London Cooking Club - An Nduja Feast by Unearthed

The London Foodie is a non-commercial blog, I do not sell advertising space and have no intention to do so in future. There are however a handful of companies that I wholeheartedly support, and Unearthed is one of them.

Founded by Simon and Carrie as recently as 2008, they started Unearthed to bring to our shores (and shelves), their food discoveries from selected artisan producers in continental Europe. In Brittany they found a smooth Duck Mousse, in Le Mans an award-winning Rillettes and in Aveyron an exceptional Saucisson Sec.

Selection of Unearthed's goodies to kick off proceedings

Their latest discovery is the Calabrian Nduja. A delicious ingredient, Nduja is a spicy spreadable sausage made from diverse parts of the pig such as the shoulder, belly and jowl as well as tripe and head,  minced with roasted peppers and a mixture of spices including paprika. It can be simply spread over  toast or used as a cooking ingredient in sauces and other dishes.

A few months ago I took part in an Nduja Recipe Challenge run by Unearthed, and devised a recipe for them using this ingredient - "Pan-Fried Halibut on Butter Beans and Nduja with a Lemon & SageDressing". I really enjoyed the experience and was pleased with the results. The combination of fish and pork worked well, and the Nduja added an extra level of "umaminess" to the dish. I loved the ingredient. If you would like to try this recipe at home you can find it here.

More recently, I was asked to host a Nduja Cooking Club at my home in Islington, and invite a few food writers to try out Unearthed's Nduja in a range of different recipes. As with my usual cooking clubs, I devised a menu and allocated a dish to each participant. It was also a great opportunity for us to meet (some for the first time) and cook together.

Trust an Italian to make good pasta, Fede at work!

We spent a fabulous Sunday afternoon together, you can see the menu we cooked below.

Pasta Bites' Linguine with Nduja, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil

Nduja Cooking Club

Menu

23rd October 2011

Canapés

Spicy Nduja Palmier

(Recipe/Prepared by May – Slow Food Kitchen)

Unearthed Mezze Platter

(Supplied by Unearthed)

Starter

Linguine with Nduja, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil

(Prepared by Fede of Pasta Bites)

Mains

Pan-Fried Cod on Butter Beans and Nduja with a Lemon and Sage Dressing

(Recipe/Prepared by Luiz & Rosana of The London Foodie & Hot and Chilli)

Pimp My Piri Piri Poussin

(Recipe by Eat Like a Girl, prepared by Qin & Nic of In Pursuit of Food and Cherrapeno)

Accompaniments

Buttered Samphire & Crispy Roast Potatoes

(Prepared by Luiz & Rosana of The London Foodie & Hot and Chilli)

Greek Salad

(Prepared by Sian of Domestic Sluttery)

Dessert

Lemon Posset

(Recipe by Kavey Eats, prepared by Cassey of A Girl Has to Eat)

Rosana's and my Pan-fried Cod with Butter Beans, Nduja and a Sage and Lemon Dressing

For more eloquent accounts of our Nduja Cooking Club, please visit the following sites:

Cherrapeno

Pasta Bites

Hot & Chilli

If you would like to join us at one of our events, visit the London Cooking Club page on this site for more information. Each person will cook one dish and bring a bottle of wine to share. There are no fees to participate in any of our London Cooking Club events.

Alternatively, you can subscribe to The London Foodie for updates via e-mail, RSS or Twitter (@thelondonfoodie) and be the first to learn when new dates are released.

Future London Cooking Club events include:

15th January 2012 - "Burma by MiMi" - Hosted by British-Burmese food blogger MiMi of Meemalee's Kitchen, and co-founder of Grazing Asia Supper Club, MiMi will be presenting us her native Burmese cuisine.

12th February 2012 - "Jewish Cooking Club" - Hosted by  Jewish novelist  Stella Newman, author of Pear Shaped, and Canadian foodie extraordinaire Ira Dubinsky who will be introducing us to a fantastic Jewish menu and recipes for London Cooking Club members.

