Ben & Jerry's Sundae Festival

A beautiful day in Clapham for eating ice cream

After a rather miserable couple of weeks of weather in England, the sun finally shone for Ben & Jerry's Sundae Festival in Clapham Common, London. Some of my friends that had been before told me that they had managed to eat a total of seven ice creams - I was definitely hoping to consume even more!

My friend and I began the challenge with a scoop of Fairly Nuts: caramel ice cream with praline almond clusters and caramel swirls.

Fairly Nuts

Whilst the ice creams were still in our hands, we went straight into another queue for our second ice cream - Cherry Garcia: cherries and dark chocolately chunks.

Cherry Garcia

My friend and I then went exploring. There was plenty going on inside the festival grounds including a helter-skelter, coconut shy, Pimms bus, toe wrestling, "Mystic Moo", two performance stages and plenty of food and drink stalls.

Helter-skelter

We quickly moved onto our third ice cream - Chocolate Fudge Brownie: chocolate ice cream laden with chocolate brownie pieces.

Chocolate Fudge Brownie

This was the first time that I had ever tried Chocolate Fudge Brownie. I think that this is because it is a classic flavour and I always try to go for the newest or most unusual, so I had always avoided it. I was surprised how much I loved it!

I must admit that we started to feel a little bit sick at this point, so we then went for a more refreshing choice of Jamaican Me Crazy Sorbet: chunky pineapple sorbet with passion fruit swirls.

Jamaican Me Crazy

This was very refreshing and certainly cleansed our palettes in preparation for more rich and chocolately ice creams. Next up, after a quick rest, was the Chocolate Macadamia: chocolate and vanilla ice creams with fudge covered macadamia nuts.

Chocolate Macadamia

We were both surprised by how much we liked this one as it seemed like such a simple combination. We both really enjoyed the fudgy and chocolatey macadamias.

We then felt desperate for some salt to balance out all of the sugar that we had consumed, so we shared a bowl of chicken and chorizo paella.

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

It had a collection of meaty, salty and spicy flavours with chewy rice and tender meat. We could have eaten a bowl each, but we were only half way through our target of ten ice creams, so we needed to leave some room for the rest!

After the paella, we were ready for another drenching of sugar and cream. We tried one of Ben & Jerry's new ice creams - Coconutterly Fair: chocolate ice cream, coconut caramel swirls and chocolately covered caramel crunch.

Coconutterly Fair

This, surprisingly, wasn't as coconutty as I had expected.

We really wanted to try a 'wich (Ben & Jerry's ice cream sandwich) and were trying to find the ladies who were handing them out. During our search, we saw a short queue for Caramel Chew Chew: caramel ice cream with a caramel swirl and chocolatey covered caramel chunks, so, of course, we tried one.

Caramel Chew Chew

This was very caramelly indeed.

By this time, the festival was drawing to an end and the queues were becoming fairly short. The next stop was Baked Alaska: vanilla ice cream with marshmallow swirls and white chocolatey polar bears.

Baked Alaska

I am not a huge fan of overly-sweet desserts, so, unfortunately, this ice cream being too sweet for me, ended up in the bin.

Baked Alaska... in the bin

I hate wasting food but I just couldn't finish this one - sorry B&J!

We wanted something more refreshing and went in search of the Berry N'ice: strawberry ice cream with real strawberry pieces.

Berry N'ice

We thought, originally, that this was another sorbet but it turned out to be an ice cream. It had a wonderful fresh strawberry flavour and, even though it was an ice cream and not a sorbet, it was rather refreshing. After this we sampled the Strawberry Cheesecake: strawberry cheesecake ice cream with strawberries and cookie swirls.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Uh-oh, another sickly sweet ice cream. Having just had the Berry N'ice, we could really tell the difference between these two strawberry ice creams. After a few licks, this one had to be binned too...

The last ice cream of the day was Phish Food: chocolate ice cream with gooey marshmallow, caramel swirl and chocolatey fish shapes.

Phish Food

I am not sure if I am just more tolerant when it comes to chocolate, but I somehow managed to finish this without a problem, after having just rejected the Strawberry Cheesecake.

The Phish Food completed our total count of eleven ice creams! Not all of them were fully devoured, however, but most were, and all were sampled.

