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aberdeen puts the spotl i ght on soupitalian
done right foodstory uncovered
Contents.
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Issue One | November 2014
Food.
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16 spinach and ricotta cannellonni
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17 battling salmon the three best ways to cook it 29 ten deserts under ten pounds 31 teach the kids: spanish tortillas 33 michael symon’s kitchen secrets 37 how to italian: a step by step guide around the essentials 43 the myths of freezer foods 45 the college student’s cookbook
Highlights
secrets 46 Aberdeen’s Retreats Three locals’ favourite spots around (and slightly outside) town
tips and tricks from this month’s travel adventure 50 Make me Everybody 19 Spotlight on Soup loves a pie! Aberdeen’s guide around 53 Classic Treat yourself the top four soup spots to some great, traditional 22 Foodstory. The The Regulars French seafood dishes, kitchen tales and crowd straight from the port favourites 11 Upfront News, 57 Teach the kids 21 Cook like a local The products and more Spanish Quesadillas made secrets of Lebanese cuisine 12 Bread The bakeries easy - so easy, even the with the freshest baguettes five year old’s involved 37 Pasta Plus An and focacias 64 In Season How insider’s look at one of 47 The Guide Cooking best to grow the many Aberdeen’s best kept
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pasta plus.
wenty years ago, Francesco bought his wife a jewelry shop. He stripped off its burgundy carpets and burgundy wallpaper, plastered the walls with maps of Italy, posters of mushrooms and the Italian football team, and started up a restaurant. It is not a place you will accidentally dscover on your way to work. Tucked between a charity shop and a letting agency, Pasta Plus rests safely in the nooks of Rosemount. It has five tables (and a sixth emergency table, for when things get crazy) and a kitchen that can fit no more than one. But somehow, year after year, Francesco’s family is still feeding hundreds of hungry tourists and locals.
The kitchen is run by none other than Francesco’s son, who at 25 has been there for more than nine years. “The regulars are what keeps us here,” he smiles. So why do they keep coming back? “We’ve managed to stay true to our roots. There is something about local Calabrian cuisine that just stands out. Simplicity, balance and good quality ingredients. That’s all you need to be an excellent Italian chef. And that’s what keeps people here.” The menu and ingredients have managed to stay simple and true to what it’s like back home. “Many things on the menu have been here since my father opened this place up. To be
honest, we haven’t taken anything off of it. We just kept adding.” The crowd favourites, like their famous Ravioli al Aragosta (lobster stuffed ravioli) and marinara, go perfectly well with their classic Tiramissu. “We don’t have any of the orange-soaked biscotti nonsense. Simple is best. Good coffee, good mascarpone, good tiramissu.” As for the secrets of Italian cuisine, both Francesco and his son have not discovered them yet. “We just cook with love and nothing but the best products. There really is no shortcut. But when we discover it, we’ll let you know.” ---------------------------------------Pasta Plus, 119 Rosemount Place,
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Anything
but
chicken soup Gone are the days when soup was just your grandma’s subsitute for Paracetamol. From courgette and brie to sweet potato and chickpea, soup has become an artform of its own. Forget about the steakhouse. Treat yourself to a nice steaming bowl of goodness at the top four soup spots in Aberdeen.
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the coffee house
always fresh, always local There is something undeniably charming about The Coffee House. Their soups change every day, but they are always homemade, creamy, hearty and, most of all, local. Pass by on a rainy day and grab a cup of hot chocolate to go with your soup. There is no better treat for the soul.
out of the box, into the bowl Creativity has never been an issue for this local gem. With soups as wacky as the books you’ll find upstairs, Books and Beans never fails to impress. You could walk in tomorrow and find a simple tomato soup - or you could find an apricot and leek one. Whatever the strange combination, make sure you don’t miss it.
foodstory
the heart warmer It’s debatable which is tastier - the soup or the freshly baked bread that comes with it. Every soup you order at Foodstory is just as thick, just as heart warming as the next one. The biggest challenge here is walking out without a freshly baked brownie (it’s actually no challenge at all. You just get one.)
the classic books and beans
the wild boar Sometimes, all you really need is a bowl that’s a dead ringer for your grandma’s lentil soup. The Wild Boar will serve you all the classics - from tomato and basil to potato and leek - with nothing but the best ingredients and freshest baguettes. Nostalgia is a dish best served hot (and in a soup bowl). TIP! What goes better with soup than a pub quiz? Every Sunday at the Wild Boar/9 pm.
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Fatoush (adj.) a person passionate for searching/ (n.) a staple Lebanese salad served with fresh mint and toasted pita bread.
Cook like a local B ecoming Lebanese is tricky. It requires an aboveaverage loudness of voice, a passionate frustration with politics and a high tolerance for garlic.Cooking like one is a bit more straightforward. Channel your inner Beiruti tonight and whip up a bowl of Fatoush (for extra authenticity, insist your guests have not eaten anything, even after their third bowl.)
Serves 4 • 2 cups shredded lettuce • 1 large cucumber, diced • 2 medium tomatoes • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley, leaves only • 1 bunch green onions, finely sliced • 1 green pepper, diced • 1/4 cup fresh mint • 1/4 teaspoon summac • 2 pieces of pita bread toasted until golden brown, broken roughly
Dressing • 1/2 cup lemon juice • 1/2 cup olive oil • 4 cloves of garlic • salt and pepper to taste Mix all salad ingredients with 1/2 to 1 cup of the dressing. Serve immediately.
