Foo d and Tr a vel June 2011 Issue No 137 Estonia, Suffolk, Mongolia, Osijek, Mainz, Toulouse, Seaside Rentals vel June 2011 Issue No 137 Estonia, Suffolk, Mongolia, Osijek, Mainz, Toulouse, , Food Festivals, Raymond Blanc, Broad Beans WORLD FOOD from China, Estonia and Morocco Raymond Blanc Horseback adventures in shares his kitchen secrets Mongolia Why it's worth indulging in Taste the experience – taste Taste CITY BREAKS California wine France, Germany and Croatia £3.95 BEST OF BRITISH FOOD FESTIVALS GOURMET TRAVEL SEASIDE RENTALS SAVING HONEY JUNE 2011 001_Food cover repro OPTION.indd 1 15/4/11 15:35:36 SEAN - PLEASE PLACE NEW COVERS THX 26 On the cover 28 Estonia 38 Mongolia WO RL D FOOD from China, Estonia and Morocco Horseback adventures in M o n g o l i a 47 Raymond Blanc 65 Best of British s s Raymond Blanc shares his kitchen secrets WO RL D FOOD from China, Estonia a n d Mo r o c c o Raymond Blanc 74 Seaside rentals Horseback adventures in shares his kitchen secrets Why it's worth indulging in Mo n g o l i a Why it's worth indulging in California w i n e C I T Y BR EAKS California wine France, Germany and Croatia C I T Y BR EAKS £3.95 £3.95 France, Germany and Croatia 93 City breaks BEST OF BRITISH BEST OF BRITISH F O O D FE S T I V A L S GOU RM E T T RAVEL SE A S I D E RE N T A L S SAVIN G H O N E Y F O O D FESTIVALS GOU RM E T T RAVEL SE A S I D E RENTALS SAVIN G H O N E Y JUNE 2011 JUNE 2011 113 California wine 66 t t Regulars Features 7 Arrivals 28 Baltic flavours 00 The latest food, drink and travel Francis Pearce samples a news, plus a summer risotto from cuisine that’s both rustic and Russell Brown, chef-proprietor sophisticated in the islands at Sienna Restaurant, Dorchester of western Estonia n n 20 In season 38 Nomad’s land Discover the fresh, green flavour of Minty Clinch takes a horseback our British favourite, the broad bean tour of northern of Mongolia to trek with its Reindeer People 93 48 hours in… Get cultural in Mainz, Germany, 47 Everybody loves Raymond 21 feast on foie gras in Toulouse, Ebullient French chef Raymond France, and visit the port city of Blanc talks to us about his 67 Osijek, Croatia childhood introduction to 38 cooking with ‘Maman Blanc’ e e 102 Subscription offer Sign up to Food and Travel and 54 Souk kitchen get three bottles of wine from the The sounds, scents and spices Radcliffe’s Collection of Morocco take centre stage in a culinary tour of Marrakech 64 104 Competition Win a two-week holiday for two 60 China girl t t in South Africa courtesy of South Quick, easy and healthy Chinese African Apples and Pears takeaway-inspired recipes from TV chef Ching He-Huang 113 Tried & Tasted Food and Travel reviews – 65 Best of British with cookery courses, books, We raise a glass to dear old restaurants and world hotels Blighty in this feature special 114 Reader offers 66 Simply the fest Special discounts and offers It’s time to get outdoors and n n 72 exclusive to our readers sample the best of British produce at our food festivals 115 Index and back copies ES Find travel and recipe inspiration 74 Beside the seaside UK D in our back copies, which you can Wonderful places to stay along EA L order directly from Food and Travel the coast of the British Isles G N A Y 119 The collection B 72 Honey, we need to talk Y Every recipe from this month’s British honey bees are under mouthwatering selection threat. Will you help save them? o o 130 After hours 82 Coast of plenty PHOTOGRAPH We talk to Clare Smyth, head chef East Suffolk’s splendid isolation at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, is proving to be no burden on its COVER about how she likes to relax artisan food and drink industry c c 004-005_Contents V2.indd 10 18/4/11 15:37:21 flavours Baltic28 FOOD & TRAVEL 028-036_Estonia_repro V2.indd 28 12/4/11 17:04:29 GOURMET TRAVELLER The once-isolated islands of western Estonia have come in from the cold to offer an idyllic antidote to city life, with a tranquil atmosphere and rustic but inventive style of cooking that is an increasing source of inspiration to the country’s leading chefs, as Francis Pearce discovers flavours PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMMA WOOD FOOD & TRAVEL 29 028-036_Estonia_repro V2.indd 29 12/4/11 17:04:48 GOURMET TRAVELLER PREVIOUS PAGES: PADASTE MANOR; SEA-BUCKTHORN BRULEE; ALEXANDER RESTAURANT. THIS PAGE, LEFT: ‘wHITEFISH’, ‘PIKE- PERCH’ aNd ‘Barley’ aT ALEXANDER. BELOW: VODKA AND PICKLES AT TRAHTER VESKI; LOCAL HERRING AND