The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
Vanilla is probably one of the most popular flavours and ingredients in my household and one that I certainly took for granted until I discovered its history. Origins in Mexico Vanilla beans originated in Mexico. For hundreds of years the Totonaco Indians guarded the secret flavour until they were defeated by the Aztecs and had to handover […]
A dark church crypt was the setting for this unique pop up created by Remember A Charity. It was all very atmospheric. Bare brick walls and sweeping black curtains. I was one of the first and saw no familiar faces so to be honest I was a bit worried. Was I about to eat my last […]
I had heard great things about Asma’s supperclub from many friends on Twitter so when she invited me to come along on a very cold and windy winter’s day I was delighted to accept hoping the heat of the spices would spark some inner warmth to ward off my impending cold. As soon as I […]
Westfield Shopping Centre in London’s White City have been running a lovely programme called Food Explorers. There are foodie events and offers for all tastes. We popped along on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon looking for relaxed and warming comfort food. We found it at The Real Greek. We arrived to a bustling restaurant […]
I have been following Sabrina on Twitter for some time now and had always been fascinated by the pictures and menus she posted of her supperclub dishes. So I booked myself onto a Persian Kitchen Supper on a weekday evening to find out if her food tasted as good as it looks. The evening was […]
Last week I was invited to lunch at the new Bukhara London Pop Up at the Sheraton Park Tower in London’s very posh area of Knightsbridge. I arrived to a beautiful flower display in the lobby… …and an elephant just outside the entrance as some of the proceeds of the pop up will be donated […]
This pop up was paid for and promoted by Citroen to launch their DS5. All the proceeds went to Fareshare and the amazing menu below was created by the creative Tim Anderson – Masterchef Winner 2011. The 5 course menu cost just £5 per person with proceeds in aid of Fareshare but to be honest […]
Before travelling I do a lot of research. I plan. I make sure that I have read reviews so there is the smallest risk possible of eating somewhere rubbish. I guess it’s because I’ve got little ones with me now who are not so easy to uproot and go somewhere else. So, on a cold […]
I’ve been working in London for the last few months and will be for most of the Summer. There are plenty of downsides to this. First, crowded tubes where politeness is left on the platform. Next, streets covered with meandering tourists which make any walk twice as long as it needs to be. Onwards to […]
I was recently invited to supper at Pho by their PR people. I was in two minds whether to go because I’d been many, many times already. In the end I couldn’t resist because quite honestly the food is pretty awesome. I was also rather intrigued with the origins and story of the place. Pho […]
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 […]
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 […]