Olive Oil Cake
I’ve been trawling through write-ups and notes and old photos.
But despite the deadline, it’s an excuse to catch up on the humming London food scene. I revisited my favourite haunts, like Barafina, Fino, and St John Bread and Wine, off Brick Lane, in Shoreditch. There, I had a fantastic starter of rabbit offal on toast, perfectly executed and delicious.
Ex-student Jenny Swan popped out of the pastry kitchen with a pressie of signature dishes, featherlite madeleines, caraway seed cake and an Eccles cake. Same happened at Towpath, at 42 De Beauvoir Crescent, on Regent’s Canal, where Abigail Baim-Lance, who has just graduated from Ballymaloe Cookery School, was starting her work experience.
Lori Di Mori runs Towpath, a charming café, out of two stores on the edge of the canal.
Much of the seating is outside, the food is simple and seasonal, and walkers, joggers and cyclists come and go. Swans, dabchicks and house boats glide by. All chic and Zen-like. Iconic dishes include olive-oil cake, which devotees traipse across town to enjoy with the stunningly good coffee.
Somehow, I got an early table at the much-talked-about Restaurant Story, on Tooley Street, in Bermondsey.
This is a ‘white hot’ new restaurant, getting blistering reviews for Tom Sellers and his team’s edgy, fun food. The hand-dipped candles were made from beef fat, which melted into a puddle in a holder, to be dipped-up with gorgeous, crusty, sourdough bread.
You have a choice of six or 10 tiny, delectable courses, plus a couple of playful amuse bouche and petit fours. Here, Frank Guest, another of my ‘babies’, popped out of the kitchen. Yet another, Dan Morgenthau, was in Honey and Co, a new restaurant where Israeli husband and wife, Itamar and Sarit Packer, have been causing a stir.
The Clove Club, in the refurbished Shoreditch Town Hall, is another hot ticket. Isaac McHale’s no-choice menu is worth a visit. Other recent openings on the rapidly changing food scene include Grain Store, Koya Udon noodle restaurant, and Bubbledogs, in Charlotte, Street, which serves hot dogs and fizz. Hot dogs are a trend.
Every reviewer was raving about Grain Store, which overlooks Granary Square.
This is a departure for Bruno Loubet, who was on the Michelin star scene until he headed to Oz for a few years. Grain Store is a non-vegetarian restaurant that bring vegetables, plants, and grains to the fore on the plate.
Vegetables are listed on the menu first per dish, with the meat or fish second.
The best food I ate was in Raw Duck, no 5 Amhurst Road, in Hackney. They serve the most delicious little plates.
This salad can be served simply on its own as a light and refreshing starter, or can have the addition of a few spoonfuls of thick natural yoghurt or ricotta.
2 cooked beetroot, peeled and very thinly sliced by hand or on a mandolin
24 raspberries
16 small mint leaves
2 tsp of honey
Lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Maldon salt
Cracked black pepper
Divide the sliced beetroot between 4 white plates or spread over a large flat serving plate.
Cut half of the raspberries in half lengthways and the rest in cross section slices, and scatter over the beets. Season with salt and pepper. Dress the salads with a drizzle of honey, a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
Sprinkle on the tiny mint leaves and serve immediately.
Addition of yoghurt, milk snow or labne
Addition of sorrel leaves
George Gossip, our game guru, introduced us to this recipe which he tells us he came across in Lindy Wildsmith’s book Cured. We all loved it.
Sunflower oil
1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ tsp sea salt
4 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
4 rabbit loins, cut from 2 jointed rabbits
To joint a rabbit loin: Use a filleting knife along the length of the spine, ease the loin away from the bone. Slide the blade under the loin cutting it free from the bone. Repeat on the other side and the other rabbit.
Mix the finely chopped parsley, salt and freshly crushed coriander seeds together.
