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My Books: Belgian Café Culture

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UPDATE 2021 – Belgian Café Culture is getting a 5 year anniversary edition with a new cover! I am so very pleased! Publication date in early November!

A week after the launch of Pride And Pudding, exactly one year ago, I started working on a new book, a passion project…

This book ‘Belgian Café Culture / Authentieke Belgische Cafés (in English and Dutch) is a plea to carefully handle the fragile café heritage of Belgium. For too long have we taken these little cafés for granted. Not enough have we stopped to think about their history and their relevance in our culture. They are part of our social and cultural patrimony in Belgium. When I walk the streets, everywhere I look I see forgotten and lost cafés.

When I read in the papers that a much-loved café was going to close down I went to visit it, to talk to the people there who were about to lose their local. I was probably one of the last to document it. Nothing could be done; the owners of the building wanted to renovate the café and there is wind of a more hipster implementation. For this reason alone a lot of authentic cafés have had to go.

Although this heritage has always been staring me in the face, I only realised how fragile it is, and how important it is to preserve it, after taking a Belgian beer sommelier course which involved a lot of homework visiting cafés. The news of the closure of café Den Akker gave me the drive to do something about it in the only way I know how: by writing this book and documenting the importance of it.

…

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Pride and Pudding – London Book launch

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Sarka BabickaTwo weeks ago was the day I have been waiting for, for a very very long time.
The publication day and book launch of the English Pride and Pudding, my original work. My baby. You might find it quite odd that the Dutch translation came out before the original but the whole editing process of the two books was completely different. I’m thinking of writing a post about the two different ways this book was brought to life, it is quite interesting and could come with some advise for any of you are thinking of publishing a book….

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Smithfield Meat Market – a history and a nomination for the Pink Lady Food photography award!

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Smithfield Market, 865 years of notorious history of meat, bloodshed, crime and uprising.


Turning down Sun Street and Crown Street, and crossing Finsbury square, Mr. Sikes struck, by way of Chiswell Street, into Barbican: thence into Long Lane, and so into Smithfield; from which latter place arose a tumult of discordant sounds that filled Oliver Twist with amazement. It was market-morning. The ground was covered, nearly ankle-deep, with filth and mire; a thick steam, perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemd to rest upon the chimney-tops, hung heavily above. All the pens in the centre of the large area, and as many temporary pens as could be crowded into the vacant space, were filled with sheep; tied up to posts by the gutter side were long lines of beasts and oxen, three or four deep. Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys, thieves, idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a mass; the whistling of drovers, the barking dogs, the bellowing and plunging of the oxen, the bleating of sheep, the grunting and squeaking of pigs, the cries of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides; the ringing of bells and roar of voices, that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping and yelling; the hideous and discordant dim that resounded from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and dirty figues constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng; rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene, which quite confounded the senses.
Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist, 1838And so were the words of Charles Dickens about Smithfield meat market in his marvellous work Oliver Twist.
England has always been famed for the outstanding quality of its meat. In the 19th century, Smithfield meat market was notorious for its wild cattle that was hazardously driven through the streets of London. The drovers and butchers were apparently as savage as their cattle and murder and rape were no exceptions in these quarters.
Reports of cattle stirred up by drunk herdsmen killing men, woman and children on their way were frequent. Cattle was slaughtered at the site and the streets coloured red with blood.Surrounded by dirty streets, lanes, courts, and alleys, the haunts of poverty and crime, Smithfield is infested not only with fierce and savage cattle, but also with the still fiercer and more savage tribes of drivers and butchers. On market-days the passengers are in danger of being run over, trampled down, or tossed up by the drivers or “beasts”; at night, rapine and murder prowl in the lanes and alleys in the vicinity; and the police have more trouble with this part of the town than with the whole of Brompton, Kensington, and Bayswater. The crowd­ing of cattle in the centre of the town is an inexhaustible source of accidents.Max Schlesinger, Saunterings in and about London, 1853

From 1150,

Smithfield has been used as a market for live stock. It was a large open space on the outskirts of town, it had small open spaces and wooden pens and a broad open street market.

In 1174 Smithfield was described by William Fitzstephen, clerk to Thomas à Becket in his ‘Description of London’, one of my favourite works to learn about Ancient London and its people.

