Andrex curries

Well I continue to get more involved in food, buying local food, cooking with it, writing and reading about it (particularly the new local Flavour magazine). My new cookery course is an Asian one where I learn about and cook Asian food funnily enough. Curries will of course be on the menu for 10 weeks or more. That's a lot of toilet paper.

Mother of all ships

Look at the size of this thing docked in Northumberland Quay in North Shields. It's the QE2 on its last voyage before being converted into a floating hotel and sailing on to Dubai. There were fireworks and deafening horn noises to celebrate as it sailed away up the Tyne. It goes faster backwards than most big ships go forwards. Must be a bugger to reverse park though especially if the captain is female.

Getting to the bottom

It's strange knowing you are at the bottom of the country. It makes it a lot better when the weather in the UK matches what you would expect on a holiday. We were lucky to visit Torquay and Dartmouth for a few days and stay in a great hotel overlooking the sea with hot sunny weather. When I was a child I remember being there when the comedian Jim Davidson was there getting off a boat on the harbour. No celebs this time, just me and Lilly Allen.

Diner Voyeurisme

Been meaning to go to Jesmond Dene House restaurant for a while now so we went along. There's a new French chef there with an unpronounceable name. His food left me speechless. I've been waiting to see a menu with our wonderful pease pudding on so I had to try the scallop wrapped in bacon with pease pudding. Very geordie-french, loved it. Best of all was to follow, a duck breast which melted like candy floss, with a duck leg confit. The service was precise, so it should be as the Frenchman has requested a webcam to see his food arrive at your table.

Pudding times 2

I gave some modern Spanish cuisine a try at Grado restaurant in Manchester at the weekend. Some very clever, delicious, inspiring food, we opted for a tapas so we could keep it coming. Like myself, a good looking dish each time, including the most succulent black pudding (from Spain so the manager told me) I have ever tasted, served with a fried duck egg in a red wine vinegar. It tasted like a really posh breakfast, imagine waking up to that. Our pudding was just as intelligent, a chocolate dome, alcohol poured over it and set alight at our table which peeled back the dome to reveal a chocolate fondant. Wow, just like an adult kinder egg.

There's a hair..y biker in my food

Managed to bump into the Hairy Bikers and David Hall (local Masterchef finalist) at the Linden Hall Food Festival. The bikers are indeed very hairy but down to earth. There was lots of local produce on offer ready for cooking with. Amongst some of the things I bought was some beetroot I cooked with this week, it makes your wee red you know. This photo shows the bikers with a piece of meat they used later in a dish.

Underneath The Arch

In Tynemouth there's a restaurant I've been meaning to try called the Arch. I gave it a go and wasn't disappointed by the food or setting. Its contemporary looks matched the contemporary, arty, locally sourced food. The chef was obviously showing off with his modern british style and included canopies in between courses of smoked eel and a lamb trio. I'll be going back....very soon.