Ceviche

You will probably know, seeing as I bang on about it all the time, that I used to live in Peru. Bailey also spent several months out there visiting me and although I have to admit it is a funny old country, to say we were fond of the place would be an understatement.

My absolute favourite thing about Peruvian people is their love of food. It was incredible to discover this nation of people who were so proud of their country's national dishes and who loved talking about food as much as I did. I found myself constantly listing the dishes I had tried to excited Peruvians who wanted to know exactly what I thought of them all. I'm really glad also that I learned to make most of my favourite Peruvian dishes while I was still out there.

However there a few key ingredients that I haven't gotten hold of over here, including Pisco (Peruvians' favourite drink), aji amarillo chillis (although I did get given a bottle of aji amarillo sauce by my aunt which was a fair substitute), yellow potatoes (to make the best ever Papa a la Huancaína), maíz morado (the weirdest thing ever - PURPLE sweetcorn! - used to make Mazamorra Morada pudding and Ribena-esque beverage Chicha Morada) and the crazy sweetcorn they have out there (the kernels are massive. And really fleshy / chewy. And much better than our sweetcorn). 

Well as you can imagine I was becoming pretty distressed to think that I might never eat some of these delights ever again (or sit next to a llama while looking out at the rolling hills of Machu Picchu but that's another story), when I started to hear all this fuss about Peruvian food being "all the rage" in 2012 in "that London". When we booked our weekend away to London with Jeni and Doyle, I excitedly started to look for a Peruvian restaurant for us to eat at.

I found Lima first which came very highly recommended and looked super lovely, but it wasn't floating my boat - "showcasing Peruvian flavours and ingredients in a clean and contemporary style" sounded OK, but what I was after was the good old proper Peruvian 5 Sol lunch menu food I ate while I was out there so I carried on searching.

It was then that I found Ceviche which sounded absolutely perfect - all my favourite dishes but with a few quirky additions. Situated bang opposite Koya, Ceviche is in a great location and easy to find. We loved the place as soon as we arrived - the atmosphere was super relaxed and there were plenty of Peruvian band posters to look at while we waited (including one of Bareto- authors of the ditty 'Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo' which I heard played approximately 40 times per day during my stay in Peru). 

My first port of call was to get myself all over a Pisco Sour. Although I'm pretty sure I may be slightly allergic to this beverage (I used to get heartburn every Sunday morning after a night on these) I love it. Jeni went for the Passion Sour. Both cocktails were great although I think Jen was slightly put off when she realised that the lovely froth on top of her drink was basically egg white. Protein-tastic! I also treated myself to a refreshing glass of Chicha Morada.

The boys both went for Peruvian favourite Cusqueña. Bailey spotted the 'Negra' variety on the menu and couldn't believe he hadn't spotted this while actually in Peru so wasted no time in ordering one, very nice it was too.

The food is a nice mix of small tapas-type plates and little bits and bobs to share which is quite nice as we got to try a good range of different things. Although their list of ceviche is amazing with allsorts on offer, I decided I wanted to keep it old school and go for the simple Don Ceviche, seeing as I hadn't had any ceviche since returning to England. This was great - just like a typical Peruvian ceviche with plenty of lime, onions and fresh sea bass. I also liked the addition of the crispy 'camote' (sweet potato) garnish on top which added another texture and gave the dish a bit of finesse. 

We also ordered a couple of other bits to share and ended up with a table full of food. Yucas, ordered mainly to get our chops round some Huancaína Sauce were really tasty. The Arrocito, which contained kernels of the amazing Peruvian sweetcorn was lovely and I wish I had ordered another wee dish of this - a bargain at 2 quid. The Cheese and Chard Tequeños were quite nice although I think these were my least favourite dish of the day - firstly I didn't think the sauce they came with packed much of a punch - we ended up just dipping them in the Huancaína, and secondly they weren't all that crispy. I wasn't too sure about the chard and olive addition either. Back in Lima we used to order these sensational Tequeños at our local weird pub which were stuffed with cheese and came with a bowl of puréed avocado, I think it was always going to be pretty tough to top those!

Bailey couldn't believe his luck when he spotted Huancaína Macaroni seeing as they had basically put two of his favourite dishes together. What a fantastic idea. He said it was beautiful and rich with no shortage of that peppery Huancaína flavour.

Jeni ordered a Causa Mar - made with the lovely Peruvian yellow potatoes - she said it was delicious and I was so impressed with how they had made Causa, which can be quite a gross looking dish, look beautiful. 

I believe Doyle was also pleased with his Sakura Maru which seemed to be a salmon Tiraditos with a bit of a Japanese twist.

After the dizzying highs of the main course Jeni announced she was going to go for another cocktail and a dessert and I thought it would have been rude not to follow suit. Jeni ordered a Toro Mata, which was kind of like a Peruvian Espresso Martini and a Chocolate Physalis Volador for her dessert. I think this pud was basically a chocolate version of Peruvian Alfajores - very lovely but quite rich.

