Franklin Mamo recalls growing up in 1980s Malta with import restrictions that meant cheese was restricted to industrial grade cheddar, pecorino, edam and gorgonzola. He asks if it is time for He for Maltese producers to leave the comfort zone and produce good artisanal cheese. As part of the war effort in WWII the British government centralised the production cheddar, a policy which persisted during the peacetime years of rationing. Even if you believe that everything is permissible in love and war, you'd have to admit that – foodwise – there's nothing that can be said of the measure that was positive. The policy killed off thousands of small producers (to the point where nowadays no cheddar is produced in the town of Cheddar) and bequeathed on popular eating culture that yellow slab of fat called "Government cheddar". I grew up in 1980s Malta. Import restrictions meant that while the skies were clear of Luftwaffe planes, on our tables the change was mostly of degree not of … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #105
Chef José Andrés on Trump, the American Dream, and Uniting People With Free Food: Three years ago, chef José Andrés began work on restaurants in two long-anticipated Washington, D.C., hotels: Fish by José Andrés at the MGM National Harbor and a Spanish passion project slated to open in the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Pavilion. The first one opened in December, but the second project famously led to an ongoing legal battle with Trump’s company. Earlier this week, Grub sat down with Andrés at Fish to discuss the firebrand chef’s thoughts on the politics of our current food culture, why he’s determined to win his legal fight, and to get his take on President Trump’s first weeks in office. Why the French Can’t Get Enough of This Illegal Bird: For several decades, the French have been obsessing over a small bird that weighs less than an ounce. Hunters consider it the king of all wildfowl; great chefs deem it the caviar of birds. However, in 1999 it became a protected … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #104
Is chlorinated chicken about to hit our shelves after new US trade deal? Consumers could be exposed to American farming practices banned by the EU. Those of us who want to eat safe, healthy food awoke to a nightmare on Tuesday, a chilling interview on Radio 4’s Today programme. Bob Young, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, made it crystal clear that any US trade deal struck by Theresa May would be contingent on the UK public stomaching imports of US foods that it has previously rejected: beef from cattle implanted with growth hormones, chlorine-washed chicken, and unlabelled genetically modified (GM) foods. Ana Roš of Hiša Franko: Gelinaz! Shuffle and Slovenian Cuisine: Ana Ros is an articulate, intelligent and fascinating woman with many facets to her life and persona. She is the perfect example of a person using their will and determination to shine as a culinary star in a comparatively unknown part of the world. I will stay tuned for what she does next and … [Read more...]
‘Balance is what I look for when making a praline’ – Tom Vanthemsche, The Cacao Tree
Tom Vanthemsche always dreamt of being a chocolate and ice cream maker. With The Cacao Tree by Tom, his boutique shop in Rhode St Genese, just outside Brussels, he has fulfilled his dream. He works with fresh ingredients particularly those which are in season and he prides himself of using fresh farmer’s milk which he picks up himself and 60% fruit in his sorbets which is highly unusual. "Some think our sorbets are ice-cream because they are very creamy. This is because of the percentage of fruit we use." Tom told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview that he prefers to use fresh products rather than unusual spices or ingredients that might shock but don’t necessarily work. “For me, finding the right balance between sugar and acidity is crucial. I will add a bit of texture to the chocolate, make it creamy but what I am looking for is balance. For me that is fundamental.” He is constantly on the look out for new chocolate. “When I set to create a new praline, I will taste the … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #103
All change in the aisles to entice us to eat more veg: British shoppers are to become the subject of an experiment aimed at making them eat their greens. In a bold move to rebalance the contents of supermarket trolleys, Oxford academics have teamed up with supermarket chiefs to persuade consumers to buy less meat. The project, in which Sainsbury’s is a key collaborator, is being funded as part of a £5m Wellcome Trust programme, Our Planet, our Health, which aims to improve human health in a world going through profound climatic change. Eating more vegetables and fruit and less red meat will benefit people’s health and the environment, say researchers. OFM’s classic cookbooks: The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan: Marcella Hazan single-handedly changed food as I knew it at home. I’m not saying my mum was not a good cook before the arrival of Marcella, far from it, it’s just that Marcella set new benchmarks in cooking and understanding food. Over the years that … [Read more...]
