The Great British Menu

In case you have been living under a rock on another planet for a couple of years it's my duty to inform you that food is now seriously trendy in the UK. Not just going out to fancy restaurants but also cooking. Don't believe me? Have a look at the television schedules. They are stuffed full of cooking programmes.

Well I say that. There are lots of entertainment programmes with a pretext of food. With limited channel surfing you can choose between watching some hapless restaurateur being shouted at by someone with more awards than fingers; keen as mustard amateurs striving to impress dubious judges; some outrageous science where the results can be eaten or a crusade being worked out through the medium of food. Amongst all of this are shows where highly decorated chefs take you through some D.I.Y recipes at just the right pace to require you to buy the accompanying cook book to get the full details of what ingredients and techniques are needed.

If I'm sounding cynical, I don't mean it too literally. Most of the shows are quite entertaining, some I watch avidly. Admittedly, some I avoid like the plague. However amongst all of this is one programme which showcases some of the best aspects of the food culture in Britain today. It is the Great British Menu.

For those of you not familiar with it, this is a cooking competition where chefs from around Britain aim to represent their region at a ceremonial banquet. The banquet in question usually has some theme which has to be reflected throughout the cooking. With some notable exceptions (not mentioning any comic relief series... funny food indeed) this has usually provided some interesting ways for the competing chefs to flex their cooking muscles. Among my favourites were showcasing local suppliers and the current series which is working towards a banquet commemorating D Day.

The main reason I love this series is that it focuses unashamedly on gastronomic brilliance. Recipes may be published on the BBC website but in the real world, most "civilians" wouldn't dream of trying to replicate the dishes produced. They are designed to make the diner go "wow" and frequently have that effect (on one viewer at least). It is also a brilliant way to see some of Britain's best chefs at work and get an insight into the way they cook. This has led, on several occasions, to investigating the restaurants some of the competitors cook in and finding some absolute gems. Best of all is being able to watch experts at work.

So as competition is starting to warm up I highly recommend watching. My support is strongly with Emily Watkins of the Kingham Plough.

TFB

The Drinks Globe

I'm not going to lie, as well as being delicious, whisky carries with it a certain image. I like to think of it as elegant sophistication. A hipflask in a well cut tweed jacket for example is, in my mind, a perfect pairing. Some may describe this as fogeyism but they can be ignored.

This easy elegance can extend to storage. Many years ago, all drinks were collected in earthenware pots only to be poured into glass bottles when they were ready to be drunk (by your bottler, later to become butler). This was down to glass being extremely expensive (and highly taxed). This process of decanting continues now with cut glass decanters remaining popular. I quite like decanting whisky. There is a certain ceremony to it and they are undeniably good looking objects. The problems arise when you forget what's in it (or when you think you remember then top it up with something different by accident - many an interesting blend has been created that way).

Now the tax on glass is less extortionate, or certainly no worse than the tax on everything else, most whiskies are supplied in bottles. These are invariably elegantly designed. The neck of an Old Pultney bottle, for example, is the same shape as the still in the distillery. Edradour has a picture of the extremely picturesque distillery on the label while Glenfiddich opts for the more traditional stag's head. All of these look good on the shelf not to mention making identification in times of intoxication relatively straight forward.

However for those seeking yet higher levels of sophistication, a drinks cabinet is required. Lining one's bottles up on the floor has limited visual effect after all. This is where my latest toy comes into play. Thanks to an eagle-eyed (not to mention extremely indulgent) fiancée, a drinks globe is now residing in the corner of the living room. What could be better to house my collection of whisky (well most of it)? It appears to Cat's love of "storage solutions" and my love of whisky, multi-purpose gadgets and general enjoyment of elegance. Not only does it keep hold of many of my bottles, there's even room for glasses too... assuming I have remembered to wash them up! Apparently there's also a picture of the surface of the earth on it too; so I'm told. As you can tell, I'm slightly smitten!

Sliante

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Whisky Vessels

Whisky is whisky isn't it? A brown fluid that tastes nice and makes you (well me) feel happy. Yes, a wide variety exists but ultimately, it's all whisky. It therefore follows that it shouldn't really matter what you drink it from. Whether it's a cup or a cut glass tumbler it will make no difference. Theoretically it shouldn't even matter if you swig it straight from the bottle; although if you find yourself at that stage you may want to seek professional help!

