Street Food = Good Food?

Having recently visited the Olympic Park to soak up the atmosphere and gaze open mouthed at the swarms of people wending their way through the carefully planted, landscaped meadows. I thought I'd do the dirty and moan about the food as everything else seems to be going so well. On my particular visit I found the food offering to be pretty mediocre and as you'd expect highly priced. I suspect the coffee was was made from water drawn from the Steeplechase water jump and pies were warm and filling but all flavour had been surgically removed somewhere along the line.  I didn't attempt to visit one of the four McDonald's apparently located on the park as the thought of fighting through those crowds was just too much. Don't get me wrong I've enjoyed a McDonald's burger on many occasions.  We all know that McDonald's and Cadbury's contribute to the games and it would be ridiculous to assume that feeding the masses could be done without them.  Or, would it?  Can you imagine a venue without McDonald's?  Personally, I think we took the easy option and if Danny Boyle had had anything to do with organizing food vendors at the games I'm sure we'd have had something far more palatable and interesting in our mitts.  As a nation we have so much to offer in terms of food.  Where was Jamie Oliver when we needed him most?  Perhaps, when it comes to food at large venues we're just apathetic, lacking in imagination and just too darn tired to care. 

Andy's Mum at EAT MY PIES!

Street Food in London has been growing at a fast and furious pace popping up in all sorts of places with eager vendors keen to fill the stomachs of office workers. All manner of weird and wonderful food offerings are appearing, some better than others. Companies have been closing their canteens or increasing prices to reduce subsidies, eroding benefits and ultimately pushing their workers onto the high street to fend for themselves and eat on the hoof.  

The variety of food available is huge and a recent visit to Kings Cross Station provided some delicious and interesting food offerings.  Andy's mum from Eat My Pies , sorry Andy's mum I forgot your name, was a delight providing a fantastic range of Scotch Eggs including, Black-pudding, Chorizo, Thai Red Curry and Haggis were amazing and freshly produced.  The egg yolk was cooked to perfection!  Pork, Leek and Ham Pie also went down a treat.  

Other stalls included The Ribman with his Holy F*~k chili sauce and portions of pulled pork that were so huge they could feed a small family for a week, Fleisch Mob with their Emmental Austrian sausage which oozed alarmingly but tasted delicious!  To finish off enjoy an ice cream from Sorbitium Ices, the Lavender, Chili Chocolate and Sea Salted Caramel flavours were fantastic and a great way to finish our little trip. Stall holders are knowledgeable and love their product with such enthusiasm that you just cant help yourself.  If you fancy working off some of those calories you can even enjoy a game of table tennis!

To enjoy Street Food you need to listen to the vendor, look beyond the surroundings and enjoy the experience.  Dive in, get to grips with those dribbling Austrian sausages and enjoy! 
Visit Eat Street for more information on stall holders and venues.  

Lime and Chocolate Cheesecake

 You might want to take up running after eating this cheesecake, I'm sure it has enough calories to support Team GB for the remainder of the Olympics! But, before we get to the food lets talk about The Games. 

Nothing prepares you for the shocking, and almost claustrophobic impact on the senses when visiting the Olympic Park for the first time, it is truly awesome. I wonder how often that adjective has been used to describe London 2012?  

Over the past few days we've all seen it on TV. But nothing prepares you for the spectacle of a human tide wending its way through a miriad of pathways and venues.

Human Tide - London 2012

Everything has been well organised and rehearsed and I believe it was a good idea to close Westfield to shoppers. Sorry John Lewis but you need to stop whinging, I'm sure you're earning sufficient cash. The facilities are stretched to the max but if you time it correctly you can look forward to a reasonable meat pie and a not too loathsome cup of coffee.  Toilets are everywhere so those with weak bladders need not worry! The Gamesmakers are true heroes with their fantastic 'can do' attitude wishing you and everybody and I mean everybody a good night and safe journey home.  I'm sure if I'd asked nicely they'd have read me a bedtime story.  Ok, more about the games later.....

Lime, Lemon and Chocolate Cheesecake

This cheesecake recipe is so easy that even my husband can make it and that is saying a lot....sorry darling but its true!

Serves 12

Ingredients for base:

250g Milk chocolate biscuits

75g Butter

Ingredients for the cheesecake:

1 Kg Marscapone

100g Icing sugar sieved

2 Limes - juice and zest

1 Lemon - juice and zest

(More lemon, lime or icing sugar to taste)

To decorate - whipped cream and grated chocolate

Method

1. Lightly butter a 10" deep, springform tin.
2. Place the biscuits in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.
3. Melt the butter and quickly combine thoroughly with the biscuits.
4. Press the mix into the base of the tin and smooth until even.
5. Chill (not you!) the base in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
6. Place the marscapone, icing sugar, grated lime/lemon zest and juice in a large bowl and beat thoroughly to combine. For best results use an electric mixer. You may like to add more lemon/lime or sugar at this point according to your own personal taste.
7. Spread the mixture over the chilled biscuit base and smooth the top. Take a fork and mark lines across and diagonally over the surface to create a design.
8. Cover with cling film and chill thoroughly. Minimum 6 hours, preferably over night.
9. Remove cheesecake from the spring form tin using a sharp warm knife to losen the edges of the cheesecake first. Slide onto a flat serving dish using a palette knife to remove the base of the tin. Hopefully!
10. Decorate with whirls of whipped cream and grated chocolate.