‘In a suburb immediately outside one of the gates there is a field that is smooth, both in name and in fact. Every Friday (unless it is an important holy day requiring solemnity) crowds are drawn to the show and sale of fine horses. This attracts the earls, barons and knights who are then in the city, along with many citizens, whether to buy or just to watch.’
A description of London, ca.1174/1183, translated from Latin.

 

The ancient map of London ‘Civitas Londinum’ dated to 1561, shows large open fields and cattle pens. The market area is now called ‘Schmyt Fyeld’. During that time the market area had access to the river Fleet so cattle had water to drink and grass to feed on.

Because Smithfield was an open space which was so close to the city centre, it was also used for public executions. William Wallace – known to most as Braveheart after the film – was executed there in 1305. It was also the meeting place to gather for the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381. Executions continued well into the 16th century with Henry VIII murdering Catholics and his daughter ‘Bloody Mary’ burning in excess of 200 protestants. During the 17th century the site became a popular place for duelling and later it turned into a prime spot to pick up a prostitute for the night.

The structure of the market would remain largely the same as in the Middle Ages until a building was erected designed by Victorian architect Sir Horace Jones in 1868. By then the market was in the centre of London instead of in the outskirts, adjoining fields.

We can still see that majestic market building today, and some of its additions from later in that century, but sadly a part of it has been derelict for many decades now.

When I visited the market I was warned by Londoners that some of the butchers were still cheeky buggers and they weren’t kidding. On my short walk around I got talking to one of them, I took his picture, asked him if I could use the image, and he gave me his phone number and told me to call him some time.

The market was at its end of trading that day when I visited, meat was being packed up and carted away in supermarket trolleys, leaving it to look nearly as rough and dirty as it must have looked centuries ago.

It is a historic place, there has been a cattle market here for 865 years, and I hope it will remain here for centuries to come. It’s extraordinary that after the relocation of Billingsgate Fish market, Covent Garden and Spitalfields market, Smithfield market is still holding strong.

It is a heritage site, and with so many historical important places being demolished in London today – think the London Wool and fruit exchange in Shoreditch – we have to hang on to this one while we can.

Looking up in the meat market building
Supermarket carts are used to move the meat and are scattered around everywhere
though crumbling, still a special place
Butchers chatting during the clean-up of todays market day
One of the loading gates
Lorries are driving on and off with loads of meat
The butchers don’t mind posing a little for my camera
Part of the market in its derelict state, still waiting to be renovated and repurposed

Dear readers, the above image from Smithfield market has been shortlisted in the prestigious Pink Lady Food Photography Awards in the category ‘Food For Sale’ for the People’s choice award. If you like my work, I would be super grateful if you would vote for my photograph! 

You can vote HERE > and scroll down to ‘Food for sale’
Thanks so much xx
 

Do leave a comment, I love hearing from you!

About my work: The Taste of Belgium – Book Photography

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Hi guys, I wanted to share this project with you. In september I went to London to do the photography for the new book by indie publisher Grub Street. The funny thing is, it’s a book about Belgian food, by a Belgian author Ruth Van Waerebeek, in English but hopefully soon also in Dutch. The book was originally published many years ago under the name, ‘Everybody Eats Well in Belgium’.
It’s always such a treat when a publisher books you for your photography style and therefore I also get really attached to the book as it is my baby in the end as well.
Of course for this particular project I could bring more to the table as I am of course a Belgian lady and finding ‘Belgian style props’ only required me to open my cupboards or a short trip to the nearest charity shop for vintage beer glasses.
As soon as I had met with the people from Grub Street I had a vision on where I wanted to take the photography of this book. My Belgian, and Flemish roots in particular drove me to include the dark and moody photography I enjoy to do most, inspired by the Dutch/Flemish masters of the renaissance. The publisher allowed me to be creative in suggesting images and styles. It was a pleasure working with Grub Street Publishing, we got along like a house on fire. They even wrote a little something about little old me on the jacket of the book. Truly honoured.
I am very proud of this book, I hope you will like it as much as I do.
It’s full of Belgian classics, not very difficult and very tasty! There is a whole chapter dedicated to cooking with beer, what more do you want! Recipes for Belgian waffles maybe? The perfect Belgian frites? This is a book you can enjoy, there’s plenty to read.
To whet your appetite, here a few pictures and a recipe at the end.
The book is for sale on Amazon here > for £20 instead of £ 25!
*** I am not earning anything from the sales of the book. Just so you know 🙂  ***

 

Jacket text:

