If you read this column with any regularity, you have probably noticed that most of the wines recommended here come from national chains. Does this mean that I like those wines better than others? Not for a second.
Ashkenazi food is founded on chopped liver, chicken soup and cholent. But with shechita under attack again, could that be about to change? The traditional form of kosher slaughter is already banned in Sweden and Denmark and is under threat in the Netherlands. Poland has now jumped on the bandwagon.
INGREDIENTS
140g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
5 heaped tbsp ground almonds or walnuts
2 organic free-range eggs
225g fairtrade light brown muscovado sugar
180ml light olive oil
180ml orange juice (equivalent to about 1½ oranges)
Zest of 1½ oranges
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g carrots, peeled and finely grated
When I was a child we sometimes had chicken for our Chanucah dinner. But mostly it was my mother’s pot roast brisket, which I have already pointed out in these pages was the greatest brisket cooked anywhere since the end of the Babylonian exile. Sadly, we stuck with cookies and pastries instead of doughnuts – not that anyone ever had room for many of them.
Class: Mastering Macaroons at Atelier des Chefs in the City of London.
Expectation: To make perfect macaroons.
On Offer: Two hours making four selected flavours of macaroons. I chose peanut butter with raspberry, chilli-spiced tonka bean with white chocolate, lime and fresh ginger butter cream, and salted butter caramel.
By the time you read this, trophies will have been presented to the winners of the second annual What Food What Wine (WFWW) competition (www.whatfoodwhatwine.com). The awards were announced in the summer, but there’s a lag before the recipients gather to get their gongs.
Natasha Abraham cannot believe her luck. Since September, the 24-year-old has been chef patron of The Orchard — a tiny canteen-style eatery, a stone’s throw from trendy Portobello Road in West London.
Highlight of the month: a BBC4 broadcast called Chateau Chunder: When Australian Wine Ruled the World. It told the story of how the Aussies conquered the UK market. If you missed it, I urge you to find it on catch-up.
Did you know that you can make chicken soup in a under an hour? And not from a packet, but authentic, clear soup made from raw meat and fresh vegetables and herbs, ready to go in 30 minutes.
No, this is not an example of the kitchen wizardry practised by the likes of Heston Blumenthal. It is not even achieved using a now relatively old-fashioned microwave oven.
