Reggae Burgers

It's the height of summer and if the blazing sunshine and soaring temperatures are anything to go by, then it is most certainly BBQ weather.

The Nottinghill Carnival is next month and if, like me, you really wish you could be there but can't, then I think that these are the perfect substitute to add a little Jamaican flare into your summer parties!

These succulent burgers have a wonderfully warmth to them, nothing too overwhelming and the distinctive combination of heat and sweet that Jamaican food is so famed for.  Add some sweet potato chips and you have a Caribbean feast.

Burgers (makes 4 good sized patties)
500g good quality minced beef
1 scotch bonnet, de-seeded and minced.  Leave the seeds in if you want more of a heat hit.  If you can't get hold of scotch bonnets, use habanero's instead although the flavour profile won't be exactly the same.  Don't substitute with birds eye chilli's - the taste will be completely different.
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cider vinegar (white wine or rice vinegar would also work, not malt)
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoons ground thyme
1 teaspoon runny honey
1 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons Jamaican Jerk seasoning
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon reggae reggae sauce (I used Levi Roots).
Good sprinkle of freshly ground salt and pepper

Salsa
50g mango, finely chopped
50g pineapple, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
4 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients for the beef together, apart from the mince.

In a large bowl break the mince up and form into 4 patties

Split the seasoning evenly over each pattie and work in, smushing it around and moulding it back into a patty shape.  You can just pour the seasoning over the mince in the bowl first if you want, but I find that the split and then pour method ensures a much more even distribution of flavour.

Put the patties on a plate and rest in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking.  This is important as if you don't let them rest you will find that your burgers simply fall apart when you try and cook them.  You can grill, BBQ or fry these - up to you!

Mix all the salsa ingredients together and leave to rest, covered, in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavours to develop.

When you are ready, griddle, BBQ or fry the burgers until just cooked all the way through, melting some cheese on the top if you are that way inclined.

Layer up your buns with salad and the burger, top with the salsa and add a little extra Reggae Reggae sauce to really make it sizzle.

Steel band playing as you eat optional.

La Trappiste

It's been a week since I'd seen Ellie and Claire.  A week.  Now that may not sound like much to you but when you are used to seeing each other at least 3 times a week this feels like an absolute age.  I'm not being melodramatic when I say that a few more hours would have resulted in palpitations and profuse sweating.  This was a friendship medical emergency and we needed to get lunch together stat.

We organised the date, I promised to do a bit of online research into where we should go (too many choices), utterly failed to make good on that promise (too much to do at work) and in the end Ellie made the decision for us.

Photo courtesy of imagekind.com

Photo courtesy of www.geograph.org.uk

La Trappiste.  Or, in, Ellie's words, the Belgian place that does nice chips.  It's an olive green cafe shaped like an scalene triangle that is sandwiched right between Chambers and The Chocolate Cafe.

La Trappiste shouldn't really work.  It's a bar, restaurant, coffee house, bakery (including bespoke celebration cakes), patisserie, breakfast joint and baking school all under one roof.  By anyone's measure that's a lot going on, and yet, somehow, it all fits.  By their own admission they are 'not just a resturant' and I get the feeling that they might be a bit insulted if you were to describe them as such!

I've heard mixed things about La Trappiste.  Some reviews have absolutely raved about it; others have described the food as mediocre and the service as less than stellar.   I've never been before so it was with a fair amount of trepidation that I made my way up the soggy highstreet one Sunday afternoon, trying to keep my umbrella the right way round (umbrella's and Canterbury don't mix.  We always tell the students not to bother and just bring a hooded coat - I don't know why I don't listen to our own words of wisdom) and wondering where on earth everybody was.  It was the last weekend in January and the city appeared deserted.  This could have been the torrential rain or the fact that most people were waiting to be paid, but it was a little eerie how quiet everywhere was.

I got a text just as I was running up the highstreet to say that the girls were upstairs in the gallery.  This space is huge, with a glass floor that you can look through to see people below in the bar (don't stand on it wearing a skirt), a huge glass ceiling that just pours light in and a terrace that acts as a suntrap in the summertime overlooking the bustling highstreet.

