One of my favourite things about being in the US is having access to really incredible, authentic Mexican food. During last year’s trip to LA I feasted on birria (stewed goat’s meat) at Carnitas Michoacan in Lincoln Heights, which you can read about here in my LA Cheap Eats piece for Futurespace magazine. On this jaunt to Nashville numerous people had recommended Mas Tacos Por Favor – a bricks and mortar incarnation of one of the city’s best-loved food trucks, which opened in the trendy, creative East Nashville neighbourhood in 2010.

From the outside, the restaurant – I say restaurant, but it’s really more of a shack – looks like it may have once been a garage, with its corrugated metal awning and barred windows, but its brightly painted exterior and ‘DELI-cious’ sign leave you in no doubt as to its new purpose. Inside, deep blue painted brick walls, colourful Mexican wall-hangings, fabrics and the eatery’s few mismatched wooden tables and chairs, along with a pinball machine and jukebox, lend the place a cool, rustic style that set the tone for the honest, but carefully conceived Mexican street food. And oh what food!

The menu here is scribbled in different coloured chalks on the blackboard above the hole-in-the-wall where you order, and can peep through to see the hip young things making the food. They’re surrounded by barrels of Mexican Coke: Coke made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup; and horchata: the fragrant Mexican rice milk drink flavoured with cinnamon.

We start with the corn dish – which is a Mexican version of corn on the cob and unquestionably the best corn of the trip. Rather than just being hot buttered, the freshly-cooked corn comes rolled in lime, chilli and cotija – a tart, crumbly-creamy, salty Mexican cow’s milk cheese that melts into the hot kernels. The overall sensation of eating this is a brilliant flavour rush of salt, spice, sour, citrus and sweet, which one of our group aptly describes as a “flavour explosion”.

Next comes a tortilla soup unlike any I’ve had before. It consists of a thin, spicy, sour chicken broth not totally dissimilar to the Thai tom yum, in which swims succulent pieces of chicken, perfectly ripe sliced avocado, sweet little cherry tomatoes and strips of fried tortilla. The whole thing is topped with melting, crumbling creamy Queso cheese and fresh cilantro (coriander to us Brits). It’s utterly delicious, refreshing, textural, fresh and satisfying.

This is all rather filling, but it would be a bit of a crime to not order a taco, so after weighing up the fried avocado and quinoa, and the ground beef with yukon potatoes and the pulled pork with red cabbage and spicy lime marinated onions, I finally settle on the chicken. This might sound like the boring option, but it’s anything but – arriving topped with charred, sweet onions, jalapeños, roasted tomatillo salsa, sour cream, cilantro and lime.

The flavours here are wonderful, all working together to create layers of taste to really savour, rather than stuff in your face at speed. And while this is something of a fancy taco, it’s a steal at just $3, washed down with a big cup of sweet, aromatic horchata which has been flavoured with vanilla and almond as well as cinnamon. Mas Tacos made a name for itself serving this colourful, creative Mexican cuisine out of a truck, and that’s fantastic, but after sampling this fresh, delicious food, it’s evident that it’s more than worthy of its permanent pitch on the thriving Nashville lunch spot scene.

I’d been hearing a lot from my friend Lindsay, who lived in Nashville for six years and whose parents we’ve been staying with on this trip, about the ‘biscuits’ at The Loveless Cafe, a roadside eatery that has been serving them since 1951. Every time she spoke about them, I imagined a sort of cross between a cookie and a pancake, but as I discovered on eating them for myself at this local institution – they are in fact more like a savoury, bread-like buttermilk scone. At Loveless they’re served like bread as an accompaniment, with jams and preserves and that creamy white butter they do here. We get a plate of them almost as soon as we sit down amidst the bustling tables of people getting their country cuisine fix, and they’re still warm from the oven.

The biscuits, of which they make 4-7000 a day, are soft and buttery and utterly addictive – really hitting the spot after the 40 minute wait for our table, which is the norm here at this Southern favourite. Until recently they had been made by the same lady and keeper of the much-prized recipe – one Carol Fay Ellison who had worked at the restaurant for 30 years, and who sadly passed away in 2010. The name Loveless comes from the first owners to serve biscuits and country hams here – Lon and Annie Loveless, who took over in 1951, and the latter of who created the biscuit recipe.

I love the look of the place – the worn wooden floorboards, blue gingham table cloths and all the pictures of various celebrities and local figures that hang on the wall as you come in and speak to the servers, who reside above a tempting pie counter.

