Cibare Food Magazine Issue Six

8/19/2019 Cibare Food Magazine Issue Six

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Issue Six Spring 2016

www.cibare.co.uk

Cibare


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REVIEW

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Cibare Food Magazine www.cibare.co.uk2

ContentsSpring into change 10Hows the ‘New Year’ Going 18Spuds are not the Enemy 30

FOOD FOR THE SEASON

GARDENING

FEATURES

SOURCES AND CREDITS

Theo’s Rosties 36Macadamia Nut Oil 144 Really Different Places 40

Spuds with history 50

A year on the cutting patch 46

BOOKS

Ottolenghi 57

Sketch 6Black Cow Vodka 38Bowled Over By Blowers 52

Breakfast 4Lunch 20Gratin 24Rosties 32MASH 30Coconut Soup 22

Super Food 28Paleo Snack Ideas 56


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Editor’s Note

www.cibare.co.uk Cibare Food Magazine 3

C i b a r e

Well this year has started off a bit crap withthe loss of some amazing people on thisplanet, but if you aren’t feeling theRocketman/ Snape loss then maybe you are

just a bit bored of this cold and are savingup for that holiday in the summer where youcan rid yourself of those jumpers and prancearound half naked with a cocktail! Rightthere with you my friends!!!

Till then we are comforting you with greatrecipes of the humble and yes healthy potato!

Yes you can actually be on a diet and eat apotato, or you can just smother in butter andenjoy its perfection!Read up how to do that and why you should inCibare this issue, and of course don’t forgetto find us in print in April in Central London!

We cannot wait for you to see us!


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FOOD

Breakfast Yogurt with Fruit


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REVIEW

Tea at Sketchby The Editor


Sketch has been in my mind for some timenow, but for some ridiculous reason I’ve notbeen. So this year the first thing I did was

grab my best mate, made her take a day offwork so that we could have some fun, andbooked us in for tea.

I’d seen so many photos on social media anddrooled over their website way too manytimes. I was not disappointed, but even Iwill admit that the first thing I wanted to seewas the damn toilets. If I saw one more podphotograph that I hadn’t taken, I was goingto lose it! Off I went through the dark doors,through corridors and rooms, trying not tolook at my surroundings (I wanted the firstimpact to be when I was ready to embrace it)and found my way to the great white stair-case.

It was lit in half-blue, half-pink lights. Be-ing a lady I figured I’d go with the pink just

in case and wandered up to the pod room.It was quite odd, I felt like I was in a reallywell-lit scene from Alien. I found a way intoone of them, had a go. As soon as I could,got right out of there. It’s a toilet. Don’t befooled. Photographically on-point to the nthdegree but just your basic toilet. Though, as

you can see, I had to take a pic!

But… coming back so saddened by the looI let myself walk head high into the salon

(a.k.a. pink room) and instantly felt trans-ported into another era. Walking through, I

just stared. We were a little early, the room

was empty with just a few staff, so it wasquiet and warm and kind of felt like a big,pink boob. Yes, a boob. It was covered withdrawings in frames all with the same styleof fun and honesty, with soft pink seating,pink lighting and very high ceilings round-ed with dark skylights. It was so inviting andthankfully that’s where we stayed for tea. Ireally liked that we came quite early in theday, because although the room was a-buzzit wasn’t too full and noisy.

Time to think about what we wanted, thoughit was pretty obvious what we came for:an alcoholic and sugar-induced coma. Wecouldn’t wait! I ordered a Sketch AfternoonTea with the Ceylon & Rose tea, and ofcourse some cocktails which ‘have to comefirst please!!!’

We had to wait a little for the cake as we hadthe cocktail starter, which perfectly easedus into the meal. But when the food came itwas immense, I wondered if I was going tohave to move in to finish. It actually wasn’tany bigger than teas I’d had elsewhere, butthere was a lovely variety of sandwiches andcakes to enjoy. I’ve been on this ‘Let’s eatclean’ New Year kick, and although I knewI was letting myself in for a day of sin (very


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excited!) it had been a while since I’d beenthis naughty. But we all need cheat days andsomething to work up to. If you don’t enjoy

your food, what’s the point?

We started with the savoury - delightfulsandwiches full of all-sorts. A simple cheesepanini was the perfect hot place to beginand instantly sparked my taste buds into afrenzy! I was surprised something so basicwould give so much pleasure but maybe thatsays too much about me. Nothing wrongwith something simple when it’s done toperfection, that’s for sure.

My egg sandwich was a mustardy delight,

with a little fried quail’s egg on top... sogood. That and the coronation chicken weremy favourites. It had a strong curry tastethat wasn’t overpowering, just a delight offlavours in a little sandwich. Having triedto steal my companion’s and almost had myhand bitten off, she gave in to swapping heregg sandwich for my salmon one. The othersandwiches were lovely but I would have hada plate full of just these three. I’ve never eat-

en so slowly in my life trying to pull out theflavour as long as I could.

Then came the warm scones after the plat-ters - don’t be fooled that you’re only get-ting that platter, you’re not. They came withstrawberry and fig jams, so slice that sconein half and put one splodge of jam on each,it’s well worth it. Simple, but just a delight.

Some things don’t need to be messed aroundwith, a great jam will do it all for you withdeep pleasure. Loved it.

Then comes the real sugar rush! An amaz-ing array of little cakes, and cheesecake too.Each one zings with their fruity additions.The blackcurrant cheesecake was just won-derful with a lovely deep pot of fruit and softcreamy cheese, and the little lemon tart was

sharp and exciting. Those were my particu-

lar favourites but the chocolate slices withtheir crunch and mint flavour were also justlovely (apparently) and stolen by my friend.(I figured I got the egg sandwich so I had tooblige.)

Again, don’t think that plate of cake andscones is all you’ll get... A trolley came roundwith a choice of chocolate or lemon creamycakes so we had those too! By this point Icould not move so two more pots of hot teawere brought for us to help push these sweet

joys down.

I’m not sure how anyone can eat this muchfood without the joys of a hot tea, but

everything we ate had its own wonderfultastes. Some may think it’s just ‘tea and cake’but it’s obviously been joyously designed bya chef who’s taken their time to make thatsandwich-something I can’t stop thinkingabout!

The toilets and the tea are not the only rea-sons for coming to Sketch. This building is atrue creative haven, hidden away behind the

tourist hell of Regent Street. It gives you atrue feeling of exclusivity without the mem-ber’s card. Each room is beautifully decorat-ed in every detail, from the art on the wallsand the lighting, to the chairs, cups andplates, to the waiters’ uniforms (very plainand kinda like out of an arthouse futuris-tic movie) - all of it just elegant and beauti-ful. Every room has its own big personality,

from Aliens nest to warm boob, or a forest toa library.

Definitely worth an early cocktail and defi-nitely somewhere I’m going back to for aproper meal very soon!


