Tofu! Now some of you are going to read that and think, WHAT?! TOFU?! Yes, tofu. Why? It is horribly underrated and completely delicious. Once you get the real thing. Tofu is thought of as a vegetarian or vegan ingredient, and yes it is, but in Asia it is as common to see it in a dish with meat, as not. See my recipe for Kimchi Jjigae (Korean Kimchi, Pork & Tofu Stew) for a very tasty example of this.

Tofu is also a fast food. The fastest, it is already good to go. It soaks up flavours and loves contrasting textures. I love it in a crispy fritter for brunch as much as I do in a stew. I love proper silken tofu, fresh from fridges of Asian food shops (especially Japanese). Silken is a joy, the very good stuff has the texture of custard. All of it is sublime when fried, and I have fried tofu every which way. A firm – nay, wobbly – favourite is Agedashi Tofu. 

Agedashi Tofu – Fried Tofu with Dashi!

A Japanese delight of a dish, age-dashi means fry-dashi and that is what this is, fried tofu with a seasoned dashi broth. Seasoned with soy and mirin (you can use sake too). It is naturally gluten free, usually using potato starch or corn starch. I love to use potato starch for this, it confers a stretchy crispness which is perfect with the wobbly tofu underneath. I sometimes mix the potato starch with rice flour, and of course you can just use rice flour too which will give a lovely crisp coating. Continue reading

Yokahama? Yes, Yokahama. I didn’t know much about it either but when planning this trip I discovered that not only is it Japan’s second largest city, it is also only half an hour on the express train from Tokyo (I know, I find that crazy). It is also the home of the Cup Noodle Museum and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.

I had to go there.

A few things about Yokahama: it was the first part of Japan that was opened up as a port to the rest of the world, so it has been more heavily influenced by outside cultures than other areas. It was the first to have ice cream, 150 years ago, and has a whole range of fusion food which has spread throughout Japanese food culture. It also has Japan’s largest Chinatown (surprisingly one of only three), with 600 restaurants.

Cup Noodle Museum, Yokohama

I started with the Cup Noodle Museum. I didn’t know what to expect but I was surprised to arrive at a building which was designed so beautifully that it could be a modern art gallery (by the director of Uniqlo, I believe).

The museum details the path to discovering instant noodles, starting with the Chikin (sic) Ramen in 1958 to now, many years and thousands of products later. Cup Noodle is a serious business in Japan, they are actually very delicious (Pot Noodle has given instant noodles in the UK a bad rep). Everyone eats them here and it is common to add lots of fresh bits and pieces like seafood, meat, egg etc to liven them up. I do this at home occasionally, it is (was) a guilty pleasure. Not so much now that I know I am in such fine company.

As part of the tour I made my own instant chicken ramen from scratch, the noodles, the seasoning, frying them to dry them etc. So much fun. We got to design our own package, mine is a disgrace, I think you will agree. I think I will recruit my 3 year old niece next time, she would do a much better job.

This is a Cup Noodle CANDLE!

Moving on from there, and I was starving by now as I had been making food but not actually eating any, I went to the The Café at Hotel New Grand, the home of Spaghetti Napoletan, a fusion spaghetti born out of requests from western visitors for pasta with tomatoes. Originally it was made with udon and tomato puree, but now they use spaghetti. The spaghetti is not quite al dente as we would expect, as it is allowed to sit for a minimum of 6 hours after boiling to recreate that udon effect. It was actually a very good sauce, fresh & fruity. This dish is hugely popular in Japan.

On from there through Chinatown, which has 4 large Chinese gates leading into it. The Japanese love pandas and bears and there are pandas EVERYWHERE. Lots of dim sum too.

I finished up at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum which is an illustration of dedication to a cause, obsession and deliciousness. Mr Iwaoka, who founded the museum, travelled Japan for 3 years and tasted over 1000 different ramens. He chose what he considered to be the best and invited them to be part of the Ramen Museum.

It is set out like a part of Tokyo in 1958 (the year Chikin (sic) Ramen was invented) and 9 shops serve their ramen. The shops change regularly although some are there for longer. The one I visited, and it was so hard to choose, was Komurasakai. It is so good and so well respected that it is there on a 20 year lease serving a sublime Tonkotsu style ramen called kamamoto, that is loaded with garlic chips. The broth is rich but not greasy, somehow seeming quite light. Char siu pork is served on top along with other bits and pieces.

