Paella is incredible. It’s one of the first foods from overseas that I remember loving. Holidaying in Spain fairly often when I was younger gave me loads of opportunity to get used to this beautiful seafood rice dish – surprising considering this was a time when I was incredibly fussy and actively disliked so many staple foods, even including plain white rice. I remember saying that I only liked ‘yellow rice’.
The highlight of my paella journey was probably having it for our Christmas dinner about ten years ago, and I can honestly say, with that incredible seafood, I didn’t miss the traditional roast at all.
There are many different varieties within Spain itself, paella valenciana being one of the most popular, and hailing from the city after which it’s named. You’ll find paella with a combination of seafood and chicken, some with either or, and sometimes vegetarian paellas are available.
Other variations that wouldn’t necessarily be classed as paella are arroz negro (black rice) which is made with squid ink, and fideua which uses short lengths of noodle-like pasta instead of rice. I’ve only ever had this once, but it was cooked by the abuela (Grandma) of the little boy I was looking after as an au pair in Barcelona. We went to stay in the grandparents house in Costa Brava for a weekend. She cooked this on the outdoor oven, and we sat in the sun by their pool (alright for some) enjoying this incredible meal. This was before I’d discovered my incredible appetite and I honestly struggled to deal with the amount of food they would try and pile into my plate, but they really did look after me.
I’m sure most Spaniards would be completely disapproving of any ‘paella’ recipe coming from elsewhere in the world, much as they were when Jamie Oliver added chorizo to his version, but you can guarantee that isn’t going to stop me from trying.
I browsed a selection of recipes online in the days before I was planning on attempting my own version, and so when it came down to it, I was able to wing this much-loved dish of mine.
When attempting dishes like this that are so adored in their country of origin, you kind of have to forget what people might think. Forget about how others might rip it apart, criticise every wrong turn. Just do it your way. Of course, if you are making any obvious major adjustments, it’s better to acknowledge this, and the fact that your version makes no attempt to follow the ‘traditional’ norms, but otherwise, you’re all good, and I don’t think I stray too far from tradition here.
Paella takes a bit of patience, but it’s actually very simple. My first attempt was certainly a raging success, even if I do say so myself.
Just promise me one thing – if you’ve bought one of those packets of frozen mixed seafood that no longer even bears any resemblance to seafood, not even an ounce of flavour, just don’t even bother with the paella. Not worth it hun x
Serves 2
1 red pepper
garlic
onion
Paella rice
Saffron
tinned tomatoes
pimentón
white wine
chicken or shellfish stock
peas
selection of seafood (mussels, squid, prawns etc.)
chicken thighs (optional)
lemon
Preheat oven to 180C.
Roast red pepper until it’s bursting from its skin.
Heat oil in pan and fry garlic and onion until fragrant and softened.
Add paella rice and coat with the oil already in the pan.
Add a small amount of the tinned tomatoes or normal salad tomatoes.
Add pimentón.
Make up the stock and add the saffron then pour into rice bit by bit along with a splash of white wine.
Add handful of peas and season.
Whilst the paella is cooking, cook the seafood (and/or chicken) separately if necessary and then add to pan when done along with the cooking juices. Prawns can cook simply by sitting on top of the paella, same with squid. Mussels should be washed and cooked along with a splash of white wine, garlic and butter until open. Use your common sense with anything else.
Keep adding stock until the rice is cooked through but still firm and there is no liquid left in the pan (if you overcook it the rice will go mushy so make sure you keep tasting as you go along).
Stir through the roasted red pepper and top with the seafood, ensuring everything is warm and cooked through.
Before serving squeeze lemon all over and serve with slices of lemon on top.
It may look like a lot of effort but actually the individual steps really aren’t. In terms of the ingredients, it can be as much or little effort as you like. Go for a simple chicken and/or prawn paella if that’s all you fancy. Or head down to your local fish counter to see what they’ve got in for a more ‘all-out’ dish like the one above, featuring mussels, monkfish, squid and langoustines.
Gonna end this one, bigging myself up a bit with something my friend said – apparently, after spending a year abroad in Barcelona, the flavour of the above paella that I cooked was better than any he’d had over there.
When I visited Morocco about 7 years ago now, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that taken by the food. I entirely put this down to the fact that I was still in my fussy phase at 18, rather than the food actually not being good.
Tagine and Cous Cous were frequently on the menu, and apparently neither of these satisfied me back then. Added to that was the fact that I was on a school ‘expedition’, so most of the meals that I was eating had been cooked for me by our hosts, whether that was Rashid’s wife in Taroudant or the amazing team who looked after us during our camping trek in the Atlas Mountains. Looking back now, this gives me even more reason to be in awe of the food. No choice, just delicious home-cooked (or mountain-cooked) meals dished up for us every breakfast, lunch and dinner. It really was a treat I should’ve appreciated more.
I’ve not really eaten much Moroccan food here either. I once had a tagine from Giraffe at Birmingham aiport, and despite having had some lovely meals from there before, it really wasn’t good.
Other than that, my inspiration for this probably has to come from my Dad’s leftover lamb stew, that we’d have the day after a Sunday Roast. For years I refused to eat it if it had apricots/dates in, as the idea of mixing sweet with savoury really didn’t work for me, but now that’s my favourite part.
I’ve finally come up with my own recipe for it, along with a side dish for mopping up all the sauces, inspired by Nadiya Hussain’s ‘Cheat’s Paratha’.
Of course it would be more ‘authentic’ to serve with cous cous, but ultimately you can choose whichever side dish you wish. This one’s satisfyingly indulgent, but I guess cous cous would be the slightly more health-conscious option.
A few disclaimers before I get to the point.
I don’t do recipe writing. It’s not my forte, but I do want to be able to share my successes. Because of that, my way of instruction won’t be the most precise – you’ll have to trust yourself to go with instinct sometimes, but the basic guidelines will be there.
Serves 2
For the stew
Ingredients:
1 onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 tin of chickpeas
1tsp tamarind paste
1tsp ginger paste
2 tsp rose harissa pasta
1tsp ras el hanout
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
handful of dried apricots
small handful of dates
leftover lamb
water
salt/pepper
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion and garlic.
When fragrant tip in drained chickpeas.
Add the pastes and spices, give it a good mix and cook for a few minutes.
Chop dried apricots and dates into smaller pieces (generally I’d chop apricots in halves or quarters and dates into thirds), and add these along with the chopped tomatoes and seasoning.
Chuck in the leftover lamb and add enough water so that everything is almost completely submerged.
Leave to cook on a low heat for preferably a couple of hours (if you’re massively impatient like I often am, a shorter cooking time just to reduce the liquid slightly will do)
This stew-style sauce should still be liquidy when ready – don’t expect it to reduce down completely. You are aiming for the perfect balance between a thick pasty sauce and watery broth.
For the ‘Paratha’
Ingredients:
Puff Pastry
1 chilli
½ ball of mozzarella
1 tsp chilli powder
As I mentioned before, this is inspired by Nadiya Hussain’s Cheat’s Paratha. Certainly not a paratha (type of flatbread) in the typical sense, instead of having to make the dough from scratch, here you are just using puff pastry. It ends up having the most amazing soft, spongy texture, and I’ve just added a couple of extra ingredients to make it even more delicious.
Cut your ready-rolled puff pastry into 2 rectangles (you probably want enough that when you roll it into a ball, it’s a fist size).
Roll each rectangle into a ball.
Finely slice your chilli, and tear the mozzarella lump into smaller pieces.
There is no precise technique to this next bit – basically divide the chilli/mozzarella mix into two piles – one for each paratha, and press the puff pastry ball into that pile, constantly pushing the dough around so that the chilli and mozzarella becomes incorporated into the dough. At this point you can also sprinkle over as much chilli powder as you can handle. You want to knead the dough/push it around for a couple of minutes so that the mozzarella and chilli are evenly distributed throughout the dough rather than just being concentrated in one area.
