Yesterday night I was in York, in the city centre with a friend and had a sudden pang of pain, urging me to eat some Jamon. Unfortunately, York has a very poor selection of Spanish restaurants, so we had to head for La Tasca, the chain Spanish-ish bar restaurant. We went in, and ordered some ham, which was good for Jamon of its class (Serrano), We got some patatas bravas on the house (because we're charming) and then got some bread. After that I noticed Gambas Pilpil on the menu, but was very dissapointed on its arrival to see the sauce was completely unemulsified and the chef had clearly never seen a proper 'al pilpil' dish. after that we had very tender ribs, some fairly poor chicken in white wine, some paella, an (underripe) avocado and spinach salad, and a nice bit small Aubergine gratin. It was all just ok, but we got a free bottle of wine and, as I decided to sit at the bar for the duration as opposed to a table, got to witness the frankly STUNNING Polish barmaid for a couple of hours. after that we drank a lot more wine and gin and juice cocktails. we also ended up in a chinese disco bar eating dim sum and drinking cans of Stella.
I woke up a little hung over and made a savoury pain perdu with smoked bacon, and a sneaky bit of ketchup. Foodies, you may mock, but I truly believe that ketchup, and HP brown sauce, are some of the world's greatest classic condiments. Great way to start the day
Yesterday I made some a garnache for dark chocolate and espresso truffles and had fun molding and dusting them afer a night in the refrigerator. so rich, so dark, so delicious, so horribly more-ish.
Later on I whipped up a batch off summer fruits pithiviers; raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and redcurrents, sugared and baked in a glazed puff pastry, served hot with natural, unsweetened greek yoghurt. very nice.
Good eating. Good living.
Bon appetit
Friday 4 January 2008
Tarragon tortelloni stuffed with Chicken breast, baby Spinach and Queso de Cabrales.
Last summer I'd applied for a weekend chef job in a little hotel in the centre of york. It was quite a nice little place, and the existing menu was awful. They told me to design and cost out a menu, whatever i felt like, and I had a couple interviews.
Well it seems like wasabi carpaccio was not really their cup of tea, so the owner asked me to design some dishes "maybe with pasta" .zzz. but hey, she wants pasta she gets pasta. Over the next few days i had to come up with a couple of new dishes, so had my friends coming over in shifts to eat :)
I didn't get the job because i was too young, and they employed someone shit who has now left. I guess it's their loss. Anyway, if it helped increase my scope and repertoire then it can't be a bad thing after all.
Tarragon tortelloni stuffed with Chicken breast, baby Spinach and Queso de Cabrales. Winter Radish and Rucolla salad.
serves 4 (hungry people), or 12 as a starter
for the pasta:
Half a bunch of Tarragon, finely minced
1lb (500g) "OO" strength flour
4/5 eggs
Just a little extra virgin olive oil
semolina is useful too, for ease of rolling, but it is by no means essential.
1 tbsp salt
On a clean and dry countertop, with clean dry hands, pile up all of your flour and make a hole in the middle. add two of the eggs and all of the the tarragon. break the eggs innerds up, and bring flour from the sides over the top.combine, a dough should start to form. add the other eggs and the salt as and when you feel like it. I wont patronise you. I'm sure you can knead. If not the best way to learn is to practice. Knead until firm *about 15 minutes* hopefully. pop the dough in a polythene bag and refrigerate for atleast 1 hour.
You can do this in a blender by just tipping it all in and pressing VRRRRRRRRRRR. This is a cowboy method which leads to poor results (I've tried it). Please use your hands. kneading the dough and working with your hands is good for the soul.
For the filling:
500/600 g chicken, breast preferably, diced into pieces a bit bigger than 1cm
200g baby spinach
200g mascarpone cheese
200g Cabrales cheese. If this is not available go for Roquefort or similar.
freshly cracked black Pepper
Some remaining Tarragon, minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 smaller Spanish (white) onions, finely diced
butter
salt and sugar on hand
125ml of double cream
a splash of dry white wine
Olie oil (not extra virgin)
1. Sautee the onions in the olive oil for 5/6 minutes over a medium/high heat. Add a good few cracks of black pepper and the diced chicken to the pan and continue to cook.
2. When the chicken has been in for about 4 or 5 minutes, add the garlic, then a few seconds later a splash of wine.
3. Add the spinach and tarragon and cream and continue to sautee for a minute and a half, stirring slowly and continously.
