Middle eastern delight

I spotted a dish I didn't recognise on the tapas menu in a restaurant recently. I'm quite nosy and inquisitive when it comes to food (well, when it comes to most things!) so it's unusual for me not to have at least some clue what's in a recipe. But in this case, I hadn't.

'Imam bayildi with Greek yoghurt and flatbread', it said - nothing more. So I asked what it was and the head waiter was sent over to explain. He described 'a middle eastern dish of aubergine cooked down with spices and dried fruit'. Well, that was good enough for me - put me down for one of your finest, good sir!

His description turned out to be accurate but he forgot to say it would be amazingly delicious and a teensy bit addictive! The next day I was online searching for imam bayildi recipes (of which there are many and varied) and it has now found its way into my repertoire. So here's my version, for your delight.

First chop a smallish aubergine into inch-sized cubes and place them in a colander sprinkled with a little bit of salt. Leave it for a while, then cook it over a high heat on a griddle pan for 5 minutes, with a tiny bit of oil.

At the same time, toast some cumin seeds in a large dry frying pan. Once the smell of the cumin starts to waft, add some olive oil and a very finely chopped red onion. Add a splodge of tomato puree, some sultanas, a shake of ground coriander, a pinch of ground cinnamon and the griddled aubergine. Pour over half a cupful of water and leave the whole thing over a low heat (covered if possible) for half an hour or so. It really can't cook down enough, so you can get away with leaving it for longer as long as it doesn't 'catch' on the bottom of the pan.

When you're ready, add the juice of half a lemon and serve it with flatbread and sour cream.

*The restaurant was St Alban, near Picadilly, and is always fantastic.

What about Sweet Pea?

I saw a thing in a Spanish supermarket I've been dreaming of for quite some time but never seen before. They sell teeny tiny bottles of olive oil.

I'm rubbish at quantities, but these are 'dinky' little (technical term) bottles sold in packs of five, each with a cute little screw-on lid. Each contains just enough for dressing your salad, dipping your bread or frying a few portions of onions.

All those times I've eaten a dressing-less salad for lunch because I didn't want it to wilt before it reached the office. All the picnics with no oil for my ham and bread. All the camping holidays (well, just one ... ) where I've had the chance to fry, but not wanted to take a big bottle of oil.

Do British supermarkets sell such a thing? And if not, dammit, why not?

Spanish highs

I wasn't disappointed by Spain, you'll be glad to know!

The food adventure started with a visit to the Delicatessen in Tarifa, which serves pretty good jamon iberico by the racion (sort of medium-sized portion). They also make a fantastic salad of asparagus on a bed of salmorejo (a sort of tomato sauce/soup) and delicious Cava. It's in a lovely location, perfect for sitting in the shade for hours with a book.

Next we ventured to Jimena de la Frontera and found a small, typical Spanish bar on a noisy hill (Jimena is a very steep town, so almost everything is on a hill!). We ate fantastically good ham, a tortilla de patatas and some asparagus. As I was saying before, almost any bar in Spain will have some tapas available and it's usually pretty good no matter how basic the place looks!

We also had a couple of picnics with food bought from Eroski, the Tesco-style supermarket. Even fairly inexpensive supermarket-bought ham is good in Spain, so you just need to buy some bread and cheese to go with it.

Some parts of Spain now have fancy 'fusion' restaurants - one of the best we tried was Posada La Sacristia in Tarifa, although the one in hotel Escondite del Viento was pretty good too. I ate local fish with tabbouleh, salmon and tuna sashimi, a tuna thing with rice, banana fritter and a salad with guacamole - all very delicious.

But I can probably eat that stuff anywhere and it isn't why I go to Spain. It's all about the ham!!

Hurry up with the jamon

In fact I couldn't wait! I went to Meson Los Barilles in Spitalfields to start the Spanish food experience a bit early.

In my experience the food, presentation, decor and service in this place feels fairly authentic. It feels, smells and tastes like many restaurants I've been to in Spain, particularly in the south. A few of the tapas seem a bit 'fancy' but all the staples are there and it's a comfy place to sit and eat for an hour or two.

The ham wasn't great, though (only bog-standard serrano, not 'the good stuff') and I'm hoping to find better in Spain.

Jamon jamon

I'm going to Spain next week, so I'm very excited. I'm mainly excited about the food - in fact I can hardly wait!

I guess Spain isn't renowned for its excellent cuisine, but its signature food is simple and delicious. You don't need to do anything fancy with Pata Negra ham - just slice it. You can't go far wrong with a tortilla espanola or a handful of Marcona almonds. You'd be best advised to put olives in a dish and leave them be, rather than trying to infuse them with garlic oil or stuff them with an anchovy.

I look forward to my annual jaunt to Spain for just this reason: it's easy to pitch up at almost any tapas bar and order some ham, olives, a tortilla and a nice glass of red wine, which will all be delicious. Far better than complicated messed-with food at some fancy faux-Spanish place.

Bog right off

I was more than a little bit annoyed that the government recently criticised supermarkets for offering 'buy-one-get-one-free' offers. An MP complained that this increases the amount of food we throw away, and said we shouldn't "be tempted by buy-one, get-one-free, three-for-two or two-for-ones".

Well, who asked her?! I'll be tempted any time I feel like it, missy. The general public should be grown-up and self-sufficient enough to decide what food they need to buy and withstand a bit of blatant sales temptation every now and again.

I love BOGOF offers and I'd really miss them if they stopped. I buy quite a similar batch of things each week, so it makes a lot of sense for me to get two at the same time and store them. That's what cupboards, freezers and tupperware containers are for!

Rather than penalise those of us who make use of the offers, how about providing recipes for the others to use up their spares?

Thai curry again and again!

Y'know, there's been talk. I haven't been talking, but there has been talk* concerning my fantastic new green Thai curry recipe.

One of the best things about the Taste of London festival was the free brochure, featuring recipes from some of the attending restaurants. I've been interested in learning how to make a good green curry for a while (because I like it but find restaurant versions too hot for my preference). So I was pleased to see that the Blue Elephant had published their recipe in the brochure.

Of course, I shamefully adapted it and took a few ideas from delicious magazine's 'freeze ahead' version too. This recipe should make enough for four modest portions, so if you're cooking for two you can freeze one batch and easily heat it in the microwave later.

I make mine with chicken, so my first step is to cut two large breasts (no comment) into chunks and fry it over a low-ish heat in a big wok, with a bit of vegetable oil. Once it's starting to look a bit cooked, I add three tablespoons (45ml) of green curry paste. This is the only cheaty bit of the recipe: I use ready-made paste, to save all the effort of grinding and blending! The quality of shop-bought pastes varies quite a bit, as does the amount of chilli they use, so shop around until you find one you like.

Anyway - once the paste and chicken starts sizzling happily I add four or five chopped spring onions, half a chopped red onion and one stalk (stem?) of lemongrass cut very finely. You can also add some aubergine or other appropriate vegetables at this stage. After another couple of minutes, add a 400g tin of coconut milk and let the whole thing simmer for 5-10 minutes.

At this stage, add the juice of a whole lime, one torn kaffir lime leaf, a handful of basil leaves and a pinch of fresh coriander. Give it a stir - at this point it should be rather thin. My 'freeze ahead' addition here is to add 100g of ground almonds to thicken and make it go further, but this is a bit calorie-tastic! Without the almonds it may only make two portions rather than four, but it won't be as fattening. If it looks a bit gloopy once you've added the almonds, stir in a few splashes of water until it looks about the right consistency.

And that's you done: serve it with some steamed rice and Thai crackers.

*A bun for anyone who recognises the film reference and isn't ashamed to admit it!