With a rolling pin, roll them flat into circles – I like mine quite thick, so I’d probably go for the thickness of two pound coins. If you’ve used rubbish, cheap mozzarella like me, don’t worry if the dough is incredibly sticky and wet, it might seem like a disaster but it will still work fine.
Heat a frying pan on high, and once rolled out, add your paratha to the dry pan. There’s no specific cooking time, but you want to leave it until it’s crisped up and is no longer sticky at all on one side, and then you can flip it to crisp the other side. A couple of minutes should be enough, but just monitor it and use your common sense.
When fully cooked, you should find that they are browned up on both sides but that the centre is soft and slightly gooey and when you pull it apart, the cheese should stretch between both sides.
Serve the stew with your paratha on the side for a cheesy, spicy dipping experience!
Would love to know if anyone ends up trying this, so please leave a comment or connect with me on Instagram @foodtravelsldn.
It’s been the year of the plant-based, Netflix’s Street Food sensation and the cancelling of Deliveroo for all eternity (at least on my part). But on a more personal level, it’s been a year of progression and big changes, and many of those can be linked to this very blog here.
I’ve managed to break down 12 months of memories, breakthroughs and generally excellent food into 20 highlights, so without further ado, here are the dishes and food experiences that have made my year.
1. Making fresh pasta
Thanks to inspiration from Gino D’Campo’s Gino’s Pasta, I ended up buying an inexpensive pasta machine from Amazon, not really expecting very impressive results. Admittedly, I have only used it twice, but the two dishes I managed to whip up have automatically made it worth the money.
I first tried Gino’s Ham and Ricotta Stuffed Pasta with Chorizo. It’s surprising how easy the pasta sheets are to make – literally just flour and egg, mixed together into your dough and then fed into the machine, ready to be flattened into usable sheets.
One of the first things I’ve noticed on both occasions is that once you boil the pasta, it becomes very slimy – I don’t know whether this is a tell-tale sign of it being fresh, and therefore a satisfying texture, or just an indication that I haven’t quite perfected it yet. Either way this dish was very tasty, and simple; the most difficult part probably trying to seal the little parcels without them flipping back open to reveal the filling inside.
My second pasta attempt (also Gino) was his spinach and ricotta cannelloni, so a slightly different venture to the parcels. In one sense this is even more straightforward, as the pasta sheets don’t need to be cut into shapes, just rolled up, but I’m still unsure as to how the rolling up and sealing of the cannelloni works, and so, although it didn’t affect the flavour, I ended up with about 38585 excess rolls on each pasta tube. Still delicious though with a simple passata tomato sauce.
2. Loaded Fries
How many times do I have to mention it? Potatoes are my least favourite carb. However, add a ton of mouth-watering toppings to a big tray of fries, and I’m sold. Loaded fries are becoming an increasingly extravagant dish, and so should probably only be indulged in once in a while, but I definitely have two highlights within this category.
The first were the beetroot fries from Seasoned, at Hatch in Manchester. Slightly less heavy on the toppings, these were incredibly striking what with the beetroot salt and creamy, beetrooty feta sauce. The flavour absolutely lived up to the appearance.
Secondly, and possibly the most unhealthy thing I’ve ever eaten was the New Yorker bucket from The Bucket List in Cromer, or Norwich where I tried them. The toppings seemed to be endless, from mozzarella balls, to bacon, to aioli to fried Brie (I think?) and plenty more, but these really were the definition of loaded fries. Interesting that neither of these highlights actually came from London – maybe the fry guys down here have a thing or two to learn.
3. My Mum’s Cooking
Very cringey but can’t be avoided. All I want to do when I go home is eat monkfish paella not paella risotto not risotto and slow cooked pork with everything on the side. No more needs to be said, I’ll just leave the photos here…
4. Annie’s Burger Shack
There’s not a huge amount on the food scene that Nottingham (my hometown) is known for, but one that cannot be missed, and that I only just tried for the first time earlier this year is Annie’s Burger Shack. The menu is incredible. It’s not the burger patties, or the buns that are mindblowing, but instead the incredible combinations of toppings and fillings that make these way more than your standard burger. I’m still desperate to try the Roast Dinner Burger featuring an actual Yorkshire pudding in/on the burger (and literally every single other one on the menu), but for the time being I’ll leave you with The Johnny Vegas Burger, that I devoured on my first visit: crispy bacon, toffee apple butter, black pudding, chilli jam an a mini Guinness jelly doughnut on a stick on top. It’s mad, but that’s the point.
5. Chalida Invite
I don’t really get many invites due to my Instagram engagement being so low, although this isn’t an issue as I’m always happy to pay for food I really want to try. Having said that, being invited to new Thai restaurant Chalida in Chinatown, Leicester Square was an amazing night this year. My friend and I indulged in the biggest thai feast, and the food was wonderful. My highlights of the meal included the Beef Massaman Curry and the Chilli Aubergine. It’s definitely worth a visit.
6. Baking!
It’s not that I’ve never baked before, it’s just that this year, I suddenly realised how much joy it brought me, and has consistently acted as a kind of therapy. When I’m in the kitchen I literally think of nothing else other than when it need to turn down the heat, or what seasoning I’m going to add. I still have kitchen disasters, but this year I’ve impressed myself with some of the outcomes of my baking. Here are a few favourites:
7. Italian pasta, and watching the svogline at work
The tortellini I had in Bologna (the best place in the world to try it) was sensational. One of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted, and as well as tasting it, I got to watch the experts at work. During the city food tour I went on, we went to watch the svogline (ladies who make the pasta), and it was incredible how quickly and precisely they worked, especially when making such tiny parcels. Obviously we got to sample their work afterwards with a glass of wine, and I didn’t mind that too much either.
8. Meeting Nadiya
If you didn’t already know that I met Nadiya Hussain (most wonderful bake off winner in the history of the world, soon to be MBE, and all-round inspirational powerhouse of a woman), then you’ve been hiding under a rock. Yes I embarrassed myself by getting all snotty and cringey and sobby, but hearing her speak about her life experiences live, in person, was really fantastic, and she is as beautiful as she is articulate and kind.
9. Maturing Taste Buds
Surprisingly I used to be an incredibly fussy eater when I was younger – I didn’t like the most standard things, like pasta, or Yorkshire puddings, or even cheesecake and doughnuts (I semi wish that were still the case lol). Over time, I’ve learned that actually I do like most of these things, and this year in particular I’ve been really open-minded in terms of still trying foods and flavours that I mentally perceive to be ‘not to my taste’. One of the most significant food groups is nuts. I’ve always hated the woody, dull flavours but now I’ll gladly throw them into my cooking and baking. I’ll put peanut butter in my curries, almonds in my porridge and even chuck some hazelnuts in with my broccoli! Raw tomatoes are also becoming slightly more palatable to me, so maybe 2020’s challenge will have to be cucumbers (vom, or maybe not).
10. Forman and Field
I love seeing where the food I eat comes from – admittedly some of those places would probably shock, and maybe even disgust me, but in this case, visiting Forman and Field’s smoked salmon factory was fantastic. From the enthusiasm and passion of those behind the family-run business, to the quality of the food they produce and serve, it was a wonderful day, and really interesting to see the whole process, from the salmon arriving into the factory, whole, to it leaving in neat little packages.
11. My First Roast Dinner Cooking Experience
On one of those lovely bank holidays earlier this year, my flatmates and I decided to attempt a roast dinner. About time seeing as I’ve never actually tried to cook one before. We were able to sit outside on our lovely patio in the sun with a bottle of wine, and thankfully the food turned out equally as well. The roast chicken was tasty and perfectly-cooked, the Yorkshires were slightly cake-like but still delicious, and accompanied by roast potatoes, parsnips, veg, gravy and stuffing, it really was a very satisfying feast, particularly as we’d cooked it all up ourselves.
