Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Feb 8, 2012, 2:56 am
I have a major soft spot for classic American sandwiches (no surprises there) and recently I’ve been focused on tracking down one of the all time greats – the po’ boy – in London. It’s been a fruitless endeavour, a particular low point being my recent experience at The Diner, in Soho. I ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Feb 1, 2012, 4:08 pm
Brown stew chicken is a common Caribbean dish, yet I don’t see it too often on restaurant menus in Peckham. Well, not compared to jerk anyway. The stew takes its name from the colour of the sauce, which is made by caramelising the marinated chicken in brown sugar before adding the reserved marina...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jan 26, 2012, 6:02 am
I do love a garlic mushroom. They’re just so…retro. Ideally, I’d eat them preceded by a prawn cocktail and followed by Black Forest gateau. These are layered with anchovies before baking, which melt away into the garlic butter, creating an intense savoury sauce. Perfect as a relaxed weekend lu...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jan 23, 2012, 10:23 am
Now you may be thinking, ‘she’s really lost it this time’ but I promise you, this is incredible. I came across the idea on a few American websites, where they call it ‘praline bacon’. It’s basically smoked streaky bacon, candied and topped with toasted, caramelised pecans. This is a new ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jan 12, 2012, 6:22 am
I have started a second blog. This is because I don’t have enough to do already with a job, a PhD, this blog, other bits and bobs of recipe writing and you know, a life on the go. BUT, the temptation was just too great; I’ve wanted to read a London sandwich blog for so long and in the end I deci...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jan 10, 2012, 3:01 am
I’ve been playing around with Hungarian goulash recipes and come up with a version using melty beef brisket, which I have to say turned out to be quite sexy. Point your cursor at this little linky for the recipe.
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jan 2, 2012, 1:46 pm
Potato skins, particularly when ‘fully loaded’ can be grim. I’ve come across one too many chewy potato boats harbouring a glob of rubbery cheddar and a smattering of flaccid bacon bits. No, thank you. I’ve taken a slightly different approach to skins by baking and scooping out the potato fl...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 31, 2011, 7:00 am
Food Stories has been predominantly recipe (not restaurant) focused this year. Creating is what makes me feel happiest inside, it turns out. So here are my favourite recipes of 2011, followed by the most memorable guilty pleasures; it would be terribly neglectful to exclude the latter, I think, as i...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 15, 2011, 3:08 am
We all know that chilli is addictive; the more you eat the more you become tolerant to the fire and want increasing amounts on everything. I have this ‘problem’. I want chilli pickle, chilli oil and every type of imported dried chilli I can get my hands on. I even bought a naga chilli plant (at...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 13, 2011, 4:10 am
Last year, I was all about the quick and easy sausage rolls. This year, I have about a third of the spare time and yet I’m spending it caramelising onions with whisky. Such is the power of procrastination. Still, they’re no bother once you get them on and I’m definitely going to make a massive...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 13, 2011, 3:24 am
French onion is probably my favourite of all soups; it doesn’t sound like much, but this boozy allium brew always warms right through to the marrow. I love the process of slowly, slowly caramelising onions; the transformation from gassy tear-jerkers to a sweet, soft and sticky mass is one of thos...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 12, 2011, 3:27 am
The sushi and katsu chain Tsuru (don’t let the word ‘chain’ put you off), are planning to open a ramen restaurant. Ramen is not something that can be rushed, neither in the cooking nor in the research, so they are practising by hosting pop-up ramen lunches at the weekend, to get feedback befor...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 5, 2011, 10:29 am
For my AoL Column this week I’ve gone all Creole on yo’ asses with a hearty jambalaya. Chicken, chorizo, prawns, chilli, plus something calling itself a ‘holy trinity’; get on over to AoL Lifestyle for the recipe.