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The Herbalist Spring into changeby Jo Farren


For me, this is a time of year which is mostefficient for change and movement. Thinkspring greens, spring cleaning, longer daysand the promise of new and refreshed life.These things are all part of nature’s biggerpicture to encourage and celebrate rebirthand newness.

From the cold and dark winter emerges aglimpse of light and with it, a glimpse of thespring! Green in the trees and fields showsus the promise of colourful (and hopefullybountiful) seasons ahead. For me, this is theperfect time of year to implement changeand personal growth. Forget New Year reso-lutions, the best and brightest change comesnow! If you’ve made a resolution and stuckto it, well done you. If not, then now could bethe right time.

Spring is when I usually get most of my newpatients through the door. That is partlybecause we’ve all been there and tried thestrict New Year’s resolution malarkey andfrom there, whether it’s been a success orfailure, we realise that long-term changeneeds to happen in order to help maintaingood health and habits.

For those of you who want to make a dietary

change, the motivation and purpose needsto be there. Whether it’s eating cleaner, eat-ing more veg or ditching rubbishy snacks,that sort of change really needs to be organ-ic (no pun intended). I can suggest, motivate,guide and support but we all need our ownlightbulb moment. With regards to health,wanting and needing to take better care ofourselves can come from a winter of illness-es or just generally feeling groggy and underthe weather. Seeing the first light of springcan be the stick we need to encourage usand keep us on track.

For me, of course, health and nutrition gohand in hand. If I have a patient who needshelp with diet, the likelihood is that the besthealth benefits are going to happen whenthose changes have been made. I never sug-

gest dietary measures for a laugh, but alwayswith your best interests at heart and spring-time is the most efficient time to make thesechanges for the best effect.

I wrote previously about nettle soup, whichis one of my favourite things ever, and springgreens are also a perfect ambassador forthis season, related to both herbal medicineand nutrition. Soups and stews are amazinghealth tools and foods which I rave about

P I C T U R E C R

E D I T S : O k s a n a T k a c h u k


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constantly, along with my old favourite theslow cooker, which brings me nicely ontomy next subject.

There’s no need to put that slow cookeraway just now. Lots of nutritious spring andsummer recipes can be put together in thistrusty kitchen essential, they’re not just forhearty winter stews! I discovered this a few

years ago while I was struggling to preparegood, fresh, seasonal food with a newbornin tow. Without the slow cooker I would havebeen completely lost and survived solely ontoast - not good for anyone!

You can adapt pretty much any recipe to be

slow cooker friendly and spring stews are noexception. Play around with combinationsand find your favourite. I reckon my nettlesoup would work well in the slow cooker.The main things you need to consider arecooking time (it takes a lot longer) and yougenerally need about 1/3 less fluids. You caneven try a healthy morning porridge in there,leaving it on low overnight, though I won’tlie, I haven’t yet managed this successfully.

Start making changes at a pace which suits you — I find myself saying this a lot! If youknow you need a kick start and want to jumpinto it feet first, then do it. Put a date in thediary, do a massive healthy food shop andGO! If you know you need to do one thing ata time then start a staged plan and stick toit. Put realistic goals and start dates in your

diary and work with them.

Same goes for exercise and don’t forget topick something you love to do! Health is not aone-size-fits-all kind of thing, so you need todo what will work long-term for you. Startinga regime then stopping, then starting some-thing else and stopping that is something Isee often. And people wonder why it doesn’twork! It seems as if this kind of pattern leads

to extreme regimes which involve ‘curing’ you, promising incredible weight loss andfrankly unachievable and hard-to-maintain‘results’, usually at high financial cost to you

and gain to someone else. The quick-fix isBIG business and something I would urgeanyone to avoid. Taking a sensible approachto your own health is far more successful, alot cheaper and miles healthier.

As someone who’s been there, done thatand got the t-shirt, I have professional ANDpersonal experience and expertise in deal-ing with change, particularly with regardsto diet and lifestyle. Working with someonelike me who’s ‘been there’ does make a dif-ference I find, because you get the under-standing and the right motivation for you. Iknow what works and what doesn’t becauseI’ve done the legwork!

So for those of you who have stuck to yourresolutions: awesome, that’s amazing (andmaybe let us know what kept you going??).

And for those of you who haven’t but wantto, now is the time! Spring can be a hugelymotivating time of year and is when most ofmy patients STICK to their changes. So gofor it!

MY TIPS

* Pick your time* Plan your change* Plan meals, find things which are easy andconvenient to prepare - dig the slow cookerout again!* Plan exercise into your life. Do what youlike to do, don’t force yourself to the gymif you hate it. Find a salsa class, swimming

pool or rambling club locally.* Give yourself a pat on the back for yourachievements on a day to day/week to weekbasis. Don’t beat yourself up about a slip up,

just get back on that wagon.* SHARE your success with us - what worksfor you, decent recipes and so on.I look forward to hearing from you andsharing some best practices in the comingmonths... Go for it!

Love, health and happiness Jo


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Aren’t I pretty. Why don’t you put your

business in our magazineright here.

Get [email protected]


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REVIEW

Macdamia Nut Oilby The Editor


I met up some time ago with a lady that Iknew who is a trainer and body builder whom

I hadn’t seen in a while, who was telling meabout how she had started a Macadamia nutoil business. She couldn’t buy it in the UKwithout selling an arm and a leg and appar-ently she thinks it’s amazing. She proceed-ed to tell me that she had been adding it toher shakes initially till she learnt more aboutit, and started using it in and on everythingand that’s when she decided that she wantedto go into business with it. I of course had

no idea and she gave me a bottle and askedme to try it. Yeah I don’t just use any oldthing so I did some digging of my own anddecided to write an article about oils.

For many years we have been lectured onthe virtues of using the correct oils in ourfood. Going from Vegetable oil, to Rapeseed,

Olive, and now Coconut and Avocado oil, butis there something else?

The thing that most of us are worried aboutis cholesterol and what it’s doing to our bod-ies! I remember a time when ‘they’ found outthat avocados where bad for you! They weretoo high in fat and in turn high in cholester-ol! My dad was mortified and didn’t eat onefor years until it became our new fad that

this kind of FAT was the good idea and now

we can have one every day! In fact it was areally good idea to do that and let’s face it we

all jumped at the chance to eat this deliciousfruit.

But at the moment the coconut rules the oilindustry with is Thai flavours (let’s face it!)and its ‘let’s use this in everything’ advertis-ing that it’s receiving. The only thing is thatas amazing as it is, is there something betterfor us?

The newest fad is avocado oil, but like thecoconut it is not actually that easy or sus-tainable to grow. At some point we actuallygoing to have a shortage especially if I’m eat-ing an avocado every day and so is everyoneelse. What will we eat with our eggs? Butmost importantly how will I cook them if wecan’t use coconut oil?

