Lock 7 - Rides With My Purple Bike

 Photo By Richard Harris

In Vietnam, girls do girlie things like cooking, playing with dolls and sit around.  Boys do boy things, ride bikes, run and play games. As I child, I never got the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike. When we came to Britain, I was five years old and my mother didn’t think that we should play with kids from the estate. She worked her fingers to the bone to buy me a piano, not a bike – that was far too dangerous.

I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I reached the ripe age of 30. Amongst other wonderful things, my boyfriend, Adam, at the time bought me a bike. One with a basket and small wheels so that I could learn.

It was the best present, ever! Since then, I go everywhere with my bike, weather permitting.

If I am lucky to be an old lady, I will always look back on sunny Spring mornings, when I go all the way to Carnaby to my boutique, listening to Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert and on Sundays, riding back from Columbia Road Flower Market with a bike full of rosemary, lavender and indigo cornflowers with the breeze combing through my hair and the sun rays peering through the window of me.

I love my little bicycle. But it has suffered somewhat over the three years of its adoption and I have had to replace many things, like the pedals, the gears, the seat due to tear and wear and thieves.

So I come to Lock 7, my bike’s doctor surgery, a modern independent bike repair shop on Broadway Market – The owners, are two lovely Catherine and Lee has seen me through its lifetime of gear tuning, brake replacements, pedal fixing, alignments, adjusting and everything the little bike needs to take me places.

There is such a European feel about Lock 7, being next to the canal and having high ceilings with a contemporary top to bottom glass front facing the sun. You can sit here, wait for your bike to be repaired (or not) and have a lovely cup of tea, a bagel or a simple breakfast and read your paper, tap on your Mac, dance with your kid. Nice.

I have tried going to the bigger bike shops but just found the people there rude, unfriendly and just plain arrogant. Bike people are like geeky computer nerds – they are just weird – especially if you have a little girl’s bike!

But Catherine and Lee aren’t like this. They are really nice and they care about good customer service. They set up this place after being inspired by their trip to Copenhagen came back, saw that there was an empty space to rent and took action. Its been two and a half years and I think their business is going from strength to strength.

The girls are often both covered in bike grease and grime but you can tell that they love being tom-boys. They love their work and despite the fact that its hard work – as with running any independent business- I think they dwell in passion and they must thrive in the landmark they have successfully created for the Broadway Market area.

Lock 7
129 Pritchards Road
Londoon E2 9AP
020 7739 3042
www.lock-7.com

Fancy a cuppa?

All tea comes from the plant – Camellia Senensis
There are many types of teas but they all originate from this same plant. What makes a tea a black tea, a green tea or a white tea (and so on) depends on how the tealeaves had been processed.

Here are the different types of teas:

Black, Oolong, Green, Pu-Erh & White

As an analogy, if we think of an apple, how when you cut a slice off it, the flesh becomes yellow and brown – discoloring with time. This is called ‘oxidation.’ This occurs with the tealeaves – the more it is handled and processed, the darker it gets and becomes a type of tea.

Black tea has been processed a lot, it has been either or all been roasted, fried, rolled, twisted, dried, smoked… it contains the most caffeine too because of the oxidation process.

Ceylon

Green tea is unoxidised leaves – as soon as it’s picked, it goes through a heating process to prevent the leaves from oxidation then it is rolled to release its fantastic flavour. There are many green teas out there, each farm, region and country producing a variation: Sencha, Bancha, Gunpowder, Genmaicha, Dragonwell, Mao Jian to name but a few.

 Mao Jian

 Jasmine Pearls

Centuries ago, the farmer who was farming green teas got some servants to guard his harvest over night whilst the leaves lay to dry. But due to some bad weather that evening, the guards took shelter and lay asleep on the tea leaves. They didn’t think anything of it.

They must have had a good night’s rest, rolling around on the farmer’s stock because the next day, the farmer discovered that all his stock had turned another colour. In horror, he took it to be roasted anyway hoping for the best because that was all the stock he had – he had no choice even though all the tea leaves dark brown. Ruined, basically!

The farmer persisted, trying to sell it as his own “unique” variation to at least make back his cost. And this is how I believe Black tea was invented. The farmer made a killing with this new variety of tea that no one else had had before.

