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Lettuce wraps with Nadiadee Lemon Chutney

By on July 11, 2015

The wonderful thing about British producers is the variety in our food culture.

You’ve all heard the Tikka Masala story I’m sure. While the exact origins of the dish are unclear, the gist of what’s seen as a ‘classic Indian dish’ by most Brits is that many believe the recipe was actually developed in the UK for milder English tastes. The popularity of Indian food (it’s a £5bn industry in the UK) and the subsequent prominence of curries in the country’s palate is so rich, that we’ve now got some amazing businesses making gorgeous Indian products.

I discovered one such business, Dips, at Kitchen Table Projects’ Artisan Springboard a few weeks back. Dips is a family run business, making Garlic Chilli pastes and chutneys using Managing Director Hershil Patel’s mum’s authentic, transnational recipes.

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I also had a chat with Hershil after the event, which I’ll publish later in the week since he spoke with such passion about the provenance behind his brand that I think it deserves its own post.

I fell in love with their Nadiadee Lemon Chutney when I tried it at the Springboard’s first Kitchen Table Talks event, since the preserved lemons and expertly blended spices give it the most amazing, vibrant taste. I bought some immediately, and have been trying out different ways to use it ever since.

Last night we made lettuce wraps with the chutney, my absolute favourite so far; simply cobbling together some spicy meat, salads and then using the Nadiadee Lemon Chutney mixed with yoghurt as a drizzle.

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The secret is to marinade the chicken for a decent amount of time. Simply add a teaspoon of your chosen spice mix to a tablespoon of olive oil and then brush the paste on to your chosen meat (or even a hardy veg like aubergine). This would also be BANGING with prawns. You can of course make your own spice mix, but I used Steenbergs, which trade in organic spices, loose leaf tea and organic cooking ingredients packed with flavour, aroma and provenance.

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Based in Yorkshire, Steenbergs Organic is a family-run, friendly firm committed to Fairtrade, the environment and people. It was set up in 2003 by Axel and Sophie Steenberg in North Yorkshire, and is now in a purpose-built, ecofriendly factory, which is just 200 yards from where they started! They’re ethically sourced, organic, carbon neutral AND as environmentally friendly as they can possibly be. I’m a big fan.

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Anyway, once your meat or veggies have marinaded for at least four hours, simply griddle them (or BBQ!) and slice into finger-size chunks.

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Make a salad of any kind to add freshness; my favourite is fennel and pomegranate with a squeeze of lime and some salt. The jewels of pomegranate burst as you bite into the wraps.

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Mix about 75g of yoghurt to three teaspoons of the chutney, and you’ll end up with an incredible sauce that serves two easily for a meal like this.

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Layer the chicken (add this first, we discovered it makes them easier to eat through trial and error!), then add the yoghurt and chutney drizzle, salad, and finally a sprinkle of coriander.

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Voila! TOTAL HEAVEN.

Currently Dips is stocked at the Artisan Springboard in Old Street station and Cockfosters Deli, you can also buy online via www.dipsltd.com and on their Facebook page too.

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Do Wimbledon right; 3 perfect foods for finals day

By on July 5, 2015

WIMBLEDON FINALS KLAXON.

Ok, so we’re on a less-than-a-week-away countdown to the Wimbledon finals, and it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to celebrate. If that’s your thing. And for me, it most *definitely* is.

Typically I’ll spend the last Saturday/Sunday of the Wimbledon fortnight at home, praying for sun, and watching with a group of friends. With that comes the difficult decision about what to serve (worst pun ever), and really, you’ve got to go FULL WIMBLEDON to really do it justice.

Let’s start with drinks; somebody will inevitably bring gin, which is perfect – but as host, there’s going to be an expectation that you’ll also have Pimm’s on tap.

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Pimm’s No. 1 Cup is still made to the original recipe which remains a closely-guarded secret, known only to six of Pimm’s top people called ‘the secret six’. Its history dates back to 1823, when pubs would create a ‘cup’ that emulated the gin people tried to make in bathtubs (and was actually pretty lethal). James Pimm became the owner of an oyster bar, and his mix became super popular before going commercial in 1851. All you need to do is add a few key ingredients to create a supremely refreshing tipple.

For a party, you’ll want to make this by the jugful, but if at all possible, I’d make by the glass. People can add their own quantities of fruit and alcohol to suit. You can add basically any fruit you like to Pimm’s, but the classic recipe is strawberries, lime, mint, orange and cucumber, plus lemonade. I discovered Lovely Drinks‘ sparkling lemonade at the Artisan Springboard last week, and the hint of English lavender in it makes it the perfect pairing for Pimm’s.

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Check out this orange I picked up, which was SO MASSIVE I had to quarter it. Anyway, based in the North Somerset countryside near Bristol, Lovely Drinks began as a hobby in the family’s garden shed using elderflowers from nearby fields. It’s now an award-winning and thriving (but still small) family business – and they still blend, process and pack the bottled drinks in a converted sawmill five minutes’ walk from their home. It’s delicious.

