RECIPES Two spring dishes with Angela Grey

Angela opened the doors to her cookery school at Llanerch Vineyard in April 2010. She is now in her tenth successful year and has been voted into the Top 10 UK Cookery Schools by The Independent and The Telegraph. The cookery school has also been shortlisted for the Best Cookery School in the Great British Food Awards and chosen to join an elite selection of 50 top schools in The National Cookery School Guide. Angela has created a wide variety of cookery classes and events, where she loves to share her knowledge, skills and anecdotes.

Ingredients For the lavercakes 150g laverbread Approximately 75g of toasted oats (dry-roasted in a pan for 5 minutes) 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 50g fresh cockles ½ teaspoon lemon zest 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice 1 small garlic clove, grated 2 crisply cooked slices of bacon, finely chopped ¼ teaspoon of black pepper Butter for frying

For the salad and dressing 12 stems of parsley, torn 4 crisply-cooked slices of streaky bacon 50g fresh cockles 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil A couple of twists of black pepper

Method 1. Place all the ingredients for the laver cakes in a mixing bowl and combine. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the oats to absorb the moisture. If after this time the mixture is a little

wet, add some more oats to firm it up so you can shape it into little cakes for frying. 2. Divide the mixture into 8 portions and shape into little cakes. 3. Heat a large frying pan, add a good walnutsized piece of butter, wait until it starts to foam, then add the laver and cockle cakes. Cook in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Make sure the heat is not too high, as the butter will burn. 4. Allow the cakes to form a crispy crust underneath before turning over. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. 5. Make the salad by tearing the parsley leaves into a bowl. Break up the bacon into pieces and add to the parsley. Spoon in the cockles and add the lemon juice, oil and black pepper. Mix briefly and serve a mound with 2 warm laver cakes per person.

Ingredients 225g self-raising flour, sieved 110g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 1 large free-range egg, beaten 1 tablespoon of currants or raisins A little milk, if needed 85g golden caster sugar, extra for sprinkling

Additional yummy things to add to the dough. Try: • 1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest, finely grated • 1 teaspoon vanilla salt (Anglesey Sea Salt Co) • 1 tablespoon chocolate chips with orange or lemon zest • 1 tablespoon dried sour cherries or cranberries

Method 1. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine and then push together to form a dough. If the mixture feels a little dry, add a little milk. 2. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll out the dough until it is about 5mm thick. Cut into rounds with a 10cm inch fluted cutter. 3. Rub a bakestone or a heavy-based pan with a little unsalted butter. Place over a low-medium heat and cook the Welsh cakes slowly until golden underneath and slightly puffed. Turn them over and cook the other side until golden.

They will need about 2-3 minutes each side. 4. Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm.

For more: Spring Recipes by Angela Gray, £9.99, available from independent local bookshops and from Graffeg Limited; www.graffeg.com

SNAPSHOTS OF CARDIFF’S FOOD SCENE

Ffresh bar and kitchen in Wales Millennium Centre are launching Final Cut on 5 March, which they describe as an interactive dining experience. Part supper club and part murder mystery, diners play movie extras who help solve the murder of one of the stars…Taco Bell, pioneer of Mexican-inspired cuisine, is opening its Cardiff St Mary Street branch on 2 March. The 49-seat restaurant, which is the first Taco Bell in Wales, will be serving tacos, burritos, quesadillas and wraps…A disused rangers’ hut in Thompson Park has been transformed by Lufkin Coffee, the Cardiff independent café chain into a trendy coffee house named The Ol’ Rangers Hut… Knife & Fork Food, has announced plans to open its sixth location. The independent pub group have acquired their sixth local refurbished pub, The Boat House, in the coastal village of Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan. It’s due to launch on 28 February as The Sully Inn.

Final Cut serves up a whodunit with your dinner If you can stand the heat, get into Sam Bowser’s kitchen

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL A unique new dining experience designed to put guests at the very heart of the action has launched at Wales’ three AA rosette Llangoed Hall Hotel, with new head chef, Sam Bowser. Up to six guests will be invited into the kitchen during lunch service to engage with the team and watch them prepare – and then enjoy an exclusive seven-course tasting menu. Sam, who joined the team in December and has previously worked at the t Michelinstarred Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saison’s in Oxford and most recently, Dormy House, says, “A big part of what we’re doing is about the guest journey; for people to come in and see what we’re doing, offering them a really unique experience.

