(Not up for the chitchat? Completely get it. Click the email title to go to a web-based version then jump straight to the recipe or Cultural Fun.)
This time of year makes me happy (sunshine, blossom etc.) and also sad (fleetingness of sunshine, blossom etc.). I have been listening to Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals and Day 25: You Can’t Hoard Life made me realise I was failing to appreciate the moment by trying too hard to hold onto it. Got to work on that…
Nevertheless I am going to try hoarding some Spring with a view to adding savour to future moments.
On Tuesday morning I had a wander up and down the side streets off Green Lanes’ Grand Parade, helping myself here and there to blushing pink magnolia petals (never too many from any particular flower or tree) until I had a couple of handfuls-worth. I gathered a few cherry blossoms too - although by now they are mainly at the confetti stage so just fluttered off when I tried to pick them.
Raw magnolia petals are like spicy chicory, but when pickled their fragrance and spice sharpen into something like a sushi ginger. It’s really worth a go. They’re great in salads and you get a gorgeous floral pink vinegar as a bonus. Here are some I made a couple of years back:
Before we get there though, can I solicit your help on behalf of my friend Hadia, who wants information about the attitudes of millennials towards different cuisines as part of her masters degree research. If you are between 29 and 44 and have a few minutes to spare she would very much appreciate your input here: https://qualtricsxm9wkk3chrd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4NqAbEQRMYiYSqi
July supper club
Thanks to all those who’ve already bought tickets to my July 25/26th supper club at Lizzy’s on the Green. I’m still working on the menu - there are so many delicious dishes I want to share with you and so much great summer produce to look forward to that I’m having a hard time narrowing it down - but it will be my customary mix of seasonally-inspired snacks and sharing plates plus a showstopper dessert.
The return of last year’s favourite kimchi devilled eggs is a strong possibility…
Tickets are on sale now and I would love to see you there.
As a pre-teen my favourite colour combination was bright turquoise blue and hot pink. Those were the felt-tips that always ran out first and the obvious choice for any special occasion outfit. I was also inexplicably attached to this horrible piece of 80s tat:
A Popple for those who care to remember. Photo from here
But these days the juxtaposition that pleases me most is probably pink and green. It feels spring-like and classy; natural but sophisticated. Think William Morris wallpaper or Ladurée macarons. Food-wise: pomegranate seeds sprinkled on a leafy salad, the contrasting stems and leaves of rainbow chard, a rhubarb and pistachio dessert… Or today’s pairing: radish and wild garlic.
This is a super easy and quick kimchi, no need to make a rice flour porridge or anything. These quantities make enough to fill a 500ml jar.
Ingredients
250g radishes
50g wild garlic
20g salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon gochugaru chilli flakes (or to taste)
Method
Salt the vegetables. Wash the radishes and wild garlic leaves. Top and tail the radishes and cut any large ones in half. Put radishes and wild garlic in a large bowl and add the salt. Toss through to evenly combine and then leave for an hour or so until the wild garlic has completely wilted.
Make the paste. Meanwhile combine the garlic, ginger, soy and chilli flakes in a small bowl.
Wash and drain the veg. Tip the radishes and wild garlic into a colander under running cold water and give them a good rinse. Taste a piece. It should taste well seasoned but not much saltier than that.
Massage through the paste. Combine the vegetables with the paste, making sure each piece is evenly coated.
Pack into a jar then leave to ferment. Seal the jar and leave at room temperature for three days, regularly “burping” and tasting, then transfer to the fridge. The kimchi will continue to develop, even in the fridge, becoming softer and more sour. This one is best eaten young, within a week.
Notes (If Ifs And Ands Were Pots And Pans…)
I bought some wild garlic plants “in the green” a few years ago and they do OK in the weird shady patch at the back of the garden. I’ve left the plants to self-seed so they have gradually spread and now give me enough each year for a couple of batches of pesto or kimchi or whatever else I fancy. Wild garlic (aka ransoms) is available from farmers markets and fancy greengrocers but it’s most pleasing when you can get it for free. If you know a good spot, maybe share it in the comments? In north London I’ve seen a decent amount along Mutton Brook in Finchley and in the woods near the obelisk in Trent Country Park.
It you have an abundant source you could also make some pesto, substituting the garlic leaves for basil in this recipe.
Cultural Fun
A non-food newsletter I really like is Off The Records, which began life during Covid as This Week in the 90s but now has a slightly wider brief. It provides a deep-dive into various aspects of late 20th century pop music and is always a good read. This week’s edition asked whether Celine Dion’s Think Twice, as the last single to enjoy an “old-school chart ascent to the top” was the “last real Number One”.
It featured a history of the charts which sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. The first ever top 10 was in Billboard magazine, in July 1913, compiled after contacting 112 retailers around the US and asking for their best-selling sheet music.
Having seen the words “Snooky Ookums” I couldn’t not Google them. I’m only human. It turns out to be by Irving Berlin, Judy Garland and Fred Astaire sang it in Easter Parade:
But that came out in 1948, a full 35 years after that original top 10. A bit more digging revealed an actual recording from 1913 by Billy Murray, apparently one of the most popular American singers of his day:
And then I happened across Sheet Music Singer, the project of a chap called Fred Feild in Texas who is singing his way through late-19th and early-20th century sheet music and has his own version of Snooky Ookums (amongst 6,400 other songs). He doesn’t have the greatest voice but what a wonderful resource!
I just finished reading Ghost Chilli by Nikkitha Bakshani. It’s by a Borough Kitchen colleague but you know the rules: I wouldn’t recommend if I didn’t genuinely like it.
Muskan has never known why her family moved from India to New York when she was a child. She navigates disappointing friends, a confusing situationship and precipitous career in the online food media of the early 2000s, all the time with this question looming over her.
There’s a sticky sort of sadness to the book, clingy like a New York summer, but a lot of wit too, especially around Muskan’s work: viral recipes, listicles and so forth.
And I loved X Man, Jill Lepore’s podcast series attempting to explain Elon Musk via the science fiction that influenced him. Lepore is so smart and interesting but wears her learning lightly. If you haven’t listed to her previous show, The Last Archive, then do that too…
In unrelated news, James and I are nearing the end of our middle-aged quest to visit all five RHS gardens. We are off to Devon next week, finishing the project with a good old wander round RHS Rosemoor. We’ll be staying in Barnstaple for a few days so if you know the area I would love your recommendations for places to go and - most importantly - things to eat.
Bye! See you next week!
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Like you, we're lucky enough to have a small patch of wild garlic in a damp corner of the garden, so it's always nice to have some recipe inspo (for anything other than pesto). Love the sound of this quick kimchi. Also a big fan of pink and green together 🙌
Like you, we're lucky enough to have a small patch of wild garlic in a damp corner of the garden, so it's always nice to have some recipe inspo (for anything other than pesto). Love the sound of this quick kimchi. Also a big fan of pink and green together 🙌
There used to be a little wild garlic growing on Hampstead Heath but I'm not sure in sustainable amounts for regular or widespread foraging.
We're lucky up here in the North East - most of the woods are overflowing with the stuff. Even Jesmond Dene has kilos and kilos it.