ARTICLES
SWEET SUITES VALENTINE
Come and join us for a tribute to St Valentine on Saturday 18 February in the company of young star musician Daniel Trumbull. We're serving a 5 course romantic dinner interspersed with some of the most sublime music in one of the most unusual venues in London.
THE BARN
It struck me a while back when someone I know who lives in Islington said ‘there’s no-where to eat’ in Upper St. So I walked along a couple of times and realised that in fact she was right. It suffers the same malaise as Byres Road in Glasgow. All gorgeous boutiques, a couple of posh [...]
THE DISHES I COOK
Quite often I am asked what sort of food I cook. After all how would you know what to expect from one of my pop-ups? It’s the leap of faith presented by cooking without recipes and which I write about in my book. I often genuinely don’t know exactly what I am making until finally [...]
THE BAKER BOYS
It’s a new year and everyone’s banging on about diets. So Channel 4 launches a new pie and pudding banquet. Putting aside the fact that the recent arrival of the ‘We are the Fabulous’ Baker Brothers on Channel 4 pushes me yet another two posh boys further away from telly land. Is this really the [...]
COOKING WITHOUT RECIPES IN TELEGRAPH TOP 10
PIPSDISH BARN SUPPERS
For those of you who enjoyed the PipsDish pop-up restaurant at The Marquess Tavern, the good news is that PipsDish is returning to Islington with a series of dates in an unusuak location for something rather sparkling over the festive period. Once again, working with my partners at Farm Direct, we’ve transformed an old Citroen [...]
PHEASANT WITH BREAD SAUCE
The season for pot roasted pheasant
I suppose one of the main influences that inspired me to write Cooking without Recipes was the seemingly natural instinct my mother had in the kitchen, as she moved effortlessly around her Aga, her sleeves rolled up, barking orders to a young boy standing on a stool, to wash dishes or peel vegetables. Sometimes I [...]
PIPSDISH AT THE MARQUESS TAVERN
These have been three exciting weeks for many reasons. First and foremost, I’ve been given the great privilege by my friends at The Marquess Tavern in Canonbury of using their kitchen and elegant restaurant for my PipsDish pop-up. The reason this is so generous is that as a successful gastro-pub, The Marquess has it’s own [...]
TASTE OF THE CITY – MALTBY ST
(Taken from South London Press) There has always been a strong habit and energy for market shopping all over South London. Every year a few stalls pop up somewhere or a farmer’s market locates in a new area, from Croydon to Oval and Brixton to Greenwich. The art of hunting for the best ingredients, from [...]
PIPSDISH POP UP
PipsDish Pop Up @ The Marquess Tavern, 32 Canonbury St, Islington, London N1 2TB 14 September – 1 October Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat @8pm As I progress my culinary adventures, learning about new ingredients and cooking for new audiences from Edinburgh to Brussels and Barcelona to London, I’m running a pop-up London restaurant, taking over [...]
NEAL’S YARD CHEESE
Always do as you please, and send everybody to Hell, and take the consequences. Damned good rule of life. N This was the advice given to Elizabeth David by her good friend and mentor, the writer Norman Douglas. Certainly taking on the stodge of British culinary traditions after the war was a bold endeavour. Particularly [...]
TASTE OF THE CITY – BLACKHEATH
(Taken from South London Press) Today the once, bleak and blasted Blackheath is the perfect spot for a summer picnic or a windy walk. The wide open spaces make this the ideal place for dogs, kites and kids. And there are some excellent finds for foodies on the search for new and interesting culinary experiences. [...]
TASTE OF THE CITY – CAMBERWELL
(Taken from South London Press) Like many of south London’s grand suburban junctions, with main routes in all directions, Camberwell is a hugger-mugger of people, cultures and cuisines. Certainly arriving in the hectic streets around the Green you could be forgiven for passing through without stopping to explore. But you might just be surprised by [...]
NEW WRITING: JAMES RAMSDEN AND VANESSA KIMBELL
books and their cooks
Summer’s been slow in coming this year. None of the seasonal heatwave, flip-flops and shorts I’ve been patiently waiting for. Which is a bore because I’d like to have got into our little garden and done some damage to the kiwi vine that seems to be taking over the roof. Still it’s been a busy [...]