18th March 2012 - "A Neapolitan Easter" - Hosted by Gina (@Gigi_nav) and Italian food blogger Fede Rilli of Pasta Bites, Italophiles and resident experts on their home cuisine.

London Restaurant Reviews – A La Cruz (Argentinian Asador in Farringdon)

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN**

Opened in 2009, A La Cruz is John Rattagan's latest venture, a more upmarket version of its sister restaurant Buen Ayre, one of my top meat havens in London (reviewed here). Only recently I had the chance to visit and experience A La Cruz's asador grill, reputedly the first in the UK – an Argentine barbecue for slow roasting whole lambs and sides of beef supported on metal crosses “a la cruz”.

Image Courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness

Tucked away behind Exmouth Market, A La Cruz is set on a quiet residential street in Farringdon at the premises of a former Victorian pub.  Beautifully restored by John and his business partner Marcelo Porcu, a former City financier, A La Cruz is an elegant and spacious restaurant with plenty of dark wooden panelling and original Victorian features, but the centrepiece is its glass-encased asador. Sitting in the main room next to the kitchen, it makes for some dramatic entertainment as the chefs spit roast entire lambs and other meats in full view.

Image Courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness

The menu reads well and is surprisingly affordable – starters are priced around £6 while the mains (primarily meats with the token haloumi wrap as the vegetarian option) vary from £16 for a 250g rib-eye steak to £25.50 for a 300g of Argentinian fillet. As in Buen Ayre, Parrilladas (Tradicional, Cambalache and A La Cruz) are also available and cost between £21 and £28 per person. In my opinion, Parrilladas offer the best value and also the option of trying different cuts of meat all at once.

On my visit, I was invited with a group of other food writers, to sample some of A La Cruz’s offerings. I met John Rattagan for the first time and was impressed by his South American warmth and hospitality. Before immigrating to the UK in 1990, John lived in Brazil and speaks fluent Portuguese with a Bahian accent!

We kicked off with a Plato Degustación @ £6 – a traditional tasting platter containing a small empanada (Argentinian beef pasty), provoleta (grilled, melting provolone cheese) and mojellas (beef sweetbreads). I enjoyed the empanada and provoleta (two of my favourite Argentine foods) but the mojellas were the real show stopper.

Sweetbread is the culinary name for the thymus (throat, gullet or neck sweetbread) or the pancreas (heart, stomach or belly sweetbread) glands of the calf and lamb. Mojellas are the thymus glands; they are at their largest in neonatal calves, atrophying as the animals reach maturity. Unsurprisingly, it is an expensive meat and a delicacy in Argentina where it is found only in some of the best restaurants.  In terms of deliciousness, I would say they taste as good as well-marbled wagyu beef or foie gras. I loved my introduction to Mojellas, and look forward to returning to A La Cruz for another helping. Mojellas are available as a starter @ £6.50 or as a main @ £19.

Next, we had a selection of different cuts "parrillada style" including a large piece of Vacío @ £17, this was a tender piece of boneless beef flank, one of the most characteristic Argentine barbecue meats, it was perfectly cooked and tasted delicious served with A La Cruz’s own Chimichurri sauce.

The pièce de resistance was however the Cordero Entero that came next – a whole lamb barbecued on the asador, that looked and tasted magnificent. An impressive course for any celebratory dinner, it can be ordered for groups of 8 to 15 diners on request.

The Argentinian wine list was impressive and the wines that we tried, particularly selected by John to match the dishes we had, were spot on.

I was impressed by the quality of the meat, and the elegant but lively atmosphere that Marcelo and John have created at A la Cruz, and will definitely return for more mojellas and to try their parrilladas. Judging by my evening there, these will be as good as the ones I had at Buen Ayre.

Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of A la Cruz. I estimate that a 3-course dinner will cost around £40 per person (excl. drinks) which in my opinion is good value for money.

Likes: mojellas (sweetbreads) were sensational, as were all the meats I had that evening. Beautifully decorated restaurant. Well priced menu.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: If you are a meat lover, A la Cruz is as good as it gets. Great quality meats and value, elegant decor in the heart of Farringdon. Highly recommended.

