Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year when we can be really girly  and kitschy 

Its a day for champagne and this exotic Italian liqueur made out of wild strawberries.Also for sentimental ballads,chocolates hearts and of course roses.  

My Valentines day usually starts with a love brew.
That made me wonder how the day was celebrated in India. This site suggests that the day is celebrated there very much as it is here. Even in Bollywood. Surprising, really, given that we have our Kamadeva and Kama Sutra which go back even further.

I googled St Valentine and came up with a late Roman martyr . I also came up with Scott’s novel better known as “Fair Made of Perth”. 

I spent Valentines day with Stephen Fry last year.We discussed how it all may or may not have got started. We also discussed language food and culture.After our chat I served him a delightful little potato dish with the  aphrodisiac herb coriander...Unfortunately Stephen later told me that he doesn't like coriander.And he's not alone.There are a whole load of people around the globe who's think it taste like soap. There is nothing aphrodisiac about it to them....
Returning to roses the red rose was the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love hence why its given to your loved one so much.
My dried rose petals come to good use to decorate and serve a byriani or even my strawberry ice cream with touch of cardamom.The queen of spice.

Although nearly every restaurants in the land has its Valentine’s Day special, it’s not the best day for eating out. It’s hard to get a table. It’s expensive. And unless you’re an item it’s not the day for dining out even with friend of the same sex. Remember that scene from “Sex and the City.”

Your best bet is probably to dine in. Now if you have a sweet tooth you will be spoilt for choice including my strawberry and cardamon ice cream which has cream sugar and fresh strawberries galour, but if your more “sweet than can eat” try the savoury alternative of potato and cashew nut with lime leaves served with cucumber raita.

Described by Kate Spice of The Times as “Better than sex” with may be a song or two.

I was sang to with this lovely song L-O-V-E  Nat King Cole by my sweet partner once and still adore the song now.  

What ever it is that your up to this year, make it a sweet treat and eat yourselves sexy from my list of aphrodisiac foods to help you to turn up the heat!  

•  Asparagus the folic acid stirs up lust in man and woman

·  Chocolate is known to touch the pleasure centre of the brain.Chocolate contains the antioxidants as does red wine.So the secret for passion is to combine the two.Try a glass of Cabernet with a bit of dark chocolate

·   Almonds the aromas thought to induce passion in females

·         Chilli is an invigorating spice, has an exotic reputation and stimulates endorphins

 ·     Aniseed has been used as a aphrodisiac since the Greeks and Romans who believed sucking on the seed increases your desire.

• Raspberries and Strawberries perfect foods for handing  to your lover.
• Figs symbolises both sexuality and modesty 
• Mustard is believed to stimulate the sexual gland and increase desire.
• Pine nuts prized for its ability to aid both male and female potency
• Arugula the herb is thought to provide  amazing energy to the body.  
• Oysters goes back hundreds of years as aphrodisiac food for more reasons than one, personally an oyster from the sea served to me, is just not for me. 

    ooh la la as the french folks of the sexy city of "Paree" would say x 

                                                                       

         

Vindaloo, Bindaloo, Tindaloo- Oh what a Stew!

The Brits love vindaloo. It was England's campaign song in the 1998 Football World Cup.
Maybe they'd have done better with Smug Roberts's "Meat Pie Sausage Roll". Another foodie song.
According to @southportgal  (Professor Rochelle Almeida of New York University) in response to one of my tweets, vindaloo derives from the Portuguese word vindaloo. The Portuguese brought the dish to Goa, their toehold in India. 

I understand vindaloo was originally a pork dish cooked in chilli, garlic and vinegar. Now all that would appeal to Brits - especially after drowning their sorrows in the pub when their team loses - but not so much to Indians and even less to those countries in the south subcontinent who see pork as unclean significantly, it does not feature on many menus in Bradford, Yorkshire where there are many people of South Asian heritage but it is available at the Maharaja in Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire where there are rather fewer
Now my friend has just asked me for a recipe for vindaloo but I just can't as I have rarely, if ever cooked it, Ok... I relent. Heres goes my dearest

• 1  tablespoonful of chilli powder. 
• 1 cup of vinegar. 
• A whole bulb of garlic. 
• Whatever spices you have at the back of the cupboard. 
• Any type of meat you fancy: bear, crocodile, kangaroo - doesn't matter because the marinade will tenderize any cut of tough, cheap meat from any animal.   

Marinade the lot for 8 hours in a brass bowl.Then cook for as long as necessary. Serve with a towel and bog roll or two and be sure to be near your loo.Don't forget the microwavable boiled rice to calm things down a degree or two.
My lawyer warns me to be careful in case the good folks of Southport, Connecticut take this post seriously. Surely Americans have a sense of humour.
Don't they? and you Brits have been warned not to try this at home!

Left overs

First, let me say that a leftover need never be left over! All food should be treated with love and respect right down to the last mouthful.  And that includes leftovers.
Let me give you an example.