4. Over a medium heat how, start to incorporate the cheeses in smallish blobs. use all of the cheese.
5. Season to taste, maybe even a little sugar, and set aside. The sauce should be fairly thick. It will continue to thicken as it cools. The beauty of this dish is not a complicated technique or special skill. It's a means of showcasing great produce and combining well balanced and matched flavours.
Now for the fun part.
Making your tortelloni
roll the pasta on a floured or semolinad (?) surface until nice and thin. maybe 3 mm. dont try doing the whole block at once. cut it into quarters. When rolled, cut the sheet into 3 or 4 inch squares. fill with a tablespoon or maybe a little more of the cool(ish) mixture and wrap into a tortelloni shapes. I don't have a camera at the moment but they look something like this.
Unless you're hellbent on calling them tortelloni, the shape is not terribly important. as long as they are completely sealed and water tight. Do not over fill them. They could even be rolled into canneloni and baked. Keep in air tight tupperware in the fridge until ready to serve. they should last 3 days.
To serve
Bring a deep pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the pasta, cook for 5 minutes, and serve on a bed of rucolla (arugala) and thinly sliced radish or winter radish. If desired, melt some butter in a pan with either the juice and zest of half a lemon, or the remaining tarragon. pour over and serve.
Delicious everytime, another great recipe to either follow exactly or have fun with and be creative.
Bon appetit.
Well it seems like wasabi carpaccio was not really their cup of tea, so the owner asked me to design some dishes "maybe with pasta" .zzz. but hey, she wants pasta she gets pasta. Over the next few days i had to come up with a couple of new dishes, so had my friends coming over in shifts to eat :)
I didn't get the job because i was too young, and they employed someone shit who has now left. I guess it's their loss. Anyway, if it helped increase my scope and repertoire then it can't be a bad thing after all.
Tarragon tortelloni stuffed with Chicken breast, baby Spinach and Queso de Cabrales. Winter Radish and Rucolla salad.
Memories of this dish came flooding back to me this morning when i saw the cheese, a gorgeous strong spanish blue cheese, often made of mixed milks, mentioned in the excellent gastroblog ilovenapa.
The first time i made it this way , I knew it was right, because my friends ate half of the mix on bread out of the pan before I even had chance to stuff the pasta. some of them even made weird sex noises. bad boys.serves 4 (hungry people), or 12 as a starter
for the pasta:
Half a bunch of Tarragon, finely minced
1lb (500g) "OO" strength flour
4/5 eggs
Just a little extra virgin olive oil
semolina is useful too, for ease of rolling, but it is by no means essential.
1 tbsp salt
On a clean and dry countertop, with clean dry hands, pile up all of your flour and make a hole in the middle. add two of the eggs and all of the the tarragon. break the eggs innerds up, and bring flour from the sides over the top.combine, a dough should start to form. add the other eggs and the salt as and when you feel like it. I wont patronise you. I'm sure you can knead. If not the best way to learn is to practice. Knead until firm *about 15 minutes* hopefully. pop the dough in a polythene bag and refrigerate for atleast 1 hour.
You can do this in a blender by just tipping it all in and pressing VRRRRRRRRRRR. This is a cowboy method which leads to poor results (I've tried it). Please use your hands. kneading the dough and working with your hands is good for the soul.
For the filling:
500/600 g chicken, breast preferably, diced into pieces a bit bigger than 1cm
200g baby spinach
200g mascarpone cheese
200g Cabrales cheese. If this is not available go for Roquefort or similar.
freshly cracked black Pepper
Some remaining Tarragon, minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 smaller Spanish (white) onions, finely diced
butter
salt and sugar on hand
125ml of double cream
a splash of dry white wine
Olie oil (not extra virgin)
1. Sautee the onions in the olive oil for 5/6 minutes over a medium/high heat. Add a good few cracks of black pepper and the diced chicken to the pan and continue to cook.
2. When the chicken has been in for about 4 or 5 minutes, add the garlic, then a few seconds later a splash of wine.
3. Add the spinach and tarragon and cream and continue to sautee for a minute and a half, stirring slowly and continously.
4. Over a medium heat how, start to incorporate the cheeses in smallish blobs. use all of the cheese.
5. Season to taste, maybe even a little sugar, and set aside. The sauce should be fairly thick. It will continue to thicken as it cools. The beauty of this dish is not a complicated technique or special skill. It's a means of showcasing great produce and combining well balanced and matched flavours.