All ramen shops at the museum serve small portions for 550 yen (about £4) as well as normal larger portions. At 300 yen to get in (just over £2), it is well worth the trip. If I had time, I would go back to try them all over a couple of days.

So Yokohama, well worth a trip from Tokyo. Do it.

Japanese breakfast at Touzan in Kyoto

When I first came to Japan 6 years ago, I remember nervously spying the hotel buffet, wondering how on earth I could eat fish and miso soup for breakfast. Even rice at breakfast time seemed alien. Now I am thinking, maybe this should become my breakfast routine? It is so delicious, healthy and flavourful and leaves you full of chutzpah to get on with your day.

My first three days in Kyoto were marked by wonderful breakfasts (among other things). The Hyatt Regency, where I stayed, has a wonderful restaurant Touzan, that serves a gorgeous local breakfast, very much Japanese, but with local flavours. I was hooked. When I first dipped that semi dried barracuda into the seasoned egg, I sighed, then smiled. It was dreamy.

Japanese breakfast at Touzan, Kyoto

Japanese breakfasts, when you first have them, are overwhelming, in content and size. An enormous tray of food arrives with lots of fish, some fresh, some preserved, some tiny, a bowl of rice, pickles, tofu, tea, more fish, more pickles and lots of tea.

Japanese food is fiercely seasonal and also tied to its geography, so while there are common themes, there are variations wherever you go. The Touzan breakfast is one of the best breakfasts that I have had to date and it is all about Kyoto.

THE TOUZAN JAPANESE BREAKFAST

Home made soy milk – so rich, fresh and creamy

Fresh tofu – Kyoto is renowned for the quality of its tofu, as it has very soft water (see also: green tea and sake) with seasoning including small fry fish and sansho pepper, detailed below.

Fresh tofu at Touzan, Kyoto

Fresh semi dried barracuda with a seasoned egg – this was caught near Kyoto, and is dried for two hours which reduces the water content in such a way that the fish dries a little but stays quite fresh, and the fish becomes a little sweeter. Dipped in the seasoned egg, which was rich and gorgeous (I could swim in it), this was the highlight of the meal along with the tofu.

Fresh semi dried barracuda with seasoned egg

Kyoto pickles – Kyoto is famous for its pickles, and deservedly so. Aubergine (which in this case was pickled with shiso which changed the colour), cucumber, radish and gobo (burdock?). Really beautifully done and provides a lovely piquancy while cleansing the palate in between intense bites of the other dishes.

Small fry, sansho, pickles

Small fry, rice and sansho pepper – I think baby sardines, they translate roughly as small fry. Either way, tiny delicious fish used to garnish your rice and your tofu, peppered, literally, with sansho.

Nishin, aubergine, beans

Nishin (herring) and aubergine – the herring is slightly sweet due to the way it has been marinated and cooked. Herring is intrinsic to Kyoto food and is also served with soba, among other things.

Miso Soup with a beautifully soft and fragrant sesame tofu & yuzu. A bowl of rice. Lots of tea.

Gorgeous. I miss it already.

Touzan is a restaurant at the Hyatt Regency in Kyoto, where I stayed as a guest.

Valentine’s Day Chocolate in Kyoto, Japan – Honmei Choco, I think!

Japan is wonderful for so many reasons. I feel totally out of my water here and at once, also, at home.

It takes a few days to adjust, as it does to anywhere. I am taking my shoes off in the wrong places, and very clumsily, much to the amusement of the locals. Sitting for the tea ceremony results in a speedy dead leg and limping out, and drinking the tea with all of the particular traditions (and with the fear of offending everyone) will hopefully become easier soon.

A chocolate teapot :)

Sometimes things appear inverted. Japanese people are so polite and softly spoken, I feel so bolshy by comparison. It takes care and attention to pick up on important details at times, so, I am quieter than normal (mostly!), listening, observing and learning, and taking a much in as possible.

Take Valentine’s Day, for example. On Valentine’s Day it is the woman’s responsibility to buy chocolates – and only chocolates – for the men in her life. There are two types of chocolates, giri choco and honmei choco, and in between is a potential nightmare, from what I can see.

Giri choco, obligation chocolates are given to the men that you work with etc. and honmei choco, true love chocolates, to the man that you would like affections returned from. The only difference between these is the price of the chocolate, and they aren’t divided into sections in the shops, they are all just chocolate. So you must be clear with your intentions by choosing a chocolate that is not too cheap but also not expensive enough to be considered a honmei choco.