REVIVING THE SALAD
Tossing ingenuity and flair in your salad bowl
You can really let your imagination loose on salads. You can compose anything you want, from recreating a standard hot dish as a salad to combining the bizarre and the sublime in hitherto unknown combinations.
‘TROUBLE’ BY LYNNE REES
This month's guest writer
I learnt the secret of a good Bolognese sauce from a man who looked like George Best. It was 1979. I met him at the bar of Lord’s Discotheque in St. Helier, Jersey . He said his name was Joe, that he drove tourist coaches for a living and he came from Argentina . I [...]
‘MAKING CAKE’ BY JASMINE GARTNER
This month's Tell Your Story is from my good friend Jasmine Gartner who makes the most fabulous macaroons
Ask me to create something in the kitchen that entails sticking precisely to a recipe, and I can’t help but improvise. I’m the kind of person who thinks a “pinch,” a “handful,” and “until it looks right” are actual measurements. My sister, Marieke, on the other hand, is a scientist in the kitchen. Everything she makes a second time reliably turns out the way it did the first time
HOW TO EAT CHEESE
Review of Androuet at Spitalfields Market
Cheese is like wine, so much is it an expression of the combination of where it comes from, the natural and human processes it undergoes, the maturation and ultimately the circumstances under which it is relished by the human palate. And no-one has enthused me with such passion for this noble product more than Alexandre Guarneri, the owner of Androuet in Spitalfields Market.
MAKING HAGGIS FOR BURNS’ NIGHT
As Burns’ Night comes round again, the wheels of the Haggis industry turn fast and furious. Orders at home and from around the world need to be met. Burns Suppers are held from Bergen to Sau Paulo and the ‘ great chieftan o’ the puddin’ race’ is after all the most important guest.Where normally the [...]
PUY LENTIL DAL AND CHARD
A quick and easy recipe for using puy lentils with a bit of spice
‘NEW COOK’ BY BHUPEN THAKKER
From time to time, Pips Dish will publish articles and posts from guest writers. New Cook is an excerpt from “New Gandhi, New Krishna, New Princess and 3 others” by Bhupen Thakker. I think the first point for life, for me, is “being grateful”. I like that feeling of positivity when I think of the [...]
LATE SUMMER WINES
Three top drops for your table
I don’t know much about wine, except what I like. And that I like to cook with it. This page is to showcase and recommend the wines I’m drinking at the moment and am introduced to by those who know much more than I do. This month, I am dedicating this page to my late [...]
GINGER AND CORIANDER BEEF STIR-FRY
In a pestle and mortar pound fresh chopped ginger, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, green peppercorns, sliced red chilli and chopped fresh coriander. Cut a fillet steak into thin strips and marinate in this mixture for an hour. Before cooking, remove meat from sauce and pat dry. Stir fry quickly in a hot wok in [...]
SILVERSIDE WITH RED CABBAGE
Roast Silverside with Red Cabbage Silverside isn’t always the finest cut so responds well to the added flavours of the mixture of thyme, lime juice and honey you coat it with. Roast the joint rare and when it’s done add some red wine to the roasting pan and reduce the liquid for gravy. While the beef [...]
PERFECT SUMMER PICNICS
Picnics, summer pudding and skinny dipping
A picnic should be organised like any other meal; with timing, balance, poise and companionable guests. And given the potential style of a picnic, an eye for detail.The flavours, textures and colours of the experience need to match the perfection of our natural surroundings.
COOKING VEGETABLES
Great recipes for cooking vegetables
For years, the poor vegetarian has been relegated to meatless lasagne and risotto, never allowed to move beyond goat cheese tartlets. Exercise aplomb and a pioneering spirit in your culinary matchmaking. Go for things you don’t recognise or haven’t had before. There is always a literal cornucopia of new and interesting contenders.
THE BOUNDARY
Off duty in the kitchen at Christmas
Christmas is unusual for two reasons this year. First I’m not cooking. Secondly I am spending it with family. Both of which anyone who knows me will understand are uncharacteristic. But I am thrilled on both counts. Contrary to popular expectation, I love being cooked for.
TENDER BY NIGEL SLATER
Tender (2009) tells the story of Nigel Slater's love affair with his garden in Islington and the many seedlings he has raised in his box-hedged vegetable patches. It’s a magnificent volume, like a medieval knightly treatise with pictures of his Eden, its produce and many of the recipes he has created from them.
