Cibare
London’s Food and Drinks Magazine Issue Twenty One, Summer 2020
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Contents FOOD
REVIEW
Breakfast Ideas 4 Big Kahuna Burger 20 Sauerkraut Slaw 22 Brioche Burger Buns 24 Burger Sauce/Relish 28 Onion Bhaji Burger 30 Beet Burger 34 Courgette and Tomato Relish 38 Banana Milkshakes 40 Steak Salad 42
GARDENING Grow Your Own 58
BOOK REVIEW Fire Food 6 Byron 78
FEATURE My Perfect Burger Watermelon Margarita Cheese and a Pair A Bit on the Side Walk on the Wild Side
Stirling Coffee 10 Cue Point 50
16 44 48 54 80
CRAFTS Festival Crafts 76
HEALTH AND NUTRITION Work off that Burger
72
WINE Forty Hall Vineyard
66
Cover Cocktail The Negroni 1 ounce Gin 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce sweet Vermouth Add orange peel to garnish. 2
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I write this and today the pubs have opened. You can get your hair done again and go out for a meal. All whilst we take care of the people that are servicing our needs and we do what we can to take care of ourselves. I hope that we can all have a great time and still not be a dick! Let’s not go back into Lockdown please! This issue is all about burgers. Summer is coming and although for the most part we are still staying home more than ‘normal’, it’s nice to be able to cook something tasty and enjoy the sunshine (fingers crossed!). In true Lockdown style our cover is a cocktail, as I’m presuming you have all been drinking as much as I have and are always in need of something new and delicious! So cheers to you! Cheers to the NHS and all of you incredible key workers that worked so hard whilst so many couldn’t. Cheers to all of you that have been furloughed or lost your jobs. Cheers to all of you home schooling. Cheers to Joe Wicks! Cheers to all of us that stayed home. I reckon we all need a large one! Till I see you in the pub again soon! Eve x
Cibare
Editor’s Note
FOOD
The Fat Boi Ingredients:
Haggis Black Pudding White Pudding Sausage Meat Fried Egg Brioche Bun
FOOD
BBQLads Burger Ingredients:
Mayonnaise Shredded Lettuce Avocado Beef Patty Cheese Bacon Pineapple Beetroot Tomato Fried Egg BBQ Sauce Sesame Bun
BOOK REVIEW
Fire Food The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook By DJ BBQ
To distract me from this weird, scary and stressful experience, that we’re calling ‘lockdown’, much like everyone else, I have revisited old hobbies (jigsaw puzzles), started new ones (running who am I?!), binge watched box sets on Netflix (Tiger King obvs), and cooked. A lot. Fortunately, the weather for the most part has been great, so for us lucky ones with a garden, the BBQ has been getting a work out, unless you’re me. Strange because I grew up in a Greek Cypriot household, where dad is King of the BBQ and where rain or snow doesn’t cancel plans, it just slows them down a fraction. So, when I moved into my home, one of the first gifts my parents bought me was a standard galvanised metal Cypriot BBQ. These aren’t like the attractive egg-shaped ones with lids, shiny silver grills to lay down your burgers and sausages and lots of temperature dials. Ours are pretty much a metal rectangular bucket on legs with grooves
along one side where you can rest your skewered lamb: it’s what I’ve grown up with and the food cooked on it is always spectacular. But I can honestly say that I’ve used my BBQ three times in 15 years, sorry Dad! It’s always seemed a bit of a chore to me, but these sunny days and those pesky Instagram influencers have convinced me to drag it out of the shed and give it another go. Perfect timing as this month’s issue of Cibare is all about burgers and sides and, whilst I can happily prep and cook this in the safety of my kitchen, I had visions of being a mistress of the flames in my sundrenched garden. Time to make my dad proud, I’ve got this. And this has been the perfect excuse to review a book I’ve been pretty curious about for a while now - Fire Food by DJ BBQ. A larger than life catsuit wearing, exuberant East Coaster with positive vibe levels through the roof. The first time I came across him was when he was only known as Christian Stevenson. I was a
PICTURE CREDITS: Despina Mina
By Despina Mina
Fire Food sets out firstly to teach you the fundamentals - various techniques to set up your charcoal so that you get the best out of everything you cook on it. Once you have this nailed, there are five glorious chapters filled with excellent recipes to eat your way through. With that, my Cypriot BBQ, also known as a ‘Foukou’, was dusted off and ready to go. Getting good quality meat at the moment has been a problem, so whilst I champion eating high welfare meat, being on lockdown has meant that I can’t get to a good butcher, instead I’ve had to opt for the best quality available from a supermarket. DJ BBQ has the foresight to know that not everyone will be able to ask their butcher to grind up some chuck, flank, brisket, short rib, aged beef and bone marrow for ‘The Ultimate Cheeseburger’, so he suggests using ground beef with a minimum of 20% fat - important to get all the juicy flavour, which is a little more achievable ... for now. To be honest though, even without this meat combo this burger remains epic and has several elements that need attention including the ‘Dirty Onions’ - Dirty because they’re cooked in their skins, directly on the charcoal. Cooked for an hour or so depending on
the size, the heat breaks them down, the skin crisps up but the flesh softens and makes them taste deliciously sweet, caramelised and dirty! Whilst the onions were cooking, I turned my attention to the side dishes, smoked potato salad and green slaw. OK, confession time, I didn’t smoke the potatoes, I roasted them and they tasted great but I know the BBQ would have elevated the flavour. If you’re thinking of taking the short cut like I did, don’t. Go one step further and source the seasoned wood chunks, it’ll give those spuds that smoky edge they’re supposed to have. I’m always on the hunt for a good slaw recipe and this one is a true contender. Raw, shredded broccoli stems, fennel, sugar snap peas, pears and a jalapeño pepper - it was fresh, crunchy, full of flavour and a knock out. We had plenty left over, which gave the flavours time to intensify and taste even better the next day. Time to cook the burger. Part of the recipe calls for you to lay the cheese slices onto the patty and cover with a cloche. Don’t have one of those lurking in your kitchen cupboards? Neither do I, so I used a saucepan with a metal handle - not sure it’s the most conventional method, but it worked! The cheese melts evenly and quickly and before I knew it, I was ready to assemble - garlic mayo, dirty onions, burger, tomato, lettuce - all in a toasted brioche bun. I mean c’mon, you know it makes sense. After reading this book from cover to cover, it’s hard to find an excuse not to light up the charcoal. All I need now is lockdown to be lifted and my friends to join the party...
PICTURE CREDITS: Despina Mina
student living in a shared house and we’d watched him present RAD, a show all about skateboarders and BMXers. It was the late 90’s, TV in general was rubbish but RAD was addictive and everyone on that show was cool. Years later he popped up on Jamie Oliver’s YouTube channel with the same infectious enthusiasm but this time for barbecued meat. Fast forward to today and he has three bestselling cookbooks, and a huge following on social media.
REVIEW
Stirling Coffee By Emma Jordan
This month we’re looking at Stirling Coffee, whose aim is to deliver barista quality coffee to your home. The beans are Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance Certified and are roasted within two days of your order being placed. They also offer a subscription for £10 and will deliver two bags of freshly roasted beans every one to four weeks, depending on how much coffee you get through. The coffee arrives in low key lined brown paper bags with the company name stamped on the front. I rather like this: it seems authentic and fuss free. All the coffee we tried is very mellow and that’s quite a nice change. None of these three will blow your head off or give you a manic caffeine high, but they’re really lovely easy drinking coffees for people who like a bit of a gentle, unchallenging morning cup. 10
Brazil In the bag, the beans have an interesting sort of unripe and crisp alpine strawberry aroma. This does not seem to be borne out in flavour of the drink. From the cafetière, the aroma in the cup is milk chocolate. It’s quite mild, soft and sweet. The initial flavour is of toasted sugar and slightly singed candyfloss. The flavours are very mellow and the coffee has a watery texture with a glossy mouthfeel. There is not much acidity, although there is a slight touch of citrusy sharpness in the beginning and in the aftertaste, which is actually a bit zingy in contrast to the sweet flavours of the drinking experience. As an espresso, the aroma is the one you get when you open a box of milk chocolates; sort of sweet and creamy but there’s also something soft and Cibare Magazine
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floral about it too. The flavour is initially sharper in the espresso – maybe a hint of sweet lemon, but it’s balanced by a toasted hazelnutty roundness. It’s pleasant and not too strong. Honduras The aroma from the beans in the bag is one of warm spices and rich coffee. From the cafetière the aroma is one of milk chocolate with extra cream; again, it’s very gentle and mild. It’s a very smooth to drink, but light bodied coffee with mild milk chocolate flavours. There’s ever such a slight pithiness on the tongue giving a somewhat chalky mouthfeel. There’s nothing I would consider a high note in this, as the flavours are very earthy and comforting. There’s a mildly acidic sensation on the lips of crisp white grape, which seems to balance out the sweetness. It has a slightly gravelly after taste.