Solar system chocolates

Then you wait exactly a month until White Day, the day when men return a gift to the women / woman who gave them giri or honmei choco. The gift returned, if returned, will indicate his intentions.

Very popular animal chocolates :)

I spoke to a lovely Kyoto lady about this, in detail. I wondered if it was as enormously stressful as it seemed? She told me that she had given her honmei choco to a man that she had an enormous crush on, but it wasn’t returned, and she was devestated. But, one of the men that she gave her giri choco to, interpreted it as an honmei choco (eeek!), but it all worked out brilliantly. He gave her a lovely gift in return on White Day (a ring but not an engagement ring or anything), they started dating, and then she married him.

Adore this chocolate dinosaur dig, uncover a white chocolate dinosaur

The shops are full of wonderful chocolates for this tradition, I visited the Daimaru department store food court and also a wonderful green tea shop (Ujicha Gion Tsujiri), which even during the week had a very long queue for its café. They have a wonderful range of green teas and products incl fabulous chocolates and ice creams.

My matcha honmei choco, gifted to myself :)

…. and a matcha truffle :)

The Yasaka Shrine, overlooking Kyoto at sunset

Greetings from Kyoto! This is my second trip to Japan, but it is my first time outside of Tokyo and I am excited.

Kyoto, like Tokyo, is charming as you would expect, and a lot more intimate, with many more older buildings and a lot less buzz, but in a lovely way. The streets are gentle and calm and filled with the smells of great food.

Gion, Kyoto, which you might recognise from Memoirs of a Geisha

I have been here for just 24 hours, and have already fallen head over heels for yatsuhashi, a floppy little triangular sweet that is a folded blanket of glutinous rice flour dumpling, filled with the likes of cinnamon or black sesame. I bought some to bring home, however, I doubt they will make it out of Kyoto. I tried it at Nishio, who have been making them for 324 years, so should know what they are doing.

A wedding photograph I happened upon in Gion

Then the noodles. Lunch had to be noodle based and I opted for some terrific soba at Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya. I had cold soba with tempura. Simple but it hit every spot available. Perfect noodles, rich dipping sauce and light tempura with wasabi and fried shredded leek. My guide had a really intriguing dish that I must try: cold soba with grated raw yam, a raw quails egg and a very tiny bit of seaweed that seemed to be in oil.

Shoes off for soba

Soba with yam and raw quails egg

All mixed up

Tempura soba

No trip of mine would be complete without a thorough explore of the local food market and food shops so I made sure that I hit the Nishiki Market, a long sprawling market full of wonderful barrels of sharp pickles, all sorts of fish – dried, fresh, sashimi and pickled, a dreamy knife shop. There was also Daimaru department store food court which was terrific. A highlight was the obligation chocolates which I will tell you all about tomorrow.

Nishiki Market

Chopstick shop at Nishiki Market

Amazing knife shop in Nishiki Market – Artisugu, who started making knives in 1560

Candied sweet potatoes at Daimaru department store food court

Tofu doughnuts at Nishiki Market

Pickling fish at Nishiki Market

Dried persimmons at Nishiki Market

Octopus with quails eggs in the head at Nishiki Market

Kyoto has five geisha (or geiko as they are referred to locally) districts. The largest, Gion Kobu has 90 geiko, 30 maikos (trainee geiko) and 64 tea houses. A 90 year old geiko is rumoured to still be working there. It is impossible to access a tea house without a recommendation or invitation, but it is lovely to wander the old streets there with its plentiful restaurants and beautiful old buildings. A keen eye will spot a geiko boarding house and tea house, and luckily I was with one. I even spotted a maiko. Although, I was so engrossed with a green tea sweet shop at the time, I only managed to get a photo of her as she walked away.

Maiko, just outside Gion, on a day off

Two girls chatting outside a sweet shop in Gion. The board above their heads lists all activities for geiko and maiko training that week by individual.

Curious cats

There are 1600 buddhist temples & 400 shinto shrines in Kyoto, not including the tiny ones on the streets. I visited a few. Some gorgeous, proud and bright, others more subtle and tucked among shops. The Yasaka shrine is bright and vast and very beautiful. With one of its pagodas dedicated to easy childbirth and a shrine dedicated to finding a great love match, it is a quirky place. It also seems appropriate given that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. When I got to the love match bit, it was closed, which tells you all you need to know about my love life!