Now for the fun part.
Making your tortelloni
roll the pasta on a floured or semolinad (?) surface until nice and thin. maybe 3 mm. dont try doing the whole block at once. cut it into quarters. When rolled, cut the sheet into 3 or 4 inch squares. fill with a tablespoon or maybe a little more of the cool(ish) mixture and wrap into a tortelloni shapes. I don't have a camera at the moment but they look something like this.
Unless you're hellbent on calling them tortelloni, the shape is not terribly important. as long as they are completely sealed and water tight. Do not over fill them. They could even be rolled into canneloni and baked. Keep in air tight tupperware in the fridge until ready to serve. they should last 3 days.
To serve
Bring a deep pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the pasta, cook for 5 minutes, and serve on a bed of rucolla (arugala) and thinly sliced radish or winter radish. If desired, melt some butter in a pan with either the juice and zest of half a lemon, or the remaining tarragon. pour over and serve.
Delicious everytime, another great recipe to either follow exactly or have fun with and be creative.
Bon appetit.
Thursday 3 January 2008
Confiture du lait - my dentist is on speed dial
Confiture du lait, French for 'milk jam', is a rich, sweet, deeply delicious, spread, filling or sweet condiment.
It is fairly similar to the world renowned 'dolce de leche', made with tinned condensed milk, however this version calls for all fresh ingredients and yields beautiful results.
The best thing about this recipe is you can really play around with it. Liquors, spices, licorice, walnuts, it's up to you. Aslong as you have the basics and the time, then play around with it and please tell me about any results!
I would however not recommend using fresh fruits, as i have a hunch that some of the acids or a maillard reaction here or there may produce some poor results or would not preserve properly.....maybe someone should give it a try and see? Candied fruits, such as cherries, diced very finely would be delicious. I have a feeling chocolate and chilli would be good.
It keeps well in a sterilised jar for a few months, can be reheated for desired consistencies and is excellent as a sandwich cake filling. Don't worry about the salt with the sweet. If it's good enough for Heston Blumenthal it's good enough for me.
Here are two of my favourite variants on the recipe:
'Confiture du lait' with fresh vanilla
and
Dark chocolate and cinammon 'Confiture du lait'
the basics: makes 6/700 cl
2 litres of whole milk
500 g caster sugar
15g of salt
for the vanilla variant: 1 vanilla pod, spliced and seeded (use a teaspoon or paring knife)
for the chocolate variant:
100g of best quality sifted cocoa powder,
130g 70% plus cocoa solid dark chocolate, green and blacks is highly recomended
3 sticks of cinnamon or 3 level tbsp ground cinnamon powder
a good grate of nutmeg (optional)
some nice white bread to sample the mix on at different stages of cooking. yum
you will need:
A big pan or stock pot, a whisk, a sterilised jar (if not using within a few days)
method:
1. Pour all the milk into your big pan and place on a medium to high heat. Add your sugar and whisk continously for atleast 20 minutes. Look at your watch and remember the time.
2. As the milk comes to heat, you can lay off the whisking for 5 minutes if your tired.
3. The milk should be hot and the mix may start to go a slightly darker colour. this is good. add now all the required ingredients for your variant and the salt and whisk hard. If using the Vanilla, use both the seeds and the pod in the mix.
4. Leave on a heat so everything is just below or at a very low boil. whisk as often as you can, to prevent a skin from forming.
5. Notice the beautiful froth formed from whisking, especially in the vanila variant. this is excellent on top of a hot espresso.
6. Notice the mixture gradually reducing and becoming thicker. keep whisking.
7. remember the time in point 1) and add three to three and a half hours. At this point your confiture du lait should be about ready. a longer cooking time will lead to a richer and thicker and more caramelly spread but may yield lumps, less cooking time will be better for pouring/dropping. Remove the vanilla pod or cinammon sticks.
REMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE: the consistancy of the hot mix will be markedly thinner than when cooled. If in doubt err on the slightly too thin side, as it can always be cooked further after cooling if necesary.
8. use as required
eat, drink, be merry and remember to brush your teeth
Bon appetit
It is fairly similar to the world renowned 'dolce de leche', made with tinned condensed milk, however this version calls for all fresh ingredients and yields beautiful results.
The best thing about this recipe is you can really play around with it. Liquors, spices, licorice, walnuts, it's up to you. Aslong as you have the basics and the time, then play around with it and please tell me about any results!