sugar, but it’s toasty rather than bitter. This expands into a crisp fruity flavour, rather like a medium white wine, giving a clean, refreshing flavour but not too sweet. It’s not particularly strong so it’s an easy drinking coffee. It leaves you with a long-lasting glossy mouthfeel. As an espresso the flavour is quite different. The grapey flavour condenses into a much stronger but not too intense sour-ish sensation that fills my whole mouth with the flavour of juicy white wine. With a bit of aeration some herbal flavours of thyme and oregano come through. The glossy mouth feel is still present.
The aroma of the espresso is slightly gravelly with undertones of chocolate. The first sensation on the lips is of juicy grape and that provides the initial burst of flavour. But there’s a very interesting and unusual wholegrain cereal flavour after that and an assertive dark chocolate after taste. Colombia In the bag this coffee is rich, gravelly and slightly fruity; it reminds me of rosehips. From the cafetière the aroma is of green grapes and perhaps a touch of unripe damson. There is something quite clean about it. It’s another light bodied coffee with a gentle milk chocolate flavour and notes of caramel with slightly burnt 12
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FEATURE
My Perfect Burger By Dhruv Baker
It’s all about the beef. Don’t even think about the trimmings and garnish until the patty is taken care of. Worrying about those elements is a bit like making your bed when your house is on fire (as someone far more clever than I one said). The beef. It’s got to be great beef and we have some of the finest beef in the world on our little, complicated island. For me it’s going to be ex-dairy cow every time as the animals are older, have more time to lay down fat and develop flavour in those big beautiful bovine muscles. Please don’t buy mince from the supermarket for your burgers and worse still don’t buy pre-pressed patties. If you’re serious about burgers, invest the time and the rewards will be well worth it when the time comes to reap those beefy benefits. Get to know your local butcher, tell him 16
what you are wanting to do. Try and get meat with some age, local ideally (or as local as possible, certainly not the stuff flown to us from thousands of miles away). Then onto the cuts. You can ignore all the Hollywood cuts - the fillets and rib-eyes and sirloins. There’s simply no need to go for these, instead go for the harder working, less expensive and seemingly less sexy cuts (for me these often-overlooked ones, ARE the sexy cuts). Chuck and brisket are ideal for this. Now you have thought about your beef we have to focus on fat. You cannot talk burgers without talking fat. Despite being reviled for decades, fat MAKES the burger. It adds flavour, moisture and will be what ultimately helps you get to your ideal party. I think a ratio of 70 lean to 30 fat is perfect (coincidentally Cibare Magazine
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the golden ratio for salami, the natural ratio in coppa and generally a good rule of thumb). If the cuts you are using are leaner, ask your butcher for some good quality beef fat (minced) and run through the lean. Some cuts which can be harder work on your jaws as a steak are perfect for patties as the mincing does the hard work for you, leaving you with all the positives, flavour and bite, without the textural downsides. If your butcher will mince to order then go for a medium plate and run through twice. If you are going to be making a habit of creating your own burgers (and I suggest you do) then look into investing in an inexpensive meat grinder for home use - you’ll thank me later, trust me. Once minced, measure the meat into the desired weight (120 to 150 grams is a decent guideline) and form into patties. Either with your hands or using a burger press, but do not over work the mince. Keep it cold and firmly press into a ball then, pressing down onto a board, form your patties. Don’t worry about smooth edges, those little nuggets of crispy, seared, charred goodness that rough edges deliver are a thing of beauty.
out of the fridge about an hour before cooking to come up a bit from fridge temperature. Get your frying pan (or plancha if you’re lucky enough to have one) up to the right heat – basically as hot as possible - and press your seasoned patty onto the cooking surface, firmly but not brutally hard. Give it three minutes, flip it and press down then cloche it (a metal mixing bowl and a pallet knife will work just as well if you don’t have one) for the next two minutes. If you’re making a cheese burger, after a minute on the second side, add your cheese and finish cooking under the cloche. The steam will help the cooking process and will keep the patty moist. And that’s it. I’m not even going to go into the choice of bun, garnish, sauces, drinks parings as that, well, that’s another story altogether.
Seasoning. Don’t. Adding salt to the mince will turn the meat grey and will start to draw out precious moisture. Onions, flavourings, spice mixes, herbs.... all a hard no from me. I want to taste the beef in all its unobscured glory. When the time comes to cook, a liberal pinch of Maldon salt is all that is required. When The Time comes, get the patties 18
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FOOD
BIG KAHUNA BURGER By Jack and Hayley Rowbottom
I bloody love Pulp Fiction. Probably the best film Tarantino has put out there. And it is unquestionable that the greatest scene is that with the Big Kahuna Burger. Now, the Big Kahuna Burger is in fact a fictional burger. And, by the looks of that particular scene, it’s pretty much a standard smash patty cheese burger. But as it’s fiction, I’ve let my imagination run wild with this one, in an ode to Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield in that marvellous cult classic. We’ve got burger patties, grilled chicken breast, bacon, burger cheese and a griddled pineapple and onion salsa in a brioche bun. As Jules would say: “This is a tasty burger…”. Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Ingredients • 2 burger patties • 1 chicken breast, butterflied
• • • • • •
1 tsp Jack’s Meat Dust 4 slices streaky bacon 2 slices American singles cheese 1/2 pineapple 1 onion 2 brioche buns
Method: Preheat the grill to 180°C. To make the pineapple salsa: 1. Cut the pineapple into chunks for grilling, leaving a handful to one side, and finely dice the onion. 2. Sweat the onions in a cast iron pan and grill the pineapple until it’s a little charred on the outside. 3. Place the onions and pineapple into a blender and pulse for a few seconds until they form a rough paste. Stir in the reserved handful of pineapple so you have a few chunks in the salsa and mix well. To assemble the burgers: 1. Lightly coat the
butterflied
chicken breast with Jack’s Meat Dust or your favourite rub and place on the grill. Turn after approximately 10 minutes to get an even cook with some great grill marks. 2. After about 10 minutes, place a piece of American singles cheese to melt on top of each piece of chicken. Remove the chicken from the grill when the
internal temperature reaches 75°C. 3. Grill the streaky bacon to your desired crispiness, alongside the burger patties, until the internal temperature of the burgers reaches 55°C. 4. Assemble the burgers, cheesy chicken breast, bacon and a dollop of pineapple salsa in a brioche bun and enjoy.
FOOD
Saurekraut Slaw By Anthony Raffo
Ingredients: 1 white cabbage 15g sea salt 1 tsp mustard seed 2 bay leaves 1 tsp caraway seeds 2 cloves of garlic To finish: 1 bunch of chives 2 heaped tbsps mayonnaise Method: 1. Cut cabbage in half and then roughly slice the two halves. 2. Add half the salt to your cabbage and massage in well then leave for 30 minutes. 3. Add the remaining salt, massage in well then leave for a further 30 minutes. 4. Now add your mustard seeds, bay leaves, crushed garlic and caraway 22
seeds and pack tightly into a Kilner jar. Do not seal. 5. After 2 hours push your sauerkraut down again and seal the Kilner jar. Leave to ferment for two weeks. 6. When it’s ready to serve, take a few tablespoons of sauerkraut and drain it slightly, then add the mayonnaise and chopped chives. A great garnish for burgers.