Even though I'd previously ordered a lovely Chicha Morada, I had to get my fix so went for a Chicha Sour. This was absolutely gorgeous. For my dessert I had a Suspiro de Chirimoya which was great - a lovely light dessert with a beautiful sticky meringue on top, it was actually better than any Suspiro de Limeña I'd had in Peru  and I savoured every mouthful. 

After all that great food I have to say the icing on the cake was nipping to the loo at the end of the meal and seeing little boxes of Peruvian trinkets on the loo walls such as postcards of Lima Centro and Inca Kola merchandise. This absolutely made my day!

We left Ceviche feeling relaxed, full of good food (and booze) and happy. The staff were really nice to us (apart from that they wouldn't sell me any aji amarillos) and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Being in Ceviche really took me back to my time in Peru so I would really recommend it if you are after an authentic experience and want to taste some traditional dishes. The cocktails alone are worth making the trip for so if you're ever down in the Big Smoke and find yourself in Soho get yourself to Ceviche!

Workshop

We were recently fortunate enough to take a lovely weekend away to that London with our friends Doyle and Jeni. As with any trip to London involving me and Bailey, we had a jam-packed schedule of eating and drinking, not forgetting some more eating, ahead of us. Our first stop was a breakfast recommendation from The Guardian, supposedly called St. Ali but actually called Workshop - a place known for its corn fritters (but they had me at "halloumi").

So we made our way over to the previously unknown to me neighbourhood of Clerkenwell with hungry tums and high expectations. As I say I knew very little about this Clerkenwell place but we could see pretty much as soon as we stepped off the tube that it was very chic and that there were a lot of red-trousered men about.

Stepping into Workshop I can't say we were instantly bowled over. Yes, it looked awesome and yes, everyone seemed to be eating the most delectable breakfasts in the world but the dude on the door told us that there would be a 20 minute wait for a table. Fine, you expect to wait for things in London. We asked if we could wait at the bar and get a drink and were told that if we did that, we would have to start the 20 minute wait over once we'd finished our drink. Eh? What were we supposed to do? Buy a takeaway drink and sit outside on the little bench and wait for him to come and get us, apparently. We thought this seemed a little bit of a silly system but we didn't mind sitting out too much as it was a lovely autumn day. Wouldn't fancy shivering out there in winter though!

Once inside Workshop all was forgiven when we met our amazingly friendly waitress, were seated at our lovely table and took a look at the mouthwatering menu. The food sounded ACE and the place was a joy to be in - with quirky stuff to look at all over the place including a whole wall of plants!

Drinks-wise Bailey, Jeni and I wasted no time in starting the day in style with a Bloody Mary. Steve went for a cup of Workshop's famous coffee. While perusing the menu I did my usual thing of listening in on the conversation of the people next to us. I heard one of them say "I love breakfast, and this is one of the best breakfasts I've ever had." Woah.

Food-wise, it was immediately obvious to me that I would absolutely love the Corn Fritters, not just because they were recommended by the Guardian, but because they sounded awesome and were accompanied by baby spinach, grilled halloumi, kasundi relish and poached eggs. Everything on that list sounded awesome.

The fritters were packed with flavour, crispy on the outside and soft and juicy in the middle. The halloumi and eggs were both perfectly cooked and everything on the plate went really well together. I was enjoying this breakfast so much I forgot to drink my Bloody Mary until afterwards. A great breakfast for veggies but I would probably even recommend this to die-hard meat eaters.

Speaking of meat eaters, Bailey was congratulated by the waitress for his "bravery" upon ordering the Rare Breed Hamburger.

Bailey absolutely loved this meaty brunch treat and it has gone down as one of his top burgers of all time. He wasn't expecting the comté cheese to go so well with the burger and thought the chipotle mayo was a nice smoky touch.

Seeing as Bailey was pretty sure he was going to get some halloumi envy from me (and I had told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn't getting any of mine), he ordered a portion of his own but was a bit disappointed by this, finding it dry and not as halloumi lovely as he was expecting. Still, a very delightful brekkie.

We also heard no complaints from our buddies, Doyle seemed very happy with his Baked Organic Eggs (although he did have to wait little later than us due to the fact they missed his side of halloumi off but took his whole plate away) and Jeni said she thoroughly enjoyed her Grilled Asparagus. I've since discussed the deliciousness of this brekkie with Jen who said "Ooh, I could eat that now..."

So we were all very much in agreement that Workshop was an excellent choice and a fantastic relaxed weekend breakfast option. Pretty much everything we ate was not only delicious but also a little bit unusual, the service was very good and considering we were in a red trousers area of London, quite reasonably priced too. I will most definitely head back to Workshop if I'm looking for a breakfast in the big smoke again and would recommend it to anyone heading down there for the weekend.

Vimto Jam

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, Bailey and I have already been thinking about what treats we are going to include in this year's Christmas gift hampers that we've been making up for our friends and family for the last couple of years now. October half term is the usual prime Christmas preparation time for me and this year was no exception with me whipping up the usual Christmas Cake and a batch of boozy mincemeat, plus picking up our body weight in truckles at this year's North West Food Lovers' Fest.  