Ruth Van Waerebeek is an adventurous traveller, international chef and cookbook author from Belgium. She was born and raised in the medieval town of Ghent where she learned to cook at the side of her mother, grandmother and her great-grandmother. She was a chef in two leading restaurants in Ghent before she set off travelling round the world. In the 1990s she worked in full time teaching at a school of culinary arts in New York. Since 2000 she has been the brand ambassador and the house chef of Chile’s most important winery Concha y Toro. She travels regularly to the company’s major events in Europe, Russia, USA, Latin America and Asia. She now runs the Mapuyampay Hostal Gastronómico and Cooking School in the heart of Chile’s wine country. Her cooking classes have been profiled in Gourmet Magazine as one of the 50 best cooking vacations in the world.
Regula Ysewijn was the photographer on this book. A former graphic designer, she was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium where she went to art school and taught herself to cook. In her photography she is inspired by Dutch and Flemish Renaissance paintings, one of which she grew up with hanging in her parents’ dining room. She travels Europe and Britain in particular for her photography assignments and she is also busy working on her first book. When she is not photographing, she is giving workshops and lectures on topics of food photography, cooking and graphic design.
Flemish waffles
  • 15g/. ounce fresh cake yeast or 1
  • package active dry yeast
  • 480ml/2 cups milk or 420ml/1. cups
  • milk and 4 tablespoons/. cup water, warmed to 38ÅãC/100ÅãF
  • 250g/2. cups plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 100g/7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons cognac or brandy
  • 3 large egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
  • For serving: Icing/confectioners’ sugarUnsalted butter, at room temperature, or whipped cream

 

Makes about 12 waffles
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 60ml/. cup of the lukewarm milk.
Set aside until the mixture is bubbling and foamy, about 5 minutes.
Sift the flour together with the salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a
well in the centre and add the whole egg, the yeast mixture, and the
sugar. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining milk and the
egg yolks, one at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until smooth.
Add the melted butter, vanilla, and cognac. Stir to just combine.
Fold the egg whites into the batter. Cover with a clean towel and let rise
for 1 hour in a warm spot (see Note, page 262).
Stir the batter and bake 120ml/. cup at a time in a hot waffle iron.
Serve immediately with icing/confectioners’ sugar and butter or
whipped cream. 

 

Sweet Cheese Curd Tarts and the Road to a Book

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Those who follow my instagram already know that I have been working on my very own book the last few months. (There is even a # hash tag on it to follow some of the process, I know, how very modern of me.) It is a scary yet exciting journey, one with occasional bumps in the road and one with smooth pathways. I thought it would be easy, I couldn’t be more wrong.

I am fortunate that my publisher was super excited about me to design the book myself and photograph it, which isn’t a given thing. They gave me the freedom to come up with a concept no matter how crazy it sounded. They wanted the book to be ‘totally me’. This was always something that was made up in my mind. If the book would be designed by someone else and photographed by someone else, it would not be my book. I would not want that book. This isn’t a narcissistic urge to just get ‘a‘ book out there, this is an artistic project for me. I have been a graphic designer my whole professional life, I have done numerous layouts for books, booklets and magazines. Not being allowed to design and layout my own book would just feel completely and utterly wrong. But of course, this means doing the work of 3 maybe 4 people all on my very own…
I will have to turn down future jobs to get be able to do this big book project but the book will by no means pay enough so I can pay my bills. All the money from the advance, the layout work and the photography will go to the actual creating of this book. But although I would have liked to at least have some tiny profit, I am also very happy that the subject of my book wasn’t chosen for me, and that I can really do what I want. I have had other offers from publishers, who had the subject of my book already decided for me, of course I had to turn them down. As I said, this is not just ‘a‘ book.

Because of the significance of this project, I often freeze and can’t write or cook or photograph. Being a creative creature means you constantly doubt your work, and push yourself and push and push. I ask myself constantly, is this perfect enough. In every word and image I put an enormous effort, the story I tell needs to be right, it needs to transport you. I am not shooting a book, I am creating images that will hopefully whisk you away to my imaginary English cottage with limestone walls and a cream colored coal fired Aga stove. I want you to smell the slightly burnt toast that has the flavour unmatched by any toaster because it has been toasted on that oh so coveted AGA coal fire.

