I went to Cotswolds for 3 days with my friends visiting me from Japan and discovered the beauty of English countryside.
We stayed at a cottage in Bibury, a very very small and beautiful village in Cotswolds, and also visited other 3 places, Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower Slaughter and Stow-on-the-Wold. They were all stunning with the mixture of nature and old buildings made of honey-coloured Cotswolds stones, which made us overwhelmed by the contrasts with London. We especially loved Bibury, which had been called "the most beautiful village in England" by William Morris, and enjoyed walking around there.
Based on my experience, here are some recommendations:
- Trip by car
We were so desperate to get a cab because taxi companies were always busy. Soon after arriving, we found out that buses are not convenient at all in Cotswolds, but we honestly did not expect to struggle getting a taxi that much. Taxi companies often said they were fully booked and not available, and sometimes phone call did not even get through. The waitress at a restaurant we had dinner at in Stow-on-the-Wold said it was almost impossible to get a cab in the last minute when we asked her to call a taxi company after dinner.
This was the only deficit that I found in Cotswolds, so I would go there by car next time. There seemed many free parking lots, and roads among villages did not look complicated.
Just in case I still put some information on taxi companies that we contacted:
Cotswoldstaxi4u: 07720572420
I recommend this taxi company, since their service was organised. They sent me a confirmation text when we booked, which was nice.
Cvc Rainbow Cabs: 01285740070 We used this company a couple of times. They also drove us between Cotswolds and Oxford.
Local Taxi Company: 01285650850
This was on the information pack from our cottage, but unfortunately the phone calls never got through...
- The Catherine Wheel (Link)
This is a local pub in Bibury where we enjoyed English food. The waitresses were very friendly, and they created the warm and cozy atmosphere.
- Number Four at Stow (Link)
This is a boutique hotel with a pretty restaurant and small bar, and we had coffee here. The location was good - 15 minutes to the Stow-on-the-Wold, and I think it could be a perfect base for visiting the north Cotswolds.
Last weekend I made a homemade burger and oven baked chips. I generally prefer fish to meat, but sometimes crave MEAT, which means I want not chicken but either beef or pork!
I decided to make a burger and chips since they are something I can cook very well at home in a healthier way. Cooking a patty for a burger at home is a healthy option, considering the risk of contaminated meat. Also with this recipe chips are oven roasted instead of deep fried. I found this method never deteriorates the taste of chips while decreasing a lot of calories. If you crave meat, this is the perfect recipe!
Homemade Burger (serves 2)
Ingredients
- Burger bread
- 2 slice of tomato
- 2 slice of cheese
- Some lettuce
- 2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon of brown sauce+1 tablespoon of honey/homemade sauce (detailed below)
For the patties
- 200g Beef mince
- Half of onion
- One clove of garlic
- One tablespoon of ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- Bread crumbles
- One egg
- Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Chop the onion and saute with olive oil until it gets golden brown. Put aside to cool completely.
2. In a big bowl put the meat, grazed or chopped garlic and ginger, nutmeg, onion, egg, salt and pepper, and mix them together very well with your hand until it gets sticky.
3. Put the bread crumbles. This finalises the texture. Please go slow as you add. Less bread crumbles, softer the patties will be; however, if they are too soft, they will be broken when fried.
4. Make the ingredients into 2 portions.
5. Toss one chunk of the meat between your hands for 10 times and release air bubbles in the meat. If you skip this process, again meat will be broken when cooked in a pan. Form into a patty with the height of 2 cm. Repeat this with the other chunk.
6. Heat some olive oil on a frying pan, and wait until it gets hot. Then cook the patties one side with the high heat.
7. Flip over the meat, and pour two tablespoon of water. Put the heat into the medium high with the lid on so that the patties are steamed. When the juice coming out from the patties gets transparent, that means the inside of the patties is cooked.
8. Put the lid off and cook the patties with the high heat again until they get beautiful brown colour.
9. Toast the burger bread and spread the mayonnaise.
10. On the above side of bread put the lettuce, tomato, cheese and one of the patties. Then spread some brown sauce or homemade sauce (recipe below).
11. Place the below side of bread on, then put the upside down. Voilà!
*Optional
I make the sauce on the same frying pan.
1. Wipe the greasy juice on the pan roughly with a kitchen paper.
2. Put 1 tablespoon of ketchup and uster sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of red wine and 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce, and mix them together in the pan.
3. Cook the sauce until it gets bubbles.
I do not think we can find uster sauce in a supermarket outside Japan. It is a kind of brown sauce made from veggies and fruits. You can use regular brown sauce with one tablespoon of honey.
Baked Chips (serves 2)
Ingredients
- One potato
- Dried herb (I used basil)
- Salt
- Olive oil
Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
2. Peel and cut the potato into slices of 1 cm.
3. Put the potato slices in a bowl of water and rinse starches. This gives extra crispy taste when they are cooked.
4. Blanch potato slices in boiling water for about 5 minutes, and then drain in a colander well.
5. Spread the potato slices on a baking tray, and drizzle some olive oil and toss with salt and herb.
6. Roast for 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
7. Scatter salt to serve.
I know what we eat is very important. I know burgers and chips are not counted as healthy foods. I know we should eat lots of vegetables, drink water and avoid processed food.