I would however not recommend using fresh fruits, as i have a hunch that some of the acids or a maillard reaction here or there may produce some poor results or would not preserve properly.....maybe someone should give it a try and see? Candied fruits, such as cherries, diced very finely would be delicious. I have a feeling chocolate and chilli would be good.
It keeps well in a sterilised jar for a few months, can be reheated for desired consistencies and is excellent as a sandwich cake filling. Don't worry about the salt with the sweet. If it's good enough for Heston Blumenthal it's good enough for me.
Here are two of my favourite variants on the recipe:
'Confiture du lait' with fresh vanilla
and
Dark chocolate and cinammon 'Confiture du lait'
the basics: makes 6/700 cl
2 litres of whole milk
500 g caster sugar
15g of salt
for the vanilla variant: 1 vanilla pod, spliced and seeded (use a teaspoon or paring knife)
for the chocolate variant:
100g of best quality sifted cocoa powder,
130g 70% plus cocoa solid dark chocolate, green and blacks is highly recomended
3 sticks of cinnamon or 3 level tbsp ground cinnamon powder
a good grate of nutmeg (optional)
some nice white bread to sample the mix on at different stages of cooking. yum
you will need:
A big pan or stock pot, a whisk, a sterilised jar (if not using within a few days)
method:
1. Pour all the milk into your big pan and place on a medium to high heat. Add your sugar and whisk continously for atleast 20 minutes. Look at your watch and remember the time.
2. As the milk comes to heat, you can lay off the whisking for 5 minutes if your tired.
3. The milk should be hot and the mix may start to go a slightly darker colour. this is good. add now all the required ingredients for your variant and the salt and whisk hard. If using the Vanilla, use both the seeds and the pod in the mix.
4. Leave on a heat so everything is just below or at a very low boil. whisk as often as you can, to prevent a skin from forming.
5. Notice the beautiful froth formed from whisking, especially in the vanila variant. this is excellent on top of a hot espresso.
6. Notice the mixture gradually reducing and becoming thicker. keep whisking.
7. remember the time in point 1) and add three to three and a half hours. At this point your confiture du lait should be about ready. a longer cooking time will lead to a richer and thicker and more caramelly spread but may yield lumps, less cooking time will be better for pouring/dropping. Remove the vanilla pod or cinammon sticks.
REMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE: the consistancy of the hot mix will be markedly thinner than when cooled. If in doubt err on the slightly too thin side, as it can always be cooked further after cooling if necesary.
8. use as required
eat, drink, be merry and remember to brush your teeth
Bon appetit
comfort food - pasta bake
Last night my flat mate told me she was sick. Amidst some pretty awful coughs and splutters, she disclosed that her mum always used to make her macaroni cheese when she was sick as a child.
She went off to bed, and I decided to cook her a treat.
Nothing flash, nothing bling, just a delicous and warming macaroni cheese. don't be scared to use as much cheese as you like, and remember to use a strong cheese, as cheese loses power in sauces.
serves 3/4
400g dried penne pasta
1 head of broccoli -trimmed to florets
4 rashers of good quality smoked back bacon (not american stlye belly bacon) - 1/2inch squares
2 small onions or 8 shallots - fine diced
4 large cloves of garlic - crushed, smushed and chopped up small
lots of boiling water
salt and pepper
a splash of olive oil
for the sauce:
700 ml whole milk
350g good quality mature cheddar cheese (white) (grated)
60g butter
40g plain flour
3 bay leaves
3 blades of mace
10 mixed peppercorns
10 fennel seeds
LOTS of coarsely cracked blackpepper
a hint of white pepper
crusty white bread and mixed salad leaves to serve
a dry white wine
a whisk, a large pyrex or earthenware tray (greased), a steamer (optional), a few pans, a wooden spoon, knives, muslin or j-cloth, a colander, a friend to do the washing up.
method:
1. Kettle boil enough water to generously cover a pan full of dry pasta. Pour on, add a good amount of saltv and place on a high heat to boil.
2.Place the broccoli, if possible in a tier of a metal steamer and slot above the pasta. cover. this way saves water and electricity. If you do not have a teared steamer then boil in lightly salted water.
3. cook until the pasta is 2 minutes from al dente (very firm but not hard). cook the broccoli until firm and slightly crunchy. drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 210 celsius.
