These are great dumplings: first of all, sniff the air around them: that fresh starchy smell of just-steamed noodle: inside are spiced leafy greens chopped finely into an intense vegetable paste; next to it on the plate you see a puddle of Szechuan chile paste, already smudged because i’ve dipped the first dumpling (see the empty space on the plate) into it. On the other side of the plate is cloud ear fungus though it might have been braised fresh shiitakes, simmered in its savoury sauce . But more about dinner a bit later in the blog: How I got to this plate of dumplings goes like this:

19th-28th May 2014 The World Gourmand Bookfair and Best in the World Awards for cookbooks, food television, food and drink books were to be held in the rural-ish outer borough of Bejing (fifth ring road) called Daxing.

In recent years, Gourmand Bookfair and Awards Ceremony have been held in Paris where it is known as Paris Bookfair–last year it was held memorably, thrillingly, at The Louvre (where I made chopped liver on the cooking demo stage but thats the subject of another story). But Gourmand has moved around the world at various times–I discovered them way back when in Perigueux when I was sent by the BBC to interview Chinese cookbook author and tv cooking guru, Ken Hom, and have been somewhat of a devotee since, attending the events in Barcelona, the Loire, as well as an amazing gathering in a  completely different part of Bejing way back in 2009 where the Peruvians brought what seemed like vats of Pisco to what became a week-long party and the breakfast buffet was so filled with Chinese delicacies just visiting each morning was a lesson in regional Chinese cookery.  One year, marking Malaysia’s Truly Asia tourist campaign, the awards were held there, and journalists were taken to the far reaches of Malaysia, to open-air  palaces in jungles that we needed to get to by taking a boat upriver, eating tuna curry in a Terrenganu marketplace, and swimming in water so clear it was like swimming in a fish bowl, only it was for real: we were with the blue and yellow and rainbow of fish….just us, together in the deep blue sea. Oh, and learning the secrets to making a perfect rendang, too. Then there is the annual Frankfurt Bookfair in Frankfurt, Germany,  where Gourmand throws a party at Villa Bonn; once,  the potato gratin they served was so good I put its recipe into my cookbook Yummy Potatoes (Chronicle Books).

While I had no cookbook nominated for an award nor foreign rights to sell, ie nothing to draw me practicality-wise to the event  (and justify the expense of the trip), emails trickled in luring me: friends around the world who were going, up for awards, participating in the bookfair. Gourmand is the only world event, where material in all languages can be submitted and is awarded. There were little teasers to the schedule: the watermelon museum visit would co-incide with a watermelon festival and visit to Mr Song’s Melon Garden (post to come). (Daxing is China’s watermelon capital, famous for its sweet juicy melons).  There was promise of a Szechuan food festival, and you know, no one does Peking duck the way they do it in Beijing. I thought about the spicy cucumber salad and the dan dan noodles (jiang jiang mein).  I changed my mind: who needs an award (this time). It would simply get in the way by making me feel anxious ahead of time, and if i didn’t win, disappointed after. I would only take the fun stuff and go along for the ride!

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards’  and Paris/Beijing Cookbook Fair founder, Edouard Cointreau lives in Beijing where he is, among so many other titles, President of Honour of China Food Television as well as President of World Association of Food TV Producers, hence the choice of Beijing as a venue. Instead of the sophisticated, international hub of central Bejing, though, the gathering was to be held in Daxing, a rural district on the outskirts of the Capital. Daxing is local, authentic and utterly lacking in any pretentiousness. In the not too distant future, Daxing will have its own international mega-airport, which, combined with its space for offices, factories and international business; no doubt its quaintness and quietness will fade

But in the meantime, it was so unspoiled. So unspoiled. It was essential Chinese culture, circa 2014; my guess from the way people looked at me, and most of us, and how caring they were for our perceived delicacy, most had never seen a foreigner up close and in person before.  I felt like the belle of the ball. People were friendly, they were intrigued, they offered to help, they stared, they took out their phones for selfies posed with this exotic creature who had landed in their midst.  Our hotel which had never hosted foreigners before and they had a special group from the university hospitality and language dept to translate the needs and wants of these people who are so different.

Wherever we went, people were amazed. Life stopped the moment we walked in, and by we, I really mean me, because it happened even when I wasn’t in a group. My blond hair was like a flag, so different from their own, my pink and big red lips, they didn’t know what to make of me. They wanted their pictures taken to show family and friends: Look what/who I MET!  I started to really feel like a celebrity, especially when women would stroke my blonde hair and say: “preh-teeeee”. I fell in love with them, each and every one of them.

here i am at a boutique, the salegirls all wanting a picture with me!

I would look at these gorgeous women, with their gleaming black hair and usually trim figures, so young looking and energetic, and think: oh you guys, do you have any idea how adorable YOU are? any idea how LOVELY you make me feel?

a grandma on a bike saw ME taking HER picture, was burst into the biggest smile of delight, as you can see!

at the Great Wall, such a hot hot day, fanning myself to cool off and having my picture taken....