When I freeze, it is the moment when I am in doubt. Doubt is your enemy.
You must not forget, I started my own business as a freelance photographer/graphic designer/writer in januari, which means I am not surrounded by colleagues anymore, I work alone, and often I will be abroad, alone in my B&B. There’s no ‘can we have a chat about the concept or designs’ like in the advertising agency I worked at. I have to ask myself if it is right, I have to be objective and not let my heart get too much involved in it.
Which is hard, because I am a very passionate person. There is hardly any grey in me, it is either good or bad. There is no ‘this will do’ in my book – literally and figuratively speaking.

I am writing about this because I know a few people in our little online food lovers community who are also working on a book or book proposal. Sometimes to read someone else saying it is not a walk in the park, helps you to be okay with it, if one a day you wake up and are overtaken by the fear this great project brings with it.
It happens to us all.

But also because I need your help, I need people who would like to be involved and test a recipe for me, or more if you’re up to it. Eternal gratitude to my recipe testers so please get in touch if you want to get cooking for me – my email is on my contact page.

But on to that tart you see here, this is a sweet cheese curd tart with lemon. It is one of the recipes you just develop by accident, while trying to make something else you come up with an equally scrumptious dish.
Sweetened cheese curds have been used as a sweet treat on its own and in tarts for centuries, early recipes like this are the very first ancestors of the cheesecake we know today. Because I have used lard in the pastry, the tart has a sweet yet also savoury hint which is perfect for the likes of me who do not enjoy a very sweet treat.

What do you need (makes two 14 cm tarts)

Best is to start the day before you want to bake these tarts

pastry

  • 250g plain flour
  • 75 g butter
  • 50 g lard
  • 0,5 tsp baking powder
  • 30 g sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • baking paper for blind baking

filling

  • 300g cheese curds
  • 2 eggs
  • 100 g sugar
  • 25 g melted butter
  • 1 tsp of orange blossom water
  • the zest of 1 lemon

Cheese curds

  • 3l full fat preferably raw milk
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp rennet (find it online)
  • 4 tsp buttermilk or lemon juice
  • a cheese cloth

To make the cheese curds
heat 3 liters of full fat preferably raw milk to exactly 37 degrees Celcius.
add salt, rennet – you can buy it online and I used vegetarian and add buttermilk or lemon juice, butter milk works best
stir and leave to stand for 15 minutes – 30 minutes until the milk has separated from the whey. When the milk has separated from the whey, transfer the curdled milk to a bowl covered in cheese cloth. Drain the curds, leave them to hang for 3-5 hours
You might have some left after making the tarts, the cheese is good on its own, I like to salt it slightly and use in salads

The pastry
Mix the butter and lard into the flour with a round bladed knife, do this until you get a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs, add sugar and the egg yolk and bring the dough together. Be careful not to overwork the dough or it will get too chewy, place in the fridge to become firm. You can do this the day before too.

The filling
Put the curds into a clean bowl and tear them apart in smaller pieces, add the eggs, sugar, melted butter, orange blossom water and the lemon zest and leave to stand while you roll out your pastry.
Preheat your oven to 180°C
Roll out your pastry and place it in your tart tins, trim the edges and prick the bottom of the tart with a fork
Place baking paper over the pastry (make a round shape by folding the paper, so it fits better) and place baking beans or rice on top. Pop in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden in color

When the tart casings are ready, pour the curd mixture into each tart and pop in the oven until they bubble up nicely and become nice and yellow in color.

Serve as you will, I decorated mine with violets for this occasion.

Good with a glass of Whisky or Rum.

You might also enjoy
The tarts at Tudor court

Further reading
How writing a book is different than a blog / David Lebovitz on Dianne Jacob’s website

Food Revolution Day 2014 – keeping cooking skills alive

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A Day of cheese making, dough kneading, and pizza baking!
Yesterday was Food Revolution Day and like last year (you can see it here) I got my thinking cap on to see how I could make a difference on this day. Why? Because doing nothing won’t change a thing.
Like I said last year and will say again, every day should be a Food Revolution Day, this day is just the moment when we celebrate it, and get other people involved, to spread the word. Knowing so many ‘foodies’ in my line of work, I is my opinion you can’t be a foodie without being a food activist. You can’t love food and not want to be a part of a world wide battle for change in food choices. As a foodie you want the best produce, and the best meat is raised stress free and with respect, the best veggies are local and the best grains are those that are GMO and chemical free. You don’t want additives, colorings and other types of crap that shouldn’t be in food. But is saddens me to see that there are in fact ‘foodies’ who don’t care about where the food came from and how the meat was reared. Or they do care, but don’t care to take a stand and try to educate others about the dangers that linger on our supermarket shelves. Anyway, we can’t all be pro-active.

