Pain Suisse … with a Miso Banana Pastry Cream
As much as I like trying new things, some things are just difficult to say no to, however often you have
London
Pistachio Olive Oil Miniature Cakes
I once read an article about that strange feeling of returning to a city where you once used to live. To discover that this city has not been preserved in some kind of time bubble. That life in this city has moved on. Your friends have made new friends, filling that small hole your departure might have left. Shops have shut or moved. Restaurants have come and gone. How odd this is, whether or not this city has a special place in your heart or whether you were in fact glad to leave it when you did. It feels like I have spent most of my twenties either moving to London or moving away from London. After university and law school there I spent some time in Germany, working in a law firm to save up enough cash to travel around Argentina and Chile for a few months (which, incidentally is where I met Alessandro). I came back to London
Moroccan Almond Milk
Almond milk seems to be growing more and more in popularity and it is probably my favourite non-dairy milk. Soy milk with its eggy taste never quite grew on me and I tend to find rice and oat milk either thin or starchy. Almond milk, preferably the unsweetened kind, has a really subtle flavour, is wonderful poured over cereal and creamy enough to make a decent dairy milk replacer in milky coffees. There was a summer when I still lived in London when I made a lot of my own almond milk – a great alternative to the rather pricey packs of almond milk stocked by most organic supermarkets and that somewhat surprisingly tend to be full of a whole lot of sweeteners, thickeners and emulsifiers (and shockingly small quantities of almonds). Thankfully, this now appears to be changing, thanks in part to the girls behind The Pressery who sell their own freshly made almond milk across London. I was
Cherry Crumble with Orange Blossom Water and Mahlab
After a month of plenty of work I was particularly excited about a short trip to London last weekend. Staying with my sister Helena in her little cottage overlooking the Regent’s Canal always feels a little bit like going home and I had carefully scheduled my entire weekend to be able to see as many friends as physically possible in a 48h window while at the same time trying to visit at least a handful of new cafes, restaurants and bars in London. Yet in the end, my weekend in London lasted 5 days and turned out rather differently from what I had planned. When I woke up on Friday morning I noticed a slight rash on my face and upper body. A quick trip to the pharmacy during my lunch break confirmed my initial suspicion – according to the pharmacist I was likely having an allergic reaction to something. I picked up a light anti-histamine and eventually made
read more Cherry Crumble with Orange Blossom Water and Mahlab
Breadcrumb baked donuts with a sea salt and maple glaze and a little anniversary
Many evenings in our flat look a little bit like this: Alessandro is stretched out on the sofa, watching ‘manly’
read more Breadcrumb baked donuts with a sea salt and maple glaze and a little anniversary
Mini Mocha Bundt Cakes
After making these delicious oat flour muffins I could not stop thinking about other uses for oat flour (and you
Mandarin Oatflour Olive Oil Muffins
So, living in Italy, well, about that … let’s say the distance to the nearest Whole Foods or Planet Organic
Toasted rice blancmanger
A few months ago, just before my move to Rome, my sister came over from Brussels for a final girly
Banana Bread
This was my first weekend in Italy and I had high hopes of sharing with you something I cooked up in my new kitchen these first few days in Italy. Alas, although I did experiment with a lemon drizzle cake recipe using a local citrus fruit called Mapo (a cross between a mandarine and a grapefruit) which is not quite ready for sharing (or I simply need to get to know my new oven a bit more), I have spent very little time in the kitchen so far. As with every move (let alone one that has taken me halfway across Europe) there was a lot of unpacking, various trips to the supermarket to buy cleaning products and stock our pantry and, quite rightly, a good time spent relaxing on the sofa after the craziness of the last few weeks and the big move. Most of the photos below (well, all those other than the ones I took on our
Pistachio Cornmeal Minicakes
These last few weeks in London before the big move are flying by. It’s scary really that in a few short weeks my morning walk to work will no longer take me through Exmouth Market (and the ever tough decision whether to get my morning flat white at Caravan or to hold out till I get to Leather Lane where I can choose between coffee from the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs or Prufrock Coffee) but instead I will be meandering right through Rome’s historic centre, passing the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps. At the same time it is also incredibly exciting. Although I have spent a lot of time in Italy since meeting Alessandro 5 years ago, I know that living in Italy will be a totally different experience and I cannot wait to start exploring Rome and get to know the city that will be my home for the next 6 months. Nonetheless, leaving London is hard.
REAL SIMPLE FOOD 