An Edible Voyage

September 2021 Having had the most extraordinary gelato in Florence, I didn’t think there was any point trying to compete in Bologna, but I’ve always found something alluring about ice cream shops and cafes, places that traditionally in the UK close late afternoon, that are open late in to the night.   Maybe it’s feeling a little bit naughty having ice cream at night-time, or maybe it’s that feeling of being able to sit outdoors with a warm breeze, a late night culture meaning there’s a buzzy atmosphere despite it being dark.   So, to avoid competing, I went for something totally different – vegan ice cream in Bolognina, Bologna’s edgy, multicultural northern suburb. Often, whether home or away, I’ll pick the weirdest sounding thing on a menu just to try it.   Sometimes I regret it and think to myself “why don’t I just stick with the nice things sometimes!”, but when I saw wasabi ice cream, there was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to try it.   I like wasabi (exce...

September 2021 If there’s one requirement that has to be fulfilled during any trip to Italy, it’s visiting at least one gelateria, and I firmly believe I found the best one in all of Italy.   And not just because I’d hiked 166km across the Apennine mountains to get there! As soon as we stepped off the Via Degli Dei in to the outer reaches of Florence, we had one mission, and one mission only.   Gelato.   Google Maps reliably informed us that there was a gelateria just a couple of minutes walk away.   Unassumingly tucked on a residential street, away from the throngs of tourists and seemingly frequented mainly by locals, it was love at first sight! With all of the Italian classics – Stracciatella, Hazelnut, as well as juicy fruit sorbets and rich chocolatey offerings of various darkness, it was a tough choice.   Rarely do I have two scoops but this felt like a two scoop occasion, plus it meant I could go for the winning combination of pistachio and dark choco...

August 2021 Pedro Ximenez. The taste of the sweetest, molten raisins. A perfect pairing for roasted stone fruit and chocolate.  Combine that with French toast made from chewy, tangy sourdough, and what ensues is the most indulgent brunch, made for a leisurely weekend with a perfect cup of coffee and a good magazine. For this creation, I simply roasted apricots with a little Pedro Ximenez and piled them on to French toast with some vegan chocolate ice cream I had made previously from soaked cashews blended with coconut milk and melted chocolate, chopped almonds and cocoa nibs. It had crunch, it had fruitiness, it had creaminess, and that kick of Pedro Ximenez.  One seriously stylish brunch. 

June 2021 I often wonder if I would have found any of the great foodie havens I write about if it wasn't for Instagram.  And this is definitely one of them. When I asked a friend if he'd like to join me At What Chloe Cooked Next, his first question was "who's Chloe?".  A logical question! Chloe was trained at Leith's and is the woman behind Oxfork - a cafe on Magdalen Road in Oxford which I actually remember visiting for brunch when I lived in the city back in 2014.  Chloe now lives in Charlbury and hosts a semi-regular Friday night pop-up and Sunday brunch, as well as collaborations with other chefs. I arrived on a grey and drizzly evening, a little early (I'd cycled faster than expected!) to find there was already a queue through the garden and out on to the street.  From their own kitchen, Chloe and her husband were serving up an Indian inspired feast featuring tofu yellow curry, braised black beans, seaweed and wild garlic korokke, and cucumber and rhu...

April 2021 During my weekend in Aberdeen, I made an exciting discovery.  A few miles outside of the city, close to Kinellar, is Forest Farm Dairy - an organic dairy surrounded by lush green pastures where their cows roam free.   Not only can you get their delicious non-homogenised milk straight from the source via Scotland's first milk vending machine, you can also get many other delicious products made on the farm.  In the cheese line up, there's Scottish curd cheese and some of Connage Highland Dairy's cheeses, as well as Forest Farm's own haloumi - I'm a big haloumi fan anyway so didn't need much convincing, but this was a whole other level - absolutely gorgeous cooked over a BBQ until the outside caramelises and the inside goes all gooey... Anyway, I digress.   Artisan gelato is the highlight of any trip to Forest Farm.  Made in small batches on the premises, it has zero food miles and flavours change regularly.  The honeycomb is an absolute m...

April 2021 A friend who recently moved to Bollington has excitedly been telling me about No 74 Delicatessen whenever she embarks on a trip for treats (which seems to be at ever decreasing intervals during lockdown!), so it was inevitable that during my post-lockdown visit to the Peak District, No 74 would be on the agenda.   This is one of those places that's excellent at everything - milk is expertly steamed for the espresso based coffee; interesting sandwiches are fresh, flavoursome and served on chunky rolls advertised as made from flour, water, salt and nothing else; cakes are exquisite - towering layers of airy sponge sit alongside zesty lemon squares and Malteaser tiffin; and Happy Belly supply delicious sweet potato and feta scotch eggs with soft, golden yolks. Turn up with several bags! No 74 is the kind of place where you go in for a coffee and come out with all manner of local produce.  Beers from Manchester micro-breweries, black garlic ketchup, bean to bar cho...