Grazing Asia - Diwali Supper Club

To celebrate Diwali this year, the most popular festival in the Hindu calendar also known as the "Festival of Lights", I was invited to host a special Diwali Supper Club sponsored by Tilda Rice.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

Celebrated around the world, Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and marks new beginnings. It is a festival with food at the heart of the celebration with families and friends getting together for long, sumptuous feasts.

At my home in Islington, private chef and food blogger Maunika Gowardhan of Cook in a Curry was in charge of devising and executing the Diwali-themed, delicious menu using Tilda Rice for most of the dishes. We spent a lovely day together as I assisted her in the preparation of her dishes and learnt about her impressive career in the food industry.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

To kick off proceedings I prepared a delicious but lethal Indian-inspired Martini made from vodka, Cointreau, cardamom and orange marmalade as a welcome drink and to accompany Maunika's Indian interpretation of Italian arancini - deep fried sundried tomato and mozzarella rice balls served with a mint dipping sauce.

As with most of the events I host, I normally don't get to eat much, but this time I managed to have a mouthful or two of some of Maunika's delicious dishes. My favourite was the Keralan Fish Curry. This was a fantastic dish also known as Meen Moilee, made by infusing lightly fried sea bass fillets in a coconut gravy with fresh curry leaves, ginger and zesty lemon juice. It was so delicious, I could have eaten that all night and nothing else!

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

The Paneer Haraa Tikka was also excellent, and another dish I would love to cook in future. What really made this dish was the addition of Maunika's homemade pineapple and black pepper chutney to  grilled pieces of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) marinated in green herbs, garlic and fresh chillies.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

The Lamb Yakhni Pulao was good and surprisingly mild in flavour making it a good accompaniment to the other fiery curries. Maunika slow-cooked chunky pieces of lamb,  also making a delicious stock from it. She then fried the succulent pieces of meat with whole spices, Tilda Basmati rice in plenty of ghee, finally adding the lamb stock to cook the Pulao.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

Other lovely looking dishes were the Haraa Masala Chicken (The Skinny Bib's favourite dish of the evening!), Baingan Ka Bharta (charred aubergines cooked in spices and fresh ginger), and Bhapa Doi, a Bengali dessert of cardamon infused, sweetened yoghurt served with mango puree and chopped pistachio.

To accompany the food, we had Santa Rita Gran Hacienda Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and Carmenere, which I thought were robust and fruit-driven, and therefore good choices for the style of food we had on the evening.

Image Courtesy of Hot & Chilli

I thoroughly enjoyed hosting this event with Maunika Gowardhan for Tilda Rice; the experience has inspired me to learn more about Indian cuisine and cook it more regularly at home. For more information about Maunika's fantastic recipes, visit her website (Cook in a Curry) here.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

For more eloquent accounts of this lovely evening, please visit the following blogs:

The Skinny Bib

Nutmegs Seven

Hot & Chilli

Rice & Pickles

Kavey Eats

Hungry in London

The Fantastic Teacup Chandeliers by Madeleine Boulesteix

I first came across Madeleine's work in 2002, while leafing through a copy of Living Etc. She makes spectacular, quirky, culinary-inspired chandeliers out of recycled metal cooking utensils and glasses.

I tracked her down to her studio in Brixton, and we spent a happy hour or two discussing the kitchen we were designing and the colour schemes.

At the time, we were constructing a Denby-inspired 1930s cream and green colour scheme for our units, and Madeleine suggested a similar theme for our chandelier. We loved it so much, we took it with us when we moved to Islington.

Now some years later, we have just installed a new kitchen with a very different look, and once again turned to Madeleine for a centre-piece chandelier over the central island.

This time, we spotted a spectacular multicoloured glass chandelier replete with jelly moulds, pastry cutters and flan tins. It sounds barmy but looked fantastic, and had just been exhibited at the Courtauld Institute.

