L'amuse Bouche Crepes & Galettes

Good Morning Food Lovers.

Today the sun shines over London and the spring makes me happy and energised.
I am going to have breakfast with a famous french delicacy we all love...I am talking about Crepes. In order to do so I will visit L'amuse Bouche, a shop and market stall created by Thomas and Clement selling my favourite crepes in London.

This two french guys have a pretty funny history as they had been competitors for a year before realising that toghether they would have made a great business. Before founding L'amuse Bouche they were both selling french food at Vauxhall street food garden (one french sandwiches and the other crepes).

As they started this cooperation they joined Shepherds Markets group that gave them the opportunity to trade in many different markets in central London. After one year in 2015 they opened a street food kiosk in POP Brixton Market, one of the coolest and unconventional indoor street food markets in London.

The secrets of their succes are easily found in following traditional french recipes and using authentic ingredients such as a high quality goat cheese, raclette cheese and home made butter. This makes a real difference in taste as the melted cheese matches perfectly with the softness of the crepe and you can feel the quality of the butter as well.
Other reasons to love this crepe are that you can also have vegetarian and gluten free options, but most of all their portions are a real meal and not just a snack........if you know what I mean!

I'm getting seriously hungry now....
Thomas, one crêpe s'il vous plaît!

If you also want one find L'amuse Bouche Crepes & Galettes at

POP Brixton: Monday to Friday(11:00 - 23:00, Saturday and Sunday(10:00 - 24:00)
Piccadilly: Monday (11:00 - 14:30)  
Startisans: Monday (11:00 - 14:30)  
Mayfair: Wednesday(11:00 - 14:30)
Brunswick: Saturday (11:00 -16:00)
Broadgate: Monthly.
Paternoster: Monthly.
ONC: Monthly.
Sloane Square: Monthly.
Cardinal Place: Monthly.
Regent Place: Monthly.
Farrington: Monthly.
 

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

Hi Today I want to write about balsamic vinegar, a product I am really passioned about, traditionally home made in my home town. In my family we still make our own vinegar.

The reason I want to write about it is because there are wrong beliefs about this product. First of all there are two different types: the original one is called Aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena (Traditional Balsamic vinegar of Modena), while the most popular and sold imitation is named Aceto balsamico di Modena (Balsamic Vinegar of Modena), all the difference stands in the word "tradizionale" (traditional). 

The second one is made by adding sugar to some wine vinegar, this is being cooked in order to caramelize it and obtain the typical sweet flavor. 

The real one comes from a natural trasformation process of the grape's cooked must, this is lasting a very long time. The grapes traditionally used are “Trebbiano” and “Lambrusco Grasparossa” or “Ancellotta”. 

During the first year the barrels (every barrel has a different size and they are ordered from the smallest to the biggest one) are filled with must and after one year the must becomes vinegar, but not yet traditional. 
Every year an amount of vinegar is being withdrawn from the smallest barrel, which is then refilled with the vinegar from the barrel next to it. This procedure is repeated for each barrel untill the biggest one. The last one is now ready to be refilled with new must. This process creates a perfect environment for bacteria to grow, one of the causes for the thickening of the balsamic vinegar with no added chemicals and using only barrels made of untreated woods (sessile oak, chestnut, juniper, mulberry).

At the end with 200 kg of grapes you will obtain 2 litres of balsamic vinegar, following the above process each year for 12 years!  We need this amount of time because the vinegar produced in the first 11 years is not considered good enough to be called "tradizionale"

. 

What also makes the difference between types of Traditional balsamic vinegar is where the barrels are kept, (usually under a roof) and how long the barrels have been used: the best balsamic vinegar comes from barrels that have been used for more than a century! Of course the oldest the barrels are, the most product is lost in evaporation, that means that in a very old battery you need much more than 200kg of grape for 2 liters of vinegar.

Now that you have a better understanding of how the traditional balsamic vinegar is made, you will be able to recognise the real one, which is much more expensive, and therefore use it appropriately and in small quantities considering that it is such a precious product. 

For a better understanding of prices I suggest to read this article from Huffington Post.
  

FOLLOW: Street Food Is Good

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if you love to cook,
but most of all you like the GOOD FOOD, 

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Brockley Market (SE London)

Hello street food lovers!

Saturday morning I set my alarm "early" to get up and go to Brockley Market, which surprisingly is much closer to St John's or Lewisham station than Brockley! It's located next to the Lewisham College in our beloved neighbourhood SE13!!!

Please don't get scared by the postcode...
just between New Cross and Greenwich, Lewisham is becoming the ideal area for young people to live and hang out, with plenty of quircky and interesting stuff around it.
See?

Now that hopefully I made you a little bit more curious about it, let me explain you what I love about this market.
Brockley Market is developed on the Lewisham College car park, therefore it is very spacious, although it is not easy to find a car park nearby.

When you first arrive you can perceive the sense of community and  you will feel like this is one of the few truly local markets of London. As a matter of fact, even  the exotic traders here (Spanish, Mexican, Italian, Vietnamese) have a kind of British twist. While normally in Central London street food traders tend to show as much as possible the traditions of their country, here this local-exotic formula seems to work very well.

 

Families and people of any age love it also because there is a dedicated area to sit down and have a chat, while having a bite and just enjoying a relaxed Saturday morning.

Within the street food traders the choice is between burger, pizza, crumpets, fresh juices, cakes, coffee and more, depending on the week.
 

However the most interesting part of this market is the selection of local fresh produce (cheese, bread, condiments, preserves, craft beer, sausages), organic fruit and vegetable, meat, fish and something quite unique in the area such as game and poultry.

Brockley Market also has a space where sometimes you can find information about concerts and activites held in the area.

Best enjoyed on a sunny day, it is held every Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 in

Brockley Market website

Lewisham College Car Park

Lewisham Way, SE4 1UT

Tagliatelle with salmon

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful week.

Today I am going to leave the street food and London markets aside, because it's time to add some recipes to this blog!
This is a recipe that I learned a while ago. It's really simple to make, but very tasty.

Looks good, right? This tagliatelle with salmon and cream it's a dish that my elder sister used to make for me.

The ingredients are: tagliatelle, smoked salmon, double cream, onions and parsley.

I am not sure whether onions were already part of the recipe or if my sister added them to make her little brother eat onions...but I can assure the result is excellent.

So let's start by the onion: to serve 3 people, finely chop 3 onions. I prefer to use white onions as they become soft and delicate once cooked, giving an harmonious flavour together with the cream to this dish.

We are going to use smoked salmon in order to give to our tagliatelle a delicious "smoky" taste.I am using 210g of salmon (70g per serving). 

Slice the salmon into small pieces as in the picture below or smaller for a smoother sauce.

 

We can start frying our chopped onions into some extra virgin olive oil until they will soften, if you like them crispy you can fry them a bit longer. After that, add the sliced salmon and mix until it will be cooked (it takes no longer than 2 minutes).

Now add the double cream and cook until it will thicken.

Many people prefer to add parsley only once the sauce is done, but I like to add some of it into the pan while I'm still coocking the cream and the rest when it cooles down. (Save some fresh non-chopped leaves for the end).
The amount and when you prefer to add your parsley is completely up to you.

When the sauce will be ready you can start heating up some water into a big pot (you can make the process faster using a kettle if you want), add a pinch of sea salt and when the water is boiling, add 300g of tagliatelle and stir. Drain the pasta when ready as per cooking time on the packet, put it back into the pot and mix it with the sauce.

Now you are ready to serve your pasta. Take some parsley leaves and garnish the plate.

enjoy yor meal!


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