maybe it is a stiff veil. I planted five plants, purple and green, and they stand strong and deliberate, all reaching now almost all 5 ft 3 of me.

This post was published in partnership with Rennie, but all opinions on jerk chicken and joyful carnivals remain truly my own. For more information on Rennie, antacids and managing bloating or trapped wind, do check out the Rennie website. 

For my first few years in London I went home every bank holiday weekend. I was unsettled and I missed my friends, and I took every opportunity to immerse myself in my culture, the one I missed. Still a displaced immigrant even though it was my choice to come, I wanted to live in London but I had yet to find my slice of home here. Of course, I have it now, 15 years in, although I still miss Ireland, the laughter and the nonsense, the fun. But I want to live here.

Who wouldn’t want to live in London? It is a city for all people, with all things, you just need to find your bit of it. That takes time for most, and London is expensive. Most of us make compromises to live here, and this is something that you can be ok with for a while. Expensive rented accommodation (the dream of a tiny home of ones own is still there but not feasible right now), commutes, and what are savings? But we love it here, the opportunities that it brings, be they work or fun or the many cultural things. For me, that is all three. 

Notting Hill Carnival

This is the first post in a series of dispatches from my recent trip to Quebec City and surrounds. I am starting with my two day trip to Charlevoix, specifically Baie St Paul. Enjoy! 

Baie St Paul in Charlevoix, on first arrival, strikes me as a retreat. Granted I have arrived on a near perfect day, Baie St Paul is bright under a canopy of sharp blue sky and sunshine with a light breeze. Almost too hot for me, the heat tends to cling, but the breeze lifts it all and it is glorious. A couple of hours north of Quebec City and on the St Lawrence River, Baie St Paul feels coastal, and very relaxed.

The population just shy of 8,000 seems densely populated with artists, if the amount of art shops in town selling local art are any indication. It is easy to see why, the light is very special, and Baie St Paul is beautiful too. Cirque du Soleil originated here in the early 80s, starting as street performers, before moving on to become the international sensation that they are now. This creativity is not limited to artists and performers, Baie St Paul is rich with independent food producers, producing all manner of things, foie gras, cider, wine, some of Quebec’s best cheese and a very delicious tomato wine.

Go straight to the recipe for your new twist on Brunch Eggs – Courgette, Carrot and Sesame Egg Menamen

You know how it goes. You are cooking brunch. It is the weekend. A sleepy start, slower than normal. Hatching plans. Just what will be the perfect soldier to dip in to your runny egg yolk? I take great care with my eggs to avoid any potential problems. The yolk is the very best bit and I need it to be runny and perfect, I also need my white to be set. This, I figured out years ago. The trick is simple, just add a lid and cook it just long enough.

Pure beef meatballs? What do I even mean? I mean a meatball that has nothing but beef in. Isn’t that a burger? No! Bear with me.

This speedy supper was inspired by my lush little chilli garden. 8 plants in a raised bright yellow planting table (I have about 16 chilli plants scattered around the garden, just call me hot head). It comes with a transparent deep lid, and like a mini greenhouse, helped my chilli plants off to a rich start. My plants are bushy and lush, and are laden down with gorgeous hot chillies. They are starting to turn red, but have been wonderful green too.

My favourites are the jalapeños sliced fine and placed the other day on my juicy intensely red Santorini tomatoes which had grown a metre away, and a little parasol of neighbouring nasturtium leaves on top. Crisp large flakes of sea salt made these a perfect bite. I also love the serrano chillies, fever hot and intense, they were perfection in the sauce that accompanied the meatballs. Enough to wake my senses on that crazy rainy day we had earlier in the week.

My chilli table, and surrounding vociferous tomato plants (which I will prune today!).

Jump straight to Seaweed Cornmeal Soda Farls recipe

I love soda farls. Speedy Irish soda bread cut into triangles and fried, quicker than the time it would take to go to the shop for bread. And SO fresh. As the name implies, the bread is raised with soda (bicarbonate of) as opposed to yeast, the bicarbonate triggered by the acidity of buttermilk.  I have played around with the recipe many times in the past, making black pudding soda farls, bacon soda farls, and farls with spring onions and herbs. These new versions are my current favourite. 