Meanwhile, back to the start.

I landed in Beijing’s Capital Airport and by the time I got to Daxing, Bejing being a huge city with a big traffic problem, it was time for dinner.

It started with the dumplings, and proceeded…..on to the next page, the next blog entry.

Frankfurter Gruen Sosse, or green sauce from Frankfurt, Germany, is a thick, creamy mixture of as many herbs as you can find, bound together with chopped hard-cooked egg, sour cream, yogurt, and seasonings. It’s like the best party dip you could imagine, and it’s eaten on nearly everything: sold in delis, dabbed onto a plate in a traditional restaurant, dolloped onto plates in homes.

My first gruen sosse experience was at the Konstablerwache marketplace where my big fat potato pancake–aka latke– was served with a gigantic blob of this most luscious of substances. It was a cold autumnal day, apples were in season and an apfelwein bar was set up with long tables filled with drinking folks. It looked and felt like a Bruegel painting, and there i was, so looking the part: my blonde hair in braids, cheeks pink from the chilly air as well as apple wine, surrounded by happy townspeople sipping from their big glasses and eating wurst and potatoes.

I’m including two different green sauces here: the first an authentic one direct from Frankfurt; the second is the one that has evolved in my kitchen, one that keeps evolving depending on the herbs that are growing in my garden or the dairy products in my fridge. It is only a guideline, which is part of green sauce’s great charm. That, and the fact that it is so good!

Kartoffel mit Frankfurter Gruen Sosse

Hot Buttered Potatoes with Frankfurt Green Sauce

Serves 4

This recipe is from my book Yummy Potatoes, published by Chronicle Books; it is an adaptation of Rebecca Hecht’s who lives in Frankfurt and is kind of the queen of green:  gruen sosse that is. Her–and my– friend, ballet choreographer Noah Gelber–told me often about how good her version is, and how I had to taste it. One bite and I thought: this is the nirvana of green sauces. Rebecca tells me that a typical Frankfurter Gruen Sosse consists of seven different seasonal herbs and follows the season throughout the year. In spring these include parsley, sorrel, chervil, burnet, lemon balm, borage, chives, and watercress, while later in the season basil might make its fragrant appearance. (The potatoes its served on: young, old, tender, mealy, changes with the calendar too).

1 egg per person

1 ounce fresh spinach leaves, or about 6 tablespoons frozen spinach (you want to end up with cooked, chopped, and squeezed-dry spinach)

4 to 6 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons chopped watercress or arugula leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

2 to 3 teaspoons chopped dill

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup yogurt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon mild Dijon or German mustard

Small pinch sugar

Salt and pepper

1 pound tiny baby waxy potatoes such as La Rattes, fingerlings, Pink Fir Apple, or assorted potatoes, unpeeled

Unsalted butter, for buttering potatoes

To make the Frankfurter Gruen Sosse: Hard boil the eggs, and run them under cold water for a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and coarsely chop. Set aside.

Cook the spinach leaves in a little water until wilted and darkened; remove from the hot water and set aside. When cool enough to handle, squeeze dry and finely chop.

Combine the egg, spinach, green onion, parsley, watercress, tarragon, and dill in a food processor and whirl to purée.

Transfer this finely ground green herby mixture to a bowl, add the sour cream and yogurt to taste, and stir well, then add the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir together well.

Chill at least an half hour before serving; several hours is even better.

Cook the potatoes in gently boiling water until they are tender. Drain and place in a bowl.

Let your guests serve themselves, open up the little potatoes, dab them with a nubbin of butter to melt in, and then top each with a spoonful of the green herby sauce.

Summer in Waterlooville Green Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

Serve it with a bowl of cooled boiled new or small young potatoes.

About 200g raw spinach leaves, cooked down to 1 ounce fresh spinach leaves, or about 6 tablespoons frozen spinach (you want to end up with cooked, chopped, and squeezed-dry spinach)

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped, or as desired and lusted after (this is how i feel about garlic, you may be less….uh……passionate about it. Use less in that case, more if you, like me, feel the love).

About 1/3-1/2 bouillion/stock cube, grated or smashed, or melted in the vinegar below

1-2 green onions, thinly sliced or a handful of chives, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped watercress or arugula leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

2 to 3 teaspoons chopped dill

2-3 teaspoons chopped mint

2-3 teaspoons chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 teaspoons white wine vinegar or to taste

Black pepper to taste

Combine the spinach with the garlic, crushed bouillion cube, then mix everything else in. Taste for seasoning and chill until ready to serve.

