01:
London: Speed; one million miles per hour. Work; at least forty five hours per week. Play; minimum. Stress; maximum. So what makes us Londoners love this city so much? Why do we put ourselves out there on a “high alert, oh my God I am about to convulse” level for the majority of the week, queuing for the train, queuing for for the bus, queuing for the super market, even if we want to go to the loo, we have to queue up at the cash point to take out a tenner, to buy some gum, to get some change, to then queue for the change machine, get two ten pence pieces and a twenty, to queue through the toilet barrier and eventually get to the blasted place!!!! Perhaps it’s that machine gun feeling we get when we are commuting home and are packed like sardines on the train whilst our face is glued on a b.o smothered arm pit and our right hand is shoved against someone’s crotch. London is wonderful! I hear you cry, London is great! It is, I agree! But why? Why do we remain committed to a city that draws from us such vast senses of hatred and stress, who’s pavements ruin our stilettos, who’s rain frizzes our hair? The answer my dear readers is given to you forthwith; Londres, Londino, Londinion is also a magnificent city that refuses to conform, Dickensian in one blink and minimalist in another. Transvestites and lady boys socialising with Sloaneys and toffs. That is why we love London. Anything goes. You don’t need to worry about what you are wearing or how you speak, where you go or what you do as all and sundry thoroughly accept, love and admire anything that is quirky and embrace imperfection as a sign of idiosyncratic excellence. London is like a Benetton advert, all creeds and colours side by side in a unified waltz to the cinema or a jaunt to the theatre. On one end of the road is “Maroush” for a shwarma and a kofta, on the other is “Mango Tree” for phad thai and tom yum soup. A cauldron of infinite choice, by the river or by the green, old school uniforms or East London grunge. That is why we love this city and why every arm pit sniffing, crotch touching, stuffy tube delay is worth hating, so that you can feel and experience the love of a city like no other.
28:
Quick Dinner for those Notting Hill Busy Mummies Amongst You:
Tarragon and Tomato Stuffed Salmon
Ingredients
2 salad onions, finely chopped
½ x 20g pack tarragon
2 x 500g packs prime salmon fillets, skinned
3 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
150g Frescopronti Italian Sun Drenched Tomatoes (from the chiller) or Waitrose Cook’s Ingredients Sunkissed Tomatoes, drained, plus 2 tbsp of the oil
100g Waitrose Half-Fat Mayonnaise
75g Greek Yogurt
25g pack curly parsely, chopped
Method
- Prepare and light the barbecue. Pull the tarragon leaves from the stalks and roughly chop the leaves. Lay one salmon fillet, skinned side up, on the surface and spread with the tomato paste. Scatter with the tomatoes and tarragon. Season and position the second fillet on top, skinned side down, with the thick edge of one fillet against the thin edge of the other, to create an even thickness. Tie the salmon at 3cm intervals with kitchen string to hold the pieces together. Chill until required.
- Meanwhile, beat the mayonnaise with the yogurt, parsley, salad onions and some seasoning, then spoon into a small serving dish. Chill until required.
- Brush the top of the salmon with a little oil and position, oiled side down, on the barbecue over a gentle heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the lower fillet has turned opaque. Brush the top fillet with the remaining oil and carefully turn the salmon to cook the bottom fillet. (To check the salmon is cooked through, pierce a thick area of the upper fillet with a knife.) Transfer to a board and cut across into thick slices, removing the string. Serve with the flavoured mayonnaise.
Recipe Courtesy of www.waitrose.com
25:
The Westbourne pub opened three years ago has become “the place to go” on a Friday for anyone craving a good old beverage after a hard days work or simply to enjoy a good atmosphere with plenty of young professionals and, let’s not forget, a plethora of male and female eye candy. Good banter, drinking and beauties aside, it was also awarded a place in the 2004 edition of the Michelin Guide having acquired a fabulous reputation for its tasty fare, ranging from rock oysters to pot roasted pheasant with bacon, shallots and oyster mushrooms. Fresh and vibrant in the summer and cosy and inviting in the winter, you simply cannot go wrong with this pub.
Contact details are listed below:
The Westbourne
101 Westbourne Park Villas
London W2 5ED
0207 221 1332
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