by audrey roger

I found the perfect recipe for American style pancakes in a French cooking magazine which had labeled them as “drop scones” for some odd reason… These are very close in consistency to the true American pancakes which are thicker than crepes (called pancakes here in England). I didn’t have any blueberries so decided to use blackberries instead which works just as well and is a good alternative. I drizzle loads of golden syrup on top of the stack to balance out the acidity of the blackberries.

preparation time: 2 min
cooking time: 15 min

makes about 5-6 pancakes

ingredients:
100 g self raising flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
150 ml milk
75 g blackberries, each cut in 4
butter

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Make a hole in the middle and add the egg and milk. Whisk everything together. The consistency should be slightly thicker than the mixture for crepes. If it’s too liquidy, add a bit more flour. Add the bits of blackberries and stir once very gently.
2. Put a bit of butter in a small pan and add a small ladle of the mixture. When you start seeing small bubbles on the surface and it is golden underneath, flip the pancake over. Cook until the other side becomes golden as well. Add a bit of butter to the pan before cooking each pancake.
3. Serve on a plate drizzled with golden syrup.

by audrey roger

Now that autumn has settled in, it’s the perfect excuse to make comfort food and bake cakes. Not that you need an excuse. I often find marble cakes too dry and the chocolate mixture a bit bland. So I’ve adapted a few recipes to make one that is moist enough and has enough contrast between the vanilla and the chocolate mixtures. Using dark good quality chocolate is key. Cocoa powder will never have the same effect. As with the madeleines recipe, I use a silicone dish (for loaves) which makes it much easier to take the cake out and is very easy to clean.

preparation time: 5 min
total cooking time: 40-45 min

ingredients:
4 eggs
200 g sugar
215 g flour
225 g butter
90 g good quality cooking chocolate (try Green & Black’s or Meunier cooking chocolate)
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar (try Fiddes Payne vanilla sugar)

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar (not the vanilla sugar, leave that for later) together until you get a whitish texture.
2. Add the flour, which you will have previously mixed with the baking powder.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Let it cool a bit then add to the rest of the mixture.
4. You can melt the butter in the same saucepan, once you’ve poured the butter out. Just add a bit of water.
5. Separate the mixture between two bowls. In one bowl, add the melted chocolate. In the other bowl, add the vanilla sugar.
6. Pour a bit of the vanilla mixture at the bottom of the loaf dish. Then pour over a bit of the chocolate mixture. Keep on alternating between the two until you finish pouring everything into the dish. The chocolate mixture will make swirls inside the cake.
7. Cook for about 40-45 minutes until cooked but still moist.
8. Let the cake cool down a bit before you slice it.

by malika mezeli

You will need…
1 no-nonsense steel wok
1 wire wool
1 metal wok spatular
1 medium pan for rice
1 large pan for soup
1 big knife
1 proper stone pestle & mortar
Just a few sturdy bits of equipment, nothing flimsy and fancy…

You will find all the ingredients by making a trip to the Asian supermarkets on Mare Street and the TFC supermarket on Ridley Road.
addresses:
Huong-Nam Supermarket, 185 Mare Street, London E8 3QE
TFC Supermarket, 89 Ridley Road, London E8 2NP

If you’re not familiar with any of the ingredients it is very important to taste them all in different forms. Get to know them and what the do to the dish. It might not be very nice chewing on lemon grass but will provide knowledge in order to cook with it. As the oyster sauce, fermented beans etc.

Chillies are not regulated on their heat so amounts are a guideline only. Same with garlic. The fresher it is, the more pungent it will be.

If fish sauce is left with the lid off, the water will evaporate, making it stronger. Still good to use but will affect the way you utilise it.

NB: All the quantities below are for about 3 to 4 people for each dish. All the dishes are made to be served alongside other dishes, but they don’t necessarily all go together. Here is a suggestion of menus below.

menu 1:
Tom Yam soup
chillie crispy pork
mixed vegetables
boiled rice

menu 2:
chicken turmeric soup
deep fried fish
prawn and vermicelli salad
baby aubergines with fermented soya beans
steamed rice

menu 3:
rice soup
salty eggs
stir fried clams with Thai basil
baby aubergines with fermented soya beans
NB: You can serve the rice soup with a little sliced ginger and fish sauce but this is optional. The other dishes will not go with the rice soup. However, they can be eaten with steamed rice.