Food Revolution Day is the brainchild of Jamie Oliver, who finds it important to use the fact that he is famous for a good cause by getting people involved in this day dedicated to food education. He has been campaigning for better food education in schools in the UK and USA and a change in school dinners. He has also set up Ministry of Food centers where people can come and have cooking lessons for free, just so that they would be able to cook from scratch for themselves and their children. He also has his Food Foundation charity to raise funds for projects in food education.
Why having a day to raise awareness and having a jolly good cook off is important is stated on the Food Revolution Day website here > 

“It’s time to take action!
We need every child to understand where food comes from, how to
cook it, and how it affects their body. This is about setting kids up
with the knowledge they need to make better food choices for life.” Jamie Oliver

This year the focus is on children, they are our future after all and for the future’s sake, something has to change in our eating habits. So the plan was, get some kids together!

Nine in the morning and it feels like the silence before the storm. Twenty five 11 year old children are coming to my friends Loes and Krikke’s restaurant to learn how to make cheese and bake their own pizza’s in an old Flemish wood fired bread oven. To make it all more exciting for the children Bruno has designed another smashing set of goodies, a box containing a diploma, a recipe booklet and a wooden spoon for them to take home as a prize of the day.
They arrive, with a storm, as anticipated. They are eager to learn and we start off with a little talk on what Food Revolution Day is all about. I explain to them that although cooking is so much fun, so many people never cook because they don’t know how to. They totally agree that packed meals and processed foods are bad for you and see no sense in why you would buy it – fantastic, these kids understand! All but a few know who Jamie is and think he’s cool for getting us all cooking and breaking a world record by hosting the worlds largest cooking lesson. Cheering and jumping up and down follows when I tell them that the record has been broken. I love these kids.

 

We start with cheese making, we are working with raw milk that came straight from the farm that morning and I explain that this is raw milk because it hasn’t been pasteurised. Once the milk has been heated to blood temperature, one of the kids adds the buttermilk, salt and vegetarian rennet and we wait and see what happens. ‘Oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when the milk starts to thicken and true amazement when I show them the pot of milk I made an hour before. The fresh pot goes to rest and we transfer the curdled milk to a bowl with cheesecloth to drain. They take turns wiggling the cheesecloth and then comes the coolest part of squeezing the curds. Twenty five little hands squeeze and squeeze and I stop them before there is no cheese left to squeeze, the kids just love to get hands-on and feel every process.

 

The cheese is now ready to drain further and the children go to my friend Loes who explains them the process of making your own bread and pizza dough. She explains why we are using spelt and the difference between yeast and sourdough. To show them a live organism she passes around her sourdough starter which is bubbling away. The children are eager to smell and look at it as the curious little creatures they are.
The kneading is fun and they love to put their weight in and they are amazed by the rising little balls of dough. Veggie cutting for toppings happens with dedication and they can’t wait to start creating their own pizza’s. Pizza time shows us how hungry 11 year olds can be and we soon fear we won’t have enough to fill their bellies as they keep on coming back to decorate more pizza’s and devour them in seconds.

 

Luckily we have strawberries straight from the farm with the cheese we made before, to fill those last gaps in their tummies. They go through the lot in minutes and keep on asking questions, these kids are eager to know more and gives me hope for the future. They really get the importance of this and seeing their happy, excited and amazed faces throughout this day fills my heart with joy.
I think I’m going to do more of these workshops with children, I know my partner in crime Loes will be up for it too. The future is bright when you want it to be.

Special thanks to:
Bruno, my rock, for always supporting me in things like this and for the artwork he created for the workshop • Loes and Krikke, my friends who were a part of this last year and again this year. Loes especially for teaching the children the pizza making on one of her most busiest weekends of the year • To the children of this class, you guys were brilliant • To the parents for trusting us to teach their children good things. 
And last but not least, a huge thanks Jamie, for being there to motivate us to take action and get cooking. You rock, big time.

Regula x

You might also like 
Food Revolution Day 2013: Last night’s leftovers lunch
Food Revolution Day 2012: My local food

Cardamom and yoghurt spelt cake and the number 13

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 My grandmother always wore a number 13 on a golden chain around her neck. She had a tough life, raising 4 children on her own after grandfather didn’t come home from sea. She worked from dawn till dusk. Nanna died from old age many years ago because her body was just completely worn down. I remember her stern nature and I’m sure my father didn’t have an easy childhood. I know he wanted to go to school to become a carpenter, dreaming to work with wood and create his own furniture, but he had to work instead.

