Monthly Archives:

April 2013

asparagus/ crab/ recipe/ tart/ Valentine Warner

Recipe: Quaking baking – Crab and asparagus tart

Crab and asparagus tart.
Crab and asparagus tart with a crisp green salad.

I have a confession – possibly a shocking one, for a foodie. I’m a bit nervous when it comes to baking. With the popularity of the likes of The Great British Bake Off, it might appear a bit strange that an alleged foodie is intimidated by making bread and cakes; baking is so in vogue, after all.

Given my upbringing, this shouldn’t really be the case. My grandmother was a fantastic baker. She lived right next to my primary school, and I would always call round on the way home to be greeted by the smell of cupcakes fresh out of the oven, or – my particular favourite – a slice of freshly cooked apple pie. And this being the 1970s there was no resorting to packet cake mixes or pre-prepared pastry. My gran made everything by hand in a tiny kitchen, and without the assistance of a food processor.

Given how much I love cooking I don’t know why baking causes me such trepidation. Maybe it’s the control freak in me. Whereas with a casserole, roast or risotto you can keep checking how things are progressing; basting here, adjusting the seasoning there, but with baking it’s much more of a leap of faith. Ingredients are assembled, in common with any recipe, but bear little resemblance to how the finished dish should turn out, and there is no opportunity to sample and adjust things once the bread, cake, or tart is dispatched to the oven for the heat to work its alchemy.

So I thought it was time I pushed my cooking envelope, as it were, and did a wee bit of baking for the blog. Also, as my recipes to date have been pretty carnivorous, I also thought I would cook a shellfish and vegetable-based dish, proving to my pescatarian friend Christine – the women behind the excellent Vegemite on Oatcakes foodie blog – that my cooking isn’t just about meat.

Sticking to my guns in terms of trying to use seasonal ingredients wherever possible, I decided to have a bash at Valentine Warner’s mouth-watering recipe for crab and asparagus tart. All ingredients were purchased from Edinburgh Farmers’ Market (bar the flour and butter for the short crust pastry) – see my previous post for a spotlight on suppliers. For a vegetarian alternative, the crab could be substituted for a flavoursome, but not too sharp, cheese such as Emmental. This will complement the asparagus without overwhelming it.

So was my baking apprehension justified? Well, combined with a green salad the tart was delicious, with sweet/savory crab and the fresh – yet earthy – asparagus being perfect partners. So much so that the slice I had earmarked for today’s lunch was snaffled by my other half. Maybe I should bake more often…


Ingredients

  • 300g shortcrust pastry or 1 packet ready made
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 bundles of British asparagus
  • 50g /2 oz butter
  • 1 small onion very finely chopped
  • 1½ tsp tomato puree
  • 1 generous tsp Dijon mustard
  • 300g / 9 oz soft fresh brown crab meat
  • 300ml / 1 ¼ cups single cream
  • 2 medium eggs, free range
  • A heavy grind of black pepper & salt to taste (I also added a pinch of smoked paprika)

Preparation and cooking

  1. You will need 25cm /10 inch loose bottom tart case
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/ 375°F Roll out out the pastry into a thin sheet large enough to line the tart case. Lay the pastry into the tin allowing any excess to hang over the edge.
  3. Screw up a a sheet of baking paper and lay on the pastry in the tart tin. Cover with baking beans to weigh the pastry down.
  4. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.
  5. Remove the paper and beans and cook the tart case for a further 5 – 6 minutes to crisp the pastry bottom. Remove from the oven and while the pastry is hot paint the entire case with the beaten egg. Using a sharp knife trim the excess pastry from the tart rim.
  6. Cut the asparagus spears in half and drop into boiling salted water, as soon as the water comes back to the boil cook for exactly 1 ½ minutes. Drain, cool in cold water, drain again and dry thoroughly in a tea towel.
  7. Melt the butter into a saucepan, add the onions and cook gently until soft and golden brown (about 10 minutes). Stir in the tomato puree and mustard then cook gently for a minute or so more. Finally, add the brown crab meat, the cream, salt & pepper, and stir it all together Remove from the heat and while continuously beating, break in the 2 remaining eggs, beat in well. Leave to one side.
  8. Scatter the asparagus into the pastry case, pour the filling over and carefully return the tart to the oven & cook for approx 25-30 minutes.The tart is nearly done when you give the tray a little shake and the filling wobbles slightly in the middle. It is important to take the tart out at this time as it will go on cooking, you want the filling soft rather than overset.
  9. Serve warm, or at room temperature, lovely with a crisp green salad.
April 28, 2013 By
0
Edinburgh Farmers' Market/ Feature/ suppliers