“Llangoed Hall Hotel is a country house, not too large, so it’s making it feel like a home away from home. People are getting more and more knowledgeable about food and people are really mesmerised by it. Things that we think are quite simple to do, people love seeing it. There’s a real interest in it.” For more: www.llangoedhall.co.uk

GARDENER’S WORLD The Botanist opened its doors in Cardiff earlier this month, complete with its botanical garden decor, plant-adorned walls and outdoor terrace. Alex Budge, general manager of The Botanist Cardiff, says, “Our beautiful new venue, located on Church Street, has blossomed into a wondrous world of botanical. The space brings together the best elements of the traditional pub, reinvented for Cardiff with its botanical twist and breathtaking interiors.”

The restaurant is famous for its botanically-inspired cocktails and mocktails such as Rhubarb and Sage Spritz and Pink Gin Punch, and its seasonal menu is influenced by the comforts of home and includes its signature Hanging Kebabs. For more: www.thebotanist.uk.com

Comfort food is on The Botanist’s menu

Minister Lesley Griffi ths pictured with Culinary Association of Wales president Arwyn Watkins, OBE, vice president Colin Gray and senior and junior members of Culinary Team Wales at the Senedd reception

Senior and junior chefs who represented Wales at the prestigious IKA Culinary Olympics in Germany were given a send off by Assembly Members at the Senedd on 29 January. The teams then went to Stuttgart where they joined around 2,000 chefs and pastry chefs from more than 60 nations, for the biggest and oldest international culinary art exhibition. The cooking event, which saw the Welsh teams win medals, also provided an important platform for Wales to lobby support as it bids to host the

Worldchefs Congress and Expo at ICC Wales, Newport in 2024. Minister Lesley Griffi ths says, “We are really gaining a reputation as a food and drink nation – as proven by the recent fi gures which show last year, we smashed our ambitious industry target of achieving £7 billion turnover.

“Winning the bid to host such a high-profi le event in Wales would provide a further boost for our thriving food and drink industry.” For more: www.welshculinaryassociation.com

How Par 59 will look on completion

After laying empty for years, the basement level of the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff city centre is to be turned into a brandnew bar, restaurant and crazy golf venue called Par 59.

The 18,000 sq ft site, due to open in April, will boast two permanent independent kitchens, two adults-only, crazy golf courses, two large bar and dining rooms, and a separate area for private bookings. The venue is being developed by the team behind successful Cardiff brand The DEPOT (turn to page 69 for more DEPOT news), in partnership with a private investor.

Edward Richards, asset manager at NewRiver who manage the Capitol Centre, says, “We are delighted to announce that Par 59 will be coming to the Capitol. They will be occupying the basement unit located on the corner of Queen Street and Station Terrace. They will revitalise space in the Centre that has been void for several years.

“This letting marks the fi rst of a number of exciting new operators to come to the Capitol, as part of our wider development plans. NewRiver look forward to announcing further developments for the Capitol this coming year.” For more: www.par59.com Musician James has opened a ramen pop-up

USING HIS NOODLE The ramen pop-up Matsudai has just started a sevenweek kitchen takeover at Blue Honey Local in Roath, showcasing diff erent ramen dishes including super-rich tonkotsu and tori paitan broths, and the more delicately balanced shio and shoyu.

James Chant, the founder of Matsudai, is also a musician and composer, an artist manager and an event manager having produced Welsh Music Prize and co-founded the silent disco gatherings, Hush Collective. He fi rst started experimenting with ramen recipes as a way to get back in touch with his creative side, after reaching a point where his work no longer made him happy. “I found myself in a really, really dark place last year, and after some serious talks with my wife, she convinced me that the only way to get out of that place was to start being creative again,” says James. “I had been to Japan before when touring and loved it, and had been pottering with obscure ramen recipes at home, so having to put an end to a lot of the work I was doing (for the benefi t of my mental health) gave me a chance to really develop my obsession, making ramen from scratch – researching, sourcing ingredients, and digging around for information online.

“I suppose Matsudai is my take on Wales’ version of proper ramen, and the response to it has been amazing so far. Cardiff was so ready for ramen, and I just hope people end up loving it as much as I do.” For more: www.matsudai.co.uk

The tori paitan broth

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