While the home-cured country ham is another thing this place is famous for, I wanted to get my first taste of Nashville’s famed Southern fried chicken here, and I’m not in the least bit disappointed by the crunchy, spicy, moist chicken that arrives along with a tub of vinegar-piqued coleslaw and sloppy, glossy mac and cheese.

The Loveless Cafe and Motel has been feeding hungry travellers using the US Highway 100 for over half a century, and despite having changed hands many times during that period, with the motel side of the business ceasing in the mid-80s, it retains its original character and specialities, like the biscuits, which have defined it from the beginning. If you ever find yourself in Nashville, do yourself a favour and swing by.

Sometimes when I mentioned to people that I was going on holiday to Nashville their eyes would glaze over. “Why would you go to Nashville? It’s known as ‘Nash Vegas,’” said the girl I met while eating some surprisingly good sushi at Charlotte airport during the wait for my connecting plane. People think it’s all country music and moonshine – and yes, there is a lot of that, but in the last few years Nashville has been reinventing itself, becoming known not just for its country music heritage, but for its brilliant garage rock bands - and for a new breed of food and drink places, that, when added to the Southern institutions already here, situate this Tennessee city as one of the most exciting places to eat in the US.

As readers of this blog might have noticed, I’ve become increasingly interested in American cuisine over the past couple of years, spending some time in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and starting a French Dip sandwich stall in Brixton. When the chance came up to visit the South – home to some of the most interesting and distinctive of American cooking (as recently seen on menus from New York to London), it was just too good to miss. I had the added advantage of travelling with a friend who is from here, and whose parents kindly guided us through some of the must-visit places.

I’m going to be writing about Nashville for the Guardian so I won’t give everything away here, but here’s a post about two of the most remarkable places we’ve been so far.

Patterson House is a pre-Prohibition era style cocktail bar in a 17th century property in the Vanderbilt area of the city. It’s all dim lighting, dark wood, leather banquettes, antique metal ceiling tiles and very good cocktails – in the manner of places like The Varnish in LA or London’s Worship Street Whistling Shop. I go for a sharp and simple gimlet  - while the knowledgeable barman whips up a spicy, sour, fruity virgin creation for my friend who’s the designated driver.

Patterson House is part of the trailblazing Strategic Hospitality group of local venues, co-founded by local entrepreneur brothers Ben and Max Goldberg, and we also had seats at their new-ish restaurant which has quickly become the hottest culinary spot in town – The Catbird Seat – conveniently situated just upstairs.

The Catbird Seat is a chef’s table of restaurant with a total of 30 seats wrapped around the open kitchen where the two chefs – Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger, and their two sous work together to create and serve delicious seven course tasting menus. Erik and Josh met at the temple to Modernist gastronomy that is Alinea in Chicago (which you can read about here), and between them have worked at some of the world’s top restaurants, including Noma, The Fat Duck and The French Laundry. But rather than opening something in the fine dining mould of their former employers, with fawning front of house or 30-cook kitchens, the chefs came up with a plan to collaborate on a restaurant that would give them the chance to, as Josh puts it “cut out the middle man” and cook, serve and chat to the diners during service. Since it opened at the tail-end of last year, the restaurant has received a slew of accolades, including being named among America’s top ten new restaurants by American GQ, semi-finalling for a James Beard new restaurant award, with Josh and Erik being named Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs 2012.

Weirdly, it turns out that Erik was working at Noma the same time that I visited last year – so it may well be that I had unknowingly already been cooked for by him.

Left, Erik Anderson, right Josh Habiger

The food was a procession of brilliantly conceived courses, each with a few ingredients on the plate – put together with such relaxed flair by the chefs – who seemingly dance around each other finishing each other’s dishes – that you wouldn’t guess at the technical complexity behind them. The meal starts with some Southern-inspired ‘snacks’ – a beautiful oyster with oyster and yuzu puree, a corn bread cooked in duck fat and a piece of chile flavoured chicken skin – a riff on the famous Nashville hot chicken.

Each course was matched to an alcoholic beverage, beautifully chosen by the sommelier Jane, who the chefs knew from Chicago and who has a playful penchant for creating her own carbonated concoctions – such as this sake mixed with maple syrup delight.

Steak tartare was an elegant, nuanced take on the robust French classic, with chive flowers, ‘caper butts’, horse radish cream and Arctic char roe. A dish of braised and grilled pork belly came with pickled carrots, violet foam and a cold soup of ramps (local wild leeks), watercress and lavender – the rich, salty, fatty meat melting into the fresh, smooth green soup – the whole thing lifted by the light, floral violet foam.

