The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
This book accompanies the new TV series of the same name on BBC2. I could watch these two chatting and laughing away all day but sadly there are just 4 episodes . By these ‘two’ I mean of course Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo. they’ve been around for as long as I can remember and […]
I’ve been wanting to go here for ages after having read so many reviews by other bloggers. I wanted to go with my husband though rather than a quick bite on my own at lunchtime. So after a spot of shopping on Oxford Street we headed over to Dean Street at around 7ish. It was […]
This is my first blog post! I’ve been blogging at for a few months now and while I’ve been out and about lots of people have asked me about my background which is Gujarati. To be specific, my father is from Rajkot and from a ‘community’ of ‘Suthar’ which literally translated means ‘carpenter’. This is rather […]
A Taste of Gujerat…. Last Summer we went to India on holiday. We were lucky enough to have three weeks – one in Kerala, one in Rajasthan and finally in Gujerat where my father comes from. It’s a huge state on the western coast and despite the fact that it has a huge coastline, the […]
I love love love Bircher Muesli which is a good thing because I hate porridge. I know! It’s the same thing but I really cannot stomach porridge. It tastes like baby food to me but this muesli is the total opposite. Super quick and can be adapted to suit your taste with fresh fruit or […]
Last weekend I escaped the rain and drizzle that swept across the British Isles to sunny Amsterdam. Here are my highlights. Markets There are markets all over Amsterdam dedicated to all sorts of things. We visited the Bloemenmarkt which is one long, line of huts selling seeds, bulbs, flowers, potted plants and a load of […]
It doesn’t smell like garlic. It doesn’t taste much like garlic. It looks like garlic but it’s black?! Black Garlic? Hmmmmm…. I must admit I was rather dubious like most people who probably walk past it in the many places this is now available. But I was also fascinated at the same time. It is […]
I was sent some Black Garlic to try recently. It was during a savoury biscuit phase I was going through while freelancing at home. I was determined to create great tasting savoury biscuits for my girls to enjoy with a glass of milk. I came up with these. Enjoy! You’ll need 50g butter 100g oats […]
I recently attended a Vietnamese and Thai Cookery Day at The Vegetarian Cookery School in Bath run by Rachel Demuth. I first met Rachel last year and discovered that we both have a love of teaching and passing on our skills and knowledge to others. Like me Rachel has travelled extensively in India and the […]
I’m so excited to see all the Spring flowers coming into bloom. Hopefully the snow forecast this week won’t wipe them out. Did you know that a lot of these are edible? Let’s start with tulips. Here’s a recipe I tried out from Great British Chefs which uses tapioca, mushrooms, sugar snap peas and spring […]
This recipe looks complicated but it honestly isn’t. You can even buy the pastry cases if you really want to. I found this fabulous supplier on Amazon who does all sorts of shapes. Personally I make pastry in batches and freeze it so there is always some handy. You can do this pre-baking which is […]
This recipe is from the book “Nature” by Alain Ducasse. I have adapted the dip to include some lovely Black Garlic as I was sent some to try. You can buy this now at most supermarkets or order online in the US via Black Garlic or in the UK via South West Garlic – an […]