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THE FOOD STORY
Aberdeen’s favourite hidden gem turns one year old in just a few days. The manager, Allan Smith, tells us about the successes, crowd favourites and original chilli bowls that turned them into Aberdeen’s top promising business.
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The hardest judges to please in the food world come in a fixed trio: the bitter food critics, the pretentious hipsters and your grandmother. Finding a place that can suit all three of them is difficult, if not virtually impossible - but there is something about walking into a mint coloured café with glass jars for cups and the smell of freshly baked bread that wins them all over. The food critic blogs about how fresh the tomatoes in his foccacia were and what a massive difference they made. The hipster reaches for a third slice of raw chocolate beetroot cake. And your granny giggles into her soup, trying to figure out whether it’s tarragon or thyme that she’s been missing. Welcome to Foodstory. “It all started with a bowl of chilli,” the owner scratches his beard. “Then it just took off from there.” The café, which turns one year old this coming Saturday, started off with Alan and Lucy’s idea to create a space that served only local, fresh, genuinely good food. They wanted it to be a mix between your favourite coffee
shop and favourite spot on the living room couch – cozy, heartwarming, feelgood. And they’ve succeeded. “We built it ourselves. It was mostly because of our tight budget, but also because when you truly love something, you want to put your blood and sweat into it. The only person we hired to help us was an electrician, and all he did was tell us we’d screwed up, then leave us to fix it.” He laughs. “He was a brilliant help though.” No matter where you look, you will find a gem of creativity, from the black chalkboard above the front door to the fairy-light packed jars that light the place up. And every corner feels like home. People seem to agree. In a tiny space that only fits 9 tables, it is difficult to find a space to move (let alone sit) at lunchtime. The place fills up at around 11:30 just as all the salads, soups, and hotpots are finished and displayed, and it doesn’t quiet down until 2:30. It’s happy, organised chaos. The best part is that it forces you to socialise. “There is a reason why we built this place with long, bench-style tables. When it’s quiet,
the people story, the
you can always sit and sip your cappuccino in silence. But sometimes, especially during the lunchtime madness, your only chance of grabbing a seat is sharing a table with strangers. “On one occasion, we had to join together three big tables to fit the whole crowd. Two businessmen in suits were sandwiched between an extendedfamily’s brunch and two high schooler’s lunch break – and they were all chatting away together. It was incredible.” With their diverse menu and even more diverse bakery corner, it is no wonder Foodstory attracts such a wide crowd. The café is most famous for its hearty, thick soups that range
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story, the soup e nature story. from a classic tomato soup to a thai lentil and pea one, and its hotpots that change every day. What doesn’t change, however, is the mission statement – cook fresh, cook local, and cook well. Most, if not all, their options are vegetarian and even vegan. “This place puts customers first, but we won’t go for recipes that don’t fit with our mission. If you come in and ask for tuna with your salad, we won’t be able to do it for you. Tuna doesn’t come from the North Sea; it’s not a local product, and therefore, it’s not on our menu,” Alan says. He believes if there is one thing this place can
do, it’s to show meat-lovers that it’s possible to have good, filling meals that don’t consist of meat. If there is one message Alan hopes to send customers away with, it’s to try. “Try, try, try. Walk in, try our soups, try our food. If you don’t like it, that’s okay, but at least give it a shot.” That piece of advice, coming from the people who built themselves the North’s most promising new startup of 2014, may be all you need to push yourself forward. And while you’re at it, you might as well pop in for a bowl of soup. -------------------------------------------15 Thistle street, Aberdeen
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What would people think of you if all they could judge you on were the contents of a wooden box?
pantry , pantry. 1. I am prepared for everything - the apocalypse, doomsday and the day when I will have to stop world hunger. I cook enough to feed myself and the population of a small city, but I never throw food out. I express my love for you in tupperwares filled with chicken curry and boxes of homemade brownies. The storage space in my house is just enough to fit all my food and is strategically made for one instead of three. For Christmas, you might want to buy me a juicer, or a blender, or seventy packs of rice.
5. Solid food is for the weak. The only food I ever eat is from questionable chippers in questionable alleys when I am too drunk to remember what I just consumed. If it takes more time to make than sipping myself a pint of beer, it’s not for me. I had a box of cereal once, but I threw it out in a moment of rage when I could not get it into the bowl.
2. My pantry is always fully stocked with the right ingredients (to make exactly two dishes). My daily diet consists of rice, noodles, soy sauce and noodles with soy sauce.
3. I am a nurse or a doctor or a pharmacy student. This pantry only opens before sunrise and after midnight. Medicine is definitely considered a logical thing to have in your food cabinet. I have over 50 spices and 3 pounds of steak in my freezer.
4. I think I know what I am doing in the kitchen - when I can find what I am looking for. I will spend 40 minutes in Tesco grocery shopping and walk out with batteries and a can of tuna. I am comforted by the fact that even if all else fails, I will still have enough oatmeal to last me for the next three months.
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