Thai jasmine rice

Use 1 cup of rice per person.

1. Wash the rice in the pan about three times. This level of starch in the rice is a personal preference but three times should give good levels. No need to use a sieve.
2. Put the rice in a pan and cover it with cold water so that the water above the rice comes up to your knuckle on your thumb.
3. Place on a very low heat with the lid on. Check the rice from time to time. If the rice tastes cooked but is still too moist, take the lid off.

For rice soup, wash the rice once or twice if it is very starchy. In the pan have about one third of rice and two thirds of water. Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat till done. Add boiling water if it is too thick.

Baby aubergines with fermented soya beans and Thai basil

This dish is part of a meal (see top of the feature for suggestions of meals). No one is going to eat this on its own or a whole plate of it, but it will accompany rice and other dishes really well.

2 aubergines
a handful of Thai basil
2 cloves of garlic
3 small red chillies (less or more according to prefrence)
fish sauce
sugar (preferably palm sugar or otherwise white granulated; brown will have a flavour impact)
1-2 Tbsps sunflower oil
1 can of fermented soya beans

1. Peal, bash and chop the garlic in the pestle and mortar or with the side of the knife. Don’t mash the garlic completely or render it too small because it will instantly burn in the wok.
2. Slice the chillies lengthwise into strips.
3. Slice the aubergines in about 3/4 inch width on a diagonal.
4. Pick the basil leaves off the stalks, discarding the stalks, and wash the leaves shaking off the excess water.
5. Heat the oil in the wok. When hot add the garlic and chillies and move around for about 30 seconds until they are softened. You don’t want them to burn.
6. Add the aubergines. Keep the heat high and keep moving around the ingredients. The aubergines will soak up the oil pretty quickly which is good because you don’t want them to be dry. If you have some stock, you could also add a couple of spoonfuls to the aubergines.You know the aubergines are cooked when they become translucent and the skin goes all wrinkly.
7. Add 3 Tbsps of fermented soya beans. Mix and cook for 30 seconds/1 minute. Add the basil leaves. The sharp fresh flavout of the basil leaves will cut through the fat of the aubergines and the saltyness of the beans.
8. Add a bit of sugar and the tiniest splash of fish sauce. You don’t want it to be too salty but the fish sauce will add something that the beans don’t have.
9. Put in a dish and it’s ready to serve.

Put the wok under the tap and polish in circles with the wire wool. It’s just to get it rid of the food. Don’t worry about the oil. It’s now ready for your next dish.

Stir fried clams

2 cloves of garlic
2 handfuls of clams (frozen or fresh)
2 Tbsps oyster sauce
a handful of Thai basil
3 small red chillies (to preference)
1-2 Tbsps sunflower oil
fish sauce
sugar

1. Wash the shells.
2. Prepare the garlic and chillies as before or bash a couple of hits in the mortar.
3. Heat the oil in the wok. Add the garlic and chillies. Cook very briefly (as before).
4. Add the shells and cover the wok. Keep on a medium heat.
5. When the shells start opening, add the oyster sauce and a sprinkle of sugar and fish sauce. Keep it all moving for 30 seconds/1 minute, then add the basil leaves.
6. Taste the juice. Add more fish sauce or sugar to taste. The sugar is not added dor sweetness, so use very sparingly, but it works with the other flavours and brings them out.
7. Put in a dish. It’s now ready to be served.

Circulate the old wok with the middle aged wire wool. Splash off the excess water. You don’t want to put oil in a wet pan. Put the wok upside down over the heat for a few seconds to dry it. No need to scrub the wok at this point or ruin a tea towel.

Mixed stir fried vegetables with oyster sauce

Here I use mange-tout, baby corn, tomatoes, chinese greens and straw mushrooms. But you can also use long beans, broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions.

2 small red chillies
2 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsps oyster sauce
1-2 Tbsps sunflower oil
fish sauce
sugar (to taste)
a selection of vegetables (enough for 3-4 people)

The bigger vegetables will be chopped into smaller pieces.