Lapsang

Green tea and Oolong tea is mostly drank in the Far East. (Oolong tea is like a rosé – it’s in between green and black tea mainly known for aiding digestion). As a child, my mother always served Green/ Oolong teas, especially with fatty fried food - it breaks down fats, dissolves it – she says – so you can burp! (Burping is a Vietnamese sign of gratitude and enjoyment of a meal) And not feel heavy or weighed down. She is always right.

Scientists have now proven that Green teas help quicken your metabolism so that your body can digest your food quicker before it turns your belly into Buddha’s. They have also found that it has a lot of Vitamin C and antioxidants to strengthen your immune system and lower cholesterol. There are so many health benefits with Green teas from preventing bad breath to certain fatal illnesses. Some of the oldest people in the world swear longevity by Green tea.

Fad diets and magazines have been running on a band wagon about how you can loose weight with Green teas (and Pu-Erh)– making us all run to the supermarket to buy crap versions of it.

Any good sensible person will tell you that just drinking green tea does not make you loose weight – especially if your diet is of fast and convenience foods- of course, its all about your diet and your lifestyle – including green tea in your life however, aids your wellbeing by making you feel healthy and nourished because of its health benefits. 

Jasmine Scented Silver Needle

White teas are the purest and rarest form of tea. Real white tea is from the Fujian region in China. The first leaves has only been picked and dried. It contains the highest level of antioxidants found in any tea, and is known to be really good for your skin, your health – inside and out.

The White tea ‘Silver Needle’ leaves still has its layer of fur, some of it is scented with beautiful jasmine – a layer of flowers in blossom is laid above the tea overnight when its most potent, the fragrance falling onto the tea. One of my most favourite teas – I can only drink it in celebration, for wellbeing – like a fine champagne.

If you are into your teas, Pu-Erh tea is one of the most expensive teas, it has been fermented and is known as a vintage tea – batches are sold by year dates.

More centuries ago, servants were to deliver to the King or Queen of some dynasty in a far away land some precious green tea but again, bad weather caught them out, the tea sat inside a saddle of a horse rotting away. It took them ages to get to this far away dynasty – by the time they had gotten there – the tea was ruined. Pressed down by all the weight of cargo and fermented. It had all stuck together like a cake.

In fear of getting beheaded or such, they served the tea to royalty who happened to have loved the earthy, woody and slightly metallic taste of this tea.

Pu-Erh tea is like a fine vintage wine and for some the taste has to be acquired. It is a beautiful tea, also full of antioxidants and known for its digestion aiding qualities – breaking down fats.

Different types of teas are consumed in different ways. Be careful not to scorch the green and white teas with boiling water.  

 Rose Buds

Blackcurrant & Hibiscus

Peppermint

 

Infusing loose tea takes longer than infusing tea dust in a bag, read instructions of how to infuse. Take tea leaves out of the water/ teapot once the tea is brewed to your liking. You can then re-infuse the leaves. If you leave it in too long, and add water to it, you are just thinning it out.

Chamomile tea, fruit teas etc are ‘infusions’ – they are not tea because they didn’t come from the plant camellia senensis.
 
Enjoying tea has become a passion. I love tea - I love how from one plant - each tea tastes so different and wonderful. Its similar to loving wine - except its better for you - and I love pairing it with food too.


You can buy Fernandez & Leluu Tea here:

www.leluu.com

Dirty Fish & Chips - I Love You

Its not the nicest fish and chips in the world but it will do fine! This is just a regular fish & chips bar with no thrills nor gimmicks in midst of the trendy over flowing coolies of Broadway Market. Thank God it hasn't turned posh like the rest of the place!

Inspired by The London Foodie – who was craving chips – after a picnic in London Fields of beer and wine, I thought we should test out the waters before introducing him to this chip shop when there is a very fine (and posh) one in Victoria Park. "Its closer, darling" he chuckles! "I just want something that will soak it all up!"

The chips are always just fantastic with a load of salt and onion vinegar – I think posh chips can never compare to the greasy, sticky, crispy and fatty chips of chippies like these. And the haddock – very crispy, slightly greasy and tickles the naughty side of my taste buds. I am bad! But I truly don't care! Mustn't forget those bad bad battered sausage! Never!

