Author Archives: Sarah

Tea Smoked Trout

Found by on Tuesday, 31st May 2011
Abstract Gourmet
» Abstract Gourmet

I dedicate this recipe to my husband who's eating his way around China. Please leave the pigs ears recipe ideas behind and make this on your return.

This is one of those lazy posts that I’ve had sitting in my drafts folder for about 2 months now. I have lots of others too, in various forms of shabbiness that will hopefully one day see the light of day. This however sparked an interest in smoking (insert joke about which end of the fish do you light) in general that has opened up a whole new world. Since realising how easy it is to do some casual smoking at home with nothing more than a gas burner, a wok, and a steamer of some description, I’ve turned my hand to many different things. Smoking onions, garlic, capsicum, and soon plan to get a slab of beef brisket in there and made some home made pastrami.

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African Women Want Drunks and Hoes Banned

Found by on Tuesday, 31st May 2011
Duncan Green
» Duncan Green

When Oxfam say the number of people going hungry is increasing, it's interesting to look at who the victims say are responsible

The new campaign that Oxfam is launching next week will have a big focus on gender – almost every issue in development looks very different depending on whether you are a man or a women. I saw that in graphic form last week in Tanzania, during a training session for 40 ‘farmer animators’ – local activists who are helping to galvanize their communities in Shinyanga, one of Tanzania’s poorest regions. Men and women split into two separate groups to discuss the causes of hunger, its impacts, and how people respond. Here’s what they came up with. First the men:

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Cheap and Nasty

Found by on Wednesday, 25th May 2011
The World Tastes Good
» The World Tastes Good

Westerner’s outrage at not being treated like a local, exacerbated by favourite noodle dish suddenly costing more than a pound.

This will probably be my final post on local eats in Hanoi. Not so much because I’m leaving Hanoi in less than five weeks, but because I have a hard time recommending places that don’t overcharge me for being a Westerner. Many places don’t, but just as many, I find, do. It’s one reason I haven’t updated my blog more recently than this.

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Tasty Dates Are Hard to Find

Found by on Tuesday, 24th May 2011
xoJane
» xoJane

Why men who cook are sexy, but those who talk about food are killing their chances.

Once, I was blown off by a guy who makes pickles for a living. We were both alone at a bar in Park Slope one afternoon and he asked me what I was reading. He was an art director or something before but now he spent his days knee-deep in brine. "I love it," he said, doing something weird with his eyes to let me know how sincere he was being. He talked about his pickles for about 45 minutes, during which I was able to conclude not only that they are much more flavorful as a garnish than a subject but that it is possible to have an extremely large ego even while you discuss the merits of canning.

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Chinese Frown at Cheese

Found by on Monday, 23rd May 2011
Slate
» Slate

I’m now desperate to sneak a pouch of Brie into my husband’s carry-on when he heads to Beijing this week.

It was lunchtime, in a private room at the Xianheng Tavern, the most famous restaurant in the ancient Chinese city of Shaoxing. I opened the plastic boxes that I'd carried, sealed, all the way from London, and the stench of farmhouse cheeses began to waft across the room. The Chinese chefs and waiting staff seated around the table eyed them warily. Only two of the younger chefs had any cheese-related experience. None of the others, including the manager and executive chef of the Xianheng, Mao Tianyao, had tasted it in any form.

cheese, china

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Ottoman Rules

Posted by on Monday, 23rd May 2011
Image credit: Silvena Rowe by Jan Baldwin
» Cheque Please!

From page to plate, Rowe turns her cookbook into a restaurant.

Empire-building is in Silvena Rowe’s blood. The platinum blond Bulgarian, who’s father was Turkish, feels deeply Ottoman. “It will be a work of art,” she says, as we swoop around her not-quite-finished Eastern Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Quince, due to soft launch on Tuesday, May 24. At present, marble worktops are covered by dust sheets, coloured glass windows look dull without back lighting and the glorious red velvet furniture has been covered to prevent paint splatters. But in Rowe’s eyes, it’s ready. Continue reading »

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A Reason to like Fennel

Found by on Sunday, 22nd May 2011
The Telegraph
» The Telegraph

For years my brain has said ‘Yes’ to fennel while my tongue screams ‘Ugh’. Last night I made this and they agreed to disagree. Yum.

Spiced pork and cumin sausages with fennel and preserved-lemon salad recipe. Home-made spicy 'sausages' served with bread, yogurt and a salad of crunchy fennel and piquant preserved lemon

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Eats Humans and Leaves

Found by on Saturday, 21st May 2011
Gigabiting
» Gigabiting

Mike Tyson strikes a blow for vegans

Mike Tyson snacked on Evander Holyfield’s ear. He threatened to make a meal of Lennox Lewis’ children. He is perhaps the planet’s most notorious flesh-eater. But these days there’s nothing meatier than a seitan cutlet in his George Foreman Grill. Mike Tyson: holier than thou?

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Sweet Words

Found by on Thursday, 19th May 2011
Novice Chef
» Novice Chef

When is a biscuit more than a biscuit? When it’s an interracial cookie.

Lemon and Rosemary Shortbread. It’s like a Tiger Woods cookie… a little bit of everything. They have sugar and flour and loads of butter. They also have lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh rosemary, and a little splash of almond extract. And most importantly, they don’t need any resting time. Which in the world of Shortbread, is amazing. I hate waiting for cookie dough to rest, it’s almost completely impossible.

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Eat, Pray, Shop

Posted by on Thursday, 19th May 2011
Image credit: London Chow
» Cheque Please!

Barbecoa goers may eat in the shadow of St Paul’s, but they worship a different God.

Parked up outside One New Change shopping centre, my taxi driver shakes his head: “It’s not on the map.” Clearly, Barbecoa doesn’t exist. In fact, Adam Perry Lang’s new restaurant is on the first floor, out of the reach of street maps and sat navs. In a sci-fi style search, I head up the escalator and down echoing corridors. Eating in malls might be the norm throughout the Americanized world, but I still largely dine out in discrete ground-floor rooms — so this is weird. Continue reading »

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