cold courgette and ricotta tart

sometimes life gets so busy that i forget the joys of cooking, experimenting, impressing my non-foodie friends with my modest culinary abilities. but one day, all of a sudden, i remember how nice it can be to spend a whole afternoon in the kitchen, covering every available surface with flour, onion peels and milk stains, leaving chocolate smears on barely used cookbooks and filling the house with clashing scents of fried peppers and sprinkled cinnamon.

a little over a week ago i had one of these revelations and therefore decided to invite a random friend over to taste my very authentic, if not very traditional, italian cuisine. as i hadn't done it in a while, it took me a good couple of hours and a bunch of useless conversations to decide on the menu. the result was quite bizarre, a strange combination of grandma's winter dishes and summery picnic foods, with my mum's stuffed peaches as an eccentric conclusion. however, the dinner seemed to be appreciated by the guests (and the flatmate who ate the leftovers), so i thought i would share the recipe for the ever-successful cold courgette and ricotta tart.

as finding the right ingredients for an italian recipe is sometimes more difficult in england than in mozambique (i.e. finding them at an affordable price), i immediately gave up on the idea of courgette's flowers. if you find some, chop them up and add them to four sliced courgettes which need to be sauté in a shallow pan with a moderate amount of (extravirgin) olive oil.

on the side, mix 250 grams of ricotta (that's easy enough to find, thanks god), with two tablespoons of grated parmesan, 100 grams of feta cheese, an egg, a pinch of salt and abundant nutmeg. once the courgettes are ready, mix everything together, pour the mixture in an oiled baking pan, sprinkle with pine nuts (don't give up on them, they are the key) and bake at 200°c until brown on top...depending on your oven, consider at least 15-20 minutes. as the name of the dish suggests, this tart is better served cold, so prepare it early...

a.gold

books for cooks and more

books for cooks 

i wrote this at the beginning on two thousand and seven. mum and i had a week in london. this is the story of one saturday in notting hill. after circuitous walk around portobello – lost in stalls stacked high with retro curios, antiques of dubious antiquity, books and compact discs. and having been rained down on and bought umbrella’s for three quid each later mum and i finally stumbled upon books for cooks

a bookshop dedicated to chefs complete with a cramped and cozy café at the tail end, serving up the days cooking at the classes conducted on the floor above. i tucked into a pear honey & polenta cake with a side of yeo valley’s organic yoghurt with a swirl of warm chocolate sauce out of a pan that sat on the hob. i’ve always had this fascination for polenta. it’s something about the texture – the feel of it on the tongue melting but with a soft grittiness, much like the semolina that mama used to make for me as a child. the bookshop itself is a tiny space lined to the ceiling with shelves with book upon book detailing food… the ABC of food – it’s origins – how to cook – when to cook what – culinary dictionaries and what-not

a little further up the road are melt and ottolenghi two places that i had bookmarked. melt has much to do with my new found passion for sea salt caramels. i’m not sure why but sea salt does something more to enhance the flavor of caramel than regular salt does. on the flight to london, mum and i got bumped up to club on ba and they served the most delicious sea salt caramels from a store somewhere on sloane street which i am hoping to track down on my next trip to London! melt’s charm isn’t only in its sea salt caramels but also in the fact that you can watch chocolate being tempered in the shop!

ottolenghi was white-walled accompanied by white crockery; perfect to emphasize the color of the food. red peppers grilled and splashed with olive oil and dotted with balls of fresh white mozzarella – aubergines bearing lines of the grill tossed with vinaigrette. chocolate tarts dark red brown and dusted with cacao and meringues bright white with streaks of chocolate and berry breaking through. mum and i returned there for breakfast on sunday to enjoy a melt in the mouth frittata and red pepper salad with hunks of sour dough bread, washed down with coffee. we couldn’t resist the meringues and bought one to go, a big mound of egg white. the eating of the meringue returned each of us to our childhoods – making us look like two little girls laughing silly. the center fluffy and sticky – satisfying like the ones we baked when i was a little girl and mum taught me how to beat my egg whites and fold in the vinegar and corn-flour. that shiny mountain of white that would transform into pavlova, crowned with fruit and cream.

one night we landed up at wagamama’s whose spartan décor, conveyer belt handling and quick food still makes me feel good. we tried sake that was served warm and tickled the back of our throats. somewhere in the midst of it all this we managed to visit the food court at selfridges, walking away with a bag of champagne truffles from leonidas that disappeared within seconds. there was the wednesdaysdale cheese sandy from marks and sparks, eaten on the run between getting to places…

kennards good foods [now closed]

kennards good foods

is a delicatessen-cum-grocer on lambs conduit street.

its façade is eggplant and when it’s open fresh fruit and veg sit out front in crates. after having discovered the small space with tables and stools at the back of the shop the three of us have returned as frequently as we can. there was an evening of wine tasting accompanied by a morrocan food demonstration.

a taste of several different reds, whites & rose accompanied by some easy do-it-yourself moroccan creations the three of us friends who were there were more than satisfied…then there was an afternoon lunch where both of us landed up with a crab and butternut lasagna; a combination which i had never tried but worked very well together. best of all was the day spent dissertating. we started off with brekkie – i had by far the best muesli with a creamy thick greek yoghurt. i’s ginger and polenta slice had a sharp tang followed by a buttery pasty and the slight grit of polenta.

needless to say the coffee and tea is truly good. we stood deliberating between the teas stacked neatly in little slots on the counter that separates the eating area from the shop. & we’ve also made friends with the staff. a young friendly brazilian who smiles over our agonizing dilemma’s over what to choose to eat and a young white south african woman who told us much about south africa now. in the window in the seating area are four letters arranged to read

‘L O V E’.

kennards couldn’t have chosen a better way to s-p-e-l-l out there love for all things f-o-o-d.

eternal dissertation

café eterno

there are few places in london where one can study undisturbed for a couple of hours and enjoy decent tea at the same time. at times, starbucks is all that the city offers. but today i picked one of my favourite hidden spots and sat in café eterno for the whole afternoon, sipping delicious chai latte and reading about media and humanitarian interventions. café eterno is "hidden" by the bustling action of covent garden, being superbly located right on neal street. however, even at lunch time on a busy summer day, it is an island of peace. 

the atmosphere recalls south american corner bars, thanks to the comfy couches, coloured walls, mismatched vintage furniture and, above all, the café's slogan "esta revolucion està eterna". however, the revolution promoted by this establishment is not che guevarian, but rather surprisingly christian. a part from the little leaflet that accompanies the menu, however, nothing hints at the link between this cozy, family-run little café and london city mission. so i left my agnostic doubts outside the door and gave in to the pleasant sensation of being in the muffled sitting room of some old grandma with an excellent taste for music.

after regaining some energies thanks to a reasonably-priced mexican/sandwich/salads menu, i spent the afternoon sunk in a welcoming armchair, enjoying the jazz and world music in the background as well as the odd few words exchanged with the chatty and relaxed staff. and it felt a bit like home, only in the middle of london's hectic heart.