Supplier spotlight – Edinburgh Farmers’ Market

Busy Edinburgh Farmers' Market.
Busy Saturday at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market.

No matter how skilled or inventive a cook is, unless they use quality ingredients it is very difficult to produce really great food. Wherever possible when cooking, I like to know exactly where the produce I use has come from, and ideally it should be as local as possible. That way, it’s much more likely that I can be sure they are consistently of great quality.

In my grandparents’ era meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, bread etc. would all have been purchased from specialist retailers, in the days when our high streets were home to butchers, bakers, fishmongers and greengrocers, instead of phone shops and bargain basement clothes emporiums. But times have changed, and now the vast majority of us get our food at the supermarket. And whilst not all supermarkets are totally villainous in terms of how and where they source their produce, their massive buying power means that some of their suppliers might not receive the fairest price for their produce.

I, for one, am not keen on purchasing ‘fresh’ food which has travelled many hundreds – if not thousands – of miles and is ‘out of season’ in the UK, just because supermarkets now have the ability to fill their vegetable aisles year round with Peruvian asparagus or Kenyan fine beans. The provenance of ingredients is also important to me. The recent scandal of horsemeat being passed off as beef provides a stark warning of the risks associated with a food supply chain where goods pass through multiple suppliers (and potentially a multitude of countries), with the result that big retailers cannot always be totally certain of where particular products have originated, nor indeed can they guarantee that they are as described.

All is not doom and gloom, however. Thankfully, the last decade has seen a resurgence in independent suppliers and retailers providing great quality produce and products, and Scotland is home to an impressive selection of these. I will be dedicating occasional blog posts to highlight some of those Scottish-based suppliers I often turn to when sourcing the ingredients I cook with, starting with Edinburgh’s Farmers’ Market.

Taking place every Saturday in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, on the aptly-named Castle Terrace, Edinburgh Farmers’ Market has been running since 2000. Regularly attracting over 50 specialist food producers, it has been voted the best farmers’ market in Britain. The majority of stallholders are “primary producers” growing what they bring to market. As you might expect from a Scottish market, there is an excellent range of stalls selling top quality meat, including pork, lamb, chicken and beef as well as venison and even locally-reared buffalo. Depending on the season, there is often a good range of locally-sourced game on offer.

Edinburgh Farmers’ Market isn’t only about meat, however. There are a number of stalls providing a terrific array of seasonal fruit and vegetables (including organic veg). Free range eggs and cheese are also to be had, as well as fresh fish from around the Scottish coast. And in addition to the primary producers, there are also stallholders who prepare their own products, including bread and cakes, honey, chutneys and jams, and drinks (of both the soft and alcoholic variety). Is anyone else’s mouth watering, yet?


By way of an illustration of how great and diverse a range of products on offer, I’ll walk you through my shop last Saturday to obtain ingredients for cooking a crab and asparagus tart, (details of which will be posted in my next blog update).

Basket of garlic.

First port of call was Phantassie Food (organic fruit and veg) to pick up some wild garlic (just out of shot), with which to give the salad, accompanying the tart, a bit of a kick. Mushrooms looked tempting, too!

Basket of asparagus.

Onwards, to Tay Valley Fruits for the asparagus, and very nearly some rhubarb – maybe next time. Half a dozen lovely organic eggs were then purchased at Brewsters.

Fish on a market stall.