1. Heat the oil in the wok. Add the garlic and chillies. Cook as before, until softened.
2. Add the harder vegetables first (ie. broccoli, corn, beans, etc.). Add the oyster sauce and fry until slightly softened.
2. Add the softer vegetables (chinese greens, cabbage, etc.). Add the tomatoes. Then add a couple of splashes of fish sauce. Taste and add fish sauce and sugar to taste.
3. Cook on a medium heat until all the vegetables are softened but still al dente.
4. Put in a dish and serve, or cover the dish and serve later.

Vermicelli prawn salad

For the dressing we will make Nam Jim. It’s a lovely Thai dressing that you can use for lots of other stuff. It’s used as a salad dressing or as a dip for barbecued meat with sticky rice.
When you order it in restaurants or cafes, this is made fresh to order and the customer will often request how they want it. Sweet (more sugar), sour (more lime), salty (more fish sauce), spicy (more chilli). So the ingredient quantities are variable to taste. If you can’t do spicy, be careful how much lime you put as this will make th chilli sharper. To dull it without making the sauce too sweet with sugar, add more fish sauce. However you prefer this sauce, it should always have a high kick.

Nim Jam:
juice of 1/2 lime
2 chillies
1 Tbsp fish sauce
sugar
coriander root (optional)
1 clove of garlic

100 g raw prawns
100 g vermicelli
coriander leaves (quantity to preference)

1. Bash a little sugar, chillies and garlic in the mortar. If your coriander has a root on it, wash it and add a teaspoon and bash it with the rest. Optionally you can slice the chillies thinly. If you bash them, the spice will spread through the sauce. If sliced, the sauce will still have a spicyness but you will get an isolated attack when you hit one.
2. Add the fish sauce and 1 Tbsp of lime juice. Adjust to taste.
3. Pull the heads and tails off of the prawns. Peel around the base of the tail first, then pull it off otherwise you will waste meat in the base of the tail. Slit the prawns down the back and remove the black vein. This is for aesthetics only.
4. Throw the prawns into boiling water and leave for a minute or until they lose their opacity. Scoop them out and leave to one side. Don’t rinse them in cold water. Leave them to cook in tehir own heat, thsi will ensure you don’t overcook them. Don’t throw the water out. You can keep it as stock for later.
5. Put the glass noodles in a boiling pot of water (not the same water used for the prawns above). Leave the noodles for about 2 minutes. You don’t want the noddles al ente or over swollen. This is a small window. Take them out and rinse under cold water.
6. Mix the coriander leaves, noodles and pranws and sauce. Serve.

Deep fried sea bream

1 medium sea bream
Waugh’s curry powder or any other kind of curry powder if not
fish sauce
2 cups sunflower oil

Don’t use fish that is slit on the belly for gutting. The fish should be sealed by its own skin. If you buy your fish from an Asian supermarket, you should be ok. British fish mongering doesn’t allow for whole fish frying generally.

1. Wash the fish and de-scale it. Hold it by the head and pull the knife gently towards you. Keep doing this until the fish is scale free but do not pierce the skin or over do it. Scales only. If you’re not sure, use a proper de-scaler or have the fish monger do it. With a big sharp knife chop off the boney fins and the bony bit of the tale. Pull the big fins by the gill out. Score the fish down the meatiest part diagonally three times on either side.
2. Put the fish in a dish and add 1 Tbsp curry powder and 2 Tbsps of fish sauce. Marinade the fish in the sauce and make sure you rub the sauce into the scoring marks. Prepare this when you first start to cook all of your dishes that way the fish will be marinated by the time you get round to cooking it.
3. Heat the oil in the wok. When the oil starts moving, place the fish carefully in the oil. Place a lid on the wok. When the fish lifts off the bottom, it is ready to turn. Do not attempt to lift the fish before it chooses to otherwise this will break the skin. Only turn the fish over once. The more you turn it, the more chances you have of breaking it. When the fish is deep brown on either side, it is done.

Alternatively you can cut out the curry powder. In this case, pour some Nim Jam sauce over the fish before serving it. Also, you can re-use the hot oil for other dishes, as long as there are no burny bits. If there are, strain the oil with a fine sieve or coffee filter.