However we all know the vessel does make a difference. Whether it's the feeling it gives you when you have a dram or the effect it has on the drink when you sip it, glasses are all important. Strictly speaking, experts will tell you the best type of glass to drink whisky from is a 'nosing' glass. This tulip-shaped glass is designed to concentrate the volatile vapours from the whisky (and hence the aroma) a a specific point... the point at which the tip of most people's noses reach when they stick it in the glass. It is also held near the base so perfumes and natural pheromones don't get in the way of the scotch. The bulbous base lets you swill the whisky with gusto without risk of spilling meaning you can have a good look at the colour and the legs. On the down side, they are top-heavy so easily knocked over and don't sit naturally in the hand instead needing active holding. It's therefore not always a relaxing way to have a drink.

From one extreme to the other. The nosing glass is only really practical if you are sitting still and concentrating. The next drinking vessel is ideal if you're on the move... the hip flask. I love hip flasks. There's something terribly reassuring about knowing you've got a dram in your pocket. I also think they are things of beauty. My hip flasks are amongst some of my most treasured possessions; each one having their own story behind them. Ones I have given have been carefully (almost obsessively) thought out in terms of design, inscriptions and most importantly, size! On the down side, the narrow opening does make it a bit difficult to appreciate the aromas of they whisky. Best therefore to use favoured blends. It also makes them a bugger to fill even with special funnels. With liquid entering from the same hole air is exiting, messes can happen easily.

Next is the quaich; a shallow bowl made of pewter or stainless steel. Now mainly used for decorative value (and teabag holders by certain philistines) they are a bit clumsy for sipping an evening (or afternoon or morning) whisky.  The best way I have seen it used is for ritualistic downing at a ceremonial event.

Last, but certainly not least is the tumbler. Usually these are either of cut crystal or smooth sided. Critically they will be short and wide based and should be able to take a very large dram without really showing it. These are certainly not designed for showing off how well honed your palette it. As a trade off, they are well balanced, stable and ideally suited to social drinking and relaxation. Again I have a few, each with their own stories which, to my mind, add value. The one I use most often is a cut crystal one I was given for my 18th birthday. It is a beautiful size and shape; holding a decent dram and fitting perfectly into my hand. Just hearing whisky pouring into it brings a Pavlovian feeling of relaxation.

Finally, if you're just getting into whisky or don't fancy splashing cash on drinking vessels (I've heard that there are such people out there) then there's a more every day alternative. The standard wine glass is ideally suited for whisky drinking. It's shaping allows aromas to concentrate. The stem allows it to be held well away from where the drinking is done (if held by the base) and, critically, it holds a decent amount.

So there you have it. The sensible thing now is to go and have a dram from each of these drinking vessels to see which one you prefer.

Sliante

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Restaurant Review: No. 1 The Folley

Everyone has a little local gem don't they? A great little place that is just around the corner and does cracking food at a reasonable price. Usually it will take no more than five minutes to get to and have readily available tables.

Until recently I was lacking one. Nowhere in the local area really stood out. There was an anonymous looking place on the way into town. It made it securely on to the  'to go' list but we somehow never quite made it there. However recently there was a special offer on and if there is ever a good reason to investigate somewhere, it's a bargain!

And so it was that we ended up at No. 1 Folley Bridge.

I will tell you the details shortly but let me tell you my lasting impression first; overwhelming disappointment. Disappointment that I hadn't been there sooner.

The entrance is down some stairs in one of a strange collection of buildings that is on an island in the Thames. This unassuning entrance conceals a wonderful restaurant. Even in the evening the dining room was beautifully light and airy. The room was broken up with some elegant decoration an nicely ambient jazz was playing. However the main feature was the glass wall looking out on to the river and the pontoon that serves as a dining room extension. At night this was impressive. I can imagine a summer evening being breathtaking.

Now before this turns into an interior design blog, let me give you some more details. The staff were friendly and attentive without fussing. They took our orders swiftly and without note pads... nice touch!

Now to the food. It was sensational. I had some delicious scallops as a starter. They were perfectly cooked, meltingly tender and served with some delicious potatoes. Cat had some beautiful crab ravioli.

