Eats For One … or more

I saw some really nice, fennel at the farmers market recently and it reminded me of a fennel cake I’d had in London, so I went to Cheese Plus and asked if they had “Beekswell” cheese (that’s what was in my notes). Ray, the owner, said they had Berkswell, a raw milk sheep cheese from England. I figured that must be it, and bought a wedge of nearly a half-pound.

Fennel and Berkswell Cake at St John Bread and Wine in London

St. John Bread and Wine is Fergus Henderson’s smaller restaurant in the Spitalfields area of London (northeast). We visited last October when we also toured France and Spain. I asked the server how it was made, it seemed so simple. She consulted the kitchen and advised that, “it is sliced fennel, layered with Beekswell goat cheese and baked. To finish, the top was spread with a mixture of milk and cheese and broiled for 2 or 3 minutes to brown.”

They served the cake with pickled walnuts.  (After making my cake, I learned that Cheese Plus sells Pickled Walnuts in a can.)

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Eats in Europe will account for everything I ate in Europe, well, most everything, well, at least the interesting things.

Our transcontinental transatlantic Virgin Atlantic flight was San Francisco to London, so England was the beginning and ending of our 2007 European odyssey. I addressed our first meals in Stansted Mountfitchet, England in England Edition 1. I’ll address our meals in London, just before flying back to San Francisco, in this installment.

Saturday Dinner
Mela: Indian Cuisine
London

We ate at Mela on our last trip and it was a new and satisfying experience.

Mela is basically a square, storefront room on the busy Shaftesbury Avenue in SOHO. I would call it undecorated. OK, the sidewall toward the back has a tile pattern, and the lighting is soft and adjustable, thick white tablecloths complete the décor.

We were seated in the back of the main dining room. As we sat down, Carol said, “I’m glad we’re not near that woman passed out in her own vomit.” I hadn’t noticed, but over to my right, against the wall, a woman sat, sort of sprawled, with her head on the table and a napkin over it. OK, I guess I won’t look that way. The staff seemed to be ignoring her. (more…)

Eats in Europe will account for everything I ate in Europe, well, most everything, well, at least the interesting things.

Our transcontinental transatlantic Virgin Atlantic flight was San Francisco to London, so England was the beginning and ending of our 2007 European odyssey. I’ll address our first meals in Stansted Mountfitchet, England in this installment. For our London experiences, see England Edition 2.
In the spirit of everything, I’ll start with the dining experience on the 10-hour flight:

Sunday Dinner
Virgin Atlantic Airline
Sunday night on the aeroplane…

I have no idea what time it is and I really don’t care. I know we left SF and we’re not yet in London and dinner is served. We have a choice of chicken with rice or beef with mashed or vegetarian.

Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes

Sliced Roast Beef with dark gravy and mashed potatoes in an oval dish.
Green salad
Cracker and a little wedge of orange cheese
Cheesecake, way too rich
Bottle of water
A real glass of red wine; poured from a bottle and refilled.

Not bad.

Monday Breakfast
Virgin Atlantic Airline

Pierre Creations egg and cheese croissant sandwich. It was hot and came in a cellophane wrapper.
Blueberry Muffin
Salad of 4 red grapes, 3 orange melon cubes, 3 green melon cubes
Orange juice
Coffee

It wasn’t terrible.

Monday Lunch
Dog and Duck Pub
Stansted Mountfitchet, England

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