The Grain Store: Edinburgh, Scotland

From Victoria Street, climb the stairs at number 30 to the first floor to discover The Grain Store, a 20-year Edinburgh dining tradition. With views of the Grassmarket, this restaurant offers a great taste of new Scottish cuisine with a classical French influence, from its baked-fresh daily grain breads to its contemporary seafood dishes and elegant desserts.  Paul, the "creator of the atmosphere," is at hand to share his love of fine ingredients with guests. He'll answer your questions, take your tastes into consideration and make excellent recommendations.

The philosophy at The Grain Store is simple: to provide meals made with care that allow diners to savor the Scottish experience.  With even the desserts made to order, your meal is guaranteed to be fresh, leisurely and relaxed.  Kudos go to Chef Carllo and Chef Ewen for their fine work.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is decidedly rustic, with wooden tables, stone walls and plenty of candlelight to set the mood in several intimate dining spaces.  It's clear that the staff enjoys presenting the food as much as the diners enjoy eating it.  And at The Grain Store, the menu's descriptions match the quality and presentation of the foods prepared.

Starters are generously sized.  Oyster lovers should try the creamy cauliflower and sorrel soup, accented by poached oysters and caviar.  The torchon of foie gras with smoked duck and poached and seared quince was truly fantastic.  Sitting atop a brioche crouton, the foie gras itself was rich and buttery.  The duck, smoked in-house, was tender, moist and flavorful.  Perhaps my favorite of the starters was the seared scallops with Jerusalem artichoke and crispy bacon.  Served in the shell on a bed of salt, the scallops were delicate and savory.  The Jerusalem artichoke puree and crisps added texture and dimension to the presentation.

For mains, we tried the seared halibut with red peppers, olives and crispy squid.  The fish was delicate and flaky, while the pan sauce complemented the protein brilliantly.  We also enjoyed a perfectly tender and juicy saddle of Perthshire venison with confit of shallots and celeriac puree with roasted vegetables as accompaniment. Dessert was a decadent chocolate tart with coffee essence and glazed orange slices. 

A worthwhile experience in Edinburgh - tell them you read about their restaurant on my blog!


The Grain Store
30 Victoria St (1st Floor)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Tel: 0131 225 7635
Fax: 0131 622 7313

Dining with a View: English Motorways

Dining above the lanes of screeching traffic?

Strange, indeed.  But the Motorways in North England seem to position food services (of very non-gourmet food) mid-air between the northbound and southbound lanes.

What an odd experience!

Thai at TheTeak House in Wokingham

As a Thai food novice, I was not sure what to expect when dining at The Teak House in Wokingham.  The restaurant itself is charming with a small dining room enhanced by ornate wood carvings.  Our meal was unhurried and quite relaxed, and the food itself was well-prepared and tasty. 

The restaurant places great emphasis on gracious personalized service, and delivers it with a smile.  More than that, its food is beautiful, with elegant edible garnishes on nearly every plate. With a crisp blue and white theme to its dinnerware, the restaurant takes great care to showcase the food by using the most visually appealing presentation method.  And as an extra bonus - they cook without MSG!  (Check back on the blog for a close-up look at how The Teak House chef prepares some of these stunning presentations.)

Our table enjoyed a wealth of flavor in the authentic Thai tastes of the Pork on Toast with Sweet Chili Sauce, the Won Ton Soup, Honey Spare Ribs, Phad Thai and Phad Kee Maow.  We'd order each of these dishes again, but next time we'll experiment further and try some of their spicy beef or seafood dishes.  Takeaway dinners are available.


The Teak House
47-49 Peach Street,
Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1XJ
0118 978 8893

Sweet Porridge and the Brothers Grimm

As I was thinking about my impending trip to Scotland, I find myself thinking of making a belly-warming bowl of old-fashioned porridge for breakfast.  To put you all in the mood, I came across this classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. 

Sweet Porridge

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

There was a poor but pious little girl who lived alone with her mother, and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the forest, and there an old woman met her. She knew of the girl's sorrow, and presented her with a little pot, which when she said, "Little pot, cook," would cook good, sweet millet porridge, and when she said, " Little pot, stop," it stopped cooking.