Chicken turmeric soup

1/2 chicken cornfed, free range and organic (If you can’t afford it, use half the amount of chicken. There’s more flavour and nutrients in the packaging than in a factory chicken.)
3 cloves of garlic, bashed
3 cloves of shallots, bashed
2 little fingers of turmeric root, bashed
dried mushrooms
fish sauce
salt

Thais cut chicken bones across with a big knife. Although this can produce sharp bone shreds, it also exposes the inside of the bones and releases the marrow, so I’m all for it. It’s tasty and good for you.

1. Pull the excess skin off. Chop the breast legs and thigh in half through the bones with a big knife.
2. Put in a large pan and cover the chicken with cold water. Put the skin in as well. Remove the skin from the soup before serving. Put on a medium heat.
3. Add the turmeric, shallots, garlic and mushrooms. Season with pepper and plenty of salt. Cook for about 30 min and then serve.

This is super good for you and the turmeric root might even hold off Alzheimers!

Salty egg salad

2 salted eggs (They have white shells, usually raw or pre-boiled. If raw, boil them for 4 min.)
2 shallots very thinly sliced
2 small red chillies
Nam Jim (Hold the garlic and coriander and go easy on the fish sauce as the eggs are really salty)

1. While still in the shells, slice the eggs in half then half again the same way. Scoop the parts out of the shells with a spoon.
2. Arrange the eggs on a plate and pour the sauce over. Done.

Tom Yam Blah (spicy sour soup with sea bass)

If you have a cold or fever, this is great for you. You can even eat the slices of galangal. Have it super spicy.

2 peeled garlic cloves
2 peeled shallots
3 small red chillies (dried is ok if not fresh)
2 kaffir lime leaves
a thumb of galangal
2 stalk lemon grass
6 straw mushrooms closed or open (when closed, slice in half)
1 tomato sliced in 6 wedges
1 tsp fish sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
salt
sugar

1. Roast the garlic, shallots and chillies in a dry wok. Keep them moving. You should be able to smell them sweetening up. Dont let them brown too much.
2. Bash these in a mortar with a little sugar. Don’t over do the sugar, you can add more later if necessary. Bash until you obtain a smooth paste. You shouldn’t see the seeds of the chillies at all by the end. Keep our hand over the pestle and mortar so the chillies don’t whack you in the eyes.
3. Wash the fish. De-scale if necessary. Cut the head off from behind the gills. Then cut in about 1 inch pieces to the tail. Wash it.
4. Fill half a medium saucepan with water. You can use the prawn water from before or if you have any weak pure fish or chicken stock. Add the chilli paste to the water.
5. Cut a thumb size of galangal. Don’t confuse this with ginger. Snap it in the shop so you are not getting a stringy bit. It should snap easily and show signs of moisture. Scrub the skin. You don’t need to remove this but do wash and scrub. Peel it if you have to. The nobbly exterior will mean you will waste a lot. Slice into 10 pence pieces.
6. Cut the lemon grass stalks. Judge where it gets too stalky at the ends and cut off there. Again, lemon grass should not be stringy but you’ll be lucky to find non-stringy lemon grass here. You can eat this in the soup. Slice the root off and the tips. Bash it on a board with the pestle. You won’t eat this bit in the soup.
7. Put the lemon grass and galangal in the soup. Bring to the boil. Add a little salt. Taste. It should be coming together.
8. Bring the heat down and add the fish including the head. This shouldn’t be bubbling when you add the fish as it will break it up otherwise. Add the mushrooms and tomato pieces.
9. Keep on a low heat with a lid on for about 5 min. Add the kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and lime juice. If the fish is done, taste. Add more lime juice, sugar or fish sauce to taste. The fish should be flaky with pieces coming off. Add coriander to garnish. Done.

Chilli crispy belly pork

300-400 g belly pork
300 g extra fine runner beans chopped in 1 & 1/2 inch pieces
fresh green peppercorns
2 peeled garlic cloves
2 peeled shallots
3 small red chillies
1 stalk lemon grass, white bit sliced very thinly
1/2 tsp prawn paste
sugar
coconut milk
fish sauce sunflower oil

1. Fry the belly pork in a pan, turning it over every once in a while until crispy and brown. Remove from the pan and cut into 2 inch pieces.
2. Put the garlic, shallots, chillies, lemon grass, prawn paste and a tiny bit of sugar in a mortar and bsh until you otain a smooth paste. As before, you should not be able to see the chilli seeds by the end.
3. Put a bit of oil in the wok and fry the paste for 30 min/1 min. Add the pork and beans. Add fish sauce to taste and a bit of coconut milk to make the sauce thinner. Add the peppercorns.
4. Cook for a few minutes until the beans are cooked but still crunchy.

