Julie and Julia

I saw Julie and Julia last night with my lovely flatmate. It's a perfect Sunday afternoon type of film. Gentle and comforting, like soup on a winter's evening.

It inspired me to cook more complicated things, high on the list is beurre blanc which sounds absolutely yummy. I've probably eaten it before without realising it but now I want to make it. Since it requires large amounts of butter I might have to save it for a special occasion. I'm trying to eat well at the moment and invariably when I cook something I like I end up eating it repeatedly until I'm tired of it. I have to make a conscious effort to forget how easy it is to make lemon curd.

I want to be a better cook, not just someone who can follow recipes. Does that make sense? It got me all heated up to do something like cook all of Delia's recipes or Elizabeth David's when I realised A. that's already been done and B. I'm already writing a food blog. One should be enough.

So, being extremely excited about Adulis, the Eriterian restaurant I am going to tonight, will have to do!

http://www.julieandjulia.com/

Kurds out of the whey!

Hanams, Edinburgh – Kurdish.

A little further off the beaten track for us than usual but an excellent place to start. We needed a quick meal before heading to the Edinburgh Tattoo and were pleasantly surprised by how good our meal was.

We only ate main courses but they were excellent. Sister had a vegetarian couscous dish composed with apricots, sultanas, yellow split peas and spices in a sweet and sour sauce which was very good: subtly flavoured and delicate yet filling enough to satisfy.

Boy had a Gosht Barzaow Kebab – chunks of lamb in a traditional naan-style flatbread. It was a far cry from other kebabs we’d experienced before – the lamb tasted slightly smoky and was expertly seasoned without being overpowering.

Other diners all expressed pleasure with their choices. Standard items like Falafel and Baba Ganush were very well done. Unusual items we hadn’t tried before really caught our eye; in particular the lamb Tashreeb (lamb shank in a tomato, pepper and onion casserole.)

The service and ambience were excellent, despite being an alcohol free restaurant! The décor was fun too. Our favourite was the woven rug in a very Sadaam-palace style of a young cowboy and his horse…

http://www.hanams.com/

Location

Welcome

To first time readers and seasoned regulars it's a pleasure to introduce ourselves.

We are a Brother and Sister team dedicated to tracking down the tastiest delights and sampling them at peril to our waistlines.

We will leave no stone unturned in our search for culinary experiences out of our usual eating remit. Everyone has tried Chinese and Indian but have you ever tried Bolivian or Eritrean? We'll brave uncharted waters, exploring deep into areas outside Zone 1 to find unique islands of culinary excellence. We'll work out what to order off the menu and what offal is in Portuguese (intestino, for those who want to know).

If you have, let us know of places to go and we will review them if we can. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We have a small hitlist of places to visit already, but we'd like it to be longer; so get in touch.

We will be posting reviews, pictures and recipes from our travels, so check back soon!