http://www.charlescampion.com Articles by Charles Campion en-gb Copyright: (C) Charles Campion 60 http://www.charlescampion.com/images/logo/charles-campion.png http://www.charlescampion.com
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What an interesting idea. Why do cookery books have to look like cookery books? As one of my books slid down the sales chart to a level that really upset both me and my publisher (with sales that were euphemistically described as “slow”), one of the “comments” on the web was a rant about how silly we were to produce a cookbook without glossy pictures. Cookbooks are all shoe-horned into a format – they look like cookbooks, they read like cookbooks, they are illustrated like cookbooks. But hang on, this year’s autumn list has something genuinely new and it’s coming to a shelf near you. A brilliant cookbook by Andrew Webb that’s been disguised as a Haynes Manual. http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/andrew-webb-men-pie-manual-british-pie-awards-haynes-manual.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/andrew-webb-men-pie-manual-british-pie-awards-haynes-manual.htm Tue, 21 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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Over the years Cyrus Todiwala has set the gold standard for Indian restaurants in London. For decades he has been promoting authentic dishes from the Indian regions and gradually he has been joined by a handful of restaurants with similar ambitions - Amaya, Tamarind, Benares, Rasoi, Chor Bizarre... But sophisticated Indian food is still the exception rather than the rule. Recently a newcomer – Gymkhana – was voted the best restaurant in Britain in the National Restaurant Awards, leaving a long list of famous names trailing in its wake. One thing is for sure, Gymkhana is not really the best restaurant in the country (that ranking is a by-product of their voting system), but it is a very fine restaurant indeed. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/todiwala-cyrus-karem-seth-gymkhana-cafe-spice-namaste-tandoor-rare-breeds.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/todiwala-cyrus-karem-seth-gymkhana-cafe-spice-namaste-tandoor-rare-breeds.htm Mon, 11 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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Each year the Great Taste Awards grows a little larger. In 2014 10,000 products were tasted and assessed during nearly fifty tasting days. For the record this was the year of meat and a succession of magnificent ribs of beef, legs of lamb and joints of pork were brought out for the judges to ponder. The selection of beers has grown. The array of ciders is larger. As readers of these musings may ha http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/great-taste-awards-supreme-champion-white-post-dinner-rimpton-brett-sutton.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/great-taste-awards-supreme-champion-white-post-dinner-rimpton-brett-sutton.htm Mon, 21 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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If there is a ”Festival Season” it is now! Following the success of the Droitwich Food Festival – a magnificent gala dinner devised by Mark Hix using the best local produce on Friday 20th of June and then the town centre roads closed on the Saturday morning with over 100 food stalls selling everything from pies to beer and Indian food. This weekend (Saturday 28th June) the emphasis shifted t http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/festival-food-beer-street-food-bar-brewing-producers-upton-richmond.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/festival-food-beer-street-food-bar-brewing-producers-upton-richmond.htm Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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Belfast is a most intriguing City. Opinions are strongly held and that goes for the food producers as well as the politicians. Generally this is a good thing. When I, and a gang of assorted Great Taste Awards judges, chewed through half a dozen tasting sessions last week there were some splendid local delicacies – potato farls, smoked fish, wheaten bread, soda breads and awesome meat. Mighty ribs of beef aged in a chamber lined with bricks of Himalayan salt. Good bacon, but profoundly ordinary sausages. The run of the mill Northern Irish sausage is a sad, pink, fatty, tough-skinned little chipolata, and despite the evocative name they have for them in Armagh (where chipolatas are known as “hangover sausages”), the bangers in N.I. tend to disppoint. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/ox-belfast-stephen-toman-garlic-scapes-alain-kerloch-arpege-great-taste-awards.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/ox-belfast-stephen-toman-garlic-scapes-alain-kerloch-arpege-great-taste-awards.htm Sat, 07 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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As the differences between the seasons blur, the broad bean remains one of the jewels in the greengrocer’s crown. Businessmen on the other side of the world may have flooded our supermarkets with asparagus cut in Mexico a week or so before the British crop was ready, but now we should be rejoicing in the first young broad beans. It is ironic that, when dried, the broad bean becomes the fava bean, popular in the Middle East and Mediterranean as a humble food for peasant farmers that would last through even the toughest winter. When eaten young, the broad bean that was once a dull staple is building up its own enthusiastic following. http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/broad-beans-skins-chefs-fava-middle-east-mediterranean.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/broad-beans-skins-chefs-fava-middle-east-mediterranean.htm Sun, 25 May 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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Bell’s Diner has been quietly going about its business in Montpelier (a somewhat less than trendy corner of Bristol) for decades. Despite changes of ownership and menu style over the years, Bell’s continues to qualify as a neighbourhood gem. As ever, longevity makes for a confident restaurant – and it was the perfect venue for the Guild of Foodwriters’ “West Country” lunch. Happily the Guild get together took place on the same day as the Radio Four Food and Farming Awards, (also held in Bristol) and it was a suitably refreshed gaggle of Foodwriters who made their way to St George’s Hall that evening. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/montpelier-bells-diner-tapas-bristol-jamon-iberico-food-farming-bbc.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/montpelier-bells-diner-tapas-bristol-jamon-iberico-food-farming-bbc.htm Mon, 05 May 2014 00:00:00 +0100