Sticky coconut rice and fresh mango

1 cup sticky rice
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 mango ripe and sweet

For the mango, if you’re in the same room and can smell it, it’s good. If you can’t, don’t bother. Buy your mangoes from independent markets or shops. They sell boxes on Riddley Road, in the Asian supermarkets on Mare Street, in Chinatown or in Whitechapel Market. If you don’t get mangoes with a dark orange skin and flesh that smells sweet, don’t bother.If you can only make it to the chain supermarkets, don’t bother. These things they call mangoes are pale impersonators.

1. Soak the rice overnight in water. Wash.
2. Place the rice in a muslin sock over a pan of boiling water. Cover with a tea towel and steam for 20 min.
3. Put in a pan with the coconut milk, sugar and salt on a low heat. Allow the rice to absorb the milk.
4. Slice the mango from the top to the bottom, slicing through half the flesh to the end, then the other half to the stone. Do this around the stone. Cut horizontally into bite sice pieces.
5. Serve the mango pieces alongside a bit of coconut rice.

by hannah williams

I’m a recent convert to prawns having taken a while to appreciate their meaty texture but since a recent trip to Portugal I’ve been eating them with wild abandon. This tasty marinade is one of my current favourites and gives the prawns a fresh, fragrant edge – prefect for a summer barbecue. All the marinade ingredients are readily available on the stalls and shops surrounding Ridley Road market.

preparation: 5 mins plus 1hr marinating
cooking time: 4-5 mins
makes: 6 – 8 skewers

Ingredients
1 clove garlic
thumb-sized piece ginger
juice of 1 lime
handful coriander – finely chopped
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
180g good quality cooked prawns

1. Finely chop the garlic, ginger, and coriander and mix together in a bowl.
2. Add the lime juice and soy sauce and mix together to form a thin sauce. Feel free to use a blender if you have one but make sure you keep the mixture fairly thin.
3. Dip each prawn in to the mixture making sure it is fully coated and place in a bowl. Repeat with all the prawns, before pouring the remaining sauce into the bowl. Cover and leave in a cool place for a minimum of 1 hour or maximum of 5 hours.
4.When the prawns are ready place on a wooden skewer, putting 4 to 5 on each stick and keeping the remaining marinade to one side.
5.Grill the prawn skewers on a barbecue (or grill pan) for 2 minutes on each side or until slightly browned. Serve using the leftover marinade as a dipping sauce.

by guilaine le joncour

Nothing spells summer better than barbecues and picnics in the park. This recipe, inspired by “spanakopita”, otherwise known as spimach and feta pie, is the perfect dish to complement your picnic. I simply love the combination f the fresh mint along with spinach and feta. And while I’ve kept the ingredients simple, it’s possible to add nuts, such as pinenuts, and other herbs into the fold.

preparation: 30 min
cooking time: 15-20 min
makes: 20-25 parcels

ingredients:
500 g spinach
1 large oninon
2 cloves of garlic
large bunch of mint
1 egg
1 egg yoke
250 g feta
pinch of nutmeg
pepper
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
pre-made filo pastry sheets

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

1. Pour the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
2. Chop the onion in small pieces, add to the pan and fry until translucent.
3. Add the chopped garlic and spinach to the onion and cook until the spinach has wilted. Sprinkle the nutmeg and a good dose of pepper. Drain any excess water and set aside to cool.
4. Chop the mint in small pieces and add to the cooled spinach.
5. Crumble the feta cheese into the spinach and add an egg.
6. Cut the filo pastry in 12cm (5in) squares and use two sheets together. Add a large tablespoon of spinach and feta mixture and close the pastry around it in the form of a parcel.
7. With a brush (or alternatively your finger), cover each parcel with egg yoke. This will give them a lovely golden colour once baked.
8. Place the parcels on a baking tray covered with parchment paper (otherwise they will stick to the bottom) and cook at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

by camilla smith

Lemon is such a summery flavour, and even though the sun seems too shy to peep through the cloud clogged sky at the moment in overcast Shacklewell, it is no reason not to enjoy the flavours of the season. This is a simple cake to make which makes it all the more satisfying as whilst it bakes it gives you time to squeeze fresh lemonade and prop up the parasol. It was devoured and heavily complemented at its “premiere”!