This was one of my favourite dishes – a beautifully cooked piece of wood pigeon with white asparagus tips and hay-infused, caramelised yoghurt. The bird was served with the arm still on and the fat had been beautifully rendered into a golden crisp, with the pinky red, deep meat inside brilliantly offset by the woody, piquant yoghurt. According to Erik it was inspired by the tradition of cooking squab pigeon in hay, mixed with his Scandi influences.

This was an amazing creation: rabbit with veal mousse and nduja, served with snap peas. A fantastic combination of flavours. Also, you could put nduja with pretty much anything and I’d eat it.A delicious maple-infused egg custard with a salty bacon crisp. 
Dessert was brilliant – a dish of air-light cherry crisp with pineapple jelly, vanilla cake, oak ice cream and bourbon balls which burst in the mouth into little hits of alcohol – the sweet of the fruit and vanilla balanced by the creamy, smoky ice cream.
Catbird Seat’s food sets it apart from the other restaurants in the city thanks to its use of progressive cooking techniques and imaginative, avant garde combinations, but what makes it particularly remarkable is the way that these two chefs have decided to collaborate in such a way, cooking in full view of their diners. Here, food lovers who are so often shrouded from the excitement and theatre of the kitchen can get a rare and thrilling glimpse of two chefs at the top of their game working side by side with all the ease and cadence of a well-rehearsed rock band. And they have tattoos to match. Well, we are in Music City USA.

A couple of weeks ago, during a visit to the Isles of Scilly, I came over all Famous Five – posting Instagram pics of ‘a beautiful hidden cove – great for a secret picnic!’ and ‘fisherman Graham relaxing after his catch’. Some seriously earnest stuff. The thing is, with all the fresh sea air, incredible luminous light, crystal turquoise waters and lush, varied flora on the Scilly Isles, you really can’t help catching the infectious good spirit that abounds the islands, and find yourself wondering when Aunt Fanny might come strolling out with a jug of homemade lemonade. On one occasion during my stay, my host Robert Francis of the wonderfully characterful 16th Century Star Castle Hotel on St Mary’s drove me back from his boat after hauling in his lobster pots (that provide the lobster and crab for hotel restaurants) – smiling and saying hello to everyone we passed. “Do you ever have days where you just don’t want to say ‘hi’ to people?” – the London cynic in me asked. “No,” he said with a little chuckle. “It’s a nice place really – friendly, good people.”

Graham who crews Robert's lobster boat with him

The Star Castle Hotel

Robert acquired the lease for the hotel from the Duchy Estate (which owns the island) in 2003, but has, in the last couple of years handed the direct running of the hotel onto his son James, which means he gets to spend his time on his main passions – catching crab and lobster on his boat, and wine. As well as being a wine enthusiast (you only need to glimpse the well selected, reasonably-priced wine list in the hotel’s Castle restaurant to glean this), Robert is in the process of creating the island’s first vineyard. During my stay he drove me the couple of miles down the road to the site where the 700 vines of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay he’s planted with the help of celebrated Austrian wine-maker Willi Opitz are currently in the midst of budding, in the expectation that during this, their third year in the ground, they will produce a crop of grapes.

Robert on his vineyard on St Marys

Rather than creating the sparkling wine the UK has become known for, Robert wants to produce flat wines, which he believes the micro-climate of the Scillies is able to nurture. His plans for the vineyard include the conversion of a 13th century cowshed into a ‘tasting room’ where visitors can taste the wines and enjoy snacks, mezzes and small plates of food. The plan is to install a wood-burning stove for making things like flatbreads to go with the wines.

Sea spinach!

roast beef at the Star Castle hotel

On top of being one of the friendliest, and most beautiful places in the UK, the Isles of Scilly are a veritable feast of wild food, as I discovered on the nearby island of Bryher, with fabulous self-taught forager Rachel Lambert. Lambert runs foraging breaks at Hell Bay Hotel on the terrifically rugged Bryher, which has a population of 85. Hell Bay has recently been upgraded to four stars, and has three AA Rosettes for its restaurant, where guests on the foraging breaks can enjoy five course tasting menus dreamed up by Lambert and the chefs – utilising the homegrown produce of the islands.
For two days, Lambert led us on a ramble around Bryher, and then nearby Tresco, carefully explaining the plants, herbs and flowers that she found growing all over.

Rachel picking some sea lettuce from a rock pool

On Bryher, we gathered rock samphire – a sort of lavender-esque, aromatic cousin of the salty, succulent marsh samphire; scurvy – so named because it’s so packed with vitamin C and was used on boats to avoid the affliction, and  bundles and bundles of sea spinach – which grows in glossy patches near the beach, and was later served as a wilted, deep accompaniment to some wonderful roast beef. We also picked up some sea lettuce from a rock pool –  which would go into a deliciously umami packed seaweed and brown shrimp broth. Eating that dish, with its shreds of floaty sea lettuce and tiny little shrimps was itself like slurping on a rock pool (in the nicest possible way). Sorrel and gorse flowers (which have an amazing ice cream soda aroma) were also plucked and tasted.