There is another oil that is actually just asgood for us but is a more sustainable prod-uct for us to produce to our health consciousneeds?Macadamia nut oil.This tasty big nut that we know and love andof course is that it’s the most expensive nuton the market. (I love the Friends scenewhere Ross and Rachel are stuck in a hotelroom as Ross drew on Rachel’s face. So she

decided to find the most expensive thing in


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their bar which was the macadamia nuts,which she then decided to spit around theroom at Ross’s expense to his despair!)

For quite some time the macadamia nut wasonly produced in a few places in the worldfrom where it began in Australia, but nowthere are many more orchards around theworld mainly in the US and Hawaii wherethey grow happily and in abundance andthey grow much faster than avocados andcoconuts!

Apparently if you use plants that have been‘grafted’ then the avocados can producefruit within the first one or two years but if

you plant seedlings then it can take between8-20 years! (Grafting is a horticultural tech-nique where tissues from one plant are in-serted into those of another so that the twosets of vascular tissues fuse together. I hadno idea either.)

A coconut other the other hand isn’t reallymuch better. Although it can produce theirfirst fruits within six to ten years it takes fif-

teen to twenty years to reach peak produc-tion in good growing conditions.

The macadamia tree on the other hand onlytakes 5 years to start to fruit and becomes amature tree at only 10 years so in the greaterscale of nuts and oils its doing really well.

But other than its sustainability what is the

real reason for us to start switching to mac-adamia nut oil?

Well the thing is that we are all lookingsomething to cook with. I just love the tasteof olive oil and will happily dip my breadinto it and of course some balsamic vinegar.I love it so much that I actually went olive oiltasting whilst on a wine tasting trip. But do Icook with it? Yes. Should I cook with it? Well

it depends on what I’m cooking and how hot

we are going with it. When we heat up oils they will eventuallyreach their smoking point which means thatat that point, all the good fat that we are en-

joying will start to turn into those really badfats that will clog up our arteries. Remem-ber that cholesterol!

So here is a chart to show you what doeswhat. (Now I’m no scientist but I wouldtake these at a roundabout scale as I lookedthrough many a website that seems to knowwhat they are talking about.)

Olive Oil 200C Avocado Oil 270C

Coconut Oil 350CMacadamia Nut Oil 400C

Now just from these you can see what youcan use to fry up your eggs in the morning,roast your tatties or add to your sauces. Thatis up to you.

I think it’s good for us all to make our owndecisions on what we eat and how we cook

it. Knowing this I’m still going to keep usingall of these oils in different ways. I wasn’tthrilled with using coconut oil in everythinganyway due to its taste and it’s so differentto olive oil that I found it almost sweeten-ing. I really like macadamia oil though as itsquite nutty and almost olive like in flavourso it’s a good compromise for certain things.But make no mistake ALL of these oils are

amazing for you and used properly can ben-efit your entire body from your skin and hairto your digestive system in wonderful ways.I think long gone are the days where we areafraid of fat!

Buy your macadamia nut oil

www.ennoblement.co.uk


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How’s the ‘New Year New You’ Going?by Denise Chester


We’re coming to the end of the first quarterof 2016 and it’s a good time to review yourprogress since January 1st.Remember New Year? Did you make anyresolutions? How’s that going for you? May-

be you don’t do resolutions but did decideto eat better, be more active or improve your health? Perhaps you made a promiseto yourself that things would change in 2016and you’d take steps to lose weight, get fitterand improve your energy levels?For many of us, the year starts with greatintentions, high motivation and determina-tion that this year, things will be different….Only to find a couple of months later we’ve

fallen off the wagon, lost interest, given upand gone back to our old ways.This is a crucial time because a common re-sponse to this is to think “I’ve failed, this justisn’t going to work, I’m never going to loseweight/get fitter/feel better,” and to just giveup on everything.But there is another way. Instead of throw-ing in the towel, here are my thoughts and

suggestions to help you get back on track:

• Revisit your goals and resolutions andask yourself – were they realistic? Maybe‘working out five mornings a week’ was a bitover-ambitious. Perhaps ‘running 5k threedays a week’ was too much of a stretch, par-ticularly if you haven’t put a pair of trainerson since your last P.E. lesson.

Now you’ve had a few weeks to put your

plans into action, do you need to readjust your goals? There’s no shame in admittingthat you don’t have the time to fit everythingin, or that you left the blocks too quickly. It’sa much better strategy, both mentally and

physically, to start slowly and build up. Can you fit one short run and one gym sessioninto a week? Think how much more moti-

vating it would be to achieve a realistic goalthan to miss an unachievable target. You’llfeel like you are winning rather than failing.

• Do you enjoy the activity you set your-self to do? It might be good in theory to starta boxing class or join a Zumba group, but if

you discover that a dancing or hitting thepads just isn’t for you, why do it?

Instead of feeling embarrassed that yousigned up, bought the gear and then discov-ered that your chosen activity isn’t for you,be proud you had a go, be brave and admitit didn’t quite work out as hoped, and moveonto something else. Always be true to your-

self or it just won’t work.

• Do you need to reset your goals to takeinto account what you have achieved? In abeginners’ class but getting bored? Finding

your gym workout tedious? Move up a levelor change your routine!

• On that theme, are you just bored ingeneral? Variety is key! Why stick with just

one activity and do it over and over again?


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Walk, run, dance, bike, punch, bounce, getmuddy, get sweaty, get still, lift weights, pushthings, row. There are hundreds of ways toget active. Mix it up.

• Whatever your goals were, did you involve or consult with other people who are

affected? Did you decide that joining a foot-ball club/netball team was for you, but yourpartner/spouse isn’t exactly over the moonabout the two week-day training sessionsand the weekend matches? Getting the sup-port of those around you, and working out aschedule that suits everyone fairly is essen-tial.

• Did you support your activity goalswith nutritional changes? If you’ve increased

your activity levels, it’s likely you’ll need toincrease energy intake as well. Or perhaps

you don’t need to change how much you eat,but what you eat?

• With nutritional changes did you goout all guns blazing? Giving up wheat, dairy,gluten, sugar and alcohol, and adding more

water, vegetables, protein and chia seeds allat once is just too much. Work on one thing ata time until it becomes ‘normal’, then moveonto something else. Success rates increasedramatically when we tackle things one at atime.

• On that note, do you know that what you want to do is actually right for you? Orare you just following what a friend/website/magazine/celebrity is doing? Nothing worksfor everyone, and unless you get profession-al advice, can you be sure you really need tomake so many changes?

• Finally, did you need to prepare more?Perhaps you could have gathered more rec-ipes, bought new equipment, learnt newcooking techniques and got better advice

before you embarked on your new regime? You wouldn’t do a parachute jump withoutsome kind of training and education first,shouldn’t you do the same with changes thathave a direct impact on your health?