My main course was duck with potatoes cooked in the fat. I probably should have felt guilty eating duck given we regularly feed the ducks only 50 meters away from where I was eating.  The crispy skin combined with the beautifully pink flesh and the substantial portion soon banished any of these thoughts. Poached eggs put a stop to myle trying any of Cat's halibut but it looked delicious.

All of the dishes were beautifully presented and decently plentiful. The service was reasonably swift and the whole experience wonderfully relaxing. Price-wise, like I say we had a special offer. However looking at the menu, the prices offer excellent value at normal rates. My only one minor gripe is that the wine measures were a bit in the small side.

So a conclusion. I have my new local gem. We will be going back there repeatedly. Not only is it worth a visit while living locally,  it is worth travelling to for a meal.

TFB

Tasting Tweets #TT

With Burn's night rapidly approaching, now would be a good time for the monthly whisky post. Burns was a tremendous lover of whisky and wrote about it frequently in his poetry. Despite this, during his lifetime, he did his bit to stifle the industry by becoming an excise man... an individual responsible for the collection of taxes.

Given Scotland's Bard has devoted many words to whisky (as have many other great Scottish authors subsequently) you can imagine that it's easy to wax lyrical and in flowery prose on the subject. Insightful details of grassy high-notes with a sweet after taste trip of the tongue teasingly. Even without resorting to cliche, it is easy to clock up the word-count.

Which is why I've decided to set myself a small challenge over the coming months. Rather than write paragraphs and paragraphs on the subject, I have decided to condense my notes on particular whiskies to 140 characters or a tweet. For those of you who haven't found me on twitter, I can be found @JeevesFad and I will be using the hashtag #TT (those in the know can have a chuckle at that one).

My first attempt was about Edradour:

Edradour 10 y.o. Smooth, sweet, silky and rich. Smallest legal distillery. White chocolate on the after-taste. My favourite whisky #TT

Enjoy.

Sliante

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Snacking

Since my mid-teens I have not really been a fan of snacking.  It's not that I have anything against it, I just never really had the desire. When I was a student this had the distinct advantage of saving me quite a bit if cash. It also contributed to me maintaining my scrawny teenage physique for longer than I had any right to expect.

One big advantage I had in the snack stakes was that I didn't have a sweet tooth. As such i could walk past a vending machine without having my head turned and sugary drinks had no appeal. Try abstaining from sugar. Soon any cravings will stop and your trousers will fit again.

Now I have written the above in the past tense. Sadly this was intentional. Things have shifted somewhat in the last year or so. I can pinpoint the exact event that caused it... moving out of London. In a stroke I stopped walking as much as I did and became aware of how many calories can be burned by being late and running to the bus stop. Worse, I moved in with a confirmed chocoholic. Before this I never had snacks in the house. Why would I?  I didn't like them. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by seductively packaged sweets. Of course while they were there I ate them either out of boredom or because it becomes rude to refuse continual kind offers to share. These two facts combined to have a devastating impact on the belt line.

Normally rhis wouldn't bother me too much beyond the irritation of having to buy new clothes. However recently said chocoholic agreed to be my wife. So far so good except I have the privilege of being Scottish and want to get maried in my kilt. The kilt I have had since I was 17. The kilt which is now struggling to fit!

Cue a strict (ish) diet. Obviously the easiest way to cut down calories  and hence weight is to stop snacking. I shouldn't miss it that much right? Sadly wrong. Somehow the idea that I can't have something even though it was something I didn't really like in the first place has made it tremendously appealing. In short I have started craving snacks. Refusing them has become a tremendous act of will power.

So with 8 months to go; wish me luck!

TFB

Restaurant Review: Byron Burger

I'm not the greatest fan of chain restaurants (despite my positive reviews of some in my post date food). Generally the thought of turning out exactly the same dishes time after time, day after day in venues across the country is a bit boring in soulless. I also don't like the idea of swelling the coffers of a corporate giant when there are lots of small, passionate chefs and restaurateurs out there struggling to get by.

So with all this in mind it may come as a bit of a surprise to hear that a couple of weeks ago I paid a visit to the latest chain to be making it's mark in the UK; Byron Burger. An American-style burger bar specialising in... you guessed it. Burgers!