Roast beef with sea spinach and polenta at Hell Bay

The following day we headed to neighbouring island Tresco, and, under Rachel’s guidance, uncovered a whole host of different plants and wild foods including Bermuda Buttercups – edible flowers with a citric flavour; nettles, chickweed; alexander (which has a sort of celery/rhubarb esque stem); juicy sea sandwort and pennywort.

Bermuda buttercups

Pennywort - it grows in walls and tastes green and crunchy

We also had the pleasure of exploring the amazing Tresco Abbey gardens. Here, hundreds of plants from over 80 countries – including South Africa and Brazil flourish in the special Scillies microclimate. A soaring canopy of palms, special furry flowers and all sorts of other amazing growing things are spread across the many levels of this Victorian garden.

Inside the beautiful Tresco Abbey Gardens

So there you have it. Beaches, wine, wild food, special exotic plants and lovely, lovely people. There’s nowhere in the UK quite like the Isles of Scilly, so if you haven’t already been – get yourself down there!

Audio: Angela Hartnett and Gabrielle Hamilton in conversation from Rosie Birkett on Vimeo.

A couple of weeks ago I had the serious career highlight of being sent by Nowness.com to cover Angela Hartnett and New York chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s collaboration as part of the ‘Girls Night Out’ cooking series – a celebration of six of the world’s best female chefs. You can read about that, and see some fantastic photos from snapper Leigh Johnson here.

It’s fair to say both of these ladies are something of an inspiration. Angela Hartnett is the trailblazing London chef who made her name under Gordon Ramsay before going on to buy her Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Murano from him in 2010. Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef patron of Prune restaurant in New York, which she has been running for 12 years. Last year she published her candid chef memoir ‘Blood, Bones and Butter‘ to great acclaim, and won the prestigious James Beard NYC Chef of the Year award for her East Village eatery.

Here is an audio interview I recorded with the two women at Shoreditch House, during which they talk about how they came to cook together, their shared love of Italian cuisine, and their views on the male/female chef divide – or lack thereof. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Leigh Johnson

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that I cooked a massive smoked gammon a few weeks ago. I love gammon – I find its savoury depth very comforting, and, as someone rightly pointed out, it’s the gift that just keeps on giving – good with anything from salad to eggs, to potatoes and veg. Perfect frugal food for a full-time freelancer. But if, like me, you’re the only one working away on it – after a week or so of gammon-based lunches, suppers and snacking, you can pretty quickly find yourself with pig fatigue. I mentioned this condition to my sister, who advised freezing it. So I sliced the whole thing up, scattered some of it on one final salad (with the amazing Angeli olive oil I’ve just been sent), and whacked half of it in the freezer, along with the jug of stock I’d made from cooking the gammon in the first place.

Last night, when reaching into the freezer for some ice cubes for my pink grapefruit and gin martini (just the way I roll) I had to fight my way past the stock, gammon, and a big packet of frozen peas to get to the cubes, and that’s when the pea and gammon soup idea hit. It was like it was waiting for me there in the freezer.

I improvised with this recipe – luckily there was some mint and green chilli lying around which I thought might work nicely, and I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out – the sweet, freshness of the peas given depth by the salty meat and stocked, and perked by the mint and chilli. I whipped up some good Dijon mustard with some of the extra virgin olive oil, and drizzled it over to finish the dish.

Pea and gammon soup

fresh (when in season), tinned or frozen garden peas – about 700g
leftover gammon, ham or smokey bacon – 200g-300g
gammon or veg stock – 1kg
bunch of mint
green chilli – 1
salt and pepper to taste
bay leaf – 1
olive or ground nut oil – 2 tablespoons
white onion, chopped – 1
garlic cloves, finely chopped – 2
Dijon mustard – two tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil – 3 tablespoons

Heat the oil up in a heavy bottomed pan or Le Creuset, adding in the onions, bay, garlic, chilli and salt and pepper, cooking until the onions are soft.  If you’re using frozen peas, make sure they’re defrosting while you’re doing this. Add the stock and mint to the pan, boil and simmer for five minutes, before adding the peas (make sure you put a couple of handfuls aside to add later).

Simmer for 5-6 minutes, before taking the soup off the heat and letting it cool. When a bit cooler, liquidise – I used a stick blender straight in the pan, but you could do it in a food processor in small batches if you need to.