My father is a man with ambition, a fighter, a daredevil and a great teacher in life. He worked hard to become a paramedic when I was born, and got the degrees needed to save lives. His precious weekends off he spent them as a volunteer with the Red Cross and the Flemish Cross, aiding people in need of care on events, disasters and accompanying disabled children and adults on trips.

I used to joke that the reason he always went to be on the Flemish Cross care unit on big Raves was that he knew I was safe at home but that other parents didn’t have that luxury fearing their children were somewhere possibly doing drugs or drinking way to much. He had many teenagers on his gurney and I know he was secretly happy about me being a New Waver and a romantic rather than a raver wearing neon trainers.

My dad taught me – not by telling me this but by example that when I wanted something, I should just go out there and do it.

2013 has been anything but unlucky and it reminds me of my grandmothers golden number 13 which I inherited after her death and is one of the only things I have to remind her by. For her, and as for many other cultures, number 13 was a lucky number. 
I got to do fantastic stuff last year but most importantly, I found a way to live with an autoimmune condition. When I got diagnosed in the summer of 2012 I found myself on a roller coaster of emotions. I got worse before I got better in 2013. I know found that living a balanced life, especially with your food is the best way to stay stable and healthy. I am fortunate to be at a stage with my condition that it can stay stable if I rest enough and stay healthy. For someone who is used to running through life rather than walking, it hasn’t been easy to slow down. But I did it.

Enjoy my round-up of favourite happenings of last year.

I went on a pig keeping course and it was one of the most splendid days of my life, I have a -not so- secret dream of having a little pig farm one day. You can read the full story here.

You see, I ain’t afraid of getting down in the mud with a pig!

In april I visited a watercress farm in Hampshire and met Steve from Steve’s leaves. Not only is this pretty green leaf my favourite salad, it is also super healthy. You can read about my visit here and more here.

In may I organised a Food Revolution Day event cooking ‘last night’s leftover’s’ lunches for those who ordered one. The idea was to focus not only on what we eat for lunch but also on food wastage. Leftover dinners make the best lunches!

After my Food Revolution Day event I went to Torino in Italy where I was invited to visit the Food Rev events going on in the city. You can read about both of my Food Revolution Day adventures on the Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution website here

Betta from L’Aula Magna, Torino.

Also that week I was in Aosta, only a short drive from the Mont Blanc I was invited to come and stay at the Village Hotel and Swedish brasserie Bjork who are inspired by Scandinavian design. I learned to make Gravad lax, smoke meats, bake Swedish cookies and enjoyed their wonderful beers. The hotel is something completely different, you sleep in log cabins on the domain and the food is sublime. The Swedish brasserie menu is a celebration of Scandinavian culinary delights and you will always have some Knäckebröd at hand for a nibble. During dinner we had a loaf of bread in a wooden box and a glass cover so we could see the bread rise as the evening went on.

We also had the chance to visit an apple orchard that produces a very special Italian cider,  the Maley Mont Blanc. As wine has always been the national drink of Italy, this village struggled to bring back this cider which nearly completely died out during fascism. The ancient trees grow in the valley on a very idyllic spot between the mountains. 

Another
highlight was the honor of being a judge in the Great Taste Awards.
Every year thousands of food products are judged, from rapeseed oils to
cookies and from beef pies to delicate chocolate treats. The awards was
set up by Bob Farrand of the Guild of Fine Foods in 1994 in an effort to
celebrate and award the quality of Britain’s best small and artisan
producers.
For
weeks judges are gathered in Dorset judging every product with the utmost care, when not
sure, another bite is taken, no decision is taken lightly. The judges
range from food buyers for Harrods and Fortnum & Mason to small
speciality Deli owners, seasoned food writers, critiques and then me. I
must say, this years winner Marybelle Greek style yoghurt is an absolute
delight, look out for it!

Then summer finally came and I got to spend some time with lovely people at Jamie’s Food Tube and Jamie’s Feastival. 

 

I made my first ever food video with the charming Loyd Grossman and ate some fabulous puddings with Heston Blumenthal for his new TV series.

 Oh gosh, so many things! I think I better stop here in fear of boring you! 
Let’s go back to this cake shall we? I’m having a piece right now!