However, I personally think the quality, amount and moderation are also very very important. So if I crave something, I always try to get the better quality of that food, instead of banning from eating it, and enjoy the reasonable amount, instead of neither overeating nor undereating. I never cut out anything from my diet, but I try very hard so that everything is in moderation.
This sounds very simple, but actually difficult to practice since what we want to eat and how much we should eat are completely depends on our condition and we have to be constantly aware of our body needs.
However, I believe that is the key, and followed the voice of my body last weekend. The burger and chips were very tasty and satisfying, and I definitely recommend them when you crave MEAT!
I always think that Japanese people are very passionate about food. In Tokyo you can enjoy any kinds of cuisine from around the world, and that is also the case with food at home: we often eat Indian curry, Chinese spring rolls and Italian pasta. That is, I personally think, because we just love food and we just want to enjoy eating. Thus, while I would like my international friends to enjoy traditional Japanese food when they come to Japan, I also recommend they try something different as well. Yes, we eat Japanese food but there are some more.
I will go back to Japan next month and stay for 5-6 weeks, so I will write more on my recommendations and suggestions for those who travel to Japan. However, I just come across this article about the Black Burger at Burger King Japan this morning, and since it is a limited time menu I thought I can talk a little about fast food in Japan. I hope this helps a little for those who are coming to Japan especially this month!
Photograph by Burger King Japan at https://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/
Burger Kind Japan will launch their limited Black Burgers on the 19th September. This is their annual campaign taking place every September since 2012, where you can try black buns and cheese made from bamboo charcoal, black sauce of squid ink and beef with black peppers.
After all, these are burgers from fast food chains. So if you like fancy food, these are not something you might want to try. Plus, as the Guardian mentions, this is not a completely new idea in the food industry. However, I think this somehow reflects our passion for food to some extent, as we still do not expect black burgers anywhere.
Most of my international friends are very enthusiastic about trying Japanese foods, but there are some who are not a huge fun of raw fish and tofu. Also I know there are millions burger lovers and foodies who like to try something different. For those people this could be an option!
Another thing I would like to talk about is matcha green tea latte at Starbucks. Although I am honestly not a huge fun of fast food, I do like coffee at Starbucks. As you can see on my Spain trip blog, I always eat local food as much as I can and I try to stay away from Japanese food when I travel to other country. Nevertheless, I still often drop in at Starbucks when I miss what I am familiar with. I know their coffee taste the same anywhere, nothing new, but sometimes that comforts me, especially I travel alone.
However, since we are enthusiastic about food, more than 10 years ago Starbucks Japan developed the beverage featured our traditional drink: green tea. This is something, as far as I know, we can only find limited shops outside Japan, and so when I travel a foreign country, I mostly have to wait until I go back to Tokyo.
I think this matcha green tea latte is one of the best beverages at Starbucks. It is creamy and has a good flavour. It is nice to have hot in winter but matcha cream frappccino in summer is also super yummy, so you can enjoy anytime you come to Japan. It is always one of my recommendations when my international friends ask me what they should try in Japan, and once they try, they love it.
Usually we do not expect any local uniqueness at fast food stores. Having the standard is about fast food business and you are expected to go to local restaurants when you look for a local/traditional food. However, there are some examples of localisation of fast food, and I think it is nice that we can enjoy something unique at the place where you feel familiar with in a foreign country.
I love Japanese food: I love rice, I love miso soup and I love soy sauce. However, that does not mean that I eat only Japanese food. My mum likes Western food as well, so she often cooks pasta, roast chicken and many other kinds of non-Japanese dishes. This is one her recipes and I have decided to blog about since it is very easy! I know that "real" western tartare sauce has more ingredients such as capers and pickles, but they are not so common in Japan and my mum makes it in more simpler way, as you can see below...
Ingredients (serves:4)
- 4 boiled eggs
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 of onion
- Some fresh or dried parsley
- 1.5 tablespoon of vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Mince the onion and microwave it for 30 seconds or put it in ice water for 1 minutes. Using kitchen paper, remove the juice and water completely.
2. Chop the eggs. I prefer to have them chunky but you can cut them as you like.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients.
I like to have fish with this sauce. My methods are:
1. Remove the fish from the fridge and leave it until coming up to room temperature.
2. Season with salt and pepper, and coat with flour.
3. Fry in a pan with olive oil.
4. Enjoy with tartare sauce!
I especially recommend the combination of salmon and tartare sauce. Salmon is really good with soy sauce or miso, which I will blog in the future, but tartare sauce is also my favourite.
Other ideas for this sauce could be sandwich, deep fried chicken and potato salad. My mum always serves deep fried oysters with this sauce in winter, which also super yummy!
I know mayo is not as healthy as soy sauce, but if you add one big plate of salad, I think this could be counted as a healthy lunch!
I never skip breakfast. Even when I worked in Tokyo and had to leave my apartment very early, I always grabbed something that I can eat at the office with a cup of coffee.