Forget your troubles – bad fortunes tied and abandoned for the deities to deal with at Yasaka Shrine

Part of Yasaka Shrine

I had a wonderful guide, Meg, who brought me around today. She is freelance and can tailor a trip to your most random of requirements as she did mine. I found her through the Japan National Tourism Organization (who are so very helpful – be sure to contact them if you do visit), you can also email Meg to arrange.

Angry cats – I want one for my doorway to scare away junk mailers

I was in Japan last year around the time of Hinamatsuri – Japanese Girl’s Day or the Doll Festival. It was really charming. Traditionally, all houses (and hotels in my case!) have dolls on display that represent the Emperor and Empress dressed in the traditional dress of the Heian period, often other dolls too representative of other people in the court. It’s believed that these dolls can contain bad spirits and that these bad spirits are removed from the house when the dolls are floated down the river.

I’ve been eating alot of Japanese food of late, and had many trips to the Japan Centre in Picadilly. I spotted the hinamatsuri dolls on my last trip and this prompted a fit of nostalgia and a longing for a break and the thought – I wonder what kind of food is associated with hinamatsuri? I had a browse and I found the most wonderful things. Japanese food is fabulous on so many levels: fresh, bursting with flavour and the presentation is always beautiful. Here’s two items I found, although the first link is actually a link to many other blogs.

The Bento Challenge have a fantastic selection of hinamatsuri themed bento boxes, including one brilliant and very Japanese Hello Kitty one. I also quite like the one with the girl made of ham!

At Just Hungry, Maki has made gorgeous Shell-shaped sushi (Hamaguri-zushi).

As I’ve been a little crap on the food front, I’ll wheel out some of my photos from Japan last year to give you some colour. Girlie photos for a belated girl’s day. Any excuse, I know ;) Enjoy!

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I was extremely fortunate to have a work trip to Japan this year and while it was a very busy week I did get an opportunity to sample some of the wonderful food and sights that Tokyo has to offer.

I had never been to Japan before but had heard a lot from varied sources. I have always had a fascination with Japan, from the history and clothing to the food. I went through a phase of buying vintage kimonos from Japan for the beautiful silk, but, until now I had never had an opportunity to visit. I had heard that Tokyo was a very busy city and was very expensive – even worse than London. Well, I live in London, and thought, really, how much more busy/expensive can it be?! The answer is it’s not. Perhaps London is the best leveller for world cities, I have been to a few and each one has been calmer and less expensive (I haven’t been to NY yet before you comment). Relative to London, Tokyo is actually quite cheap, this is attributed to their lengthy recession, prices haven’t increased in years.

So, on my second day there, still very jet-lagged, I was determined to go out and eat some tempura. I had a list of food to eat whilst in Japan – tempura, sushi, sashimi, okonomiyaki, gyoza, unagi (eel) and tea in a traditional Japanese teahouse. I had brought two guidebooks with me – the Lonely Planet Guidebook to Tokyo and the TimeOut Tokyo Guide. Both great but for food I’d prefer the TimeOut guide. I had planned to visit Shinjuku and spotted a Tempura restaurant in the cheap eat section, Tsunahachi.

I found it without much difficulty, it was quite close to the seven floor electronics shop I had spent the previous two hours in (camera window shopping!). It had a beautiful old wooden front and was really understated and hidden in the mesh of neon lights in Shinjuku. There was one person waiting outside the door so I waited with him. I quickly discovered that not many people speak english in Tokyo so I had to rely on my *extremely* pigeon japanese. I must stress that I didn’t expect them to speak english, why should they, it’s Japan not England! A queue quickly gathered behind me and within 15 minutes I was seated at a counter facing the open kitchen. The waiter brought me a menu, most of which was in Japanese so I chose a fish set menu and some sake.

The waiter brought me a little tray with some rice, pickles, miso soup and green tea. The miso was beautiful with tiny clams at the bottom. The rest was pretty impressive too. I saw one of the chefs about to fillet a flat fish and it looked very wet still, well, not surprising as when he stuck the knife in him I realised he was still very much alive and on my plate within 5 minutes. Harsh, I know, but the fish was beautiful to eat, really light with delicate white flesh. Next up were two tempura king prawns, also fresh from the tank, some green pepper and half an onion. All lovely, crisp and fresh but the onion was astounding, intensely sweet soft flesh contrasting beautifully with the tempura batter. I thought that this was it so finished my rice and miso, when a cake of tempura prawns arrived. It consisted of 15-20 large very fresh prawns and again, was very impressive. This was swiftly followed by some unagi (japanese eel) which was not unlike a white fish, very light, sweet and delicate. All the time I was washing this down with the sake which was beautifully dry and the perfect complement. I finished my meal with some green tea.

