It has been a truly busy three weeks since we returned from our short weekend away to the Cotswolds. Living in London, there is much to eat, see, shop and write about. In my busyness I try not to get weighed down by the constant reminder that there are still posts to write up.
How do you condense a day, a life? The New Testament of the Bible begins with four eyewitness accounts of three years in the life and ministry of Jesus. They are not very long to read, and the Apostle John tells us why he chose the stories shared in his account:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30 -31).
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25).
Less is more: sometimes we need to pick out the bits of life that give a flavour of what makes up a whole. Here are some of the fun things (no miracles!) I have been doing the past three weeks.
Straight after returning from the Cotswolds, we hosted a communal tea party for our neighbours. This time I decided to roll out the scone dough with a rolling pin, then proceed to fold and roll, for and roll a few more times. I’ll explain later in a proper recipe. The result was a scone which was much lighter than any I have made before. A few days later I made some cheese scones using the same method.
We watched Totoro (theatre production) with the children, which was an evening of happiness. An excellent exhibition of traditional Japanese carpentry in Japan House paired skill with utility, beauty with function.
The surprise new dish of the month was a so-called broad bean pesto (original recipe here) but I would not really use this as a pesto i.e. in pasta. The texture was more suited to being called a broad bean hummus, and as such it was very good spread on toast and crackers. Recipe to follow in a future post.
I visited Borough Market to shop for fish and scallops for a dinner last week, from Furness Fish. Previous posts featuring their fish here. This time I baked the whole sea bass (1.2 kg each, scaled and gutted) very simply:
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 180 C fan. Line a large oven tray with some thick aluminium foil,
Place the whole fish on the foil. Stuff the belly cavity with two smashed sticks of lemongrass, fresh coriander stems, torn up kaffir lime leaves and any lime rind if you have used the juice for another recipe.
Rub a little olive oil on the skin of the fish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the fish from the oven, rest for five minutes before proceeding to remove chuncks out (use a table knife and serving spoon) for your guests.
Sourdough Sophia has just opened a branch in Hampstead. Just when I was thinking of another Paris trip, I am soundly reminded that our home-grown bakeries can give the French a very good run for their money. See also Miel in Warren Street and Arôme Bakery (in Covent Garden just off Long Acre / 9 Mercer Street WC2H 9QJ, and near Selfridges / 27 Duke Street W1U 1LE).
Sophia is known for her sourdough, of course, and I first knew about her when she was a dedicated Thermomix Advisor. Somewhere in my online library I still have her class notes on how to make bread using a Thermomix.
Passing by Swiss Cottage Farmers’ Market this afternoon I chanced upon Sea Sisters, a UK-based cannery which preserves fish and shellfish in season. I thought it: what a marvellous product! Or products. I could not decide from the many cans on offer so I picked up five which I will share out with the family.
As a student in London in the mid-1980s I remember Poon’s Chinese Restaurant. I had not realised they now have an online shop and there is a restaurant in Somerset House.
Mr Gochugaru and I are heading to Berlin this weekend. Following the success of our recent Paris trip, where we did not try to fit in too many things, we are aiming to do the same in the German capital.
My final note before I start my packing is this: please, please, please, if you are ever disappointed about anything, do not use the word ‘gutted’. You will hear people say this a lot over television when e.g. they don’t get to their next destination on time (Race Across the World) or to the next round in a competition (Masterchef/ Bakeoff). In the voice of comedian Uncle Roger: Why you gutted? Gutted is for fish. You not fish. Just say you sad. Cry like a baby but don’t be gutted.
Auf Wiedersehen! The next post will be on Berlin.