COOKING BREAKFAST
The perfect breakfast fry up
A fried breakfast needs to pack a punch. Sufficient to see off bilious reflux and rising nausea. It should be a flavoursome, enriching ballast. A mix of soul food and blood strengthening fuel. Enough to see you through the newspapers, a Fred Astaire movie and induce afternoon slumber.
SALADE CHATELAINE
Even food writers get it wrong.
I don’t usually use this blog as a vehicle for attack. But there is a link. For me Moir’s outrage is sadder because I was impressed by her progress as a food writer. Ever so slightly envious, even.
FOOD WRITING
Finding the ingredients to write
For me, there is an exact parallel between writing and cooking. No bullshit. Allowing what is already there to emerge. With simplicity, clarity and profound impact.
THE ART OF SHOPPING
Shopping should be a pleasurable experience
There are endless renewed pleasures in food shopping. For me nothing betters the satisfaction of returning home with ingredients I have no experience of cooking. But it takes a leap of faith.
SORREL SOUP AND SUMMER DAYS
Recipes for a bittersweet salad leaf
I love sorrel. It’s wincing sourness crumples your nose like an old lady at a bus stop. I remember, crouching in the kitchen garden of my childhood, sucking the lemony stalks, one eye half closed.
DUCK SOUP
Poached and roasted duck with marmalade
With warm days and blossom on the trees it's good time for spring ducklings. According to my guests, this marmalady dish, redefines duck.
THE COMPANY SHED
The Company Shed is seafood heaven
Taking a spring walk along the estuary at West Mersea on the Essex coast is rewarded by a delicious lunch. Bring your own bread and wine.
OXTAIL
Always be ready to save a recipe from itself
Learning to cook isn't about recipes. It's acquiring an instinct for food. And sometimes how to get out of trouble in the kitchen when it all goes wrong.
IS ORGANIC WORTH IT?
Is organic food always the best?
Increasingly we are being sold organic food as a luxury alternative. But is organic always better - shouldn't good food, the best ingredients, be the norm?
SUNDAY LAMB
A weekend roast lamb with anchovies
In 1980 Elizabeth David wrote a delightfully perverse and typically judicious article called 'The Besprinkling of a Rosemary Branch'. She finds it an overbearingly fragrant and frankly undeservedly ubiquitous herb.
MEZE
Lighter eating after a season of indulgence
The mezze is a perfect antidote to festive feasting and an ideal way to eat for those of us resolved to shake off the lingering effects of over-indulgence.
THE FRUGAL CHRISTMAS LARDER
Having a thrifty Christmas
Christmas is a time of a potentially monumental overspend and worshipping at the altars of vainglorious food stores. Why not look into the back of the cupboard and see what delights linger there?
CHICKEN STOCK
Some ideas for making delicious soups
When it comes to cooking, there is nothing simpler and more satisfying to make as soup. You can have completely free reign to concoct any mixture of ingredients you want.
FISH PIE
A simple dish for autumn suppers
When the weather is rough and you need some home comfort, Pips Dish fish pie is the best. Simple to cook and even easier to eat.
EATING OYSTERS
At one time oysters were the diet of the poor
For many of us oysters are either a symbol of arriviste affluence or naughty extravagance. Along with rhino horn, tiger penis and asparagus, oysters are said to have considerable aphrodisiac properties. After all, if nothing else, I suppose all that slurping would be enough to get you in the mood.
BURMA
The situation in Burma could be very different
Burma was the garden of Asia. More fruits and vegetables grow there than anywhere else in that vast continent. Rich in minerals too by all standards this should be a rich country, very rich.
SEA TROUT WITH CLAMS
A seasonal recipe for wild seatrout
The simple joy of two seasonal delights. Sea trout and Jersey Royals. Neither require much in the way of preparation, are easily and quickly cooked, and taste like the month of May on a plate. A marriage heralding summer days.
CATALAN CUISINE
Searching out traditional Catalan food
An introduction to some paisos Catalan food prepared for a wedding banquet in Barcelona. Local dishes such as Escalivada, Xatonada with Romesco sauce, butifarra and faves.
