I’m still feeling pleasantly full from a wonderful Indian lunch, prepared by Manju Malhi and her mother at a two hour cookery workshop held at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill, London. It’s the second workshop I’ve attended there this year (the first was Kimiko Barber’s Japanese Kitchen), and now I feel really inspired to recreate all the dishes! I don’t cook much at all, so once in a while, I need workshops like these to get me back into the kitchen…

Manju, who learned her cooking skills from her mother, has simplified Indian dishes, mostly by reducing the number of spices used. Being vegetarian, my husband loves experimenting with dal and curries, so luckily we have most of the spices that Manju used, but I’m still a bit clueless about them. Many years ago, I spent much time in my best friend’s mother’s kitchen, watching her prepare meals for us - chappatis, dal, vegetarian curries, raita etc. And she would always make mine slightly less hot. Of course I didn’t write any recipes down, silly me! Watching Manju and her mother interacting in the kitchen brought back many fond memories of those meals.

Manju’s top five spices that she uses most regularly are cumin, coriander seeds, garam masala (mixture of ‘hot’ or ‘warm’ spices), turmeric and chilli powder. She recommends buying from Rajah , Natco or Seasoned Pioneers, and it’s better to buy spices in smaller quantities, although ground spices can be stored for 6 months if kept away from heat or sunlight, while unground spices can last for a year. Manju’s mother makes her own garam masala, which is then ground with a coffee grinder (clean thoroughly afterwards, by grinding grains of rice).

And we were introduced to asafoetida, also known as ‘devil’s dung’, because it’s very pungent. It’s made from the resin of a plant native to Iran, and is used as a substitute for onions and garlic, which followers of Jainism do not eat. It also aids digestion.

We were shown how to ‘temper’ or dry-roast unground spices in a frying pan (with no oil), to release their aroma and make them edible. When you can smell the spice, it’s ready. After cooling down, it can be ground to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar.

When preparing a curry at home, it’s easier to make it spicier at a later stage, rather than try to make it milder by adding whipped joghurt, milk or cream. Onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger form the basis of many North Indian curries. And when you see the oil in a curry float to the top of the saucepan, this means the curry is ready to be served. Curries also taste better the next day…

Tip from Manju - if you’re served a hot curry in a restaurant, rather than ordering a lager or water, choose a dairy-based drink instead, such as lassi, in order to neutralise the acidity in the chillis. When I’ve bitten into a chilli by mistake, eating spoonfuls of joghurt with cucumber has always helped (I learned this from my friend’s mother).

You may also be interested in supporting VSO’s Big Curry Night, which takes place on Saturday October 25th. The idea is to make a curry (or curries!) and invite your friends and family to eat them. Their donations will all go to charity. Manju has supplied some great recipes to get everyone started, which you can find on the VSO website.

The Easy Indian cookery book looks really useful, and even comes with a CD of traditional Indian music that Manju says will get cooks into the right mood! I’ll be posting about the Easy Indian recipes over the next week…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Baozi Inn, recently opened in Chinatown, was recommended by a friend who tries all the latest Chinese restaurants before I do (which really helps me!). It also received a positive review in Time Out, so off I went to investigate, accompanied by a Japanese friend.

It’s very small, and of course they don’t take reservations, so it was lucky that we decided to eat early. The interior reminded me a bit of the first Chinese restaurant I was taken to when I arrived in Beijing for a two year stay back in 1996, decorated kitschy Communist Revolution-style. Diners perch on wooden stools at small wooden tables, which is not that comfortable. It’s not a place to linger over your meal, and I’d barely sat down before I was asked what I wanted. Nevertheless, the service was polite and helpful (and quick!)

Baozi Inn is owned by the people behind Sichuan restaurant Bar Shu, so the menu helpfully displays photos of each dish, just like at Bar Shu. On offer was a selection of ’street food’ and xiao chi (’small eats’ or snacks) from Beijing and Sichuan, including large steamed baozi (northern Chinese buns), filled with pork, egg or radish. We wanted to try the radish, as my friend said it sounded similar to something she has had in Japan, but they didn’t have it.

Instead, we chose a xiao chi of ginger-juice spinach (£4.00) - blanched spinach in soy sauce, ginger and brown rice vinegar dressing - which turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me. It was a generous portion, light and fresh, and came with yellow soy beans. Delicious!

We also ordered ‘dragon’ pork wontons in a savoury broth (£6.10), a classic made famous by the Long Chao Shou restaurant in Chengdu, Sichuan; Beijing zhajiang mian (£6.10) - fresh wheat noodles topped with pork in rich fermented sauce, raw carrot, cucumber and crushed garlic; and Sichuan spicy beef noodles (£6.50).