March 2021 It seems I came late to the party on the concept of baked oats - apparently they have been a 'thing' for quite some time, and understandably so. When breakfast looks like dessert, it's proof that breakfast is the best meal of the day!  Add in the quick and easy preparation, and we're on to a winner. Simply blend 30g almonds, 40g oats, 1 tsp nut butter, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sprinkling of cinnamon, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ banana and 200ml milk.  Pour in to an ovenproof dish, poke in a few chunks of dark chocolate if you're feeling extra decadent, and bake at 200C for 20-25 mins.  What you get is a comforting sort of porridge souffle, warming, satisfying and nutritious but with all the taste and texture of naughtiness. This is a great one for experimenting with flavour combinations - why not try vanilla and nut butter, or let your imagination run wild.

March 2021 Baking isn't generally my thing.  I think it's because it requires patience and precision which isn't really my style of cooking... I'm more of a chuck together what I have to hand, substitutions galore, measuring by eye and judging when something is cooked by smell sort of cook.  But these madeleines looked very appealing, the recipe seemed quick and easy, promising speedy pleasure.  And, most importantly, they incorporated treacle.  I'd been on the hunt for a use for my treacle having bought a tin for another recipe and then wondering what on earth I was going to do with the other 98% of it.   I was also probably swayed by it being a Nadiya Hussain recipe - her adventurous combinations, and British classics fused with exotic flavours really resonates with me. The recipe actually includes star anise, and grapefruit syllabub for dipping, but I didn't have star anise so left that out, nor cream so I replaced with yogurt (and told myself that was h...

November 2020 At Cocoa Mountain, hot chocolate isn't just a drink to warm up, it's almost an event in itself.  Liquid chocolate is combined into steamed milk, topped with froth and drizzled with copious amounts of melted milk and white chocolates.  It's a decadent treat, and one which I bet you can't save until you get down to the beach, despite your best intentions.  Cocoa Mountain also make their own chocolate bars, individual truffles and chocolate enrobed fruit, as well as small chocolate tarts if you fancy a snack.  You can even order a chaser of 3 handmade truffles with your hot chocolate.  Flavours range from classic Champagne to adventurous chilli and lemongrass, to fiery redbush, ginger and honey. Find Cocoa Mountain at the Balnakeil Craft Village, just outside of Durness.  Then head down to Balnakeil beach to walk off your treats along the vast white sand beach or through the dunes to Faraid Head, a rocky headland stretching 2 miles in to the Pent...

February 2021 When it comes to hot chocolate, the darker the better in my opinion, hence why my current favourite is the Mork 85% Even Darker hailing from Melbourne.  With 85% Peruvian cacao powder, combined with Venezuelan cacao liquor, it's advertised as for serious chocolate drinkers only, and I think I would have to agree! It's deliciously intense, a real pick me up for the gloomiest of days, so I was very excited when my new supply arrived on my door mat.  Inside was a recipe card for making salted caramel to whisk in to the hot chocolate - I had to try it!  Making the caramel was surprisingly easy, and I duly added it to the pan whilst heating the milk.  It added a whole new dimension - an even greater richness and a real depth of flavour that I couldn't have identified specifically as salted caramel in a blind tasting, but it really added to it - I didn't think it was possible to get any better.  Now I'm hooked, which is going to be dangerous! And the bes...

January 2021 Having living in Melbourne for several years, the coffee bar was set high and I became a bit of a coffee snob.  This definitely has it's disadvantages as it makes finding a coffee that I really enjoy tricky.  I had sort of given up on finding one in Banbury, satisfying my cravings on visits to Oxford, London or in the nearby village of Great Tew at Quince and Clover (you can read all about that in a separate post).  One day I was cycling to the swimming pool early in the morning when I passed a coffee cart.  It was still closed at that time but I stored it in my 'to be tried at some point' part of my brain (although I must admit, I didn't have particularly high expectations) and then promptly forgot about it.  A few weeks later, an article popped up on my phone about it.  Reading that Harriet had worked as a barista in London for 12 years got me excited - it seemed she could be the one to make me a great flat white! From her small cart, The Bar...

