Latest news with #foodwriter
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Mehak Kansal's chicken or paneer makhani recipe
'This is the recipe that put Bindas on the map. It is our best-selling and most sought-after curry: butter chicken,' says food writer and cookery book author, Mehak Kansal. 'A truly decadent, creamy, herby, slightly spicy, slightly sweet curry made with cream and tomatoes. I am sure there will be a permanent fold or bookmark kept on this page. You can use chicken or paneer for this recipe.' Ingredients: (Serves 4-6) 700g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces, or 600g paneer, cut into cubes Handful of coriander, chopped, to serve (optional) Advertisement For the marinade: 2tbsp Greek-style yoghurt 2tbsp ghee, melted 1tbsp garlic purée 1tbsp ginger purée 1tsp tomato paste (concentrated purée) 1½tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground turmeric 1tsp garam masala 1tbsp chilli powder 1tsp salt For the makhani sauce: 3–4tbsp ghee 1 onion, finely chopped 2 green bird's-eye chillies, finely chopped 2tbsp garlic purée 2tbsp ginger purée 1½tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground coriander 1½tsp ground turmeric 1tsp chilli powder 1tsp ground green cardamom 1½tsp garam masala 1–2tsp salt, according to taste 200g canned plum tomatoes, puréed 1½tsp caster sugar 300ml double (heavy) cream, plus extra to serve 3tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) Mehak Kansal's chicken or paneer makhani (Sam Folan 2025/PA) Method: 1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken or paneer to the marinade and stir to coat. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours, preferably overnight. 2. Preheat the oven to 175°C (330°F/gas mark 3–5). Line a baking tray with foil. 3. Transfer the marinated chicken or paneer to the prepared tray and roast for 25–30 minutes until tender – do not overcook. 4. Meanwhile, prepare the makhani sauce. Heat the ghee in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium–high heat. Add the onion, chillies, and garlic and ginger purées, and cook for five to seven minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is brown and caramelised. Advertisement 5. Add the ground spices and salt, along with the puréed tomatoes, and reduce the heat to medium–low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, then stir in the sugar and reduce the heat to low. Allow the sauce to gently bubble for two minutes, then take the pan off the heat. 6. Use a hand blender to purée the sauce until nice and smooth, then return it to a medium heat. Cover and cook for five minutes, stirring every minute or so. Once the ghee starts rising to the surface, add in the cream, then crush the kasoori methi in your hands and sprinkle those in too. 7. Once the chicken or paneer is ready, add it to the sauce, along with six to seven tablespoons of the juices from the tray. Cook over a low heat for two minutes to combine, then transfer to a serving dish. Swirl in another tablespoon of cream, sprinkle over the coriander and enjoy. (Sam Folan 2025/PA) Bindas: Comfort Food with an Indian Soul by Mehak Kansal is published in hardback by Murdoch Books. Photography by Sam Folan. Available now.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Forbes
Summer Grilling And BBQ: The Best Mail-Order Meat And Seafood
Backyard barbecue season is here, and there are limitless choices of great meat and seafood you can ... More grill—if you know where to shop. It's not officially summer yet, but Memorial Day usually marks the start of backyard grilling season, and the holiday came about as early as possible this year. That means it is time to start cooking outside. But if you want to have the best possible home grilled foods, entertain friends and be the envy of your neighborhood, you need to start with better ingredients. The best meats and seafood for outdoor cooking are things you typically cannot get at your local gourmet store or butcher shop. The items below are all exceptional, hard to source, and all of them have been personally tested, tasted and approved by yours truly. This is a subject I have covered for years, I am a NY Times bestselling food writer, and these are truly the best mail-order meat and seafood for grilling and smoking this summer. No butcher offers the sheer selection of Chicago's famed Allen Brothers, with 10 options for rib eye ... More steaks alone! This is a 50/50 Wagyu/Angus version, naturally rasied by Texas' Rosewood Ranch. If I could order meat from only one place, it would probably be Allen Brothers, an acclaimed Chicago butcher shop founded in 1893 and tied to the history of American cattle drives and meat processing since the city's stockyards days. Allen Brothers supplies many top steakhouses across the nation, and if you go out to an expense account steak dinner you may well be having exactly the same meat you can get for your backyard—for much less money! They have also been doing consumer mail order meat much longer than most competitors and are excellent at it. Beyond beef, they carry a very full lineup of specialty lamb, pork, poultry, seafood, veal and would game, even exceptional prepared foods for parties. It's one stop shopping for protein fans. But