The bins were all overloaded with ice cream cones

At the beginning of the day I was very excited to see Pieminister. During Glastonbury last year, I consumed two of their pie meals (the Matador and Heidi pies) within the same hour. I was completely overwhelmed by their deliciousness. To my delight, because it was near the end of the day, Pieminister were selling their pies for only £3.50 with all the works! They were out of Matador pies (steak, sherry, chorizo and green olive) so I went for a "Blue Moo" (steak, stilton and rosemary) instead. I have no idea how I managed to consume this, with the minted peas, mash, crispy onions and "groovy" (gravy) after all of that ice cream, but somehow I did!

Blue Moo Pieminister Pie with mash, minted peas, crispy onions and "groovy"

My friend also ate a pie meal and we then waddled back to the station. I am pretty sure that we looked pregnant with our giant food babies!

What a wonderful food day indeed. Were any of you there?

The Last Brunch of San Francisco

Firstly, I would like to apologise to my readers for neglecting my blog during the past few weeks! I have now completed my Study Abroad Year in California and have returned to England. I spent my last 30 days in California travelling around the West Coast and barely found time to sleep, let alone blog! So, please forgive me.

San Francisco is famous for its brunches and after having eaten brunch in various locations around San Francisco, I can conclude that my favourite place to have brunch in San Francisco is - yes, you've guessed it - Butterfly!

Every waiter/waitress must hate me. My love of all types of food gives me terrible difficulty in deciding which dish to order. Butterfly is, possibly, the worst victim of mine due to the fact that I find everything on their menu incredibly delicious.

Poached Eggs with Kalua Pig

I finally settled for a brunch dish that included the English Muffin and poached eggs. I ordered the Poached Eggs with Kalua Pig instead of the Poached Eggs with Smoked Salmon that I have ordered numerous times in the past. In a hurry to decide, I asked the waiter what Kalua Pig actually was. I had thought that it may have been similar to Canadian Bacon, but when the waiter replied "No, Miss, it's actually a type of slow-cooked shredded pork" I said "I'll have that then, please!"

Half-way through eating the Poached Eggs with Kalua Pig

What a fantastic decision that turned out to be. It was an absolutely stunning Benedict, my favourite so far! The tender and salty pork was drenched in hollandaise and the poached eggs were, as always, cooked with a runny yolk that oozed over the pork and added yet more richness to the creamy hollandaise. I was dreaming throughout the entire time that I was devouring this dish. The chunky chips (sorry, fries, in America) were crisp on the outside and perfect for mopping up those delicious salty and meaty residues. I then enjoyed refreshing my mouth with the mixed fruit bowl.

Kumquat Margarita

I accompanied my meal with a kumquat margarita (I have been obsessed with tequila ever since I visited Mexico last March) which complemented the richness and slight stodginess of the Poached Eggs with Kalua Pig. If only I could repeat the experience of this absolute dream of a meal every weekend!

Afternoon Tea in San Francisco, Japanese Style!

My favourite photo of the Japanese Tea Garden

Among many food adventures with my father, we included a trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. It was rumoured that they offered tea tasting, but to our disappointment, the menu only offered some tea sets, sweets and a small selection of entrées. We decided to stay for a spot of "afternoon tea" despite the limited menu and this is what we ate...

We ordered a Jasmine Tea Set each, one with mochi cakes and one with salty rice crackers.

Jasmine tea with mochi cakes and salty rice crackers

Mochi cakes split in half to share

The bottom of my Jasmine tea cup

We still felt peckish after these bites and it was almost lunchtime so we decided to order a couple of larger dishes to share. We were very intrigued by the sound of the Green tea soup (Nori Ochazuke) and we also ordered the Japanese noodle soup (Udon).

Nori Ochazuke, Green tea seaweed rice soup

Pouring the tea into the rice

The dish is ready to eat!

The Nori Ochazuke arrived in two pieces: the tea in a teapot and the rice, puffed rice kernals and seaweed in an accompanying bowl. We absolutely loved the variety of textures in this dish; crunchy rice kernals, chewy seaweed strips, bouncy boiled rice and a delicately flavoured watery broth.