PICTURECREDITS:ComaniciuDan


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FOOD

LUNCHTaste The Rainbow Sandwich


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Apples in Almond Butter


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FOOD

Coconut Soupby Ying Bower

For a long time this has been an all-timefavourite dish and it always seems to be theone that Ying has to hand. Her cupboardsfull of herbs from Thailand (even though

you can buy them locally), and her fridgealways full of little bags of meats or fresh

vegetables. Every little thing gets used andamazing concoctions are made from them.

“But in Thailand we don’t eat potatoes”. So

seen as this is our potato/Spring issue Yinghas added a Zinging dish instead, full offlavours and admittedly no potato althoughshe says that you could add it if you reallywant to. (If you do try it, I would add themsomewhat cooked and warm them up in thesoup).

It’s incredibly simple and Ying likes to have

it as a side to rice dishes especially chillipork!

Ingredients:

1 tin of coconut milk1 stock cube with 200ml of hot water1-2 chicken breast or thighs2-3 slices of galangal1 stalk of lemon grass1 big onion1 big chilli1-2 tomatoes, chopped into big chunksCoriander and spring onion to sprinkle2-3 lime leaves2 tblsp of fish sauce2-3 tblsp of lime juice

Method:

Bring the coconut milk to the boil then addsome stock (if you have it) or a stock cube.

Add all the spices and lime leaves and boilfor 5 minutes.

Then add the chicken, onion, tomatoes andchilli and leave to cook for 10-15 mins, oruntil the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from heat, sprinkle some corian-der and spring onion on top and enjoy yourmeal!


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FOOD

The Ultimate Cheese and Bacon Potato Gratinby Emma Walton

Gratin


For me, potatoes are the ultimate comfortfood. Piles of buttery mash remind me ofpork chop dinners cooked by my Mum. Jack-et potatoes instantly take me back to BonfireNight, watching the fireworks with a tin foilwrapped potato topped with chili con carne.There is a potato dish for every occasion! Butmy all-time favourite potato side is the Po-

tato Gratin. A classic dish made with layersof thinly sliced potato and crispy lardons,drowned in infused cream and topped witha molten layers of sharp cheese.I won’t lie. This really isn’t diet food. But forme, potatoes are best served smothered inbutter, cheese or even better, both! I’ve beencooking this dish for years and because of itsrich creamy texture and thick layer of melted

cheese I try to save it for special occasions.It always takes pride of place on the dinnertable at Christmas and Easter but I’ve beenknown to bring it out on the odd weekend

just because!

The best thing about this recipe is that itnever disappoints. Potato, bacon and cheeseis a winning combination. Whether you callit potato gratin, potato bake, patates au gra-

tin or scalloped potatoes, one thing remains

the same. There is nothing more satisfyingthan that moment when the first personsinks their spoon into the soft, floury lay-ers of potato and as they move the spoon ofgratin from oven dish to plate, lardons cometumbling out from between the slices of po-tato and the thick layer of cheddar and gruy-ere produces long stringy ribbons of cheese.

After that everyone will be fighting over thishumble side dish! Forget the joint of meat,the Ultimate Cheese and Bacon Potato Gra-tin will become the star of the meal.

The RecipeIngredients:

150g lardons2 tbsp butter1kg baking potatoes600ml double cream4 cloves of garlic (crushed)2 bay leaves100g grated parmesanSalt and pepper to season125g grated cheddar cheese125g grated gruyere


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Method:Begin by pre-heating your oven to 375F /190C.Fry off the lardons in a small frying pan un-til crisp and browned. Remove from the heatand place to one side.Using the remaining butter, grease a largeoven dish.Begin by layering the potato slices in thebottom of the dish, sprinkling the lardons inbetween the layers until all the potato slicesand bacon have been used.In a milk pan, bring the double cream, gar-lic, bay leaves, parmesan and salt and pep-per to the boil. Once it reaches a boil let it

gently simmer for 5 minutes until the creamhas become infused with the bay.Remove the bay leaves from the pan andpour the heated cream over the potatoesand bacon.Cover the oven dish with tin foil and bake for1 hour.Remove the foil and bake for a further 15minutes uncovered until the top begins tobrown.Finally, sprinkle an even coating of the grat-ed cheddar and gruyere over the gratin andbake for a final 15 minutes.Serve piping hot with the cheese still meltedand stringy.


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FOOD

Meet The Black Chick Peaby Samina IqbalSuper Food


Everyone is familiar with the humble chick-pea. You get them in salads, falafels and ofcourse the go-to healthy snack: hummus.But have you come across the black chick-pea yet?It has a buttery, nuttier flavour than its paler

cousin. It is however a little powerhouse ofnutritional goodness. It is full of protein, soan excellent choice for vegetarians. In fact,2-3 tablespoons of black chickpeas consti-tute one of your five-a-day recommendedportions of fruit and veg.They are also rich in vitamins and minerals,especially iron, so are good for anyone whosuffers with anaemia or low energy levels.

Furthermore they have cardiovascular ben-efits, as they reduce the risk of heart diseaseas contain folate which helps minimise thenarrowing of arteries.The black chickpea’s key qualities are its highfibre content and low glycaemic index. Basi-cally this means they’re FAB for weight-loss,as they fill up your stomach - making youfeel fuller for longer - and the carbohydratesin them are digested slowly, which stabilises

blood sugar levels. A definite bonus.

So far black chickpeas are not commonlyfound in supermarkets - you may have tolook in an Asian or Turkish food store in-stead. A well-kept secret in the Indian world,they are a real superfood and very tasty withit!

Here’s my favourite black chickpea recipe.

KHALA CHANA MASALA

Ingredients:

Black chickpeas*1 medium onion, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

An inch of ginger, peeled and chopped1 can of chopped tomatoes½ teaspoon of chilli powder, turmeric, andgaram masalaSalt to tasteHandful of washed, chopped new potatoesBunch of coriander, washed and chopped1 tablespoon oil (some prefer coconut oil,others use ghee, whichever suits you)


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Method:

Fry onion in oil. Add salt and dry spices, then add ginger,garlic and chilli, followed by the can of to-matoes.

Add a dash of water and allow the paste tothicken.

Add black chickpeas (drained) and potatoes,

with enough water so that the potatoes arecovered.Cook for 25 minutes and add coriander.Serve with a plain indian rice or chappati.*Black chickpeas can be purchased in a can,pre-cooked and stored in brine. Drain andrinse before using. Or if you buy the driedones, they need to be soaked overnight thenboiled until tender, usually for 1-2 hours.


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Spuds Are Not Your Enemyby Anne Iarchy


Whenever I speak to someone about healthyeating, weight loss and diets, I hear over and

over again that they cut out wheat, bread, po-tatoes, pasta and most other carbohydrates.