What better than a sit in the park with some pear cider and fish and chips! Its what summers are for!

Broadway Fish Bar
8 Broadway Market 
London E8 4QJ
020 7254 5825

Like A House On Fire

They say that what goes up, must come down. There is a black and there is white, Ying and Yang and all that. There is no one that believes this more than me. After a turbulent ride from the age of 29 – 32, I believe my bad luck years are over. (My Japanese friend, Nobuko, says that her natives believe this is the age women endure most bad luck in a lifetime – I hope that this is right!)

At 33, with Simon we are having the greatest time of our lives, with windows and doors appearing in every direction – all we have to do is open them, with our own hands and look forward to many great things.

Yet again, we had the most amazing supper clubs last weekend and we are astounded that we can still feel so happy about doing them after 9 months of solid work! And a lot of fun too!

Menu
-Pea Soup With Ham
-Figs w/ Goats Cheese & Prosciutto
-Tortilla & Tomate Picante w/ Courgette, Cucumber & Feta Salsa
-Deep Fried Lotus With Carrot & Chicken Salad & Prawn Crackers
-Banh Cuon With Cured Ham & Pork Belly
-Tuna Sashimi & Chips
-Beef Pho
-Coconut Sorbet W/ Cointreau

 (Figs w/ Goats Cheese & Prosciutto)

Via Adrian Bevan at Visit Britain (who looks after journalists from all over the world when it comes to food in the UK), Luiz Hara -The London Foodie bought over Annabelle White, New Zealand’s answer to Delia Smith. Annabelle is Author of 10 cookbooks, has a popular TV and radio cook show. It was slightly terrifying.

I spoke to her at some length at the beginning and at the end of the night, she was so lovely. She came in pretty happy but when she left, she was really really happy. She enjoyed herself so much and she kept asking me how I made the Pho – of which I have directed her to here and here. Must repost this with updates.

 (Banh Cuon With Cured Ham & Pork Belly)

Annabelle told me what gives her so much satisfaction is writing recipes so that other people can try to make your recipe at home themselves. She says how thrilled she gets when people stop her on the street to tell her how they made one of her recipes and how it made them so happy to feed their families and loved ones, a great dish.

I told Annabelle that I need more experience with writing recipes (I hardly follow them myself) because its very precise and I have not really had time to test a recipe with measurements before. Simon is better at recipes. I cook instinctively.

She said a great thing, that food needs to be shared. It doesn’t matter if someone can not make it taste as well as you can, but it’s the act of other people cooking what you have shared with them is the most important thing. Food is for sharing.

We totally agree. I will be doing my next pot of Pho with scientific precision so that Annabelle can share it with Kiwis!! Yay!

Not only was Thursday night’s guests were spectacular and Luiz stayed chatting with us, he said, we keep ‘outdoing ourselves’ as we were polishing off all the left over wine on tables.  (Someone opened a bottle and didn’t even touch it – thanks guys!!!)

On Friday, we were expecting Tim Hayward! OMG – he is the Editor of our favourite publication: Fire & Knives and he wanted to record a show for BBC Radio 4 for The Food Programme about Supper Clubs. He should have already been to the fantastic Civet Cat Supper Club in Newington Green and the famous - The Underground Restaurant in Kilburn for the show and we were the last stop. Now that is terrifying!!

Tim & Dan Saladino (the producer) mingled with 24 other guests. The garden swapped with strangers meeting strangers and becoming friends. It was extraordinary to see how people simply chat willingly to other people in a small place because it is allowed and accepted in this space, this supper club.

How often are we packed full to the brim like cattle and sheep on the tube and we only look at the smallest available space to avoid even the blink of eye contact.

To us, this idea of bringing people together is just as important as making the best tasting food we can to our ability. It is such a high to see people get on like a house on fire!

Tim, one of my favourite writers, is as lovely, charming, charismatic as I imagined him to be and he was interviewing us. What the-...

Tim and Dan asked us very sophisticated questions. I like those as we always get asked the same questions. One interesting one, was about supper clubs and what they mean to us – is it a performance art?

To us, creating and continuing to have strangers come into our home to be fed is a lot like a two way affair. We feed our guests, but they also feed us in more ways than food, in which a lot of our guests form many colours on a blank canvas we once started with 9 months ago.