Udon, Japanese wide noodles in a fish broth

The Udon was served with a fishcake and some sliced spring onions on top. We enjoyed the bouncy texture of the wide noodles but did not find it as exciting as the Nori Ochazuke.

The Tea House inside the Japanese Tea Garden

Iris in the Japanese Tea Garden

Although the menu is limited, the gardens are stunning. It was a great place to play with my camera! I highly recommend a visit here if ever one is in the area.

The Glamorous Life Of An Intern: Part Two

Concannon wine glass

Over the past few weeks I have been participating in an internship with The Perishable Foods Council of Northern California, as well as the internship with Culture Magazine. With the PFC I experienced tours of many different areas of the food industry across Northern California. The sites we visited included Fiscalini Cheese in Modesto, Tony's Fine Foods in Sacramento, Nugget Markets in Sacramento, Fresh Choice in Sacramento, Taylor Farms in Tracy, Safeway Research and Development in Walnut Creek, Foster Farms in Modesto, Acosta Brokers in Pleasanton and we finished off with Concannon Winery in Livermore.

Inside Concannon Winery

We were generously given an exclusive tour of the winery, as well as a laboratory experience where we performed various experiments on wines.

Myself in the lab

We finished our day at Concannon with an Italian potluck (I baked my Thyme, Orange, Almond and Chocolate Biscotti!) and a private wine tasting with the charming Estate Manager, Jim Ryan.

The gardens and vineyards at Concannon

The dinner and wine tasting were held in the stunning Wine Library with Jim and it was a fabulous end to a very enjoyable and successful internship.

The beautiful Wine Library

Unfortunately, the end of my California experience is creeping up on me. I wish it could last forever! My internship with the PFC has not only enhanced my CV, but it has given me a great insight into the potential life as a Food Scientist in Northern California. Perhaps this is not the end of my California experience, but the beginning...?!

The Stinking Rose - San Francisco, CA

A candle inside The Stinking Rose

From the moment that I heard of the "We season our garlic with food" restaurant, The Stinking Rose, I knew it was somewhere that I had to go with my father.

My father is one of those people who could sit in baths of garlic and still not get enough of it. I commonly find myself pinching one of his crisps, only to find (to my horror) that it was covered with garlic granules!

Garlic and empty wine bottles hanging from the ceiling inside the restaurant

Due to my sensitive palate, I frequently suffer from garlic "hangovers". I believe them to be worse than those caused by alcohol. Sometimes, my mouth suffers for over twenty four hours, polluting everything that I eat in that time with garlic.

My father had flown over from England to visit me. Although I have this huge potential for garlic hangovers, I felt that I couldn't not visit The Stinking Rose during my Study Abroad Year (here in California), especially when my father (AKA Garlic Lover) was here.

The ceiling of empty wine bottles

The restaurant had rich red walls smothered with photos and candlesticks, a ceiling with hundreds upon hundreds of empty wine bottles and a warm and lively atmosphere.

Freshly baked fococcia

With family and close friends, it goes without saying that we share everything we order. We started with the "garlic soaking in a hot tub": garlic cloves, oven roasted with extra virgin olive oil and butter with a hint of anchovy, served on an iron skillet. This had a surprisingly low pungency, that I enjoyed. It was the perfect accompaniment for the freshly baked fococcia bread that arrived on our table within seconds of sitting down.

"Garlic in a hot tub"

For mains, my father ordered the Double Mussels and Crab Sizzling Iron Skillet and I ordered the The Silence of the Lamb Shank with Chianti Glaze, Fava Beans and Garlic Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes.

Double Mussels and Crab on a Sizzling Skillet

The seafood was covered in this suspicious-looking but rather delicious grey sauce. Even with the bulk of the dish being shells rather than edible food, we still didn't manage to finish it!

The lamb fell off of the bone and melted in the mouth. The Chianti glaze was divine with the succulent meat, and the garlic was not overpowering. I struggled to save enough of it to share with my father.

Silence of the Lamb Shank

We were very keen to try the garlic ice cream, however, to our dismay, there was no room left for a dessert (I'm sure that the two bottles of delectable Chianti contributed to making us both replete).

