The Manchurian, Causewayend, Aberdeen

Chinese cooking is one of the great cuisines of the world but too many Chinese restaurants in the UK serve over-sweet, over-salty food that doesn’t appeal to my taste. But there are exceptions in most cities – such as Chop Chop in Edinburgh and the Manchurian, in Aberdeen.

We have never eaten there in the evening but have been for their Dim Sum lunch a few times, which is really very good. For some reason, you have to ask for the Dim Sum menu which is not huge but which certainly offered enough variety. We had, I think, 10 different dishes – I won’t list them all here but highlights were the Pork and Crab dumplings, crispy beef dumplings, Char Sui pork buns and Vietnamese spring rolls.

Pork and crab dumplings

Crispy beef dumpling

Vietnamese spring rolls

Char Sui pork buns

We also had fish congee (rice porridge)  - which looks like wallpaper paste but tastes delicious. Take a risk and try it – but beware the beef belly if you don’t like tripe.

Peckham, Bruntsfield. RIP

When we first came to Bruntsfield more than 10 years ago, there was a greengrocers, a small general store (Spar), a newsagents,  a butchers, 2 delis and 2 fishmongers as well as Oddbins and Wine Raks. What we really liked was that you could get everything you needed without having to go to a soulless supermarket.

Then Tesco opened a store in the area. One by one, small individual shops have closed with the latest casualty being Peckhams – a large deli that sold unusual food and drink.  Peckham’s opened my eyes to the range of different beer from Scotland that is now available as well as bringing in favourites, like Little Creatures, that we had tried on holidays abroad.   They supported Scottish suppliers – Ramsay’s bacon, Summer Isles foods and Simple Simon pies.

To be honest, I suspect that Tesco was not the only reason for Peckham’s demise – recession, poor management and licensing law changes all played a part but there is no doubt that Tesco has taken business away from the local shops.  Now, apparently Sainsbury is to take over the Peckham’s site -  another nail in the coffin of small businesses.

We are lucky still to have Oddbins, a newsagent, a butchers and a fishmonger but how many will still be there in a couple of years? When will local authorities realize that the tesco-isation of our high streets is irretrievably damaging the character of our towns and cities.

Sadly, no political party seems to care – or, perhaps, they are all in the pockets of the multinational supermarkets. The Tories are supposedly the party of small businesses but we hear no complaints from them about how these businesses are being destroyed by the supermarkets. Margaret Thatcher’s father – a grocer in Grantham and a lifelong Tory – will be turning in his grave.

Le Mouton Noir, Viewforth, Bruntstfield. 0131 229 3252

Le Mouton Noir is a French bistro in the heart of Bruntsfield. We ate there shortly after it opened and were very disappointed in the food then we went back a couple of years ago – the food was definitely better but not so good that we were anxious to go back.

We decided last Saturday to give it another try – and it was much improved. It was busy and bustling and 8 o’clock when we arrived – a slight glitch when they said we had cancelled our booking was quickly sorted.  A short menu on a blackboard with wines by the pichet as in France.

We decided that the best approach was to try and be as traditional as possible so our starters were foie gras and oefs en cocotte – baked eggs with ham, mushrooms and cheese.

Foie Gras

Oefs en cocotte

No complaints about either of these – both nicely cooked and tasty. Served with crusty French bread that, unlike many places in France, was quite fresh.  Our main courses were French classics – cassoulet (duck, ham and beans) and tartiflette (potatoes, onions, ham, cream and cheese). Both were hearty winter warmers – simply cooking that worked well.

Cassoulet - confit of duck, ham, sausages and beans

Tartiflette - potatoes, onions, bacon, cheese and cream

We each had two courses plus a 1/2 litre of house red and 1/2 litre of house white – the wine was OK but a bit overpriced. About £30 each.

 Altogether, a much better experience than our previous visits – we will be back.

Fusion, North Silver St, Aberdeen (01224 652959)

This is a rather belated review of Fusion Bar and Bistro in Aberdeen where we had the tasting menu in December. We’ve been there in 2010 with friends and had a wonderful meal – very imaginative dishes – and so were keen to go back.

Fusion. Tasting menu

The tasting manu had the usual structure – an amuse bouche, 2 starters, a fish and meat course then 2 desserts.

The amuse bouche was essentially a carrot soup – OK but frankly not very exciting. The first starter, was more interesting – polenta with mushroom. The second starter was also very competently executed – but again, ham hock terrine is not really very imaginative.

Both the fish and meat courses were excellent. My favourite dish was the sea bass and the fillet steak was juicy and tasty.

 

Tarragon polenta cake

Ham hock terrine

Sea bass with mussel bouillabaisse

Fillet steak

Red fruit sorbet

Toffee apple pannacotta

The pre-dessert was a simple sorbet, followed by a toffee apple panacotta. Both were nice but neither had the ‘wow’ factor. Panna cotta, to be honest, is now a bit of a cliche.

Oatcakes and cheese

My daughter decided that she would like to try the cheese – and she was disappointed. Considering how many excellent cheese there are from the North-east of Scotland, this was an unimaginative selection.

Writing this more than a month after our meal, it is indicative of the meal that it is hard to remember much about it.