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FOOD
Brioche Burger Buns By Charlotte Benbow
In order to make this recipe, you will need a stand mixer or bread maker. Make the dough the night before, ready for shaping, baking and consumption the following day. The recipe makes six buns. Ingredients: 220g plain flour, sieved 35g milk powder (add this to your water) 25g caster sugar 15g salt 1 tbsp instant yeast (add this to your water and stir to activate) 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk (save white from that one egg for the wash) 145g unsalted butter at room temperature 55g cold water Sprinkling of sesame seeds or any seeds you like for the top but that’s optional Method: 1. Using the all-in-one method, combine and knead all of your ingredients together in an electric stand mixer using the dough hook attachment
or in a bread machine. 2. Let it all come together and combine in the machine until a smooth shiny dough is achieved: I would not recommend kneading this by hand as it starts off very sticky, but it will come together to a smooth shiny dough after 15 to 20 minutes of constant mixing. 3. Take the dough out when it looks ready, form it into a ball using your hands to shape it or a dough scraper. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it in oiled cling film and leave to rest and rise for an hour at room temperature. 4. After the dough has proved for an hour at room temperature, knock it back using your knuckles and palms and then place it back into the bowl, cover it again and refrigerate it overnight. This will slow its rise, making it easier to shape in the morning. 5. The next morning remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into six equal pieces: to ensure they are as equal as possible you could always weigh the dough to get the total weight and
then divide that by six to get the exact amount for each dough ball. That’s what we do in the industry. 6. Using your palm and hand in a tight dome shape over the ball, shape each individual ball into a flattened ball shape and place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Leave a space in between each one so they don’t merge together in the oven and to help ensure an even bake. If you are unsure on how to shape a dough ball, there are many useful YouTube videos to show you what to do. 7. Now cover your tray of dough balls and let them rise at room temperature until they have puffed up. This could take as little as an hour or up to two or three hours depending how warm your kitchen is and also how cold the dough is. It is important to not let them overprove so keep your eye on the dough, not the time. 8. Preheat your oven to 190°c towards the end of your proving time. 9. Brush your proved buns with the egg white you saved the previous day, mixed with a splash of milk if you like, and then sprinkle on the seeds of your choice. 10. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for approximately 15 to 18 minutes until they are browned on top and no longer doughy. Cover the tops with tinfoil at 10 minutes if they look like they’re browning too quickly. 11. When baked remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, split and enjoy with a good burger.
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FOOD
Burger Sauce/ Relish By Charlotte Benbow
This relish is made using store cupboard ingredients and is the perfect ratio of sauce for any burger. Based on your own taste buds of course! Ingredients: ½ white onion very finely diced 1 very finely diced small pickled gherkin 2 parts mayonnaise to 1 part ketchup (start with two tablespoons of mayonnaise to one tablespoon of ketchup and adjust according to taste) 2 tsp American mustard Pinch of smoked paprika Pinch of salt and pepper And if you like it hot - 2 drops of Tabasco sauce
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Method: 1. Combine all of these ingredients until you get the colour of a well-known fast food restaurant’s burger sauce… shhhhhh it’s a secret. 2. Have a play around with these quantities until you reach your desired taste and make the sauce your own. 3. Use a tablespoon to slather the sauce thickly onto the lid of a burger bun and enjoy on your burgers.
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FOOD
Onion Bhaji Burger By Emma Walton-Moore
One of the things I miss most about life before lockdown is street food markets. Halloumi fries, fully loaded hot dogs, bittersweet chocolate dipped churros... some of the best food comes out of a truck on the side of the road or in a car park. But in these tough times we can’t give up. We can recreate some of the best, over the top, decadent, street food at home! Let’s start with the Onion Bhaji Burger. (If you want to be extra decadent you can add a samosa to the bun too - I promise I won’t judge!) Ingredients: For the onion bhajis • 1 large white onion • 3 tsp ground coriander • 1/2 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp cumin seeds • 1 tsp salt • 1.5 tbsp medium curry powder • 100 grams chickpea flour • 100 to 150 millilitres beer 30
For the raita • 150 grams coconut yogurt • 1/2 a cucumber • Fresh mint • 1 pinch of salt To assemble • 4 burger buns • Aubergine pickle • Baby spinach • 2 beef tomatoes, sliced • Fresh coriander Method: To make the onion bhajis 1. Thinly slice the onion and add to a bowl with the spices and chickpea flour. 2. Toss the onions in the spice and chickpea flour mix to ensure they are well coated. 3. Pour in the beer and mix well until you have a thick batter encasing the Cibare Magazine
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sliced onion. 4. Heat the oil to roughly 165°C. You can test the oil is ready by dropping a small amount of batter into the oil - it’s ready when the batter bubbles immediately. 5. Take roughly 2 heaped tablespoons of the batter to the pan and flatten gently. 6. Cook each bhaji for roughly 4 to 5 minutes on each side until crisp and golden brown. To make the raita 1. Grate the coconut and thinly slice the mint leaves. 2. Add the coconut yogurt to a bowl along with the grated cucumber, mint and salt. 3. Mix well and place to one side until ready to assemble. To assemble 1. Cut the burger buns in half and lightly toast. 2. Spread one half with the raita and the other half with the aubergine pickle. 3. Add the baby spinach and sliced tomato to the bottom half of the bun. 4. Top with 2 to 3 onion bhajis adding raita and pickle in between each (don’t be scared to stack them high!) 5. Finish with a few coriander leaves over the top of the bun and serve.
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FOOD
The Best PlantBased Beet Burger EVER! By Emma Sousa
This is a favourite in our household. The burgers are full of healthy low fat, high protein, high fibre ingredients but feels kind of naughty. A great alternative to meat that even a meat lover will enjoy! Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers) 400g plant-based mince (I like Natural or The Meatless Farm Company but if you don’t want to use this just add another tall tin of black or kidney beans to the mixture) 1 medium red onion 5 mushrooms Salt and pepper 1 tall tin of black beans, well rinsed and drained 3 small or 2 medium fresh beetroots 1 tsp smoked paprika 34
1 tsp garlic powder 50g breadcrumbs (about 1 slice of bread I use the crust of my wholemeal cut loaf) 1 tbsp soya sauce (if you have a soy allergy you can omit this) A handful of fresh herbs (coriander or parsley) 1 tbsp flour Method: 1. Put the mushrooms and onion in a food processor (or chop finely if you don’t have one) and lightly fry off in a pan in a teaspoon of quality oil - if the mushrooms soak up the oil add a splash of water (remember we’re keeping this as healthy as possible!). 2. While you are frying them off put all the other ingredients (apart from Cibare Magazine
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half of the tin of black beans, the soya sauce and the soya mince) into the food processor and blitz together - don’t over process otherwise you will have a soft mushy burger and it’s better with some texture left in it. 3. Squash the rest of the black beans with a fork in a big mixing bowl (this is to keep some texture in the burgers) and then combine everything together including the soya sauce: it takes a bit of elbow grease to combine everything together. Make a firm ball (a bit bigger than a golf ball), then place the ball on a piece of parchment paper and squash down till it’s about 1.5 cm thick. Then just shape the patty to a burger shape and put to one side on a plate covered with parchment paper to prevent sticking. When all the burgers have been shaped place in the fridge for one hour or overnight. Place burgers on a parchment paper covered baking tray in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 175°C, flipping them after 15 minutes. Place each burger between a toasted wholemeal burger bun with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced tomatoes and red onions and all the dressings you love!
If you want a garlic mayo then add a tsp of garlic powder Method: I usually blitz in a juice blender - put all the ingredients in it and give it a shake until combined. Then blitz until it thickens. Put any that’s left over in a clean, sterile glass jar and keep in the fridge for up to five days.
Best served with home-made slaw and sweet potato wedges. I make my slaw with a home-made vegan mayo - here is the recipe Ingredients: 240ml quality oil (light olive oil or rapeseed) 120ml unsweetened soy milk 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp vinegar (cider or white is best) 1 tsp mustard 36
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FOOD
Courgette and Tomato Relish By Dani Gavriel
Ingredients: • 2 courgettes, diced • 1 onion, grated • 2 red peppers, diced • 3 tablespoons salt • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar • 1 cup of white wine vinegar • 2 teaspoons celery seeds • 1 teaspoon nutmeg • Salt and pepper Method: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Any leftovers (unlikely!) can be stored in a screw top jar in the fridge.