today let's talk beef. While there are many places where you can get a great rib eye or porterhouse, no one has the range Allen Brothers offers. Do you want your porterhouse USDA Prime? Dry-aged? Angus? Do you prefer it extra thick? They have you covered. Ribeyes are an even broader array from bone-in to boneless to giant celebratory tomahawks worthy of any home steakhouse dinner. Just in this one hard to find cut, tomahawks, they have multiple choices including USDA Prime, dry aged USDA Prime and Australian wagyu. Wet aged? Dry Aged? For regular rib eyes they have more than ten options, cut differently, aged differently, from different kinds of cattle and different countries. They have things you can find virtually nowhere else, like USDA Prime rib cap spinalis steak, and if you don't know what that is you should probably order one because it is a top-secret butcher cut that may be the best meat on the entire steer. Speaking of 'Butcher's Selections,' they have an entire section of their site for that, and it has crazy hard to find items, like wagyu beef short ribs or wagyu beef back rib racks, Argentinian-style flanken cut short ribs, one of the best cuts for grilling but from Australian wagyu, something I have never seen sold elsewhere. Need a Brazilian picanha cut that is also USDA Prime? Wagyu beef cheeks? If you love red meat, this is the place. Nashville craft butcher Porter Road takes locally, naturally raised meats and turns them into ... More amazing hot dogs, sausages, burgers and much more. You do not have to be a skilled cook to enjoy grilling, and many folks like to keep things simple with the classic American backyard barbecue, but you can still be a backyard rock star if you start with the best products. Hot dogs and sausages are among the most processed meats you can grill, and are usually made with low quality ingredients—even simple ground beef can be suspect with fillers and commodity meat. Your family and guests deserve better, and you can elevate your grilling game way above mass-produced supermarket commodity brands by shopping at one of my favorite e-tailers, Nashville-based specialty butcher Porter Road. They are an artisan brick and mortar butcher that also ships nationwide, but their aesthetic is regional and they work with local family farmers in neighboring states to obtain high-quality, ethically pasture raised poultry, beef and pork, all without hormones or antibiotics. As a whole animal butcher, they focus on sustainability, and use everything, so in addition to great steak, chicken (one of the best places to buy whole birds for roasting) and pork chops, they stand out for their house-made products, including excellent ground meat using dry-aged beef, a rarity, hot dogs, sausages, salamis and even dried beef sticks, the best I have tried. After researching and writing my New York Times bestseller, Real Food, Fake Food: Why You Don't Know What You're Eating & What You Can Do About It (read an excerpt here at Forbes), I switched my personal consumption to almost exclusively drug free, naturally raised meat, but in that style, these are among the hardest product categories to shop for. However, Porter Road makes it easy, and carries purer links of chorizo, kielbasa, Italian, andouille, bratwurst or breakfast sausage made with such quality meat. Even their bacon is better. Yet their prices are very reasonable, especially compared to most mail order gourmet fare, and in most cases, less than you'd pay at local butcher, with free shipping over $125. The aptly named "Grilling Box" from Wild Alaksan Company with wild-caught salmon, halibut and ... More pollack. Seafood is tricky on the grill, but for backyards, salmon is everyone's favorite, and the world's best salmon comes wild from Alaksa. Another lesson from research for my book was learning a lot about aquaculture and imported seafood. Knowing what I now know, I try to eat only wild-caught domestic fish, which means mainly Alaska. Fish farming is illegal across the board in the 49th State, so it's all wild-caught, and it's one of the world's cleanest and most sustainable fisheries. Also, what many foodies do not realize, because they constantly see menus brag about Scottish or Icelandic or Faroe Islands salmon, is that Atlantic salmon is commercially extinct and all Atlantic salmon, no matter where it is from, or how fancy it sounds, is farmed (unless you catch it yourself). If you want wild caught, you want one of the five species of Pacific salmon found in abundance in Alaska: King (Chinook), Sockeye (red), Coho (silver), Pink (Humpy) or Chum (dog). Wild Alaskan Company delivers this sustainably-sourced seafood straight to your kitchen in individually vacuum packed, 6–8-ounce fillet portions perfect to get rubbed with extra virgin olive oil and go straight onto the grill. But it's not just salmon: these perfect sized packages can also contain wild caught Alaskan halibut, cod or pollock (the salmon is coho and sockeye). If you are an empty nester or live alone, these are also perfectly sized for dinner for one or two, thaw quickly and grill easily. It is tricky to find on the company's website, but they also offer several other great seafood choices, including salmon burgers, and wild caught