The Food Programme on Supper Clubs will be on Radio 4 on Sunday 4th July 2010 from 12:30 pm. 

Listen to Podcast here 

In picture above: Most people have gone home, but sometimes, a few brilliant people stay behind and talk to us. Its fantastic- the best part of the day! We are tipsy and we are having very funny conversations. We are all either ourselves or we are someone else, it doesn't matter because we can be as we are, as we want, and we all become friends.

The Scolt Head

This is a lovely pub tucked away in between Dalston, Stoke Newington and Mildmay.
Inside, full of characteristic furniture and bits and bobs that make you wire with intrigue and smiles. This is a cool yet homely place, striking the balance well with the warm atmosphere with floods of sunshine peeking through like waterfalls.

The food here has got to be one of my favouite gastro grub. Clean, well presented, cooked well and at a reasonable price. Using interesting but simple ingredients to combine flavours well.

My starter of mackeral on toast was wonderful – the meat of the fish delicate and fresh with a crispy skin – cooked to utter perfection – so as the lamb chops, beautifully pink on the inside and tastes of the best lamb. And the best sea bass!

Its good here. There is life here - its not one of those other gastro pubs opening up everywhere like weeds. Its far from that. Its closer to a soulful and personal. You can feel that the owners have put a lot of love and heart into their business. You can feel that they love what they do because they do it so well.

There are dogs bouncing about with balls and old men sitting in the corner as well as local couples and their mates bantering out their life stories. Its hard to say anything else other than its such a great place. A treasure of London, a great find, a keep.

The Scolt Head
107A Culford Road
London N1 4HT
020 7254 3965
www.thescolthead.co.uk

The Hairy Bikers - Wants You!

We love watching cookery programmes on TV. What better – midweek, eating your dinner with the telly on. Whether it’s a bit of Sophie Dahl’s dreamy indulgence, to Jamie Oliver’s travels and missions to Gordon Ramsey’s four letter words – they are so much fun and inspirational – eat food, watch food, talk food, think food, see food!

We get some great dinner guests from all walks of life and some from the BBC approached us to write a blog post on The Hairy Bikers as they are looking for contestants to take part in their new show about being ‘Britain’s Best Cooking Family.’ It reminded us of their shows – ‘Mum Knows Best’.

Mums do definitely know best. Mums are awesome – they introduced us to the foods we love and they continue to make our best, our favourite and our most loved dish. My mother helps me so much with Vietnamese cuisine as does Simon’s mum advise him on many Spanish and British favourites. She is the actual secret to Simon’s amazing chips! Simon's mum loves The Hairy Bikers!

What we love about the Hairy Bikers is that they are no nonsense cooking – they make stuff and its about the taste and how enjoyable it is to cook and to eat. They are not about restaurants and presentation – they are down to earth and appeal to the vast majority of people who aren’t passionate foodies like some of us are and encourage people to enjoy food.

There isn’t anything pretty about them – but there is something massively appealing and warm about Simon King and David Myers that is so instinctive and humane.

You can apply to be in their next show here
or email hairybikersfamilyfood@bbc.co.uk

We will be cooking up some of their recipes very soon (we haven’t got much time of late)– and hope that they get to reveal some great secrets passed on from mums and mums of mums and their mums. (or dads).

Atariya - Cheap Sushi

We stumbled onto Atariya and stopped to have a quick bite. The place was deserted compared to all the other tourist traps on James Street, (just behind Selfridges in Oxford Street). I was suspicious but was so hungry I succumbed to the bored looking staff and bare tables. The prices look ever so reasonable – it wouldn’t be a huge loss if it was terrible.

As we sat, the happy Japanese waitresses beamed to life with smiles and giggles - the Japanese are so good with service! It was about 6pm, maybe they were just resting from a day of lunch time rushes!

Surprisingly, I totally enjoyed my saba nigiri (about £1.30 each), salmon and tuna rolls (about £1.70 each) – it taste really fresh - you can taste the fish properly - not like other high street sushi, and the rice is really nice. We kept ordering more as we finished! If it wasn't for the rush of time, we would have happily eat so much more.

I can’t say much for the gyoza or prawn tempuras which had been cooked probably that morning and left sitting there.