you will need:
175 g caster sugar
175 g butter
2 medium eggs
250 g self raising flour
zest from half a lemon
lemon curd
white sugar cubes
freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven at 175°C.

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.
2. Add the eggs and combine one at a time.
3. Blend the flour in.
4. Now blend in a dollop (a dessert spoonful) of lemon curd and the grated zest.
5. Spead the mixture evenly in a loaf tin and bake at 175°C for an hour or until a knife poked in the middle comes out clean.

The cake may seem a bit like a soufflé during baking but it does firm up at the end.

Once it has cooled down, slice the cake in two length wise, and spread a generous amount of lemon curd inside. Then put the cake back together, smash the sugar cubes into smaller pieces, drizzle the top of the cake with lemon juice and sprinkle the sugar cubes on top. To add a bit of “neon” to the cake’s appearance you could sprinkle some lemon zest on top as well.

by whetham allpress

food ****
coffee **
vibe ****
value ****

The quietly booming cafe culture in east London is marred only by those new joints that beneath the surface are either just tarted-up sandwich shops or upmarket greasy spoons. Relish, however, is one of the proper ones, designed from scratch, sitting brand-spanking-new on the banks of Newington Green. It is firm evidence that Stoke Newington fine dining is drifting south.

It is designed as a cafe/deli with generous shelf and chiller space dedicated to finest european vittles. You’re probably not going to do your grocery shopping there but you might well collect a weekend treat or last minute dinner party opener after you’ve had your breakfast and read the free papers.

Coffee
We had two rounds of cappuccinos and lattes (they didn’t know what flat whites were so we defaulted) and unfortunately were a little disappointed. Like so many of London’s breakfast emporiums, the barista skills were sadly amiss. All four coffees were weak, too hot, and the milk was burnt. And the second cappuccino came out in a bloody great latte mug. Sighs of resignation and lament for London’s coffee shame.

Breakfast
After drowning our sorrows in free papers we consulted the hot breakfast menus. All the basics were covered from the full english through various poached egg and hollandaise combos to mushrooms and boiled duck eggs, and of course pancakes. A simple menu, and really when it comes down to it, all you want (as far as we were concerned quiche and salads and fish cakes come way later on a weekend, and are best kept out of a breakfast cafe menu, no?).
We ordered a round of pancakes, a full english and eggs royale (with salmon) and were handsomely rewarded. After the coffee fiasco, Relish lept back into favour with some very very nice food. The pancakes (bananas, berries and maple syrup) were not huge but lovely, fresh and just enough for two to get started with. If coffee is one litmus test for a breakfast joint, poached eggs are the other and the Relish chefs proved they knew what they were doing.
The full english was huge, well presented and sported crispy bacon and an organic sausage. The Royale was simple and perfect, the eggs beautifully tender, mantled in creamy hollandaise and mounted on finest flakey salmon.

So what the hell went wrong with the coffee? Relish should sit its front of house staff down and ask this question then go to all lengths to help its coffee makers to solve a problem that could keep it from being recognised beyond local borders as a place worth a trip to.

address: Relish, 44-45 Newington Green, London N16 9QH
telephone: 020 7354 4377

by hannah williams

From the outside Pastéis de Belém looks no different to the million other cafes nestling on the corners of Lisbon’s busy streets, undeniably dilapidated but still in possession of a certain colonial chic.

But Pastéis de Belém is not like any other coffee shop. It is birthplace to an institution as important to Portuguese national identity as a bag of vinegar-soaked chips is to Blackpool seafront.

The pastel de nata or custard tart has been baked in Belem for nearly 200 years. And while tasty replications can be picked up in any street cafe or bakery across Portugal, the original are still the best.

