Tummyrumble

Sweet and sour ruby salad with Vincotto dressing

Last weekend I went to Cornwall and had a blast of a time. Such a beautiful area, and The Minack Theatre, the Eden Project and The Lost Gardens of Heligan are amazing sights.

On our way back we stopped in a gorgeous little town named Fowey (how much do I want a summer place there...), and in a gourmet shop I found a balsamic called Vincotto. Never heard of it, and it being labelled as "similar to the original balsamic", my curiosity got the best of me so of course I had to buy a bottle.

"According to great Italian chefs, vincotto is an elixir - a sweet, velvety vinegar with the subtle overtones of spices, grapes, prunes. As a point of reference, it is frequently stated that vincotto is similar to an authentic balsamic, but the chefs tell us that there is no real comparison."

Yes. It is very tasty.

Yesterday I googled "vincotto recipes" to see what I could find, and found a lot of interesting stuff but nothing that really caught my fancy. So today when I read the Metro and found a recipe for "Summer Ruby Salad" (can't find the original recipe on their web though...) that seemed to fit perfectly, with a few small alterations, I was well happy. Getting a bit tired of the usual old salads I tend to make all the time I found this sweet and sour mix intriguing. Good addition to the repertoire.

Hoisin chicken with chili cucumber

Continuing my not so ongoing series of easy cooking in a wok I would like to share a recipe that I tried yesterday. Easy to make, quick to prepare and incredibly rich in taste. First, a word of catuion: beware of the chili cucumber. Had this been served in a place like Bar Shu where hot food is the norm, it would have two or perhaps even three dangerous looking chilis next to it on the menu...

Bar Shu - Comfortably numb

Today I went for lunch with a colleague and two well known faces in the UK restaurant industry. Based on the recommendation of P we frequented a lovely place in Soho, where the expression "comfortably numb" was filled with a whole new meaning for me. (Picture from Eastern Journeys.)