Buttermilk can be difficult to source here, real buttermilk at least. In Ireland it is sold in the milk fridge in most shops, even small ones, in litre cartons the same size as milk. Here in the UK, it is more likely to be sold in a small cream carton, if you can find it. No need to worry though, it is easy to replicate it by souring some milk with yogurt, or a squeeze of lemon. Dairy free? No problem either. In fact these farls are dairy free as I am currently on a medical exclusion diet (the details of which are too boring for here). I used coconut milk with a generous squeeze of lemon. The coconut milk replicates the texture of the buttermilk perfectly when diluted down a little with the lemon, and the farls don’t taste remotely coconut-y. Perfect. You can also substitute a good almond milk, or any other dairy free milk of your choice.  Just don’t forget the lemon. 

This post is published in partnership with our sponsor OpenTable. The world’s leading online restaurant booking platform, OpenTable has functionality that enables diners to search, discover and make reservations at restaurants across the globe, in their local language. Becoming a ‘Global Dining Passport’ to help the global traveller, become a global diner. The global booking functionality gives access to over 38,000 restaurants across more than 20 countries at the tap of on a button. 

It has happened to you I am sure, it most certainly has happened me. A photo of a dish, an anecdote about a restaurant, somewhere that you are just dying to try because you saw it on instagram or read a story about it causes you to plan your travels around it. I have a fierce memory for dishes that have sparked me. Dishes that are so complete, so arousing, that they are all encompassing as you eat. Dishes that when they come along change a greyscale day to technicolour. 

A monk at dawn outside Bangkok

There are many dishes in my memory bank that I remember fondly and want to eat again. From the street to the stars, chief among them grilled pork cheek with smoky tomato sauce in the musky night air by the swimming pool at Nahm in Bangkok, immediately before I left for the airport for my overnight flight. The intensity of a tagliatelle with ragu forged with love, lard and perky white pepper eaten in the Emilia Romagna countryside, with long grasses waving in the field across from my table outside.

Jump straight to Cucumber, Avocado and Basil Soup. 

What do you think of cold soups? Some people absolutely rage against them, don’t they? But they can be so good. Gazpacho? CHECK. Aja Blanco? Hells YES. That delicious confection of almonds, raw garlic, extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar, with green grapes halved on top to finish. And of course, vichyssoise, aka wonderful leek and potato soup. We usually eat it hot here, but the tradition in France is to have it cold and it is gorgeous. 

It isn’t hot I know, at least it feels cool at 22 deg C with a breeze. My internal thermostat was forever reset by those days early in the summer in the mid 30’s and a few days over 40 in Ottawa in June. Yet, I wanted something cooling, and my friend, who is ill with a poorly intestine did too. 

Jump straight to the Pasta e Ceci recipe

My love of beans, lentils, and all pulses has been expressed many times. They are nutritious, delicious and so flexible, they are a dream for anyone who loves to cook. They can become soups, dips, stews, patties and burgers, the dried beans can be ground into a flour and become pancakes and lots of other wonderful things. Take the humble chickpea, and all its possibilities. Falafel, chickpea burgers, hummus, panelle, socca, before we even consider what we can do with it when it is simply its joyful self. 

I wrote about my love for beans in my first book and how I batch cook them and freeze them to be used as and when I need them. Home cooking dried beans may seem like a fiddle, but all it takes is time, no intricacy, and the results are far superior, cheaper too. Beans are the ultimate frugal food, and for this reason maybe they don’t garner as much respect as they deserve. The underdog of the kitchen cupboard, some countries know how good they are and they elevate them. Principally Spain, I adore wandering through markets dotted with sacks of varied pulses, proud and shiny, and I always bring kilos of them home. Italy too, also France, and that is just looking at our nearest neighbours. 

Jump straight to the Tomato and Paprika Braised Sausages with Charred Lettuce recipe

Let’s talk more about simple things and speedy suppers. Now in this time of glut when markets and gardens are full of wonderful things to eat we can be indulgent, but why would we be when letting perfect and simple ingredients shine is often the best way? In summer I like to eat lighter and simpler. I feel that way generally these days. 

Summer Sunshine Captured on a Rainy Day

I eat tomatoes more than anything all through the year, but especially in summer. My kitchen garden is packed and the tomatoes are flying but I have only a few tomatoes nearing red (and over 25 tomato plants growing, so exciting!). My counter is still stacked with tomatoes of all colours shapes and sizes from my local farmers market though. Rough and tumble beef hearts, wobbly and one sided. Bright round enormous yellow tomatoes, perfectly smooth and sweet as a mango. Small pops of colour and joy in every shade, green and tiger striped, reds approaching pink and gorgeous cherry tomatoes, plump and bulging from red to yellow to purple.