Behind a modest frontage, opposite a tram stop for the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, lies a warren of lofty rooms, replete with original stone flooring, elegant blue tiling and ceilings high enough to make your nose bleed.

Yet despite its ample statistics, the rambling rooms of the renowned bakery are perpetually packed with cake-hungry punters from across the world who flock in droves to taste the perfect pastry and succulent custard fillings.

So what’s so great about pasteis?

Take your pick; from the thin yet sturdy sweet pastry that cracks in your mouth but doesn’t crumble to the weighty rush of warm creamy custard that follows filling your senses with sweet delight or the sharp cinnamon dusting that rounds off the mouthful leaving a warm spicy feeling on the tip of the taste buds.

Perhaps it’s the grandpa-esque waiters who shuffle round in smart black pinnies ever alert to the inevitable requests for ‘two more cakes please’ or the nautical brickwork that makes it easy to imagine Vasco de Gama shuffling down a tart or two before embarking on his latest naval conquest. Whatever it is that makes pasteis taste so great, it makes it happen tenfold in Belém.

That’s not that useful if you live in Dalston though. So how can you recreate that Lisbon magic without venturing outside London?

Canela in Soho is a good bet for all things Brazilian including pasteis and Cafe Lisboa near Portobello Road is another safe bet.

But if you really want to treat the taste buds nothing beats Belém.

by audrey roger

Madeleines are one of the easiest things you can bake and they take hardly any time to make. I love them for their bite size smallness. They’re great with a nice strong cup of tea. This recipe is inspired by one I found on a French food blog Marmiton.org. It makes the lightest madeleines you’ve ever tasted. I’ve added orange zest and grated ginger to give them bit of kick and sweet flavouring.
You can find madeleines moulds in any kind of specialist cookware shop or on Amazon.co.uk. The best ones are the silicone ones because once the madeleines are cooked you can pop them straight out of the molds.

preparation time: 10 min
total cooking time: 36 min

ingredients (for 18-20 madeleines):
3 eggs
100 g sugar
110 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
90 g salted butter
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Preheat the oven at 220°C.

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Leave it to cool.
2. Whisk the eggs and the sugar together in a bowl.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Then the melted butter (the butter will have separated in two, one layer of yellow liquid and a creamy white liquid underneath; leave the creamy white bit out) and orange zest and grated ginger.
4. Fill the madeleines moulds up to 3/4 each with the mixture. Cook for 12 minutes each time at 200°C.
5. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

by audrey roger

Spinach is in season at the moment (check out Ridley Road market) and is great as a salad or mixed with fish like rainbow trout (which is also in season, have a look at your local fishmonger shop). I’ve taken smoked rainbow trout which has a much stronger flavour and tastes great in quiche but you could just as well make it with fresh fish instead of smoked if you prefer.

pastry:
200 g flour
100 g salted butter
water

quiche filling:
4 eggs
150 ml double cream
150 ml milk
150 g smoked rainbow trout ( or smoked salmon if not)
handful fresh spinach
pepper

Preheat the oven at 200°C.

making the pastry:
1. Mix the flour and butter together in a big bowl and slowly add a bit of cold water. You should obtain a big ball of pastry that stays together and stretches without it being either too sticky or too dry. If you add too much water it will be too sticky so I always add the water bit by bit until it’s the right texture.
2. put the pastry ball onto a clean surface and stretch it out with the rolling pin until it is roughly the size of a big quiche dish.
3. Butter the quiche dish and sprinkle a very thin layer of flour over it. This will make it easier to take the quiche out from the dish one it is baked.
4. Place the pastry inside the dish and stretch the pastry by pressing with your fingers until it covers the whole dish. Make small holes all over the pastry with a fork.

making the rest:
1. In a bowl, whisk the cream, eggs and milk.
2. Add small squares of smoked rainbow trout and some shredded fresh spinach. Add pepper. No need to salt as the smoked rainbow trout provides all the salt you need in this dish.
3. Pour the mixture over the pastry.
4. Cook in the oven for 30 min at 200°C.
5. Serve with fresh lettuce and vinaigrette.

vinaigrette, French style:
This is the vinaigrette we make in France and that I’ve always seen my mom make.
proportions:
3 Tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt
pepper