The meal was enjoyable, the service was excellent. The restaurant wasn’t busy but the overall atmosphere was good. Apart from the cheese, which was dull, everything was competently cooked. Yet – compared to our outstanding experience the previous year, the meal was unimaginative.  Talking to the sommelier (who was very knowledgable), we discovered that there had been a change of chef and this is undoubtedly the reason for the change.

Tasting menus are expensive – this was about £50/head and you expect something rather different. We really didn’t get it here and I can’t recommend it as an experience.

Farmers’ Markets

I like shopping in farmers’ markets. Not because the food is necessarily cheaper or better (sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t) but because it is food shopping on a human scale. The choice is rarely overwhelming and people are willing to take time to talk.

Colin from Bridgefoot Organic Farm

The stall holders know what they are selling and can tell you about their food; customers in the queue often chat to each other.  Last week we talked about why there was no yoghurt available (problem with the yoghurt maker) and chatted while waiting for vegetables about beetroot tart tatin (which we will be trying soon). Have you ever seen strangers in a supermarket check-out queue talking to each other?

We went to the market in Banchory last week-end – cheese from Devenick Dairy, pork pies from Wark Farm, organic vegetables from Bridgefoot Farm and venison from Mortlach Game. I really like the compactness of the Banchory market and prefer these smaller markets to big ones like Edinburgh.

Pork pies from Wark Farm

The folk who tried the Fife Diet decided to live for a year on local food – that’s a bit too challenging for us but I like the idea of buying and eating food that hasn’t travelled far and, in these difficult economic times, keeping money in the local economy. I wish more local farmers got involved with them.

Sweet Melindas, Marchmont, 0131 229 7953

My first resto review for a while – various medical procedures have meant that we’ve not eaten out much in the past couple of months. However, all is now back to normal.

Exterior view- December evening

Sweet Melindas is a small local restaurant in Marchmont that I last visited in 2007 (review here). As with lots of places where you enjoy the food, you resolve to return but it sometimes takes a while. On a December evening, it was warm and bustling with a great atmosphere.

Crab, leek and parmesan tart

Sweet Melindas specialises in fish (next door is an excellent fish shop) so I stuck to fish – although they were offering their Christmas menu, which was rather less fishy than usual.

Starter was Crab, leek and parmesan tart – this was excellent – very cheesy and light pastry and delicately flavoured filling. I expected a small tart but, as you can see, this was a substantial wedge from a larger tart. The salad was a little unimaginative but was OK.

Prawns, sea bass and sea bream

Main course was sea bass, sea bream and prawns with chinese cabbage. Sauce was ginger, soy and toasted sesame oil. The soy and sesame were well balanced but ginger undetectable – lots of garlic though. Fish was fresh and beautifully cooked.  Broccoli, potatoes and a curious dish of mashed carrots with cumin to accompany. I didn’t think that the carrots worked with fish – although with meat  they would have been excellent.

With coffees, 2 courses each, a bottle of Muscadet and pre-dinner drinks we were about £35 each. This was not hugely more expensive than in 2007 so I thought it was excellent value for a fish restaurant. We will be back, hopefully in less than 5 years this time.

Great Dishes of the World – my first cookbook

I was a foodie before it became fashionable in the 1980s. I think it was in 1973 that I had my epiphany and realised that I didn’t have to eat the traditional Scottish diet of deep-fried food, overcooked meat and vegetables and (worst of all) NO garlic.  I was a postgraduate student in St Andrews at the time and two things sparked my interest – a fantastic deli called Geddes (long gone) which sold all manner of foods I’d never seen before and two friends – Bill McKerracher and Danny Garrad – who were the first men I’d met who could cook. Sadly, both Bill and Danny died young – I miss them and our competitive cooking sessions.

It was Bill who had a copy of Robert Carrier’s ‘Great Dishes of the World’ and it was the first cookbook I bought, for the princely sum of 95 pence. I still have it – very battered and tatty – and I still enjoy reading the recipes.

In those days, Carrier made everything sound exotic with references to sophisticated restaurants in far-away places. Like Elizabeth David, his descriptions made you want to cook and eat but he didn’t have David’s earnestness and rather schoolmarm manner.

The book, as the name implies, is a selection of recipes from around the world – there’s no waffle with the recipes – just a list of ingredients and instructions for intelligent people (i.e. not ridiculously detailed). I remember that the first dish I cooked from it was Caribbean Lamb – essentially a lamb curry – but served with fried bananas and I was delighted that I could have cooked something that tasted so good.

Of course, it now seems rather old-fashioned – far too much butter and cream – and it sometimes suggests tinned ingredients such as peppers simply because fresh ones were unavailable. But like all recipe books, you can use it as an inspiration and modify the recipes accordingly. It’s easy to browse and, unlike many modern books, it’s about the recipes and isn’t cluttered with stories about the author’s life.  My favourite recipe is for Bauernschmaus – 3 different kinds of pork with sauerkraut and dumplings – wonderful earthy flavours.

I think if I was only to have one cookbook, it would be hard to chose between this and one of Nigel Slater’s. I don’t think that ‘Great Dishes’ is still in print but if you see a used copy, don’t hesitate – buy it.