12. Reading About Food
Not only do I love eating, cooking and writing about food, but I also appreciate reading about it and learning from that too. I currently have a huge list of food-related books on Amazon that I want to try and get through this year, some of which I stumbled across myself, some were recommended by Felicity Cloake at her Food Writing Guardian Masterclass, and others I took note of in the bookshop at KERB Seven Dials Food Hall. Speaking of Felicity Cloake, her book ‘One More Croissant for the Road’, about her combined cycling/food-sampling tour of France was one of my favourites. I wish there was more decent food-travel writing out there. I also enjoyed reading more scientifically about food and nutrition, although this can be quite dodgy ground as there are always people willing to use ‘scientific evidence’ to make bullshit scaremongering claims. Despite that, I really enjoyed ‘Is Butter a Carb?’, which approaches the nutrition side of things in a very matter-of-fact way without preaching about lifestyle choices.
13. Toffee Popcorn Pie – A Pie Party
You should know by now how much I love A Pie Party, and cannot wait for Claire’s new range in the New Year, but this special has honestly never left my mind. An absolute flavour/textural highlight on the food front this year.
14. Energy Balls
Thanks to Emma Hollingsworths, I discovered these super simple, easy to make, and incredibly tasty vegan snack balls. There are so many different variations I want to try, and so one of my New Year’s challenges will be to adapt a few recipes for these of my own. A perfect lunchbox snack.
15. Max’s Sandwich Shop
The first sandwich I tried from Max’s was life changing. The Ham, Eggs and Chips Sandwich (below) is the best sandwich I’ve ever had, but it’s not only been devouring his sandwiches from the shop that I’ve loved. I also bought his recipe book, giving you all the recipes for his best-loved sandwiches and fillings plus plenty more. The reviews for this on Amazon are hilarious and just go to show how many morons there are in the world, but I can tell you the focaccia recipe is fantastically foolproof. In case you needed further proof that this book is worth buying for any sandwich fiends, here’s my attempt at his Spaniard Sandwich, with everything made from scratch (to the left).
16. Ainsley
Before this year, when I thought of Ainsley Harriott, all that appeared in my mind were images of him in Ready Steady Cook that was constantly on when I got home from primary school when I was little. Now, however, I’m not listening to him in the background whilst playing with Bratz dolls, I’m following his amazing recipes and whipping up some wonderful meals. Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen is one of my favourite recipe books ever, and below are a few of the meals I’ve made so far.
17. Plant-based
My one week a month of veganism is going really well, and I plan on keeping it up forever. Rachel Ama has been a huge help on this journey with her interesting, original recipes, including the French toast and oyster mushroom jerk tacos below. In terms of eating out, my vegan highlights are the Cheezeburger burrito from Club Mexicana, the Seitan wings from Temple of Seitan, and the Philly Cheezesteak Sandwich from Jake’s Vegan Steaks.
18. Paella
One of the most exciting and successful meals that I made this year. I’ve always loved paella since I was very young, despite as I mentioned before the fact that I was very fussy. For some reason I didn’t like normal rice, but I did claim to like ‘yellow rice’ (saffron-infused paella rice). I wish I’d had more seafood in this paella but it still tasted beautiful. Look out for round 2 in 2020, which will be accompanied by my recipe for it.
19. Gadgets
I invested in some fantastic kitchen gadgets this year. From a new non-stick frying pan, to a slow cooker and egg wash brush, I’m acquiring quite a collection. The poached egg pockets I got from my Brunch Fest goody bag worked really well, and so if you struggle to contain your poached eggs to a presentable form, these pouches are perfect for a rounder, cleaner finish. I’ve also already used the multipurpose food processor that I got for Christmas, and it’s been amazing for the pastes I make from herbs, spices and veg to enhance the flavour of my dishes.
20. ¡Comemos!
Had to save this one until last of course. It’s been a year of ups and downs, but this blog has given me real focus. I’m proud of the work I’ve produced, and hope that there are at least a few decent reads on here. ¡Comemos! really is in its infancy right now, and so I’m looking forward to seeing what new material I have to work with in the New Year, and where I can take my love of food writing.
I hope your year has been equally as fruitful, and that 2020 is another year of progression, and growth.
Here’s to the little things that make us happy, and the dedicated work required to reap such rewards.
We’re already 4 weeks into what I’ve decided is going to be a year-long series – sounds intense, but that’s actually only 12 posts and so I’m 1/3 of the way there already.
Again this time round, there has been an interesting mix of fantastic meals and some that were disappointing, but I’m quickly realising how diverse vegan food can be.
Vegan food used to equal bland veg and a bit of quorn but you’ll see so much variety in the things I’ve eaten, both at home and out.
This isn’t quite everything I had, as 2 meals a day plus snacks for 7 days adds up to a lot, and I waffle enough as it is, but I’ve chosen the most relevant and interesting (good and bad) things I ate.
I do love that I can flick through the non-vegan recipe books I have and find a few meat/fish/dairy/egg-free recipes. There are never loads, but enough to satisfy my vegan week cravings.
Take my first meal of Week 4 for example – yes, I’m back there again, it’s Nadiya. Soup is such an easy one to make vegan and it’s massively satisfying, both with its winter warming powers, and with it being surprisingly filling. This was a carrot, cumin and coriander soup – very easy to make (stick blenders are life-saving, and not at all expensive), with lots of curried flavour. Another example here of me using up some rubbish leftovers – literally just a bagel that had fallen apart shoved in the oven to toast and then dip.
One thing I love doing, particularly with vegan meals, is having a mini feast (oxymoron?), combining a few different recipes on one plate. It can be time-consuming and a fair bit of effort (and washing up) but it’s a great way to get in a load of different veg and healthy bits whilst making them a bit more interesting.
This one was a Rick Stein Mexican feast – 100% vegan. I think often with vegan diets people tend to combine a load of side dishes to make one meal and that’s what I’ve done here. I started off with his ‘Patty’s Green Beans’ in a kind of tomatoey, chilli sauce. I had those with the slightly more indulgent Cauliflower Fritters with Cashew Sauce, and to finish it all off, some Mexican Red Rice. I know cashews are often used in vegan pasta sauces etc but I’d never tried to make one myself. I was surprised at how easily the soaked cashews could be blended and reduced down into a thick, creamy mixture. I can’t say I loved the fritters, but I am always looking for new ways to cook cauliflower, as it’s something I used to hate.
The Mexican Red Rice was the highlight for me. It had so much to it– from the coriander, to the chilli, it really would be appropriate to use the phrase ‘bursting with flavour’. I didn’t see any one part of this meal as the ‘main’ component, but I don’t find that important, I don’t always feel like I need a meat replacement, and as previously mentioned, I’m pretty happy with a selection of ‘sides’ like these.
My first non-home-cooked meal came on a lazy weekend day when, for once, I just didn’t feel like cooking. There didn’t seem to be that many vegan options available to me on UberEats, but I did find somewhere I hadn’t heard of before, that after having a little stalk of on Instagram, looked like it had some great options. From Miranda Café I got their Peanut Butter Cacao Banana Bread and Seitan Reuben Sandwich with an Aztec Spiced Hot Chocolate.
The banana bread looked amazing in photos so that was what influenced me. It was nicely presented with a pot of berry compote on the side. To be honest, it was very dense and heavy, however, it tasted great. There was a gooey chocolatey centre to it, which added moisture, and the sharpness of the compote helped to combat the thick peanut butter on top. It is indulgent, but for an exciting vegan brunch, I would recommend it.
Then we have the Reuben sandwich. Typically a Reuben sandwich features salt beef and sauerkraut, but obviously that wasn’t going to be the case with this one. The first thing I had to do was to remove 2/3 of the salad. Now I’m not scared of a few leaves, but this sandwich contained a whole forest of them. It was pretty ridiculous (maybe this is a tactic places use to hide a potential lack of filling??). Once I’d removed that though, I was ready to dive in. The actual flavour was good, and there was a nice crunch from the seitan patty (decided I love seitan), and a slight ooze from the melted cheese. I enjoyed it, but I’d firstly say more cheese would be fab, and secondly I’m not sure about calling it a Reuben, because it bore little resemblance to one in my mind.