I always find that each season, each year, has its theme: like a song that you hear and you think: YEAH, that was from the summer of 1996 when each day was hotter than the next and my zucchini grew like insanity. To me, food and drink  does the same thing. For instance, last year–or was it the year before–was really my summer of Pimms, or faux Pimms, as we had a cheap knock off of Pimms which was really quite delicious nonetheless. I think it was called Austin, and I spent the summer gathered around that bottle and all the fresh fruit and mint i could gather from the garden, and don’t forget the cucumbers–anyhow, you can read about it in my blog archives.

This year, though, I had already started thinking Gin, Gin and Tonic, quite early on, while the weather was still cold and I couldn’t imagine how it would even feel to be warm: but closing my eyes, deep in imagination, I was thinking summer, sweltering, and ohhhhhh how refreshing a G & T would be.

The weather IS warm now, very warm. My zucchini is growing once again insanely, my cucumbers are happily threatening to take over this little corner of the forest. I was ready for my G & T.

But to be honest, I’m not the worlds biggest drinker and i need a bit of a push into the delightful world of refreshing alchohol. Usually this is accomplished by a lot of other people and a party. And you know, I live in a forest, I have no friends anywhere near, and it was unlikely that there would be a party, gin and tonic or not. So I figured, like with so many other things, something would happen. I’d get my gin and tonic,  I’d go to a cocktail party, I’d go somewhere, there would be a Gin and Tonic. But I didn’t think I’d spend my summer sipping, each evening, the most refreshing of drinks. And that is exactly what has happened.

It started like this. My friend, Jordan, had invited me to a swank cocktail (and canape!) party up in London. I tried to go, really I did, but you know, the train and all, and my forest, is far away.

So a few days later,  the doorbell rang. And there was a box. And inside: Gin. and tonic. and citrus fruit. I got ready for cocktail hour.

The tonic was lovely, my fave Fevertree; the citrus fruit were ready to be chopped into wedges and stuffed into the glasses. Oh and there was a glass just for ice and a fabulous ice…..spoon? shovel? what are those things called? (I should know as I LOVE ice). It was a very classy gift for someone who missed your party! And the gin: hmmmmmm Beefeaters, yes, but a very different one from my usual. Very fancy embossed bottle, and the number 24, what did this mean?

I had been thinking about what goes into gin, in general, before the box arrived, so I went online for info.  Beefeater 24: distilled in London like the rest of the Beefeater gins, within steps of the Cricket Pitch, The Oval. But what sets 24 aside is that it is infused with tea and added botanicals and citrus. Apparently Master Distiller Desmond Payne had long been fascinated by the idea of tea in gin, then discovered that the founding father of Beefeater Gin was a tea merchant to the Royal Household. He felt this was a good omen.

It took him 2 years.  To the classic Beefeater taste profile– juniper berries, coriander seed, angelica root and seed, Seville orange peel, lemon peel, orris and almond–he added liquorice, grapefruit, and teas: Chinese green and Japanese Sencha. This was perfect: I started the summer thinking: gin would be nice. But I wanted a gin that was fragrant and refreshing with aromatics. One that would blend with beautiful artisanal tonic water like a dream, like a ballet, with the intertwining of fragrance, the bitter and the aromatic, all weaving a lovely pattern in my mouth, as I sipped. That is what I wanted from this summer, and Hey!  Universe!  Thank you for bringing it to me.

So, I’m not going to wait for a party, because I’ve discovered this: a G and T in the afternoon, when the heat of the day has kinda frizzled my world and I just want to kick back and ease my body and brain: really: its all the party I need.

So my summer of gin and tonic is segue-ing to a summer of gin cocktails. Even catching up on social media is better with a g & t alongside.  But this afternoon, when I sat down as my laptop, g and t in hand, I realized: there is a culinary world out there to be made with g and t.

I am thinking:  you know……..a G and T sorbet would be lovely.  And a G and T gelee, a lovely jellied dessert, a grown up jelly/Jello with that fragrant bitter edge of tonic, the aroma of gin…..yes!

4 hours later: the gelee is chilled, and it is delicious: refreshing and herbal, slightly bitter from the tonic, and not too sweet though you can adjust the sugar level however you like. I recommend you eat it with the fresh raspberries–their sweetness, tanginess and aromatic berriness is perfect with the gelee.

Gin and Tonic Gelee with Raspberries

Serves 2 in a dessert portion, up to 4 in a refreshing tasting portion

1 envelope powdered unflavoured gelatin (USA), i’m not sure of uk powdered gelatin, this recipe is going to evolve into gelatin leaves……

2 tablespoons hot boiling water

1 1/2 cups/350 ml water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 cup/150ml tonic water

2-3 tablespoons gin

Fresh ripe raspberries, as is, unless sour: then sugar than lightly

In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water; let it soften.

Meanwhile, combine the water with the sugar and bring to a boil and stir so that the sugar dissolves.

Pour into the melted gelatin, stir in the lemon juice, and tonic water. Let cool.

Stir in the gin, combine well, cover and chill.

Serve with raspberries.