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Dec 4, 2011, 1:59 pm
Oh how I laughed when my friend asked whether I might fancy a “little lunch at Pizarro.” There’s just no such thing as a ‘little lunch’ in our book, let alone when the restaurant is in soft opening with 50% off. We were, quite tragically really, waiting outside the door at 12pm for the pla...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Nov 1, 2011, 5:48 pm
On Saturday I will be selling my new,  improved, spingly spangly shiny shiny jerk marinade at Ms. Marmite Lover’s Underground Farmers Market. I originally wanted to cook jerk chicken or pork but hoofing a jerk drum between Peckham and Kilburn without a vehicle is just impossible, and anyway,...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 30, 2011, 9:35 am
I must start by apologising to all local parents with young children because you will probably take offence to what I am about to say, which goes something along the lines of: get the hell out of East Dulwich or at least spread yourselves out a bit so I don’t have to fight my way into every shop a...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 23, 2011, 10:49 am
I say this every year so I may as well say it again: it’s never too cold for ice cream. If you disagree with that statement, may I suggest that you turn up your central heating. I’m always on the look out for new flavours and the inspiration for this one came from a bag of mini Daim that I pick...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 23, 2011, 10:40 am
Photo: John Sturrock You know by now that I’m a big fan of the Eat. St Collective. As I’ve iterated many, many times: I consider some of London’s street food to be more delicious than the food served in most swanky restaurants. Here’s the low-down on the latest street food adventure from Ea...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 19, 2011, 8:31 am
There’s only so much brisket, spaghetti, ribs and wings a woman can eat before she gets fat. I know it’s getting cold and all but I’m not so cool with the idea of an extra layer of blubber on top of the existing layers that I’ve spent the last few years nurturing to maturity. It’s impossi...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 18, 2011, 2:50 am
I’ve been in West Sweden for the past 3 days, bouncing around on boats, looking for some of the world’s best seafood. It’s a hard life. Most people apparently visit Sweden in June, with the peak tourist season lasting just 4 weeks a year – hardly ideal for some of the Swedish people who make...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 15, 2011, 4:00 am
“MEAT SPAGHETTI!” That’s what my boyfriend shouted across the room when he saw me lift up a piece of 7 hour braised brisket from the slow cooker. This is proper Sunday cooking: a big piece of cow, slung in a pot and allowed to cook down until the meat falls apart with so much as a sideways gl...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 13, 2011, 1:49 pm
  “It’s not a salad if you put bread in it” someone once told me. What a load of tosh. Have you ever heard of croutons? Hmmm? Although regular croutons depress me; rock hard squares that shatter to dust once bitten. I like to make bread more of the main event by getting some really good qual...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 10, 2011, 3:09 am
I’ve got a new oven. This is brilliant for 3 reasons. Firstly, it’s all clean and shiny; I mean, how often does your oven look clean and shiny on the inside? Not very often I think you’ll find. Not if you’re a slovenly layabout like me anyway. Second, my old oven was, quite frankly, a piece ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Oct 5, 2011, 4:13 am
My friend Lizzie and I recently went to check out the new menu at Polpetto and fell head over heels for a blob of salt cod whippy fun called Baccalà Mantecato. The cod had been transformed into a very light, mousse-like paste and we enjoyed trying and failing to guess how it had been made. The rev...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 30, 2011, 7:12 am
Nduja is a spicy, spreadable, Calabrian sausage up there with the trendiest of ingredients. For months I’ve resisted its porky charms, the only reason being that my only other experience with a (different) spreadable sausage (at a very popular East London restaurant) ended in 3 days of food poison...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 26, 2011, 5:00 am
SE Londoners, listen up: a new food market has opened in Brockley. It will open every Saturday morning in the car park next to Lewisham College and I imagine it will fill a gap for local people, as that stretch seems a bit of a wasteland when it comes to food shopping. The market was really busy on...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 24, 2011, 3:24 am
I’d been meaning to visit Mark Gevaux, a.k.a The Rib Man for ages since a friend told me about him and then yesterday I happened upon him by chance on the South Bank. What a beautiful little bit of luck that was. He sells slow-cooked baby-back rib sandwiches, and we’ve had much discussion on Twi...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 22, 2011, 3:07 am
I saw this recipe by Stevie Parle in The Telegraph back in July and fell in love with the idea of combining figs, hazelnuts and pomegranate molasses. It’s just beautiful, in case you haven’t tried it. I’ve ramped up the sweet/sharp thing already going on with the pom syrup and figs by adding a...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 15, 2011, 3:37 am
Clack, clackity clack; I love the sound of mussels being stirred in a pan. It’s one of the best kitchen sounds in my opinion, up there with The Sizzle and The Plop. In fact, I don’t know why I’m not eating more mussels when they’re cheap (£3.50 per kilo from Soper’s in Nunhead) and they ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 10, 2011, 4:54 am
Not sure what to do this weekend, Londoners? Get yourselves down to The Mayor’s Thames Festival, because the food is going to be special. The eat.st Collective will be there, hawking their wares all along the banks. In fact, I’d suggest skipping breakfast because there’s a ridiculous amount o...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Sep 6, 2011, 3:37 am
I ended up making this curry because I woke myself up the other night shouting “MEATBALLS!” I am just as fixated on food during slumber, it seems. As a child, I’d often wake up clawing at the air above my head, trying to grab whatever cake/sandwich/biscuit/ice cream treat had been accompanying...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 31, 2011, 3:47 am