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Next up, for something savoury, I’d go for a classic sandwich. I adore The Guardian’s ‘how to make the perfect xxx’ series, and their cucumber sandwich recipe is the absolute best. The whole point of cucumber sandwiches is that they’re refreshing, light, and won’t spoil your appetite if you’re planning a big dinner – but if you mess them up, they’re dull as anything.

The key is thin, soft white bread. I picked up a loaf from Greensmiths yesterday from The Old Post Office Bakery, London’s oldest organic bakery in Clapham, which is perfect for this. Some schools of thought say remove the crusts once the sandwich is made, but I prefer to cut two slices and take the crusts off them together (one on top of the other), so that they’re even. I just find it easier.

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Peeling the cucumber is mandatory. Then cut the cucumber into slices as thin as you can make them (again, some people say to remove the seeds, but I always keep them in), sprinkle lightly with salt (don’t go overboard) and leave for 20 minutes. Taste to check you haven’t oversalted them: you can rinse them at this point if so.

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Lay out the bread and butter each slice generously (it acts as a barrier to stop the sandwiches going soggy). Again in Greensmiths yesterday, I found this amazing butter from Longman, which you can only get in the South of England. When you’re doing a cucumber sandwich, you must must use unsalted – salted against the salted cucumber is just too much – and the Longman dairy is well-known for its large herds and rich pastures. The creaminess is ideal when you’re doing something so simple, where every aspect has to be right.

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Arrange the cucumber on the slices, overlapping each round, and sprinkle with ground white pepper. And voila. I like to throw in a salmon version too, to make the savoury choices a bit more hearty. Just repeat the same process with the bread, add the salmon, a squeeze of lime, and a hefty grind of black pepper.

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Finally, the most classic Wimbledon dish of all; strawberries and cream. Having found some beauts from Marsh Produce yesterday at Lower Marsh Market, all I had to do was combine with this with some cream from Longley Farm (always single for strawberries & cream).

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Longley Farm, based in Somerset, has been open for over 50 years and uses Jersey herds to give the pasteurised luxury cream its distinctive colour, consistency and taste. Drizzle away, and you’re done – that’s all it needs.

Photo 05-07-2015 14 54 54Happy Wimbledon-ing!

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Lower Marsh Market

By on July 4, 2015

This morning I head over to Lower Marsh Market, nestled just behind Waterloo Station.

Throughout the month of July, SE1 is playing host to Waterloo Food Festival once again. There are a series of outdoor events, including an evening food fair, cocktail making, a quiz and family fete, which you can read about here. New for this year are ‘Super Saturdays’, when Lower Marsh Market will take on a celebratory feel with a series of guest markets. I was there today for one of them, Start-Up Saturday, which is a showcase of food entrepreneurs.

With pre-noon sun beaming, it was a fantastic day for it. Lower Marsh is a small market (less than 10 stalls) with some real gems within, culminating in the ever-so-wonderful Greensmiths ‘supermarket’. But I’ll come back to that.

We were greeted by some of the kids taking part in International Citrus Saturday, also today, which aims to teach young people entrepreneurial skills by setting up lemonade stands. They really were great, luring us in, and pitching very well. After scrambling for some change (and convincing them to raise the price of their mini cup of strawberries from just 5p!), we walked away with an absolutely delightful bottle of lemonade for just £1.50. It was a total fluke that our visit coincided with this, and I was super pleased to be able to support them. Really impressive.

Our next find was Wendy’s kitchen, with Wendy herself manning the stand. She was there to show off her fiery pepper sauce, which is handmade in Brixton, the same place she runs her catering company from. Using traditional techniques from Trinidad and Tobago, Wendy’s sauce has KICK, but it’s full of flavour – something that’s truly rare to find in a hot sauce. I loved the freshness of it; which you can see from the beautiful orange colour and taste in the product.

Next up was L’été Cookies, made by a wonderful couple in London from all-natural ingredients sourced locally with no nasties (trans fats, milk or egg powders, artificial flavourings). Unique flavours like Lemon Madness (lemon zest, juice and lemon curd, with poppy seeds & white chocolate), Strawberry and Cream (English strawberry jam with white chocolate) and I Dreamed a Coconut (rum, coconut & creamy white chocolate chunks) really made their stall stand out. The pair (of French and Chinese heritages respectively) also import tea, and so make a whole range of tea-infused biscuits with a twist as well; English High Tea (made with Earl Grey), Masala Chai Tea Latte (a rich, spicy and vanilla flavour with dark chocolate chunks) and A Taste of the Orient (refreshing green tea and creamy white chocolate).

I tasted the Lemon Madness, which had *really* good lemon curd on, and Strawberry and Cream, which really did taste creamy. The dough was also less sweet than most cookies, which meant the flavourings really came through and they weren’t sickly.

