February 2008 Archives

No surprise on Masterchef, then.

James, the curly haired ex-barrister, was clearly the best all-round cook and turned out - in the words Greg Wallace - exceptional food. He thoroughly deserved to win, though wacky Emily and down-to-earth Jonny were pretty impressive, too.

I wonder what happens to series winners afterwards? Any of them gone on the culinary stardom? How about a "where are they now?" series?

Hands up anyone who can name a restaurant on mainland Europe that doesn't serve alcoholic drinks and expects you to take your own.

Me neither. I've yet to encounter such a place in France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Spain or anywhere else I've visited abroad.

It's our outdated licensing laws that put constraints on whether restaurants can sell you booze. And behind these laws lies an equally antiquated, nannying attitude that somehow we'll become hopeless alcoholics if things are relaxed.

Anyone else been hooked on Masterchief? Me too. Despite my loathing of "reality" television.

Until this week, I've thoroughly enjoyed the series (apart from the cliches that are churned out by presenters and contestants who seem unable to utter the word "food" without prefixing it with "passionate about...").

But this week's challenges - cooking in a tropical jungle for soldiers and in a trailer for a TV crew, for example - have been absolute nonsense. Let's see the trio back in proper kitchens doing what they seem good at....cooking posh nosh. The rest is just unnecessary padding.

Searching for information about a cookery book on the web, I chanced upon the site of a company called Infusion which supplies a starter kit for El Bulli style cooking.

For those who don't know, El Bulli, in Spain, is regarded by some as the world's finest restaurant and produces startling, modern dishes using pioneering techniques of the sort favoured by Britain's very own mad scientist cook Heston Blumenthal.

It got me wondering whether domestic cooks really ought to bother themselves mastering these new skills rather than relying on the methods that have stood the test of time.

I'm a pretty liberal sort of bloke who's willing to accept most people's lifestyle choices, even if it involves supporting a team other than Birmingham City But a line has to be drawn somewhere.

That line - for me - is the use of ready-cut vegetables and stuff such as instant mashed spuds, ingredients that feature in Delia Smith's new cookery book.

I'm quite willing to accept that such ingredients have improved over recent years and obviously I acknowledge Delia as a fine and popular cook who prepares food of impeccable quality.

My younger son became a teenager yesterday and, to celebrate, we paid a family visit Kababish in Moseley, a curry house that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It's scary to think I was there on virtually its first night.

Now I'm not going to pretend that the food is the best in Birmingham (though it is very, very good). Nor that the decor is stunning (though, again, it is very pleasant). But it's a place at which I feel instantly at home and at which I know I'm going to enjoy the quality of the dishes I order. Plus the staff are incredibly welcoming.

A happy 13th birthday to Ewan - and a happy 25th birthday to Kababish.

An email tells me today that the Crown, a fine old corner pub in Corporation Street near the law courts, is soon to reopen after a refurbishment. From the blurb, it sounds like it's going to be a smart place with an Italian-influenced menu.

I know on my last blog I moaned about pubs abandoning tradional bar fare for fancy nosh, but the Crown sounds to me like it will be a good addition to the city centre drinking/eating scene.

Consistency's all very well. But where these matters are concerned, I confess I'm usually guided by my belly. And right now I'd love to be sitting down to a hearty bowl of pasta.

By bizarre coincidence, my colleague Graham Young and I turned up separately at the same place on the same day, though at different times.Graham was there to do a pub grub review, I to do a restaurant review.

Apart from emphasising that I really ought to talk more to coordinate plans with the bloke who sits virtually opposite me in the office, this episode also illustrates how blurred the line has become between pub food and restaurant food.

It's undeniable that sometimes pub meals can be execellent affairs, but in truth when I sit in a bar I long for hearty, simple fare washed down by good beer rather than something fancy that wouldn't look out of place somewhere altogether swankier.

Expect an announcement soon that the food festival Taste of Birmingham will be returning to Cannon Hill Park in Edgbaston for the third year running this July.

The event gives people the chance to try dishes from a variety of restaurants, play spot-the-celebrity-chef and browse round food and drink stalls. Brum's top chefs love it because it gives them a rare chance to get together for a bit of banter and a drink or two.

The Birmingham Mail - and this website - will bring you more news as soon as it's available.

I cooked this weekend from the new healthy Indian cook book produced by Lasan restaurant in conjunction with Warwick University.

The aim is to help reduce the relatively high incidence of diabetes and heart disease among the Asian population so recipes have been developed to cut the levels of salt and fat and so on while not compromising the taste.

I sampled some of the dishes at Lasan a couple of months back and was impressed at how the flavour of individual ingredients shone through.