The Food Diaries

Poilâne is a long-standing bakery in Paris (and more recently London) which specialises in a type of sourdough bread made from stone-ground “grey” flour in wood-burning ovens. It is particularly delicious when toasted and topped with grilled Crottin de Chavignol goat’s cheese. The bread is now shipped all around the world - and in London is available at many Waitrose branches outside of their Elizabeth St store.

Probably one of my top 5 favourite pastries (ever) is their apple tart (made from a twist of puff pastry base with large chunks of lightly caramelised apples) - which is more than worth the detour if either in Paris or London. Probably a good thing it is a trek away….

Oh, and how does a pastry qualify for top 5 status? If at your first bite you have a strong sense that something had been missing in your life but until just that moment you had no idea what - then you’ve hit the top 5 jackpot.

You may also be interested in:

NORDIC BAKERY CINNAMON BUNS >

PIERRE HERME MACAROONS >

Pierre Herme opens macaroon boutique in London!

Ok - I’m not sure who forgot to send me the press release that celebrated pastry guru Pierre Herme made his debut in Selfridges 3 weeks ago, but this is very important news.

His milk chocolate and passion fruit macaroon easily makes my Top 5 best sweets of all time. A truly great dessert is identified at first bite, when you suddenly realise something truly important was missing from your life but you never knew what it was.

Can one have too many macaroons in one day? I’m not sure that is possible. Earlier the same day I popped into Laduree (another French institution now available across the Channel) where I was treated to their pistachio and coffee macaroons. Typically I had “sweetly” complained about something or other and the manager swept these onto the table. An easy way to get a smile on my face

Top 5:

- Pierre Herme milk chocolate and passion fruit macaroons

- Poilane’s caramelised apple puff pastry tart,

- Crumble (rhubarb, apple, plums - any combo will do)

- Pacojet ice cream

- Homemade madeleines

Albion Caff - Shoreditch, London

Brunch, coffee, lunch, late lunch, early dinner, etc. - there is always a time and a place (and something fab to order to match) at the Albion. I love to hate Terence Conran but he has a really annoyingly nice place in the ground floor space attached to the Boundary Hotel. Super British menu (cauliflower cheese, sausage and mash, fish and chips, rhubarb crumble). Fresh baked goods come out of the oven every hour (and no surcharge for a basket of bread for the table - a rare thing in London), the puffiest pies (chicken, savoury pumpkin), and ok - the best kedgeree I’ve ever had (and easily better than mine).

Oh, and the desserts are not bad at all either.

You can also sign up for a stangely useful twitter feed - let’s you know what has just come out of the oven. Particularly convenient if you live/work in the neighbourhood.

My order:

- Red and golden beet salad with goat’s cheese curd

- Kedgeree

- I couldn’t find room for our table’s shared plate of Sticky toffee pudding - but it looked divine