Finally the hot chocolate. I’ll keep it short and sweet (unlike the drink). It tasted like warm cinnamon milky water. Very overpriced. Get your hot choc from Pret. The end.
Okaaaay, meal prep for the week and how many times do I have to say – ‘and back to Nadiya?’. She has a fab recipe for an Indian 5 spice veg stir fry so this was a great opportunity to use up loads and loads of leftover veg. After prepping it all, I was convinced this would easily feed me for 5 meals, but crazily once I’d cooked it, I only managed two. It was, however, delicious and very satisfying – and that’s just veg!
We move on to treat time. Or should I say Doughnut Time, with their wonderful vegan doughnuts. So they brought out a sort-of new one. They’ve had the MEGA (large, birthday cake-sized doughnut) Chris Hemsworthy on their menu for a lifetime, and they finally created an identical mini version, aptly named Liam Hemsworthy, after his younger brother. This is a red velvet dough with a cookies and cream buttercream, chocolate drizzle and topped with chocolate cookie pieces. It’s not too intense as it doesn’t have a filling inside, and the buttercream on top is delicious.
God, you are going to get bored of me, but back to Nadiya!!! This one wasn’t planned, I just made a few changes to my meals and so had to hunt for something vegan in my cookbooks that I had all the ingredients for. And that’s how I ended up making her Red Lentils with 5 Spice Soda Bread. The lentils were delicious and creamy, and the soda bread would’ve been perfect for scooping it up if I’d perfected it. The bread did actually taste decent, it just looks a bit of a dodgy effort (not sure why it resembles a jacket potato…). To go with those I had Rachel Ama’s Curried Cauliflower with Coconut Raita which was okay but not mind-blowing. Another effort in my cauliflower research.
***
I love that Ainsley Harriott has a whole section in his Caribbean Kitchen book dedicated to vegetarian and vegan recipes, and it’s honestly one of my favourite books. Tofu is dodgy territory for me – I remember making Nadiya’s tofu with edamame bean salad months ago and surprisingly enjoying it, but anytime I’ve tried to cook with tofu since, I’ve found the texture tricky to stomach. Anyway, I decided to be brave and try his Ginger Beer Battered Tofu with a spicy tomato sauce, and I had James Martin’s Green Beans and Broccoli with Hazelnut (vegan) Butter on the side. The batter was so easy to make, and cooked so well. The crunchiness of the batter was so essential to me being able to enjoy the tofu. The veggie side was also super tasty, now that I’ve managed to get over my fear of the woody flavour of hazelnuts.
Now it’s sweet treat time again (because once a week is absolutely not enough). I went back to Mrs (Emma) Hollingsworth as I’ve loved her vegan energy balls that I made before, and her recipes are so simple, requiring very few ingredients. If you’re looking for easy vegan treats, which would be perfect to prep for lunchboxes, you can find all her recipes on her blog, although she has just released a book too.
I made her Choco Banana Crumble Sandwich, and despite it not looking as pretty as the one she made, it was a great combo of crunch from the oats, smooth, creamy chocolate and the added banana flavour.
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How could it be vegan week without some input from Rachel Ama? As well as her Curried Cauliflower, I also made her BALT sandwich, which is smoked aubergine, tomato and lettuce. I loved the smoked aubergine but the tomatoes I’d bought were so bitter, I didn’t really finish it, so it’s a very simple and potentially tasty easy lunch but just make sure you have half-decent veg!
More successful was her Vegan Full English, which I actually made post-vegan week because it appealed to me so much! This is another one of those oxymoronic mini feasts, and the washing up I had to do was mega, but it was worth it. As well as the thinly sliced smoke aubergine, I had avocado, fried plantain, and chilli oyster mushrooms. Not stopping there, she cooks down some tomatoes with spinach for an extra health kick, and my favourite part – the beans on toast. Despite apparently being a bit of a British staple I never eat beans on toast (not that I dislike it), but putting it all together myself made it so much nicer. You top your buttered toast with the tomatoey, spicy haricot beans. This meal will keep you full for a while, whilst giving your body a whole load of nutrients.
Okay, a couple more meals to go, and this one might be my favourite. After the first part of my double shift, I headed to KERB Seven Dials Market in Covent Garden, where Club Mexicana serve up a delicious vegan menu of Mexican street food. I had a Cheezeburger Burrito and Loaded Nachos. Nachos aren’t ever really my favourite to be honest, but I wanted a side dish, and although the tacos looked amazing, I didn’t feel like a taco on the side of a burrito would really work well. The nachos were good, they looked amazingly colourful, and had flavour with a great puffed-up texture to the tortilla chips, but my mind wasn’t blown (nothing against the nachos, like I said, I never really get that excited by them as a dish). The burrito, however, was another story. Lots of places tend to describe certain dishes and flavours as ‘chee[z]eburger’ without much justification, but this burrito honestly tasted like one. The burger mince substitute was delicious, and very convincing, and I could’ve drank burger sauce… This is definitely my top recommendation for this week, whether you’re vegan or not. Ignore how bad the picture is, I was way more bothered about shoving this food in my face than how it was going to look in a photo on my blog a week later.
Okay, last and kind of least (feeling a bit queasy thinking about it), is the Ortolana Pizza from Rossopomodoro. I’d never tried their pizzas at all, let alone the vegan ones, but they seemed to have a few options to choose from. This one was topped with aubergine, capers, spinach, vegan cheese and I can’t remember what else. Actually the base/crust was great, perfect balance of doughy but not too doughy (we only use the official technical terms here), but yeah the toppings made me feel a bit gross afterwards. Maybe it was the lack of tomato sauce, I’m not sure. What this does suggest though, is that Rossopomodoro has the potential to produce a great pizza because they’ve got the base down, but maybe the main non-vegan range is where it’s at.
There we go. 4 weeks down. Next time round I’m gonna head to ByChloe which I have heard wonderful things about, so I cannot wait for that, and you will have to wait slightly longer for my next instalment of fabulous vegan recipe testing, but end of Jan I assure you I will be back here with the lowdown.
If you fancy trying any of the recipes or places mentioned above then it has to be Club Mexicana’s Cheezeburger Burrito, Rachel Ama’s Full English or any of Mrs Hollingsworth’s sweet snacks.
I’m signing off on the vegan adventures for the next month. Until then…
Second year of uni. Food plan for the weeks ahead sorted. £80 Morrison’s shop delivered.
(Yes £80 – this is what happens when you don’t drink that much)
This was the way things went every month. Stock up and then by the end of the month my food supply would be depleted ready to start again.
Or at least that’s how I expected it to work. But my food plans would change constantly and after weeks had gone by I would find heaps of gone off food in the back of the fridge, all of it ending up in the bin.
And I didn’t really think much of it.
Fast forward a few years however, and lots has changed. Now, to me, food waste is criminal. It’s very rare that I end up throwing stuff away, and that’s how it should be.
This is a sort of guide with a number of suggestions and recommendations on ways that you can make the most of what’s in your cupboards, but also help to reduce commercial food waste.
On a personal level, Nadiya’s Time to Eat was what started my full on appreciation for my freezer. So many of the foods I’ve thrown away over the years would’ve been perfectly edible had I frozen them. Your freezer is your friend and the sooner you realise that, the less waste you’ll end up with.
The current contents of my freezer are as follows:
Cardamom Ice Cream
Gingerbread Fondant Cups x3
Vegan Sausages x4
Chips
Edamame Beans
Peas
Shortcrust Pastry
English Muffins x2
Bacon x3
Squid
Smoked Salmon
Broad Beans
Focaccia x1
Croquettes x1
Vegan Fries
Bagels
Shellfish Stock
Some of the things on this list are obvious – where else would you keep ice cream? But others have meant I’ve preserved food that otherwise wouldn’t have made it.