shrimp, prawns and scallops, all great when grilled. Enjoy the world's finest pork, from Spain, 4-ways with Campo Grande's Grillmaster Box. Campo Grande is a specialty distributor focused on the best of Spanish meats—which means some of the best meat on earth, especially pork. Spain's claim to fame is the 100% Iberian Pata Negra (black paw) breed, generally considered the world's best. Because little actual meat is imported, it's better known here in cured meats, serrano ham and jamon Iberico, but if you can get your hands on it, you won't find better pork chops, roasts, tenderloin, ribs or butcher's cuts like very hard-to-find 'secreto,' a strip adjacent to the belly, combining the fatty rich deliciousness of pork belly with a meatier, steak-like texture. Campo Grande sells all of these cuts from the finest Spanish pigs, their stuff is just amazing, they specialize in curated sampler and gift boxes, including a couple specifically with a selection of cuts for grilling, making shopping easy. The Gunslinger, bone-in USDA Prime rib steaks with house seasoning and compund butter from iconic ... More Las Vegas steakhouse the Golden Steer. I have eaten at and written on the world's most famous steakhouses, from Spain to Buenos Aires to Kobe, Japan, and the Golden Steer in Las Vegas remains one of my all-time favorites (read more about it here at Forbes). While just about every other high-end red meat spot in Sin City is in a ginormous casino resort and relatively new, the family run spot is independent, free standing and one of the city's oldest eateries. History and tradition live on, with white-jacketed waiters making tableside Caesar salads and presenting tiered seafood towers. It was Sinatra's regular spot, to the point where he had his own meal, off-menu, and his own banquette (you can eat there now). All of the Rat Pack came regularly, Dean Martin also had his own booth, and one of the mail order packages is named for Sammy Davis Jr. But pretty much every star and celebrity who has visited Vegas in the past half century has eaten here, including Joe DiMaggio, Muhammad Ali, Charles Bronson, Nicolas Cage, Mario Andretti, Bette Midler and the King himself, Elvis Presley. Presley was such a regular during his famed Las Vegas residency that they have two Gold Records on loan from his personal collection hanging on the wall. But for your grill, what's most important is that the Golden Steer is one of the best 'steakhouse at home' models available. Not only do they ship their first-rate USDA Prime 30-day wet aged steaks, but they include their signature seasoning, which I have used many times and is excellent, as well as their house made decadent maître d' butter. If you have never spooned a lump of seasoned butter on top of a hot steak, you do not know what you are missing! Too set the mood, each box even includes a customized Spotify playlist, and if you are not a great steak cook, they offer 'The Bambino Immersive Experience' that includes their two signature cuts, USDA Prime Bone-in Ribeye and Filet Mignon, along with an 8-minute Masterclass video on how to cook steaks like the best chefs of the Vegas strip. The newest offering is 'The Gunslinger,' four 20-22-ounce bone in rib steaks plus seasonings. Whatever friends you invite for this feast will be overjoyed. Their Steer Setup Dining Experience is a complete dinner with two steaks of your choice (ribeyes, filets, one of each), or one giant tomahawk for two, plus the Steer's signature twice-baked potatoes, creamed corn and the usual seasoning extras. The way they package everything makes it easy to prep at home and tastes like you are eating out. World-class steakhouse dinner for two at home from legendary Tampa eatery, Bern's Steakhouse. Another big personal favorite of mine is Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, and I'm not alone: few restaurants in the U.S. of any kind have received the acclaim and cult following Bern's has. While its food is amazing, it may be best known for having the nation's single best restaurant wine program, the largest cellar in the country, with an amazing selection by the glass, things you can taste this way no place else, and it is a perennial winner of the rarest Wine Spectator Grand Award of Excellence, the industry's highest honor. You'll have to buy your own wine, but now you can enjoy Bern's steaks and sides at home, through mail order food specialist Goldbelly. I'm not usually a big fan of the site, since much of the food is marked up way above what the restaurants they represent sell for, and shipping prices can be astronomical, but one of the things that is so impressive about Bern's—one of the hardest reservations in the country and always sold out—is that despite its popularity, prices are very reasonable, and it is probably the most affordable great steakhouses in America. The same is true with the mail order—like two extra-long dry-aged (5-6 weeks!) USDA Prime NY Strip steaks plus large sides of creamed spinach and Bern's famous sour cream mashed potatoes, for $139, shipping included. That's a great dinner for two for what you would easily spend on one person at a steakhouse—a steakhouse that is not nearly as good as Bern's. Force of Nature has grilling meats you will be