The Source, Leeds Kirkgate Market

I'm a big fan of markets in general, and that includes the traditional sort as well as your upstart foodie and farmers markets that are popping up all over the place. I haven't shopped regularly at Leeds market since my student days, and some of those were before the turn of the millenium. I sort of lost interest over a period of time, put off by the general air of decay and sometimes poor quality of the wares. It's not that there was nothing worth buying, just that it could be a bit tricky to find. Eventually around four years ago I moved down to London.

Living in London re-ignited my enthusiasm for markets. They know how to do a market properly down there, and again I'm not just talking about tourist food porn places like Borough Market (although I do still love Borough). I lived in South East London and extensive, well frequented markets are all over the place. Lewisham, Deptford, Peckham and Brixton to name a few. One of the more noticeable aspects of the London street market is that you don't seem to get so much social stratification as you do in Leeds and elsewhere. To put it bluntly there doesn't seem to be so much of the attitude that markets are just for poor people.

Photo credit: livesonline.sunderland.ac.uk

After a brief sojourn in Manchester I've recently moved back to the Leeds area, and since starting this blog back in January I've been keeping an eye on market related goings-on both on Twitter and in other media sources. It seems there is a wide ranging debate going on about the future of Leeds market based around the themes of what and who is it for, and whether it can survive and thrive in its current size and form. For me the answers are that it can thrive without shrinking, provided that it caters to everyone in Leeds.

I go back to my previous point about the perception of the market being a place for poor people. I could be wrong here, but I reckon that a fair proportion of the working population of Leeds (let's call them young professionals, to scapegoat a particular demographic) wouldn't dream of shopping in the market. Attracting in the groups who don't currently use the market is probably the key to a successful future. I'm absolutely not talking about wholesale gentrification here, just to make that clear. Turfing out the most downmarket stalls would be an unmitigated disaster. What I mean is attracting new clientele without putting off the existing punters.

Which in a very roundabout way, brings me to The Source. The idea is a simple one, but a great one as far as I'm concerned. The Source occupies a stall in a more prominent area of the market and operates as a sort of tourist information centre. There is a big map of the market on display, with coded markers showing you where to go to buy different things. The rest of the stall is kept free for demos, tastings, visits from other market stalls, non-market based food shops and so on. On my first visit freshly squeezed orange juice was on offer for a £1 and there were jams and chutneys to taste. Last Friday (and now on a regular basis) The Sunshine Bakery from Chapel Allerton were selling cupcakes, sausage rolls (which are amazing, more about those later) and other goodies, and on Saturday a local goats cheese company took over.

I think the theory is that new customers will be drawn in by promotion on Twitter and the web in general, and by names they are already familiar with (if getting an upmarket bakery from Chapel Allerton on board doesn't work on this front then nothing will). Encouraged by the quality information on offer, they will explore the market further and spend a bit of their hard-earned cash. I really hope it's a success.

Finally, what else could be done to improve things further. A greater emphasis on cooked food stalls and cafés would be great, and would help to encourage lunchtime traffic. A burrito stall, a Korean café and a Vitenamese café will do very nicely please!

http://thesourceleeds.co.uk/

@TheSourceLeeds

Trying to cook the perfect steak (Volume 2)

I think I've come to a conclusion about the best way to cook steak. It has to be on the barbecue. No other method gives such a deeply savoury, smoky crust to the exterior. The tricky part is in the execution. Exactly how much heat your coals are giving out is difficult to gauge. Here is yesterday's attempt.

First and foremost, we need a piece of meat that is up to the task. I'm usually an advocate of buying the best you can possibly afford. A good piece of beef should be an occasional treat worth forking out for rather than a cheap everyday dinner. Having said that, take a look at this....

....and guess how much it cost. £6.60. For just under a kilo of pretty decent looking bone-in rib. It's not the finest looking beef I've ever seen, but it looks pretty damn good at that price point. This was from the South African butcher whose sausages I've already blogged about. I noticed they had a couple of big rib joints and a T-bone on the counter on my last visit, and made a mental note to return for some barbecue supplies.

I like a butcher who keeps some larger joints available so you can choose your own cut and size. So many places have everything pre-cut and trimmed down into small, boring pieces. I tried to buy a good steak from one of the more renowned farm shops in the area recently, and failed miserably. On display was nothing but prissy little 8oz sirloins and 6oz fillets. I asked if they had anything out back with a bone in it or at least to cut a larger size from, but was told no I'd have to make an advance order and return another day to collect it. Surely I'm not the only person in Yorkshire who wants a massive slice of cow, preferably with a bone in it.

Anyhow, now that I've got that off my chest, what shall we do with it?

Remove your steak from the fridge at least two hours before you want to cook it, then salt the steak at least half an hour before you cook it.

When the charcoal is white hot and there are no flames, whack it on the grill. Chilli boerewors to the left by the way. Yum.

Turn it a few times to make sure a crust is developing, but it's not burning.