Take the Gingerbread Fondant Cups for example. I made dessert for two people. When it comes to buying ingredients, just making two little fondant cups isn’t really worth it, so I ended up with about nine. There was never any chance of me eating 9 in one sitting, so they’ve now been resting in the freezer for a few months, ready for me to dish up as dessert if I ever have guests over, or for my flatmates.
Making sure you freeze in practical portion sizes is essential. If you tend to just be cooking for one, don’t freeze 3 chicken breasts together – you’ll come to regret it when you only want to defrost one.
My freezer is also a saviour for bready carby products – bagels, muffins, and all sorts of actual bread. Okay, so it’s never quite the same after being defrosted, never as soft and fluffy, but it’s edible, and when you slather it with fillings, the bread really isn’t the star of the show anyway. The focaccia I made the other day is waiting patiently until I delve back into my Max’s Sandwich Shop book in a month or so’s time – and because that’s already sorted, the sandwich recipes I want to try will take me ¼ of the amount of time what with not having to make the actual bread again.
This is one of the sandwiches I made for lunch this weekend with a portion of the focaccia I’d frozen weeks ago. All that remained was to whip up some guacamole and fry an egg!
You can also make the most of slightly stale bread by blending it to breadcrumbs or toasting cubes of it for croutons. This is a much better option than buying packets of these straight from the supermarket.
Another thing that I’m not afraid to do is freeze leftover food that I’ve bought from stalls and restaurants. I currently have my loaded fries from Temple of Seitan sitting in there after I couldn’t manage to eat them the other week as I’d already had 4 wings, a burger and Mac n Cheese lool. I’ve done this before with fries from Truffle, which tasted just as good heated up weeks later. The alternative is wasting perfectly good food and in my mind that’s just not a option. There should be no shame in taking home leftovers when you’ve been out to eat – this is much more responsible than overordering and then allowing it all to be thrown away. It also means you’ve got food ready to be reheated for an evening or lunchtime when you’re in a rush and don’t have time to cook something from scratch.
Saving them for a rainy day.
And the final point to add on the topic of freezing things is that many unappealing-looking scraps can be turned into something useful before or after being frozen.
Example number 1: Shellfish stock
I recently made a crab curry and found myself left with all shell and claws. Instead of binning them straight away, I boiled them into stock with a few other added ingredients, and have now frozen that stock ready for when I make a squid stew later this week.
In the process…
The finished product
Example number 2: Vegetable soup
This one might not sound that appealing but it was so satisfying to make. I froze a load of veg scraps – parsnip peel and cauliflower stalks etc and once I had built up enough, I boiled them, eventually blending the scraps into a smooth soup. You could just make stock, but why make stock and end up throwing the scraps away again when you could actually just blend them and use them as the substance for an entire meal. The idea of eating vegetable peel and stalks doesn’t sound massively appetising but it made for a really satisfying meal.
Before the blending
Example number 3: Aquafaba mayo
I was surprised to learn during my vegan week (from Rachel Ama) that vegan mayo can be made using aquafaba, or the liquid that comes from tinned chickpeas. Instead of draining the liquid when making a chickpea curry, I kept the liquid in a sealed bag and froze in, later using it to make the mayo.
The point is, if you do your research, there are plenty of ways to think outside the box when it comes to using your freezer to its full potential to limit the amount of food waste you’re producing.
And it’s not only vegetable waste that we can avoid. Fruit that is past its best can also be utilised to make tasty snacks. One of the most obvious examples is with bananas. Overripe bananas that are too mushy to eat are perfect to bake with – whether its cupcakes, muffins, or of course, banana bread. Other fruit works in a similar way – it might not taste great eating it on its own, but you don’t need or even want the freshest fruit when it comes to cooking it down for a compote, or baking it into cakes etc.
If you don’t fancy all that added sugar from baking, try making smoothies or shakes instead. Blend the fruit alone, or add milk or crushed ice (or even ice cream if you want to indulge) for the perfect pick me up in the morning. Once again, the fruit does not need to be on top form for this, as it’s going to be blended to a pulpy mush anyway.
Although most often I cook just for myself, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to try cooking bigger joints of meat, so I often find myself with lots of meaty leftovers. I tend to freeze the meat in smaller portions but there are so many things you can do with leftovers like this, whether it’s chicken, beef, lamb, pork or something more exotic. Using a food processor, you can blend smaller chunks of meat into mince. Obviously the texture ends up being quite different to shop-bought mince but it works in exactly the same way, and often has more flavour.
One of my favourite things to do is use leftover meat in a pie. I made a lamb roast dinner a few months ago, and with the leftover meat, I made a harissa lamb pie filling which was delicious.
After the pie there were still leftovers, so wanting to use up the lamb in as many diverse ways as possible, I added it to a greek lamb orzo dish. Another time I used some leftover brisket as the filling to some deliciously cheesy eggy bread. Adding your leftover meat to stews and curries is another perfect, and very easy option, and the possibilities really are endless.
As well as the things you can do in your own kitchen, there are now a number of really useful apps you can use on your phones and tablets to help reduce waste in your local community. Here are 3 of my favourites:
Too Good To Go
A large number of cafés, restaurants and even supermarkets are now using Too Good To Go to reduce their end of day waste. You can browse the app to see which locations will have waste at the end of the day, and how much it will cost (significantly reduced prices of course). You never actually know what specific items you will receive in your mystery bag, as because it’s a sort of pre-order system, the businesses cannot predict what they will have leftover, but they generally tend to give you an idea of the things you can expect to receive. Collection only.
Karma
Karma works in a similar way to Too Good To Go, except businesses upload individual waste items live as they have them, and so you will find food ‘to rescue’ even first thing in the morning. Also, rather than committing to buying a surprise goody bag like in the previous app, with Karma you can choose to buy specific dishes. You’ll even find street food style businesses on this app. Again, it’s collection only but each establishment will let you know when you need to collect the food by. More often than not, the food items are half price.
Olio
Saved my favourite until last! Olio does work alongside businesses but it’s designed more so for normal people like us who have food in our homes that is perfectly good to eat but that we’re not going to use. Instead of wasting it, you put up a post on the app, showing what food you are trying to get rid of with a short description, and when it will be available to collect from yours. People can then contact you if they are interested in collecting the item and you can arrange the pick up. A lot of the time people will leave the item securely wrapped outside the property so that you can collect it even if they’re not home, and I’ve done this at mine so I don’t have to worry about whether I’m going to be in or not. The food items can be brand new and unopened or even half used. This might sound odd, but why let half of a loaf of bread go to waste, or even half a bottle of ketchup if it’s perfectly good to use and it saves you from buying a whole new one! I really recommend using this app, and certainly not turning your nose up at it, as I reckon if we all properly thought about how much food we throw away on a yearly basis, it would be shocking. I’m still delighted about the fact that it saved me a few pounds the other month when I needed some strong bread flour and a lady living about 10 minutes from me had a whole unopened packet going for free. Result.
Most of my suggestions above are probably pretty obvious. Use your freezer. Sounds silly, but every time you’re about to throw something away, just think, is there another way I could use this? Might I want this for a dinner or packed lunch next month? Do I know someone who might want this? Of course there’s no point in filling your freezer with a load of things you are never ever going to go back to, but if that’s the case, you need to question what you’re buying, and how much of it you actually need in the first place.
Bottom line is we’re throwing far too much away. There are constant talks of shortages of this and shortages of that, but how can we be suffering shortages at the same time as wasting so much??
The moral of the story is think very carefully about what you’re buying and what you actually need, and do challenge yourself to try one of the apps or recommendations above this month, and see if you can reduce your waste.
As I often like to reiterate – food waste is for losers.
I’ve actually reached the point where vegan week no longer feels like vegan week. I’m not noticing the differences in the food I’m eating anymore, and it doesn’t feel like such a conscious effort to avoid meat/fish/dairy etc.