I don't use this site for commercial promotion, have no financial interest in Madeleine's sales and have paid the full asking prices for the two pieces I purchased from her.

But in Madeleine's case I love her work so much, I thought I had to let people know what a fantastic artist she is.

Madeleine is currently holding a brief exhibition, 'A Light Shower' at The Corner Shop, Craft Central, 21 Clerkenwell Green, London CE1R 0DX from 1-6th November. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday 12-7pm with wine & snacks between 6-7pm, and on Sunday from 12-4pm. Nearest station is Farringdon.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to her exhibition - every item on show is for sale. You can see more at www.madeleineboulesteix.co.uk, and at www.craftcentral.org.uk.

London Restaurant Reviews – Feng Sushi (Borough Market)

I became one of Silla Bjerrum’s fans earlier this year when I attended a sushi master class and was lucky enough to meet her (reviewed here). I had a fascinating time as the founder of Feng Sushi showed us how to cut through fillet after fillet of different types of fish and roll the most delectable sushi.

It was also an opportunity to learn about her commitment to purchase fish from sustainable sources whenever possible, and her continuous efforts to maintain the quality standards she set out throughout the 6 branches of her restaurant chain. There are no crabsticks in sight at Feng Sushi as these are banned, Silla opts for real crab meat instead as well as line-caught , mackerel, sustainable salmon and hand-dived scallops.

I recently returned to Feng Sushi's Borough Market branch, her first which opened in the late 90s. The restaurant is rather small but is also light and airy with a very casual, canteen feel about it - light wooden tables that can be shared among diners, white and purple walls (Feng Sushi's colour), fish tanks and paper mats. Functional and a little austere, I felt the decor and seating were not conducive to a leisurely repast.

We ordered the "Borough Deluxe Sashimi to Share" @ £19.25 which contained a selection of seared tuna and salmon, hand dived scallops, yellowtail with chilli jam, and sea bass with salmon eggs. We felt that the fish tasted fresh and were very beautifully presented although we also agreed that little was gained by searing the sashimi tuna and salmon.

Feng Sushi's signature dish "Scallop Maki to Dive for" @ £7.25 was as delicious as I remember it - the rice was perfectly seasoned, and had a delicate but still firm texture. The scallops were meltingly tender and looked very attractive topped with the micro purple shiso leaves.

Next was the "Fish Tempura" @ £10 containing MSC hake (MSC = sustainable and certified) with 8 pieces of seasonal vegetables, onigiri sushi and dipping sauce. I was disappointed with this dish as I felt the batter was too thick and not as crisp as it should have been. Tempura is the one of the simplest of Japanese dishes but also one of the hardest to get right, and the chef on duty that day certainly didn't.

To round off our lunch we also had a selection of 14 nigiri and gunkan-maki (battleship) sushi, priced from £3.25 (Tamago - Japanese Omelette) to £7.95 (Ikura - Salmon Eggs) per pair. These were all competently made - the sushi rice was well cooked and seasoned, topped with excellent quality, ultra-fresh fish. Particularly good was the ama-ebi nigiri (sweet prawn) @ £5 and the ikura gunkan maki (salmon egg battleship) @ £7.95.

As a lunch-time treat, Dr G and I had a couple of cocktails - a deliciously fruity and reasonably strong Lychee Martini @ £6.25 and a refreshing Shochu Lemon Drop @ £5.75 to accompany our selection of sushi.

Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of Feng Sushi. I estimate that our meal cost approximately £30 per person excluding drinks.

Likes: excellent quality sushi and sashimi fish, commitment to sustainable fishing, well made and reasonably priced cocktails. Scallop Maki to Dive For is a winner.

Dislikes: wine menu feels like an after-thought - uninteresting and limited, tempura batter was disappointing, decor, tables and chairs feel austere and uninviting.

Verdict: Feng Sushi offers reliably fresh, excellent quality fish, ethically and sustainably sourced at reasonable prices. The six central locations across London make it a solid choice for affordable Japanese sushi and sashimi in the capital. Recommended.