This was the best part of two inches thick, so I left it on the grill for over 15 minutes.

Leave to rest, covered in a warm place for 15-20 minutes.

How did it turn out? Aaarrggghhh. Well done. Steak sacrilege.

With the juices poured over and some crusty bread it was still a pleasure to eat. A whole rib steak carries enough fat to keep it moist even when it's overcooked and you really cannot beat the umami hit the barbecue brings.

The Verdict

Method: Yes, cooking over charcoal is definitely best.
Execution: Rubbish, overcooked. I need to get a meat thermometer.
Meat: Excellent quality for the price. Not the finest but very good. I'll be back.

Next time: Buy a meat thermometer. Repeat as above. Stop cooking when the temperature says rare or medium rare.

Maureen's, Leeds

Continuing with my current obsession with all things jerk, here is a review of one of Leeds' foremost Caribbean eateries.

I've been to Maureen's before, what must be getting on for five years ago. It was here that I got my first proper introduction to Caribbean food, thanks to my ex-girlfriend's Jamaican Mum. I've been partial to a bit of West Indian cooking ever since. I wouldn't put it up there with the greatest cuisines of the world, but it's usually generous, hearty, spicy, packed with flavour and very good value, all worthy attributes.

Having made my first return visit last night, I can safely say I won't leave it so long next time. This was quite possibly the best jerk chicken I've ever eaten.

The chicken was just marvellous. Crisp, smoky skin with a lingering fruity, tingly spiciness from the Scotch Bonnets. The flesh beneath was moist, even the breast portion. The rice and peas were cooked perfectly. Star of the show overall though was the jerk gravy. At many places this is quite a thick, sweet sauce, sometimes almost like a barbecue sauce with added spice. This was a much thinner, stock based gravy, with a really deep chickeny flavour yet still packing a jerk punch. I can't think of many better things to pour over rice. I gnawed the bones and licked the plate dry.

Service with a smile is provided by Maureen herself, and the small jerk chicken with rice and peas costs a fiver. Yes this was a small. Large costs an extra quid and will be very large indeed. In case coconutty rice and peas doesn't provide you with enough carbs and fat, macaroni cheese is available for an extra 50p. Splendid, and very much worth a trip from town despite the less than glamorous surroundings.


9/10

105 Roundhay Road
Leeds
LS8 5AJ

Jerk Pork and Beef Shin Ragu

I've been toying with the idea of posting these two recipes for a while now. Neither of them are my own, so it seemed a bit daft to blog them here when you can go straight to the creators here and here. I've changed my mind for two reasons. One, I'm bored and can't be bothered tackling the ongoing DIY project that is my house. Two, both of the recipes are bloody fantastic, so deserve the effort. Please note, although I am posting them together I did not eat them together. That would be very, very greedy.

Jerk Pork

Good jerk is a thing of wonder. Sweet, spicy, fragrant, smoky meat, charred from the grill and oozing juices all over your fingers. When I moved house I forgot to return a joint of pork to the freezer on arrival. Spare pork plus chaotic kitchen in need of renovation could mean only one thing. Barbecue.

My memory was telling me that it was a boned and rolled joint, and as such I'd be able to chop it into large chunks suitable for marinading then grilling over coals. My memory was wrong. It was on the bone. Not having a suitable utensil for cutting through bone I had to resort to marinading and slow roasting the whole lot, then barbecuing it to finish off. Here is the evidence:

Yes those are burgers and sausages as well. The sausages were an unexpected treat (Toulouse from the Ginger Pig) that were hidden in with the joint that I'd completely forgotten about. The burgers were just in case the pork was too spicy for my friend's two year old daughter. And for me because I like to have a varied diet.

Anyhow the jerk marinade recipe comes from Helen Graves' Food Stories blog, which is one of the finest food and cooking blogs you're ever likely to find. The recipe is here, and top tips for cooking jerk are here. I didn't vary the recipe at all, other than to smother it all over a 1kg pork shoulder joint rather than some chicken pieces. Smaller pieces of meat is the sensible and better approach, as the marinade flavours will penetrate further through the meat. This was still bloody lovely though, eaten simply with some salad and crusty bread. No sauce was necessary as the pork was fatty enough to be lovely and moist on its own.

Beef Shin Ragu

This one comes courtesy of Paul at How Not to do a Food Blog, which is a misnomer as he does it very well. It's a ridiculously simple way of making a proper, slow cooked ragu. The recipe can be found here.

The only thing I varied from the original is the type of wine used (I had Chianti) and the herbs. I added some rosemary as I have a triffid like rosemary bush out back in my jungle of a garden. Apart from that the ingredients and method I used are the same. Using celery seeds is a great idea that I've never thought of before. It really adds depth when you have neither the time, ingredients or inclination to make a soffritto.

Serve with tagliatelle and the rest of the bottle of wine.