These all arrived in substantial bowls and were filling. My friend liked her zhajiang mian, although she thought the noodles could have been slightly more al dente (and she mentioned her garlicky breath the next day!). My beef noodles weren’t that spicy at all, despite the chilli oil in the broth, and they could have been more generous with the beef. We were both of the opinion that the pork wontons were a good size and full of flavour.

I might go back to try some of the other dishes, like the dan dan mian, as it’s hard to judge a place on just a few dishes (I know I do this all the time!). Dinner was £9 per person, including tip, which was very reasonable for London.

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Baozi Inn
25 Newport Court
London WC2H 7JS
Tel: 020 7287 6877
Open daily 11am-10pm

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @World Foodie Guide

Hazuki is a small Japanese restaurant in Covent Garden that fellow food blogger tasty treats! swears by. There are now so many Japanese restaurants in London, compared with even just ten years ago, that you really need recommendations from trusted sources, in order to sort the good from the not so good. There’s also an excellent Chowhound thread that started off with sushi favourites, to being a general ‘best in London’ discussion. I’ve added a few eateries to my restaurant wishlist as a result!

Hazuki at lunchtime mid-week was packed. My colleagues and I sat on the mezzanine level, which seems to be nicer and lighter than downstairs. Service was friendly and impressively efficient, considering that they were full and yet still managed to contend with our table of nine.

I ordered the salmon teriyaki bento box (£11.50), which included rice, miso soup, pickles, salad and three pieces of agedashi tofu. Most of my colleagues went for one form of bento box or another - mixed tempura or chicken teriyaki, while a couple chose the buta shougayaki - pan-fried belly pork with soy sauce & ginger (£6.50), which also came with rice, miso soup, pickles and salad.

The salmon teriyaki was delicious - a good sized piece of fillet, extremely fresh, and the teriyaki sauce tasted as good as the one Kimiko Barber taught me to make earlier this year. The agedashi tofu, however, tasted ever so slightly sour though. I don’t know if I was just being overly sensitive, but I always worry about stomach upsets when I eat out. Luckily, I was fine afterwards, and I’m not going to let that put me off going back!

Other Japanese restaurants I like in London are Jinkichi, Yoisho and Sushi-Say

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Hazuki
43 Chandos Place
London WC2N 4HS
Tel: 020 7240 2530
www.hazukilondon.co.uk

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

My mother and I haven’t lived together for many years now, so I always look forward to her home-cooked meals. They remind me of my childhood, so when we see each other, I always ask her to cook the same few favourites that I grew up on. I never get bored of them.

Every Chinese family has their special recipes and slightly different methods of preparing a particular dish. Dinner table conversations are all about where the ingredients were bought, and how each dish was created. Here are my favourites (click on each for full recipes). Together, they would make a substantial meal, served with steamed white rice. In fact, this would be my perfect home-cooked meal!

• chicken and potato stew - I could eat this every day! I can’t remember when my mother first made it, and I personally don’t know any other Chinese family who eats this. I haven’t come across it in any cookery books either. One of my aunts learnt how to make it for me so that I could eat it when my mother wasn’t around, but it was never quite the same. It’s got to be cooked with a whole chicken, so that you get a bit of breast and a bit of thigh. And it tastes even better the next day when the sauce has thickened up

• steamed fish - all Cantonese love fish, and steaming it is the most popular and healthiest way to eat it. My mother steams all types of fish - trout, salmon, skate, turbot etc. It’s quick to prepare, though initially it can be tricky to get right. It’s perfect with ginger, spring onions, soy sauce and a dash of oil. These ingredients all serve to enhance the flavour and freshness of the fish, which must be served and eaten piping hot

• tofu with dried scallops and Chinese mushrooms - tofu can be a bit bland, but it’s a perfect accompaniment for these amazing ingredients - dried scallops and dried Chinese mushrooms. The higher the quality, the better these will taste

• steamed egg - this is such a simple dish, but cooked right, it’s stunning - silky smooth and light. Having it plain is just as delicious as adding an ingredient or two. I love it when my mother uses shredded dried scallops, a luxury! But minced meat is lovely too

I hope you’ll try and make these dishes, or this entire meal in fact! Let me know how you get on…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Pho is a Vietnamese café. Well, two now actually. The original one opened in Clerkenwell in 2005, after its English owners wanted to bring Vietnamese food to London, and there’s a second branch near Oxford Circus. This is the one I visited.

The menu is simple, and I suppose good for diners who know little about Vietnamese cuisine. The non-Vietnamese service, however, was slow and somewhat inept. When we enquired about our food, as everyone around us had practically finished, we were informed that the computer had ‘lost’ our order.