Is that really the way forward?

Potatoes have been around for years and years, and the staple food for many culturesover the years. So why are they considered‘evil’ when it comes to health and weightloss?

It’s hard to say which diet came first: the GIdiet, the low carb/high fat diet, Ketogenicdiet, the Paleo diet, or even the Atkins diet.But all of those, and some others, ban theconsumption of potatoes and other types ofcarbohydrates. Why?

To me personally, the ‘Why?’ is not really

clear. Carbohydrates are one of the threemajor food groups or macronutrients. Hencean important part of the building blocks ofour body and health.

Carbohydrates are our main source of fuel.Our body, tissues and cells find it very easyto convert carbohydrate into energy. Butto become energy, carbohydrates need tobe converted into sugar/glucose, and that’swhere we differentiate between good/com-

plex carbohydrates and bad/simple carbo-hydrates and the Glycemic Index (GI).

The Glycemic Index is a relative ranking ofcarbohydrate (scale of 0 to 100) in foods ac-cording to how they affect blood glucose lev-els. Carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 orless) are more slowly digested, absorbed andmetabolised, causing a lower and slower risein blood glucose and therefore insulin levels.Low GI foods also leave you fuller for longer.

However it’s also important to take por-tion sizes into consideration, because theway GI is measured is not always relevant tothe amount of that specific food you’re eat-ing. For instance, carrots are high GI. Butfor carrots to have the same effect on bloodsugar levels as one slice of white bread, youprobably would need to eat approximately1kg of carrots, if not more. And unless you’re

a carrot addict, I doubt you would ever eatthat much in one go.

Coming back to potatoes, their GI varies de-pending on cooking method. A baked pota-to’s GI is higher than a boiled or mashed po-tato. However, remember that it’s often easyto eat more mash than boiled potatoes! Sonext time you make mash, check how manypotatoes you use. Portion control is very im-portant.

P I C T U R E C R

E D I T S : N e d n a p a C h u m j u m p a


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It’s also important to know that potatoesare rich in vitamins and minerals, as wellas phytochemicals, such as carotenoids. Forinstance, a medium-sized potato (approx150g) with skin is high in Vitamin C, containsquite a lot of potassium and vitamin B6, andsome trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin,folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, ironand zinc.

The biggest part of a potato is starch. Someof it acts in the same way as fibre does. Theamount of fibre depends on the way the po-tato is cooked and if it’s warm or cooled, andfibre is an important ingredient for healthydigestion.

Some people claim sweet potatoes are betterfor you than normal potatoes. Calorie-wisethere isn’t much of a difference. GI-wise,there is a slight difference but again this de-pends on the cooking method. As for vitaminand minerals, a sweet potato is rich in dif-ferent ones than a regular potato.

So, variety is key to having a large spectrumof different vitamins and minerals inside

you. The saying ‘eat like a rainbow’ is an im-portant one. The more colours you eat, thewider the variety of vitamins and minerals

you will get.

So should you cut spuds out or not?

In my humble opinion, the answer is no! If you are living a healthy lifestyle and inte-grating exercise into your daily life, hav-ing potatoes on the day you’re exercising isdefinitely a good option for giving your bodyenergy. However, like with any other food,don’t forget portion sizes. In the same way

that pasta should be a side dish, so shouldpotatoes. So your plateful of mash with a fewsausages and gravy might not have the rightproportions. But having a few new potatoes,a quartered roast potato, or a few spoonfulsof mashed potatoes can easily be part of a

varied and healthy diet.


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Food for the season

FOOD

MASHBy Dani Gavriel and Elsye Quail

Is there anything more British than Mash??!! A staple diet since birth and that many ar-guments have been had as to whether youhave it lumpy or smooth, with Salted butteror without and with cream or milk! I oncesaw Marco Pierre White whisk his mash toperfection. An idea I have pondered over forsome time. My Mother never whisked.

But Mash is a great recipe that can be ener-gized, manipulated and played with on manylevels with adding other ingredients to it thatwill change it completely although we don’t’want to lose it’s buttery perfection. We havepulled together some lovely ideas for you toenjoy with the help of Dani Gavriel and ElyseQuail, so that if you are adding a sausage orgoing veggie, you can enjoy this perfect sidedish. Or of course just have it as a main!

Base mashPacket of Maris Piper potatoesLarge spoon of fresh creamKnob of butterFreshly cracked salt & pepperDash of milkDash of olive oil

MethodBoil potatoes, once soft mash and add ingre-dients one by one, leaving the fresh creamuntil last.

Variations:

Cabbage & Kale Add sautéed finely sliced Savoy cabbage &shredded kale.Swede & Carrot

Add steamed diced carrot and swede andmash to a purée then add to the potato mash.

Cheddar Mash Add finely-grated mature cheddar cheese tothe mash whilst hot to slowly melt in.Herb & Parmesan

Add a bunch of fresh finely-diced parsleyand a teaspoon of thyme along with a hand-ful of finely-grated Parmesan.Mustard Mash

Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the

mash.Horseradish Mash Add a tablespoon of horseradish sauce to themash.Garlic Mash

Add crushed garlic to olive oil and sautélightly for two minutes on a medium heatthen add to mash.

Apple & Bacon Mash Add half a finely-diced apple and diced pan-

cetta to a pan and cook gently for 5-10 min-utes then add to mash.


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FEATURE

ROASTIESby Theo Michaels

Recipe:

When you fancy something a little differentto roasted spuds, these rosemary roastednew potatoes have a great fragrant aromaand a wonderful texture. Go on, you know

you want to…

Ingredients:

1kg new potatoes A handful of stripped rosemary A few good glugs of extra virgin olive oilPlenty of seasoning1 onion, sliced

Method:

Cut any large potatoes in half and par boilthem in salted water until just al dente. Testby inserting a knife into one - it should givea little resistance but don’t overcook! Thisshould take about 12 mins, give or take, on arolling boil.

Meanwhile strip the rosemary, give it a littlerub in your hands to release some of the oilsand drop into the bottom of a roasting dish.

Drizzle a few glugs of olive oil over the rose-mary, add the sliced onion and season. Mix

together to let infuse while your potatoes arecooking.

Once the spuds are done, drain and leave fora moment to steam dry.

Pour into the roasting dish and mix well withthe rosemary, onion and olive oil.

If they look a little dry, add more olive oil andseason well. Don’t go light on the rosemary,make sure you have enough to taste!

Pop into an oven at 180C for 20 mins, butcheck after 10 mins. You don’t want themto dry out, just have enough time to finishcooking and give a nice golden colour.

Done!


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REVIEW

Black Cow Vodkaby Andy Tudor


Dorset… countryside, lighthouses, muse-ums, cottages. Even if Bournemouth wason the tip of your tongue (where I went toUniversity) with its touristy Summer, vi-brant night scene, and epic beaches, it’d bea far cry from London Fashion Week, Dami-en Hirst, and celeb-spotting at the ChilternFirehouse.