Hei Hei, Newcastle

I didn't arrive in Newcastle 'til after seven o'clock on a gloriously warm, sunny Thursday evening. Having been cooped up in office and car all day it was too good to miss, so I went for a good long walk around town and a couple of pints on the quayside before finally rocking up at Hei Hei some time after nine.

As on the previous night, it wasn't at all what I'd planned, but beer and sunshine had whet my appetite for spice. The menu at Hei Hei (another Twitter recommendation, thank you very much) ranges all over China, covering Cantonese and Sichuan classics as well as dishes from Beijing and Shanghai.

Soft shell crab wasn't the best start. It tasted fine, but was very greasy, the meatier pieces of crab having soaked up the frying oil like a sponge.

Spicy hot poached lamb was far more successful. An absolute beast of a dish rammed full of sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies and a bulb or two of garlic. Nestling in the oily broth were tender slices of lamb and plenty of al dente beansprouts and greens. All that was necessary by way of accompaniment was some plain steamed rice to soak up the juices and dampen the fire. A word of warning, don't do as I did and eat this an hour before you want to be asleep in bed. This needs some serious digestion time.

With a couple of Tsing Tao beers and a tip for the good service the bill came to about £26. Another feather in Newcastle's dining cap.


7/10

46 Dean Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1PG

http://www.heihei.co.uk/

The Wee Curry Shop, Partick, Glasgow

Best laid plans and all that. I started out with no intention whatsoever of eating Indian food in Glasgow this week. I was thinking Spanish or maybe even a rare foray into Italian, but my first two restaurant choices were both utterly deserted. I didn't fancy being the sole diner staring out at the drizzle from an empty room, so moved on. Said drizzle wasn't really conducive to a lengthy walk either so I ended up at the Wee Curry Shop near the bottom of Byres Road. Not entirely a random choice as I dined at one of their other restaurants last summer and really enjoyed it.

The menu here is refreshingly short, and gives equal billing to both vegetables and meat. There are just five starters and eleven main courses, a rare sight in Indian restaurants where the 'something for everyone 500 different options' menu seems to prevail over the 'do few things and do them well' school of thought.

To begin, haddock with mustard seed and curry leaves was served in the foil it had been baked in. It was simple and delicious, lightly cooked until it just flaked and marinaded with nothing but the named ingredients and a bit of salt.

Sticking with the meat avoidance plan, next up was channa paneer with broccoli. I've heard paneer described as being a bit like feta, or a bit like cottage cheese. This was nothing like either. It was slightly rubbery, but not in a bad way. The flavour was really mellow and milky, perhaps more like mozarella if anything. Despite the mildness it was still distinct through all of the other tastes in the dish.

The earthier tastes; creamy paneer, nutty chickpeas and vegetal broccoli were offset beautifully with the tangy, garlicky tomato based sauce. Slivers of raw ginger and coriander leaf added little vibrant bursts of flavour. Scooped up in light, pillowy roti this was fantastic. Great with rice too, although an extra roti would have been a better choice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, despite the deliberate lack of lamb it was the best Indian meal I've eaten this year. Service was efficient and amenable, and it was great value too (£16.90 including a generous tip).


9/10

The Wee Curry Shop
41 Byres Road
Glasgow
G11 5RG

http://www.weecurryshopglasgow.co.uk/

Saengarun Thai, Leeds (Takeaway review)

A very big thank you to the Twitter people that put me on to this place. I got takeaway from here on Sunday night and it was excellent. Really good Thai food can be quite a challenge to find in this country, so it's great to discover a local gem. Many of the larger, more upmarket Thai places seem to have chucked money at the restaurant fixtures and fittings, but don't give the same care and attention to the food. I've had very dull meals lacking the vibrancy you expect from Thai food both here and here. Perhaps Saengarun are having a subtle dig when they say on their website: 'Not the finest decorated restaurant in Leeds, but we do serve the best and most authentic tasting Thai food..'.

I ordered a Som Tam (shredded papaya salad) from a short selection of salads, then a Gaeng Ped (red curry) with boiled rice to follow. 

The Som Tam was an absolute face melter. Ridiculously hot, there was no toning down for the unsuspecting farang here. It was sensory overload with the multiple flavours of chilli heat, sour lime, salty fish sauce, pungent garlic and sweet palm sugar all mingling with the multiple textures of brittle peanuts, cold, crunchy papaya and soft, pounded tomatoes. Startlingly good, although I did give up half way through as it was just that little beyond my heat tolerance level. Nothing wasted though, as I finished it for supper the day after.

The curry was also a success, and thankfully a little milder. Generously proportioned with a good mix of vegetables and well cooked chicken, the sauce was rich, coconutty and anise scented from thai sweet basil.

Prices are a little higher than you might expect for a takeaway (most things on the menu seem to be a pound cheaper than the dine in price, my bill came to £15), but it's definitely worth it. I'll be back for more.


8/10

159 Briggate
Leeds
LS1 6LY

http://www.thairestaurantinleeds.co.uk/