4. wrap the peppercorns, mace and fennel seeds in muslin and tie securely, leaving plenty of space inside the 'bag'.
5. Pour all of the milk into a pan , with the muslin 'bag' and bay leaves and bring to the boil.
6. go and have a glass of wine or wash some dishes. Be careful the milk doesn't boil over :D.
7. After a few minutes on a low boil, take it down to the lowest setting and leave it. the longer you leave it, the more the aromatics from the herbs and spices will influence the flavour, giving you a more complex sauce.
8. In your nicest, heaviest saucepan bring 40g of the butter to a gentle sizzle over a medium heat. add all of the flour and stir hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture (roux) comes away from the sides of the pan, stir moderately and allow to sizzle gently for 2 minutes. While the roux is cooking, remove the muslin and bay from the milk and pour into a jug.
9. Add the milk to the roux in small batches, stirring or whisking continously and vigourously, maintaining a hot but not boiling heat. When each batch of milk is fully incorporated and the mix is smooth, add the next batch. Do this until all of the milk is incorporated.
10. Still on a moderate heat, gently stir in 250g of your grated cheese until it melts. adding the remaining butter at this point will give your sauce a beautiful shine. Season with lots of blac pepper, a little white pepper. do not add salt. leave on a back ring either off or on a very low heat, stirring occasionaly
11. add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan (sautee pan I think in american english), and then fry (saute) the onions or shallots with a sprinkle of black pepper on high heat for 4 minutes. Add the diced bacon and sautee for a further 2 minutes. add the garlic for a final 30 seconds and remover from the heat.
12. Pour the bacon mix, including fat, into the sauce and stir, then add the broccoli and pasta. stir well. No additional salt should be necessary, as the bacon is usually salty enough to season the whole dish.
13. Pour the whole mix into your pyrex or earthenwear dish and sprinkle on the top half of the remaining cheese. bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Go and pour yourself another glass of wine.
14. take out of the oven and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. place under a grill (salamnder) until nice and brown. I think Americans call this 'broiling' but i'm not sure.
15. serve with crisp bitter leaves, dressed lightly, and crusty white bread, preferably warm.
Enjoy with a chilled glass of dry white wine.
Bon appetit
She went off to bed, and I decided to cook her a treat.
Nothing flash, nothing bling, just a delicous and warming macaroni cheese. don't be scared to use as much cheese as you like, and remember to use a strong cheese, as cheese loses power in sauces.
serves 3/4
400g dried penne pasta
1 head of broccoli -trimmed to florets
4 rashers of good quality smoked back bacon (not american stlye belly bacon) - 1/2inch squares
2 small onions or 8 shallots - fine diced
4 large cloves of garlic - crushed, smushed and chopped up small
lots of boiling water
salt and pepper
a splash of olive oil
for the sauce:
700 ml whole milk
350g good quality mature cheddar cheese (white) (grated)
60g butter
40g plain flour
3 bay leaves
3 blades of mace
10 mixed peppercorns
10 fennel seeds
LOTS of coarsely cracked blackpepper
a hint of white pepper
crusty white bread and mixed salad leaves to serve
a dry white wine
a whisk, a large pyrex or earthenware tray (greased), a steamer (optional), a few pans, a wooden spoon, knives, muslin or j-cloth, a colander, a friend to do the washing up.
method:
1. Kettle boil enough water to generously cover a pan full of dry pasta. Pour on, add a good amount of saltv and place on a high heat to boil.
2.Place the broccoli, if possible in a tier of a metal steamer and slot above the pasta. cover. this way saves water and electricity. If you do not have a teared steamer then boil in lightly salted water.
3. cook until the pasta is 2 minutes from al dente (very firm but not hard). cook the broccoli until firm and slightly crunchy. drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 210 celsius.
4. wrap the peppercorns, mace and fennel seeds in muslin and tie securely, leaving plenty of space inside the 'bag'.
5. Pour all of the milk into a pan , with the muslin 'bag' and bay leaves and bring to the boil.
6. go and have a glass of wine or wash some dishes. Be careful the milk doesn't boil over :D.
7. After a few minutes on a low boil, take it down to the lowest setting and leave it. the longer you leave it, the more the aromatics from the herbs and spices will influence the flavour, giving you a more complex sauce.