Despite that it’s still as exciting. I feel lucky that because I love cooking so much I’m more than happy to invest loads of time in trying new plant-based recipes rather than my vegan diet consisting of dull, flavourless frozen packets of things from that supermarket aisle (Linda McCartney chorizo sausages not included in this shade as they are DELICIOUS). But yeah, I can appreciate that for those who don’t have the time or the interest in cooking, a plant-based diet isn’t necessarily as appealing or exciting.
Anyway, there were a whole new load of things I tried in week 3, both things I made at home and places I ate out at, so let’s dive in and take a look.
I started things off by winging it. I’d bought some okra which, when cooked well, is one of my favourite vegetables. I only tried it for the first time when I was living in Brazil and fell in love with the flavour and texture. This curry however, was a bit shit. I think I should’ve had more patience and let it simmer for longer, but also I forgot that I had coconut milk so added vegan yoghurt instead and that just made it too sweet, so I will not be making a note of this recipe lol.
The only other thing I ate recipe-less was a sandwich that I took to work. I used the focaccia I’d made the week before and added some HECK Thai curry vegan sausages along with a chilli tahini and a lil bit of Bombay Mix for the crunch. I actually really enjoyed these sausages, probably a bit more than the last ones I tried which I think were Indian spiced.
The recipes that I followed throughout the week came from my usual favourites, Nadiya Hussain, Ainsley Harriott, Jamie Oliver and Rachel Ama.
One of the first was a spicy parsnip soup from Jamie’s VEG, which so far I’ve been really impressed with. The photo alongside this recipe looked so enticing but I actually found myself disappointed with the result.
Along with okra, parsnips are my other favourite vegetable (are they a vegetable?) but I lost the elements that I loved in this soup. It was less sweet and didn’t have the creamy, roasted texture that I loved. It was quite a chunky soup, whereas I think I prefer them pretty smooth.
I also tried my first recipe from Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen (just from looking at the recipes it’s my favourite cookbook ever…), but unfortunately I started with the wrong one.
I was trying to be reasonably healthy with his Mango, Avocado Brown Rice Salad but I actually had to throw it away. I’m not sure what I did wrong (other than following a recipe with mango and avocado which are two things I don’t really like lol) but there was this weeeeird bitter taste to it and so yep, it all went in the bin. No disrespect to this cookbook though because honestly the recipes look insane.
I brought it right back to the good stuff though with Rachel Ama’s One Pan Breakfast. Basically just tomatoes, spinach, baby potatoes and mushrooms but this was really satisfying. Simple to make and makes you feel pretty healthy, I’ll defo be eating this again.
On the side of that, I made Nadiya Hussain’s Country Beans and whilst there was lots of flavour and they tasted good, I felt that my attempt just looked a bit shit on the plate so I wasn’t massively fussed by this recipe.
A few days later though I persevered with her Turmeric Tomatoes on Avocado Toast and this was a hit. Although I mentioned I don’t really like avocado, I still occasionally cook with it because if it’s surrounded by other flavours and textures that I do like, I don’t mind it too much. The turmeric with the tomatoes was lovely, and again, this is another recipe that made me feel pretty good about what I was putting into my body.
Just a few more recipes to go, and this one’s a breakfast one. I prepped Jamie’s Ripped Smoothie Bowl the night before so I didn’t have to spend ages before work and I really enjoyed it. The vegan yoghurt didn’t taste any different to me to normal yoghurt, although I’ll admit that I much prefer Rachel Ama’s recipe for granola than Jamie’s which he includes for the smoothie bowl topping.
My vegan week came to an end last night with what I again have to admit was a not great meal. I have never tried ackee before, and the scrambled egg appearance tied in with it being described as a ‘fruit’ weirded me out slightly, but I’m open minded and will give any food a shot. The whole recipe was for Smoky Aubergine and Ackee Scramble Bagel and I had that with Nadiya’s Aubergine Pakora with Spicy Ketchup. The smoky aubergine part was okay and I mostly ended up eating this on the bagel, but the ackee didn’t do it for me and I had to bin it which rarely happens 😦
The aubergine pakora was also a fail but I’m pretty sure this must’ve been my fault somehow – the deep frying process just left me with soggy, saturated aubergine that didn’t have any flavour to it, however, I did rate the spicy ketchup.
So my home cooking was a mixed bag this week, some very decent, simple recipes and others that I just wouldn’t bother with again, but I’m still glad I”ve tried new things.
I’ll run through the desserts and sweet treat snacks that I indulged in next. Only one of these I made myself and they were the Lemon and Ginger Oat Balls. I’ve just scoured the Internet and my phone to see who I got this recipe from but I honestly can’t find the exact one. I loved these though, and after my success with Emma (Mrs) Hollingsworth’s peanut butter and chia jam oat balls last month I’ll definitely be making this kind of thing all the time because they taste amazing but are pretty healthy with no refined sugar.
Something that was slightly heavier on the sugar was Doughnut Time’s Good Pie-dings doughnut. It’s part of their Christmas range and is a vegan doughnut stuffed with mince pie filling and topped with cinnamon sugar. It might not look the most appetising but this was so tasty – both the sugary dough and the sweet filling.
As I’ve also spent a fair bit of time working at Winter Wonderland recently I’ve had loads of opportunities to try some amazing food there. I tried Badbrownie’s Salted Caramel Brownie which they have a vegan and non-vegan version of. This was very tasty, although I do prefer an eeeeven gooier brownie (not easy to achieve when it’s this cold outside).
Other Winter Wonderland highlights included the Chickpea Mushroom Curry from Makatcha. This was so full of flavour, I really rated it. Defo want to try their non-vegan options at some point.
Oh My Dog also have a couple of vegan hotdog options and so I tried the Deluxe. It comes with ketchup, mustard, crispy onions and pickles. It was pretty nice and in terms of the hotdog sausage itself I probably wouldn’t even have known that it was vegan.
My final feast at WW came from Fanny’s Kebabs and was probably my favourite. The hummus and pita were okay but nothing exciting, however, the falafel wrap was delicious. There was so much filling packed in and even the fries were impressive. The seasoning on their Persian Fries is amazing, and I love the minty kick that they have.
The only thing left now is my wonderful food from Temple of Seitan, but as I did a review of all that the other day I won’t go into much detail here (you can find it by clicking on the Reviews tab in the menu above). Long story short – get the bbq wings. Amazing.
Highs and lows complete, another plant-based week complete. Like I mentioned before, I don’t even feel like I have to try now, it’s really very easy to eat like this and there is so much that I want to experiment with.
As the weeks have gone by I feel like my vegan week diet has become more varied and is less dependent on just vegetables and beans/pulses – you just have to do a bit of research to see what’s out there and work out what the simplest substitutes are.
Meat Me Halfway: Week 4 will be coming to you a bit sooner next time, as in order to avoid it falling on Christmas (Plant-based Christmas???? I think not), I’ll be doing it a week earlier.
I have a few brunch and street food places that I’m super excited to try and bring to you next time around so you can look forward to that in a few weeks’ time.
Another food-travel post has landed. Less of the
other-side-of-the-world Indian adventure this time, and instead, a jam-packed
city break a little closer to home.
If you haven’t already guessed from the puntastic title (it’s terrible but I’d be a fool to let it slip by), I spent a few days in Budapest, which seems to be becoming one of the most popular city break destinations in Europe.
My previous travel posts have taken quite different forms;
Brazil was more of a guide, India was grouped into categories, and Bologna had
a more story-telling feel to it. This time I’m going to go through my foodie
experiences dish by dish, giving a mini insight into each one.
I ate a lot. A lot a lot a lot. The gym will be seeing a lot
of me this week to compensate. But it was entirely worth it, so here we go…
So, our first dinner took place at Aurum Bistro, and had been recommended by my parents who had a great meal there. I’d studied the menu on multiple occasions so had a pretty good idea of what I was going to have.
