Cake baking and decorating with Juliet Sear

Last Saturday I went to an Easter baking and cake decorating class at Borough Market. The teacher was Juliet Sear, one of the UK’s leading cake designers and baking experts. She sells to some of the country's most prestigious department stores, Fortnum and Mason and Harvey Nichols, and has baked cakes for numerous celebrities. She is also a food writer, consultant, has done stints on TV and teaches baking master classes. Anyone else feeling a little incompetent? 

I felt very lucky to attend this event at Borough Market’s invitation. It's the first cooking class they have done in their event space, The Cook House, which until now has mainly been used for tastings, dinners and photo shoots. It is a lovely space; tastefully furnished and full of light. It's great for cooking lessons with a well equipped demonstration kitchen on one side and a dining area, which can also be used as extra workspace, on the other.

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The Icelandic Pantry, Borough Market

“They say that every time you experience a new taste you add a year to your life.”

I’m not sure who “they” are, but if it’s true then last night I added 14 years to my life. So I am inclined to agree with them. Whoever they are.

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to a reception at The Icelandic Pantry at Borough Market. This is a special, one-off event giving Icelandic farmers, fisherman and other small-scale producers a chance to present their goods to the UK public at Borough Market. They will be there for one more day (Saturday, 10^th October) so do pop down while you have the chance.

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My restaurant recommendations: South London

When I got back from South America I spent a few happy months living with family friends in South London. Until then my knowledge of food south of the river was pretty much non-existent. While I was there I made a point of trying some of their suggestions, which sees this post boosted from a pathetic two recommendations (one of which isn’t even a restaurant) to a healthy eight.

I still have a lot of places to try – there are many more goodies to be found on the Brixton market and I really ought to have an Indian included since Tooting is touted as the place to get London's most authentic curries. And I haven’t even begun to explore trendy Clapham, which is by many accounts the centre of South London’s food scene.

Still, these eight restaurants are a good start; I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.

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Best of Bolivia

Bolivia is hardly a gastronomic paradise.

I was there almost a month and towards the end, following upset bowels and a rather horrendous allergy, I have to admit to being a bad tourist – avoiding street food and seeking out Western fare.

Still, I had several good meals worth sharing but I reckon I can get through them quite quickly. I am now in Peru and still have much to say about Argentina so I thought I would whizz through Bolivia in two posts – best and worst of – try to keep up in Peru and then catch up on Argentina when I am back in the UK.

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Things are looking up in Puerto Iguazú

Little Puerto Iguazú sits at the confluence of the Ríos Paraná and Iguazú and looks across to Brazil and Paraguay. It doesn’t really feel like Argentina any more. There’s no center and little feeling of community – everyone is here to see the falls or to make a buck out of them.

This is the inspiring introduction to the Lonely Planet Argentina’s chapter on Puerto Iguazú so, as you might imagine, I was not expecting great things on the food front. Well, one should never judge a book by its cover, so they say. Or perhaps more fittingly in this case, one should never judge a town by a book. Actually if I had bothered to read beyond this rather offputting introduction I would have discovered, as I have just now, that it later says that there are “many excellent places to stay and eat.

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