Author: Sarah Kemp

Jacqueline Harvey at The Pelham

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Published on BespokeRSVP on Wednesday 7th March 2012 On an unseasonably warm and sunny February afternoon in London, I walked out of South Kensington station and smiled as I saw large numbers of happy people sitting outside basking in the sunshine whilst sipping on coffees and nibbling on cakes. I wanted to join in but I was on my way to something much better. I crossed the road and entered The Pelham, a delightful boutique hotel, which spans three conjoining Georgian townhouses. Upon entry I was shown to the drawing room. Warm, cosy and littered with luxurious furniture, artworks, dark oak panelled walls and an honesty bar, the room was a complete contrast to the sunny weather outside and I could see myself sitting by the coal fire on a cold winters evening with a good book and a glass of red. But I was not there to lounge around; I was there for an hour with Jacqueline Harvey. Guests of the hotel are able to enjoy one of four hourly sessions with Jacqueline – …

Eat the Olympics – new blog

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For the last few weeks, Jack and I have been busy cooking dishes from each of the countries that are taking part in the Olympics this summer. We are bonkers, I know. We’re four weeks in and we have already completed 45 recipes, not bad going really. We’d love you to follow us through the highs and lows. I’ll also be sharing each of the recipe images here with you – don’t forget to click through to the Eat the Olympics blog for the recipe. We’d love to hear how they go if you fancy trying them out for yourselves at home. If you have any suggestions, they are greatly appreciated! I’ll get you started with one of our first recipes – Piparkakut from Finland. Delicious enjoyed with a cup of tea. Sarah. x Click on the image for the recipe

Malabar Junction

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Four years ago, I found it hard to even sit next to someone that was eating a curry. After a bad experience when I was ten (I’ll spare you the details), I thought my curry days were firmly behind me. But around four years ago I found myself with a boyfriend who adored the stuff. But it wasn’t just him, it was his family too. Not long after we met, I moved into his family home and was surrounded by it too much for my liking. When we had a night off cooking, I would sit with my lemon chicken from the local Chinese restaurant while they would gorge on dosas and Karahi chicken and lamb chops. ‘Come on Sarah, you have GOT to try this’ shouted my boyfriend’s dad one evening. And that was it, the whole family taunted me and I felt like I was a small child in a playground getting bullied to eat a cockroach off the floor. My boyfriend put the fork up to my mouth and I begrudgingly opened, …

Pho, Wardour Street

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My first experience of Vietnamese cuisine was a couple of years ago in Melbourne. We were taken to dinner by a couple of DJs that my boyfriend knew who were incredibly excited about taking us to their favourite restaurant in the city. Everything was looking good when we arrived – it was bustling with the locals and we had to fight to snag a table. The building was creaky and not perfect, everything you’d expect from a neighbourhood restaurant. We let the enthusiastic gents order and listened to them talk about how amazing the dishes were before they finally arrived, after what seemed like a lifetime. My first reaction was to almost burst into laughter, followed by tears. Just by looking at my plate I could see that my local Chinese takeaway could have done better. In front of us lay MSG ridden gloop, disgusting sticky sauces and very unhealthy looking vegetables. I couldn’t have been more disappointed and for a while it put me off trying Vietnamese in London. When I finally braved it, …

‘Proper Black’ Barbecoa braised short beef ribs

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I’m quite pathetic when it comes to cooking meat. I just don’t have it in me. Unforutnately neither does Jack – don’t tell him I said that though. The thing is, we just don’t tend to buy it. I’ll happily order a meat dish at a restaurant because I know it’s going to be so much better than my attempts. But when the email from Barbecoa arrived in my inbox telling me about a fantastic competition called #BBshortrib, I couldn’t resist. All I needed to do was pick five short ribs up from Barbecoa Butchers on Friday 10th February, cook them over the weekend and take them to be re heated at the restaurant on the Monday evening. It all sounded easy. As usual, I was slightly unprepared with my recipe but I knew I wanted to do something a bit different. I had a feeling that lots of entrants would be BBQing them, or braising them in red wine. So I did something a little different – I braised them in ‘Proper Black’, a …