December 2020 Carmarthen has quite a few cafes ready to satisfy you if you aren’t too bothered how you get your caffeine fix.   However, for the coffee snobs amongst us, it has to be Finn’s Coffee Shop.   Hidden away down an alleyway, this small but perfectly formed café has expertly crafted, silky but robust flat whites alongside a tantalising display of the most divine Edan Ash chocolates.   Seriously, these chocolates, crafted just south of Carmarthen in Kidwelly, are exquisite.   The smoothest ganache is combined with exotic flavours which hold their own without overpowering the flavour profile of the high quality cacao, and enrobed in a crisp chocolate shell which shatters as you bite in to it.   Seasonal cinnamon toast, and warming rum and ginger were my favourites. Upstairs is a small, industrially decorated seating area where you can enjoy coffee and chocolates alongside homemade vegan banana bread and toasties.   There is a also a small selecti...

 August 2019 INTZ 48 is one of those places which manages to do lots of things well.   Out back, they roast their own coffee to be enjoyed as part of a full range of espresso based and filter coffees, or as bags to be taken home, and they have a tempting array of cakes, pastries and tarts.   It was, however, the ice lolly counter that drew me back time and time again.   Fruits and herbs combined in to colourful, refreshing lollies – think pineapple and mint, strawberry, and even sweet tomato and basil.   For the more decadent, there are ice cream lollies and vats of molten milk, white and dark chocolate which can be drizzled over the lollies, instantly freezing to give a thick, smooth and luscious coating that satisfyingly cracks as you take a bite. Find it on Rua Hintze Ribeiro, one of the maze of pretty, cobbled streets in Ponta Delgada.

June 2020 Bakey and chocolaterie, can you get a better combination?!  Nestled in amongst the historical buildings of the picturesque, coastal village of Orford in Suffolk is Pump Street Bakery.  The counter bursts with both sourdough and yeasted bread, baguettes, baked goods and pastries, as well as their own made chocolate.   I arrived at opening time to find there was already a long queue and I quickly found out why.  Having devoured the Bear Claw - flaky, perfectly laminated pastry filled with gooey, nutty almond paste, and a great flat white, I queued up for round 2! The highlight was the pillowy doughnut filled with sweet but refreshing rhubarb jam.  It really was like eating the most delicious cloud. The chocolate selection is as equally exciting, with beans sourced from all over the world.  My all time favourite bar is the 72% Solomon Islands which really tastes of baked banana.  I'm also very excited to try th...

October 2019 I find there is something really satisfying about raw treats and plant-based mylks and smoothies.  Not only do they taste really good but they feel nutritious too, like afterwards I have nutrients buzzing around inside me. This take on a Bounty has a really meaty middle with all the sweet nuttiness of coconut, balanced by dark cacao that snaps satisfyingly as you bite in to it. Or for something a little more fruity, go for a a smoothie bowl made from all manner of exotic fruits, from acai to dragon fruit, and topped with crunchy granola, sweet banana, coconut and the tiny powerhouses that are chis seeds. To quench your thirst, choose from a rainbow of raw mylks.  Will you go for fruity, chocolatey, nutty, simply vanilla, or off the wall spirulina with it's eye-catching blue colour? Find all of these and so much more at Torvehallerne, Copenhagen, Denmark.

June 2020 For moments of edible bliss, head to Barefoot in Jericho or order online for their brownies and cakes.  This biscoff brownie is sublime - so gooey , so chocolatey and with the caramelised flavours of biscoff.  It should be seriously sickly but somehow it isn't, and above all, it looks beautiful.

September 2019 Simply named 'chocolate biscuit', this is so much more than a chocolate biscuit!  A little bit sweet, a little bit chewy, a little bit nutty, delicate meringue and almond base contrasts with silky smooth chocolate buttercream, and glazed in crisp chocolate to give a satisfying crunch as you bite through in to the soft layers below.   Find it at Abisko STF hut, Sweden.

April 2020 D'Ambrosi Deli's cake is possibly my favourite cake ever.  Made from ground almonds and cooked clementines, it is so light and refreshing.  The luxurious chocolate glaze is just enough to add decadence without overpowering the fruity, nutty tones, and the smoothness is a great contrast to the course texture of the cake.  Every bite is a bite of heaven.  But beware, once you've had it once, you will want it again and again! Find it at D'Ambrosi Deli, Stow-on-the-Wold

April 2020 Traditionally churros are deep fried, however there are many recipes around for baked churros - handy when you don't have a deep fat fryer, and also when you want the taste of a churro without quite so many calories.  These didn't turn out quite as expected - more pancake like, but delicious nonetheless dipped in 90% chocolate, and something a bit different to serve as dessert when a friend came over for dinner.

March 2020 Miel Bakery.  Changing French delights throughout the day. How to choose?! I've done it for you! Get the almost bite sized 70% Valrhona chocolate tart with salted peanuts.  So incredibly smooth, so chocolatey, so deliciously rich, but not at all sickly.  The snap of perfectly crisp cocoa pastry, the crunch of peanuts, and the teeniest accent of salt.  This is proper chocolate at its best. Find it at Miel Bakery on Warren Street.