Enjoy! 

Great British Apple Crumble Pudding Bar

My only picture from the opening ceremony!

And the crowd go wild.....Love it or hate it the Olympics have arrived in London and they're here to stay for the next few weeks. It is only Day 2 but our transport system seems to be coping with the additional load, business is booming, if only at Westfield in Stratford and Team GB are even winning a few medals. So far I have cried on three separate occasions during the Olympics. Once in frustration as my camera decided not to work during the opening ceremony. Doh!  That was the rehersal not the final version.  Secondly, when I witnessed the awsome, wonderous and simply jaw dropping opening ceremony and thirdly when I nose dived off my orange hopper at a Gamesmaker's event on Richmond Green at the weekend.  What a difference a few days make to the mood of a nation. A week ago everybody and I generalise, was feeling down about the Olympics and now even the most hardy and dogged of commuters is looking longingly at the Olympic arena, whishing they'd coughed up a few quid to see those beach volleyball babes, as their train passes through Stratford.  Britain is collectively holding its head up high and bursting with pride!

It has been a while since I tried a piece of chocolate from Montezuma and I couldn't help noticing the 'Great British Pudding' theme for their new range of bars. Montezuma, based in West Sussex, trading since 2000, have introduced a wide range of handmade English chocolate bars, truffles and novelty items to help celebrate 2012 and all that is great about London and the UK. Inspired flavours include Spotted Dick, Summer Pudding, Treacle Tart, Lemon Meringue and Apple Crumble. Can they really be as good as they sound?

Venezuelan milk chocolate with a cocoa content of 43%.  'Apple Crumble' is produced using freeze dried apple and biscuit pieces. Unfortunately, this chocolate bar is a case of style over substance. The anticipation that I'm going to taste my mum's apple crumble is blown away immediately. The flavour of apple and biscuit is disappointing and if I'd been tasting this bar blind I'd find it hard to come up with the words 'apple crumble'. To be fair I did taste the apple but this was only after eating half a bar. I think they needed to be braver and go for a tarter apple, perhaps this product is just too hard to source but it was a let down.

Apple Crumble

The chocolate itself was tasty if slightly sweet. Marketing and presentation was excellent. At £2.49 for a 100g bar this is good value and overall 5/10. Click here to buy now!

Great concept but it didn't have me reaching for the custard!

Ampamakia - Valrhona

Dentures flossed, mouth cleansed of all gunk, teeth adequately brushed for no more than two minutes and sluiced out with cold, refreshing mountain water and we're ready to go!  Well, mountain water might be verging on the ridiculous but I do take the job of chocolate tasting very seriously and preparation is one important aspect in the process.  It's almost a sport.  Perhaps, there is still time for 'chocolate tasting' to be submitted as a competition for London 2012?  I'm sure Lord Coe could squeeze in a little game of chocolate tasting, perhaps between beach volley ball and weight lifting!  It is ironic to think that a sporting competition, whose athletes train for years and religiously count every calorie, vitamin and mineral that might negate their way through their digestive systems are being supported by the likes of Cadbury, Coca Cola and MacDonald's.  What I really want to know is what will happen with all the BMW's once the games are over? Perhaps, Top Gear can investigate that one. Ok, let's move on from Cadbury's to Valrhona, two names not usually found in the same sentence.


So far this year I've been lucky enough (thank you Santa) to have tasted and enjoyed two bars from Valrhona, including Gran Couva and El Pedregal both delicious but with totally different flavours and characteristics even though they have the same cocoa content, 64%.  The third and final bar is from Madagascar, an estate grown dark chocolate.  Madagascar, an island situated in the Indian Ocean, produces fine quality cocoa beans but only in very small amounts, maybe less than 0.5 per cent of world production.  The Ampamakia Plantation, lies in the heart of the Sambirano river valley, a fertile and lush area where Trinitario and Criollo cocoa beans have been cultivated for more than 100 years.

Ampamakia 64%

The Chocolate:  In case anybody is wondering, I did get rid of the minty fresh taste before attacking this bar. The aroma is full of fruity acidity with a hint of smokiness in the background. It is also a lot lighter in colour in comparison to the El Pedregal. Unfortunately I ate all the Gran Couva! 

The actual fruitiness takes a moment or to come through as the chocolate melts. There is a real 'zest' and delightful 'tang' to this chocolate especially in comparison to the El Pedregal. 


A really well presented bar that scores a 9 from the Essex judge! Out of the three bars I tasted this is possibly my favourite.  Frustratingly, I now have to wait until Christmas for my next tasting of Valrhona ;(. This bar (75g) is priced at £4.75 and can be purchased from The Chocolate Trading Company. 


Enjoy!