All Things Considered

French Macaroons
Posted by Kate Sullivan

For a few years now, French Macaroons have been well documented on the blogasphere. I first made a batch some time ago and rather freakishly my attempts were pretty good. You see, the French Macaroon is notoriously tricky to perfect. For me it’s a bit of a Holy Grail - like achieving the perfect sourdough loaf. The many different recipes found on the web are both daunting and inspiring - it seems that I’m not alone in wanting to perfect the perfect ‘feet’, sheen, crunch and chew, that isn’t too garish in both colour and flavour (unlike the lavender ones I recently made - very Haze Air Freshener).

Over the past few weeks I have made around 350 of the dainty coloured biscuits for a big family gathering. Approximately three dozen eggs later and with fridge full of egg yolks I am quite willing to never make another macaroon again. I would however love to experience the authentic French Macaroon at the glamorous Laudree concession in Harrods or Pierre Herme’s shop in Selfridges who I first discovered through the inspiring food blog Foodbeam.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on August 1st, 2010

Mr Cinghiale
Posted by Simon Lewin

St. Jude's favourite, Christopher Brown, has just produced this wild boar illustration for Carluccio's. For a limited time you can purchase a copy of a poster of the image online from the Carluccio's store.

A selection of Chris' limited prints are available from our online print store.

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 28th, 2010

Jerusalem artichokes
Posted by Kate Sullivan

Knobbly, crunchy, nutty and unsociable when eaten (which winter vegetable isn't?).

To me, Jerusalem artichokes (a plant related to the sunflower) are a delicious but often over looked vegetable. Having a similar taste to the spiky summer fruiting globe artichoke but without the arduous preparation (especially when preserving).

The winter choke is fabulous eaten raw with a remoulade salad, comforting when pureed to a soup and topped with scallops or my favourite - sliced then baked in a dish with cream, thyme, garlic, pancetta and parmesan.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on December 20th, 2009

Leila’s Shop & Deli
Posted by Simon Lewin

We finally made it to Leila's Café just by Arnold Circus, London E2 the other weekend. The only shame was we'd already eaten breakfast so couldn't sample the food properly (the fried eggs & ham looked fab).

And we were recently introduced to a new website, Spitalfields Life, a personal blog covering the history, culture, personalities and domestic life of the area. They like Leila's too...

"It is almost impossible for me to walk past Leila’s shop without succumbing to curiosity and stepping inside to see what is new. Regularly, I leave clutching a small brown paper bag with a dark moist slice of gingerbread inside to lift my spirits. This is something that can make my day. When they are in season, I have bought highly scented Narcissi from the Scilly Isles here and Bluebells from Cornwall too. Leila always tries to keep English flowers in stock, in fact whenever I ask where any of her stock comes from, whether a little bag of Lapsang Souchong or a large jar of Honey, there is always a story attached." More

Leila's Shop & Café is at 17 Calvert Avenue, London E2 7JP. Photo courtesy of Spitalfields Life.

Posted by Simon Lewin on October 9th, 2009

Eric Ravilious’ High Street
Posted by Simon Lewin

Can you help identify the restaurant below?

Seventy years ago Country Life Books published High Street, a children's book of shops, featuring twenty-four exquisite lithographs by the English artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942). The book wasn't a limited edition, but the destruction of the lithographic plates during the Blitz meant that only 2000 copies were ever printed. Subsequently High Street has become one of the most highly-prized artist's books of its time.

In "The Story of High Street" Mainstone Press have tried to locate the whereabouts of Eric Ravilious' 24 businesses and shop fronts in their wonderful limited edition book that reproduces the original lithographs and text of High Street, along with essays, preparatory sketches and drawings.

One of the locations that proved elusive was the 'Restaurant and Grill Room'. Does anyone recognise this room with it's distinctive five or six sided skylight?

J. M. Richards, the author of High Street tells us that ... "All the pictures are of real shops, though they are not in fact all in the same street. Most of them are in London, but except for those of a very specialised kind - such as the shop that sells fire-engines and the one that sells diving suits - you could find shops like these in almost any big enough town".

So where was this London restaurant? The first person who can help successfully identify the location will receive a copy of the 'The Story of High Street', worth £160.00. Please contact us if you can help.

Posted by Simon Lewin on July 30th, 2009

The Balvenie
Posted by Simon Lewin

Consultancy Here Design have been working on the redesign of packaging for Speyside's The Balvenie Distillery.

Although lithographically printed due to the volume, the designers collaborated with calligraphers, letterpress printers and wood engravers as they worked on the finished packaging.

Posted by Simon Lewin on July 28th, 2009

Speyside Organics
Posted by Angie Lewin

One of the first things we try to do when we arrive in the Highlands is get in our supplies from Speyside Organics. On this trip we were able to visit them on their stall at the first ever Forres Farmers’ Market.

As well as their own excellent organic lamb and beef, we bought Phoenix Bakery rye and sourdough loaves from Findhorn plus some locally grown fruit and veg. Keep an eye on the Speyside Oganics website for details of the local Farmers' Markets that they attend - you can visit them next at Inverness (July 4th) and back in Forres (July 11th). But if you live further afield, a mail order service is available - and highly recommended.

Posted by Angie Lewin on June 16th, 2009

Yurt at Drove Orchards
Posted by Kate Sullivan

A new eating venue on the Norfolk coast is about to open its canvas curtains – in a Mongolian yurt.

It’s a joint venture between the farmer of Drove Orchards and Ollie Trezise & his family. Possibly the only yurt restaurant in the country, with seating for fifty, they plan to serve simple, reasonably priced seasonal food with as much produce sourced from the farm as possible. For more information about opening times visit their website.

Some other eateries on the Norfolk coast well worth stopping at are Number 10 at Sheringham, Cookies Crab Shop at Salthouse (telephone 01263 740352) and Wiveton Hall Café. 

Posted by Kate Sullivan on June 11th, 2009

Wolterton Hall
Posted by Kate Sullivan

Just a few minutes up the road from our St. Jude's Gallery in Itteringham is Wolterton Hall. A beautiful estate built by Thomas Ripley in the 1720s for Horatio Walpole: politician, diplomat  and younger brother to Britain's first Prime Minister - Sir Robert Walpole.

Last Sunday, Wolterton Hall's walled kitchen garden opened its gates to the public as part of their annual Organic Garden Event. I hadn't visited before and didn't know what to expect but the day was thoroughly enjoyable and insightful for anyone - green fingered or not.

We stumbled across David Barker, the organic farmer at Wolterton talking about the importance of soil, its quality and how we must 'feed' it. He also showed us just how much soil is on our planet using an apple to represent Earth. I found this clip on You Tube which explains what David demonstrated to us. Fascinating stuff.

 

Posted by Kate Sullivan on May 21st, 2009

How to run a café
Posted by Simon Lewin

Posted by Simon Lewin on April 23rd, 2009