I was interviewed by Elli Luca for her great food blog. You can read it on her blog
here
1.
What's your worst food memory – well, I guess
apart from school dinners, then eating Harira soup in Marrakech, which I
understood from our waiter and with my schoolgirl French was a vegetarian
lentil soup…. I must admit, it looked and tasted delicious served with crusty
bread, but, as a vegetarian, I was dismayed that after several spoonfuls of this
huge bowl of soup I found a really large, what I now believe to be lamb bone in
there. Oh dear… I didn’t finish it (though I’ll admit, I had enjoyed it up to
that point and obviously repressed any lamb taste in my mouth until the bones
confirmed it!!).
Another bad memory was many years ago when I was travelling around Europe. We
were camping (admittedly not on a camping site), and one night, we came back to
find a strange man sleeping in our tent. Our companions took pity on us and
took us home to one of their parents to sleep there. We were immediately
integrated into the family, and on the next night served a special dinner of
bacalhau (salted dried cod and a Portuguese speciality). I wasn’t vegetarian
way back then, but I had already stopped eating fish, so I had the tricky task
of secreting vast amounts of bacalhau into serviettes, placing it about my
person whilst pretending it was delicious. I just didn’t have the heart to be
so difficult and fussy when they had taken us in like that and didn’t know us
from Adam. (I noticed while reading this through that hiding unwanted food appears
to have been a recurring theme when I was young – see below!)
2. Best food memory – Dinner at
Ottolenghi in Islington, London, with foodie friends. The food is amazing and
everything looks so fantastic and fresh. I don’t think I have ever salivated so
much in my life…and looking and choosing the food from the vast and beautiful
array of salads and puddings was one of the most difficult choices I can
remember. Thankfully, they are served in tapas sizes portions so you have to
order LOTS.
3. My signature dish is. – absolutely
anything to do with breakfast!
4. One of my favourite food photographs (I used my own photos here) - I chose two
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Breakfast in black & white (with a touch of porridge) ©
Francesca Bondy |
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Berry breakfast ©
Francesca Bondy
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5. Ingredient I'm currently obsessed
with is: well, not one particular ingredient, but I am crazy about
Vietnamese food at the moment. Berlin has a large Vietnamese immigrant
community (in the former East where I live – they were communist, after all) so
I adore the freshness and the minimalism and beauty in my favourite
restaurants. Three fantastic fresh dishes on the menu, not 200 from the deep
freeze! The mixture of hot, cold, soft, crunchy, raw and cooked…. wakes up my
taste buds a treat.
6. Worst kitchen injury – Thankfully
I’ve never had anything worse than the usual burns and cuts, so nothing springs
to mind. More annoying is that I’ve become very clumsy recently and broken lots
of lovely dishes and bowls.
7. Cake I ask for on my birthday – Tarte
au Citron or New York cheesecake
8.
Favourite Chef – Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi (they
work as a team)
9. Share with us one of your favourite recipes: Just to make a change from
Ottolenghi & Tamimi, I’ve chosen a delicious lemon and poppy seed loaf from
the internet (thanks to my friend Ilse who pointed me in its direction)….it’s
now a firm favourite (and my signature cake!): tasty, tangy, beautiful and so
easy to make…works a treat every time – just remember to let the lemon drizzle
icing soak in overnight to ensure that wow effect in the mouth!
Lemon
Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
Ingredients
3
large eggs
1/4
Cup (60 ml) milk
1
1/2 Cups (210 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
3/4
Cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1
tsp baking powder
1/4
tsp salt
1
Tbsp grated lemon zest
3
Tbsp (30 g) poppy seeds
13
Tbsp (184 g) unsalted butter, softened
Lemon
Syrup
1/4
Cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/3
Cup (65 g) granulated white sugar
Method
Preheat
oven to 350˚ F (180˚C) and place the oven rack in the centre of the oven.
Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch) (20 x
10 x 7 cm). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter and
flour the paper. Set aside.
In
a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Set aside.
In
a bowl (or your mixer bowl), mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon
zest and poppy seeds until combined. Add the softened butter and half the
egg mixture and mix on low speed with a mixer, hand blender or by hand
until moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about one minute.
This aerates and develops the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides of the
bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds
after each addition. This will strengthen the structure of the batter.
Scrape
the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until
the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out
clean. You may have to cover the bread with buttered foil or baking paper
after about 30 minutes if you find the bread over browning. I always do!
Meanwhile,
in a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until
the sugar dissolves.
When
the cake is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot
loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the
loaf with about half the hot lemon syrup. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10
minutes then invert onto a greased wire rack. Brush the remaining syrup onto
the bottom and the sides of the loaf. Turn it again so it is right side up and
cool completely before wrapping (I use tin foil). Store at least overnight
before serving to allow the lemon syrup to distribute throughout the loaf.
Serve
- and wait for the oohs, aahs, yums and compliments…happens every time.
This
recipe (or something similar) is all over the internet, but I think it
originally came from joyofbaking.com
10. Favourite kitchen appliance and what
I make with it most often – my mini mixer – I most often make parsley and
walnut pesto with lots of garlic, olive oil and parmesan…. Best served with 12
minute Di Cecco Spaghetti (as I don’t make my own pasta...not so much evidence
of a foodie here!)
11. If you were on death row, what would
your final meal request be – the full works at Jai Krishna – a really cheap
‘caff style’ Indian vegetarian restaurant in Stroud Green, London (definitely
not a café). Cheap as chips, take your own booze, and don’t be confused by the
slightly arcane ordering system. I specially love their Jeera Aloo; almost
caramelised potatoes with cumin. Absolutely delicious, and their Tarka Daal is
the best I’ve ever had…. (not having actually been to India!).
12. What did you learn from you
mother/grandmother that you use often in the kitchen –My dad was the one to
cook in our house… I learned that children, if given half a chance, sometimes
hide food they don’t like so as not to upset their dad!
13. What the name and address of your
blog: Bowhaus - www.bowhausblog.blogspot.de
As the blog still very new here's a link to my flickr breakfast
photos here
14. What are five things you can’t live
without? (don't have to be food related) – my beautiful dog, Nico; friends;
a nice cup of Yorkshire tea; my Mac (well, I could, of course, but I wouldn’t
like to….oh no, not one little bit!); going to the cinema
15. What are your favourite cookbooks
that you would recommend every home cook own and why?
I
don’t have a big list because when I moved to Berlin I only brought a few
things with me (and a recent flood
ruined lots of my cookery books) so my main source of inspiration is Plenty by (the
oft-aforementioned) Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The food is all
vegetarian and lots of it stems from Jerusalem the where the Jewish/Italian
Ottolenghi grew up on one side of the city, while Tamimi grew up in the Arab
quarter in another. Wonderful mouth-watering photos, and don’t be put off by
the sometimes enormous lists of ingredients….even if I miss a few ingredients out
sometimes, it’s always looks and tastes absolutely delicious.