Decor wise.  It's...eclectic.  The life size sculpture of Botticelli's Birth of Venus hanging on the wall complete with painted toe ring, with her modesty covered by what looks like a cheap nightie bought in a charity shop and painted, was just weird.  I'm not an artist but this was just baffling.

 

The rest of the decor was along similar lines and just made me a bit puzzled.  The murals crossed greco-roman mythology and attitudes with early Christian monastic engravings, all in a tribute to beer. Downstairs felt more in keeping with the continental feel of the restaurant, with mismatched booths padded in green leather and wood fixtures.  The decor does makes you smile which I like.  The longer I sat upstairs the more I loved it.  It's nice to see somewhere where there is a ton of personality and clearly a huge amount of effort has gone into hand painting the walls.

In the toilets (what is it about Canterbury's restaurant toilets that always have the interesting features?) there are stone carved murals which have the appearance of having been uncovered and preserved.  It would have been nice to have had a bit of background information to these but alas, I could find none.  As a side note in the toilets they also have a big bag of useful things for parents with babies when they need to change them, like wet wipes and spare nappies.  It's a really thoughtful little touch - I'm not sure if they have them in the men's as well, but I would hope so (is it obvious that I work in an equality field?).  In case you were wondering, I don't normally take my camera to the toilet.  I just came out to get it when I saw the wall murals.

So anyway, enough of what the place looked like, onto the food!  First up, the drinks menu, which also gave a little bit of background to La Trappiste.  I love the fact that you can get traditional drinks like dandelion and burdock or sarsaparilla here.  It makes it feel a bit more olde worlde. 

The menu is enormous, with oysters and pigeon breast to burgers and Belgian beef stew, fish and chips, steak frites, risotto, tarts and of course mussel pots in a variety of flavour options.  Claire went for the traditional moules frites with garlic, white wine and cream.

I went for the BBQ pulled pork and cheese roll with chips and jalapeno's.

While Ellie went for a burger in a foccacio bun.  All the meals were simple, straightforward and filling with good flavours.   My pork could have done with a little more heat and the jalapeno's a little more vinegar to cut through the sweetness of the BBQ pork but it was still tasty.  Claire's mussels were fresh, plump and tasted of the sea and Ellie's burger was cooked perfectly and clearly freshly made. 

After having our scraped clean plates cleared away we then moved onto dessert from the patisserie counter.  I can't exactly remember what Ellie had but there was chocolate and raspberry mousse involved.  It was nice but again I could have done with more fruit kick and a bit more bitterness in the chocolate (I pinched a couple of forkfuls off her). I'm a bit hard to please with regards to patisserie as, to be honest, I'm not that big a fan of it (I would much rather have a hot chocolate fudge brownie or a slice of lemon tart, hence the reason I didn't order dessert and just pinched a taste of the others to try it) so I'm probably being unfair here! Claire had Coffee Choux which, I must admit was divine, and just look at that delicate piping work.  Again I only had a taste as I don't normally like cream cakes but this was lovely.

We stayed and chatted all afternoon as the rain pounded down outside until the light started to fade slightly and we realised with shock we had been sat there for coming up to three hours.  All credit to the staff, they were attentive and ensured we weren't left waiting for service without crowding us or making us feel like we had to leave.  To be honest, there was barely anyone else there so I would have been irritated if we had been forced out!  It may be different when there is greater pressure on tables.

Overall, it's not the best lunch I have ever had in Canterbury but it was also certainly not the worst by a long stretch and it was reasonably priced.   I feel a bit of a soft spot for La Trappiste.  It is quirky and has character and I like that about it.  Would I come back again?  Absolutely - I want to road test the steak and that huge beer and ale selection I spied behind the bar as we left...

The Shakespeare

One of the benefits about taking a week off work to focus on a play is the chance to meet up with friends for lunch who are also involved in the play.  A midweek lunch out in town feels rather decadent and gave me the chance to have a good gossip and also try out The Shakespeare, the new kid on the block.  The original plan had been to go to Chapel Down in Tenterden but I had a vet's appointment in the afternoon and didn't want to risk being too far from Canterbury.