When the food finally arrived, I found it relatively bland and uninspiring. There was definitely no ‘wow’ factor about any of the dishes, although they were perfectly acceptable - Goi Cuon Tom, summer rolls with prawns (£3.75), Nem Nuong, pork balls served with lettuce, herbs and peanut dipping sauce (£4.50), Pho Tai, thinly sliced fillet steak (£7.45) and Pho Tai Chin, steak and brisket (£7.45).

The ingredients were admittedly fresh and the beef tender enough. But the nem nuong didn’t come with peanut dipping sauce, just the same nuoc cham sauce served with the summer rolls! Everything was Viet ‘lite’, including the all-important beef broth.

Pho is to Vietnamese food what DimT is to dim sum, and although I don’t like to use the word ‘authentic’, this isn’t it. I suppose if you’re new to Vietnamese food, there’s no harm in starting off here, as long as you doesn’t leave here thinking that this represents Vietnamese cuisine. The bill came to £32 (with no alcohol) for two.

Don’t ask why I chose to eat here. I think I was just too lazy to travel for my food that evening. There are many excellent alternatives, as fellow blogger tasty treats (who has eaten her way around London’s Vietnamese restaurants) and readers Chimney and Suzie recently recommended to me, including Song Que, Viet Grill and Loong Ke on Kingsland Road, Cay Tre on Old Street (sister to Viet Grill) and Khoai Cafe in Crouch End (which I’m going to in a few weeks’ time). And a fellow foodie over at Chowhound seems to have camped out on Kingsland Road, trying out all the eateries there. I’d better get my skates on!

Incidentally, I came across a nice book just before I went to eat at Pho - New Flavours of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham - which has an simple but useful section on the origins of pho, followed by recipes and how to enjoy pho in a restaurant.

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Pho
3 Great Titchfield Street
London W1W 8AX
Tel: 020 7436 0111
www.phocafe.co.uk

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

This subject has been close to my heart for many years. Although a Chowhounder recently called me a ‘high-end diner’, I don’t think that’s the case. I do admit to an occasional weakness for expensive restaurants, but only if the food warrants a visit. Dining out is actually quite a rarity for me, as I eat home-cooked food, courtesy of my husband, most nights of the week. But when I go to restaurants in London, easily one of the world’s most expensive cities, this is what I usually do:

• Check to see if the restaurant offers set lunch and pre-theatre menus, which are much cheaper than dining à la carte. Arbutus and Wild Honey are good examples, charging £15.50 (lunch) and £17.50 (pre-theatre) for 3 courses. Galvin Bistrot de Luxe offer a Menu Prix Fixe for the same price. And it’s cheaper to eat on the ground floor of Caffe Caldesi than in the first floor dining room. I’m planning to try lunch (12.00-14.30) at L’Atelier du Joël Robuchon, which at £25 for 3 courses, mineral water and coffee is pretty reasonable, considering how expensive it is to eat there otherwise. The pre-theatre slot is from 17.30 to 18.30

• Alternatively, I might consider having breakfast/brunch or afternoon tea at my favourite restaurants instead of a full meal. The Wolseley, for example, does excellent breakfast and afternoon tea and has a cheaper all day menu, so you don’t have to order à la carte

• Dim sum lunch is a fun, delicious and cheaper way of eating at an otherwise expensive Chinese restaurant. There’s no pressure to order alcohol, as the drink to accompany dim sum is tea. I’ll usually order the cheapest one. I visit Yauatcha, Hakkasan and Shanghai Blues for lunch, rather than dinner, as the latter would certainly end up costing much more

• If I can only afford two courses, I’ll always choose a starter and a main, skipping the dessert. A starter is usually more filling, and I eat fewer desserts now that I’m older. Bread also tastes nicer with a starter than a dessert!

• Doing some menu research in advance always helps, so that any nasty surprises can be avoided. Most menus can be found online these days. Otherwise I get a bit panicky if I’m sitting at the table, scanning the menu that I haven’t seen before and feeling pressurised to make a decision. This happened on my first visit to Sake no Hana. When I returned a month later, I was armed with all the knowledge required to order a wonderful dinner for myself and my dining companion, that didn’t cost an arm and a leg

• As I don’t drink much alcohol these days, I’m quite content to drink water (I’ve asked for tap water on a few occasions) and eat more, which is what I do at Barrafina. I’ve become quite accomplished now at sending the sommelier on his way! But if dining companions must drink, then Golden Hind, my favourite fish and chips restaurant, is BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) and excellent wines can be found at nearby Nicolas. Arbutus and Wild Honey serve all their wines by a 250ml carafe (third of a bottle), so it’s a great opportunity to sample some expensive wines

