Artisan du chocolat and shoes: two steps to lady heaven

Last weekend in London, I made a long-awaited trip to Artisan du chocolat's shop and chocolateria in Notting Hill. With a total of three shops in the city, the Notting Hill branch was top of my list as it is the only one that serves their chocolate and salted caramel tart, cold cacao pulp juice and a selection of chocolate cocktails. Not sickly sweet, cloying affairs, but four classics reworked into perfectly balanced, chocolatey sophistication.

The mission was born last Christmas when, hunting for family gifts, I discovered Artisan's original salted caramels, created in 2003 for Gordon Ramsay’s menu at Claridges: a sweet liquid caramel with a pinch of untreated grey salt from the French island of Noirmoutier (harvested by hand from clay marshes since medieval times), captured in a cocoa dusted shell of intense dark chocolate. They remain the company's bestselling chocolate. And deservedly so. Much copied, but not equalled. 

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Cheese tease

Since writing about Strathdon Blue cheese two posts ago, I'm delighted to announce that I'm doing my very first blog interview with its maker, Rory Stone of Highland Fine Cheeses. This Friday, in the Highlands for a home break, I'll be taking a trip out to the Stone family dairy in Tain, near the Dornoch Firth.

As well as finding out how much of a 'pain in the arse' it is to make the erratic Strathdon, I'm especially looking forward to hearing all about how they're getting on experimenting with a new cheese - a goats' milk blue. The dairy's very first goats cheese. 

Rory has promised to clear the place of rodents before I arrive. Cheesemaking clearly hasn't robbed him of a sense of humour! It looks set to be an amusing morning.

Look out for more on the wonderful Strathdon Blue, the dairy's other cheeses and their recent goaty exploits after this Friday's visit.

In season: herring in oatmeal with gooseberry compote and green salad

Passing by the fishmonger's yersterday, I noticed a wee brown paper sign announcing that it's Scottish herring season. Intending to buy a chunk of meaty white fish, monkfish probably, I changed my mind when I saw the seasonal tag. More eco-friendly. Plus it's so long since I ate a freshly cooked herring I found that I couldn't actually remember what they taste like. High time to get reacquainted I concluded.

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Jekka's Herb Cookbook, by Jekka McVicar

 

A regular Amazon cookbook orderer, I receive regular emails inviting me to buy new cookbooks they think I'd like. Usually, I don't 'like' any of the recommended titles. But last week, Jekka's Herb Cookbook featured in the selection, and although I'd never heard of the 'Queen of Herbs', so dubbed by Jamie Oliver, the pretty cover drew me in for a closer look. The interesting and informative content, wonderful illustrations and good price (£14.99 down from £25) nailed it and I hit that dangerous little yellow button, 'Add to Basket.'

Several days later, sitting down to an only slightly procrastinating coffee before tackling some serious (read: boring) work, I picked up the volume for a quick shufty. Three hours on, it had been read cover to cover. Jekka, you are eminently more interesting than data collection methodologies. Not hard, I admit, and I'm sorry the circumstances oblige me to make such an ungenerous comparison; let's face it, it's certainly not one that's gonna have titles leaping off the shelf!

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Bubbles, a red, a new and an old sweetie

Stand out wines from a long and languorous foodie weekend

Playing host to a male 'friend' up from down south, someone who loves to eat and drink as much as me, last weekend's itinerary ran a lot like an A-to-Z of Glasgow's premier foodie spots.

In just five days (granted, we stretched the definition of long weekend), I managed to introduce him to a good number of my favourite haunts: Cafezique, Crabshakk, the west end farmers' market, Bar Gandolfi, Iain Mellis Cheesemongers, Kember & Jones, Monachyle MHOR Hotel and restaurant at Balquhidder, Perthshire (via their Callander outposts, the MHORBread bakery on our way there and MHORFish chippie on our way back for the best chips I've EVER had), the Stravaigin cafe bar and Ubiquitous Chip's Corner Bar.

Phew, I feel tired and out of breath just reading that list back to myself! Amazingly, it felt super relaxed at the time. Extremely so. But, to keep us all sufficiently aerated, I'll skip the home cooking and art exhibitions.

Monachyle MHOR's Tom Lewis, interior and view

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