The Nag's Head, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 2JG

I am a fan of The Malvern Hills.  Not too far from where I was born, I'd only visited once before, and despite being a grumpy teenager at the time, I couldn't help be impressed by the beauty of the countryside and enjoy scrambling up (and down) the rolling hills.

It was the hottest weekend of the year so far - endless sunshine and blue skies.  We walked up hills, down hills, in woodlands, through fields, on tiny footpaths and on country roads, taking in some amazing countryside.  D's dad marched on ahead, putting us young folk to shame.  Our circular route took us around 5 hours (with time for a picnic lunch) and we covered around 10 miles.  It was definitely time for a drink! 

Luckily, the trusty Good Beer Guide had a suggestion.  D could vouch for it's quality (and thankfully, could direct us there).  Late afternoon was a great time to visit The Nag's Head as we found a table in the sun.   We sat at the front of the pub, as the small, almost secret, beer garden is well-hidden and not immediately obvious.

Upon entering the pub, I was astounded by the sheer choice of real ales and ciders - 14 cask ales (including 6 guest beers).  Whilst I might expect one or two real ciders, the 5 or 6 on offer made the Nag's Head feel like a veritable goldmine! 

Given the heat of the day, my first choice was a refreshing raspberry twist cider served as recommended, with ice.  D enjoyed ordering 'a pint of Dragon's Blood' (extremely dark beer).

Once I had my drink, I began to notice the quirks of the pub.  The 'no swearing' rule, the warnings that food would be slow, the long list of riddles inscribed on the wall above a towering pile of Good Beer Guides and board games...

I like this kind of quirkiness in a pub, and thought all the nooks and crannies would make The Nag's Head an appealing winter pub, as well.

I continued sampling ciders - going for a lovely crisp Sheppy's, and then a Weston's '1st Quality'.  D moved onto the 'Shropshire Lad' which had an initial caramel taste (but too bitter an aftertaste for me), and then discovered the 'Kinver Crystal' which unexpectedly was his favourite of the day - full of floral hops.

We were in need of some crisp sustainance, so I stuck with the cider theme, and was pleasantly surprised by the tangy flavour of the Piper's sea salt and somerset cider vinegar flavour.

This pub was an amazing find, given that it had the potential to be quite touristy.  The Good Beer guide entry was definitely well-deserved, and I would very strongly recommend it should you be in the Malverns - be it on a day where you need a sunny beer garden, or a cosy inglenook.



La Canasta, Plaza de la Constitución, Malaga

Arriving in Malaga had been a somewhat stressful experience.  We had the best part of a day to kill before our flight to Barcelona.  Obliged to carry all our luggage around with us, in heat that we weren't prepared for (it had been cool and rainy up in the mountains), we'd had various mis-adventures just finding our way out of the airport.  We'd learned that one should never ever take an airport trolley on a travelator, buses to the city centre are few and far between, and that escalators are never going in the direction that you want to go in.

Eventually a kindly tour guide told us that the new Malaga suburban railway was cheaper and quicker than the bus (a mere 19 minute journey to the city centre, for less than two euros), and eventually we found ourselves in the nice part of town.

The first thing I needed was a cup of tea...and maybe some cake.  As we entered the beautiful Plaza de la Constitución, a square full of sunshine and beautiful buildings, I spotted a cafe with a tiny second floor balcony looking out directly over the square.  In a more touristy city, this enviable location would have charged extortionate prices, or been packed with people.  But this was Malaga, and within minutes we were inside. with an excellent balcony seat and amazing view of the square. 

La Canasta has a number of outlets in the Malaga area.  It's large selections of teas, coffees, hot chocolates, cakes and pastries were impressive, and the arrival of orange-chocolately gateaux and apple tart, along with some much needed tea and coffee immediately cheered us, and for the first time that day, we started to relax.

The White Horse Inn, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN11 8RG

There are some places which absolutely tick all my boxes.  I had a good feeling about The White Horse Inn from the very start. 

D had entrusted me with his latest copy of The Good Beer Guide, which he had painstakingly annotated using a unique rating system, marking places he thought I'd like with a little 'u' and places he thought I'd LOVE with a BIG 'U' (he is exceedingly thoughtful like that).   I'd fired off dozens of emails to various little and big 'U' places in an attempt to find a last minute countryside getaway to banish those recently-back-from-holiday-blues, and I wasn't expecting much luck.