Picked up the dressed crab for the tart from Eyemouth-based fishmongers, A&D Patterson.

Beef on a market stall.

And finally, a smashing tray of Aberdeen Angus beef sausages from Well Hung and Tender – nothing to do with the crab and asparagus tart, but everything to do with Sunday breakfast!

April 28, 2013 By
0
bistro/ Edinburgh/ French/ restaurant/ review/ Scottish/ slow food

Review: Café St Honoré – A French gem with a Scottish Twist

Front of Cafe Saint Honore.
A wee bit of Paris, in Thistle Street Lane.

We visited Café St Honoré on a freezing spring evening, having been keen to experience this French-influenced exponent of “slow food” for a while. Despite the cold weather, the welcome was immediately warm as we stepped into the restaurant which, if you forget it is hidden just of Edinburgh’s Thistle Street, would be entirely at home in Paris’s Latin Quarter.

Café St Honoré specialises in using seasonal, locally-sourced produce to create bistro-style cuisine, and the passion of it’s chef-director Neil Forbes with this regard has lead to the establishment being rated as Scotland’s most sustainable eatery in 2012. As already mentioned Whilst the ambience of the restaurant is very obviously French, its insistence on using – wherever possible – Scottish ingredients creates an ‘Auld Alliance’ of classic cuisine français in combination with quality Scot’s flavours.

From the several alternatives available, we decided to go with the ‘café classics’ menu which provides diners with a choice from two options for each course and offers great value at £22.50 for starter, main and pudding. My partner opened proceedings with a dish of potato and herb dumplings with Highland Crowdie cheese which were, as anticipated, satisfyingly both herby and cheesy and provided a good balance of flavours. The real star of our first course, however, was my cullen skink which was packed with delicious smoked haddock and potatoes, all bathed in a luxurious creamy sauce that had assumed the smokiness of the fish during cooking.


Our mains were equally good, and whilst I again choose a very palatable fish-based dish of pan-fried coley with sautéed pink fir potatoes and greens, I almost wish I had joined my partner in sampling the venison casserole. This consisted of meltingly tender meat and vegetables cooked in a satisfyingly rich and flavoursome wine sauce.

For pudding we were unanimous in choosing the crème fraiche and sea buckthorn mousse, which was exceptional. The richness of the mousse was beautifully countered by the tartness of the sea buckthorn sauce with which it was topped, and the spring rhubarb jus in which it sat.

Add to the excellent food excellent service – which was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and attentive without being over-bearing – and a good wine list – we chose a very satisfying South American cabernet sauvignon – overall, we had a wonderful dining experience for a very reasonable £70 (excluding gratuity).

So if you are in Edinburgh and crave well cooked, French-inspired food that comes packed with local and seasonal flavours, you would be well advised to seek out Café St Honoré.

Food – 8/10
Atmosphere – 8/10
Service -8/10
Value – 8/10

Ambience – Expect a venue with a brasserie, to quality restaurant ambience.

[This review is based on one posted on Tripadvisor in March 2013]

Cafe St Honoré on Urbanspoon Square Meal

April 24, 2013 By
0
chicory/ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall/ kidneys/ Moro/ offal/ recipe/ sherry/ Spanish/ venison

An offal-ly nice adventure – riñones al jerez (kidneys with sherry) with braised chicory

A glass of tasty sherry.
A nice glass of Amontillado.

Inspired by a recent Guardian article by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on both the sustainability, and fantastic flavours, associated with cooking offal, I decided to post about my own recent foray into using these cheap and versatile ingredients. Now I know offal isn’t for everyone – my other half included – but as Hugh astutely points out, “If we kill an animal for meat, surely it’s respectful to make the most of every scrap?”

Last weekend, with my offal-loathing other half out of town, I decided to swing by Edinburgh’s Farmers’ Market on the hunt for some under-used ingredients with which to cook. I was immediately drawn to some tasty looking venison kidneys on the stall of Fletcher’s of Auchtermuchty. Obviously, venison is a great sustainable, free range product and deer offal – such as the kidneys I plumbed for – has a deserved reputation for great flavour.