From the sea to the plate: Three Savona fishermen cook their morning catch
Three youngsters in Savona have abandoned their professions and work to become fishermen and cook the fish they catch directly on their fishing boat. Although the life of a fisherman is not easy and depends on the weather and the winds and waves, these three fishermen have decided to follow their passion, abandoning their work and turning their hobby into a commercial activity. Alalunga is aimed at promoting the territory and help a sector in crisis. The three youngsters Davide Busca (26 years and a former architectural engineer student who worked in his family business), Mauro Mantero (who worked in his father's business and Lorenzo Busca, a dentist) have become the youngest fishing boat owners in Italy. Their typical day starts very early in the morning. At 4.30m they throw their nets when the sky and sea are still black. They wait for sunrise and then they draw their catch and return back to the port where they will prepare their catch to be served either as a 'fritto … [Read more...]
Recipe by Merlin Labron-Johnson: Grilled spring and winter vegetables with wild herbs and a hay-smoked egg yolk sauce
Merlin Labron-Johnson is a chef who can be considered a fervent fermenter, pickler and curer, and this passion comes from his time at the cult Belgian restaurant In de Wulf which closed its doors in December 2016. Everything was done in house; all the pickling, smoking and charcuterie curing, using only traditional and old fashioned methods of preservation. These influences are clearly visible on the menu at Portland, London. This dish was inspired by Merlin's time spent working in Belgium, where he noticed that during the asparagus season, white asparagus was often eaten with hollandaise or ‘mousseline’ sauce. He has added other young vegetables that are still available as winter morphs into spring to give a more interesting variation of textures and flavours. Merlin decided to smoke the butter used in the hollandaise over hay to add an element of ‘farm’ and terroir. He uses wild herbs to add freshness to the dish which would otherwise be quite rich, and the sorrels add a … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #102
René Redzepi on Noma’s last supper – and what comes next: On the night in 2009 when his restaurant reached No 3 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, René Redzepi’s thoughts turned to aviation. “It was a great moment,” he recalls. “But it also felt like that moment when you’re on a plane after it takes off, and you’re at 10,000 feet, and you’re wondering, is this where we level off? Or are we going to start climbing again?” How A Destitute, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became The First Celebrity Chef: The bustling Paris streets were rutted and caked in thick mud, but there was always a breathtaking sight to behold in the shop windows of Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. By 1814, people crowded outside the bakery, straining for a glimpse of the latest confection created by the young chef who worked inside. Who killed the great British curry house? No one in Oli Khan’s family had ever lived in Scotland, or anywhere near it. But when, aged 23, Khan first set eyes on Linlithgow, a … [Read more...]
Book review: Food from the fire by Niklas Ekstedt
It is perhaps not the best time to review a book about cooking food from the fire given that we are experiencing a bitter patch of winter cold and not everyone has the luxury to have wood fired ovens or a fire pit indoors. But for Niklas Ekstedt, the man behind the Stockholm restaurant by the same name and author of a recently released book Food from the Fire, cooking with fire is something he does every day, winter or summer. His restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, opened in November 2011 with a fire pit, a wood fired oven and a wood stove. Plenty of people had told him that he had made things difficult for himself. Now, he has also installed a stone-age equivalent of a microwave oven, a smoker and extra fires burning as he continues to explore age-old techniques and to learn more about a lost art of cooking. The flavour that comes out of food that has been cooked with fire is different to what you get from normal cooking. But apart from the occasional barbecues we have lost the … [Read more...]
Time and scarcity are today’s luxuries and will define tomorrow’s trends in food and wine
As we start the New Year, it is normally the time to reflect on the previous year but also more importantly to look at what is coming next and to try and spot the novelties that might become trends in the years to come. We have read many articles about predictions for 2017 doing the rounds from Michelin’s take of the 10 trends for 2017 to a sceptical look at the articles predicting trends. There is an obvious tendency to get it wrong and you end up with egg on your face. So instead of looking at what we think will be the top trends we focus on one issue, time, and look at how this will have an impact on the food and wine world in the coming months and years. To take a look at the future, many times you need to look to the past. The start of this article came over a lunch discussion with with Fulvio Pierangelini, Gert de Mangeleer, Clare Smyth and Peter Nillsson a day before the Gelinaz! Headquarters event in Brussels where we ended up discussing the state of fine dining … [Read more...]