It’s not very often my thoughts turn to cake but when they do, those thoughts generally include spices and booze. And fruit. My boss collected a big bag of cooking apples from her garden which I raided for the best specimens, leaving all the bruised and maggoty ones for my colleagues. They could m...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 23, 2011, 3:58 am
I was privy to an e-mail recently that said all I ever talk about is pork. Well, Mr. Anti-Swine, stick this in your judgement pipe and smoke it.* Corn! A vegetable! Serious! Defensive? Moi? The golden cobs were 5 for a pound in Peckham last week, which is obviously an offer only a stupid woman wou...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 20, 2011, 8:45 am
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: as much as I love South East London with all my heart, there are two areas that really test the limits of my affection and they are Elephant and the Old Kent Road. There’s just not much going for them, aesthetically or gastronomically speaking. When I...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 19, 2011, 9:06 am
I’m a sandwich fanatic. Rarely does a day pass by sandwich-less; often I’ll grab a  slice of bread with a meal and stuff whatever is on my plate into it. There’s something so satisfying about biting down on a well-made slice; the countless contrasting combinations within; the carb fix; the co...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 16, 2011, 3:29 am
Oh yes. Legendary Whitechapel grill Tayyabs are now delivering, all the way down to SE15. I didn’t waste any time in taking advantage. I mean seriously, I live 7 miles away and someone is going to bring the food to me? I didn’t care if it would be cold when it got here. Hit. Me. Up. They’re d...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 14, 2011, 7:59 am
Last night, I went to check out the Queens of ‘Cue supper club/underground restaurant/whatever you want to call it, in Peckham. At 6.30pm, we found ourselves wandering around what seemed like a derelict yard off the Old Kent Road, BYO booze in hands, lost and slightly confused. The signs, they are...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 10, 2011, 3:44 pm
After shops in Peckham were smashed, burned and looted during Monday night’s riots, the people here started sticking post-it notes on the front of a boarded-up Poundland. There are messages about why the people living here love Peckham so much and statements about the strength of our community. I ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 8, 2011, 6:34 am
The first time I made hot wings they were good, but not hot enough. I wanted try again using the authentic, not very secret ingredient, Frank’s Original Hot Sauce. I also wanted to try my hand at smoking them so I sensed the opportunity for an Amazon binge and bought: 3 bottles of Frank’s, a tub...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Aug 3, 2011, 4:07 am
I love frozen yoghurt almost as much as I love ice cream, which you’ll know, if you’ve read this blog before, is rather a lot. Natural yoghurt is one of the top ten ingredients I couldn’t live without, up there with the high and mighties like butter and herbs. I eat it strained and spread on t...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 28, 2011, 7:45 am
Git yerselves down to my local, The Rye pub in Peckham this Sunday for a humdinger of an opening party. The Meatwagon in association with Carnal Chef presents ‘Bourbon and Rye’: live music, meatwagon burgers, drinks from Soulshakers plus some serious American ‘que. Bourbon! BBQ! Cornhole! My l...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 25, 2011, 3:40 am
This isn’t turning into the grilled meat blog, I promise. It’s just, well, it’s summer isn’t it and I’m either having or getting invited to a lot of barbecues. Wings always fit the bill because they’re cheap, cook quickly and have a lot of fat for their size, which means loads of crisp, ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 20, 2011, 3:03 am
As you can probably tell, I’m into American food at the moment; perhaps the pulled pork with Boston baked beans or wedge salad with blue cheese dressing gave it away? Cooking ham in coca cola is one of those ideas that sounds just outrageous but is actually brilliant. I’ve cooked it many times n...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 16, 2011, 11:37 am
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t spend all my time eating jerk pork and barbecuing things in the rain. I do other stuff, okay? No really. Here’s some things I cooked, ate and felt happy about in the past couple of weeks. Firstly, a little tooting on my own trumpet as I point you in the direc...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 15, 2011, 2:07 am
There’s only so many times a woman can hear her boyfriend say, “I’m going to make my own hot sauce” before she just gets on and does it herself. I mean, if he’s going to bang on about it all the time then I’m going to be thinking about it all the time and before I know it the mother of a...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 11, 2011, 3:12 pm
I just love how the Americans cut a big wedge of iceberg, drench it in blue cheese dressing and then call it a salad. Respect. I’m rather fond of the poor old iceberg. It doesn’t have any flavour to speak of but as a big ol’ wedge of crunch, no lettuce does it better. So, you take a quarter o...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jul 6, 2011, 3:21 am
The first time I tried making these it was a disaster. I came across the idea in a book about American BBQ and decided to bust it out at a mate’s shindig last weekend having given the recipe next to no thought whatsoever; pretty much the opposite of the way I usually approach things. This, combine...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jun 24, 2011, 3:01 am
I was having a conversation on Twitter yesterday about the restaurant Apsley’s. I didn’t like it. I believe I described it as ‘wanky’, ‘over-priced’ (£30-£40 a main course anyone?) and ‘over-fussed’ (I’m being kind – one starter came on 9 separate plates). This sparked off anot...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jun 23, 2011, 2:59 am
I recently spent a week in Puglia with 7 mates and 1 boyfriend. We cooked, ate and drank a lot in between lying around talking about cooking, eating and drinking. Before we left I’d read up on the food and came across what is apparently a classic recipe for focaccia with tomatoes pressed into the ...
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Helen G. posted an article on Food Stories - Jun 19, 2011, 12:00 pm
The Gin and Lamb Pop-up Cafe On the weekend of 24th-26th June Son Gallery will host The Gin and Lamb. It’s located on top of Peckham’s famous Bussey Building which offers a stunning view over London. The cafe will be serving, you’ve guessed it, gin and lamb. The former will be provided by G ...
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