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Next time you step into a tube carriage glance around you, the majority of passengers will have their noses pressed to some kind of electronic gadget and it would be easy to infer that books were becoming an endangered species. But for folk of a certain age only the crisp, clean pages of a new book are the real deal. The Oxford Literary Festival (now under the aegis of the FT Weekend section) celebrates all that is good about bookishness. Furthermore, by striking an alliance with Oxford Gastronomica (part of the Oxford School of Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University) the Lit Fest gives due weight to food and drink and their role in society and culture. http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/oxford-literary-brookes-gastronomica-university-college-dinner-atul-kochhar.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/oxford-literary-brookes-gastronomica-university-college-dinner-atul-kochhar.htm Fri, 28 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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Imagine that you were an ambitious chef and that the devil took you up to a high place … to cut a long story down to size the Prince of darkness will happily make any chef who’s interested a deal, the cook gets a favourable rent and a very well equipped, often brand new, kitchen, but he also has to put up with setting up his restaurant within the bowels of a hotel. Before the chef has written his first menu the feel, standards and style of the host hotel will have leached into the atmosphere. That’s when having a separate entrance becomes so very important. Sixtyone restaurant at the Montcalm is part of the Searcy’s group and yes, it does have its own front door. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/sixtyone-montcalm-marble-arch-arnaud-stevens-searcys-private-dining-door.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/sixtyone-montcalm-marble-arch-arnaud-stevens-searcys-private-dining-door.htm Wed, 19 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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2014 is still a pup, but looking through last year’s files I came across the piece that I wrote about the inaugural Sausage Rollover which was held at the Red Lion in Barnes. In 2013 I grumbled a good deal about the clever-clever-over-cheffy sausage rolls that were entered. I grizzled about the “sausage” roll that was made by wrapping a lobster tail in pastry. I wrote of my longing for a simple sausage roll that was greasy, filling and perfect ballast for when the thirst was raging. Last week I got to judge sausage rolls from the class of 2014 and I am pleased to report that we have made progress. http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/red-lion-barnes-fullers-sausage-roll-melissa-cole-ben-canteen-chiswick-bitter.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/red-lion-barnes-fullers-sausage-roll-melissa-cole-ben-canteen-chiswick-bitter.htm Sun, 02 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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In November 2000 I breathed a sigh of relief as we published the third edition of the Rough Guide to London Restaurants. Over 350 restaurants and a page for each, a mission that involved endless hours hammering at the keyboard and several hundred meals some good and some bad. Old guide books make great reading, in 2000 the entry for the Cantaloupe starts “Property people keep saying that Shoreditch is the in place to live, but until you visit somewhere like Cantaloupe you may be forgiven for not believing them. It’s been trading happily since 1996 and is packed to the gunnels”. Crowded, trendy and noisy – pretty much the same indicators of success as prevail today. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/shoreditch-cantaloupe-spanish-merchant-tavern-angela-hartnett-pesto-goose.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/shoreditch-cantaloupe-spanish-merchant-tavern-angela-hartnett-pesto-goose.htm Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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The first Burns supper was held in 1796 when a group of the Ayrshire Bard’s chums held a dinner in his memory. Since then the idea of celebrating Rabbie Burns (incidentally he never called himself Rabbie, preferring Robert or Robbie) has meant that on the 25th of January Scots all over the globe gather to declaim poetry, raise a glass and tuck into haggis. This must make life pretty tough for the cash flow of haggis makers, some estimates are that 80% of haggis is eaten in a single month of the year. Chances are that when you settle down to this year’s Burn’s Night supper you will be enjoying a MacSween haggis… http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/macsween-haggis-edinburgh-burns-night-gourmet.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/macsween-haggis-edinburgh-burns-night-gourmet.htm Tue, 31 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000
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On the 5th December I had the privilege of attending the Guild of Beer Writers’ Awards dinner. As ever it was a fierce affair and we were swept along on a wave of different beers, each one seemingly stronger than the last. The large number of entries for each of the seven awards meant a great deal of reading for the judges, and in the end The Michael Jackson Award for the beer writer of the year http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/beer-writers-guild-awards-thwaites-benedictine-crafty-dan-microbrewey.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/beer-writers-guild-awards-thwaites-benedictine-crafty-dan-microbrewey.htm Sun, 08 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000
