Grandma M: 1921 - 2014

Boxing Day 2013, two weeks before she died

I always thought of Grandma M as my practical grandmother. She was amazing at needlework in her day and leaves behind some impressive embroidery. I once gave her a button to repair and the first thing she did was cut every other button off the shirt. Why are you doing that I asked? "If one is falling off the others will be about to go" came the reply. Not the logic of the idle.

Growing up during times of rationing had a big impact on Grandma and she never lost the habits of resourcefulness and minimising waste. She used to butter bread before slicing it as that way you could cut it thinner.

Widowed at a young age she was a strong and independent women and I only ever knew her living on her own. She liked her routines and they filled her time in retirement. Every day started with dusting (you've never seen anywhere so well dusted) and sheets were changed each Saturday.

The Office for National Statistics could track inflation from her diaries and accounts books. She used to add up till receipts in her head to make sure they hadn't made a mistake.

She loved a letter and my sister and I used to have an annual competition to see who could send her the most postcards. She used to keep them in a tray next to her arm chair and we'd have a count each Christmas to see who had won. It was rarely me.

The death of my aunt, Grandma's youngest daughter, thirteen years ago broke her. She withdrew from the world and barely left the house in her final years, the thought of telling people one of her daughters had died if they asked "how the girls were" was all too much.

One of the reasons I returned from Australia was so that I could spend more time with Grandma after missing out on the last couple of years with my other grandparents. It was lovely to be able to visit her, although I didn't go as often as I should have.

She lived in her own home, with increasing amounts of help from my mum, right up to the last twenty four hours. Quite amazing really.

She passed away yesterday in the University Hospital of Wales and it was a privilege to be at her side.

Grandma you will be missed.

xxx

Loving to run: muddy cross country races and Parkrun PBs

Dulwich Park Run

After the Abingdon marathon I didn't have any upcoming races to focus on and I wasn't sure if I'd take a break or keep on running.

I took three weeks off and then gently got back into running and to my surprise enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to. Without 'needing' to train I wanted to run. It was a lovely feeling and using the fitness I'd built up during my marathon training I found that I could bash out 80 - 90km a week with relative ease. Which probably sounds sickening to some.

At the end of 2013 I had two great outings at Dulwich Parkrun. On both occassions I was feeling off colour and had done a hard training session the day before. I didn't think I was up to much and managed to run 17:20 and 17:07. The second effort lowered my PB by 11s even though it involved stopping for a dog which ran in front of me and swerving to avoid a collision with another runner wearing headphones. All his fault of course.....

If everything comes together could I dip under 17min some day? They were definitely great runs for someone who didn't feel up to much.

Yesterday I ran in the Kent Cross Country Championships in Sandling. It was cold, wet and muddy, but strangely enjoyable. It was a four lap course and was getting seriously cut up and boggy by the end. One section was sloping just enough make it heart thumpingly difficult to run as I slipped and slided along. I wasn't brave enough / didn't have long enough spikes on and was overtaken each lap on that downhill section meaning I had to work twice as hard on the uphill to retake the place(s) I'd lost.

By the end of the first lap I had got into a good rhythm and was battling it out with four other runners from Kent AC as well as people from different clubs who were running around me. In the last four hundred meters I managed to win the midfield battle over taking two other Kent runners to finish first in our little battle. I only came 49th overall and was in no danger of troubling the winners who finished 9mins ahead of me. The only downside of the day is that I seem to have lost my running gloves!

I've entered the Wokingham Half Marathon on 9th February and with a race looming I'm finding that some of the enjoyment of running is slipping away. I can't decide whether I actually want to run it at the moment.

Adnams fire a Broadside with the launch of their new whiskies

I first posted this blog over on the excellent Distant Thunder Whisky Club, but for posterity I thought I'd also add it here.

Adnams Whisky No 1
(Photo courtesy of Adnams)

Last summer I visited the Adnams brewery, well known in the UK for brewing some excellent beers, in Southwold, Suffolk.

During the brewery tour we were told about a whisky Adnams were planning to release. Originally scheduled for early 2013 the launch was delayed until December. What we weren't told during the tour is that they were planning to release two whiskies. So are the latest additions to the English whisky scene any good?

The Single Malt No 1 is made using local East Anglian Barley and aged in virgin French oak barrels. I read online that the whisky is made from the same wash as their Copper House Barley Vodka.

The Triple Grain No 2 is made from wheat and East Anglican oats and barley. The triple grain has been matured in virgin American oak barrels and is made from the same wash as their Longshore Premium Vodka.

Having produced just ten barrels of each whisky, Adnams have been hyping that stocks were sure to sell out quickly, an have pitched both bottles at the premium price of £44 each.