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FOOD
Kids’ Corner The Best Ever Banana Milkshake By Samina Iqbal
Looks like summer has arrived early this year, and with lockdown being the new ‘normal’ a lot centres around food and eating. We are all cooking a lot more, and there is generally a whiff of barbeque in the air, if you go into your garden. Here’s a lovely accompaniment to a nice juicy burger. And whilst you are out barbequing, the kids can get on with this recipe, as it’s super easy, but totally delicious. Equipment: blender, knife, teaspoon, ice cream scoop, tall glass, chopping board Ingredients per milkshake: 1 banana 1 tall glass of milk (can be coconut, oat, soy or nut milk if you can’t have dairy) 2 teaspoons banana flavoured Nesquik powder 2 scoops of plain vanilla ice-cream
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Method: 1. Make sure you ask a parent to help you, or for permission to do this on your own. 2. On the chopping board, cut the end of the banana skin with your knife. Peel the banana and cut into slices, keeping the fingers that are holding the banana, away from the knife. 3. Place the sliced banana into the blender. 4. Pour the milk into tall glass, until it is three quarters full. Pour the milk into the blender. 5. Add 2 teaspoons of Nesquik powder, remembering to level the spoon with your finger to get the exact amount. 6. Add 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. 7. Put the lid on the blender. Plug it in and turn it on. Blend for two minutes, then pour into your tall glass.
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FOOD
Steak Salad By Ying Bower
IINGREDIENTS A Beef steak – sirloin or rib eye Half a cucumber, thinly sliced 2-3 birds eye chillies 3-4 tbsp lime juice 3-4 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce Small bunch of mint leaves 1 stalk lemons grass ½ tbsp sugar 2-3 tomatoes 1 onion 1-2 stalks of celery METHOD 1. Thinly slice cucumber, tomatoes, lemongrass, celery and chillies. 2. Chop mint leaves roughly. 3. Grill beef steak until it’s cooked to your preference, rare, medium or well done (I prefer medium) then slice thinly. 4. Put everything into a bowl, add lime juice, sugar and fish or soy sauce and mix well.
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FEATURE
Watermelon Margarita By John Gregory-Smith
Ingredients: Serves 4
1 kg peeled watermelon, cut into chunks The juice of 4 limes 4 tsp caster sugar 120ml Tequila 60ml Cointreau or orange juice 4 springs mint Plenty of ice to serve
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PICTURE CREDITS: John Gregory-Smith
Method: 1. Chuck the watermelon into a blender and give it a quick blend. If you like, you can strain the juice to remove the seeds but this is not essential. Either way, pour the juice into a jug. 2. Add the lime, sugar, Tequila and Cointreau to the jug with the watermelon and mix well. 3. Put a sprig of mint into four glasses and fill with ice. Pour over the cocktails and serve immediately. Cibare Magazine
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FEATURE
Cheese and a Pair By Sam Wilkin
We are in the midst of a global pandemic. We are locked at home and, let’s be honest, there aren’t many up sides to this particular situation. There is one however. We as consumers have had the opportunity to buy direct from producers who under normal circumstances would more likely supply the restaurant trade via a wholesaler. These producers lost up to 80% of all revenue overnight: while this has crippled some, for others it has been an opportunity to “pivot” and redirect their sales to the home market. One such producer is Anthony Heard, founder of Kupros Dairy in North London. Of Cypriot heritage, Anthony makes traditional style Halloumi that is unparalleled in the UK. A slice of mixed Jersey Cow and Sheep’s Milk Anglum, grilled until golden brown 46
and caramelised, maybe a scattering of fresh oregano and a few tomatoes sliced, drizzled with olive oil, lightly salted and left to warm in the sun (cheffy trick this, give it a go!) is a genuine delight on a summer’s day. I would go for a Mediterranean vibe here and take a punt on the resinous wine from the Greek Archipelago, Retsina. Piney and richly aromatic, Retsina could absolutely deal with the robust flavours in Anglum and would pick up the herbaceous note of the oregano beautifully. Anglum - £23 for 1.2kg available direct from https://kupros.london/collections/ frontpage Markou Skinopefkos Retsina - £14 available from https://oliveology.co.uk/ product/markou-skinopefkos-retsina/
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REVIEW
Cue Point By Eve Tudor
I found Cue Point last summer when I met up with some friends at the Big Camden BBQ. It was a great event, lots of incredible food and smoked cocktails. What a night. But there was one set of guys that stood out with their huge smoker sat in the middle of the North Yard filling the air with their smoked meaty goodness, and that was Cue Point. We actually fought over the food which was juicy and delicious, and they made the best roast potatoes (crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle) to have with their brisket that I’ve ever tasted. The perfect accompaniment to the meat that just melted in your mouth with new flavours that really catch your taste buds and make them zing. I’d never tasted these flavours together before and it was heavenly! Welcome to the Afghan/ Western BBQ! A time later having Insta-stalked Cue 50
Point of course, and for some reason just not made it to their restaurant yet, and Lockdown let me drift into a low point. All of my articles are all about me going on little adventures which admittedly I didn’t need to go far for, but for obvious reasons had me stumped for what to write for this issue. That was until my favourite BBQ porn posted up that they had been working on getting their incredible food straight to your door without losing any of their flavours or tenderness with a take-way, but with a very specially packaged box! Well I’m IN!! Nacos. Let’s just put that word there. Brisket, Lamb Brisket, Smoked Beef Short Ribs - all covered in these incredible spices and herbs and smoked for hours until bliss is created. Having been specially packaged so that I could simply heat it up, it’s ready to be placed onto little warm nacos and piled high Cibare Magazine
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with Afghan chutney, crispy onions, red onion pickles, jalapeño jam, sour cream and oh you could keep going with the condiment pleasures! Wow! Use your hands. Open your mouth as wide as you can and baby enjoy! Your eyes will roll back and you will make happy yummy sounds, I can promise you that!!! And of course, your fingers and chin will be covered in all kinds of wonderful, but just let that happen because one mouthful is not enough, that’s for sure. All the flavours work perfectly together. Alone the meat is simply wonderful. Head Chef Joshua has worked out not only how to combine his partner’s Afghani heritage flavours along with his experience with Texan, Guyanese, Brazilian, Argentinian AND British cooking techniques, but he has also combined all of these things into a new way of cooking altogether and it’s ingenious! This guy knows his spices and his smoker and is most definitely a force to be reckoned with! NOW having designed his food so that you can re-heat it at home, IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY!!! Cue Point is set to take over the country’s food box industry too, with their smoked goodness.
all, regardless of your beliefs, to eat this incredible food together. Sitting together and enjoying a meal is something that creates a bond between us. There is something about a meal, about breaking bread together that celebrates our relationships. Whether it’s as a family, friends or acquaintances, we are a community, certainly as neighbours, as a city and as people brought together with a meal. Cue Point is a place to come together, passing condiments and smiles, regardless of your religion, your skin colour, how you see yourself and if you are him, her or them, love is love is love. And what better place to be together at this time than over a delicious meal. So, whether you are able to sit at their tables or at your own, Cue Point is at your service! Bringing everyone together with a messy face and a full heart as well as a full stomach.
