Rum Masterclass at Cottons - Vauxhall

When Joanne from Love Pop Ups London mentioned that Cottons at Vauxhall (the newest of four branches - opened last month) was looking for some bloggers to sample one of their Rum Masterclasses, I jumped out of my eating/writing ennui and applied.

Every single rum that we tried was amazing enough to be drunk on its own. The experience has forced me to rethink rums as just an alcoholic base which needs a mixer, to something that can be savoured on its own. They are great in cocktails and some rums go partuicularly well with certain specific mixers - like Ginger beer. But a lot of them can be slowly sipped on and enjoyed for just what they are.

Read the entire post on my Food Blog - Kim Eats n Blogs.

There's such a large variety out there, that an experience of a masterclass like this one really helps start you down a wonderfully interesting path. Priced around £20 per person for rum masterclass only or £35 per person which includes a 2-course dinner after the class, its money well spent.

Cottons -Vauxhall.
Unit 12 Flagstaff House,
St Georges Wharf,
Vauxhall, SW8 2LE
-
T: 0207 091 0793

Read the entire post on my Food Blog.

Schweppes Laboratory Experience

Schweppes’ Alchemy Bar
21 Slingsby place
London
WC2E 9AB

The invitation to the Laboratory Experience said :  
"Schweppes Alchemy Bar invites you to explore the curious world of the original alchemist, Jacob Schweppe.

Coming to Covent Garden 2nd - 8th October to celebrate London Cocktail Week, the Alchemy Bar hides many secrets and is offering you the chance to delve into the wondrous science of cocktail making.

Dive into over 200 years of bubble-making expertise and book your place in the Schweppes Laboratory Experience. You’ll create your very own sparkling concoction and learn the secrets of flavoured bubbles from London’s revered experiential mixologists, Smith & Sinclair. From colour-changing gin & tonics to inhalable gin-based clouds, the Schweppes Laboratory Experience will take you back in time as well as giving you a glimpse into the future; that’s if you can find Jacob’s secret study of course. Schh!"

For £10, I thought this would be a great way to take a break, since I've gone back to studying for a bit and needed a rest. I thought I'd spend an hour listening to some interesting facts, maybe get to try some concoctions of my own and maybe meet a few new folks. To be honest I wasn't expecting much.

But when I got here, I realised that an entire full fledged bar had been set up at this spot. Once we registered, at the appointed time we were taken into a classroom with 5 tables where we could work in sets of two.

It was great fun, we donned leather aprons, inhaled alcoholic clouds, mixed some cocktails, bantered a bit, made some boba style bubbles (woohoo)and drank the coctails we had made.

I was quite happy with this itself, but then we were led to a secret bar - 1783, where we got to taste a couple of the new flavours that Schweppes is coming out with. I can't wait for the cucumber one to hit the market, it is amazing!

We also had a choice of cocktails mixed for us and got a chance to hang out and chat with other people in our group. I'm still curious about the group who popped in on their lunch break, did they get any work done after returning to office?

#ultimatemixer

London's First Mulled Wine Festival

I really got lucky with Yelp London's First Mulled Wine Festival. I had offered to help on the 12th in the first slot 12-3. Things were on the quieter side when I started out, as everything was being set up. So I got the time to figure out what was going on where, where the ATM's were, the wifi set up etc. I managed to meet the community managers from Birmingham, Manchester & Edinburgh and other yelp elite & chat with each of them.

At around 1pm, the lunch crowd started coming in & the action heated up a bit, helping people download the app, telling them what yelp was all about.

At 3, things had quietened, so I finally left the main booth (registration only) and actually headed to the food and drink areas. Since things weren't rushed, I had a chat with most of the stall owners and got to try everything for free with the nifty Yelp Elite VIP wristband!

I started with the Mulled wine at Chez Antoinette - a lovely sweet mulled wine with strong flavours. I absolutely loved this one. I also got to try half a duck confit baguette. I loved the duck but the bread was a little too crusty for me. (I prefer soft breads) They have a permanent location in Covent Garden, so I'd love to try more of their food there.

As I was munching on my baguette and sipping my wine, I headed over to the DJ booth being run by Phizz. They were handing out goody bags with pop chips & Phizz Rehydration tablet samplers to Elite. The music they were playing was really good, but at the main booth where I was stationed, we could only hear the opera being played from inside Covent Garden Market. The DJ's said that they only had permission to increase their volume later in the evening.

My next stop was Gosnells where I tasted mead for the first time (An alcoholic drink made from honey. I've read so much about it in historical fiction, but I wasn't sure how it would actually taste). It was lovely. Again, a sweet drink, so right up my alley. The mulled version was even better & my glass was fortified with a shot of rum.