It took me no time at all to decide on the jam I was going to make for the gift hampers, seeing as I had already had the idea for this months earlier. The inspiration came to me in the summer as I strolled out of a Levenshulme corner shop one scorching day sipping on a can of Vimto thinking how much of an honorary Manc I have become (NB: no real Mancs have actually told me that I have been "accepted", but I have just decided that I have and Manchester will just have to deal with it). I was with my parents and Bailey, and we had been discussing the possibility of making a bit of money by starting our own stall at Levenshulme Market selling homemade treats including jams and chutnies. One look at my can of Vimto - littered with little pictures of blackcurrants, raspberries and grapes - and my mission was clear. To create a jam with the flavours of delicious Vimto and sell it to the lovely Mancunians who I know would just love the idea.

Well unfortunately we still haven't gotten round to doing our little market stall (watch this space) but I was really excited to make a batch of Vimto Jam to give out as Christmas pressies. I looked at a few jam recipes online, combined a couple of different ones together and the result was this fruity, sweet and thick jam using all the fruits found in Manchester's favourite fizzy pop. Oh, and guess what? We saved a little bit for ourselves, put it on a lovely bit of toast and not only was it actually rather nice, it does taste like quite a lot like Vimto. A-mazing.

Recipe:
1kg green grapes
350g raspberries
350g blackcurrants
The juice of a lemon
1.5kg jam sugar with pectin

Place the grapes in a large pan or wok over a low heat. The grapes will heat up and start to make a bit of a weird squeaking sound. Let them cook for about five minutes.

After the five minutes, mash the grapes up using a potato masher until the grapes are all pierced and the juice is running out. Cook for a further ten minutes, mashing the grapes again from time to time.

The grapes should now be softened with a lot of grape juice coming out.

Pour the grapes and the juice into a sieve over a large dish or bowl and use a wooden spoon to squeeze the grapes in the sieve so that all the juice comes through leaving the skins and flesh behind. Keep the grape juice and chuck the contents of the sieve away.

Put the berries into a large saucepan with the lemon juice. Pour the grape juice into the pan and bring to the boil.

Once the fruit has started to boil, tip the sugar in and stir well. Let the mixture bubble away, stirring frequently, for about half an hour or until nice and thick and jammy looking.

Transfer the jam into sterilised jars and cover the tops of the jam with little circles of greaseproof paper before sealing the jars and leaving in a cool place.

Pear Parkin Upside-Down Cake

Seeing as I am from Yorkshire I thought it was pretty ridiculous that I had never made my own Parkin for bonfire night. I am a big fan of Parkin and have fond memories of annually chowing down as a child.

Rather than making boring old ordinary Parkin, I started to think of how I could take a normal Parkin recipe and add my own twist. Inspired by Pear and Ginger Breakfast Muffins we had at And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon, I was at first considering whipping up a batch of Pear Parkin Muffins. But then I remembered that we are getting pretty much muffined and cupcaked out in our house at the moment, especially after recently hosting a cupcake-tastic Hallowe'en Tea Party.

So I started to think about traditional autumnal cakes and it dawned on me hadn't made an upside-down type cake in a while, plus the last time I did it went a bit wrong, and so that was when the idea for the Pear Parkin Upside-Down Cake was born.

Turns out this was a brilliant call - we ate it this weekend with my mum and dad who have been staying with us. The Parkin was lovely and gingery and everyone said the pear on top was a great twist as it made the cake quite sticky and very moist. The entire cake was actually gobbled all up in just two sittings and went perfectly with a nice cup of tea. It was perfect for sharing with family while relaxing in a cosy house. I will definitely make this again next year, unless I come up with any new bonfire night ideas!

Recipe: 

225g self-raising flour
110g caster sugar
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
55g butter
110g golden syrup
200ml milk
1 egg
6-7 pieces crystalised ginger
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 ripe pears

Start preheating the oven to 150 degrees C, or gas mark 2 as we now have a gas oven! Grease and line a cake tin. Sift the flour, caster sugar, ginger and bicarb into a large mixing bowl together.

Place the butter and golden syrup into a saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring together until the butter is all melted into the syrup.

Measure out the milk in a measuring jug and crack the egg into the jug. Beat the egg into the milk.

Add the syrup-butter mixture to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and stir well until the cake mix is the texture of breadcrumbs. Tear the crystalised ginger up into little bits using your hands and add to the mix.

Gradually add the milk and egg mixture to the mixing bowl, stirring as you go to make a smooth cake batter. Peel and core the pears and cut into thin slices. Sprinkle the brown sugar onto the base of the cake tin.

Arrange the pear slices on top of the brown sugar in concentric circles. Pour the cake batter on top of the pears and carefully place in the oven and bake for around an hour and a half or until the cake is baked through and a skewer comes out of the middle of the cake clean.

Turn the cake upside down onto a plate or cake stand and leave to cool. Once cool, carefully remove the cake tin.

You should then be left with an upside down cake with a sticky, moist top covered in pears! Happy Bonfire Night!