Cardamom and yoghurt spelt cake

What do you need

250 g spelt flour
3 large free-range eggs – separated
250 g unsalted butter, soft not melted
220 g raw cane sugar
3 tbsp of greek style yoghurt
1 tsp of freshly crushed cardamom seeds
1 tsp of organic lemon extract (if you have decent lemons, use fresh juice)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

icing
220 g icing sugar
1tsp lemon extract
30 ml greek style yoghurt 

decoration (optional)
dried cranberries 
candied orange peel

Method

  • Prepare a 18 cm – 20 cm round cake tin with greaseproof paper and set aside
  • Preheat your oven to 180° C
  • Cream the soft butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until light and fluffy
  • Add the egg yolks one by one, beating well 
  • Add the cardamom, lemon extract and the yoghurt and stir well
  • Sift the flour and the bicarb
  • Whisk your egg whites until stiff
  • Gently fold the ingredients together and combine well
  • Transfer the dough into the prepared cake tin and put in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour
  • Combine all the ingredients for the icing and transfer into a piping bag or use a spoon later.
  • Decorate with the icing, dried cranberries and candied orange peel

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Workshop food photography and styling in Antwerp for Flanders and Brussels food week ‘Week van de Smaak’

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I was asked to come and teach a food styling and photography workshop for Flanders’ food week, ‘Week Van de Smaak‘. I’m very excited to share this with you, especially my Belgian and Dutch readers who would be able to attend. 
There are two dates: 17 and 23 november and there are only 3 places left!
Gosh that went fast! So if you would like to attend, send and email to margot@beeldexpressie.be and do it quickly so you don’t miss out!

We will also be cooking some tasty food to shoot. On november 17 cookery teacher Daphne from Food for Foodies will be cooking up Asian cuisine and on the 23th we will be exploring the rich Middle Eastern dishes, all in the spirit of the festival’s theme ‘water and fire’. 

Location of the workshop is Antwerp, Belgium.
All you need is something to take a basic picture with, so even your camera phone.
Note that the workshop will be in Dutch.

*Update* The two workshops are now sold out!

Food Blogger Connect London 2013 – My talk on Breathing life into your brand identity

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Just over a week ago I did a talk on ‘Breathing life into your brand identity‘ at this years Food Blogger Connect Conference in London.
Like last year, it were fun food filled days and even the sun came out to play.  A few people who were there and a lot who missed the conference emailed or tweeted me to ask me to write about my talk, apparently branding your blog is a thing a lot of you think about these days. And I get it, us blogger have to be writers, photographers, stylists, web developers and why not also graphic designers.
I had the advantage of being a graphic designer myself, my husband is an art director/ illustrator and we have our own company specialized in unique branding and graphic design called The Tiny Red factory. Although I enjoy photography and writing more than graphic design these days, it will always be a big part of who I am.
So here are my views on branding your blog.

Branding is about asking questions and getting the right answers 
to build your strategy on.
First ask yourself this question:

Why do I blog?
Is it to build a business, to get some kind of income out of it or out of pure fun?
This will determine what kind of blog and branding you are building. Asking yourself questions and thinking about the answers will make for a more solid brand.
My brand has become me and I have become my brand, that is one strategy. Another strategy is to stay the person behind the blog and let you site/blog be your branding.
One golden rule is to stay true to yourself, don’t paint a picture that isn’t true. To get a successful blog you can’t be dishonest about ‘you’ because you can’t keep up a lie for ever.

My branding integrated into my christmas card

Another important question to get straight before you take your brand to the next level is What do I blog about?

Do I have a niche, do I blog about food in general, parenting or am I a review blog. Make a choice. It doesn’t mean you can’t do a review or giveaway if you don’t choose to be a review blog but it is good to figure out which way you want to go so your readers know what they can expect.
A niche is always good, find something that sets you apart from other blogs  –  be personal and be unique.

Choosing a blog name

If you have answered the questions above you might have a fair idea on what to name your blog. Make sure your name isn’t too long, you still have a strapline you can use to explain things further.
Make it catchy.

Choosing a strapline

Keep it short and topical is the message here. Try to narrow it down to a few words. This benefits you SEO and will also be more easily remembered by your readers.
Your strapline can explain what you are blogging about, what kind of blog you are or a little about the person behind the blog.
A few words should say it all so have a good think on it or ask advise from a copywriter.

When you have your name and strapline it is time to take it further.