They let Simon go to the pub and bring his pint back as they didn’t sell alcohol. This place is like a little market stall but in a shop – its a take away shop- it doesn’t look very nice – its like a stop by, and interim of hunger. But it sorts you out and that’s fine – sometimes this is exactly what you need. Is it not?

Great sushi and great value– Highly recommended.

Atariya
20 JAMES STREET, LONDON W1U 1EH
020-7491-1178 
www.atariya.co.uk

Canteen - Fish & Chips

After writing about my love for School Dinners and sausages  on Fernandez & Leluu's blog here.
I started to have a craving for fish and chips and so this:

I was one of the last minute fillers for an event held here - A Fish & Chips Masterclass with Cass Titcombe - Head Chef & Co Owner of Canteen. Cass talked about how they make mushy peas to the types of fish he preferred to use and how he cuts his chips.

Upon meeting Cass, who appeared to be such a gentle, warm and kind person in his approach and mannerism, I was biased that he would make good food. He looked like the sort of guy who really honour and pride himself in good British Food.

My fish & chips arrived with the crispy batter deformed by hot oil in the deep fat fryer! I love crispy bits. And another piece of fish in a bread crumb coating (my favourite) - it was like eating a very healthy big fish finger!

The fish tasted really really fresh. Like it had just come out of the sea. I loved it! I can't remember what the fish were (sorry - think one was pollack) it was not my favourite haddock though which I think has a lot more flavour than other white fish.

The good thing though is that they do not have a wide selection of fish - they have daily specials which is a really good sign that the fish is fresh and they don't keep a ton of it out back somewhere in the back of the freezer.

The chips were also thinner than chunky chips yet bigger than French Fries. I liked them a lot.
The tartare sauce with tarragon was fresh and had no hint of the artificial taste I usually don't like in standard tartare sauce. The mushy peas were also very tasty.

I love fish & chips - I love it most when I can eat it out of a newspaper, the chips going a bit soggy at the bottom with crispy bits and loads of onion vinegar - so the only thing is I'd have to have it on a plate here - which is fine also but changes my favourite way - and does not mean that I enjoyed my fish & chips any less.

I also love fish & chips that have been fried in oil that has been used over and over, flavouring the fish, the batter, the chips. Canteen's fish & chips certainly have a cleaner oil used. Good or bad? thats up to you and your personal palate.

The place is clean cut, simple & stylish. Our dinning environment was certainly very enjoyable - all sat around a long bench chatting and drinking for a long while.

Their chairs do not look comfortable - but they really are! The sofas are especially deceptive - they are ever so comfortable - making a great dinning experience in my view. Seats are very important!
Staff - all seemed nice to me.

I did not pay for my meal, I would however defiantly be back to eat more from the menu and report back.

Cass came to eat at our supper club a few weeks ago - it was really nerve wracking cooking for a chef. But I think he had a really good time and enjoyed the food. It was a great night, the atmosphere was electric and Cass was one of the people who influenced this with his friendly vibes. A lovely charming man.

Cass is also co author of 'Great British Food' - will also try out some recipes - to see if it works

Seeking School Dinners

I found these sausages by Clonakilty Sausages at Taste Of London yesterday and it provoked a head full of happy memories. I love them, I have been looking for these sausages for about 20 years and alas, we met Eat Like A Girl and she showed them to us – just like that – as if they were obviously there all that time! (The black and white puddings are also amazing!)

It was not always a joy to stand in a formal alphabetical queue with the same persons in front and behind you. You are stuck with them all your child hood years at primary school and secondary school. So you’d better get on with them. When the bell dings and Mrs Badger marches you with her whistle to the dinning hall my belly always rang with excitement and just as loudly. It was/is cool to hate school dinners but I loved it and so did everyone else – o yes – they loved it where I went.

The hoorah schcreams when we were the first class to the dinning hall being able to chose whatever we wanted and getting jelly & some Viennesse biscuit was the highlight of our little minds.

In Secondary school, we all ran as fast as possible to the dinning hall. OK it was to avoid the lengthy queues but it was also to catch their amazing pizzas on baguette, tinned raviolis, shepherds pie, macaroni and cheese, spam fritters, fish fingers and mash, chilli con carne and rice but most of all, it was the desserts.

