2 October - simple garlic chicken

Having come home to some unexpected late summer sunshine, we went out for lunch at the Lido. We sat outside, enjoying the sun and the atmosphere with cooling glasses of citron presse and a nice selection of tapas: humus, babaganoush, Greek salad and fried chorizo, plus of course, hunks of their delicious fresh bread. A great way to ease back in!

Usually when we've been away, we're craving some kind of food, often vegetables. This time though, we felt like we'd had a bit of everything while we were away and couldn't think of anything obvious that we'd missed. Being particularly tired after almost two days travelling back, I just opted for something simple - chicken thighs slow-cooked with herbs and garlic, with some new potatoes, creamy leeks and a handful of beans still just about going on the terrace.

Madagascar - 16 Sept - 1 Oct

Well, Madagascar was amazing - stunning landscapes, fantastic wildlife, fascinating people ... and the food wasn't bad either! It's a very poor country and the average Malagasy lives mainly on rice, often flavoured with a broth made of vegetables or perhaps a bit of meat. On our first day we got a taste of ro mazava, the national dish; a broth of zebu meat (although ours was mostly bone and gristle!) and very bitter greens, served with a big pile of rice. It wasn't a very promising start, but thankfully, things improved significantly.

The trip was mostly full-board and the hotels we were staying in were surprisingly good. The food varied enormously, but it was mostly French-influenced (the former colonial power) but using local ingredients. Probably the predominant ingredient through the first half of the trip was zebu - the local horned cattle that you see absolutely everywhere and which are very important in Malagasy culture:

I think perhaps the best example I had, and possibly the best meal of the trip, was at a restaurant in the little town of Ambalavao where we stopped for lunch on the long drive south. I ordered zebu fillet and chips and the steak that arrived, topped with crispy fried ginger, was one of the tastiest, most tender steaks I think I've ever had - simple, but absolutely delicious!


As we reached the south coast, the meat gave way to seafood, staying at a fantastic beach hotel - Anakao Ocean Lodge - where the Italian owner took charge of deciding how the day's catch was to be cooked. We had three courses for both lunch and dinner and the entrees and mains were always fresh seafood, imaginatively cooked and served, and always delicious! We had everything from warm potato and octopus salad, to fish fillet with vanilla sauce, to a melt-in-the-mouth fish carpaccio.

A pirogue - a traditional Malagasy fishing boat

All round, a great culinary adventure and we came back with a big bundle of Madagascan vanilla to play with too.

15 September - sausage stew and an empty fridge

We're off on holiday early tomorrow morning, so today really is a case of trying to use up what's left in the fridge. Lunch involved a dish of boiled new potatoes mixed with some tomatoes and basil and a poached egg on the top. Not quite a proper meal, but it sort of worked!

There's still quite a bit of cavalo nero from yesterday, so I'm making it up into a version of a sausage and kale stew for dinner, together with the last few potatoes. Hopefully, that'll leave us with a nice empty fridge.

We're going to be off in Madagascar for a fortnight, so I won't be posting for a while. I don't think I'm going to keep a day-by-day record of what we eat, but I'll try and do a single holiday post when I get back to report on Malagasy cuisine!

14 September - pork with creamy chanterelle sauce

We're off on holiday at the end of the week, so I'm trying to make the most of the last few veg on the terrace. Lunch was another couscous salad, with some smoked salmon flakes and homegrown beans and tomatoes.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so in-between chores, I wandered up to a nice veg shop in Clifton that I'd spotted the other day had lots of wild mushrooms. I came home with a bag of yellow chanterelles and a tall spike of cavalo nero that poked out of the top of my backpack and raised a smile in Ruby & White on my way home getting some pork loin steaks.

I fried the pork steaks until nice and brown on each side, then popped them in the oven to finish off. I then used the same pan to gently fry a shallot, added the chanterelles, followed by a glug of white wine. I bubbled it down a bit, added some double cream, bubbled a bit more and poured the sauce over the pork. With some potatoes and the cavolo nero, it tasted wonderfully autumnal.

13 September - tapas @ the lounge

We were back at the Lounge this evening, meeting a friend for a drink. It was Tapas Tuesday and after the yummy tapas the other day, I went for minty peas with feta, sweetcorn fritters and five-spiced shredded pork, which had a nice kick to it. Perfect picky food with a couple of glasses of white wine and good company!

12 September - aubergine parmigiana

After a meaty few days, I fancied something veggie. With the wind and rain lashing down though, I wanted something warming and comforting, so I went for an old favourite based originally on an Elizabeth David recipe for parmigiana. I sliced, salted and fried an aubergine, then made up a basic tomato sauce with an onion, a bit of garlic, a tin of tomatoes and some chopped basil. Then I layered the aubergine slices with the tomato sauce and slices of mozzarella in an oven dish, topped it all with grated parmesan and baked for about half an hour. It came out gooey, bubbling and full of flavour and went down well on with a few simple boiled potatoes.

11 September - lamb chops with salsa verde

The parsley's still going strong so I thought I'd make a last salsa verde of the summer. I got a couple of lamb chops to go with it and some baby leeks. I think I dolloped rather too much mustard into the sauce and it came out a bit sharp for my taste. The lamb was nice though and the leeks were lovely and silky.