Tomatoes growing in my kitchen garden

Jump straight to Lemon and Coconut Tadka Dal recipe

Dal is a favourite of mine, I have blogged about it more than once. Sometimes as a whole meal with egg (you know I love them), often with tadka (a perky mixture of spice and aromatics), always a cheerful sunshine yellow (although I am partial to a black spiced dal makhani too swirled with a little cream and I will share more on that soon). 

This dal is cheerful and elegant with lemon and coconut. It is one to make in a big pot for friends for a summer weekend lunch, or one to make and store in the fridge for comfort, or in the freezer for a later date. I must have had four bowls of this. I don’t bother soaking the dal, which means it takes longer to cook it, but it will still be done in 40 minutes. And it just cooks away, right? It needs little attention. 

This post is published in partnership with Bombay Sapphire, who sponsored this post. It is the second of two posts. In the first, I shared my preview of The Grand Journey from Bombay Sapphire and shared my Saffron and Coriander Crusted Lamb Chops recipe which featured two of the 10 botanicals. Here I share my experience of The Grand Journey itself. Enjoy!

An evening on a train with expertly crafted gin cocktails and food from a Michelin star chef sounds like a pretty perfect evening. Add that this train, the Laverstoke Express (named for the home of the Bombay Sapphire distillery) brings you from Spain to Tuscany to the Moon.

The Grand Journey details were kept firmly under wraps and turned out to be a multi sensory experience in a vintage style train carriage in London’s Banking Hall, led by hugely entertaining hosts serving expertly crafted food and drink featuring the 10 botanicals from Bombay Sapphire. It was a fun and surreal immersive gin filled evening showcasing the 10 botanicals used to flavour Bombay Sapphire in both food and cocktails. 

On arrival, we were presented with a G&T in a signature Bombay Sapphire G&T glass with bright blue stem. The train was beside, complete with steam and train noises. The lights were low, and the mood dark, spirits were high. We were beckoned in and took our seats in the low light. I wondered, why so dark? Once we were all seated it was immediately obvious why. Film of the destinations was broadcast on the windows and also on the tables. Koi carp swam around our plates and Moroccan tile patterns danced around one of our drinks. 

Jump straight to the Proper Spaghetti with Tomato and Chilli Sauce Recipe

My heart feels heavy today and so I need something light. The past few weeks have been intense in a busy and complicated kind of way, and it all takes a toll eventually. As it did today. Tomorrow will be brighter.

On a gorgeous summers day like today (27 deg C in my part of London), my body calls for something fresh and bright and breezy. I didn’t want complications but I did want to eat something fresh and delicious and soothing. I wanted spaghetti and I wanted it with tomatoes, some fragrant basil and the punch and flavour of a hot red chilli. Fresh chilli would only do, I wanted more than the heat, I wanted the fruitiness and the gorgeous aroma. I wanted it to taste of summer and sun, and not of something that had been dried some time ago. 

Tomatoes at my farmer’s market. The two central rows are the tomatoes that I bought for this week.

This post is published in partnership with Bombay Sapphire, who sponsored this post. In it I share my preview The Grand Journey from Bombay Sapphire and share my recipe which features two of the 10 botanicals. The saffron and coriander crusted lamb chop recipe follows at the end of the post. Enjoy!

The Bombay Sapphire Grand Journey returns to London this summer after a sellout season last year. Ivano Tonutti is the Master of Botanicals for Bombay Sapphire, and he travels the world to sustainably source the world’s finest botanicals for their gin. The Grand Journey is a fun and delicious multi-sensory dining experience with dishes created by Michelin Star Chef Tom Sellers of Restaurant Story and Bombay Sapphire cocktails created by Sean Ware to reflect these journeys and to showcase the flavours and the gin. The journey takes place on the Laverstoke Express, and takes you through the 10 sustainably sourced botanicals that are used to flavour Bombay Sapphire, from Java to Ghana to Tuscany, all the way to Laverstoke Mill, the home of Bombay Sapphire.

Sounds dreamy doesn’t it? And it was. Perfect for a sunny afternoon. It comes together quickly and it is as pretty as a picture. Any edible flowers will do and there are many. If you don’t already have a nasturtium plant I heartily suggest that you procure one. They grow easily, need little space and they are productive. Flowers and leaves taste and look great (a little peppery), and there are lots of different colours, mainly cheerful shades of orange, yellow and red. When they go to seed, you can treat the seed pods as capers, and pickle them. Here I use nasturtium, both flowers and leaves, but also cucumber flowers (a real garden treat, gentle and tasting of cucumber) and joyful chicory flowers.