The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
On a recent trip to Amsterdam by car, we stopped off at a service station to fill up and get a spot of lunch. I’d never been to a Dutch service station before and wasn’t expecting anything above and beyond the usual fast food offerings we get here in the UK – especially as the […]
The definition of ‘shopping’ is ‘the purchase of goods from shops’. Hmmm. I think that pretty much sums it up. With children in tow and work schedules I usually know what I want to buy, go into a specific shop and buy it – matching this definition pretty well. But it’s also a wonderful passtime […]
I paid little attention to World Book Day before I had children but as they started nursery and now school, it’s become a big thing in or house. They have always worn a costume from their favourite book. We’ve gone from princesses, to wizards, Gruffalos to robots. It’s all a bit of fun. World Book […]
I have had a bottle of Maille’s ubiquitous Dijon mustard on my shelf for as long as I can remember. It goes into salad dressings and that’s about it. I had never really thought about using it in anything else. And then I went to the Maille boutique in Paris (a little sidetracking from my […]
Bananas are my go-to food when I need to eat but don’t have much time, when I’m hungry but not hungry enough for a full meal, when I’m starving but need to exercise first and finally when I want a bit of decadence. In all these scenarios eating a banana simply does the trick. It […]
My trip to Morocco was led by food and our base in Ouarzazate afforded us many day trips in search of traditional dishes and ingredients. On learning of my interest in food, our host at Dar Daif, Jean Paul, sent us along the Dades Valley in search of dried rose petals and rosewater. Eastwards along […]
Cherry season is a long way away but I could not resist buying a small pack at the market last weekend. Goodness knows where they came from but after my run in the wind and rain I thought I deserved a little pick me up. Cherries were also the theme of a recent event I […]
I really dislike sweeteners. I dislike the rubbish E things they contain. I dislike the aftertaste. I dislike the consistency. I’ve therefore always stuck to sugar because at least I know what that contains and can moderate my usage accordingly. That being said, I think I’ve found a sweetener that challenges each of those […]
I first had veloute at The Walmesley Restaurant in Berkshire. It’s a soup but one that uses egg yolks and or/butter to make it soft and silky. This version has no eggs so is very light and has been reproduced by kind permission of Head Chef Gert Pienaar. You’ll need 1 kilo of Jerusalem artichokes […]
I was invited to The Walmsley Restaurant in Berkshire recently to take a look at this new restaurant housed within the beautiful grounds of Audley Inglewood retirement village. It’s an impressive building rebuilt to replicate the original which was in disrepair. The insides have also been restored and styled to take guests and residents on […]
I was browsing through seed catalogues this week trying to decide what to get planting this year for the windowsill, back garden and the allotment. I pondered over the herb sections for the longest while and placed the usual candidates in my virtual shopping basket – Basil, Coriander, Parsley, Dill, Chives etc. These are everyday […]
This book starts with a chapter entitled ‘From Kazakhstan to Kent’ so I was immediately drawn in. What on earth could have originated in Kazakhstan and then made it’s way to Kent? I learned that genetically this would be the apple. Yes indeed. Kent’s heritage may well be its orchards but genetic science has determined […]