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Slowly cooked and stored in its own fat, duck confit can be a tender, melty delight. Its fatty skin, when pan-seared to a bronze crisp, is the most irresistible casing for salty and succulent duck meat this side of Beijing.
But like most routinely reheated meats preserved duck is prone to dryness. This is especially problematic when the leg meat is skinned and shredded for the likes of duck confit tarts, spring rolls and tacos. [Read more...]
Market stalls, food trucks and startup eateries obsessed with getting a single item right are making a huge impact on the London sandwich scene, putting authentic global flavours, country breads and rustic raps in the hands of a populace once triangulated by dainty white sandwiches. [Read more...]
Were a CV a sure indicator of a chef’s potential, as only gullible restaurateurs and food critics are led to believe, then Isaac McHale would already be counting his Michelin stars. 3 weeks shy of 30 and 3 months from running his own kitchen for the first time at autumn arrival Elliot’s Borough Market, the Glaswegian has already held positions at Tom Aikens and The Ledbury in London, Marque in Sydney, Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York and, most opportunely, Noma in Copenhagen, named World’s Best Restaurant in April. This month he began cooking preview Friday night dinners at Elliot’s in the Park, a pop-up at the Pavilion Cafe in East London’s Victoria Park: 5 courses, 5 wines, £50. [Read more...]
Two dear colleagues would be visiting from LA and I had to plan the meals and coffee breaks for their London stopover. The pressure I felt was considerable: Were these demanding food obsessives coming directly from California and not via Italy my task would have been difficult enough. But knowing they would be arriving with the incomparable flavours of Sicily and Piedmont fresh in their minds made my challenge all the more daunting. [Read more...]
When the old hall of London’s Borough Market was shut a month ago to facilitate construction of a new Thameslink train line into London Bridge station, the baker De Gustibus was one of four traders suddenly forced to give up their stalls. That was a devastating development both for the DG employees who would likely lose their jobs as well as devotees of the salt beef sandwiches they assembled with thick, tender slices of house-brined, hand-carved brisket. At first I felt angry and disillusioned. But when, during a visit to the food market last Friday, I observed that the DG meat carvers Genti and Andrea had been thrown out on the street I no longer felt sad. Truth be told I was elated. [Read more...]
Is August a bad month for salt beef? I certainly hope so. For if the drop in form at two of London’s very best salt beef purveyors is not due to seasonal disruptions, it isn’t only my list of the top 5 salt beef sandwiches in London that will need to be overhauled. I’ll have to rehabilitate my good name among those who’ve acted on these recommendations. The distance between youngandfoodish and youngandfoolish can be as short as a rubbery strip of salt beef. [Read more...]
Salt beef, like New York-style corned beef, is a Jewish deli meat made from beef briskets cured in brine. The salt breaks down the tough brisket meat while letting its flavours emerge. Salt beef ought not be an exercise in aerobic mastication, as some London purveyors would have you believe, nor should it be stringy and dry. (The residual salt is already enough to build a two-pint thirst.) In a proper sandwich the meat surrenders instantly to the chew, melting in the mouth and flooding it with flavor. [Read more...]
