EAT MY GLOBE: TAKING THE BOOKTRADE ON A BINGE

And so it begins.

Although EAT MY GLOBE is not published in the U.K until April of next year, the sell in has begun in earnest and my publishers, John Murray suggested that a good way to show the book trade what it was all about would be to take selected members on an afternoon food tour.

So, on a cold, windy and miserable Friday, I met with a gaggle of assorted buyers and trade journalists for a swift pint at The Market Porter before taking them on a whirlwind tour of some of my favourite places.

The pub served a shockingly bad pint, but made a great meeting place particularly as our first port of call was Mrs King’s Pork Pies where the estimable Ian Hartland gave us a little talk before cutting up a prime large example for everyone to try all the while making sure that real customers were not neglected.

Next stop, around the corner, where the good people of Brindisa had arranged for Master Jamon Carver, Zak to give us a demonstration of fine art of ham cutting before he too distributed fine slices of Teruel and Iberico for our eager group to taste.

If everyone had been eagerly anticipating the first two stops, the next caused a little more concern as we hopped in some waiting cars and trundled off to Aldgate East and Tubby Issac’s Whelk and Jellied Eel Stall, which has been on the same spot for a hundred years or more. It was a first taste of old London for most, but they were all very brave soldiers as I doused bowls of cockles, whelks and, of course, eels with extra special, extra hot chilli vinegar and handed them around for everyone to try. Wonderful stuff although a shame to think with all the parking restrictions in that area now, the owner was doubtful about the long term future of the stall.

There is no doubt, however, that Paul A.Young has a very bright future and, although Paul himself could not be there for our visit, his Managers, Jakob and Brendan looked after us when we bustled in from a blustery Camden Passage and were soon giving us tastes of a rich brownie and handing over little goodie bags that Paul had asked them to make up. We took the opportunity to buy everyone a cup of Paul’s superlative hot chocolate before climbing back into our cars for perhaps the most unusual stop of the day.

I have written about Memhet at Embassy Electrical Supplies before, but now was the perfect time to visit as he has just taken delivery of some of his wonderful olive oil. On top of which he now has a new range of infused oils, some paprika dried in the Sun on the terraces his Cyprus estate and stunning wild oregano from his farm. As ever, Memhet was soon ladling out tastes of oil and olives and everyone was filling their John Murray shoulder bags with ideal Christmas Presents.

All this eating is thirsty work, so our penultimate port of call saw a quick stop at Hawksmoor where Nick Strangeway had created a special EAT MY GLOBE cocktail containing Compass Box Oak Cross Whisky, Jostberry Cordial and Palo Cortado Sherry. Very good it was too thanks to Tim and Noal who did the mixing and, with an added round of Martinis and a few plates of Iberico which we had picked up at Brindisa, it fortified us for the short walk to our final destination.

Where else could we finish a tour of this part of London than Tayyabs? It was, of course, already mobbed when we arrived, but we were shown to the private room and plates of sizzling lamb chops were put in front of us almost before our coats were off. As good as ever and as the food came, I took the opportunity to propose a toast to my new chums and to all the amazing and astonishingly generous old chums who had been so giving of their time and products to make the day such a success.

Thanks All.

PAUL A. YOUNG: MAKING CHOCOLATE WITH A MASTER

Yesterday was the second anniversary of the day I came home, sat down on my sofa and decided I had enough of my old life and began the journey, which became EAT MY GLOBE. I had just returned from The Frankfurt Book Fair and was up to my eyeballs in the chaos of an imploding company. Forty was a distant vision in the rear view mirror and I was as mad as Hell and really was not going to take it any more.

Move on two years and the same date saw me continuing to live the dream of seeking out and writing about the best food in the world. This time not in the far flung corners of the globe but in nearby Islington where master chocolate maker, Paul.A.Young had been kind enough to invite me and my chum, William to spend a morning with him up to our elbows in something brown from Ecuador.

In the two and a half years since his shop in Camden Passage opened, Paul has added to a reputation for excellence gained during six years as pastry chef to Marco Pierre White. He has another shop at The Royal Exchange and plans to open more and with a trip to visit cocoa plantations only days away, he is a busy man. The fact he was prepared to spend three hours with the likes of us is more a testament to his generosity than to our charms.

After the pre-requisite cup of tea and a slurp of his splendid hot chocolate, we donned aprons while Paul took us through the making of a chocolate ganache. But first, before we got our hands dirty, Paul gave us a chocolate tasting of some of the twenty-five different varieties he uses in his collection, from 62% with fruity notes of cherry and dried fruits to a 100% which coated the mouth. Each of Paul’s creations can use a blend of up to four different varieties.

Paul’s recipe for ganache is a simple one

500gms cream
500gms chocolate (we chose a 64% from, I think, the Dominican Republic)
150gms light muscavado sugar

We combined the sugar and the cream and sugar and scorched before mixing quickly into the chocolate, being sure not to create air bubbles, which can make the end result go mouldy and then decanted into a baking tray to cool.

While that was going on, Paul showed us how to temper chocolate on a cold marble slab, a process of cooling melted chocolate down quickly so it forms a nice glossy sheen and snaps when broken. As you can see from the film, Paul makes it look easy, but our own attempts were not quite so successful, and fortunately not caught on camera. Paul suggested that, at home, one way to achieve the same result is to melt two thirds of the required amount of chocolate and then add in the rest at a later stage to bring down the temperature.

When we turned our attention back to the ganache it was perfect for making truffles. Donning the sort of gloves that make men weep when Doctors put them on, we rolled small balls of chocolate in cocoa powder (Paul recommends Fair Trade or Green & Blacks cocoa if you are making them at home) and then dipped into tempered melted chocolate before passing through the cocoa one more time and allowing to set once again. The above amounts made well over thirty splendid examples of the truffler’s art and we moved upstairs to the shop, where Paul helped us pack them with the same attention to detail with which he does everything else.

“Perfect little Christmas presents for less than £20 worth of ingredients” Paul said as he saw us off the premises, making sure to lock the door to prevent our return, and he is right, they were easy to make even if they compared unfavourably to the fine examples in his shop.

Well worth a try and a great way to spend a morning that only two years ago I could only have dreamed about.