I've heard about The Shakespeare from a few people.  Rachel tweeted me to ask if I had been yet and reviewed it shortly afterwards on her blog.  At a games night a few friends were raving about the burgers and it seems to have a generally good reputation.  It's run by the same people who run The Parrot and Ye Olde Bev, two pubs I have also featured on the blog before.

It used to be the Irish bar in town, Casey's with a bit of a reputation as a student bar with live music but it has had a facelift and a complete menu overhaul and it is rather more grown up these days!  The pub is located on Butchery Lane, which apparently was called Golden Angel Lane until the angel was stolen in the C18.  It has long been a popular destination for wandering minstrels, and as an am-dram girl I was also intrigued to discover that the building, built in 1504, was originally a theatre and is one of the only surviving Tudor examples left after Cromwell had most of the theatres in England destroyed in his puritanical cleanse.

Claire and I popped in at around midday and I'm glad we got there quite early as 30 minutes later the place was packed.

I really like the vibe they have gone for - the courtyard has tried to capture the feel of a Victorian market and the interior feels like a cosy cow shed.   I'm a big fan of the old milk can bar stools!

It is clear that The Shakespeare prides itself on it's food offering; as you walk in the blackboard  proclaims all the local suppliers that provide the ingredients for the menu.  The food choices are extremely appetising, with huge sandwiches and sharing platters on offer alongside traditional British pub food (the seafood board and the butcher's platter were both tempting).  It's proper pub grub that has been given a gourmet twist and it reads extremely well.  The black pudding and smoked bacon croquettes with apple and pear chutney and the salt and vinegar chicken wings both caught my eye but after all the recommendations I had been given, I had to go for a burger.

I chose the classic beef burger in a toasted brioche bun with lettuce, mayo, onion, dill pickle, tomato, coleslaw and chunky chips and I added Sussex goat's cheese and bacon jam, a Shakespeare invention.  It came with tarragon ketchup and was beautifully cooked.  This was one of the best burgers I have ever eaten.

For those of you who like a burger challenge you could go for Shylock's Pound; a double beef steak burger with pulled pork, smoked cheddar, bacon, BBQ sauce and onion rings.  Better come in hungry!

My only criticism of this place is that it seems to be really hard to get food at dinner time.  I can't find any information about their serving hours but friends who tried to eat here said that they couldn't get food after 6pm, which for people who work 9-5  (on paper at least as lets face it, it's more likely to be 8-6.30) just isn't an option.  Hopefully this is just as they get themselves fully established as I know a lot of my friends would love to come here for an evening meal.

The pub is located just off the high street, by the Cathedral so if you are around and doing the tourist stuff in Canterbury you should consider checking it out for a meal.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

Food Fest

The Canterbury Food and Drink Festival has become a bit of an annual tradition for us.  Every year Steve and I make sure we get to the Dane John Gardens that run across the edge of the City to partake in the delights of fantastic street food, shopping, arts, crafts and gifts.  For me the arrival of the Food Festival also symbolises the end of summer and the start of autumn with the first leaves starting to fall but the weather still warm enough not to need a coat or heavy jumpers.

The Fayre has become a bit of a local institution.  It used to be a Euro fayre with stands filled with smoked sausage and French cheeses but recently it has moved away from that and become a celebration of local produce and local artisans.

Each year it has a slightly different set up as the organisers constantly tweak it to make it better and better.

This year had a much stronger food focus, something I was more than happy with!

One of the things I love about the fayre is the tendency to bump into people you know.  Just walking through I ran into members of the Players, old work colleagues and the occasional person I had to duck behind a tree to avoid! 

There is a technique to the Fayre.  Start at one end and work your way to the far end, checking out all the stands as you go.  This is essential as there is no way you could take advantage of all the food on offer, unless you fancy being rolled out of the park as the gates close behind you!

We were starving so quickly made our way through the crowds, taking mental notes of everything that looked promising.  A quick stop at the Green Hop Tent and the Festival Bar for liquid refreshment was allowed though.  This tent is a collaboration of over 40 local brewers brewing locally grown hops within 4 hours of picking.