Spread the seasoning out on a chopping board; roll the loins in it until completely and evenly coated. Wrap individually in clingfilm and freeze for a couple of hours or overnight.
When ready to serve, heat a large frying pan over a high heat.
Add enough oil to cover the base of the pan and put the rabbit loins in the pan.
Cook on all sides until golden, but this will only take a minute or two, as they are very tender.
Cut the loins into 2cm (¾ inch) thick slices and garnish with sprigs of chervil and wild garlic flowers or watercress and myrtle berries.
This is not the Tow Path version but we have been enjoying this olive cake at Ballymaloe Cookery School.
165g (6oz) all purpose white flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine sea salt
3 large free range organic eggs
225g (8oz) sugar
175ml (6fl oz) plain full fat yoghurt
3 lemons, the finely grated zest
175ml (6 fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the dish
23cm (9 inch) springform tin
Pre-heat the oven 170C/325F/ Mark 3. Lightly oil the base and sides of the tin.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Preferably in a food mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is pale and voluminous.
Add the natural yoghurt and lemon zest, continue to whisk for a minute or two more. Add the extra virgin olive oil all at once and reduce speed to low.
Gradually fold in the flour mixture mousse gently but thoroughly.
Pour the cake mixture into the oiled tin and put into the oven. Transfer to the centre of the preheated oven and cook until the cake is golden for about
40 minutes and a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre. The edges should have shrunk away from the tin slightly.
Allow to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.
Serve with a cup of coffee or with a blob of crème fraiche and some summer berries.
This recipe for Rich Seed Cake comes from Cookery Notes, 1943. I adore seed cake and can’t resist trying any new recipe I come across.
This version has a distinct lemony flavour — quite delicious.
225g (8oz) butter
225g (8oz) caster sugar
350g (12oz) flour
4 eggs
1 tbsp caraway seeds
Grated rind of one lemon
1 tsp baking powder
20cm (8 inch) round cake tin, lined with silicone paper
Cream the butter and sugar then add the flour and beaten egg alternately, a little at a time.
Beat well and add the caraway seeds, lemon rind, and lastly the baking powder.
Put in the tin and bake in a moderately hot oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for about 2 hours.
½ lb (225g) flaky pastry
4 ozs (110g) currants
4 ozs (110g) candied peel
1 tsp grated orange rind
1½ ozs (45g) melted butter
2 ozs (50g) granulated sugar
Extra granulated sugar for tops
Roll out the pastry to 3mm (1/8 inch) thickness and cut with 9cm (3½ inch)-round cutter.
Place one teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each round.
Pinch the sides into the centre and turn over, and roll out until the fruit is just coming through.
Brush with cold water. Dip the top in granulated sugar and slit with a knife, two or three times.
Bake at 220C/425F/gas mark 7, for 15 minutes.
Courses at Sonairte Eco Center and Gardens, in Laytown, Co Meath: Learn how to make cider, with David Llewellyn (local grower — juice, cider, vinegar and wine maker), www.llewellynsorchard.ie. Take home nine pints of cider.
Friday, Sept 20, 10am — 4pm, €75 (with tea/coffee & scone). Home Preserving: Traditional and Modern Methods, with Hans Wieland, of the Organic Centre, Co Leitrim, and TG4’s Garraí Glas,. Saturday, Sept 28, 10am – 4pm, €40 (with tea/coffee & scone). Book on 041-982 7572. Email: info@sonairte.ie — www.sonairte.ie.
The tenth Taste of West Cork Food Festival will be launched at the Church Restaurant, in Skibbereen, on Tuesday, Sept 3, at 7.30pm. The festival runs from Friday, Sept 6, to Sunday, Sept 16. 40 West Cork artisan food producers will participate.
John Minihan’s portraits of food producers and craft-makers will be exhibited in Field’s coffee shop.
The Belling Awards, now the Belling West Cork National Artisan Food Awards, will be awarded nationally. www.atasteofwestcork.com.
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