With my baguette over, I headed to the Meat Liquor stall. I've been following them on instagram and been very tempted to head over to one of their locations, but hadn't got around to it. The dead hippie burger was FANTASTIC!. So I know that I HAVE to head to their restaurant ASAP. As I was chatting with the lovely lady here about food & meat, she offered me some of their Jagermeister Spice. Which was also amazing. I'd have loved to take some home with me, to sip on in the evening.

The final stop in this section was Morelli's Gelato which had 2 Christmas Specials - the mulled wine and the mince pie. They were also offering Irish Cream & another flavour. I had the mince pie, which was very good and later in the evening I had the chance to taste the Irish Cream & the mulled wine too. I think the mince pie was my favourite.

Corral one over and done with, I headed to corral two. I started with LIC Pops - Mulled Wine pop. I've had their pina colada & mojito pops before, so I knew I could expect something fantastic. It was delicious, but frozen (obviously!) These pops are better suited to be enjoyed at home in front of a fire or radiator, than in chilly, windy, nippy, Covent Garden on a semi winter night.

I quickly headed over to Heddon Street for a Hot Scot Cider, mulled with Drambuie, which warmed me right up again. I bought one of their lemon and honey madelines, just to balance the alcohol I was imbibing and they were warm and toasty, fresh out of a warming oven.

I skipped Thistly Cross as they were having some electric troubles which they were trying to sort out. She told me I could have lukewarm cider now or hot cider later. I opted for later and was really keen to try the marzipan & gingerbread mulls.

My final stop was L'atypique who offered me prosecco for a change, which was fresh and crisp.

The Christmas Cart wasn't offering samples and as I was stuffed & marinated, I promised myself that i would be back later for one of their pies (I tasted the venison & port from a friend - it was good.) &top it with some Thistly cider before I left.

Once I got back to the main booth, things started heating up, literally. We heard that the micropigs would soon arrive and the heater was turned on for them. And the moment the pigs arrived, was when the crowds really started.

Everyone wanted their pictures taken with those cute, squealing bundles & the registration area just exploded. I lost count of how many people I helped download the app that evening.

It was then time to suit up for the Santa flashmob, where we ran around the square handing out candy canes and yelp cards. By now it was around 7:45 and I was ready to leave.

Brajesh had arrived & I wanted to take him to all the stalls, but it was impossible to get through the coralled areas. The crowds were just piling in by 7:30. There were queues everywhere. The security got strict. They didn't want anyone taking glasses outside the area which just increased the number of people inside the small fenced areas. There was no seating and the stalls were on the smaller side. so it all ended up feeling very chaotic.


Yelpers were doing their best to manage the crowds the best that they could, but it was becoming unmanageable. People who arrived around this time would not have enjoyed the festival, the way that I had the luxury of doing so.

By now, it was crowded & chaotic. We managed to snag a dirty hippy & a jagermeister, before we left to find a quiet place for dinner.

I enjoyed the event, but I can see why people who came in very early or very late found the place too quiet or too chaotic. It was a great first event, but can be made even better next year with a little more planning and objectively looking at what could be done to improve the overall Festival.

Visiting the Lavender Farms @TheHopShop

We were headed to Kent for a picnic at Knole Park and our friend Sarah (the Fabulous Baker) urged us to come in earlier, so we could squeeze in a visit at the Kentish Lavender Castle Farm.

We were so glad that we took her up on this offer.

As we drove towards the farm, we spotted glimpses of purple patches that grew steadily larger as we approached. The minute we turned off the main road, the sweet smell of lavender wafted up to us and I knew that I was in a blissful heaven.

The kind folks at Castle Farm have left a small section of this working farm open, where passersby can pose and take pictures. We even met a couple who had brought their Afghan (dog), just to take pictures with him posing in front of a sea of lavender!

At Castle Farm, they grow over 95 acres of lavender and extract high quality essential oils on site. These are sold at the farm shop on the grounds. Other items on offer include Culinary Essences, toiletries, dried flower-heads, gifts and foods.

We tried the Lavender Cookies that were outstanding, but the ice cream was very low on Lavender flavour. We picked up some fresh apple juice on site, squeezed from their Norfolk Royal Apples. This is a rare strain and they even sell some young trees for 20Pounds. The juice was delicious and consumed rapidly even by a "certain someone" who said he hated apple juice :)

If you are so inclined, you can book a massage therapy session in the middle of the lavender fields (under a marquee or in the open), but they seem to get booked up very early. You might just have to wait until next year.

If you would like to learn more about how Lavender is grown and processed, they have a tour that takes you behind the scenes of lavender production, from the fields to the distillery, with an expert guide. Tours cost 4.5 / 5.5 on weekends/weekdays and last about an hour.