The girl took the pot home to her mother, and now they were freed from their poverty and hunger, and ate sweet porridge as often as they chose. One time when the girl had gone out, her mother said, "Little pot, cook." And it did cook, and she ate until she was full, and then she wanted the pot to stop cooking, but did not know the word. So it went on cooking and the porridge rose over the edge, and still it cooked on until the kitchen and whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world. It was terrible, and no one knew how to stop it. At last when only one single house remained, the child came home and just said, "Little pot, stop," and it stopped cooking, and anyone who wished to return to the town had to eat his way back. **

So, care to make some porridge of your own?  Ancient Scots would use a spurtle, which is the antiquated take on a wooden spoon.  Long, cylindrical and often decoratively carved, with a slightly pointed end, the wooden spurtle would help cooks stir the oats to keep them smooth.

Here's the perfect classic recipe, which has changed precious little for centuries:

Sweet Porridge
 Ingredients:
250 ml water or milk
50 grams oats (Scots and Irish use steel-cut or pinhead oats)
pinch of salt
cinnamon to taste

1.  In medium saucepan, combine ingredients and bring to a boil.
2.  Simmer for approximately five minutes until oats are tender.

Now, to dress up the basic porridge, consider stirring in 1/2 a chopped apple, sliced almonds, sliced banana, moistened sultanas or dried cranberries.  To add a hint of sweetness, stir in a spoon full of light brown sugar, add a drizzle of maple syrup, or glaze in Scottish honey.  A hearty way to start the day!


**Originally published in 1815 as volume 2, no. 17.  Translation of the Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales  no. 103 by  Margaret Hunt in 1884 (corrected by D.L. Asliman in 2000).

My Scottish Inspiration: Chef Nick Nairn

Scotland is the home of incredibly fresh seafood and smoked fish, but we don't often think of it as a resource for fantastic sauces.  Nick Nairn, most recently known for his stint as one of BBC's top celebrity chefs on Ready Steady Cook, has come a long way from his roots as a food lover and self-taught chef.  His sauces are superb.

His recipe for Nage Butter Sauce is going into my permanent file - it's that delicious! (For an abbreviated version of the recipe, keep reading!) If you're familiar with the subtle tangy flavor of the French beurre blanc, you'll appreciate Nairn's Nage Butter Sauce.  With a marinated vegetable stock base, the velvety smoothness of this emulsified sauce is achieved by the addition of a generous amount of cold butter and just a hint of lemon juice.  But if you're watching your waistline - forget it!  Move onto clear broth and miss out on this decadent touch to any pasta, fish or vegetable dish.

Inspired by Nick's Wild Harvest recipe for Lasagne of Wild Mushrooms with Baby Asparagus and Chervil Sauce, I came up with my variation on this main course.  Instead of a chervil sauce, I added sweet red peppers and sliced courgette to the fresh lasagne, and seasoned the sauce with a hint of sea salt with pink peppercorns and herbs de provence. To complement the flavors of the vegetables, ladle a generous portion of Nage Butter Sauce on top and enjoy.  I baked it until the pasta warmed through and added a bit of shaved grana padana cheese. Wow!


Nick Nairn's Nage Butter Sauce (from Wild Harvest with Nick Nairn)
This sauce is best emulsified with an immersion blender - I had to settle for excellent flavor but less than perfect texture with only a whisk at my disposal in my tiny kitchen!

*1 pint vegetable stock
7 ounces unsalted butter, diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of salt
Crushed peppercorns

• Heat vegetable stock in saucepan, bring to boil and reduce to 1/5 of original volume.  Remaining stock will be thickened and slightly syrupy.
• Incorporate butter into sauce and melt.  Use hand blender, drinks blender or whisk to thoroughly combine.  As Nick says, "give it a good old thrash about until all of the butter is melted and the texture is light and frothy."
• When the texture is right, add the lemon and seasonings, and keep warm until ready to use.  Do not let boil again or sauce can separate.

*Nick's homemade Nage stock is derived from onion, leek, celery, fennel, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, white wine,coriander and seasonings.  If you don't have time to make fresh stock from scratch, you can substitute prepared seasoned vegetable stock.

At the Nick Nairn Cook School near the Port of Menteith in Stirling, they stress cooking with exceptionally fresh Scottish produce, eggs and top quality seasonal ingredients. I'm going to try to visit the school next week and take some great pictures when I stay at Broomhall Castle by Stirling, but until then, I'll enjoy the recipes in Nairn's collectible books and on his website.

Nick Nairn Cook School
Port of Menteith
Stirling
FK8 3JZ
Scotland