EGG PASTY FOR SALE; ONE OF THE RUSTIC ROOMS AT NAMI NAMASTE FARM. OPPOSITE: KRISTI KULL’S LAMB STEW AND SMOKED MUTTON; HAAPSULA STATION ENTRANCE; KURESSAARE CASTLE AND MUSEUM Travel information ach time you come to Saaremaa, you leave a little of your heart The currency of Estonia is the euro. Estonia is two hours ahead of GMT there until one day the Baltic island has it all, says Kristi Kull, and has generally warm summers and rather extreme winter lows, with E who has moved back there to raise sheep. She has literally temperatures falling to -8°C. The best time to visit is from May through to made her home, a thatched log house, next to her brother’s on September, when temperatures average 20°C-25°C. The gateway to the grassy land by the shore. Its kitchen has a large, traditional tiled islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Muhu is Haapsalu, a 90-minute drive stove and a table big enough for both families. As a vast wooden from Tallinn. mug of home-brewed lambic ale is passed around for each of us to sip, she urges us to sample the smoked mutton, pine-coloured rye GETTING THERE bread and peppery lamb stew she has prepared for us. The sheep Estonian Air (00 372 6401 160, estonian-air.ee) flies daily from are transported by tractor trailer to small coral islets where they feed Heathrow to Tallinn. on salty plants and seaside herbs, which helps explain the meat’s Easyjet (easyjet.com) operates frequent flights between London depth of flavour. Her aim is to establish an eco-village with a tavern Stansted and Tallinn. at its heart, but it is still early days. Kristi is part of a gradual movement back to Saaremaa, Hiiumaa RESOURCES and Muhu, the three main islands of western Estonia, since the tiny Estonia National Tourist Board (visitestonia.com) will provide you country bordered by Russia and Latvia reasserted its independence with everything you need from travel, accommodation and upcoming in 1991. The islands re-emerged into the daylight after an enforced events, as well as all the must-see places, to ensure you make the most hibernation of half a century under Soviet rule when, as a military of your stay in Estonia. ‘frontier zone’, special passes were needed to travel to or from them Tourism.ee (tourism.ee) will ensure you know everything about Estonia’s regardless of the isolation imposed each winter by freezing seas. finest cuisine, the places to go for a great night out, along with the But between world wars and earlier, Saaremaa in particular was essentials on car rentals, medical services and accommodation. a summer resort, known internationally for its mud baths and concerts, and the tranquil beauty of its birch and juniper woods, FURTHER READING windmills and meadows. All three islands have a reputation for being Estonian Tastes and Traditions Karin Annus Kärner (Hippocrene laid-back and friendly. Doors are left unlocked; a broom placed in Books Inc, £20.99). This excellent book offers a good introduction to the doorway bars entry instead. not only Estonian cuisine but also the culture. The recipes are a mix of Like many others, Kristi returned from abroad after Estonia’s traditional and contemporary dishes, using ingredients that are readily ‘singing revolution’, when folksong and tradition helped demonstrate found at the market, making this an ideal holiday read. popular will, and her take on Estonian cookery is tempered by Looking at Estonia Piret Hiisjärv and Ene Hiiepuu (Oliver Press, having lived in Greece, among other countries. Juta Pae, on the £11.99). Well written and containing everything you would want to know, other hand, threw in a job as a paramedic in Tallinn to come home this book is a must-read before visiting Estonia. You can expect to learn to Lümanda in the far west of Saaremaa. The little town is close about the country’s history and culture, while also delving into the glory of to the huge, unspoilt Viidumäe Nature Reserve, a wetland area Estonia’s cuisine, its climate and general environment. preserved as the one lucky legacy of the island’s subjugation. Juta runs the Lümanda Söögimaja, or ‘dinner house’, in an old church school whose main building dates from 1875 but which was built around an older baking chimney. A traditionalist, she specialises in the food her grandmother used to prepare: peasant dishes such as juicy kapsarullid (cabbage rolls), rich mooritud lamba raguu (stewed mutton ragout), soothing tuhli puder ja nott (pudding made with potatoes) and rhubarb cake.