Having purchased the main offal ingredient for my supper, the next task was to decide what to pair this with. This was a straightforward choice. As I’ve previously mentioned, I am a big fan of Spanish food. My liking of Spanish cuisine has been significantly inspired by the cooking of London’s Moro restaurant, and their first cook book contains a simple yet delicious recipe for “Riñones al Jerez” – kidneys with sherry, to me and you.

Thankfully, gone are the days when – for many people – the word ‘sherry’ conjured up a mental picture of a dusty bottle of the sickly-sweet ‘cream’ variety, that only left the drinks cabinet at Christmas to provide a tipple for Great Aunt Agnes. For a useful beginner’s guide to how great and versatile sherry can be, check out Andrew Sinclair’s blog in The Guardian. For this recipe go for a dark, dry Oloroso, or slightly lighter, amber Amontillado, but in either case make sure the sherry is good quality.

Kidneys with sherry is a dish that is packed with big, bold, rich flavours and therefore needs an accompaniment that can hold its own and provide a nice counterpoint in terms of taste. A vegetable that really fits this bill is chicory. Though approaching the end of its growing season in April, it’s still possible to get decent specimens of this bitter-flavoured leafy veg, and it’s great braised in butter (which adds a nutty tone), a squeeze of lemon juice, and splash of apple juice (which together provide an accent of sweet and sour). The bitterness of the chicory will lessen and take on the flavour of the other ingredients during the course of a slow braise.

So, whether it be kidneys (or indeed any other offal), chicory, or sherry, why not give more common ingredients a day off and try something just a bit different?


Riñones al jerez (kidneys with sherry)
(thanks to Moro – the cookbook for this recipe)

Ingredients

  • 4-6 lambs or venison kidneys
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil 
  • ½ large Spanish onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 125ml dry oloroso/amontillado sherry
  • A sprinkling of sweet smoked Spanish paprika
  • Sea salt and black pepper

Preparation and cooking

Cover of "Moro: The Cookbook".
  1. The kidneys should come with the outer layer of fat removed. Remove any remaining external membrane, slice each kidney in half lengthways, and use a pair of scissors to snip away as much as the white gristle as possible. Then slice each kidney into bite-sized pieces (half or thirds depending on the size of each kidney.
  2. Heat the olive oil over a low to medium heat and fry the onion, stirring continually, until golden.
  3. Turn up the heat, add the garlic, and fry for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the kidneys and fry on all sides until sealed (but be careful not to let the garlic burn, or it will make the dish bitter).
  5. Season with salt and pepper and then add the sherry, reducing the heat immediately.
  6. Simmer for a minute or two to drive off the alcohol, but do not overcook – it is important that the kidneys are ever so slightly pink, tender and juicy in the middle when served.
  7. Check the seasoning and serve immediately with the braised chicory and some crusty fresh bread , to mop up the sauce.

Braised chicory

Ingredients

  • A good knob of unsalted butter (about 25g)
  • 2 chicory heads, cut in half along the length
  • Juice of half a lemon, combined with the same amount of water
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) of apple juice
  • A couple of sprigs of time
  • 1 or 2 bay leaves
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation and cooking

  1. Melt the butter in a wide pan – with a lid – on a medium heat.
  2. When the foaming of the butter subsides, place the chicory in the pan with the cut side to the pan bottom.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme and bay leaves.
  4. Cook for a few minutes then check to see if the underside of the chicory has started to turn golden.
  5. Add the lemon juice, water and apple juice, and place the lid on the pan, cooking for a further 15-20 minutes.
  6. Turn the chicory (carefully, as it will have softened) and finish cooking for a further couple of minutes, to ensure it had fully softened, without going mushy, then serve.
Chicory being sauted.
Chicory, about to be finished.