I clubbed together with a friend so that we could sample a dram of each.

Single Malt No 1
Distillery: Adnams, Southwold, England
Matured: French Oak
Alcohol: 43% ABV

Colour: Golden, with touches of amber

Nose: Smooth, not as much spice as I'd expect from virgin oak. Sweetness. Balanced, maybe a little too well as I struggled to pick up any distinguishing features.

Palate: The smoothness carries through to the palate. The sweetness leaves a light syrupy coating on the tongue. Only after I added water did the spice / oak really open up and the whisky develop on the palate.

Finish: Before adding any water the finish was decidedly short. The water helped the spice linger down the side of the tongue.

Triple Grain No 2

Distillery: Adnams, Southwold, England
Matured: American Oak
Alcohol: 43% ABV

Colour: Straw. Noticeably paler than the single malt.

Nose: Smooth and balanced. Remarkably similar to No 1. I was expecting a different profile considering it is a triple grain.

Palate: Again smooth and not as much spice as I would have expected from virgin oak. As a triple grain I was expecting the flavour to have hints of an American bourbon, but the flavour wasn't nearly as big. However, it was thankfully more rounded and a but more complex than the single malt making it a favourite. Again water helped bring out the spice / oak.

Finish: Similarly short, but the water helped lengthen the spice on the tongue.

Both were very drinkable, admirably smooth and generally impressive for such young whiskies. Adding water helped open up both drams and that will be my preference when I drink the rest of the bottle.

The more I drank the more they grew on me (some might call that getting tipsy). However, neither was as complex or as interesting as I'd hoped, or indeed would expect, for the price and I'm not sure I can forgive them for that.

Below is the official video by Adnams on their distilling process.

Drinking the Adnams whiskies I couldn't help remembering the Grants Cask Editions I sampled last year. At less than half the price, if I wanted another easy drinker I couldn't see myself buying the Adnams again.

If I was to give a dram I'd say three lightening bolts out of seven for the Single Malt and three and a half for the Triple Grain.

The Converted

Restaurant Review: Bone Daddies, Soho

Tantanmen

Last Wednesday night Becks and I decided to have dinner before she jumped on a plane back to NZ for Christmas. Our mid week meet ups have gravitated towards Soho. When deciding where to meet we considered a return to Koya, but in end decided to try a (new to us) ramen bar; Bone Daddies.

Soho in the week before Christmas could have been carnage, but thankfully we got straight into to Bone Daddies without having to wait. The restaurant wasn't quite full, but they seem to have a policy of not having all the seats full at any one time. Even when there was a queue forming outside the door they maintained a fair number of empty seats dotted around.

I've been doing a fair but of running lately (80 - 90km a week) and the big hunger is back as my body demands more fuel. Feeling the need to indulge I ordered a Tantanmen (£11) and the KFG (Korean Fried Grouse). Our waitress warned me that the tantanmen was spicy, but I decided to give it a whirl anyway.

KFG - Korean Fried Grouse

I enjoyed the ramen. The chilli was just at the right level to give you a little tingle, break up the richness of ramen, but not enough to break out my glowing brow. The soft boiled eggs were good too and the big bowl was more filling than I'd expected.

I didn't really need the KFG, but managed to polish it off regardless. Hot, crunchy, sweet and sticky the grouse worked really well being able to stand up to sauce. Better perhaps than the classic Korean fried chicken.

Becks went for the classic Tonkotsu ramen (£11). Like my only previous ramen experience at Gumshara in Sydney the pork broth became a little overwhelming after a while.

I normally feed off the atmosphere in places like Bone Daddies with their large share tables and vibrant buzz (buzz from the other diners, the sound track blaring out of the speakers was a little odd). However, I think we were both a little tired and a quiet corner somewhere might have suited our moods better. I'd like to return another time when I have a bit more energy. If nothing else but to conquer the condiments in the middle of the table, including the jars of garlic in the middle of the table that I saw someone else crushing into their food. Are they raw or pickled in some way?


Bone Daddies
31 Peter Street
Soho
London 
W1F 0AR


All of my London eats are added to my map.

None of my photos from the night came out, so the above are from the Bone Daddies website / Twitter feed.

Restaurant Review: Raizes Brazilian, Bethnal Green

The cold buffet selection at Raizes in Bethnal Green

Last year there seemed to be a dearth of work Christmas parties to attend. This year it has been a different story with a string of parties concentrated into the final full two weeks before Christmas. Dinner at Raizes turned out to be a pretty low key affair after the main departmental party the night before. I think all of us round the table were secretly glad for a civilised dinner and a night off the booze.

I've almost made it to a Brazilian buffet in Sydney and London a couple of times before, but never actually had the experience. Is it true that unlimited skewers of delicious BBQ'd meat arrive at your table until you can eat no more?