unlikely to source elsewhere, such as regeneratively ... More raised elk, venison, bison, and wild boar. I have long been a fan of bison, which is almost always raised under better, more natural, free ranging conditions than beef cattle, is easy to find in a drug-free state, and is leaner and arguably healthier than beef, yet with the same robust red meat flavor. The biggest issue with buying bison is simply availability, and while many supermarkets now carry ground bison, getting steaks or other cuts is still quite challenging. But even harder to find than bison is grass-fed, regeneratively raised elk, venison or wild boar, all of which Force of Nature specializes in. Force of Nature is a mail-order specialist focused on regeneratively-raised meats produced with the highest quality farming techniques, and they offer things you'd be hard pressed to get anyplace else, like a grass-fed venison tomahawk steak! They have venison and grass-fed beef sausage, wild boar and beef sausage, and I have been using the wild boar sausage to make amazing breakfast sandwiches, unlike any you have ever tasted. They also sell ground meats from all of these meats so you can wow the neighbors with elk or wild boar burgers, something no one else in the neighborhood is likely to fire up. Colorado's regenerative Eagle Rock Ranch raises high-quality cattle in the most ultra-natural ... More fashion, then dry ages its great steaks. 'Our mission is to produce the highest quality beef possible—beef you can feel good about.' That is what they believe at Colorado's Eagle Rock Ranch, and it is music to my ears. They do things the old-fashioned way, open their ranch to visitors so you can see the cleanliness and high standards, but most of all they make superb natural beef in the most sustainable way. Like local CSAs, you can even buy a share of a whole animal, an eighth, quarter or half ($825-$1,525), but if you go this route make sure you have a big freezer. Even an eighth of a steer weighs in at 50-pounds of finished butchered beef, half ground half as steaks, roasts and short ribs. A more manageable order would be something like a box of NY Strip Steaks or Rib eyes, 21-day dry aged, each in three sizes. They offer a Caveman worthy oversized tomahawk, 3-inches thick and weighing in at more than 3.5 pounds. Beyond normal steaks, they carry specialty items like pot roast, short ribs, tri tip, beef osso buco, oxtails, and organ meats, all from the same meticulously cared for, drug free, grass-fed cattle. I love the way Eagle Rock does business. For amazing dry-aged and ultra-aged beef, it is hard to beat San Francisco's famous butcher to the ... More stars, Flannery Beef. The latest frontier of high-end steakhouse dining has been ultra dry-ageing, taking the industry standard 28-31 days and pushing it to 60, 90 or even 120 days, developing more nutty, intense favors. There are just a handful of standout steakhouses like James Beard-award winning chef John Tesar's Knife in Dallas, and one of my favorite restaurants in the world, crazy good fine-dining Italian Brezza in Las Vegas, where Itay's classic steak dish bistecca Fiorentina is elevated to a whole another level (Brezza sells its dry aged, exception steaks for home use, but currently only in person in Vegas). If you want to try extra aged beef at home and see what all the fuss is about, the best place to get it is from San Francisco's Flannery Beef, opened in in 1963 by Bryan Flannery, Sr. after he spent decades training with and working for a high-quality French butcher. Still a third-generation family-owned operation, Flannery supplies many top California restaurants and celebrities, and specializes in selecting the best USDA Prime (less than 6% of all beef) beef available, mostly raised in California by farmers they know, butchering it themselves in house and running their own dry-ageing facility, which is unusual. But perhaps most unusual is that many of the cuts, such as rib eyes, come from Holstein cattle, normally known as a dairy breed. In other countries they often eat the meat of dairy breeds, which tend to be more marbled, but not so much here. In addition to higher marbling and flavor Holstein rib eyes are smaller in diameter so they can be cut thicker at the same weight, which cooks better. I have tried many Flannery steaks over the years and have always been wowed. In fact, their exceptional Jorge Rib steak is one of the best pieces of meat I have ever tasted. It is cut from the first few bones at the chuck end of the primal rib, which has a higher amount of the exceptionally flavorful spinalis dorsi rib cap. If you don't know who much just cutting a steak can affect quality, you need to try the Jorge, a perfect giant steak for the grill, bone-in and three inches thick. It's dry-aged for about 30-35 days, a bit longer than usual dry-ageing (which is the best ageing and unusual to begin with for any length of time), but Flannery also offers more unusual extra-aged cuts, such as a 55-day bone-in rib steak, and most notably, the signature 'California Reserve Dry Aged Rib Eye,' aka 'The Old Ones,' aged 45, 60, 75 or 90 days, almost impossible to find elsewhere. That is why Flannery makes this list of the best mail-order meat and seafood. Enjoy!