Once it’s a smooth, frothy consistency, you can add in the flaked ham or gammon and extra peas, and bring the heat back up, simmering for about six minutes. While it’s heating through, mix the Dijon in a little bowl with the olive oil, until you achieve a slick, runny consistency.

Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle over the Dijon oil. Eat with crusty bread and lots of butter.

A matter of months ago, I had never been to Holland. This how now been remedied, and thanks to a fine twist of work-related fate, I’ve actually just been there twice in the past month. On both trips, I had the good fortune of being a guest of the Dylan boutique hotel in Amsterdam. As you can hopefully see from the photos, it’s quite something.

 While you might not guess it from the state-of-the-art in-room facilities (the minibar, pictured, has got to be the best one I’ve ever seen), The Dylan has a long and colourful history dating back to the 1600s, and was one of the first buildings on the Keizersgracht canal.First a theatre, and then a Roman Catholic poor house, this 40-bedroom property still retains many of its historic original features, with heavy wooden beams, rickety staircases (don’t worry, there are elevators too) and building inscriptions in old Dutch. But this is very much a contemporary property, steeped in a chic luxury aesthetic. The interior was originally designed by Anouska Hempel in 1999 (and refurbished in 2007 by FG Stijl), and the British designer’s touches are still dotted about, with each of its individually styled rooms offering their own charms. The hotel is named after the poet Dylan Thomas, and it certainly has a tranquil, artistic quality to it that makes it the sort of place you’d want to stay if you happened to be in Holland trying to write your novel. Situated near the trendy ‘nine street’ Negen Straatjes shopping district, canal views, warm, skilful service and a Michelin-starred restaurant make this hotel a good base from which to explore the city, but also a destination in its own right.

And what of the restaurant? Vinkeles is one of just five restaurants in the Dutch capital to hold one Michelin star – situating it as one of the best places to eat in the city – and it doesn’t disappoint. The chef is home-grown talent Dennis Kuipers, an alumnus of Alain Senderens and member of the Dutch Guild of Master Chefs, whose culinary style has its roots firmly in classical French cuisine.

The warm, understated dining room features original 18^th century baking ovens – an atmospheric nod to the hotel’s past as an alms house – but the cuisine is anything but austere. Kuipers deftly balances traditional French technique with quality ingredients (some sourced from the local Lindengracht market which is worth a visit) and exciting, fresh flavour combinations like soft, rare veal knuckle with sweet roasted langoustines and curry mayonnaise, and exquisitely tender Anjou pigeon served with its crispy confit leg, tangy kidney and a rich jus with a hint of five spice.

He’s unafraid to use luxury ingredients, putting a modern spin on classic combinations like caviar and pomme puree in his Pommes Tsarine dish – a generous mound of oscietra caviar with smooth crème fraîche sorbet topped with light, fluffy potato espuma (pictured).

Service is excellent, and the sommelier is keen to showcase fantastic, unusual wines from lesser-known regions.

Brilliantly, guests can also enjoy the Vinkeles gastronomic experience on board ‘The Muze’ – a renovated 19th century river cruiser with a private skipper which will take you on a beautiful trip through Amsterdam’s canals as the chef prepares his menu onboard.

Speaking from experience, this has to be one of the most romantic European gastronomic experiences out there. We sipped Champagne while Old Blue Eyes soothed out of the boat’s speakers and the chef paraded various tasty treats fashioned in the tiny boat kitchen.

Fishy Æbleskiver at Noma

Savoury biscuits, as described by Sam in the vid

Hay smoked quails' eggs

I have a very shameful confession to make. Last summer I went to Noma in Copenhagen – René Redzepi’s temple to New Nordic cuisine which currently holds the ‘Best Restaurant in the World’ accolade – and enjoyed one of the most delicious and extraordinary meals of my life. And I didn’t blog about it. Not one thing. I suppose I couldn’t find the words. But I did manage to shoot some very shaky footage on my iPhone, which, having just purchased my first Mac (about time right?) I have been able to fashion into something resembling a video of parts of our meal. I think it’s quite a good way of representing the food we enjoyed, because so much of it had an interactive element that is hard to portray in print. Anyway, please excuse the strange sound quality and amateur editing. I will get better!

Noma, Copenhagen from Rosie Birkett on Vimeo

Padrón peppers and jamón ibérico

It’s hard to believe Eyre Brothers has been going for ten years, as it’s still as buzzy and fresh as it ever was, which is something of a feat in the fickle London dining climate.

Salt cod on chickpeas with lots of olive oil