During Lavender season, they put up a second temporary shop to deal with the sheer number of visiotrs and increase in produce. The Hop Shop itself is a permanent structure and is open throughout the year.

The Hop shop stocks beef, Cox and Norfolk Royal apples, apple juice, hops, dried flowers, lavender and essential oils, honey, pumpkins and pheasants, all sourced from the farm itself. Others items are purchased direct from genuine local producers – cakes, jams, fruit pies, chutneys, ice-cream, sausages and bacon, meat pies, apple crisps and free-range eggs. In spring and summer they source local asparagus, strawberries and cherries direct from other Kentish farmers, as well as local herb plants.

Around September to October, the farm is open to pick your own apples and between September and November, you can even pick your own pumpkins and squashes.


Seasonal Produce - Exact dates change according to weather, but generally the below is on offer:

Strawberries: May – August
Cherries: July
Asparagus: End April – Mid June
Lavender Honey: Autumn
Sweetcorn: Early September
Norfolk Royal and Cox Apples: Pick Your Own orchard open September – October (weather dependent). Ready picked in the shop through November.
Kent Cobnuts: September
Pumpkins: mid-September – December
Fresh cut Lavender: on a daily basis from late June until early August.
Lavender Plants: Early May – early August.
Hop Plants: December – April
Turkey, Gammons and Christmas meats: December – to order.


The farm is gorgeous and whether you are interested in a massage or just taking pictures of the undulating fields or munching on some amazing lavender cookies - this is a wonderful trip to take. (Its just 20 miles from Central London)

Food Ingredient Heaven (Ingredients from across the Globe in London)

Went for a 4km walk to explore the new neighbourhood. Aside from the Arabic Supermarket that I found on Day 1, next to Waitrose, Today I found a Russian supermarket, French Supermarket, Oriental Supermarket (food products from Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Thailand & Malaysia). All within a 15 minute walk from home.

No Indian Supermarket, but I did find 2 Indians running "Spar"

Then of course there are the M&S Food, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons etc.

I am in Food Ingredient heaven!

For those looking for Indian Food Ingredients in London, my friends recommend the following areas :
1. Heathrow / Hounslow
2. South Harrow - South Indian food items - Idli rice, rice powder, red rice - & well cleaned fish - Then eat in Saravana Bhavan or at La Masala ( Spicy Sri Lankan food)
3. Wimbledon area
4. Southall - for North India ingredients
5. Eastham - has some good shops
6.  Drummond St in Euston - the most centrally located Indian grocery store. Even stock paneer, dosa batter etc etc.  And Gupta sweets across the road does better samosa, jalebi etc than Ambala Sweets
7. www.itadka.com for online orders.

Thanks to Deba, Urvi, Prasad, Praj & Sharky for sharing this gyaan (knowledge)
 

Grocery Shopping in London

In all our jaunts across town, I rarely hear English being spoken between people, unless it is a business transaction. The guys from whom we bought our phone connections were from India and Sri Lanka. Our Coffee Shop guys all speak fluent Italian (I still follow bits of conversation) and I had a broken Arabic conversation with an Algerian managing a French Pattiserrie. We had a brilliant meal last week at Daquise - a Polish restaurant. Our neighbours in the building are from Japan and Australia. Yes, we seem to have landed in the middle of a much larger melting pot.

For groceries, we have tried Waitrose, Sainsbury, Selfridges (we were in the store browsing) and Marks & Spencer

So far, I think I love the raw ingredients and cold meats from Marks & Spencer the best. Much superior in taste and flavour to Waitrose.

Sainsbury is good for last minute buys and general groceries and cakes, but we didn't like their sandwiches.

Selfridges has a lot of premium products and organic produce, but the readymade food costs as much as eating in at an average restaurant.

Waitrose has very high quality Organic products and their spices are fantastic. (turmeric, jeera, corriander), but I did not like their cold meats at all, especially when compared to Marks & Spencer.

My local grocer is from Egypt and has a meat section which sells things like gizzards. I've asked him to keep an eye out for tongue for me.

Borough Market was brilliant and I can't wait to go back. However, I'm still getting used to the cold and don't like shopping in the open air in the current weather.

My fridge in this house is miniscule compared to my 600Litre fridge, which I had to leave behind in India - no way I would have been able to fit it inside a kitchen in Central London. So I'm learning to buy in smaller quantities (Brajesh who helps in carrying the groceries here, would not agree to this statement :) )

But the range of food and quality of meat is excellent and I'm loving cooking with all these ingredients. Such a massive change after our last posting in Ahmedabad, where I had just 2 places to choose from to buy meat and there was hardly anything new in the vegetable markets to try except the winter specialties. - fresh turmeric, amba haldi etc

Fingers Crossed, that I will be blogging more. Lets see.