Tweet Bites

I follow hundreds of food obsessives on Twitter, so you don't have to.

Pull up a chair and I'll dish out the week's edible highlights, oddities and amusements...

• "Best Restaurant in the World" Noma, in Copenhagen, is famous for its use of ingredients found in the wilds of Denmark. Chef Rene Redzepi shared this photo of their Master Forager, a job role that sounds at once incredibly ancient, and indicative of modern restaurant trends. Have we discovered how Santa Claus spends the warmer months? (Source: @ReneRedzepiNoma)
  

Little Squares of Bitter Sunshine

Is there a foodstuff that you love everything about... apart from the taste? You want to like it, you've given it a go several times, but so far your taste buds remain stubbornly unconvinced. This is how I feel about marmalade.

Just the word alone — marmalade — it's lovely to look at, lovely to say. A jar of marmalade sat in the sun is a joy to behold, the light creating a bright orange glow, illuminating flecks of peel like rigor mortis specimens suspended in a laboratory jar.

Salad Soup

It's kind of a soup. It's sort of a salad. From certain angles it could even be seen as an open-faced sandwich. But one thing's for sure — this delicious dish is a big bowl of summer freshness that makes a perfect mid-year supper.

Now I love slap-you-in-the-face flavours, but this recipe celebrates the delicateness of June produce. Combined, the seasonal vegetables and herbs create a surprisingly zingy taste sensation. The textures of this dish elevate it to a level where you stop saying it's good, and just make pleasing noises while you spoon it in. Lettuce, wilted with a bit of crunch still in it; crusty chewy sourdough toast; creamy bites of broad bean and a broth laced with velvety olive oil. She ain't bad to look at either, the varying shades of gentle green sit atop the sunny golden toast, all dusted with a white flurry of parmesan.

A Radish Revelation

When dining at a Michelin starred restaurant, one expects to be wowed by fancy pastry work, complicated cooking techniques, and food presentation striking enough to warrant space at the Louvre. During my recent meal at The Kitchin I was amazed by a radish.

The simple root veg was presented whole, leaves in tact, as part of a complimentary crudites starter. Figuring anything they put on the table was going to be of a high standard I decided to be brave and try a radish — a vegetable I've done my best to avoid ever since I grew teeth. To me they were just bitter watery disks, lurking in salads, requiring a swift removal. But this one looked different; more stunted-carrot in shape, with a colouring bleeding from hot pink to white tip. I crunched down, and it was a revelation. Crisp, peppery, refreshing and spicy, I'd never tasted such a radish. Do I like radishes? By the time you get to your 30s you don't have many moments when you realise a food you detested as a child is actually nice, most of those transitions happened more than a decade ago. But for me it obviously took a multi-award winning restaurant to restore the humble radish's reputation.

Tasting Menus: Edinburgh and Glasgow

Recently Alex asked me to set aside a long weekend, he'd planned something to celebrate our anniversary. Four days, hmm, enough time to venture to another climate. In giddy anticipation I impulse-shopped a sun hat and a new pair of shorts. Just in case, you understand. "We're going on a Scottish city break!" he announced the night before our departure. Quietly, I tucked away the summer wear, and undertook a flurry of food research. Twitter is a fantastic resource for restaurant recommendations when you're short of time. I was happily overwhelmed with suggestions.

While I'd wrongly gauged the climate, he had very rightly gauged where to go. For years I've talked about wanting to visit Scotland's metro gems — Edinburgh and Glasgow. He listened. He planned. We went! And it only rained for half a day! We canvassed many acres of pavement throughout these two beautiful cities, and worked up quite an appetite. This is by no means a travelogue of everywhere we ate. These are the true stand-outs, the menu choices that I'll still be thinking about next anniversary.

The Kitchin
This one he chose. And he chose so very, very well. Run by a chef who was christened to cook, Tom Kitchin, the restaurant is located in Leith, a dockland area about 10 minutes from Edinburgh centre. The Kitchin's slogan is 'From Nature to Plate' and I've seen the chef on TV enthusiastically divulging how he really gets to know the people who provide the restaurant with ingredients, sometimes even accompanying them foraging or on fishing trips. His love for cooking with seasonal ingredients is evident the moment you open the menu. There is a Celebration of the Season daily specials menu, alongside the seasonally-minded a  la carte menu. The space manages to feel simultaneously decadent, friendly, buzzing, and relaxed. A huge window allows diners to watch the action in the kitchen and extends a bit of drama into the room.