Nowadays, I am not a dessert fan, unless you give me school dinner desserts (of which I now happily go to Stock Pot for - I am telling you - I am NOT ashamed). I have never since had the toffee tarts with hundreds and thousands, the apple crumble and custard, the golden syrup sponge, the jelly & biscuits, the rice pudding… I have never had it so well as I had it there – at school – my first introduction to British (?!) food.

It was the 80’s, we were Thatcher’s children, drinking our last bits of bottled milk. I loved St Joan Of Arc Primary School, I was the popular kid, the only oriental girl from a far far away land – every boy and girl thought was so exotic and wanted to teach me English. Being a refugee from Vietnam, my mother only fed us what she knew and she not only turned her nose up at the English diet, she actually couldn’t afford it. I still remember when she first found corriander in Dalston market - O the joy!!

My mum would seek the markets for cheap beef bones and cheap cuts of meat to make us the best Pho, the best braised pork belly, the best fried fish… well, at the time, my brother and I wanted to be like the other kids – we didn’t think that it was so cool to be eating any form of fish or Pho! We loved school dinners – for us, it was so different and it tasted so good!

The trauma still tingles of the memory of her getting a pig's head from the local butcher - they were giving it away. She was just delighted - but us? We weren't so delighted when we saw our school friends and their mum looking horrified through the butcher window at some woman happy about receiving a pigs head. There were squeals that day!

One week, for some reason, we all had to go on school dinners strike! I was devastated, being ten years old and having to deal with my mother’s packed lunch was a huge ordeal. She made us a bento box of things like braised pork belly with steamed rice, pickles, some choi sum in oyster sauce and then banana and coconut dessert.

Both my brother and I hid it, but having sense, we carried it home to mum, saying that we were too full to eat it (so would have it for dinner or on top of dinner - it was very delish), we were so ashamed as children to be seen with stinky Vietnamese food. She put a couple of apples in too, and so, for one week, my brother and I both ate apples only for lunch and ran to the fish and chips shop in Arsenal, Highbury Hill with our friends on the way home, hoping to share their chips as soon as possible.

The chips – the best ever-, covered in onion vinegar and salt, shaken in a newspaper paper was also another highlight – with our friends who lived nearby – still a memory I will forever cherish.

LOVE LELUU blog post on Canteen's Fish & Chips & Meeting Cass Titcombe here

Koya - Udon Noodles

Through the foodie blogger-sphere – I have heard great things about this new restaurant serving only Udon Noodles! When I was invited by JenCooks of TomEatsJenCooks, I jumped at a chance to go with food lovers alike. Plus, I hadn’t seen Jen in a while as she is busy cheffing in kitchens all across town. (Supper clubs are great for making friends – she’s become someone I adore as she always gives me these bear hugs… totally irresistible).

My feelings about Udon noodles are that I love them but not always in hot broth – I love them fried – I always love them fried but here, they don’t do fried Udon from what I can tell in the menu – they do them cold or in hot broth.

There were 6 of us so we chose a selection of starters and my goodness – we loved every single one of the starters we picked. All of our favourites had to be the braised pork in cider, roast duck and the lotus root chips! The pork was like a melt in your mouth, silky and seductive texture. Sweet and salty, a perfect balance of meat and fat too. Simply divine! And the lotus chips were so favoursome, crunchy and had a beautiful flavour – I can’t describe. The duck was also perfectly cooked and taste so wonderful.

Restaurants like these are winners – for both them and us. I have been often wondering why food places don’t just specialize in one thing, like Udon noodles – they have a small menu and they execute it really well – instead of having a mass of everything done by half and a handful of delights.

Mr Noodles and I ordered the beef noodles in hot broth – gingerful, warm and makes you breathe well. The Grubworm and TomEats ordered pork/ duck in miso broth which was just lovely but very rich – his would have been better as a starter size. Jen went for the cold udon with tempura – it looked amazing – she was so engrossed – I didn’t hear from her for a while!

I had Genmaicha tea which was very strong but went really well with the meal. The value for money is excellent. This is exactly the standard other restaurants should be at. Highly recommended.

Koya 
49 Frith Street, Soho, London W1D 4SQ
www.koya.co.uk