At the end of July 2018 we collaborated with curious cook and finder of weird and wonderful wild things to eat, Clare McQuillan (@claremcqq) for a Hedgerow Picnic Supper Club. We invited photographers Simon & Lorna (and their new little one Isla Mae – just a babe in arms) from Taca Works to capture the evening in images. They have created a magical ‘storyboard’ of the event and these are some of the images I want to share here. Continue reading
Last month we were lucky enough to take an amazing food tour to Ukraine with Experience Ukraine and the chef Olia Hercules. Olia is a Ukrainian chef, now living in London. Her passion is preserving the traditional recipes of Ukraine and the surrounding region, by visiting home cooks, documenting their dishes and then bringing these recipes to a wider audience. Continue reading
It’s a cliche, but I first ate this dish from a street vendor on the Khao San Road (the infamous backpacker district in Bangkok) when I was a student. I was travelling on a shoestring, I’d landed in Asia for the first time having been brought up in the not very adventurous food scene of Northern Ireland in the 1980s & 90s. I was totally blown away! What was this salty, spicy, sour and sweet concoction? Slippery noodles, fiery chilli, soft tofu, chicken or prawns and crunchy peanuts on top and all cooked in less than two minutes and for a cost of about 25p. Continue reading
This is hardly a recipe at all but is something I cook all the time, perfect when I crave the clean, slightly bitter taste of greens. It is a brilliant way of using up leftover greens that are slightly past their best and that half cabbage that is lurking at the bottom of the fridge, though it is also amazing with fresh greens straight from the garden. It can be made in a matter of minutes and is great for a hit of vegetables alongside a curry or as a main course with some steamed rice and crispy tofu. Continue reading
This is a Spring pavlova to make the most of early season rhubarb and the end of the citrus season, well before any of the soft fruits or stone fruits are in season in Europe. I love desserts with fruit, much more than with chocolate, so Spring and the Hunger Gap can always feel challenging for puddings. Continue reading
Corn tortillas are a staple food in Mexico – in every neighbourhood in every town or city you will find a tortilleria, a shop or sometimes just a local house where the tortilla makers will be soaking and grinding the corn to make masa and then transforming the masa into fresh corn tortillas. Customers buy dozens fresh every day, as they feature in almost every meal. Masa (the ground corn dough) and tortillas are considered so important to the stability of Mexico that the price of both is controlled by the Government. Continue reading
We think about food pretty much constantly. Jo and I both love cooking, eating, growing, learning and talking about food – and our business makes sure we do that every day, whether we want to or not! We’ve had numerous beer-fuelled conversations about where our business is going, where it fits in the world, where food is going, where it should be going, what we’d change about the world of food if we could. The Edible Flower is basically an excuse to spend our time exploring all of these issues. Now, it’s time to include you in the conversation.
In 2018 we’ll be designing and hosting a series of supper clubs exploring ‘The Future of Food’ – each event will explore a different theme related to sustainability and how we might need or choose to change the way we eat in the future. Continue reading
This was our first full year of growing at our smallholding on Middle Road. When we first moved in last October we hired a turf cutter and basically decimated one half of the front garden, cutting out six 9×3 metre vegetable beds. This allows us to have a six year crop rotation – so my life will now be divided up into six year chunks and by the time the alliums are in the bed nearest the house again I’ll be 41! We’ve chosen to grow all our vegetables organically using the no-dig method, which means we don’t dig down into the soil but instead allow the plants roots and the activity of the worms and other creepy crawlies to gently create an aerated soil structure over time.
These fishcakes (Tod Mun Pla ) are a Thai classic, but they are easy to make at home after a trip to your local Asian supermarket to pick up a few ingredients – tapioca flour is essential here as it gives the fishcakes their uniquely springy and spongy texture. Continue reading
