I have returned to the motherland. My birthplace. The land of high tea, scones and cucumber sandwiches. I am currently visiting my cousins, Kindle and Mama Bear, in London. Supposedly this is spring break but the only signs of spring are a lack of snow (and thank gosh for that-beggars can't be choosers). I'm definitely not complaining. My version of London is synonymous with a never ending grey haze and the constant threat of impending rain. So, as I stepped of the plane, inhaling fresh, damp-smelling air I smiled, content, as the feelings of familiarity and comfort washed over me. London is my home in so many ways. I always tell people who interrogate me about my muddled accent that I was born in London, raised in South Africa and that South Africa is home. I stand by this statement. However, London holds so many memories and I have such treasured family and friemily still based here that it is a second home of sorts. And I've made sure that it feels this way by visiting as often as possible and letting my loyalty to tea, The Spice Girls and "Maltesers" malt balls be known.
The first thing I did after the short, painless flight (5 hours made quicker by watching "Made in Daggenham" and eating a log of Fine&Raw Almond Chunk chocolate) and arriving at Mama Bear's home, was drink a cup of tea. Not just any tea, I'll have you know, but Orange Pekoe's Japanese Green Cherry Tea. I was introduced to this deliciously fragrant tea by my cousins and it is only available from the Orange Pekoe store in their neighbourhood. So it has become a ritual to drink this tea in their company and whenever I dip into my own stash housed in my crowded NYC-apartment tea cupboard, I think of them.
After several cups of the above mentioned tea, and toast smothered in butter and Holland & Barrett's Apple Pear Spread (another London childhood memory of mine thanks to my mum who exists with thriving addiction to the stuff), I mustered up the energy to go for a run. Yes, a run. This is worth writing about because, although I have run recreationally for years now, I am terrified of running in new places. If I run outside, I like to have a route and to know where I'm going. A retired runner and London friemily member said that what he missed most about running was no longer being able to go for a jog in a new place and to discover it on foot. I am filled with trepidation, not excitement, at the thought of running on foreign terrain. And this anxiety usually prevents me from running and exercising when on holiday in a different city or country. Thus, I challenged myself to run regularly throughout this vacation. And so far so good.
With verbal directions from Kindle I set out into the on-again-off-again drizzle on a route that led me alongside the Thames River. Kindle warned that it was a 20-30 minute run from the house to Hammersmith Bridge so I might want to run half way and then turn back home again to avoid a very looooong run. I set out confidently, feeling surprisingly sprightly despite a lack of sleep and being in a different time zone. After about 10 minutes the path changed from cement to dirt. I didn't have the foresight to realise the rain would have given way to muchos mud. So, determined to follow through, I slipped, slid and lurched through mud puddles as my trainers/takkies/running shoes lost their white hue to deep brown sludge. What made me even more frustrated was being outrun by hardcore London runners who didn't think twice about striding through the mud as it coated their shoes, socks and tracksuit hemlines. I have never felt like more of a sissy. When I reached the bridge I couldn't bear the thought of a repeat battle with soggy dirt, so I decided to run home on the pavement, alongside the road. It was a looooong run after all, but still enjoyable and I felt a sense of accomplishment at having overcome my "tourist running" phobia.
Muddy running shoes-the proof is in the mud.
That's enough self-praise for one day. Onto the food...We visited the local farmer's market this afternoon. What I love about this specific market is that it's small but quite beautifully stocked. There's an incredible market in Cape Town that I like to visit when I'm home. However, it's become a bit of a scene, very trendy and quite difficult to navigate without having raspberry mules sloshed onto you or standing in the remnants of someone's steak sandwich. So I think there's a lot to be said for smaller markets that showcase a handful of high quality fares and are fortunate enought to be successful without boasting the corwrds. We returned home to a lunchtime feast of hummus, caponata, lentils, beets, cooked carrot salad, lemon/garlic olives, pimento-stuffed olives, Somerset brie cheese, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel pate, baby vine tomatoes, and some other bits and bobs. Deeeeelish.
Some of the lunch spread.
I promised a recipe for homemade burgers at the end of the last post so here it is:
Mum's Lamb Burgers
500g ground lamb (or ground turkey)
1 onion
1 egg
1 piece of bread (fresh or stale)
2 Tbspns soy sauce
2 Tbspns chutney
Handful of coriander
Salt and pepper for seasoning
For serving: ciabatta wedges drizzled with olive oil and put under the grill, avocado slices or homemade guacamole, camembert cheese (or other cheese that slices well), onion marmalade, mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, the list is endless.
1. Fry the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent.
2. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk gently. Coat the piece of bread in the egg and allow to disintegrate slightly before crumbling it up into the egg.
3. Add the ground lamb/turkey, the fried onion (with any remaining oil), the soy, the chutney and the coriander to the egg mixture and mix well using your hands (so much messy fun).
4. Form the mixture into small patties and lay on a baking tray or griddle pan
(if possible, preheat the baking tray/pan in the oven before adorning with the rustically formed patties).
5. Place the patties beneath a hot grill
(Turkey burgers are 3 minutes a side, lamb burgers are about 6 minutes a side)
6. When cooked through (don't be tempted to overcook-they really do cook that quickly!), place on your bun/roll of choice and decorate with condiments.
The pictures of the burgers didn't do them justice so I'll close off this post with a picture of the accompanying homemade sweet potato fries.
No comments:
Post a Comment