Cue Point is the box to order! But is there anything else I can tell you about Cue Point? Where do I start! The amazing thing about Cue Point is that they only use Halal meat. Now that is partly because of their founders’ heritage but also because actually the amazing thing about Cue Point is that it’s for everyone. The true power of Chef Joshua and Mursal is that together they make this wonderful cultural mix that is a true reflection of London, and why not allow our melting pot be even more inclusive and help us 52
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FEATURE
A Bit on the Side Something special for summer By Gillian Balcombe
With summer upon us and BBQ season in full swing, backyard burger parties will soon be happening everywhere – while observing social distancing of course! And while a lot of effort goes into the construction of the burgers, be they for carnivores, omnivores or vegans, the sides are sometimes a bit of an afterthought. So here are few ideas for summer sides that will please everyone! The first thing to do is make your Classic French Dressing. Take a screw top jar, and add the following: 4 tbps extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp sunflower oil 3 tbps wine or cider vinegar of your choice (I use walnut vinegar because I love the flavour it imparts) 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tsp Colman’s mustard powder or strong 54
Dijon mustard ½ tsp ground black pepper ½ tsp Himalayan salt ½ to 1 tsp caster sugar Screw the lid on tightly and give it all a good old shake till it’s well blended and you can’t see any signs of the mustard. This dressing goes with so many salads and can be adapted easily too, using different vinegars, herbs or spices to achieve complementary flavours to your own concoctions. You can even replace all the vinegar with lemon juice, which makes a gorgeous lightly flavoured dressing. Now you have your basic dressing, you can make the Mixed Bean Salad. You’ll need a large mixing bowl and a sieve. Gather together: 1 x 400g can of borlotti beans 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans Cibare Magazine
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1 x 200g can of unsweetened sweetcorn kernels 1 x 200g can of petits pois Half a red onion, finely diced 50 to 100g drained sundried tomatoes in oil, diced 6 to 8 canned artichoke hearts, diced Chopped parsley Classic French Dressing Drain and rinse the canned beans, corn and peas thoroughly and pop them in your large bowl. Add the onion, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and parsley and combine. Finally stir in the dressing – I usually find about half a batch does it. Transfer to a favourite serving bowl. While you’re making the bean salad, you can get started with the Asparagus Mimosa. Prepare a bunch of green asparagus spears by rinsing them and breaking off the woody ends – you’ll find there’s a point at which they break naturally. Cook them gently until they are al dente (not too soft!), cool them quickly in iced water to stop them cooking and set aside to drain. In the meantime, hard boil two eggs. Take about three tbsps of capers in brine and drain them, then chop them finely, along with half a shallot. Add these to about half the batch of Classic French Dressing and mix it up well. Lay the cooked asparagus on a serving platter and finely grate the hardboiled eggs over the spears, then drizzle over the caper and shallot sauce you just made, pouring the rest into a jug for guests to serve themselves if they want more. Alternatively (because capers are a bit of an acquired taste), just put all the sauce into the jug and let the diners help themselves. 56
You’ll need hard-boiled eggs for the Avocado, Egg and Onion Salad too, so it’s best to cook those while you’re doing the ones that go with the asparagus. For each avocado you use, you’ll need two hard-boiled eggs and two spring onions. You’ll also need lemon juice, mayonnaise and garlic pepper and Himalayan salt to taste. Cut the avocadoes in half, remove the stone, peel off the skin and dice the flesh. Pop it into a bowl and turn it in lemon juice so it retains its colour and doesn’t go brown. Chop the hard-boiled eggs, slice the spring onions into rings and mix it all in with the avocado. Add mayonnaise, mix it all up gently so that everything is nicely coated and season to taste. Once it’s in its serving bowl, you can dust the top of it with smoked paprika for a little extra kick. I was thinking about desserts that would suit, but your Editor and I decided that, after chowing down on all the burgers and salads, you’ll be pretty stuffed! So, to finish, I’ll just say slices of refreshing watermelon, bananas baked in their skins on the BBQ and marshmallows toasted on skewers to delight the kids, whatever their age. Enjoy the party everyone!
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GARDENING
Grow Your Own By Emma Sousa
As I sit and write this, we are just moving into a new phase of easing the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, which shocked us all, despite the fact we knew they were coming, but which strangely now seem part of normal life. It has certainly been a strange year so far but one of the good things to come from these trying times we are going through is that many of us have discovered how wonderful our gardens are and, for those without a garden, how wonderful being outdoors really is. There has been an online dash for seeds, seedlings and all sorts of gardening goodies. Compost has literally been like gold dust and during the peak of lockdown you couldn’t find it anywhere. I had dahlia tubers still sitting in storage in mid-May because I couldn’t get hold of compost to pot them up - which I usually do some time in March depending on how organised I am! People were literally going crazy for their gardens and what with the quite 58
frankly wonderful weather we have had during the last few months, those lucky enough to have access to a green space in the form of an allotment, garden or park have been very spoilt indeed. Of course, what has made this all much easier is that people have had to time to spend planning and working on their little pieces of paradise. This goes for me too, because usually at this time of year I am so busy working on my wedding commitments (I’m a florist for those of you that don’t know) whilst juggling the other side of my business, which is growing seasonal flowers on my little London flower patch. This year I have had more time to manage the watering and weeding and sowing of seeds, potting them on and planting them out… you get the idea, but what has also been lovely is having the time to plan my teeny tiny home garden vegetable plot and grow healthy seedlings (and not leave them Cibare Magazine
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to shrivel up in the greenhouse because I don’t have time to water them). Each night I have been there like a trooper, watering the vegetable beds before I sit down for the night, and each morning I am sowing more seeds and potting on the seedlings before hardening them off and planting them outside. It has been such a pleasure rather than the task it can sometimes feel like when you’re so busy and so tired, that I seriously could get used to a life pottering around my garden and cooking all the wonderful things from its bounty … nothing quite beats walking to the greenhouse to snip some fresh rocket or basil for our dinner! Another thing that has come out of the lockdown is that a lot of people have been experimenting with cooking and new flavours … and I love food! It’s in my top five most important things in my life and is one of my greatest pleasures (more the eating than the cooking to be honest). My biggest problem is usually not having the time to spend on cooking, so again it has been fantastic in recent months coming up with new dishes and just enjoying the process rather than rushing to get food on the table at the end of a long day.
using the space more efficiently - since giving up my allotments (again there was no time to manage them in the end) I have a much smaller space to grow in so it’s all about vertical growing and container growing for me. Spinach is growing in pots (keep sowing every couple of weeks for a continual harvest throughout the summer months), salad leaves such as rocket and lettuce I have simply been growing in small seedling trays in the greenhouse, sowing every few weeks and cutting them young and fresh as and when I need them: they are literally cut and then eaten within a few minutes! We have courgettes and cucumbers growing vertically up canes behind the outdoor tomatoes and broccoli plants.
I think gardening has been a real life saver for some - something to occupy their minds, maybe while missing their families and friends, and I hope that the joy of being outside and spending time escaping from our ever more stressful lives will continue now that things are slowly returning to some sort of normal (the new normal of course!).
The strawberries this year have taken off - they tend to do better the second year round as does the Portuguese cabbage we grow to feed our hens and make the delicious Portuguese Green Soup or Calde Verde as it’s known (two out of three of my kids would eat this everyday if I made it!). Various herbs are growing in just about every pot going - chives, mint, thyme, rosemary, sage and basil to name a few and planted amongst the beds we have pots of nasturtiums, which is an edible plant with a peppery taste to the leaves and the most beautiful flowers that you can pop into your salads - these have been sown as a sacrificial plant, as white cabbage butterflies will lay their eggs on these rather than on the brassicas. And although we did have a bit of a caterpillar infestation at the end of May, that seems to have disappeared come June thank goodness.
