One of my aims last year was to eat at Fifteen, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in London. This week I finally got around to it. My colleague and I, both of us work-stranded in London for a couple of nights and she, a self-confessed ‘foodie’ and Jamie devotee, leapt at the chance to indulge in a little mid-week treat. Coupled with the added, albeit remote, possibility that she might catch a glimpse of the great man himself (she didn’t), we left work early and headed off to North London.
Fifteen is an unassuming place off a side street in Hoxton, but instantly recognisable if you ever saw Jamie’s Kitchen on TV a few years ago. The service is efficient and attentive – the wine glass was never less than half-full – and the food was delicious. I had buratta (mozzarella) with clementines and honey-roasted almonds, followed by Sicilian Fisherman’s Stew and finished off with chocolate mousse, vanilla ice- cream and honeycomb. My friend had crab on toasted sourdough bread, venison, and tiramisu with ice-cream. As a special school-night treat, it was decadent, delicious and well worth the price.
At the other extreme, I started the week raiding cookery books and the BBC recipe finder to find ideas to use up the food that I appear to have been stockpiling for the past few months – like the glut of limes left over from Christmas, or the fish that’s been lurking at the back of the freezer for almost a year. Curious concoctions that actually worked. Swordfish with capers anyone? Or my old student staple – pasta with onions and mushrooms in a mayonnaise and ketchup sauce. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! If you have it, a tin of tuna makes a welcome and sophisticated addition!
There is something simple yet comforting about making do with what you have. Fewer weekly shops. Only buying the essentials. It's relaxation with a pan and a wooden spoon! It’s also reassuring to re-discover the love for something - cooking - that until recently I had very little motivation for. Next week, haggis...