 Tonight I cooked

• Chicken liver with fresh ginger and coriander  
• Basmati yoghurt rice with toasted black cumin and onion seeds together with my prawn favourite curry  
• Vegetables in a a spicy black bean sauce.
• Haddock pan fried in a delicate garamasla and tamarind paste
• Roasted green garlic papadoms
• Carrot cucumber and tomatoes wedges dressed with my special spiced olive oil
• Followed by virgin sugar cane chunks 

And here is what was left over. An edible tricolour.

When eating leftovers it is always more appetising to pack and present the excess food as though you were starting all over again. It's pleasing both to the eye and palate and far more appealing when revisiting the leftovers.
I do try not to waste food. I like to finish my plate, I take modest portions from the serving dishes rather than than the whole meal all in one go..
Spend a little time serving yourself so as to encourage eating with pace and pleasure. Judge how much you actually need. Then any leftover will be fresh and clean. Not something that has been pushed around someone's plate or even you own.

Grapes - an introduction

Grapes are my sweetie substitute. They are the same size and serve the same purpose. They are less messy to eat than mangoes, oranges, peaches and pineapples. And they are good for you.
I learned that when I was a little girl. Whenever I was ill I was allowed to lie on a couch in the kitchen under a blanket as my mum got on with her cooking. It was about the only time I was allowed to rest. At all other times she made sure I always had something to do. My father would come home from the mill. He would stroke my forehead and ask me whether there was anything I wanted. With one eye closed I would answer દ્રાક્ષ ("grapes"), red or black ones - not the green grapes that my mother would bring home when the housekeeping stretched to it.

My mum also gave me brandy which is made from grapes when I was ill. She heated it up in a stainless steel bowl with a long spout that she brought from India. I can't remember the name but I'll take a photo of it when I return to the topic as I surely will because it is one of the reasons why brandy is now my favourite tipple.
According to Wikipedia India is the tenth largest grape producer. Much of it is used in wine making. Indian wines were almost unknown in this country until a few years ago but now it is gaining international acclaim,you can even buy Ritu Viognier and Zampa Syrah from Waitrose.
But grapes are also cultivated in my native county as well as the land of my ancestors. Writing for The Guardian Simon Burnton described Yorkshire as "prime wine growing territory". Clearly one of the advantages of global warming, some of the vineyards such as the one at Holmfirth, are in spectacular Pennine countryside. There is even a winery within Leeds city limits.
Instead of a recipe I shall leave you with a couple of tips. When choosing grapes try to buy them loose. Pick up the bunch and give it a shake. If a lot of berries fall off you know that the bunch is over ripe and best  avoided. If you buy them you have eat them straight away because they won't keep. My other tip is that you can store grapes for ages by wrapping them in newspaper and keeping them in a cool dark place.

Why "Introduction"? It's because I shall return to this topic more than once. Next time I shall share my recipe for making fruit scones and some Indian recipes using dried green grapes.

Burns Night Bradford Style

Yesterday was Burn's Night. It is the night when Scots the world over celebrate their great lyric poet. I am not Scottish but I love Ae Fond Kiss, Red Red Rose and of course The Address to A Haggis  What could be more evocative than these lines:

"His knife see rustic Labour dight, 

An' cut you up wi' ready sleight, 

Trenching your gushing entrails bright, 

Like ony ditch; 

 And then, O what a glorious sight, 

Warm-reekin', rich!"

Eat your hearts out advertising copywriters.

Though India has plenty of links with Scotland haggis isn't one of them. Having said that, they do serve haggis pakoras in Scotland. I ate those little morsels in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Unless anyone out there can correct me, most haggis recipes include some king of offal - lung heart and liver from sheep.I did however find one that used pork lung that sung its heart out to me.

Personally I prefer veggie haggis because it is neat, sweet and tasty filled with pulses and barley without the internal operational drama. I for one would choose the veggie option although some may argue it defeats the object.
Its more about the occasion than whether one chooses meat haggis or a  veggie haggis.  They both use spices of pepper nutmeg and mace and at times home made recipes have dried coriander.  I am sure Robert Burns would have loved the creation of the veggie haggis so that so many others could join in the fun of celebrations years after to come….

I visited my local Morrisons - a guid Scots name though Sir Ken is as Yorkshire as I am - on a haggis hunt. I say "hunt" because a Scottish lady once told me that a haggis was a wee beastie with two legs shorter than the other the better to run round Schieallion.They had a grand choice as you  can see.One of the mangers asked me what the fuss was about so I told them all about Burns night drawing quite a crowd in the process. I was looking out for Grants haggis because an auld wifie told me she swears by it.

Yesterday evening we celebrated Burns night and on the menu: .

• Japanese ramen for a starter 
• Pouting with red peppers in delicate spicy turmeric & tarmirand sauce
• Vegetarian & traditional haggis bhajis,
• Mushroom and potato bhajis
• Steamed Basmasti rice
• Spicy tomato dip
• Fresh fruit and jelly because we love it!

So here is my recipe for haggis bhajias

Ingredients for the bhajia batter

450g of Haggis meat or veggie

170g of gram flour

2 teaspoon of garlic and ginger paste

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 a teaspoon of red chilli powder

1/2 a teaspoon of gara masala

1/2 green rocket chili

2tbsp of chopped fresh coriander

Rapeseed oil to fry

  

Method:

1. Heat the oil and set the temperature to 160c

2. Make the batter for the bhajias by putting the gram flour, salt, red chili powder, gara masala, ginger and garlic green rocket chili paste, and chopped coriander in a bowl and mixing together well.

3. Then add some water to the mixture, to make a smooth batter making sure its thick enough to coat the piece so not too runny, leave to rest for 30 mins 

4. Cut the haggis into small diced pieces, dip them into the gram flour batter, and deep fry until they go golden brown.

Serve, Eat whilst still hot and crunchy.

We didn't run to a piper but Nina Simone more than made up for that. Why Nina Simone? Her songs are very similar to Burns. We celebrated the immortal memory.

Kung Hii Fatt Choi

.

These were the words with which I was greeted with when I celebrated Chinese New Year in Liverpool last year. According to Wikipedia they mean  "Congratulations and be prosperous!". As you can see, the festival is celebrated by the whole community in Liverpool - not just those of Chinese heritage. The lady in the centre of the picture wearing a chain of office was mayor of one of the Merseyside boroughs.  The mayors of all the other boroughs were also making merry. They really entered the spirit of the occasion. 

As the Chinese New Year falls on Sunday this year I visited Manchester which also has a well established Chinese community.  I had lunch at the Glamorous Chinese Restaurant on the Oldham Road where I took these photos.I am not a big fan of broccoli but I really love the way it was served today. Simply with a ginger and garlic sauce and straw mushrooms.  I ate it with steamed rice and a touch of chilli oil.. One of my favourite dishes.

Part of the fun of a Chinese restaurant is the drama.   What could be more dramatic than the picture of the dragon?  I asked someone what animal it was this year as last year was the year of the rabbit. She replied "Dragon, of course! Do you not see the pictures of the dragons everywhere?" "But there are always dragons every year," I protested.  "Isn't there always a dragon dance?"

However, I always feel sad when I see the Peking ducks hanging all in their shinny coats of sherry wine and honey glaze I imagine them crying as they were led to slaughter. Don't we do such terrible things to animals - all for our love of meat.And also those poor lobsters in their watery, condemned cell.

Just below the restaurant is the Wing Yip supermarket.

I bought all sorts of goodies such as sweet potato vermicelli, shrimp paste, lo mai kai steamed glutinous rice which I first got introduced to in China Town Manchester 25 years ago filled with pieces of pork shrimp and mushroom wrapped and steamed in a lotus leave, lilly flower stems and shrimp dumplings. I love experimenting with ingredients from other cooking traditions in my Gujarati dishes.

Today, for instance I made a 3 fish curry with smoked tofu and got creative with my spices to make a side dish of broccoli tossed in finely diced shallots,chilli, fish sauce, lime juice and sesame seeds which I shared with some of my friends. They all ate well.

I scream for ice cream!

I like ice cream, me you know.

After handbags, shoes and earrings, a bit of sexy vanilla keeps this girl sweet.

I've tasted ice cream in at least 23 countires including Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Poland, Spain and the United States- Miami and Florida keys 

After I had won BBC's Britain's Best Cook award I wandered around the West End in a daze trying to take it all in. Well after midnight I chanced upon Scoop Gelato in Shorts Gardens. I was amazed it was still open.  I told the proprietor that ice cream was my favourite.  He invited me in and let me sample almost every single flavour bar amaretto and green tea. He was really cute.  I was on top of the world.  The BBC trophy was in my hotel room.  I bought the biggest tub on offer and took it back to the hotel with me.  I scoffed it while soaking in the bath.

A week before the Royal Wedding I visited St. Andrews and saw where the Great Romance started. And I chanced upon Jannetta's in South Street.  Mmm .... yummy.  There is clearly more to St Andrews than golf and pier walks. 

So what about ice cream in Yorkshire? Two of my favourite gelateria are farms near Holmfirth.

There's Dearn Lea in Shelley.  The cone in the picture to the top right is one of theirs. 

And then there's Yummy Yorkshire near High Flatts. This is one of their tubs.  I had a scoop with a mince pie.

Both Dearn Lea and Yummy Yorkshire are working farms. You can visit the cows if you want though I'd prefer to visit the tea shop . The cows are very clean as are their quarters but even clean cows are a bit whiffy. If you must mither the moos sample your flavours first as you may not stomach it the other way round.