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Deliciously Ella hits out at 'nepo baby' label and insists being great-granddaughter of Sainsbury's baron is nothing to do with her success
The star behind Deliciously Emma has hit out at being labelled a ' nepo baby ', insisting that being the great-granddaughter of a major Sainsbury's baron has nothing to do with her success. Food writer Ella Mills has said she knew people would describe her as a nepo baby when she set about creating her recipe blog and brand. The businesswoman, known for her cookery books that promote a plant-based diet, is the great-granddaughter of Lord Alan John Sainsbury, of the Sainsbury's supermarket-owning family. The mother-of-two told Good Housekeeping UK: 'I passionately wanted to do Deliciously Ella on my own. Of course, it didn't take journalists long to link the dots and I felt so bad in retrospect. 'I knew people would say I was just a nepo baby, but you don't sell 100 million products because 40 years ago Sainsbury's went public. 'At the same time, having that connection meant I had a subconscious wish to do something quite different, against the odds, as my great-grandfather had done.' In the mid-2010s Ms Mills was touted as a pioneer of the 'clean eating' movement, despite telling a magazine in 2016 that 'I would never use the word 'clean'.' The concept, promoting minimally-processed foods, was controversial, with Nigella Lawson telling BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour that 'behind the notion of clean eating is an implication that any other form of eating is dirty or shameful'. During this time, Ms Mills received backlash for her gluten, meat and dairy-free recipes, as well as her personal wellness journey, which was associated with the clean eating movement. She told the magazine: 'It (the backlash) was instigated more by the media than by social media. 'I don't have it as bad as some people who've been trolled, but I'm aware that a fair share of people don't like me, for sure. 'I accept that if you have a public platform and you share your opinion with the world, the world is quite right to have an opinion back. 'If I can help people to eat more plants and have a more natural diet, then that's more important than anything a troll can say about me.' Speaking further about the wellness industry, she said: 'You have this bizarre, quite ironic dichotomy: as our collective health gets worse, the wellness industry gets bigger, noisier, more confusing and more niche. 'If you go online, people are following these extreme morning routines, achieving so much by 9am. 'My concern is that too many people think that their health is synonymous with expensive powder and wildly elaborate routines. 'Everything I suggest is evidence-based. It's not about gimmicks or fads. I changed my diet (to plant-based) and it changed my life.' In the summer of 2011, Ms Mills was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which is when your heart rate increases very quickly after getting up from sitting or lying down, according to the NHS website. It was after this diagnosis that Ms Mills began building her business empire. After launching her blog and publishing a book, she later began producing vegan health products, selling millions of cereal bars across UK supermarkets. In her book, Deliciously Ella, published in 2015, she said that changing her diet meant 'in less than two years I was off all the medication I should have been on for life'. Amid soaring success, Ms Mills announced last year that she had decided to sell her company, saying she had been 'overwhelmed with fame'. In September last year, she announced that she and her husband, Matthew Mills - with who she co-owns the company - were selling it. The pair sold their company to the Swiss group Hero, for what is believed to be figure around £70 million. Despite selling, Ella and her husband have maintained control over Plants, a separate part of their business with supplies fresh pasta, kombucha and soups to outlets such as Waitrose.
Condé Nast Traveler
27-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Condé Nast Traveler
A Local's Guide to the Perfect Tokyo Experience
Transcript I'm Melinda Jo, a food writer based in Tokyo for more than 15 years. Over that time, I've helped a lot of people navigate this confusing but beautiful city that we call Tokyo. Today, I'm gonna curate my perfect Tokyo experience, looking at a number of recommendations from the internet, but ultimately I would like to take you to some places off the beaten track. [upbeat music] [bouncy music] When you come to Tokyo, of course you have to eat sushi. Tokyo is the birthplace of Nigiri sushi, which is the kind of sushi that we all know and love. We have so many options here in Tokyo from your cheap eats, standing sushi or the Kaiten sushi, which is the revolving sushi bar to the little neighborhood run mom and pop style sushi restaurants, and of course the high end Omakase style sushi restaurants. When you're looking for sushi in Tokyo, you're gonna see a ton of recommendations, especially concentrated around Oshiage where the old fish market was. So one of the main ones will be Sushizanmai which is of course a very solid chain. My recommendation is Sushi Kadowaki in Ginza. It's a relatively newly open space, and the reason I love it is that it's traditional style, but with innovation, and you have a very, very charming sushi chef that makes you feel very comfortable. [both speaking in Japanese] Of course, this is an Omakase course so it's all chef selection, seasonal, and whatever the chef thinks is best on the day. One of the things that's really special is how he uses fish that is not actually