But suddenly, in one afternoon I suddenly found my inbox filled with a number of potential places to visit.  The email from proprietors Tara and Danny Adams somehow seemed the most friendly.  The White Horse Inn was described in the beer guide as a 'real gem' (hence a big 'U'), and best of all, as I explained to D, it shared it's name with this pub (our favourite pub in the world, not least because it was where we met).   Our minds were quickly made up, and we looked forward to a weekend of adventures with Wiltshire White Horses.

Compton Bassett is a tiny village, but  we found it without any problems at all.  The sun was shining as we got our first view of the beautiful countryside, the idyllic beer garden and the lovely characterful building.  There were geese and even a couple of very cute pigs behind the pub, and a separate building for the accommodation (8 rooms in total).  We received a very very warm welcome at the bar, and Tara showed us to our light and airy room.  Newly refurbished to a very high standard, everything was perfect - lovely shower, lots of attention to detail, tea making facilities and yummy biscuits!  The sheer peace and quiet of the location felt good.

We headed off to Avebury (very close by - and we passed the first of three chalk White Horses on our way), and enjoyed watching the antics of a group of energetic lambs, scrambling back and forth across a steep hillside as if in training for a lamb marathon. 

 Lots of fresh air meant we'd built up quite an appetite as we returned in the evening for dinner.  It transpired that one of the other buildings at The White Horse, was a skittle alley, hosting a group of twenty!  The restaurant was fully booked (a good sign), but we had a great table in the smaller pub area.  One of the last free-houses in Wiltshire, there were three real ales on and a magnificent pear-cider (or more correctly, a perry), called Bee Sting.   Sweet and very pale and entirely clear, it was dangerously drinkable for a 7.5% beverage (I happily drank it all evening -  the intriguingly named Black Rat Cider is only on in the summer, being a scrumpy).    D thought the 'Tunnel Vision' was a nice malty bitter in very good condition.  He later moved onto 'Innocent' which was a pale, heavily hopped offering, and then his favourite, the 'Bath Ale Gem', which boasted some caramel flavours.

The frequently changing menu made the most of locally sourced produce.  There was a good range of dishes (all of which sounded delicious), so myself and D made the decision to share everything we ordered (fairly and equally), so as to sample as much as possible.

Starters arrived in perfect time for our hungry stomachs.  I started with the beautifully presented mushrooms on toast with garlic cream sauce. 

 The juicy mushrooms were decadently rich and perfectly paired with the rustic bread.  (We ate the flowers too - they tasted good!)  True to our word, halfway through we swapped plates, and I sampled the tasty strong-flavours of the breaded Camembert (crunchy on the outside, and fantastically gooey on the inside) with cranberry syrup,   We were delighted and hoped this was a sign of great things to come.

We were not wrong.  The main course I started on were thin sliced of juicy pan-seared duck breast, with scrumptiously salty roasted salsify, crispy saute potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke puree and some very tangy red berries.   As great as this was, this actually couldn't prepare us for the sheer divine nature of the other main meal, which D somewhat reluctantly shared with me.  It was pork belly, that had been slow-roasted for 12 hours, and sourced very locally from Bishops Cannings (a mere 10 minutes away).  It was utterly incredible.  Incredibly soft and flavoursome, served with amazingly crispy (but not-teeth-breakingly so), crackling, crunchy greens (savoy cabbage) and sage mash, a mouthful of these components combined was heaven on a fork.  I can't remember the last time I'd tasted anything that worked so well together.  Once again our plates were soon completely clean.

Somehow, we still had space for dessert, and stuck to our sharing policy (mostly).  My Chocolate Crunch dessert was paired with D's choice of Plum and Sloe Gin Sorbet.  (Both good, but I preferred mine, as it was more indulgent.

It had been an absolutely wonderful dinner - every single thing we sampled had been delicious and we hadn't left a thing.  We had been so well looked after, even though the restaurant and pub was at full capacity, that it had been a very chilled out experience (particularly as we knew our beds were in stumbling distance). 

The next morning, any normal person would have still been full.  I don't seem to be a normal person when it comes to good food (and thankfully neither is D).  Full english breakfasts are one of our most guilty-pleasures, and we thought we may as well continue to indulge.

Tara was amazing looking after us yet again, (even though she was about to help with a charity fun run before dashing back to serve what would be a fully booked lunch service!)  We weren't in a rush so we took it easy, eagerly anticipating another fine meal.

And what a meal it was!  All the ingredients were of the best quality.  A hugely chunky sausage (such a good flavour), two thick slices of bacon (D's favourite component), rustic bread toast, Stornoway black pudding (the best black pudding I'd ever had), beans (an essential binding ingredient), and a wonderfully soft-friend free-range egg (as good as the ones from my chickens, and with a yolk that was just as orange).  A blissful end to a visit full of gastronomic delights and exceptionally wonderful hospitality.   I'd strongly recommend a visit and hope I can return!