8. In your nicest, heaviest saucepan bring 40g of the butter to a gentle sizzle over a medium heat. add all of the flour and stir hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture (roux) comes away from the sides of the pan, stir moderately and allow to sizzle gently for 2 minutes. While the roux is cooking, remove the muslin and bay from the milk and pour into a jug.
9. Add the milk to the roux in small batches, stirring or whisking continously and vigourously, maintaining a hot but not boiling heat. When each batch of milk is fully incorporated and the mix is smooth, add the next batch. Do this until all of the milk is incorporated.
10. Still on a moderate heat, gently stir in 250g of your grated cheese until it melts. adding the remaining butter at this point will give your sauce a beautiful shine. Season with lots of blac pepper, a little white pepper. do not add salt. leave on a back ring either off or on a very low heat, stirring occasionaly
11. add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan (sautee pan I think in american english), and then fry (saute) the onions or shallots with a sprinkle of black pepper on high heat for 4 minutes. Add the diced bacon and sautee for a further 2 minutes. add the garlic for a final 30 seconds and remover from the heat.
12. Pour the bacon mix, including fat, into the sauce and stir, then add the broccoli and pasta. stir well. No additional salt should be necessary, as the bacon is usually salty enough to season the whole dish.
13. Pour the whole mix into your pyrex or earthenwear dish and sprinkle on the top half of the remaining cheese. bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Go and pour yourself another glass of wine.
14. take out of the oven and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. place under a grill (salamnder) until nice and brown. I think Americans call this 'broiling' but i'm not sure.
15. serve with crisp bitter leaves, dressed lightly, and crusty white bread, preferably warm.
Enjoy with a chilled glass of dry white wine.
Bon appetit
First post
Hi all,
This is my first post. I'm quite new to blogging, but was inspired to create an account by reading so many great food blogs, on blogger and the rest of the internet.
A little about me:
My name is William and I'm a twenty nothing year old guy from England. I've always loved cooking for friends and eating, sampling flavours and tastes, combinations, from the traditional to the ultra-modern. Cooking is like music. It can really vary what you like and what you like to cook depending on your mood, your situation, the weather, the time of day, anything.
I'm in my third year at University in the historic and beautiful (and sometimes dull :( ) city of York in the north of England Where I study Linguistics. It's a nice place to visit, but living here, i often find myself returning to my home city of Leeds to find ingredients, as York has a frankly embaressing market and only a very small number of people from around the world (and thus a poor/non existant selection of ethnic grocers and produce)
I'm putting myself through college working part time as a chef in a big 4star city hotel, which shall remain nameless.
When I'm not cooking or rotting miy teeth, i enjoy playing the bass guitar, reading, cinema, seeing my friends, art and drawing.
My biggest culinary influences are basque cuisine (i pray 5 time s a day to the mecca that is san sebastian) , eastern european and jewish cuisine, french cuisine and a healthy splash of fusion.
I would really love to be able to prepare excellent japanese food, travel and cook, write a great novel and hopefully meet some beautiful south american women :D
posts to come. no pictures at the moment, sorry. I'm on ebay trying to find a new digicam
bon appetit
This is my first post. I'm quite new to blogging, but was inspired to create an account by reading so many great food blogs, on blogger and the rest of the internet.
A little about me:
My name is William and I'm a twenty nothing year old guy from England. I've always loved cooking for friends and eating, sampling flavours and tastes, combinations, from the traditional to the ultra-modern. Cooking is like music. It can really vary what you like and what you like to cook depending on your mood, your situation, the weather, the time of day, anything.
I'm in my third year at University in the historic and beautiful (and sometimes dull :( ) city of York in the north of England Where I study Linguistics. It's a nice place to visit, but living here, i often find myself returning to my home city of Leeds to find ingredients, as York has a frankly embaressing market and only a very small number of people from around the world (and thus a poor/non existant selection of ethnic grocers and produce)
I'm putting myself through college working part time as a chef in a big 4star city hotel, which shall remain nameless.
When I'm not cooking or rotting miy teeth, i enjoy playing the bass guitar, reading, cinema, seeing my friends, art and drawing.
My biggest culinary influences are basque cuisine (i pray 5 time s a day to the mecca that is san sebastian) , eastern european and jewish cuisine, french cuisine and a healthy splash of fusion.
I would really love to be able to prepare excellent japanese food, travel and cook, write a great novel and hopefully meet some beautiful south american women :D
posts to come. no pictures at the moment, sorry. I'm on ebay trying to find a new digicam
bon appetit
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