April 21, 2013 By
0
Edinburgh/ mezze/ Middle Eastern/ restaurant/ review

Review: Pomegranate – Make sure you get the “mezze” of this place…

Pomegranate restaurant's mezze.
Photo of mezze courtesy of Pomegranate’s website

I paid a second visit to Pomegranate in March 2013, having previously been there with friends at the end of 2012, and the experience was once again joyous. If you are a fan of middle-eastern cuisine – or even if you have never tried it before, but like good food, well served – I would recommend you dine at this restaurant.

Located at the top of Leith Walk, Pomegranate serves an excellent range of authentic Turkish and Arabian dishes with a contemporary twist. The menu includes kebabs, bamya (meat and okra stew) , and shawarma (grilled meat or vegetables, often served in a naan bread) . But the real star of their show is the selection of mezze – a sort of middle-eastern tapas, for those not in the know. My partner and I went for the set mezze for two people, which allows for a choice of six dishes from their extensive mezze menu, including two that are meat based – vegetarians will be delighted to hear the majority of their mezze dishes are meat free, and mouth-wateringly good.

Service was friendly and efficient, and the dishes arrived within 10 minutes of our order being taken, all at the same time and accompanied by a large naan bread that was fresh out the oven. All our mezze were delicious, but my particular favourite was soujuk – spicy Lebanese sausage sautéed in tomato, green pepper, garlic and chilli. As well as being delectable, the set mezze menu provides excellent value for money at £27 for two people. Combined with the fact that Pomegranate is BYOB and charges no corkage, a fantastic meal can be had without lightening one’s wallet to any great extent.


Anyone looking for a quiet dining experience should be aware that the restaurant is constantly busy, with décor to match. But if you hanker after an authentic middle-eastern meal that won’t cost a packet, make a bee-line for Pomegranate – you will not be disappointed.

Food – 7/10
Atmosphere – 6/10
Service -8/10
Value – 8/10

Ambience – Expect a venue with a café-esque ambience.

Pomegranate on UrbanspoonSquare Meal
[This review is based on one posted on Tripadvisor in March 2013]

April 20, 2013 By
0
recipe

Recipe: “Hogget” the limelight – slow-cooked overwintered lamb with anchovy

Hogget (lamb) about to be slow cooked.
All ingredients in the pot – now to casserole!
The first four months of 2013 have been extremely tough for Scotland’s livestock farmers, as the unseasonably cold weather and heavy snow extending into, what should be, Spring has had a devastating impact on sheep and cattle herds. As recently reported in the Farmers’ Guardian, the situation is so dire it could even threaten the existence of what were previously financially robust farms.

It’s even more important, therefore, that the meat eaters amongst us do our bit to support Scottish livestock farmers by shunning imported products which can be found lining the meat counters of many supermarkets at this time of year, and instead buy quality meat reared in Scotland. Not only does domestically-reared produce taste great, it also doesn’t generate the “food miles” associated with importing beef from Argentina or lamb from New Zealand (see footnote).

Although it is still very early in the season for this year’s Scottish Spring lamb to be found at market, you can still pick up quality home-grown fare in the form of overwintered lamb – or hogget – which is usually between 12 and 18 months old. This tends to have a richer flavour and firmer texture than spring lamb, whilst not being as fatty as mutton (meat from sheep over two years old).

Lamb/hogget is a tremendously versatile meat, and can take a lot of flavours being thrown at it, without being overwhelmed – think, for instance, how well it stands up to the spices used in a tagine or saag ghosht. It might seem an unlikely pairing, but a great flavour accompaniment for lamb is anchovy. Yes, I did say anchovy!


Having picked up some overwintered lamb shank and neck fillet at the weekend, I decided to slow cook it in my own adaptation of a Nigel Slater recipe for lamb shanks with anchovy. As well as using neck fillet – together with some lamb bones to give the sauce even more flavour – I choose to use white wine, instead of red, for a lighter flavour note in the sauce, and also added thyme to the rosemary and bay leaves. This still gives a fantastically flavoursome sauce, where the addition of the fish brings out the full flavour of the meltingly tender meat, yet without adding an obviously fishy taste. Even my other half – who is usually not a big fan of anchovy – loved the dish, so why not give it a go? I’m convinced you’ll find this unusual surf and turf combination a winner.