This year I have definitely focused on a more productive way of growing and
Calendula and chives grow amongst other crops as they are also supposed to
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help ward off pests. Sweet peas grow up the side of our hen house just because they are so beautiful and I love to cut them for our table - they are so worth growing even in a pot up against a sunny wall and they are so giving as long as you keep cutting them. The dwarf beans and runner beans grow towards the back of the raised beds giving beautiful flowers - red for the runner beans and lilac for the dwarf beans. It’s so beautiful in my little veggie plot and I can’t tell you how good it makes you feel to grow and cut and eat produce you have grown yourself - and yes, you might think, “Is that it? Is that all you get from all that hard work?”. Just remember you get so much more than good wholesome food - you get tranquillity and satisfaction and it’s literally like therapy - people pay good money to get the same results that getting out and growing stuff gives you. Whether you have a large garden that means you can spare a few metres to put in some beds or if you just grow out of a few containers on your balcony or by the front door do it! It’s so rewarding and honestly so good for your mental wellbeing. The act of nurturing something from seed to plate is like nothing else … it makes you feel alive. Ok, maybe I sound weird, but when you know, you know, right? Below I have some top tips for creating veggie beds without too much backbreaking work (maybe just a little at first) and a few top tips of having a more eco-friendly garden set up that you can enjoy and use for many years to come … - 62
The most important thing is to
choose a growing area that gets at least six to eight hours of sunshine each day. My plot is part sunny and part shady throughout the day but it just about works to grow pretty much anything. Location is everything and although my particular space is not the best, I make it work: planting the cabbage in the shadier part for example, where it seems to get on just fine - tomatoes wouldn’t thrive in that part because it’s too shady for them. - Beds can be laid direct onto the ground or in raised beds. There are advantages to both but I grow my veggies in raised beds and pots. This makes it easier to weed and maintain, they warm up far faster at the front end of the season but they do need a bit more watering as they dry out a little quicker than other beds. They do however seem a little less daunting than large expanses of soil that quickly get covered in weeds and I would definitely recommend starting with a few raised beds to get you going! - The method for both beds is the same - start by laying down a thick layer of cardboard (packing boxes with the tape removed do the trick). This suppresses the weeds. And you can literally put card straight onto grass, there is no need to remove the top layer. On top of that, if you are having raised beds lay your ‘walls’ down – wood or metal, there are a variety of things you can use. I have corrugated coated beds - they look really nice and they will last a long time but if you don’t have the money to spend on ready-made structures, some wooden pallets would also work. It’s important to make sure you line them so they don’t rot and don’t forget to leave drainage at the bottom so water can go deep into the ground rather than sitting on the Cibare Magazine
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liner. Sleepers also work well but not old sleepers as they will leach chemicals into the ground. Do make sure that any wood you use has not been treated with harmful chemicals - the idea is to attract nature not harm it! I NEVER use chemicals to get rid of weeds etc - it can really harm the biodiversity of your soil and wild animals or pets can become seriously ill if they touch or eat something which has been treated. Learn to love weeds - ok, horsetail or couch grass is not really a great thing to battle with but dandelions for example are the first food the bees will go for in the early spring so leave them be and let everyone enjoy them. Also, the leaves and flowers of dandelions actually are edible - Google it and you will be surprised how you can use them although as I said I leave mine for the bees! - Over your cardboard lay a good layer of compost (at least 20cms and 30cms if you can afford to) and over that a layer of mulch - well rotted manure or I use our garden compost. The worms will work their magic but you can pretty much plant straight into a newly laid bed with shallow rooted crops after it’s been allowed to settle for a week or two, provided the manure you are using is very well rotted. - The depth of your beds will depend on personal choice - if you want to grow crops such as potatoes or carrots that have a deep root system then you will need to have beds that are slightly deeper. For things such as lettuces, spinach etc you can get away with shallower beds. - I would always suggest keeping a corner of the garden where you can set up a couple of compost bins - so much waste gets thrown away otherwise. In 64
my household nothing ever goes to waste. If the chickens don’t eat it, it goes into the compost bins (we are a meat free household so literally everything goes in there including newspaper and dog hair - don’t ever put meat or fish or raw eggs onto the heap or you will attract rats). You can bake your eggshells and either use them to sprinkle around new seedlings to keep the slugs off or add them to the compost but only after they have ben baked. Every year we get loads of beautiful compost to top up the raised beds, feeding the soil and putting everything good back that we have taken out - which is exactly how it should be. So, once you have set up your beds and maybe paid for new top soil to start them off you should then be self-sufficient by producing your own compost to top the beds up each year. If you don’t have the space for compost heaps then look into getting a wormery - they take up much less space and produce feed much faster than a traditional compost bin. The key thing is not to waste anything! Re-use, re-cycle, re-purpose! - Collect rain water. Water butts - you can never have too many most councils offer cut price butts and compost bins because they actively encourage you to re-use and re-cycle. You can also use your grey water to keep the garden hydrated in the summer months. Again, Google is a great place to search for easy methods to do this. - Have little wild areas if you can - we have log piles, bug hotels (another lockdown project with my son), hedgehog houses (an upturned clay pot that has broken makes a great hedgehog house), lots of covered areas where wildlife can shelter and feel safe. Try and grow a few flowers amongst your Cibare Magazine
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beds - foxgloves for example come back year after year, tolerate some shade and are an early source of food for the bees. Borage is another great plant - easy to grow from seed, great for wildlife and you can use the flowers to decorate your salads or to add to your G & T or Pimm’s - it also encourages pollination and is great planted next to pumpkins, squash, strawberries or tomatoes. Chives as I mentioned before are a great companion plant to keep away some pests, plus you can use them in your cooking and they have beautiful flowers that the bees love too. I am also growing wild garlic this year - it has pretty white flowers and flat leaves which have a subtle garlic flavour and sprinkled raw over your food it’s high in Vitamin C … what’s not to like! - And just a quick word on wildlife ... leave some dishes of water out for the birds, bees, foxes, hedgehogs etc, especially with the hot weather that we are getting these last few years. Feed the birds (all through the year) and encourage them into the garden. We have so many birds that come to feed and nest in ours that sometimes the noise can literally be deafening at night when they are going to sleep, but they are such a joy to watch bathing in a tiny little dish. Please don’t forget our fellow animals with whom we share our planet, they are so very important to us and to maintain a healthy and biodiverse planet, and we need to protect them as much as we can. And as always enjoy! July Jobs at the Veggie Patch You can still sow this month ... French beans (last chance), sow your autumn and winter Swiss chard towards the back end of the month. Keep sowing salad leaves - rocket, lettuces etc - and you
can also still plant radishes and carrots this month. Keep watering and do regular checks for pests. Keep harvesting courgettes while they are young (or you will have lots of marrows!) and keep picking those beans otherwise they become tough and stringy. If you grow flowers now is the time to sow your biennials (foxgloves, wallflowers, Sweet Williams, honesty and Icelandic poppies). Most importantly get out and enjoy! Any questions you may have please email me at hello@urbanflowerfarmer.com
WINE
Forty Hall Vineyard By Katie Goodchild
Here is an English vineyard that holds people and community, well-being and mental health in its heart. Forty Hall Vineyard was first established as a social enterprise in 2009. It is run by volunteers from Enfield who are crucial to its survival - or, is it the vineyard that is crucial to volunteers suffering with mental health disorders? “The Borough of Enfield has the 12th highest rate of depression in London and is home to more than 32,000 adults living with a mental health disorder; the NHS spends over £98 million a year treating depression and anxiety in Enfield.” Some 160 volunteers at FHV have included individuals who suffer with anxiety and depression, isolation, learning difficulties and abuse at home. However, these same volunteers have 66
later reported feeling more positive and more socially connected, with improved mental health and well-being. In 2009, mental health was not widely discussed or documented, so it was as volunteers began to speak about their improved well-being that FHV decided to develop an ecotherapy project. A project that allows individuals to work in all areas of the business, from maintaining the vines to selling wine and representing the enterprise. What’s more, volunteers have access to accredited courses, enabling them to develop a variety of skills and to make their first critical steps back into the world of work, learning and social engagement. It’s easy to get absorbed into the brilliant work FHV is doing to improve well-being and mental health in the community. But let’s not forget that Cibare Magazine
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it is also an English vineyard producing fantastic wines. Forty Hall - The Vineyard Founder, Sarah Vaughan Roberts, was always interested in the social and therapeutic benefits of being outdoors and after studying Viticulture at Plumpton College (England’s only college dedicated to winemaking), Sarah came up with the idea of establishing a community vineyard. One acre of land became available at Forty Hall Farm and it was decided that a vineyard here would be a good fit for both the community and the farm. Today Bacchus, Ortega, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are grown over 10 acres. Certified organic by the Soil Association, FHV were told they were “crazy” for wanting to work organically. The risk and labour involved in organic farming is so huge that a minuscule 2% of English vineyards are currently certified organic. Since the beginning, FHV has worked with Will Davenport, the only UK winemaker to receive awards and commendations every year since 2009 for his organic wines. “Will was one of the few winemakers who understood the value of organic growing at the time not just for the environment, but also for the quality of the wine.” Following organic practices, FHV works towards protecting their natural habitat. Rainwater is the only source of water used for irrigation. No herbicides or pesticides are used in the vineyard, and when organic nutrients need spraying on vines, or the grass needs mowing, a tractor is used – the only consumption of fuel. In the past, horses have been used in 68
place of a tractor and each winter sheep from Forty Hall Farm are left to graze in the vineyard. They even distribute their own natural fertiliser. Topped off with a healthy dose of nutrient rich manure from the farm’s other animals that is mixed into the vineyard soil. But as FHV knows, there is always room for improvement. Currently, a group of volunteers are leading a greening project to help boost biodiversity in the vineyard. Seeds have been sown for a wildflower meadow to attract more bees and butterflies in the vineyard. A magnificent 30 trees have been planted, all donated by the Woodland Trust, and will help to tackle climate change as they lock up carbon. Not forgetting the creation of bug hotels. Expertise in the vineyard is led by winemaker Will Davenport and founder Sarah. It is testament to their training and support that volunteers not only improve their wellbeing but flourish at the tasks given to them. Volunteer Clare is one such example; Clare began volunteering at FHV after leaving her job as a corporate lawyer and now holds various roles both at FHV and Bradfield Vineyard in Essex, where she is Vineyard Manager. The Wines The five grape varieties grown in the vineyard are used in the production of two still white wines; Bacchus and Ortega (both the names of grape varieties and their respective wines), and a sparkling Brut. Bacchus Once the grapes were picked (September Cibare Magazine
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2018, should you wish to know) they were driven to Davenport’s Vineyard in Rotherfield, East Sussex, home to Will’s own vineyard and winery. Bacchus 2018 has notes of gooseberry, green apple and lemon zest. Refreshing acidity was balanced by a roundness on the palate, which added depth and complexity. A fantastic option when choosing a wine to pair with a goat’s cheese salad and shellfish. Ortega Ortega is a variety that is increasing in popularity in UK plantings and it is showing positive signs of ageability, something that’s rather unknown in the context of English still wines. A light white wine with relatively low acidity and an earthy quality, all of which make it an ideal partner to vegetable-based dishes and salty cheeses. Brut Believed to be London’s first sparkling wine, FHV Brut is made by the traditional Méthode Champenoise, or Champagne method. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes were picked in September 2017 and were subject to extended lees ageing. The result is a superb example of the sparkling wines England produces. Crisp green apple, elderflower, biscuit and marzipan notes flow from the nose to the palate. Delicate bubbles balance crisp acidity, leaving you wanting glass after glass. All three wines are labelled ‘Single Estate’, referring to the fact that the wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown on site. The wines are organic, natural and unfiltered, and vegan friendly.