BBQ pork being carved at the table

I was a little underwhlemed when we arrived at the restaurant as there were no obvious signs of the promised skewers of meat being bbq'd or the accompanying salad bar. However, after drinks had arrived we were pointed in the direction of the buffet hidden away in the back corner of the restaurant.

The buffet was more impressive than I expected with one table dedicated to salads and another to a hot buffet. The salads were all refreshingly light without any thick heavy dressings. The hot buffet contained some stews which my colleague, who has a Brazilian wife, assured me were very traditional. There was a plate of chips at one end of the buffet which seemed out of place somehow. They were beaten eaten with gusto though. Chips are universal I guess.

Beef sirloin

Initially, the meats were a little slow to start coming round the restaurant, but as the place filled up they started coming out more regularly and soon we were being inundated. Whole sirloins, cubes of rump, pork sausanges, chicken wings, legs of lamb and hunks of pork all passed our table during the night. Without exception the meats were heavily salted and the rump was a favourite. They'd usually tried to cook one side of the meat rare and the other side well done so you had a choice.

The beef came round far more regularly than anything else, which was a slight problem for our table as we had a few non-beef eaters at the table.

Mateen had written a Brazilian themed quiz which kept us entertained, and if I'm honest, helped perk up the energy levels.

The the end of the night a protein haze had arrived and none of us could eat any more. I couldn't manage breakfast the next morning either, a most unusual state of affairs!

Raizes

460 Hackney Rd

London

E2 9EG

Restaurant Review: Burger Bear @ Old Nuns Head, Nunhead

The Greedy Bear

Burgers have been on my mind for a while. In Paris we were going to chase down the Le Camion Qui Fume burger fan, but its locations didn't quite fit in with our plans. Then there is Mother Flipper at Brockley Market that I still haven't tried.

Yesterday afternoon, with a burger on my mind, Becks and I walked over to Nunhead to try a Burger Bear who have taken over the kitchen at the Old Nuns Head pub on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Becks chose the classic Burger Bear (£6.50). I decided to try one of the bacon burgers. The single patty was £9 and for only a pound more it had to be the double patty Greedy Bear (£10), purely on value terms.

When the burger arrived it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to eat it all in one go, so I flipped out the extra patty and some of the bacon and dived in.

It was a good burger. A really good burger.

The patty was cooked medium rare and just melted in the mouth, with the bacon / bacon jam  packing lots of flavour. I didn't really notice the melted cheese or the soft white bun, but the overall package was great. I'd put it on a par, and perhaps even say it was a little bit better than my current benchmark, the Shake Shack burger.

It was a bit sloppy to eat and the top of the bun a bit greasy, but a great burger is meant to be a bit messy right?

I was surprised when the bill came to £30 for two burgers, two sides of fries and a couple of shandies. It felt expensive for a burger and a couple of drinks. I had a quick look at the Shake Shack London website and the burgers compare well on price (£1, but the patties are bigger). I standard fries and the drinks were the expensive bit.

Old Nuns Head
15 Nunhead Green
London
SE15 3QQ

Uni Christmas Lunch 2013

Last weekend saw our annual Uni Christmas lunch. After hosting last year it was my turn to kick back and relax. There was no cobbling together a table from MDF and packing boxes, or running round my neighbours to borrow chairs.

We had a lovely day down in Lewes at Jo and Matthew's new house, a gorgeous Victorian property they only moved into a couple of months ago. You know you are in the countryside when Christmas trees are sold with names. When we arrived Matthew was in the front garden cutting the lower branches off 'Tina' so that she would fit into the stand.

Times are changing, and there were three children at the lunch this year. We had tinsel trains, pet chickens and tree decorating were new features to our Christmas lunch.

Even though I wasn't hosting I couldn't resist getting involved in the cooking and offered to bring along desserts. Inspired by the café tres gourmand we had in Paris, Becks and I decided to make a small tasting plate.

A Sunday flick through the cookbooks we decided to make Annabel Langbein's chocolate and cranberry slice, Donna Hay's maple brulée tart and some fresh pineapple to cut through it all.

The maple tart required me to get some more lighter fluid from my blowtorch so that I could caramelise the top of the tart. I had no idea what to buy and had to purchase two canisters before I got one with the right attachment to fill up my torch.

The desserts all went down really well. Some people preferred the tart and others the chocolate. Two and a half year old Toby stole his mum's forkful of the chocolate start and stuffed it straight in his mouth. His face was a picture when he realised how dense and sticky the chocolate he'd just popped into his mouth was. After a few minutes of quiet concentration he'd scoffed the lot and looked quite pleased with himself!