The following recipe will provided two people with hearty portions.

Ingredients

  • 2 x over-wintered (hogget) lamb shanks, or 600-800 grams of neck fillet
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, sliced or crushed
  • 4 anchovy fillets (they type from a tin or jar), chopped
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 250ml/8fl oz chicken or beef stock
  • 250ml/8fl oz white wine
  • A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Preparation and cooking

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C/300F/Gas 4.
  2. Season the lamb shanks/neck with the pepper. Brown them in a casserole with a little olive oil.
  3. When the shanks are slightly browned add the roughly chopped onions and garlic. Chop up two of the anchovy fillets and add to the casserole. Take the rosemary and thyme leaves of the sprig stalks, if desired, and to the casserole together with the bay leaves. Then add the stock and the wine and bring to a simmer.
  4. When simmering, put the lid on and bake in the oven for two hours, with a little turn of the shanks halfway through.
  5. Remove the meat to a serving dish and leave to rest in a warm oven. The shank meat can be stripped from the bone at this stage, if desired. Slow cooking should make this very easy to do.
  6. Finish the sauce by adding two more chopped anchovies and a handful of chopped parsley. Bring the sauce to the boil, check the seasoning on then pour over the resting lamb meat and serve.

The dish is great accompanied by creamy mashed potato and steamed purple sprouting broccoli, or kale.

[Footnote: although some studies suggest New Zealand lamb is a sustainable product, the Canadian report Fighting Global Warming at the Farmer’s Market indicates that the greenhouse gases generated by transporting half a kilogram of NZ lamb into Canada are over a thousand times greater than transporting locally-reared lamb to market.]

April 19, 2013 By
0
Feature/ review/ scoring

A word about my review scoring…

Graphic saying "score".
Now that the first Scrumptious Scran restaurant review has appeared on the blog, I thought I would just put up a wee post to explain my own approach to scoring the venues I have dined in.  For each revue, I score them out of 10 in four areas:
  • Food – let’s be honest, it’s the primary reason that most of us dine out.
  • Atmosphere – The food itself could come from a kitchen with two Michelin Stars, but would you truly appreciate it when consumed in a freezing shipping container?
  • Service – Not just about bringing food and drink to the table, but also about providing essential information on what is being served, and providing a welcoming dining experience.
  • Value for money – Whether it’s simply a burger or an haute cuisine indulgence, if you pay over the odds for what is served, it is sure to take the shine off a meal when the bill finally comes.

I think that these categories are fairly sensible yardsticks by which to judge how good – or not – a dining experience is.  Yet I also think anticipation and ambience has a lot to do with how a dining experience is perceived.  After all, a casual pie and a pint after work with one’s mates is obviously going to be a different experience from that of going to a top end restaurant with one’s partner. 
 So I  have decided to add a category, but not a score, identifying the venue’s “ambience” or, if you work in marketing, its “segment”.  This helps to contextualise how the revue is framed and what it’s comparable to.  Otherwise, I think it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges; or mangos and pomegranates…  Well what sort of analogy were you expecting from a food blogger!   
April 18, 2013 By
0
Edinburgh/ restaurant/ review/ Spanish/ tapas

Review: La Mula Obstinada – An authentic tapas experience that certainly is no ‘donkey’

La Mula Obstinada Logo


Although I live in – and love – Edinburgh, I sometimes think I should have been born Spanish. I admire Spain’s culture and architecture, and am passionate about Spanish food – a much underrated cuisine in my book. Fortunately, Edinburgh has a smattering of Spanish-influenced eateries, albeit of variable quality and ambience. Portobello’s Malvarosa is intimate and serves great food, Cafe Andaluz is decent enough for a chain, and Barioja – well, sadly, it appears it may have seen better days, I’m sorry to say.