The White Horse Inn
Compton Bassett,
Nr Calne,
Wiltshire
SN11 8RGTel: 01249 813118
thewhitehorseinn@comptonbassett.com

Cafe Diglas, Grünangergasse 1, 1010 Vienna, Austria

 Banana cake of joy!

We were looking for somewhere to eat cake.  As when in Vienna, that is what one should do.

The famous Hotel Sacher had queues streching all round the building.  We turned on our heels and walk until we found a suitable alternative.

Just as we were about to give up and turn back, we spotted a potential contender for the title of Viennese Cake Place du jour. 

We walked into a classy establishment, reminiscent of another era.  Smartly dressed waiters showed us to a window booth, and weren't in the least bit dismissive of our request to eat cake rather than lunch.

It transpired that Cafe Diglas was famous in its own right - even getting a mention in our guidebook.  Founded in 1875, they take cake seriously.  Large video screens showed the pastry chefs at work.

Rather than choose from the menu, we stuck our faces (not literally) in the cake cabinet and chose the most tasty-looking delights.  Hazel went for the traditional Sachertorte (under strict instructions from her boss).  I went for the delectable looking chocolately-creamy banana cake  (purely for Writing On Bananas research purposes obviously).

It was utterly divine.  A perfect range of textures, from the fluffy cream, crisp chocolate and sweet banana, it was perfect.  Hazel's scrumptious Sachertorte was comparable to the real thing.

Sachertorte

Our cakes were accompanied by gourmet teas, served via the Largest Tea Bags in the world.  They made for excellent infusing.

Cafe Diglas is an excellent alternative to some of the more pricy and touristy cake places in the City.  Very very highly recommended!

Gelaaati! Di Marco, Llibreteria 7, 08002 Barcelona

I love Barcelona.  The weather is always beautiful and you can walk endlessly and discover wonderful places without even trying.  Losing ourselves in the maze of streets around the Gothic Quarter (the 'Barri Gotic' - or just 'Barry' as I called it), and chancing upon this amazing ice-cream shop, Gelaaati!, was one such treasured find.  We'd been given free samples of the made-on-the-premises ice-cream when we'd sauntered past in the morning, and as luck would have it, we managed to find ourselves back at the shop when both tea and energy levels had become precariously low.

Staff were friendly and it was impressive to see the ice-cream being made on the site. The variety of combinations of various goodies was immense, for what is essentially only a small shop.

We nabbed the last two seats in the establishment, and despite the glorious ice-cream around us. we were both seduced by the smell of freshly made hot waffles, smothered in chocolate.  (Waffles go better with tea, anyway - and it was a mighty good cup of tea too!)

Come Dine with Celenika and Greg! (The Final Installment of CDWM)

The final installment of our Come Dine With Me competition was upon us.

We knew that visiting Cel and Greg would involve travelling far far away. Further away than France, outside of the EU, and certainly outside of our time zone, to a land where they (to quote Alex) “haven’t yet adopted the 24-hour system…When you ask them the time they just grunt, point to the sky and say…’Sun God is sad’”. Our final Come Dine With Me evening involved travelling, all the way to Zone 5, back in time to Bromley for a 70s themed meal!

This was the first meal where full fancy dress had been adopted by all involved, and stepping into Cel and Greg’s well-themed living room, there were squeals of delight at seeing each other’s outfits and wigs (and also a bit of a tumble from an over-excited Sofia whose 6 inch platforms didn’t combine well with stairs). There was a real sense of occasion of this final meal in a competition which had already stretched to just over a year (385 days to be exact). Tonight was the night where we’d finally find out all the scores and crown the winner with that most coveted prize…ultimate glory!

The table was decked out very nicely, with the now obligatory table confetti. We studied the table placeholders with delight with ‘Disco Dave’ became an instant favourite.

Re-invented as 70s icons, I did hope that the preview menu, which featured classics such as Prawn Cocktail, would as per the tradition of our competition, be a ruse for a much more elaborate menu. As we unrolled our pretty pink scrolls we were not disappointed. PHOTO Extensive, with the now traditional alcoholic courses (two no less), and scrumptious sounding sweet endings AND cheese, we oohed and aahed in anticipation of home-made biscuits and home-made truffles, and all decided we would make sure that we paced ourselves so that we could sample everything!

