a salad of peaches and grilled avocado

a salad of peaches and grilled avocado

there are some fruits that benefit from a little heat – brief moments on the grill, roasting in the oven or a gentle simmer. the heat coaxes their subtle flavours like those of apricots. then there are others like peaches (yellow and white flesh alike) whose honey-scented sweetness seduces you. a little char from the grill or a roast that caramelises the corners ups the ante but in summer i like these stone fruits just as they are.

murree brewery: pakistan's true brew

the brewery's logo in the whisky maturation cellars

as a little girl growing up in pakistan, i thought doctor’s brandy was so named because it could only be obtained by prescription.  this naiveté can be explained by a combination of facts – a teetotaller uncle who would consume brandy for stubborn coughs, and bhutto’s prohibition, which provoked the local population to use medical certificates to secure alcohol. so it was with much surprise that i recently discovered that doctor’s brandy is actually a french brandy, produced under licence by murree brewery in pakistan.

salmon sando at tsuru

tsuru bankside

in true japanese style even the salmon sando at tsuru manages delicacy. 

maltby street revisited

the rope walk, maltby street market

a week of summer has come to britain. in celebration o, s and i made our way to maltby street market, that collective of food traders that sees itself removed from the now more commercial borough market. the landscape is distinctly altered from my last trip in january. the shard looms as a constant both near and afar and borough market has experienced a facelift of steel and glass.

thoughts on the great british washout and a recipe for english apple cake

the summer of twenty-twelve will be preserved in my memory as ‘the great british wash-out’. the only constant thus far has been a weepy sky whose sobs vary to the tune of a sub-continental monsoon and the more traditional sheath of moisture that is british rain. my appetite vacillates between foods that comfort and salads that are a riot of bright colours. it is therefore not surprising that last night’s supper was a salad of feta, arugula and baby spinach brightened by the sunny disposition of strawberries, their sweetness pronounced by cubes of salty feta. i scattered over some roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts to add a little bite.

kin bin tin on two unforgettable bars in sydney

- note -

my other half was in sydney in june. these are his musings on bay eighty-eight in sydney. he tweets @kinbintin

after a long day in the blue mountains and a cruise back into sydney harbour, mk and i stumbled across the redoak beer boutique. what promised to be an eventful lager experience also turned out to be the most fascinating gastro wonder. we had one look at the food menu and decided it had to be tried.

kin bin tin on bay eighty-eight in the land down under

- note -

my other half was in sydney in june. these are his musings on bay eighty-eight in sydney. he tweets @kinbintin

an eclectic self-composed breakfast

on a wintery sydney afternoon the perfect place to sip a flat white or a long black is bay 88. mk and i stumbled across it the day we arrived in sydney. it is located on rushcutters bay not far from where we were staying in kings cross. kings cross is an eclectic area of strip clubs and dubious looking establishments. the culinary options seem not too impressive at first with greasy glaring fast food outlets. but look around the back streets and you might come across a place like bay 88