Because that’s the world that Black Cow livesin. A pure milk vodka, it’s made authenti-cally as the invention of West Dorset dairyfarmer Jason Barber, triple-filtered andhand-bottled. Yet it then whisks its way to aselect number of establishments and eventsaround the world - Singapore, Australia, andLondon.

With contemporary branding befitting ofhigh fashion rather than rural kitsch, BlackCow has been the preferred tipple of choiceat a number of big events held at FitzroyPlace, the Viet Grill, Rules Restaurant andof fans such as Daniel Craig, Liz Hurley, andHeston Blumenthal. Virtually odourless andwith a smooth and creamy taste as you’d ex-pect, it still retains the bite of a vodka butwith the delicate softness of vanilla.

For this review I had mine both ice coldserved at Shoreditch eatery The Tramshedand later at room temperature and it wasequally great in both scenarios. Definitely acomfortable ‘sipping’ drink. Although theyhave a variety of tweaked vodka-based cock-tails on their website (including a MoscowMule variant of the “Dorset Donkey”) it’dbe perfect for a traditional espresso martini

also.

Espresso Martini2 shot of Black Cow Vodka1 shot of coffee liquor1 shot of espresso coffeeShake vigorously and serve in a cocktailsglass.

If you’re not a fan of traditional grain orgrape-based vodka then this is a heartyrecommendation. Clean to the lips yetwarming to the stomach and rumours are -no hangover ;-)


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FEATURE

4 Really Different Places

by Gemma Speakman

CARIBBEAN, INDIA, JAPAN, MAYFAIR...My taste buds have travelled far and wide to bring you this piece.

You’ve got a stinker of a head cold. Howmany times have you just skipped a meal or,when you have chowed down — desperateeven for some taste bud reverberation fromthe food you so normally love — realised thatsadly, truth be told, you might as well haveserved yourself up a helping of cardboard oncardboard?

A good meal is a total waste, no, a total frus-tration when you can’t smell properly, which

indicates how closely intertwined smell andtaste actually are and how it’s actually bothof those senses hard at work that makes thefood so satisfying and good. Or tells you it’soff and not to eat it to preserve your consti-tution.

This former fact is notable when you startto smell the relatively new Caribbean affair,RUDIE’S on the High Street in Stoke New-

ington. You get a whiff of the place a fair wayoff (starts kind of at the humungous ‘BeyondRetro’) then it thickens as you approach. Themouth saliva obliges in anticipation but theabsolute sensory deluge that transcendsonce the doors open is something you can’tquite prepare yourself for. It is probably oneof the only places I’ve been to eat where I’vegenuinely been tempted to stand and fan the

aromas into my face feeling like I am tast-

ing the food without anything actually goingpast my lips. It smells SO good.

This jerky, smoky, but all the same slightlyindistinguishable scent keeps you guess-ing, and annoying other diners by swishingdoors, trying to pin down what it actuallysmells of. Smoke? Chilli? Secret Caribbeaningredients? There’s an impenetrable depthto it and the contents of the YA MAN! meatplatter are the same. No wonder: ’24 hours

in our own secret real jerk marinade cookedover the charcoal and wood smoke on thetraditional drum’. It’s delish but a small tip:don’t have the Peppa Shrimp as a starter be-fore the jerk as the fish is so spicy it kind ofmomentarily disables the taste buds, mak-ing the intricacies of the jerk a little redun-dant and wasted.

I’d recommend having it afterwards instead,

with one of their amazing salads especiallythe avo, mango and cucumber salad, Y.O.M.The rice and peas feel meaty and wholesomeand the curried ox tongue is excellent too.Don’t skimp on the dessert either as the sor-bets are total solace in your hot mouth af-terwards and the rum cake with rum cara-mel sauce and ice cream is like a sumptuousChristmas pudding where you least expect

to find it.


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which was odd — sometimes things are bet-ter left as they are, chunky and meaty. Thetomato and goat’s cheese salad was supertasty but that’s not down to kitchen finesse,let’s face it, more your supplier. The DoverSole was immense — more so because it waspresented by our very charming Hungari-an waiter as ‘Mike, or used to be Mike.’ Thiscaused a lot of laughs, almost mirroring thepsychosis of the interior set-up. In a veryserious restaurant with pandering waiters,our Hungarian friend pulls out a hugely un-expected joke about murdering a fish thatwe can’t stop sniggering about.

The lamb chops were really very good too,

although the raisins were overpowering andtoo many in what should have been left as asimple dish, powerful enough by itself. Theside accompaniments, spinach, greens andgratin, were all very satisfying but again,hard to go wrong with such simple dishes.The lemon tart for dessert was good but inall honesty, also quite forgettable. I’ve hadbetter ones from leading supermarkets.

The lighting here is at the right setting - notstark but not so dark that you can’t see yourfood. But when you look upwards you real-ise it’s all terribly unimaginative spot lightssuspended from ugly rectangular boxes thatare obliterating beautifully high cornicedceilings. Oh to think of the chandeliers, vin-tage bulbs and general light wondermentthat could have been here!

On my way out assessing the crowd, it washard to decipher who the clientele was.From what I could gather, it was mostlytourists not locals. And the price is probablythe main reason for this. It’s not cheap as aneatery and in all honesty if you know Londonand you know good food, you wouldn’t dinehere. It’s good but there are a whole host ofother places that do what they do loads bet-

ter AND in an interior setting that is consist-

ent and loyal to itself. 8mountstreet.com

Back over East for one of the best curriesin London - to the charming Abdul Yas-een’s (ex-Cinnamon Club) newly launchedrestaurant Darbaar, housed in Spitalfields.Royal-inspired modern Indian cuisine, it’sall sleek wooden lines and wonderful goldchandeliers, reams of copper and pops ofblue, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows thatgive it a very warm and earthy feel. In themain dining area you are drawn by the verylarge and modern kitchen awash with busypeople preparing wonderful things for yourdelight, plus a very impressive clay oven thatsits atop the kitchen counter, slaving away

all evening churning out naan breads by thebucket load.

If you’re lucky enough, you’ll have Abdulcome out punter-side and cook you up your

very own Indian pizza — correct term, nan-za. For topping, think sumptuous chickentikka, paneer, red onion, fresh coriander anda special mystery chilli sauce atop a crunchyand light Indian bread. Although I think the

convivial proprietor may have been workingthe room that night!

The food was a delight from start to fin-ish and highly recommended is the shrimpcocktail, the sufiyani lamb seekh kebab withgreen spices plus the kid goat biryani. Thespiced carrot cake was a wonderful way toend a meal that was generous in size and

bursting with taste. A truly regal banquet.