THE FABULOUS FONTELUNA
Unique fennel sausage pasta recipe
My love of food and cooking was germinated by childhood visits to the legendary Italian delicatessan Valvona & Crolla. Today it remains the best of its kind in Britain.
BOOKS ARE FOR LIFE
Under this year’s Christmas tree was F-W’s River Cottage Fish Book. Like his previous Meat, respect for ingredients comes first. In the knowledge that many of us are looking down at the scales right now, fish is the answer for healthy, lean eating.
MARMALADE, BAKED HAM, DUCK CONFIT
Easy recipes for marmalade, baked ham and duck confit
Something about New Year marks the onset of real winter. This weather urges me to re-stock the larder. After a month of festive eating, I want to load up the kitchen with practical foods that will help us through these dreary months.
CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Some simple recipes for Christmas dinner
For those still toiling behind their laptops on Christmas Eve. And who look forward with eager dread at making the festive dinner tomorrow, I thought I would just offer some useful tips for escaping disaster and ensuring some happy results. Some of these may seem obvious, some less so.
AFTER THE CURTAIN FALLS
Eating out late in London
After the theatre in London, there’s nothing better than chewing the cud over supper. A bit of pocket analysis and critique and some wine.
FISH ON THE HOOF
Eating seafood at its freshest
The freshest fish lends itself perfectly to being eaten on the move. For me, the best Fish and Chips experiences in the world were from either Olley’s in South London or the Montgomery, just off Leith Walk in Edinburgh. But there are sustainable surprises in store these days at Fish Club in Clapham and Battersea.
THE VINTNERS ROOMS
Maitre d’ Silvio Praino combines a restrained modernity with its elegant past. And the service reflects that nicely. Unobtrusive, well-informed and passionate about food, Silvio slips efficiently around the tables, deftly administering enthusiasm, knowledge and his staff in equal measures.
SWEET CHESTNUT SOUP
Easy recipes with chestnuts
An October favourite for me is chestnuts. Something about their brave attempt to keep out intruders with those thick spiny shells but the inevitable fall makes the having more welcome. The smell and crack as they roast away in the oven or on a fire.
COMING BACK TO MY ROOTS
Different ways of using a horseradish root
An unexpected recent encounter was with a vast horseradish plant towering in a corner of the garden. It’s a delicious vegetable if used with caution.
YOU SAY TOMATO
Squashed tomatoes and Bloody Mary sorbet
I have an on-off relationship with tomatoes. Mostly off. Being so often tasteless renders them largely pointless. Tinned tomatoes start in Italy and so some flavour is guaranteed. They are great when it comes to sauces and soups and there is no need to use those watery ragus or passata from a jar.
A NOTE ABOUT ROUILLE
An essential accompaniment to fish stew
Rouille is a provencal sauce comprising olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chile peppers. A common accompaniment to fish soup and often served with a crouton and grated gruyere. It is something of a rare treat and I love it.
BRINGING HOME THE BOQUERIA
Stashing a few treats from the markets in your case
Whenever we come back from Barcelona, it’s always laden with anything tinned I can’t get here. One of them is the little baby squid in olive oil – chipirones. No comparison with the fresh ones but when in need.
DEVILLED KIDNEYS
Eating offal should be a high class affair
It’s easy to dismiss offal. I haven’t got a big repertoire. But I do like kidneys. Mounted on a couple of rounds of toasted brioche on your most beautiful plates, they are fit for a king’s birthday.
DINING
THE BARN
It struck me a while back when someone I know who lives in Islington said 'there's no-where to eat' in Upper St. So I walked along a couple of times and realise [...]
READING
COOKING WITHOUT RECIPES
Do you envy people who seem to be able to cook with effortless ease. Have you ever wanted to cook like your mother, bringing an endless variety of meals to the [...]
COOKING
LEMON CHICKEN WITH FENNEL
I reckon we get caught in a 'sunday' roast mentality - saving the sounds and sensations for the seventh day. But roasting up in the middle of a dreary week can [...]
EATING
THE DISHES I COOK
Quite often I am asked what sort of food I cook. After all how would you know what to expect from one of my pop-ups? It's the leap of faith presented by cooking [...]
CAMPAIGNS
FOODCYCLE
I am so delighted to support the work of FoodCycle a social enterprise challenging the major issues of [...]
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