elevenses

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(fergus henderson enjoying his seed cake & madeira for elevenses, from “beyond nose to tail: a kind of british cooking: part II“)
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seed cake and madeira, a match made in heaven.

as the wise fergus henderson has said, it’s good to enjoy a little “something to keep you steady” around 11am … also known as “elevenses” in the UK.  and he recommends a slice of seed cake with madeira.

when i heard this almost a year ago, i vowed to make the st. john seed cake and enjoy it with a glass of madeira. it took me some time to finally do it but i think this will be a regular habit around here. the seed cake is incredible; it uses caraway seeds (caraway is a main ingredient in rye bread).  it’s really excellent.

this is why i love st. john, their restaurants, their cookbooks and the entire enterprise. they take simple things and make them special … extraordinary even.  in this instance, a few moments during your day when you can sit down to a slice of cake and a little nip of madeira. isn’t that the good life?  be kind to yourself and follow fergus’ example. you won’t regret it.

(the seed cake recipe can be found in an article here [i love the part about what a snack should be: “the very evanescent nature of the snack lends itself to a certain kind of delight, like a nocturne or a study in music”]. madeira is available from many wine shops)

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speaking of st. john, the hotel is opening soon after some delays and this video on nowness is blowing my mind.  i can’t stop watching it – it’s brilliant.

i have some special guests in town this weekend and i’m taking them to st. john on saturday night… we’re very excited.  i hope you’ll eat something tasty this weekend, too.  cheers.