Don’t be shy about going to the toilets hereeither. As some of you might recall from anearlier column, at a certain M in the city,Darbaar has invested in what are known as‘Tokyo’ toilets. You can do your business andbasically have a wash and blow dry downthere afterwards, for free. Oh and a heatedseat at a temperature of your choice. dar-

baarrestaurants.com.


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Finally back central, to Kanada-Ya in Hay-market for a Japanese truffle ramen (exclu-sive to this branch). The place is small andfeels slick and efficient from the moment

you step in. It’s predominantly decked outwith wood with pops of red, mirrors on theceiling, bobbing opaque white lights anda sensible slightly bouncy floor that I real-ly liked. It houses a tiny kitchen from whichthese amazing soup concoctions continuallyeffuse.

Downstairs, the toilets have a distinct out-doorsy feel, like they might sit well insidethe enclaves of a forest camp, but in a goodway. It feels raw and unfussy inside with no

wood staining or distressing on the go andnot a vintage chalk paint finish in sight. It’sfunctional and clean like the food it serves.The truffle ramen (18 hour pork bone broth,chashu pork collar, spring onion, porcinitruffle paste) was however quite heavy andrich, especially with the optional extra ofegg topping, plus another dollop of trufflepaste. By the end of it, as much as it was aunique-tasting dish, I felt a little queasy.

And for the distinctly lunchtime feel of theplace (this is not a place to linger over a bigmeal) £14 for a single bowl of ramen is quitesteep, especially as it’s likely you’d comehere with at least one friend. If truffle isn’t

your thing, try the vegetarian ramen or thechicken paitan instead — the latter a com-forting winter warmer with pork and leekbut again, at £11 it’s steep for chicken soup.The popcorn chicken side dish is great andcrunchy and a nice contrast to the noodlysoup.

For a mouth cleanse (which I needed) try theonly ice cream available which is the green

tea ice cream (matchka). For me, sadly thetemperature in my mouth after the soup wasthe only positive as it didn’t taste of anythingat all, though it was a lovely shade of green. Iam just not a fan of green tea, I just don’t getwhat it is all about at all. Give me a strong cupof Yorkshire Tea any day. kanada-ya.com


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FEATURE

A year on the cutting patchby Emma de Sousa

Back in November 2014 I took on an over-

grown, unloved allotment near to where Ilive. When I first showed it to my husbandhe looked at me as if I was mad! But afterfive months of backbreaking work, digging,clearing and dumping rubbish, it started toresemble somewhere I might – just might –be able to grow something.

So in March 2015 I started my journey ofgrowing and with the help of my belov-

ed greenhouse (that’s right, beloved – nowI have one I will never be without) I begansowing seeds. A few tomatoes plants here,unusual salad leaves there, pak choi andcourgettes amongst other things. And ofcourse my real passion in life: flowers. Lotsand lots of flowers.

During that first year at the allotment I to-

tally got the bug. When I was a child growingup, my Dad was always ‘down the allotment’and still has one at the age of 84. I rememberspending many happy hours making mudpies, eating dirty carrots and probably notbeing very helpful, but having a good timenonetheless. Maybe that time spent on Dad’sallotment has rubbed off on me.

I am a fairly late starter. Growing up, there

was always something more exciting to do,

but the older you get (in my early 40s I don’t

consider myself old yet!) your likes start tochange. Now nothing gives me more pleas-ure than pottering around in the fresh air,being at one with nature and having the per-fect excuse to don my welly boots and oldtracksuit bottoms!

Often the only company I have at the allot-ment is the resident robin, who waits anx-iously for the odd worm as I dig the ground,

and the local ginger cat whom I’ve nick-named Marmalade. (The poor thing getscalled something different by the other al-lotment residents, he’s probably a very con-fused pussy cat.) And of course our residentfox Hank, who often sits in the early morningsun just metres away from me, watching myevery move out of one eye whilst pretendingto sleep with the other. There is just some-

thing special about the early morning peaceand quiet on my little patch of heaven.

At the end of 2015, almost a year to the daylater, I took on another neighbouring allot-ment in an equally bad state and plan to growmany more varieties of veggies this year, andof course tons of flowers. Anyone who knowsme knows that my passion in life, aside frommy children and animals, is flowers. I have

been a florist for over nine years and made


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it my mission to not only to build a businessaround them, but to learn how to grow themfrom seed and eventually get my own pieceof land where I can grow for my business, aswell as just for pleasure on my allotment.

My ideal would be to have a house with land,an old beautiful barn with a veggie patch anda field full to the brim with seasonal cut flow-ers. I could run my business from there andkeep a small farmyard of animals (for pleas-ure only – I’m veggie so no animal-eating).

Ahh, if only....


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FEATURE

Spuds with a history.by Roz Lishak

It’s a root veg, mostly found with or-

ange-coloured flesh, but white and evenpurple varieties can be found. You can mash,chip fry or boil it and it’s a fabulous sourceof carbohydrate. Of course you’ve guessed,it’s a... Well, I imagine most of you either saidsweet potato or yam. But do you know sweetpotatoes are a variety of the humble potatoand not the same beast as a grown yam?

Interestingly, I also discovered that the or-

ange variety we commonly use today was in-troduced to the US many decades ago so thatshippers could distinguish it from the whitepotatoes everyone already knew. The pro-ducers and importers happened upon the

African word ‘nyami’ and they were swiftlylabelled ‘yams’!

To this day, this variety of potato is often

called a yam, even though IT IS A POTATO.

King Edward would be rolling in his vege-table patch if I didn’t get to the root of thisquestion, but what’s in a name? And why inCanine Corner am I sharing a few thoughtsabout the humble sweet potato (not yam, re-member)?

Well, when asked what sets our woof-tastic

canine cookie range apart from the rest, I

confide that my super-secret, superhero in-

gredient is the wonderfully versatile sweetpotato. This widely consumed veg is a safeingredient for dogs and a very hearty andhealthy addition to a nutritionally balancedcanine diet.

After all this in depth ‘underground’ re-search I’ve been digging around to do, here’sa little levity to lighten the load:

What did Mr Potato Head say when he left thefancy dress party in his Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger costume?“I’ll be baked.”


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FEATURE

Bowled over by Blowersby Matt Phillips

P I C T U R E C R E D I T S : c l a u d i o d i v i z i a

*Warning, this article contains several

product placements for comedy reasons.

The fact that we’re living in such a shamelesstime for celebrity endorsement can proba-bly be summed up by the breaking news thatthe entire cast of TOWIE just attended theopening of a crisp packet here in deepestdarkest Essex.

That thirst for fame, or the desperation tohold onto it, means established names willdo anything to keep their profile fresh. Yes,she was legendary in the Carry On filmsbut have you seen Barbara Windsor in thatGod-awful bingo advert?