Time for starters. None of us knew what river cobbler was, but we all agreed that we liked rocket leaves and pesto dressing, and so hopes were high. We were not disappointed – the dish was like a fish cake, the prawn texture was great and the river cobbler was similar to cod. There was a spicy kick to it, which always rates highly with me, and the rocket and lemon were a suitably punchy accompaniment.

Next it was time for psychedelic sorbet! Neon blue in colour, it was served ambitiously with mint and a bottle of vodka, encased in ice and fruit. Sadly I got a little bit over-excited and drowned my sorbet in neat vodka, which didn’t do it too many favours flavor-wise, but it did add to the general merriment of the evening.

Thankfully it was then time to soak up the alcohol with a substantial main course. The menu had promised Coq au Vin, and that’s what we were getting! Cel had soaked a chicken in wine for an entire day, and it had been cooked to tender perfection. The sides were also delicious – thyme new potatoes, braised red cabbage, carrots and green beans. Nicely presented with lots of colour on plates that were empty very quickly!

Then another boozy and colourful course – Gin Mint Fizz – a very green it was far better than an after dinner mint!

All the Come Dine With Me meals have featured brilliant food, but Cel and Greg had perhaps the best and most organized entertainment of all (all jokes of burlesque puppet shows aside). Greg deftly demonstrated his prowess in creating a ‘basic’ balloon animal, and we were instructed that we’d only be able to have dessert once we’d mastered our own – Generation Game style! Amie, our very own closet-mechanic engineer had no problem in figuring out how to create a range of poodles. The others took a little longer but managed to create acceptable animals. Disco Dave fashioned his balloons into an elaborate headgear, ignoring any instructions on how to create animals. Mine was awful – most optimistically it looked more like a misshapen rodent than a dog!  Luckily, we were served dessert anyway, and it was utterly splendid! Flourless chocolate cake with vanilla cream, blueberries and raspberries.

The cake was sublime – soft and so very deeply chocolatey, it had a wonderful texture and when it was combined with the cream and the tangy tartness of the berries, it was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had!

Somehow, we still had space for cheese and lovely oatey and super thin homemade biscuits. A perfect way to end the meal.

It’s become tradition that at any event hosted by my friends, I will put on my pyjamas at the first opportunity. That evening was no exception! I was pjyama’d up and ready for the after-dinner entertainment. Not a gladiator fight between Alex and Sofia, but a film quiz! With video clips, cups of tea, and home-made chocolate truffles on sticks, this really was ideal entertainment!

Final video diaries and scoring for the evening was completed, and Disco Dave, being an observer to the competitive process was instructed to calculate the scores for each of the meals that we’d had (all scoring had remained secret throughout the entire, year-long competition). The anticipation was palpable around the coffee table as the scores were read out…at 34/40 and forth place was…me (fair play I thought – a good score but I hadn’t been as technically adventurous as the others, or had as many courses, but mine was the only meal with featured a fire and a fight!) Then in joint third place was Amie with her French themed evening and tonight’s meal with Cel and Greg (36/40 – both really excellent meals and evenings, which a lot of effort had gone into, and very deserving of the high scores)…. So now, we could barely contain our excitement as the two arguably most competitive teams Alex and Sofia and Jerome remained!! Who would win? Alex’s meal was the one that had set the bar so high right from the start with incredible attention to detail, presentation and technical skill, whilst Fia and Jerome had produced as many courses of really lip-smackingly tasty oriental food and been the original innovators of the G&T sorbet! Disco Dave heightened the unbearable tension with dramatic pauses a plenty and announced SECOND place…as…

…

…

… Sofia and Jerome! This led to an intial shout of joy and elation from Alex swiftly followed by gulps of intense FEAR, as he suddenly had visions of Sofia hurting him for beating her to first place) and then in a twist of brilliant announcing, David announced a joint score of 38/40 to Alex!

Hurrahs and huge relief all round (none of us really wanted Fia and Alex to scrap) there was much much congratulation to our equally deserved winners. It had been a truly excellent competition, with all the meals being a triumph, and the most impressive meal that any of us had cooked before. We’d had such a good time, and everyone we knew had become involved in what was a talking point for us all. We mutually decided a year off was needed, but that this was something that we’d do again…Forget the Olympics – Come Dine With Me 2012 awaits!

Heavenly Macaroons from Ladurée

 I was lucky enough last year to sample these utterly heavenly macaroons (or more correctly, 'macarons') from Ladurée thanks to Astrid, who bought us a large selection from Paris.  I'd never tasted anything like this before - the melt in the mouth texture (without a hint of chewiness, so often found in other, less superior macaroons) was divine, and the intense fruity flavours were quite unexpected.  Beautiful!