I had a half pint of the Darkstar Hophead, a light golden ale which claimed to have elderflower overtones which really intrigued me.  It was delicious, light and refreshing and, as someone who doesn't normally enjoy ale, for me it was quite an eye opener!

What you can't see is that this is less than a third of the speciality ales and ciders on offer.  To the left of the picture there was the true Green Hop tent; three tiers of barrels stretching the length of the marquee; there must have been about 30 different varieties in total and a board filled with options to choose from.  This was also where the bar scrummage was occurring though and being short I tend to try to avoid those!

Drinks in hand it was time to hunt down food.  There was a dizzying array of options, Italian from Carluccio's, goat curry, paella, hog roast, tapas from the Seychelles, even fish and chips from Rock Salt in Folkestone, an outstanding seafood restaurant that is on my 'to eat list'.

The second I saw this stand though I was sold.

It also had one of the longest queues I had seen but with a menu like that, I didn't care and neither did the people we were with!  We joined the queue and made our way patiently to the front.  I handed over my £5 and got this handed back to me

A venison, red wine and juniper berry burger with rocket and caramalised onion.  It was so good!  Ellie tucked into venison chilli, RV had the wood pigeon wrap and Claire got her teeth stuck into the pulled boar whilst Steve went looking for a decent pasty.  

Conversation stopped.

Luckily the Buskers stage was there to entertain us as we kept eating.

Feeling refreshed we carried on around the fayre.  I was tempted by the iced spiced cider from the Kent Cider Company but we were going out drinking later that evening so I thought I should try and keep a clear head for the time being!

All over the park were people sat tucking into their snacks from the various food stands.  One thing that the fayre has learnt over the years is that there can never be too many picnic benches!

After finishing our meals we worked our way to the food stalls to see what goodies were on offer to purchase.

I think I have found the next sweet trend - flavoured marshmallows!

They were really, really sweet - probably a bit too sweet for me but I can imagine how nice they would be floating on the top of a mug of really bitter hot chocolate on a cold winters night wrapped in flannel pyjamas and big slipper socks. 

I made my way in a fairly determined manner to one of my favourite stands - the flavoured oil and vinegars.  Every year I gravitate towards them (the pomegranate balsamic vinegar is just out of this world) and this year I finally got myself a bottle of their chilli oil which is hands down the best chilli oil I have ever tried.  The fact that you are given free reign to dip breads into the different samples is an extra bonus.  In fact the amount of free tasters you get at the fayre is pretty fantastic, you could easily fill up without purchasing a single item!

I also discovered a new stand this year.  The flavoured gin stand.  It WOULD be me who found it wouldn't it?!  I tried a sample of the raspberry gin, marched over to Claire and dragged her in for a taste.  RV followed suite and 30 seconds later two bottles had been purchased.

They also did flavoured brandy and vodka.  I made sure I sampled them all - to be sure of consistency of quality you understand.

We continued our meander around the fayre, occasionally distracted by the livestock

And various goodies on offer

As well as the continuous live music from the bandstand in the heart of the gardens.  Music ranged from folk to rock and everything in between, with people dancing in front of the bandstand, drinks in one hand and more often than not a burger in the other.

After listening for a little bit we went in search of something sweet to follow on from the burgers.  Steve stopped for crepes and unable to decide between two went for one with lemon and sugar and one with golden syrup whilst the rest of us shared a bag of freshly cooked doughnuts.

Finally we decided to make our way back out of the fayre and check out the artisan stalls at the far end of the gardens past the fountain

And past Little Lounge, the kids corner run by the same folk who run Lounge on the Farm, the local (huge) summer music festival and who used to run one of my favourite restaurants, The Farmhouse, which has since sadly closed. 

Finally we came to the artisan crafts - leather goods, rattan weaving and fair trade clothing as well as the most amazing wood sculptures, which, given the space (and the money) I would gladly have invested in!

Food Fayre, you are one of the highlights of my year.  Thank you for being awesome again and I will see you next autumn!