Honestly, it’s enough to have you reachingfor Boots paracetamol.

And does anyone really believe that Peter Andre actually does his weekly shop in Ice-land? Allow me to sidetrack slightly and askthe question, whatever happened to Bejam?

Answers on an email to Cibare magazineplease.

Of course, celebrity endorsement isn’t amodern phenomenon. (Try saying those lasttwo words together after a couple of drink.)

You can go all the way back to the 19th cen-tury where American literary giant MarkTwain was putting his name to all sorts ofproducts with the kind of enthusiasm now

generally reserved for someone out of

Geordie Shore.

There wasn’t one but two brands of cigarsfeaturing the Huckleberry Finn/Tom Saw-

yer writer: Great Mark Cigars and the ratherimaginatively-named Mark Twain Cigars. Iwonder how many meetings they had beforedeciding on that catchy title?

Twain had his fingers in many pies and,

when not contributing to the American to-bacco industry, he could be found doinghis bit for bakers on Mississippi with MarkTwain Flour. That’s right. Flour.

P I C T U R E C R E D I T S : h t t p : / / w w w . t

w a i n q u o t e s . c o m / F l o u r . h t m l


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See, that’s where your modern celebrity isgoing wrong. Listen up Ronaldo, forget af-tershave and get yourself endorsing rollingpins…

It’s not all bad news though. Some famouspeople are putting their names to some verytasty products, one being legendary cricketcommentator Henry Blofeld and his excel-lent wine range.

You will struggle to find someone more Eng-lish than Henry Blofeld. Educated at Eton,he’s always immaculately dressed in a bowtie which is a great effort when you consid-er he’s spent the majority of his 50 years in

cricket behind a microphone… on radio.

Last year, Blowers appeared on BBC’s Room101 and promptly submitted hotels thatcouldn’t supply proper English Mustard atmeal times for the dreaded trap door.

I once went through a slight phase of boy-cotting Colman’s English Mustard becauseit was made in Norwich and I’m an Ipswich

Town fan… My wife said it was the most ri-diculous thing she’d ever heard and prompt-ly stocked up on Norfolk’s greatest export.It’s never been mentioned again.

Henry Blofeld is a Norfolk man too but hiswine range is very much French-themed solet’s kick off with the Bourgogne Blanc.

Around 60% of the grapes grown in Burgun-dy are dedicated to the production of whitewine and it’s here, in the sub-region of CôteChalonnaise via Montagny, that the 2012Blowers’ White Burgundy was born.

And it’s perfect for the upcoming springand summer months with a real fruitinessin taste and hints of citrus alongside applesand pears in the finish. I’m not saying that

the White Burgundy should become part of

your five-a-day but who could blame you ifit did?

Made from Chardonnay grapes, it’s a greatwine to have over a light lunch throughoutthe cricket season.

Staying in France, we move down to Côtesdu Rhône for the red wine in Blowers’ col-lection.

The certification of French wine from thisregion is a complicated business, on parwith trying to explain the rules of test crick-et to our friends from across the Atlantic(they generally lose interest when you state

that a game lasts five days…) and Blowers’Rhône falls under the Côtes du Rhône Vil-lages Massif d’Uchaux class.

The Rhône Valley suffers for its wine andwhen the infamous Mistral wind blowsthrough the region it’s very much a case ofrolling out the covers and the umpires de-claring ‘no play today’.

But the results are worth all the sufferingand what you get with Blowers’ Rhône is afull-tasting red with a blackberry finish thatwill complement an evening of meat on thegrill and a summer barbeque.

So there you have it: our faith in celebrityendorsement restored thanks to the legend-ary Henry Blofeld and two great wines that

will hit winter for six.

Cibare magazine readers can get their Hen-ry Blofeld wine via www.thewinecompany.co.uk/blowers

P I C T U R E C R E D I T S : D a v i d F r a n k l i n


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FEATURE

A PaleoLifestyleTips


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BOOKS

Cookbook Review

Ottolenghi by Rebecca Stratton

Everyone reviews new cookbooks but I thinkthe real test of a good book is if it’s still on

your shelf and, more importantly, still in use years later. This one was published in 2008after the runaway success of the deli of thesame name which, if you’ve never been, is awondrous place.

At the time I worked a street away from thedeli and visited practically every other day. Iwas positively giddy when the cookbook wasreleased so I could capture some of the Ot-tolenghi magic at home.

The book starts with a brief introduction tothe deli, the chefs, their philosophy and theingredients. Luckily you can now buy someof the more unusual ingredients very easily– think pomegranate, molasses and Sumac.The book is divided into three main sec-tions: Vegetables, Pulses & Grains, Meat &Fish and Baking & Patisserie.

The first section is a page turner, using everytype of vegetable and salad you can think of(I found this book a godsend when using upmy veg box). Favourite recipes are Figs with

Young Pecorino and Honey, Sweet Broccol-ini with Tofu, Sesame and Coriander, Cara-melised Endive with Serrano Ham, and Ko-sheri (a wonderful Egyptian rice dish). Any

of these would turn a simple plate of grilledmeat or fish into an absolute feast.

Next up, meat and fish: Courgette-wrappedLamb Kebabs, Seared Tuna with PistachioCrust, Seafood, Fennel and Lime Salad andRoast Chicken with Saffron, Hazelnuts andHoney. My words don’t do it justice but trust

me, the pictures do!

Lastly my favourite, the Baking and Patisse-rie Section. I have cooked practically everyrecipe from these pages. My most-used rec-ipe of the entire book is Brioche. It’s easy tomake (if you have a mixer with a dough hook),easy to prove (overnight in the fridge) andeasy to eat (especially if you throw in choc-olate chips). Try it, you’ll be converted – it’sthe bread recipe for people who don’t makebread! Other recipes include Jerusalem Ar-tichoke and Swiss Chard Tart, Caramel andMacadamia Cheesecake, Plum, Marzipanand Cinnamon Muffins, Pistachio and Rose-water Giant Meringues (they are famous forthese) and Sour Cherry Amaretti.

There is also a larder section of useful and

reliable recipes – custards, jams, pastry andmore. This is an absolutely amazing bookwith stunning photography and temptingrecipes but also just a really great read.


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Send love to the Cibare Team for thisamazing issue

Check them out on

www.cibare.co.uk/team

... and sign up to our newsletter!

Photo Credits

Spuds are not the enemy© Nednapa Chumjumpa

Gemma Speekman

Denise Chester© Comaniciu Dan

A Year On The Cutting Patch© Emma de Sousa

Cookbook Review© Ottolenghi

Matt Philips© claudiodivizia

© David Franklin© http://www.twainquotes.com/Flour.html

Jo Farren© Oksana Tkachuk

Cibare Food Magazine Issue Six

Documents

Transcript of Cibare Food Magazine Issue Six