Taking your branding further – Miss Foodwise for Food Revolution

Create a Moodboard

Before you start your logo and pin down your visual branding, create a moodboard for yourself but also for your graphic designer if you choose to consult one – pinterest is a handy tool we ask our customers to use.

The board should be full with interests that are relevant to your blog, color scheme, fonts and styles. Have a play! Don’t just pick things you like, pick things that represent you.

This will give your graphic designer an idea in which direction to work and will also help you to build your further branding. A solid moodboard will also keep the cost of a graphic designer under control. There is nothing harder than to design a logo for someone who doesn’t know what she wants and budget can go out of the roof because of it.

At this point I think I mention the F-word in my talk… 😉

The logo

Although a logo doesn’t make a brand it is extremely important.
It is the whole branding – the package – that makes your brand and how you use it.
When you create your logo, try to make it as clean as possible, don’t try to put everything in you like, make choices.
A blog logo should have a web version which means one that works in your header, and a print version. On you business card the logo will be smaller so therefore it should be revised for print use as well. I myself have 3 different versions of my logo, one is my blog header, one is my logo for larger use and the last one is my logo for smaller use like on a business card or stationery.

 

Ask for help!

Don’t try and do it all by yourself.
Invest in a graphic designer, the time you spend trying to put a logo together is time you could be working on actual content for your blog.

It doesn’t have to be a costly affair especially if you go to an expert prepared. If you have done your homework – like creating a moodboard – you will have saved money.

On to The blog

To choose a platform, an interesting post about choosing a platform can be found here.
I’m on blogger – changing to WordPress soon.

For the design of your blog – use elements from your logo like colors and or details from your logo to determine the rest of your branding.
Make it all come together visually and then go on to define it further via your content.

A HUGE part of breathing life into your brand identity is defining your writing style and photography.

If you write a blog on a farm, I don’t want to see minimalistic studio photography, I want a country feel. Even minimalistic can have a country feel, be creative. The fact that you are on a farm, or perhaps in a renovated industrial building can be a selling point – it can be part of your branding.

For writing, try to find your voice and stick with it. It doesn’t mean you can’t evolve but try and find a rhythm that is truly yours and tell a story.
It can be conversational or more formal, again a choice you have to make. Here on my blog I tend to write more conversational because that’s just who I am, I am a chatterbox! My English won’t always be correct, but hey, I’m Belgian and that’s my voice! I’m not ashamed of my accent, it becomes part of who I am.

Typography

Make sure everything on your blog is reader friendly.
Go for contrast and just think, would I read a book if it looked like this. I’ve seen blogs with orange text on blue background, you stop reading that after a while.

Font size
Make sure the font size is large enough to read comfortably.
Anywhere around 12-16 px is readable for your blog posts, your title can be larger.

Of course the font has to work with your branding but it also has to be readable.
Different browsers and different screens render fonts differently.
Make sure the font you choose is a web safe font, one that also works on older devices and especially on PC.
A font that looks gorgeous on Apple might look awful on PC!
On this website you can test fonts to see if they are suitable for body copy.
Curly fonts aren’t suitable for body copy of your blog posts however they can be used for titles. Just make sure you choose a web safe font!

About page

Also very important to breathing life into your brand identity is is your about page. On this page you should tell a little something about yourself and show your face. People always enjoy reading blogs more if they know who is behind it.
If your about page is too generic and has no profile picture, you will loose readers. Blogs are personal, so your head shot is a selling point. Include contact information, you don’t want people to have to search for you details, provide them clearly.
For writing a good about me page, go to Dianne Jacobs blog for a post here.

Your brand in print

Put some thought into your business cards, they have to show who you or your brand are.
Add your full name! A lot of blogger forget to add their names on business cards.
Add your logo, your social media handles – if you like but especially your main contact details. We don’t need to see your profile picture on there -unless that’s your brand of course – but show a picture of your food or something else that people can link to your branding.

Don’t go all corporate in your business cards if your blog has a fun ‘down to earth theme’, that just doesn’t fit. Like I said before, make sure your logo is suitable for print. If your logo looks great when on your blog when it is large it might be too small and unreadable when scaled for your stationery.

Always look at your moodboard for inspiration. Again, your moodboard is here for keeps!

And finally, let your branding be the red thread that runs through all that you do!

Thank you for all the lovely tweets during and after my talk, I’m glad it was useful! x

LINK LOVE

Which platform to use
Branding Your Blog: You’re Doing it All Wrong 
Are you making these 3 mistakes on your about page