Now there is a welcome “nuevo adición” to Spanish dining in Edinburgh – La Mula Obstinada.  Situated in a slightly cavernous, former warehouse building on Leith’s Queen Charlotte Street, which was previously home to the Englishman, Scotsman and an Irishman bistro, this relative newcomer appears to be making a genuine effort to bring a little bit of Spanish warmth to Edinburgh’s chilly winter (and spring) evenings. 
The venue itself makes the most of its former warehouse credentials, combining whitewashed or bare stone walls with stripped wooden floors, all furnished with rustic-looking tables and chairs and archetypal Spanish art.  Squint, and it’s just possible to believe this is a former cigarette factory in Seville, as opposed to an old warehouse in Leith.
Service was friendly and efficient, and we were quickly seated and briefed on the dining experience ahead. As we had plumbed for the tapas “menu”, we were asked if we had any particular culinary dislikes or allergies before it was explained that the tapas consists of dishes largely prepared from fresh, seasonal ingredients.  It’s therefore not a case of choosing from a menu, instead partaking of whatever is ready to serve from the kitchen – which is reassuringly open to the dining area – at that particular moment in time.   It was very enjoyable seeing the chefs prepare an appetising array of tapas dishes which were then efficiently whisked to which ever dining tables had consumed their last delivery of delicious delights.
Tapas stalwarts like calamares fritos, patatas bravas, and albondigas (meatballs in a rich tomato sauce) were both excellent and authentic. But further offerings, such as the char-grilled mackerel fillets, fabada (a rich bean and meat stew), and chickpeas with spinach and beef, really stood out. And what’s more, having taken advantage of a special offer, our evening was also excellent value for money, not least because the dishes literally kept coming until we could consume no more.

Chatting with the Maitre D’ (who I think may have been the owner – wish I had asked) I wasn’t surprised to learn he was from Seville and that the rest of the restaurant staff are also Spanish. Having also sampled the tapas of Seville – the “spiritual” home of this particular cuisine – first hand recently, I would recommend La Mula Obstinada if you hanker after an authentic flavour of Spain during the long Scottish winter/spring (and even into the summer too).

Food – 7/10
Atmosphere – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Value – 8/10
Ambience – Expect a venue with a cafe-esque, to informal bistro, ambience. 
This review is based on one that was posted on Tripadvisor at the end of 2012. The restaurant has subsequently closed.

April 18, 2013 By
0
bar/ café/ drink/ Edinburgh/ farmers' market/ Feature/ food/ foodie/ recipes/ restaurant/ review/ slow food

Scrumptious Scran is born…

So, after (what is probably) years of threatening to set up a blog as a means of sharing my passion about food and drink, I’ve finally got my metaphoric finger out and Scrumptious Scran is now live. But why establish a food blog?

Well, anyone who knows me will be aware that I love food and drink. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sophisticated fare. What, for example, can compare to an egg, bacon and mushroom sandwich on sourdough bread, accompanied by a decent cup of coffee, to kick off a Sunday morning? But it has to be flavoursome and put together with care, attention and – hopefully – some passion.

Ideally, I also like the food I cook and eat to be seasonal, and sourced as locally as possible. I’m realistic, however, and know that it isn’t always possible to do a complete weekly shop at the likes of the terrific Edinburgh Farmers’ Market (more about this Edinburgh foodie institution in a later post on the blog). But my ideas about food do share much in common with those of the Slow Food Movement.

So what can be expected from Scrumptious Scran over the coming weeks, months and (hopefully) years? Well, my intention is for the blog to be a mixture of updates on how I’ve been ‘engaging’ with food and drink, including:

  • What I have been buying, and where from.
  • The recipes I have tried at home.
  • The restaurants, cafés and bars I have enjoyed (or even, not enjoyed).
  • The books, magazines and other blogs that have influenced my culinary perspective.

And, given the fact that it is nigh on impossible for one person to keep abreast of all the latest gastronomic developments, I will certainly be welcoming suggestions of any restaurants or products that might be worthy of a feature in the blog, via scrumptiousscran@gmail.com.

And so my literary, culinary journey begins! I look forward to hearing from those of you who follow its progress.

Chris

April 16, 2013 By
0

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