I requested the bill, expecting it to be a little more than I had expected given how much I had eaten. It came to a total of 2,000 yen which was incredibly good value, just under £10 sterling. The staff were very friendly and accomodating of my poor communication skills. I would recommend to anyone visiting Tokyo, it’s a very pleasurable experience.

Tacooooooooos! Not just any tacos but fried chicken tacos. And not just any fried chicken but jalapeño brined fried chicken.

It gets better. These are not just any tortillas but chicken fat tortillas with fat from last nights roast chicken. And that crumb? It is a gluten-free one that is so good, my gluten digesting friends choose it instead of regular breadcrumb or panko! It is so good and you won’t believe what it is! Continue reading

Almost everything I share on Eat Like a Girl has been cooked for one. I cook mainly for myself, and I do every day, at least once. I am a social being, but my flat is very small with no dining table (some day!) and so I rarely entertain at home. I so look forward to the day that I can though.

I know that many people are self isolating at home alone right now and I wanted to provide some recipe inspiration for you, or a starting point at least. While I almost always cook for one, I usually cook a little extra so that I can have leftovers to have with an egg the next day, or convert into something tasty for another meal. If you are cooking for two these will double up well and easily. 

Most recipes here require no kitchen kit as such. Everything is accessible and easy to recreate. All you need is a chopping board, a good knife, a wooden spoon and a pan to cook in. Everything else is a bonus and you can add that as you go. I did. Continue reading

Miso beef cottage pie is every (good) cottage pie you have ever had but it is better. It is deeper and richer, and this is all achieved with the simple addition of a hero ingredient, miso.

You will know miso soup, made from dashi (a simple but full flavoured broth made from kelp seaweed and/or bonito flakes usually) and miso. Bear with me while I explain as cooking and food is so much easier when you know what things are and once a scientist, always a scientist, right?! Plus, it is so interesting and as always I will keep it simple. Continue reading

I know everything should start with an onion, or so the saying goes. Most of my cooking does. But not always. Sometimes just garlic will do and occasionally not at all. When I made this dish I started with minced beef not sure of what I would add next. The final result was a tasty speedy supper that required little work or preparation. I call that a winner!  Continue reading

Once you start making taramasalata, you can’t go back. It is so delicious, so fast and easy to make and much more economical to make at home. It takes minutes and provides so much pleasure.

Most taramasalatas are lightened with bread, but on my current gluten-free diet I have been playing around and adding lots of different things to my tarama. Don’t be horrified, these are just as delicious and sufficiently different to be very interesting. I still love the original of course, and fondly remembered trips to Greece are my inspiration. If only I had the sea lapping nearby as an accompaniment!

Tarama means salted and cured cod roe, that being the egg sack of the fish. It is luscious and rich and is used to great effect in many food cultures, notably Japanese cuisine. In Japan cod and pollock roe are cured with chilli and called mentaiko. The colour is bright red and it is the perfect partner to many things. I love mentaiko in Japanese fusion dishes like Mentaiko Mac and Cheese. My friend Luiz Hara has a bright new cookbook The Japanese Larder, that will educate you all about that and I have shared a lovely mentaiko recipe from his first book before also: Mentaiko Spaghetti with Clams and Parmesan.

Using smoked cod roe to make taramasalata 

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I was in Dublin last week and, as I always do, I popped in to Picado Mexican to see Lily Ramirez Foran. Except this time I was armed with my microphone and laptop to record my podcast. We had a great chat about Lily’s life in food and favourite dishes. Her family were third generation tortilla makers but Lily rejected a life in food for a career, only to turn this around to a career in food when she moved to Ireland to be with her husband Alan. Lily is now the Irish authority on Mexican food, and I am delighted to share our chat with you. 

We talked everything from Mexico to Japan (where she met Alan) to Ireland. And of course we talk about Day of the Dead, Mexican Breakfast, Mezcal and Tequila among many other things. 

(Irish folks – you will notice that I temporarily mangle the Calvita and Galtee cheese boxes in my head – before you tell me :) ). 

Enjoy and I would be so grateful if you took a few minutes to review it on iTunes – thanks!