found in a lot of other restaurants. Instead of getting the fish from the market, he has direct relationships with fishermen and with special distributors. Mm! [Takatoshi speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [Takatoshi speaking in Japanese] [all laughing] [Takatoshi speaking in Japanese] [upbeat music] There's only one way to take in the staggering scale of Tokyo, and that's with a view from above. Let's take a look at what the internet says for recommended views. Alright, yeah, Mori Tower in Roppongi of course, a great choice. Oh, the metropolitan building in Shinjuku. That's a great idea, especially if you want to get a view without having to pay an entrance fee. So if I'm going to pick a place with a view, I feel like we should also have some time to enjoy that view with a great drink. And so my pick is the Ritz Carlton Tokyo. For me, the bar at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo achieves the trifecta of great location, wonderful view, and world-class cocktails. Also, it opens at 3:00 PM and I'm a big fan of day drinking, so this is my choice for where to go when you wanna have an afternoon tipple and watch the sunset, I'm gonna meet my friend, producer, Erico Miagawa and we're going to have some drinks mixed by one of my favorite bartenders in Tokyo, Wada-san. So it looks like the menu is based on the seasons. Yes, if we see, oh, this is a beautiful season with Japan, it's easy, but that's pretty much anyone does. So why don't we go further, which is sweet Wind travels around the season of Japan. Okay, so what do you recommend for us today? Why don't we introduce our spring cocktail, which is Usui, Sakura Zen Sen. Oh, this is based on American rye whiskey, and honey comes from Kurume City and lemon comes from Hiroshima and Aromatized with a little bit of matcha. Matcha comes from Kyoto Uji. [Melinda] You said that this has a story? What you see leaking is Tears of Geisha. Oh. Isn't that so cool? That's so cool. Drink. Comes in waves. Right? Yeah. [upbeat music] If you're coming to Tokyo for the first time, of course you wanna have ramen. I was the same way when I first came to Tokyo oh so many years ago, I had ramen all the time. It was such an easy way to go get something that was delicious and filling and great for just one person. There are so many great places to choose from. Let's see what the internet says. We have ramen Ichiran, the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum, also Ramen Street in Tokyo Station. Actually, these are all great choices. Shinyokohama Ramen Museum is so much fun, actually, it's like going to the Disneyland of Ramen. The Ramen Street in Tokyo Station is also a really good way to see what's going on in the ramen scene today, all in one place. What I really recommend is an experience that you can have only in Tokyo, and that's why I wanna take you to Ginza Hachigou. [both speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [Yasushi speaking in Japanese] [both speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [both speaking in Japanese] [Yasushi speaking in Japanese] [Yasushi speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [Yasushi speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] The balance is really important, and that's what I'm finding in this bowl of ramen. You have the texture of the noodles, which is both delicate and pliant and with enough chew to make you feel like you're really eating noodles, but you see that they are thin so that they don't feel too overpowering. There's not a trace of heaviness in this for me at all. It's really the natural flavor of the ingredients coming through. [upbeat music] Well, of course, Kyoto is the capital of temples in Japan, but in Tokyo we also have a lot of cool temples to visit. So let's take a look at what the recommended ones are. The very first one that comes up is of course, Senso-ji in Asakusa and it is a beautiful temple. It is iconic, it is huge. And if you need to get your Instagram moment, then of course I think you should go there. But I recommend for a really unique experience right here in the middle of Tokyo, Fukagawa Fudo-do. [peaceful music] [water splashing] One of the things that makes the temple so unique is that every day, five times a day, they perform a Goma ritual, which is a fire ritual. That is a time that people can pray for different wishes and come for spiritual purification. It doesn't matter if you are yourself religious, it's just more you get a sense of how these institutions are still very much a part of people's lives here. [upbeat music] When people come to Tokyo, they always ask me about Kobe beef, but I think there's a little misunderstanding about what exactly Kobe beef is. Kobe beef refers specifically to a brand of beef made from cattle grown in a certain prefecture in Japan, Hyōgo prefecture. It is one kind of beef in the category of Wagyu. Kobe beef is of course delicious. It's strictly regulated, but there are many other brands of Japanese beef or Wagyu that are also wonderful. So where can you taste this succulent beef? Let's see what the internet says. Okay, so it's so popular that tons of things come up, and I'm sure that a lot of them are great. But I would like to take you to what I think is maybe the best Wagyu experience. Wagyumafia. [crowd cheering] There's no way to put into words the intensity of the energy and the pure flavor that they deliver here at Wagyu Mafia. [both speaking in Japanese] [Melinda] I mean, really spectacular. It's not like at a restaurant at all, and it's not like at a house. It really feels like a performance. [both speaking in Japanese] You are such a big personality. When people think about