Dish number 1: Traditional Goulash Soup
I love that my very first taste of Hungary was of their most famous dish. You’ll often find this in two forms on restaurant menus – firstly as a lighter, less meat-heavy soup in the Starter section, and then again as a thicker, more hearty stew as a Main.
The paprika had a spicier kick to it than we’re used to at
home, and overall I thought the soup was delicious, with soft, creamy veg, and
not too much beef.
I rate it: 9/10
Dish Number 2: Duck Breast with Porcini Risotto
This particular dish was recommended by my parents and so
was basically the whole reason I wanted to try out this restaurant.
The duck had been cooked beautifully, was super tender with
lots of flavour and the creamy risotto was the perfect accompaniment.
I rate it: 9/10
Dish number 3: Somlói Sponge Cake
Dessert-wise we shared a couple of things between us so that
we could try more. Somlói ended up popping up on literally every menu we came
across, and I’m a sucker for the word ‘traditional’ – I will always (sometimes naively)
buy into anything that claims to be a staple ‘must-try’.
This one was odd though, it looked great, but I wasn’t mad
on it. Maybe because of the marzipan and nutty flavours, and the sponge felt
damp, as opposed to moist (get over it).
I’m glad I tried it but I don’t need to order it again..
I rate it: 4/10
Dish number 4: Gundel Pancake
Another traditional dessert, I preferred this second one, but it still wasn’t quite to my taste. It looked very striking, with the almost black chocolate sauce and bright pink mini meringue, but the nutty pancake filling, again, didn’t do it for me. It’s quite a bitter dessert, with a subtle orangey flavour, but so far, the savoury is still outperforming the sweet.
I rate it: 6/10
Dish number 5: Meat Lover’s Langos
A brand new day, and after spending a while at the thermal
baths, we were super hungry by the time we got to the Great Market Hall. All
the food hubs are upstairs, and you have to push your way through the long
queues and narrow walkways. For me, there was no doubt that I was going to get
a Langos – I’d heard a lot about them before arriving in Budapest.
The base is so much tastier than it looks. The dough is soft, warm, with a lightly-fried flavour and you can pile toppings as high as you like. I went for the meatiest option, with chicken, salami, lots of grated cheese and of course sour cream, which the Hungarians seem to be obsessed with. I would’ve loved it if the cheese had been melted but it was still good.
You kind of have to ignore the fact that all the toppings
are pre-prepared and have been sitting around for ages in Subway-style plastic
boxes, but this is not a gourmet dish, it’s a typical fast, street food and so
if this is what you expect, you won’t be disappointed at all.
I rate it: 8/10
Dish number 6: Duck Liver Paté
It’s not the first time I’ve gone away, not thought to pre-book restaurants at the weekend, and found myself struggling through the city desperately hoping somewhere will take us. That’s exactly what happened to us on the Friday night, and not willing to compromise on Hungarian food in favour of generic bbq and burger places, we eventually found somewhere with the capacity to take us in (Cupákos restaurant).
I tried some of this starter that my flatmate ordered, as
duck and goose liver are another thing that can be found on every menu in
Budapest. This was lovely and creamy, and a great sized starter that’s not too
filling.
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 7: Bone Marrow
This restaurant didn’t have any appealing desserts so we went all out on the starters. I was super excited to order mine as I’ve never had bone marrow before, and I was already slightly disappointed that we hadn’t been able to get a table in the restaurant that had rooster testicle stew on the menu (lol), so this was a decent, slightly unconventional alternative.
I didn’t realise the texture would be so sort of mushy, not
that that’s a bad thing. To be honest I’m not really sure what it actually
tastes like because all I could taste was garlic and butter but I would never
complain about such a thing. I really, really enjoyed it and would defo order
again.
I rate it: 9/10
Dish number 8: Pork Neck with Potatoes and Parsnip Purée
This was one dish that didn’t look the most exciting (especially with those awful cheap-looking red plates) but actually was delicious. The pork was beautiful, and the puréed parsnip delicious. Normally I’m put off by the concept of purées because they’re too fussy and often you’re just given a tiny blob, but this was enough to make it worthwhile and really highlighted the flavour of the parsnip. I didn’t even mind the potatoes, which I always complain are normally a waste of carbs!
I rate it: 9/10
Dish number 9: Chimney Cake
I had sussed out Street Cakes on Instagram before arriving, as their Chimney Cakes looked incredible – full of colour and with every topping you can imagine.
The little café was cute with friendly ladies serving, and I chose to build my own, but using a picture of one I’d found on Instagram as my inspiration. There was cinnamon sugar on the outside, a thin layer of jam in the middle, and then the hollow dough was filled with banana ice cream and topped with marshmallows, sprinkles and caramel sauce.
It looks beautiful and it tasted good. The dough was actually crunchier than I’d expected, and the banana ice cream did taste very artificial but I suppose that’s what you have to expect of anything that describes itself as ‘banana-flavoured’.
To be honest though, his isn’t something you order for the flavour – it’s all about the aesthetic, the indulgence and the fun, so I’d recommend this place for those reasons.
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 10: Goosey Gustav Burger
What’s a trip abroad without trying out their exclusive Mcdonald’s menu items? After my Chimney Cake, I couldn’t stomach a whole meal so just went for the intriguing-sounding Goosey Gustav burger.
What could be more Hungarian in Mcdonald’s than beef patties topped with goose liver?? Honestly, other than a standard Big Mac, this was the best burger I’ve ever eaten in Mcdonald’s, from the textures to the flavour. Not sure exactly what the mayo was but it wasn’t just plain and it tasted amazing with the liver. It is a double burger but I took out one patty, as for me, having multiple patties never enhances the flavour or eating experience and I wasn’t particularly hungry.
So buzzed from this still.
I rate it: 10/10
Dish number 11: Curried Apple and Celeriac Soup with Toasted Almonds and Pesto
Our final dinner took place at Alma and Körte, which was another place I had seen good reviews of on Instagram. This soup just sounded so interesting to me, and it was probably the best thing I ate all trip. It was delicious, from the celeriac flavour with the sweetness of the apple, to the crunch of the slivered almonds and oiliness of the pesto, with a beautifully creamy finish overall. You must try this.
I rate it: 10/10
Dish number 12: Lamb Shank with Dried Fig Cous Cous
I’ve never actually had lamb shank before so Budapest was
amazing for encouraging me to try types of meat yet undiscovered to me.
Although the meat had been cooked really well, I’m not sure
the heavy, rich sauce worked so well with lamb. I feel like it would’ve been
better suited to a meat with a less distinctive flavour like beef or ox. I
still enjoyed it but it wasn’t the best combination. The cous cous was very
nice though, and made a change from all the root veg side dishes I’d had so
far.
I rate it: 7.5/10
Dish number 13: Cottage Cheese Fritters with Forest Fruit Compote
This sounds weird. And a bit scary. Cottage cheese. As a
dessert. Fried. But omg I loved it. The fried exterior wasn’t oily or heavy or
too thick, it was just enough of a crunch to work amazingly with the soft
cheesy centre. Most of the flavour came from the deep, sharp compote and so
there was no issue with the cheese tasting odd.
I rate it: 8.5.10
Dish number 14: Mulled Wine
May as well throw a drink review in here, especially as weirdly I’d never tried mulled wine before because I never used to like spices in sweet foods and drinks. We got this from the small Christmas market in Deák Ferenc Square where the Budapest Eye is. We got to keep the cute mug, and although it was very sweet, it was ideal for a cold winter’s day.
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 15: Pork with Potato Rosti
I was amazed by the food on offer at the market, and wanted
to try everything, but with eyes bigger than my belly, I had to try and be at
least a little bit sensible. I didn’t actually know that the pork came with the
potato rosti when I first ordered it. I got drawn in by the whole pig head
sitting on the display and had to try the meat. I have to admit that it was
very salty, and so was more hammy than porky with that slightly rubbery
texture. Having said that, for some reason I absolutely loved the rosti. It was
very oily having obviously just been deep fried but god it tasted good.
