Sorry this is coming to you a day late. It’s been one of those weeks. Nothing major but a lot of it all. I’m also finding the constant bank holidays are a bit discombobulating. And the weather is refusing to settle so I’m constantly too hot or too cold, shedding jumpers and wishing I’d brought my sunglasses with me or looking for waterproofs and considering turning the heating back on.
I did see Finsbury Park’s first goslings of the season the other day though (there are now six, a foursome in addition to this pair). And also the pond’s resident terrapins sunning themselves.
When not peeping at the wildlife of north London and fretting about temperature control, I’ve been doing some serious behind-the-scenes planning for my upcoming supper clubs at Lizzy’s on the Green. They’ll be at the Newington Green cafe on June 3rd and 17th, July 8th and 22nd and August 5th and 19th, 6-9pm and are going to be delightful.
I’ll be offering a different selection of small and sharing plates each month. All will be seasonally-inspired and showcase a few fermented elements for twists on classic flavours. Allowing for tweaks based on inspiration/whim/what looks good at the market, I’m super-excited to be able to share the menu for the June dates with you.
Summer berry ice cream profiteroles, dark chocolate sauce, cultured cream, fresh and fermented berries
You can see a picture above of my signature bubbly, squishy focaccia and the snacks to go with it. Confit garlic oil for dipping, the sweet, caramelised cloves for smooshing on the bread (or just eating whole like garlicky sweets - I don’t judge) and my favourite fermented cherry tom flavour bombs, the perfect contrast to creamy burrata.
Tickets for the June dates are on sale already (get them here) and I would really love to see you there. They’re £45 per person which includes a welcome cocktail (there’ll also be a bar selling beer and wine). I’ll be sharing more information here and on Instagram about the specific dishes and the July and August events so if you’re not already subscribed to this newsletter then click the button below and be the first to know.
Moving along, today I’ve got the second of three kraut recipes for you. Next week is a cake. No I’m not joking. But today we’re staying savoury. This is a really nice pasta dish. It comes together quickly and is particularly great for this confusing time of year when the days can be suny but the evenings are still chilly enough to warrant a bit of comfort food.
It is unavoidably beige but I make no apologies for that. Sometimes beige and brown food is the best food. Not everything has to look good in Instagram. My inspiration came from a recipe in Ruby Tandoh’s book Cook As You Are. Her version was sparked by a tweet from Romanian food writer Irina Georgescu. Cooking is constant reinvention…
Both their versions involve cooking sauerkraut with onions but I’ve kept it raw here and used it as a topping. This isn’t to preserve the probiotics (as previously discussed, I think one can get too obsessed with this element of fermented food) but because I love the contrast it brings: cool, acidic crunch against hot, silky creamy pasta; sour and salt elements to cut through the sweet caramelised onions. Definitely worth a go.
Recipe: Pasta with onions, sour cream and sauerkraut
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 onions, sliced
20g butter
1 tsp caraway seeds
150g dried pasta
100g sour cream
50g cheddar cheese, grated
small bunch dill, roughly chopped
150g sauerkraut
Method
Put the onions and butter in a frying pan or heavy-bottomed pan for which you have a lid. Add a tablespoon of water and a generous pinch of salt. Cook over a low heat with the lid on, stirring occasionally until very soft and sweet. At least 10 minutes. This is a great way to cook onions: the water turns into steam and helps the onions soften fully. Once they have turned into a buttery tangle, remove the lid and turn the heat up a little. Let any remaining water evaporate and continue cooking until the onions have taken on some golden brown colour. Probably another 10 mins.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
When the onions are done, stir in the sour cream, cheese and most of the dill, saving a little for garnish. Give it a good few grinds of black pepper.
Drain the pasta, reserving half a cup or so of cooking water. Or, if you’ve timed it right, just use tongs/a slotted spoon to transfer it directly to the onion pan. I prefer this method as you tend to get more or less the right amount of starchy pasta water clinging to the pasta. Stir vigorously. The pasta water, sour cream, cheese and buttery onions should combine and emulsify into a creamy sauce that coats the pasta. Add a little extra pasta water to loosen if necessary.
Divide between two bowls, top with the sauerkraut and sprinkle over the remaining dill. Serve immediately.
Notes
I like a wide ribbon pasta here. Pappardelle for preference. Tagliatelle is also good. Any pasta will work though.
Sub in crème fraîche for sour cream and any cheese you fancy for the Cheddar. Beware of Parmesan or pecorino though as they are very salty.
I used brown onions but red would work too as would leeks. Any nice allium that will get soft and sweet.
Cultural Fun
I’ve been reading a lot of Emily St John Mandel lately. I loved Station Eleven when it came out so I’m not sure why it took me so long to get round to her previous and subsequent novels. They’re all great but I particularly recommend The Glass Hotel and her most recent one, Sea of Tranquility, which is its sequel of sorts.
There are sci-fi-ish elements to her work (Station Eleven is post-apocalyptic, Sea of Tranquility takes in time travel and simulation theory) but the literary tone is a million miles from genre fiction. It’s hard to describe but I find her style soft and clear. You know that sensation when you’re holding something but somehow it feels as if you’re looking at it from a long way away? Her writing makes me feel like that. Not sure if that comes across as a ringing endorsement but I mean it as one.
Aged 13, my friend Harriet and I pushed our own bicycles into a stream so we didn’t have to go to games. This is the idea of myself I carry when it comes to physical fitness so I am quite surprised to find that I have become the sort of person who runs voluntarily.
I have flirted with running before but had to give it up because of dodgy knees. Even at the time, I never actually enjoyed it. I liked having been for a run but that’s not the same thing. But my knees have cleaned up their act and another childhood friend, Emily, recommended the Nike Run Club app with its guided runs by proper coaches and now I kinda-sorta look forward to my weekly turns around Finsbury Park. I go on Thursday mornings to pick up my Growing Communities veg box (it helps to have another prompt to get me out of the house) and find Coach Bennett to be the most inspiring (he has big Ted Lasso vibes). Just putting it out there in case there are any other running refuseniks who want to give it another go.
The most recent episode with economist Ha-Joon Chang was really interesting and wide-ranging touching on bland food, free trade and edible insects and, surprisingly, reminding me of now-defunct pizza chain Pizzaland.
Bye! See you next week!
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In Good Taste is a Sycamore Smyth newsletter by me, Clare Heal. You can also find me on Instagram or visit my website to find information about my catering work, cookery lessons and upcoming events.
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Hi Clare: another fun and interesting newsletter - thanks. The supper clubs sound interesting, but there's a problem: Alison is vegetarian, as are 14% of the UK population (I cite https://www.finder.com/uk/uk-diet-trends) . Any chance that at some point you'll have a fully-fledged veggie option? Or even a fully veggie supper club menu? We often find, at home, that friends don't notice that we are only serving them veggie dishes. Another idea: with diabetes type 2 on a relentlessly upward trajectory in the UK, how about a low carb menu, without announcing it as such in advance, and see if people notice? And then point out at the actual event that all dishes are low carb?
Hi Clare: another fun and interesting newsletter - thanks. The supper clubs sound interesting, but there's a problem: Alison is vegetarian, as are 14% of the UK population (I cite https://www.finder.com/uk/uk-diet-trends) . Any chance that at some point you'll have a fully-fledged veggie option? Or even a fully veggie supper club menu? We often find, at home, that friends don't notice that we are only serving them veggie dishes. Another idea: with diabetes type 2 on a relentlessly upward trajectory in the UK, how about a low carb menu, without announcing it as such in advance, and see if people notice? And then point out at the actual event that all dishes are low carb?
Warm wishes, Stephen