• When I’m starving, and eating out with a group of friends, I choose restaurants where I can eat as much as I want. Rodizio Rico is a perfectly decent Brazilian churrascaria (a good substitute for Porcaõ in Rio!), where the meat cuts arrive non-stop at the table until you beg the waiters to stop. There’s also a huge buffet offering cold and hot food. I also love the fantastic meze at Vrisaki, which consists of 6 substantial courses. In all the years we’ve been going there, my friends and I have never managed to eat everything that’s been served

• Work-related dinners always help to ease the pressure on the wallet! I’ve had a few memorable meals, including Martin Wishart in Edinburgh and Cookes in Dublin. So when I get a chance to eat out, courtesy of my job, there’s no stopping me…

What are your top tips for eating out on a budget? I’d love to hear from you…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Filharmonico Caffè was a welcome stopover in Verona, after having travelled the best part of a day from England. Being a regular, father-in-law led us straight to it. It’s on the left of Corso Porta Nuova, just before the Portoni della Bra (the gate with the clock).

The interior is elegant, light and modern, while the service behind the bar friendly. It was quite empty when we arrived, as it was not quite 5pm, with just a few locals enjoying a quiet drink and reading the paper. Although it was really time for aperitivo and snacks, all we wanted was coffee (with snacks), as we hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for hours.

I downed the best caffè latte I’ve ever had in my life. Then I had a second one, which was a mistake. Being so dehydrated, I should have stuck to water. This eventually led to a horrible caffeine overdose that nearly ruined my plans the next day - to dine at Dal Pescatore.

We would have stayed much longer and relaxed, if we didn’t have to drive all the way to Limone sul Garda for a dinner appointment at our hotel. With more time in Verona, this walking guide, the Historical Trail of Verona, would have come in very handy. It supposedly takes three to four hours, after which you could pop in for refreshments at Filharmonico…

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Filharmonico Caffe
2 Corso Porto Nuova
Verona
Italy

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Lunch in Trento was a spur of the moment decision. It would take around an hour to drive there from Limone Sul Garda, where we were staying, and as we unusually had no plans for the day, a trip to Trento seemed like fun.

It was Monday, so almost everything was closed until 3.30. Luckily, husband spotted a smart restaurant almost as soon as we arrived, in the Piazza Duomo, and though we searched for alternatives, there weren’t any that we could find, and not knowing Trento, we settled for our first choice. Having done no research for lunch, we were quite impressed with the place. On our return home, I discovered that it has a Michelin star, and was listed in a recent Guardian article, Michelin-starred meals for under £20.

Scrigno del Duomo is set in a centuries-old building, and some of the original features are still visible. The interior, with an open kitchen area, is modern and trendy, and we were seated on the ground floor in the informal wine bar area. The restaurant is downstairs in the cellar.

Bread arrived in a paper bag, which was opened in front of us. It seemed a little gimmicky, but it turned out to be DOC (Italian quality assurance label for food products, like the French AOC), and very fresh.

I was impressed with the €25 three course set lunch including wine - starter of terrina di funghi con primizie dell’ orto vinaigrette di erba cipollina (mushroom terrine), main of parppardelle di casa con ragù d’anatra e piopparelli (parppardelle with duck and porcini mushroom) and dessert of aspic di spumanti e frutti di bosco, biscotto allo zenzero con gelato alla vaniglia (spumanti jelly with berries, ginger biscuit and vanilla ice cream).

Vegetarian husband chose the gnocchi di patate e piselli con alici e pomodori datterino (€10.00), followed by a buffalo mozzarella salad with basil and potato (€9.00).

The food was simple, modern and delicious, while the dessert was one of the best I’ve ever had anywhere.

What did not impress me at all was the service. It was a far cry from the three-starred experience at Dal Pescatore just two days ago. Scrigno del Duomo would have received a higher score, had the snooty staff deigned to acknowledge our presence. It goes to show that eating at a restaurant is not just about the food. If the service isn’t welcoming, no one is going to return, let alone write positively about their meal.

The bill came to a very reasonable €43 (no alcohol), although we were initially charged for my dessert, which was supposed to be part of my set lunch…

Afterwards, we walked past a lovely, cosy restaurant that I would have loved to have eaten at - Ai Tre Garofani, 33 vis Guiseppe Mazzini, as well as Ristorante Patelli, just a few doors down this street. And on the way back to Limone, we drove past an impressive fairytale castle on the edge of a lake in Sarche, Castel Toblino, which is a high end restaurant. I’ll have to add this to my restaurant list…

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Scrigno Del Duomo
Piazza Duomo, 29
38100 Trento (TN)
Italy
Tel: + 39 0461 220 030
www.scrignodelduomo.com

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

A monthly summary about ‘traveleating‘ on World Foodie Guide …

What a month! I was awarded two blogger awards in the space of one week - the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award from VegeYum Ganga of A Life (Time) of Cooking, followed by the Arte y Pico award from Su-Lin of Tamarind and Thyme. Thank you so much!