I rate it: 6/10
for the pork, 9.5/10 for the rosti
Dish number 16: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Paprika Sausage
Cabbage rolls were another thing that I felt I couldn’t leave without trying. These ones were stuffed with pork, came with more cabbage on the side and a big paprika sausage and of course, drowned in sour cream. The sausage was great, really flavoursome, and the cabbage was also really nice, although it’s briney flavour can be divisive, as to my flatmate, the sourness of it tasted a bit ‘gone off’. Again though, this whole dish was super salty, so I left a huge amount which is not like me – not necessarily because I was full but just because I couldn’t take anymore of the salt!
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 17: Marzipan Ball
My final few ‘dishes’ are all sweet treats that I bought from the market to take home. I’d always said I didn’t like marzipan, but as I’m so much less fussy now than I was years ago, I decided to retry it. I can still understand why I hated it so much when I was little, as the aftertaste does tend to linger, but actually this was pretty nice, what with the soft, spongey centre.
The stall where I got these treats had so much on offer so
there’s definitely something to satisfy everyone.
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 18: Don’t have a fucking clue what this was
Very helpful. Kinda biscuity. Biscuit-sandwich-like. Sticky,
nutty filling. Bit of a chocolate glaze. Tastes good. Why not try?
I rate it: 7/10
Dish number 19: Chocolate Bark with Dried Cranberries
This didn’t seem as traditional, i.e. I’m sure I could find something like this at home, but it looked so appetising and tasted equally as good. The chocolate was slightly crunchy and then the sweet cranberries on top added a sharp spike of flavour. Don’t know how I only managed to take one bite, but then again, it is sitting in my room now, waiting for me to devour it when I’m craving a snack.
I rate it: 8/10
Dish number 20: Cherry Rétes (Strudel)
It’s so satisfying that without trying, I’ve finished on
such a clean number of dishes. Number 20, and the last thing I ate was this
lovely, and very filling strudel. They had options with cottage cheese, and
also apple versions but I went for the pure cherry.
The pastry is thin but not very flaky which was good, and
there is a generous amount of filling inside. Again, I only had one bite but
can’t wait to finish this off at some point.
I rate it: 8/10
Budapest really did surprise me in terms of how much of a foodie destination it is. And so that’s everything!
Almost…
Have to give a shoutout to the Cardamom Chocolate Plum Jam that I took a risk in buying at the market because it sounded incredible, but I didn’t manage to get it through airport security RIP 😦
Just a few little notes before I leave:
We suffered numerous dramas along the way which ultimately
just added to our experience but here are my words of warning for anyone
venturing to Budapest.
Don’t be fooled (by the rocks that I got..). You do not need slippers to go in the outdoor thermal baths, you only need them for the indoor ones. So if you’re not going in the indoor ones, do not let the misleading sign above (or the snake of a lady at the slipper stall) trick you into thinking you need to buy them. We bought them, realised our mistake, had a go at a few people, and eventually got a refund after standing our ground. If in doubt just take some flip flops with you.
If you head to where the famous ruin bars are (which you should), do not go into this bar which I unfortunately don’t know the name of but has this ridiculous sticker outside (see image below) which they must’ve stolen or forged. We ordered drinks separately and as I was about to pay, my flatmate questioned why she was being charged much more for her wine then mine. The old bald man behind the bar started making up a load of bullshit and just plucking prices out of thin air, and upon being questioned he then had a tantrum and aggressively told us he suddenly didn’t have any white wine and took the glasses back from us. If you don’t want to be treated poorly by a sexist loser then do not visit this bar which is next to Szimpla Kert.
Beware of old 500 Forint notes. We were given one in change without realising it was old and then nowhere would accept it so then couldn’t spend that at all and had basically been shortchanged. The old note is darker in its red colour than the new one which is brighter but safer to google it if you’re not sure.
Beware of the bar behind this door and it’s ginormous bellend of a barman
Once again, if you’ve read all of this, thanks a million,
plz like and subscribe via email to hear about more adventures of mine.
Back to my individual restaurant reviews, and this one, lucky for me, is just down the road.
I think sometimes I neglect places super close to me, instead favouring restaurants in Central that keep appearing on the social media scene and are very hyped up, whereas actually sometimes it’s good to take a step back and have a look at what you actually have on your doorstep.
Yaalu Yaalu is a Sri Lankan restaurant on Green Lanes, nestled amongst the huge number of fantastic Turkish places. It stands out along the high street with it’s light blue and white exterior and interesting decor. I had walked past it a fair few times and thought that it looked pretty nice, but it was my flatmate’s suggestion to go for her birthday dinner that finally got me there.
We went on a Thursday evening so it was pretty quiet, but there were still other people in there. It’s so lovely on the inside, and clearly a lot has been put into the restaurant’s presentation.
We decided to share all plates as they aren’t huge portions, but the price reflects this. We also ate our starters and mains together, but there are clearly labelled starters and mains on the menu.
First up with one of my choices, I was intrigued by the ‘Yaalu Gives You Wings’ coconut oil-infused chicken wings. I wouldn’t normally order chicken wings but the coconuttiness was what appealed to me.
Apologies for the quality, and sometimes lack of, photos. The lighting wasn’t idea for photo-taking, added to the fact that I just wanted to get some quick snaps so that we could enjoy our meal without me spending ages rearranging and rephotographing everything.
I feel like you can look at these wings and get an idea of how flavoursome they are just from their appearance. They did have a pretty spicy kick to them, but that always works for me. Would definitely recommend these.
Next up is the okra, or ‘Ladies Fingers’, which is one of my favourite vegetables, if not my absolute favourite.
To be honest I wasn’t blown away by this okra. I feel like it didn’t have a huge amount of flavour and it wasn’t as ‘meaty’ in texture/substance as okra I’ve had before so it didn’t soak up flavours as well. It wasn’t unpleasant at all, and is still a nice side, but nothing exciting.
For my own side, I got a coconut roti which I didn’t get a picture of. It wasn’t soft, but had been divided up into almost pitta chip-like pieces. It wasn’t amazing but was a really good way of scooping up all the sauces, and the little coconut sambal style chutney on the side was sweet and tasty too.
This next shocking image is of the chilli paneer and aubergine dish (‘Humble Moghuls’). The sauce and flavours here were really good, and you can see how creamy it is. This was another really good dish, with a fair bit to share around between us.
My absolute favourite dish, I sadly don’t have a photo of. Although it was much nicer than it looked. I chose the ‘Wilding’, wild boar in a spicy (flavour-wise rather than in terms of heat) and it was beautiful. Such tender meat in a salty, cuminy curry style sauce, and there was a decent amount of meat served up in small chunks. This definitely was the most impressive thing we ordered and I’d urge anyone who visits to try it.
This final dish slightly defeats the object of the photo as you can’t actually see the fish wrapped in the banana leaf but you get the idea. This is the ‘Catched…Wrapped…Sealed.’
This sea bass took a little longer to come but that was fine as they told us in advance and good to know it’s being cooked to order. I’ve been thinking recently about how I always neglect fish dishes in restaurants – I’ll often order seafood like mussels, lobster, prawns etc but fish I too often ignore so I was excited to try this sea bass. To be honest I wasn’t that fussed by it. It was nice but again, I wasn’t getting a huge amount of flavour so I’m not sure it’s something I would order again here but it was good to try.
Overall though I really enjoyed the meal. There was so much on the menu that I wanted to try but just couldn’t with only having three bellies to feed! The service was great, overall price such good value for money, and it was just a really nice dining experience overall.
I definitely think it’s worth making a trip to Green Lanes to try, and the chicken wings and wild boar dishes are top of my recommendations.
Sri Lankan cuisine is not one that gets much airtime, so let’s change that and…
¡Comemos! 