It won't lie; my reason for visiting was entirely due to peer pressure. Friends banged on about it so incessantly that eventually I capitulated and decided to give it ago. As well as a latent spirit of exploration, I thought it would be fun to get some innovative ideas for things to do with burgers.

Our first impressions were good. Excellent even. We were greeted by the waitress in a warm, friendly way that so many places aspire to yet so many aspire to. I also really liked the decoration. If I were the pretentious, flouncy type I would describe it as "shabby chic" however I'm not so I will opt for decaying elegance.Lots of exposed brickwork and nothing too polished.

The menu was refreshingly simple and straight forward with only a few signature dishes available. This stopped an endless internal and external debate over what to have and gave enticing prospect of quality. It wasn't just the food menu I was impressed by. The beer menu was excellent too. Not only did it have an impressive selection of local beers, there was a good range of American craft beers.

Starters were limited. There was a choice between nachos with salsa or olives. See what I mean? But we didn't come for starters. Refreshingly, both the nachos and the accompanying salsa and guacamole were hand made rather than scooped out of a packet. They also arrived with reasonable speed.

My main course was the rather festively named triple cheesmas burger which, surprisingly was a burger smothered in three types of cheese. It was delicious. The Scottish beef (added plus points) was cooked to a beautiful medium rare and melted deliciously in the mouth. The bun had a lovely consistency and the chips were not only deliciously crunchy but perfectly seasoned. I also really liked the courgette chips I pinched from my then girlfriend (see previous post) which were cooked in a light and crispy batter - well we wouldn't want it being too healthy would we. Unfortunately, the giant pile of burger and bun, while visually appealing, was almost impossible to eat to utterly impossible to consume with any degree of grace of elegance. Not somewhere to go on a first date!

This was relative small fry though. Timings proved the biggest disappointment. The starters arrived towards the end of the acceptable time limit for starters. All very well but slightly concerning given the restaurant was virtually empty. Worse still, the main courses arrived within only minutes of our starter. Having the two in front of us simultaneously was distinctly off putting and meant that we didn't really have the opportunity to enjoy the starter. Not only was it a bit galling to be paying for something that we didn't really enjoy, I hate seeing food wasted.

So overall, I like the feel of the restaurant. The food is excellent and well thought out. Not only that, the burgers manage to be interesting without being naff. As well as all this, the staff are excellent. It's just a shame that the two courses turned up in such quick succession. I think next time I have one, I might be trying it as a takeaway.

TFB

A Return

Good Evening All. A very Happy New Year to everyone reading. I hope you all had a wonderful (and indulgent) Christmas and New Year.

I am sorry for the lack of posting lately. I would pretend to be benevolent and say I didn't clutter up your Christmas with further recipes for turkey and stuffing but the reasons are slightly more complex.

Firstly, Christmas is always a hectic time. Although I didn't do much of the catering over the festive period, I was still rushing about a lot.

Secondly, I have had the good fortune of becoming engaged! When I proposed, I was well appraised of the fact that weddings required a lot of planning... however I didn't quite realise HOW much was a lot. So as you can imagine, much of my spare time has been taken up by planning. (If you're interested, my fiancée is writing a detailed blog on the preparations so far).

Now obviously a fairly major part of any wedding is the meal (those in the know will insist on calling it a breakfast but, as it probably won't involve bacon, I won't be jumping on that band wagon) and a fair few drinks. Naturally your friendly food blogger will be turning his eye and opinion to these matters and of course I intend to chronicle them here. Fortunately, my fiancée has an almost equally keen eye for detail when it comes to all things edible and I must admit that most of the suggestions that have been truly revolutionary have come from her.

For the time being let me leave you with a concept I find deeply comforting in so many ways: wedding whisky.

Not long before we got engaged Cat bought me a bottle of Cardhu 12 year old (a rather nice Speyside). Being a sentimental sort, I like opening bottles of malt to mark occasions rather than just for the sake of it. Duly I decided that the Cardhu would be opened to celebrate the engagement. So far so good. Better still, Cat that suggested that (in order to take the edge off of all of the planning) I have a dram every time that planning is engaged in to try and foster some positive Pavlovian associations. It has worked rather well. Planning has become thoroughly enjoyable pass time. So much so I try and engage in it at every possible opportunity. Funny that!

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