Our evening at The Stinking Rose was a fabulous experience and I would recommend that everyone go and enjoy it for themselves. I had feared a horrific garlic hangover (wouldn't even a non-sensitive palate predict a garlic hangover after dining at a restaurant where they "season their garlic with food"?!) I was, however, pleasantly surprised, the next morning, to experience only a very subtle garlic hangover.

Ice Cream Sandwiches in Berkeley, CA

My latest addiction: ice cream sandwiches. I am still drinking boba tea but these have taken over.

Summer has now arrived and much of my time is spent outside, whether I am studying by the pool, "chilling" in the hot tub or enjoying a barbeque with my friends. The sunny weather is the perfect excuse for an ice cream sandwich!

As with every visit I make to a city, I always look for the best places to eat. One absolute must, when visiting Berkeley, is C.R.E.A.M (Cookies Rule Everything Around Me). One great sign of C.R.E.A.M is that I've always seen huge queues outside of the shop.

The cookies are always freshly baked and warm and there are many ice cream choices to make one's perfect ice cream sandwich. One Sunday afternoon in Berkeley, I visited C.R.E.A.M with a friend. We ordered a Turtle Cookie with Coffee Almond Fudge ice cream and a White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookie with Old Fashioned Cherry Vanilla ice cream. These were two divine pairings.

Initially, we decided to share the sandwiches, but I was so overwhelmed by the Turtle cookie that I could only bear to share one bite... (I am mean!) As if they were only $2 each?!

Homemade Boba Tea

Boba, bubble, tapioca. Whatever it's called, I love it and it's my latest addiction!

There seems to be something satisfying about slurping up a boba through the chunky straw and playing a mini game of oral-squash with your tongue, whilst drenching your taste buds with delicious ice-cold milky tea.

In my search for tapioca pearls, I came across some plain ones in the local Asian market, as well as some dark ones, of which, the packaging stated clearly that their use was for boba drinks, unlike the plain.

I first experimented with the plain large tapioca pearls. I found various recipes on the internet but ended up going along with my own... I boiled the pearls in water with a 1:7 ratio for about 30 minutes. The water became incredibly starchy, so I rinsed the pearls with cold water and boiled them up again, as they were still fairly firm and had formed only a thin translucent layer, which indicated that they were not cooked all the way through. I boiled the pearls for the second time for around 20 minutes.

The water became fairly starchy again, so I rinsed them again with cold water. Although they still had a white opaque inside, they were chewy throughout. They were significantly smaller than the tapioca pearls that I am used to consuming in the teas that I have bought. They also had a soft non-bouncy texture (perhaps overcooked). I stored them over night in a sugar syrup. The following day the texture of the pearls had changed dramatically. They literally disintregrated in the mouth leaving a rather disgusting soggy, grainy texture - fairly unpleasant!

I decided to try the dark pearls that were specifically for the use of boba teas. These were advertised that they "only take 5 minutes". I boiled these for the 5 minutes and rinsed the starchy residues with cold water. These were much more bouncy and chewy and had the consistency that I was looking for! Hurrah!

I am not entirely sure what the recipe should look like for Boba Tea. I made mine up as I went along and it proved to be quite a success!

I brewed one chai tea bag in half a mug of hot water, sweetened it with two teaspoons of honey and set it aside to cool. I then boiled the tapioca pearls for a good half an hour and rinsed them with cold water once they had finished cooking. I combined a generous helping of tapioca pearls with the tea and topped up the glass with ice and almond milk. After a quick stir it was ready to consume!

Most restaurants that serve Boba teas have a vast selection to choose from, with milks ranging from almond to coconut, and teas from black with spiced apple to green with rose. Most restaurants that I have visited also offer many "slushies" to go with the tapioca pearls also. My current restaurant-favourite is probably green tea with rose and coconut milk, but, as with all things in my life, I love variety, so my "favourite" changes frequently.

The beauty of following this simple recipe at home is that you can create it to comply whatever your specifications may be. I wonder what yours would be? Earl Grey tea with lavender, almond milk and honey? Green tea with molasses and coconut milk? Or, perhaps, a coffee with hazelnut syrup and regular milk? And, who says you can't add a drop or two of Baileys to it?! :)

Schlurrrrrrrrrrrrrp!