Final stall of the day was Marsh Produce in Kent, which specialises in rare breed lamb & pork, Dexter beef, duck eggs, free range eggs and homemade pies. I took home some of the owners’ daughter’s sausages (thanks Zoe!) in preparation for a post in a few weeks’ time – so I’ll stay quiet on that for now. But needless to say, the fresh vegetables and fruit they also grow are beautiful, and I couldn’t resist taking some strawberries as well!

As if all this wasn’t enough, Lower Marsh Street is also host to Greensmiths local supermarket – a butcher, baker, greengrocer, coffee specialist and a wine merchant – as well as all the other daily food needs you would expect to find in a supermarket. Plus there’s a kitchen (which you can sit and watch) preparing food only from fresh ingredients in the store to eat in the cafe or takeaway. It’s like a British Whole Foods, but better.

Greensmiths is a wonderful, multi-floored cave of a place, packed full of amazing produce at incredibly reasonable prices. I was thrilled to find such a great range of dairy, and you’ll see the result of that haul in tomorrow’s Wimbledon post. For now though, I can’t recommend the place enough; lovely people, well-chosen foods, and really great value.

All in all, a pretty amazing day out 🙂

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Kitchen Table Projects’ #kitchentabletalks

By on July 2, 2015

I LOVE TWITTER. I saw a tweet from Kitchen Table Projects yesterday, talking about their new pop up at Old Street station. I responded, and got an invite to go along a few hours later to their very first event of the summer.

For those who aren’t aware, Kitchen Table Projects is an incubator that acts as a starting point for emerging artisan food producers to make their visions come to life. It’s run by Tara Sundramoorthi, a former pastry chef-turned-cafe-owner who did an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Masters at Imperial College and then founded the business using her skills and experience. Their tagline is ‘championing artisan food producers’, so how could I resist?

This summer’s big thing for them is the Artisan Springboard: a 12 week retail incubator programme that helps artisan food businesses to the next level. They have 11 of their own brands instore, from chutney to oil, sweets, sauces, dressings and alcoholic cupcakes, with an awesome ‘feedback wall’ asking rotating questions of people via iPads to get instant feedback, something they’d rarely get the opportunity to do.

The shop itself is a DELIGHT. I spent a LOT. Alongside the 11 brands above, it’s lined from floor to ceiling with amazing producers of artisan goods, from the smallest new businesses to some medium-sized ones you can only get in a few delicatessens. There were some real treats; my finds of the evening were Dips‘ Nadidee Preserved Lemon Chutney (one of Kitchen Table Project’s brands) and Rod & Ben’s Red Pepper Spicy Salsa – the latter is sadly quite hard to find, though you *can* get their soups at Abel & Cole, the former I’m going to try to interview Managing Director Hershil soon. Both of which we were served on toasted sourdough from the ‘Jam Bar’ while being plied with iced water (hottest day of the year and all). Everything else I found you’ll have to wait and see!

Anyway, back to the event. The Artisan Springboard has been open for a week and a half already, and yesterday they hosted their first #kitchentabletalks – an evening event of informal talks, Q&A and food tasting. Yesterday’s focus was ‘The Stories’ and featured their two best-selling products of the first few weeks (since it was a tie); The London Marshmallow Company, and Milk & Date. Plus Ed and Richard from Doisy & Dam, and Jonny from Spoon Cereals.

London Marshmallow Company’s story about starting their business after making Christmas presents was lovely (and familiar, see the candy cane ones I’ll be making this year here). Milk & Date spoke so genuinely about the generations of families drinking the fairly unknown combination (in Europe at least) of milk and dates, from West Africa all the way to the Far East, which is kept refrigerated and comes in original, cinnamon and ginger variations. I tried the tester shots, and the cinnamon one was delicious.

Ed & Richard, two longtime friends, set up their superfood-infused chocolate business a few years ago as a response to not being able to find a nutritious treat they could enjoy, and spoke about their strategy of going small first before ramping up to big box stores, and are now in almost 200. They said that ‘asking for help’ was the absolute best thing to do as a foodie startup, and sung the praises of Old Street’s food market from both a sales and product testing perspective.

Jonny from Spoon Cereals spoke about experimenting wildly with dried and fresh produce at Barnes Food Fair. Having just been invested in by Dragons Den’s Deborah Mearden and Peter Jones, they flagged ‘great graphic design’ (since co-founder Annie is an ex-advertising exec) as helping them stand out. Spoon’s granola is made with maple syrup, which would typically make the product more expensive – but larger deals with big retailers have lowered this. This means greater taste, lower sugar, and an amazing product! The Cinnamon & Pecan, and Peanut & Apple are going nationwide in August.

Head down to the Artisan Springboard until September 13th, and check out the rest of the #kitchentabletalks series; The Experts on July 22nd, The Web on August 12th and The Buyers on September 2nd.

You can buy Dips’ chutneys at Cockfosters Deli (and several food fairs over summer), The London Marshmallow company at 3 places across London, Milk & Date via contactus@milkanddate.com and Doisy & Dam online here.

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