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Long, long ago the Spaghetti House chain of Italian Restaurants dished up spaghetti Bolognaise and “exotic” starters like avocado pears. We admired the straw-covered Chianti bottles and took them home to turn into chic table lights. Then, a quarter of a Century ago, a new restaurant called the River Café convinced London diners that Italian cooking could be both stylish and expensive. Then restaurants like Zafferano and Locanda Locatelli showcased Italian fine dining. Now there seems to be yet another surge in the fortunes of Italian food and the new Union Street Café is doing great business by the expedient of being just authentic enough and offering a slightly more formal dining experience than you’ll find when munching on cicchetti in ultra modern London Bàcaros. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/gordon-ramsay-stuart-gillies-union-street-cafe-italian-cooking.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/gordon-ramsay-stuart-gillies-union-street-cafe-italian-cooking.htm Mon, 04 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000
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Simon Rogan must be enjoying his new ranking as Britain’s top chef – L’Enclume narrowly pipped the Fat Duck to the Good Food Guide title. He recently added a second restaurant to his Manchester portfolio – “Mr Cooper’s House and Garden” and the French (his first mission to Manchester) continues to soak up good reviews although they mainly concentrate on the carpet. Because a hard woo http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/french-rogan-forage-dabbous-london-manchester-sweetcorn-tartare-.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/french-rogan-forage-dabbous-london-manchester-sweetcorn-tartare-.htm Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0100
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New restaurants continue to stream off the production line. Goodness knows where they get the backers from and indeed the energy and fortitude to go through the whole start up ordeal. The Arbutus group has an excellent reputation and very decent food, so it was only a matter of time before some of their alumni started to make waves in the marketplace. Which brings us to a new restaurant on the site of what was formerly a trad Italian on Great Portland Street. Now it is reborn as Picture, and at the helm you’ll find a triumvirate of Arbutus old boys – Tom Slegg (front of house) with Colin Kelly and Alan Christie in the kitchen. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/picture-slegg-arbutus-kelly-christie-great-portland-street-set-lunch-tripe.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/picture-slegg-arbutus-kelly-christie-great-portland-street-set-lunch-tripe.htm Fri, 06 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0100
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The surprising thing about Ireland is that pretty much all of the rose-tinted stuff you hear about the place is true. It’s very green. The Guinness tastes better. The roads are appalling and journeys take for ever, but punctuality seems less important. Everybody smiles and will happily exchange friendly banter. The houses, and in particular the bungalows, are saved from utilitarian ugliness by striking bright pastel paint jobs. One out of every two days it is raining – not chilly, driving rain but gentle, warm showers born on a light wind. That much-quoted description “a fine soft day” actually makes some sense at last. When it comes to food and drink, Ireland seems to reverse the polarity and you end up with drink and food. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/bantry-snug-chowder-mussels-pork-smiling-quay-plaice.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/bantry-snug-chowder-mussels-pork-smiling-quay-plaice.htm Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100
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It’s hard to credit, but this year even if it rains steadily until October we will still have had a barbecue summer. The thermometer nudges its way to 30⁰ while the Government guidelines advise us to drink plenty and stay in the cool. Truth to tell a real, hot, old-fashioned summer comes along so infrequently that most of us are not sure how to tackle it. We all eat less, which could be constr http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/heatwave-gavroche-roux-aircon-giraldin-michel-front-of-house-souffle-suissesse.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/heatwave-gavroche-roux-aircon-giraldin-michel-front-of-house-souffle-suissesse.htm Fri, 19 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100
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Even for the most dedicated diner, finding something genuinely new is a pretty rare event. The restaurant business persists in following fashion and all to often the next big thing is the same old thing leavened with a few “new twists”. Which is probably why the Grain Store - Bruno Loubet’s latest venture - seems so exciting and so shocking. It’s a simple enough proposition: for each dish start by selecting the vegetable components and then, if needs be, add meat or fish. This is not a preachy vegetarian restaurant, but it is a place that respects vegetables and that changes the focus of the meal. Approaching dishes with a different perspective is strangely liberating and can make for very enjoyable dining. http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/grain,store,granary,square,kings,cross,bruno,loubet,vegetables,cocktails,endive.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/hot-picks/grain,store,granary,square,kings,cross,bruno,loubet,vegetables,cocktails,endive.htm Mon, 08 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100
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Saturday 22nd of June saw the inaugural Droitwich Food and Drink Festival. Roads were closed and battalions of visitors shopped their way around the town. With over 60 stalls it was the Spa town’s largest ever street market. I had the honour of making the opening speech and announcing the winner of the sausage competition. A week or so earlier I had joined a panel of sausage lovers gathered at the St Andrew’s Town Hotel to sample all the entries. The standard was remarkably high and deciding on a winner no easy matter. After much debate the first prize went to the pork sausage made by Checketts of Ombersley with the runner-up being a Cumberland sausage made by the Meatbox Company of Droitwich. http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/droitwich-food-festival-checketts-meatbox-sausage-patrick-davies-mutton-vicarage-fruit-farm.htm http://www.charlescampion.com/taste/droitwich-food-festival-checketts-meatbox-sausage-patrick-davies-mutton-vicarage-fruit-farm.htm Mon, 24 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100