Fingers in Pies Season 1 Episode 2 – Lily Ramirez Foran – Excerpt

I’ve been living in Ireland for 18 years. I will soon be living here longer than I ever lived in Mexico which is a very scary thought. I always think that I don’t come from a food background and I don’t know why. This is so bizarre because I would have been a fourth generation tortilla baker like my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father. Almost everybody in my family makes tortillas for a living. I grew up helping in the business. So I suppose if you want to define Mexico about one particular or one singular dish you’ll always have to say tortillas because it’s like our bread and the basics for almost everything we eat.

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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.  Continue reading

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.  Continue reading

Eat Like a Girl is 10 today. TEN! Woah, happy birthday to you, little thing!

10 years ago, at about this time, I was sitting at my (very messy) office desk feeling overwhelmed. It was towering with notebooks and papers relating to the science publishing projects that I was working on (I studied science at degree level and then technology for my masters). I worked late, and to relax I cooked when I got home. Many evenings and weekends would be spent exploring food shops from far off lands and bringing home ingredients that I hoped google would help me understand or one of my many cookbooks which I had been hoarding for years.

(there was punctuation, I swear!)

I have always been a cook more than anything, as much as I love to eat out now. I didn’t eat out much when I first moved to London, I didn’t have much money after the bills were paid, but I did cook, and I looked at restaurant menus all the time, taking inspiration from them to my kitchen back home. I was obsessed with travel, and travelled when I could (rarely), taking inspiration from those trips back home to my kitchen also.  Continue reading

Chepstow was very familiar and I didn’t know why. Not far beyond Bristol and just in Wales, Chepstow is of course the home to a famous horse racing track and it is where the Grand National is. I must have seen it on the TV listings many times (I know little to nothing about horse racing, despite this I did manage to pick a winning horse before entirely at random and at 40:1 odds!).

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When the Guardian asked me to contribute to their piece on the Best Travel Experiences of 2016, I didn’t have to think too hard about what I wanted to write about. I had some wonderful travel experiences last year, many were unusual, most were delicious, all in some way enriched my life and taught me something. That is why I love to travel, it feeds and nourishes me. One place unleashed my heart and refreshed my head. It reminded me that simplicity is best and that I should really get out and about (in terms of exercise) a lot more. That place was Western Newfoundland. 

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Perth sits on the edge of Australia, it feels like the edge of the world with the nearest large city Adelaide being 2,104km away. This adds to the charm, it is refreshingly laid back and there is much to do. Perth stretches along the coastline, and so it doesn’t feel big or overwhelming. As with other Australian cities that I have visited (Melbourne, Sydney), there is a thriving and exciting food culture here. It may be the most isolated city in the world, but it is attracting impressive culinary talent and there are many new restaurants and bars.

As with all my food research trips, everywhere is researched thoroughly and only the restaurants that I rate and that cut above the others make the list. 

Enjoy! Perth is a fun city and there are lots of great places to eat. 

Also in this series: 
A Culinary Road Trip from Perth to Margaret River
Where to Eat, Drink and Stay in Fremantle
A Postcard from Western Australia (Through a Food Lens)
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Western Australia is vast and diverse, it is perfect for a road trip. Before I visited I imagined horizons filled orange soil and hot searing temperatures. What greeted me instead as I journeyed south from Perth at the end of winter was moderate temperatures, lush greens, flowers and lots of vegetation, all hugging the ocean as we journeyed by, stopping to soak it up occasionally as we did. 

There are many options, the obvious choice for me was to drive to Margaret River, a wine region just over 3 hours drive from Perth, with some lovely pitstops along the way. There are wonderful beaches, great places to eat, limestone underground caves and you can go whale watching.

The main reason you should go is the food and wine, and just to indulge in how gorgeous it all is. Margaret River has 187 wineries and 215 vineyards (as counted in 2015). It is surrounded by the ocean on three sides without extreme seasons providing ideal conditions for producing wine. Wineries mainly produce Bordeaux style wines (semillon and sauvignon blanc blends are common as are cabernet sauvignon and shiraz), Margaret River has been compared to Bordeaux in a dry vintage. The reds are gentle. There are established producers like Leeuwin Estate (who produced their first commercial vintage in 1979) and newer ones like Fraser Gallop (whose first vintage was 2008). Lots to explore and most tastings are free, if you fancy driving yourself winery to winery.  Continue reading