Wagyumafia, they think about the performance and they think about indulgence. Food has to be fun, food has to be enjoyable. Before Wagyumafia, you sit down quiet for two hours, very end of the meal, you get a tiny bit of Kobe beef, but you're not allowed to talk big, you know? With Wagyumafia, I wanted to create excitement 'cause I think the happiness is new part of our money. People shout and I have a 93-year-old lady as a one of my regular customers. She can understand that. She said, oh, I feel young now. This is a food I wanna serve to my family. Right, right. And my friends. And I want to eat. Yes. Yeah, day off, no, I come back to Wagyumafia to eat it. [both speaking in Japanese] [upbeat music] Tokyo's drinking culture and its bar scene is legendary, not only for the precision and craft of bartenders at high-end cocktail bars, but also for the sheer breadth and variety of the drinking establishments that we have here. We have lively Izaki where you can get a cheap and easy drink. We have bars that are standing room only where you can drop in to say hi and have a beer. And then we have experiences that you can only find here in Tokyo. I'm gonna take you to a one of a kind place called Twillo. The best way to describe it is that it's a kind of food truck meets high-end cocktail bar that moves around the city in a different place every night. [both speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [Shotaro speaking in Japanese] [both speaking in Japanese] I'm gonna drink poison. Hm... [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [Shotaro speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] [both speaking in Japanese] [Shotaro speaking in Japanese] [Melinda speaking in Japanese] One of the things that makes the city so dynamic is the way that you have old and new right next to each other. You might have a restaurant that is a hundred years old next to a really tiny contemporary restaurant with only eight seats. Or you might find the most unusual shop stuck in a high rise building with no real sign. When you walk around Tokyo, you will always find something new. There's so much to see in this city. You have to just be open with all of your senses and start taking a look. [upbeat music]
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Telegraph
Weber Spirit EP-335 Review: I'd recommend this quick gas BBQ to grilling newbies and experts alike
What is the Weber Spirit EP-335? Weber has a fine line of Spirit gas barbecues, and the EP-335 is the latest model in the range. Launched this year, its premium design boasts three burners plus a side burner, a digital thermometer, a side table that's compatible with the company's accessory storage system. (The Weber Works is a drop-in lidded caddy that gives you secure space for those crucial tools and condiments. A standout feature in Weber's reinvented range is its 'boost burner' technology, which it promises will give you 40 per cent more power in a concentrated area for any and all high-heat cooking. Two of the burners have this feature to create a 'sear zone' (great for quick-cook items like burgers and steaks), while the third operates without it. Retailing at £799, the Weber Spirit EP-335 sits at the pricier end of the gas barbecue market. Still, it was named Best Buy in our best gas barbecues buying guide this year, notching up high scores in all areas. Read on to find out why I think it's an investment worth making. JUMP TO: How we test gas BBQs As a food writer and stylist, I have written hundreds of barbecue recipes and prepared food for shoots on a range of different barbecue models. When it comes to cooking in the open air, as much as I enjoy firing up a charcoal barbecue or wood-fired pizza oven, for ease-of-use and consistent results, a gas barbecue is second to none. First I assessed how complex the barbecue was to put together, checked its sturdiness, the quality of the materials used for the grill and any accompanying accessories, and its overall appearance. I like to move my barbecue to different shady spots depending on the time of day, so its weight and how easy it was to move around were also important factors. Extra features like side tables, the warming rack and (key for me) how easy it was to clean-up were also taken into account. As for cooking, I looked for how quickly the barbecue got to temperature, the evenness and retention of heat, and how easy it was to control. I also tested out unique features such as the boost burners (to improve searing), snap-jet ignition technology (so you can light each burner with one hand) and flavorizer bars (that funnel off grease) to see how well they matched up to the marketing claims. I tested the barbecue several times using a range of meats, including steaks, bone-in chicken and pork chops and quicker-to-cook skewers, burgers and vegetable sides. I paid careful attention to how easy it was to cook safely, including monitoring the temperature so food cooked all the way through without any burning. Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended Our thorough, real-world tests will always help you find the best product. No manufacturer ever sees Telegraph Recommended reviews before publication and we don't accept payment in exchange for favourable reviews, nor do we allow brands to pay for placement in our articles. All opinions are based on independent expert opinion and our hands-on testing. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more. Usability Score: 10/10 This barbecue is straightforward to assemble, taking two of us under two hours to go from opening the box to being ready to cook. The parts aren't heavy to lift or tricky to fit and the gas regulator, which can require a fair bit of effort to attach safely, arrives fully assembled. However, there was more packaging than could fit in our domestic recycling bin. The lightness and compact size of this model make it one of the best-suited barbecues for garden use. While it might appear small, particularly if you're planning on large-scale partying, I found it perfectly suited to our family of four. The 54cm by 45cm grilling area is plenty big enough to accommodate additional guests, too and the barbecue is mobile enough to tuck away when not in use. Though, of course, if you're looking for something even more compact, consider a portable barbecue. Weber's clever grilling system allows for almost endless adaptation (though sadly it can't air fry). Swap the circular grate with a variety of accessories (bought separately) such as a glazed pizza stone, poultry roaster, griddle, wok and steamer and you'll have one of the most versatile grills on the market. The porcelain-enamelled cast iron cooking grates are excellent at holding heat and they're durable enough to withstand the use of metal, unlike some other examples. Safety Score: 10/10 The barbecue is sturdily constructed and has a 10-year limited warranty. The cabin beneath the burners holds the patio gas firmly in place, so it doesn't require strapping to the side or resting on the ground externally. The gas regulator is also securely fixed into position on the side of the cabin with a bracket during the assembly. Four all-weather wheels make easy work of moving the barbecue around the garden without needing extra help. The two front castors lock easily with the press of a foot to prevent any movement once the barbecue has been ignited. There's also a range of compatible caddies and condiment holders that slot into the side table and I found the extra space helpful when the barbecuing was in full swing. It's also reassuring to know that bottles of oil and sharp tools are safely secured. There are three main burners heating the cooking area, so you can set different temperatures across the grill. Two have boosters which let you quickly crank up the heat in the 'sear zone', something that proved useful for quicker-cooking foods such as burgers and steaks. I was particularly taken with the 'snap-jet' ignition, which means you can light the individual burners with one hand – it worked without fail. I also appreciated the chunkiness of the large knobs which offer a wide scope for temperature adjustment. The separate side burner also ignited every time and provided additional cooking space for warming sauces, glazes or side dishes. When not in use it serves as a surface for platters. Another key element when it comes to control is a thermometer, useful in the first instance to establish when the barbecue is at temperature and for monitoring the heat once the lid is closed. The digital thermometer here is battery-powered and needs to be turned on but cleverly, when it stops registering changes in temperature, it will switch itself off. I found the large, clear digits more helpful than a dial or needle. I would still always recommend checking the food using a meat thermometer before serving up. Ultimately, all barbecues have cooler edges and the Spirit is no exception, so food will cook at different speeds depending on its position. This makes the warming rack invaluable, as you can pluck food off the grill as and when each piece is ready, whether you're cooking the usual summer barbecue or planning a more gourmet offering. Score: 9/10 I enjoyed both the cooking experience as a whole and the end results. The grates performed brilliantly; the heat-retaining cast iron and the non-stick, porcelain-enamel coating is a winning combination. The wider-than-average bars also produce satisfying stripes when the barbecue is in sear mode. Weber claims the stainless steel burner protectors, dubbed 'flavorizer bars', are designed to catch and vaporise juices, boosting the grilled flavour. While the covers, which I'd expect to find on most barbecues, unquestionably protect the burners from debris, I wasn't able to detect any enhanced smoky flavours. Technical specifications We've previously tested the Char-Broil Versa-Tile, which earned the award for best multi-functional barbecue. Here's how it compares. Should you buy the Weber Spirit EP-335? While expensive, this gas barbecue is an excellent choice for most gardens, catering to both beginners eager to learn and experienced grill masters seeking reliable performance. Yes, if: You want a barbecue that is simple to operate You want something that is large enough for a family You want a barbecue that has multiple cooking zones You want a barbecue that has additional matching accessories available No, if: You need a large cooking area You're on a budget Weber Spirit EP-335 FAQs What is the difference between the Weber Spirit and the Weber Genesis? The Genesis is for serious grillers wanting more space and features and who are willing to pay upwards of £1,149 for a 3 burner model. The Spirit is smaller, has fewer advanced features and is fantastic for everyday grilling. How many burners does the EP-335 have? It has three burners plus an additional side burner. How does the Sear Zone on the Weber E-335 work? It features two 'boost burners' in its sear zone, delivering 40 per cent more power for intense heat. This concentrated high temperature lets you quickly sear food. What's the difference between the E-335 and other Spirit models like the E-315 or E-325? While all models have three burners, the E-335 also has a sear zone and a separate side burner. The E-325 also features a sear zone but lacks the side burner. The E-315 is a standard model without either additional capabilities.