Looking Ahead So what does the future hold for London’s only vineyard? As and when, the vineyard will open to the public (it might even be so by the time you’re reading this) and you’ll be free to wander the vines. Tours and tastings will hopefully increase at present guided tours are available at the FHF monthly Farmer’s Market. But it is clear that well-being is at the heart of this venture: “We want more people to benefit from the sanctuary of the environment - such a rare find in London with our busy lives”. Supporting businesses such as Forty Hall Vineyard is paramount to their survival - and also to the survival of those struggling with mental health in the Borough of Enfield. Lockdown has had a big financial impact on the enterprise, which saw a high number of sales halt overnight as restaurant and bars closed their doors. But there are many ways you and I can help support this enterprise vineyard, the most obvious being to buy their wine. You can also donate to the vineyard via the FHV website (www.fortyhallvineyard. com) or you can offer your services and skills. As September comes to an end harvest begins in the vineyard. Pick grapes and discover this wellbeing gem for yourself. And lastly, as we return to work and plan team building days, head from the office and into the vines for a rewarding day out. Forty Hall Vineyard, a positive addition to your wine rack - and your life.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Work off that burger... Walk off that burger! During these challenging in which we find ourselves, people have had to make changes to their fitness routines as gyms still remain closed, and equipment has been hard to get hold of. So, more and more people have been taking themselves outside and turning to one of our most common primal movements and natural forms of exercise ‌ walking! When people think about working out, more often than not, walking is not an exercise that they think to include in their weekly routine. But they should. Walking is actually the safest, least expensive, and overall, most beneficial way to lose weight and improve cardiovascular health. All ages can take part and it’s absolutely free. 72
I have been running for the past few years now as part of my cardio vascular workouts, and training to enter various events. But over time I have had to deal with various injuries which have stopped me consistently being able to run. However, I still really wanted to enter a challenging event, and it was at this time, as I was trawling the internet for something to do, that I came across the Oxfam Trailwalk, a 100km walk over the South Downs that had to be completed within 30 hours. Walking I thought, yeah, I could do this. You had to participate in a team of four people and you had to have a support crew throughout the whole time you were out there. So, I recruited three other girlfriends to walk with me and pleaded with our husbands to join us and support us throughout the Cibare Magazine
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PICTURE CREDITS: Suzanne Purton
By Suzanne Purton
I have to be honest, always in my mind I thought this was not going to be so hard, it was, at the end of the day, only walking. But how wrong I was. It was a hard and exhilarating challenge, not only on the body, but mentally tough as well. A challenge that had us all laughing, crying and proud to have walked and completed 100km (62miles). I loved it so much that I am due to walk 3 marathons in 3 days over the Jurassic Coast, hopefully later on this year. But don’t think that just because walking is a relatively easy form of exercise you should jump in head first, especially if you’re new to exercise. You need to take it one step at a time! Create realistic goals and build up your fitness level. So, let’s look at some of the benefits of walking: 1. It is a gentle low impact exercise so therefore creates less stress on the joints and bones. For some people, those with ankle, knee, back pain, and those classified as badly overweight to obese, this would be the recommended form of exercise over running. 2. It can help with reducing weight and body fat and gaining muscle. By picking up the pace and introducing hills this will increase your heart rate which in turn will burn more calories. 74
Try interval training, short bursts of increased speed or incline to give a little variety to your walk and to help you to work harder. 3. It helps to strengthen the heart by increasing the heart rate, which in turn makes it more efficient at delivering oxygen and nutrients to the body’s organs. 4. As this is a weightbearing form of exercise it is helpful in maintaining bone density and strengthening muscles, which is incredibly important as we age. 5. Exercise can help to boost your mood and alleviate depression symptoms by releasing endorphins which trigger positive feelings in the body. 6. A good walk can do wonders for our mental wellbeing. It can help to improve self-perception and selfesteem, mood and sleep quality. This type of activity helps to reconnect to nature, and it has been documented to increase people’s level of creativity. And you can exercise with others making it more social and keeping people in contact with each other. 7. It’s simple, it’s free, and can be done anywhere, therefore making it easy to incorporate into busy days. Here are some tips for starting out: 1. Get a decent pair of trainers There are so many brands out there it can be a bit of a minefield, but find a pair that give you the correct support and impacts your comfort whilst exercising. 2. Start slowly If you have been inactive, then start gently with 5 to 10 minutes at a pace you are comfortable with and build up Cibare Magazine
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PICTURE CREDITS: shutterstock_Zania Studio
event. I started to incorporate training walks into my fitness schedule most weekends, slowly building up distance, and alongside this performing strength exercises in the gym to help keep my legs strong enough to endure the everincreasing distances and the different terrain we were going to experience.
over the following weeks until you have reached your goal. 3. Set goals Set realistic goals for yourself, such as 20 to 40 minutes of walking five days a week. 4. Fail to Plan … Plan to Fail Plan strategies for incorporating short walks into your day to keep your plan on track. And try and stay as consistent as you can. 5. Plan several different routes Having several routes to choose from will add variety to your walking so you don’t get bored. Plan inclines into your walk and include several intervals where you up the pace a bit to make your walk more challenging. Remember to start at a comfortable pace and slowly build from there, increasing pace and distance.
goes forward the opposite arm goes back: your hands should stay quite low and you should keep your elbows close to the body. Walking Stride – don’t take too long a stride, strike the foot down on the heel and roll through to push off from the toe. As you become comfortable with your stride you can start to increase your speed and take smaller strides. It’s a great opportunity to get out there and explore and appreciate some of the beautiful green spaces that we are lucky enough to have around us. Happy Walking!