Just before travelling to Lake Garda for a short holiday, I was contacted by the production company of The F Word for help on an upcoming segment - Gordon Ramsay learning to make dim sum in a Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, the shoot clashed with my Italy trip, so I had to reluctantly turn down the assignment. It would have been so entertaining, especially as I used to be a TV producer! Instead, I spent the day at a snotty restaurant in Trento. Great food, but snotty service nevertheless. See Gordon make dim sum on Tuesday 8 July…

I discovered my first 10/10 restaurant when I had a phenomenal lunch at three Michelin-starred Dal Pescatore near Mantova, Italy. Having waited seven months for this experience, it took me nearly two weeks to put it in writing. It’s a long post, but then many words were required to describe it…

Having barely recovered from Italy, I dashed off to Taste of London in Regent’s Park for an exciting evening, sampling food from some of the top restaurants in London. I highly recommend the Taste Festivals, and have already added certain restaurants to my wishlist.

Finally, I bought a new camera, the Sony Cybershot W300. I can’t wait to start using it. It will be such an improvement on my Sony Ericsson K800i mobile phone camera (above is one of the last photos to be taken with it).

Other June posts:

• Vassalli Pasticcerie - an absolute gem in the centre of Salò, Lake Garda
• Alla Noce - wonderful food and hospitality in Limone sul Garda, north Italy
• How To Make Japanese Beef Tataki Salad - a delicious Kimiko Barber recipe
• How To Make Japanese Chicken & Shimeji Mushroom Rice - and another
• How To Make Vegetarian Rice Cakes - a delicious way of using up left-over rice
• Koba - a long overdue revisit to my favourite Korean restaurant in London
• Mulberry Street - an ill-fated pizza lunch in Notting Hill, London
• Cookes - a great dinner in Dublin, Ireland

Thank you as always for being a reader!

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Although we drove past the beautiful lakeside town of Salò several times to and from Limone sul Garda, where we were staying, we didn’t actually stop there until we were on our way back to the airport. We knew little about Salò at the time (although I did keep wondering if it was connected to the film of the same name, which I’ve seen at work), but it turned out to be one of the unexpected highlights of our short holiday, and a lovely way to remember the western Lake Garda at its best. As we parked alongside a stunning Mercedes 220SE ‘Ponton’, I had a good feeling about the short visit…

Salò is the birthplace of Gasparo da Salò, inventor of the violin (although this is apparently now in dispute). It lent its name to Mussolini’s last Republic (he was placed in luxurious Villa Feltrinelli in nearby Gargnone by the Nazis between 1943-45). And it did indeed turn out to be the location for Pasolini’s controversial last film Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom, in which the Marquis de Sade’s original work is set during the Salò Republic.

Unlike other places around Lake Garda such as Limone and Malcesine, Salò was barely touched by tourists, and was exactly how I imagined a Lake Garda town to be like. The streets were lined with exclusive designer boutiques and shops selling expensive gastronomic delicacies. A stroll down the lakefront revealed numerous caffés and restaurants, where wealthy patrons sipped at their drinks. Of course, I had no idea about its darker historical past at the time!

As always, father-in-law managed to discover one of the best things about Salò - Vassalli Pasticerrie. Since 1930, this gem has been offering customers delectable treats including tarts, pastries, cakes (Colomba Italian Easter cake), biscuits, handmade chocolates and Cedrina (a Lake Garda liqueur made from lemons). Everything is beautifully laid out, and there’s plenty of seating to enjoy an espresso or hot chocolate.

We sat outside, and after feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the choice of cakes and tarts on offer, I chose a small strawberry mousse cake with fruit on top, hoping it would be slightly less calorie-laden than all the other things I’d consumed over the last few days. Slightly over-sweet, it was nevertheless delicious. I only wish we’d had more time to browse through the wonderful products, and take some souvenirs home with us.

So if you travel to Lake Garda, please don’t drive past Saló, whatever you do! It’s definitely worth a half day stopover, if not a leisurely stay…

10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average

Contact details:
Vassalli Pasticcerie
Via San Carlo 86
25087 Salo
(BS) Italy
Tel: +39 365 207 52
info@pasticceria-vassalli.it
www.pasticceria-vassalli.it

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide