Moveable Food - Dishes I have Met

Cheese Brain Sunday

It was to be a mere nibble, a wee taste, a moment of cheese and wine. It was to be all done by 5ish and then onto a movie and a quiet night in but it lasted hours longer than expected and was more of a celebrtaion from all on why we love cheese and how when we eat too much of it we get cheese brain. That mushy, wonderfully dreamy feeling from mass cheese intake. It can be dangerous Im lead to believe-dont operate heavy machinery, dont drive or even consider cooking after that one. Its all about allowing that cheesey goodness to just wash over you.

Perfectly ripe unpasteurised camembert, St Marcellin, a baby munster, something Im not even sure of the name of but was a pastey washed creation of goat, an an aged basque wonder that my friend Gilles has been caring fro tenderly for the past 15 months.

Hipster shots thanks to Emile . Eating thanks to Gen, Emile and Chris. Beer and wine matches frivilously done but worked so we arent complaining.Hand modelling by Gen....oh and ring stylists own.

Beef Osso Bucco-perfect winter eating June 2011

Beef shin is such a great winter meat cut. It sounds that more glamorous too when called Osso Bucco which is usually veal shin but at a fraction of the price. So today it is my casserole dish cooking away quietly as I type this.
With the bone still in, you are getting all of that marrow goodness when it cooks, slowly dissolving all that tissue and muscle to be so soft that I simply mush it all up with a fork. I really love the lemon addition as well as the white wine as this makes it a little lighter than with red wine and tomatoes. The lemon helps to cut the fatty mouth feel better too.
When I have the time I make gnocchi to serve it with-that soft on soft works really well, especially with a pile of grana padano over the top but otherwise Im equally happy with a good quality short pasta.

1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 chunks beef shin weighing about 700-900g
4-5 good quality anchovies
2 tablespoons capers
1 lemon, skin removed with a potato peeler in strips
4 cm piece of leek-white part only, very finely chopped
chunk pumpkin, peeled and chopped roughly
at least 1/2 bottle white wine
salt and pepper
Large handful Italian parsley, washed and finely chopped

Brown off your onions and garlic till softened in a little grape seed oil
Add the capers, anchovies lemon rind and leek. Mix well making sure is coated in oil
Add the beef and lay the pumpkin over the top ( you can brown the beef first if you like but I have found it doesn't seem to make a massive amount of difference to the taste at the end)
Pour in at least half a bottle of white wine and top up to cover the beef with water.
Place a lid on the dish and cook very slowly and gently either in a preheated oven at 170C for 2 hours or on the top of the stove for around 2 hours.
Test to see how soft the beef is after this time and if yielding easily, remove the lid and allow some of the excess liquid to evaporate off.
I like to simply mush all the ingredients together well, checking for seasoning.
Add in the Italian parsley and serve on pasta or gnocchi

Fox Face Sweets

The fox or kitsune is a symbol of stealth, craftiness and wisdom in Japan.

Visit an area such as Fushimi-Inari just outside of Kyoto, you will find the honoured fox standing guard with a bushel of rice or a key in its mouth at the temple and through out the temple grounds, often lovingly adored with a red bid.

These sweets are fox face shaped and filled with red bean paste-they look way to beautiful to eat

Department Store Delights-Japan

The Japanese relish food as much as myself so it is like being heaven when I am there.
Magazine after magazine full of food porn, TV shows about small producers, traditional culinary arts not lost to convenience and the most unbelieveable selection of food where ever you go.
You couldn't go hungry in a country that caters to all moods of eating. Snacks are one of my favourites and as some friends and I were saying the other day, you could eat a different snack a day and still never eat them all. You may die of sodium overload but it would be a good way to go.

One of my favoutite free things to do (never free in reality after you just have to have one of those and one of these...) is visit a good department store  food market,. Usually in the basement , they are an expensive way to shop but the sheer variety and display is simply incredible.

Fresh fruits and vegetables lovingly merchandised, fresh fish and meats, all manner of dried goods, teas, tofu, coffee, honey, miso pastes and even mor eprepared foods ready just to take home and recreate. These possibly intrigued me the most. Cabinet after beautifully managaed cabinet stuffed fulll of onigiri, prepared tempura, bento boxes and piles of dressed salads. Just imagine-you may never need to cook again.......

Shanghai Steam Boat in the Winter Cold

I cant deny it wasnt so cold that my hands hurt but a welcoming hot pot in the cold of Shangahi seemed like a good idea to at least be inside for an hour or two.

Walk down a back street in the Muslim area of shanghai in particluar and you smeel charcoal burning, steam rising from twenty or more steam boats set up the road side ready to go for hungry and cold diners about to start arriving. 

A simple but such effectiev idea, stock or even just water is heated and then ingredients added to be cooked in the simmering liquid. Each addition adds flavour and more depth to the stock that is getting richer with each swish of finely sliced beef (not a piggy insight obviously) tofu and vegetables. I dont mean to sound mean to beef at all but I prefer a sliver of pork myself-gives that stock a better flavour.

On a cold day there is such magic in watching this all unfold about as a ritual to be enjoyed of this town.

Unagi on the street

Quite possibly the most tender and lovingly prepared unagi (eel) I have ever taster. Just off the train at Fushimi-Inari. This restuarant-well remodelled to its state now-had been there for some mere several hundred years providing temple goers with crispy birds (traditionally sparrows) just off the charcoal grill and eel richy flavoured with their secret sauce -they still it in those little wee bottles there right in front.