6. Make walking a social event Invite friends or family to join you so they can also enjoy the benefits of walking with you. Making plans with others is also a good way to keep you accountable so you always turn up. Here are some Techniques for Walking that can help when increasing power and speed: Good Posture - standing tall with a nice straight back, suck in the stomach just a little to engage your abdominal muscles, look straight ahead of you with your chin parallel to the floor, and relax your shoulders. Arm Motion – keep your elbows at 90 degrees by your side and as one foot www.cibare.co.uk
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CRAFTS
Festival Crafts
Festival season might be cancelled for this summer but that doesn’t mean families can’t have a bit of festival fun at home. Pop on your fave festival tunes in the garden or park, make these fun headdresses from The Kids’ Table and even put the tent up in the garden at bedtime for that all-round festival experience (well maybe just for an hour before slipping back inside to an actual bed!!). FESTIVAL HEADDRESSES INGREDIENTS 4 pieces of thin A4 coloured card in contrasting colours Feathers – optional for alternative headdress Pencil Scissors Glue Sellotape 76
METHOD 1. Cut two strips of card roughly 4cm wide and the length of the A4 sheet 2. Glue the strips together to create one long strip, measure round your child’s head and make a mark where it should join to fit – only decorate within the line you mark 3. Draw and cut out around four large flower shapes with four petals from coloured card (or however many you need to fill your strip of card), four small flower shapes in a contrasting colour to fit inside the large flower shapes, four leaf shapes and four small circles to fit the centre of the small flower shapes ALTERNATIVE HEADDRESS: Follow steps one and two, decorate your strip with geometric shapes cut from card and add feathers at one cm intervals along the strip by sellotaping them to the back of the strip. Then go to step 6 Cibare Magazine
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PICTURE CREDITS: Ben Eagle
By Sarah Frow of The Kids’ Table
4. Glue the small flower shapes in the centre at an angle to the large flower shapes so that the small petals sit in the gaps between the big petals. Glue the small circles to the centre of the small flower shapes and the leaf shapes to the back of your flower so they peek out the side of the flower shapes 5. Glue the card flowers along the card strip up to the line you’ve marked when you measured your child’s head 6. Fix the headdress round your child’s head by joining the ends with Sellotape
7. Go somewhere green, put on your headdresses, blur your eyes and imagine you’re at Wilderness Festival! In normal times, The Kids’ Table is a pop-up children’s corner operating in London pubs and restaurants offering supervised crafty fun while parents enjoy some downtime. It is currently offering craft tutorials on You Tube and Instagram. Follow @thekidstableuk or visit www.thekidstable.co.uk for more info and links to their Crafternoons.
BOOK REVIEW
Byron By Tom Byng and Fred Smith
If you’ve ever been to Byron, you know that their burgers are out of this world – such a great, simple but fun food concept, they’ve turned what was once a take-away and burger van treat into something that’s practically an art form! When I received this cookbook as a Christmas present, I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to recreate some of our favourite treats at home.
bacon, the California with lashings of home-made guacamole and the simply amazing ‘Miami Slice’, crammed with smoky sauce and shoestring fries. Non beef recipes include the Chicken Burger, Veggie Bean Burger and Mushroom and Goat’s Cheese Burger. The chapter concludes with a recipe for the famous soft and squidgy burger buns (I could eat these on their own I reckon – so good!).
First up is a guide to making your own burger patties. Advice on the best cuts of beef to buy, how and when to grind the meat and how to cook them both on the BBQ and in the kitchen. Of course, you can buy some great quality steak burgers these days in your local butcher’s shop and even in some supermarkets, but it’s great to have a guide if you want to really go the whole hog (or cow?) as it were!
Fries and Sides are next: French fries and classic British chips, glorious onion rings with a spiced Cajun beer batter - this is now a staple menu favourite in my house, and it’s the only thing I am prepared to switch on the fryer for. Macaroni Cheese, Hash Browns and Chilli Cheese Fries, along with a gorgeous recipe for Courgette Fries – simply marvellous at this time of year when you may have a glut of homegrown courgettes.
We then go on to the burger recipes, from the Classic, Cheese, the signature Byron with melted Cheddar and cured 78
Sauces and toppings recipes include Cibare Magazine
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PICTURE CREDITS: Tom Byng & Fred Smith
By Rebecca Stratton
Blue Cheese Dressing, the amazing Guacamole (Byron’s is one of the best I’ve ever tasted), Crispy Fried Onion Ring garnish and the classic bread and butter Pickles. The ‘Food to Share’ section covers more Americana classic dishes, such as Buffalo Chicken Wings, Nachos, Mozzarella Sticks and Sticky and Sweet Ribs. ‘When It’s Rained Off’ is comfort food for rainy days including Meatloaf, Beef Shin Chilli, Fried Chicken (laborious but so, so worth it!), Philly Cheesesteak, Club Sandwich (these are due a comeback to be fair – I made thousands early in my chef career, and never understood why they aren’t still that popular), and lastly, Meatball Subs.
Temple, Iced Tea and the thick ice cream shakes they are famous for. I do love that simple, humble foods like burgers are now a stand-alone cuisine and concept using the very best ingredients and ideas, and Byron was one of the first restaurants of this kind. The book is very stylish with amazing photography and a catchy bright yellow cover. So, if you can’t make it to Bryon (#coronalockdown), you can bring Byron to you!
The salad chapter was a surprise, but I guess you can’t live on burgers alone! From classic Caesar to an amazing cob salad, which is a beautiful chopped salad of lettuce, bacon, eggs, avocado, chicken, tomatoes and blue cheese with a punchy vinaigrette – it’s simply one of the best salads there is in my opinion. Desserts are all American: think gooey Brownies, Oreo Cheesecake, Apple Pie, the lesser-known Banana Cream Pie (chocolate, custard, bananas and cream, trust me, it’s a winner), ice cream sundaes and Banana Split (remember those?!). Followed by waffles and classic American thick and fluffy pancakes. Ice cream sandwiches utilise your freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and are such a fantastic standby dessert for a summer’s eve. The book finishes off with a short but sweet drinks chapter, again true to its American style with Shirley www.cibare.co.uk
Cibare Magazine
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PETS
A Little Walk on the Wild Side By Roz Lishak
Debatably though, there is a school of thought that considers domestic dogs to be omnivores, given today’s dogs’ lifestyles and the scale of canine evolution. And obviously these days, your family pet will not expect to go hunting for his nosh himself. This brings me to the many ways in which we can bring variety to our dogs’ menus. Yes, it could be said that we humanise our pets far too much these days, but in fact if I had a pound for all the times I’ve heard people call their dogs ‘fussy 80
eaters’, boy I’d be a very happy bunny! For me, the fussiness stems from the fact that we seem to forget that variety is indeed the spice of life, even for our dogs. Encourage and use your creative culinary skills to shake up their menu and the way you serve their food to keep your dogs’ taste buds interested. Minced, chopped, sliced, sausage-d, raw or cooked, your dogs will thank you for bringing a wide range of meaty treats to their table. Despite all the positives of a hearty beef burger or full on steak, it’s vital to mention that our human burgers will often contain onions and spices that will not agree with your dogs’ digestive systems, so sharing your take-away is not advised. Obviously however, handmade and homemade burgers and steaks that you prepare yourself for your barkers will give them exactly what their carnivorous tastes crave! Cibare Magazine
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PICTURE CREDITS: shutterstock_Danilo Tee
Let’s not mince words here, dogs are descendants of wolves, and wolves are clearly carnivores. Hunting for food is what hunters and gatherers do, so it won’t come as any surprise to learn that your dog has as many of those carnivorous traits as us humans do!
Team Links Despina Mina - @forkedldn Emma Walton-Moore - @supperinthesuburbs Jon Moore - @beerinthesuburbs
Dhruv Baker -@dhruvbaker1 Sam Wilkin - @cellarmansam Charlotte Benbow - @charlotte.benbow Katie Goodchild - @heritagewinesuk Emma Sousa - @theurbanflowerfarmer Ying Bower - @yingenough Dani Gavriel - @dani_gavriel Penny Langford -@peneoplepeer Roz Lishak - @yourpupparazzi Rebecca Stratton -@cakerebecca Gillian Balcombe - @gillianbalcombe Jo Farren - @jo.farren Samina Iqbal - @samina.i Sarah Frow - @thekidstableuk Suzanne Purton - @suzanne4fitness Eve Tudor - @editoroffood Eileen MacCallum - www.aweebirdie.com Theo Michaels - @theocooks
Jack and Hayley Rowbottom - @jacksmeatshack
Viners Cutlery - @vinerscutlery Anthony Raffo - @anthonyraffo John Gregory-Smith - @johngs
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