Now being in the UK, I have a little more time for myself in the morning and enjoy breakfast. Below are some examples of what I eat. They are all easy-to-make but still promise a good start of the day.
1. Granola, yogurt, bananas, blueberries and strawberries
This is very easy-to-make and yummy! I know granola contains a lot of sugar but I think it is relatively ok to have something sweet in the morning.
For those who travel to Japan: I am not particulary following food trend, but for the last couple of years pancakes have been a centre of the breakfast trends in Japan, especially among young women. Granolas are considered to be the next and there are many granola shops opening, so if you are a big fan of granola or experience the trend in Japan, you should stop by at these places. At some of them (for example: GANORI) you can even try some Japanese flavour such as green tea granola and yuzu citrus granola!
2. Bagel, grapefruit yogurt with dried dates.
I love grapefruits! Some of my friends say they are too bitter, but I just like its taste. Also I feel that I am kind of purified when I eat grapefruits, if that makes sense...
I prefer regular yogurt to lowfat yogurt. However, I drink soy milk instead of regular milk to control the amount of daily fat intake.
I also love bagels but it is super expensive in Japan. Here I can get 5 bagels for £1.6 whereas one bagel is about £1 in Tokyo. I hope bagels attract more attentions after the granola and that there will be a little more competitions...One of the good things about livig in the UK is I can enjoy bagels every day!
3. Bagel with cream cheese, apricot jam and raspberry jam.
My boyfriend came up with this idea of putting two kinds of jam and I absolutely loved it! Look at the color. This blows your morning blue!!!
4. Brioche with raspberry jam
Raspberry jam is my favourite. In Japan you can find it only in a big supermarket, so when I am in Europe, I always go for raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam.
5. Yorgurt, granola, bananas, nuts and cinnamon on top
This is my current most favourite breakfast. For those who feel bored with yogurt in the morning, please try this combination. Cinnamon would be a happy discovery!
6. Sunday breakfast
Sometimes I have big European breakfast on weekend, as you can see. When I was in Japan, my sunday breakfast was rice, miso soup and natto (fermented soybeans.) Spending so much time on cooking on weekday is not realistic, and in fact all the foods that I have mentioned are very easy to make. However, I like to have special breakfast for weekend! I have more time to cook and more time to enjoy!!!
7. A cup of coffee
I always have to finish my breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Spanish food is just amazing!!! Everything I had in Spain was very, very tasty and I never stopped eating. I had kind of knew it is amazing since Spanish food is so popular and everybody says it is really good, but yes it was so fantastic that I am blogging just about it!
スペイン料理は日本でも人気があり、おいしいだろうという期待は行く前からありました。が、毎日本当に感動の連続で、こうしてスペイン料理のポストを決心してしまうほどに素晴らしかったのです。間違いなくスペインにとって食文化は重要な位置づけであり、せっかく行くからには存分に楽しむべき！いくつかのものは同じヨーロッパのイギリスでも手に入らないような食材を使っていたりするので、全ては出会い、と思って存分に堪能しました。
1) Bar
Although I do not drink, I quite enjoyed experiencing Spanish bars. They served good cold lemonade and tasty foods. Fried calamares and jamon serrano were especially my favourite "tapas" but you can try millions kinds of foods there.
There are many local people stopping by and having a glass of beer with a few snacks, and I found Spanish people's passion for food in this bar culture. I always try to local food when I travel another country (even if that is the UK!), but that does not necessarily mean I always enjoy local food, unfortunately. However, in Spain all the food I had was amazing and I think that is because Spanish people love food and cherish their food culture.
スペインバルは日本でもかなり一般的になってきましたが、スペインを旅行するとこれが彼らの食文化であり日常であることが分かります。町の至る所にバーがあり、そこで提供されるタパスはどれもおいしいものばかりです。私は常々、イギリスの食事がおいしくないのは食に関心のある人の割合が低いからなのではと思っていますが、そういう意味で言うとスペイン人の食に対する情熱にはただただ尊敬するばかりです。
私は個人的にフライにしたイカリングと生ハムがお気に入りで、お酒は飲みませんが、これをレモネードと一緒に食するのが楽しみでした。特に暑い夏はお酒を飲める方にとっては本当に最高だと思います。
2) Cochinillo and Judiones in Segovia
In Segovia I enjoyed cochinillo and judiones, its local food, and they were really tasty! I also tried some local food in Toledo and it is really nice that we can try different style of food in different areas in Spain.
セゴビアではコチニージョという豚を焼いた料理とフリオネスというトマトと豆のスープを食べました。どちらも本当においしかったです。また、トレドでも鹿などその土地ならではのものを食べました。国内どこに行っても地元の伝統料理があり楽しむことができるのはスペインの魅力のひとつだと思います。
3) Ensalada Campera, Horchata and Pan Tumaca.
I also enjoyed food at home a lot and I am naming my best 3 as below.
Ensalada campera is the salad that my boyfriend's grandma cooked for us and it was really tasty! I think she put lots of vinegar in it, which gave this flavour and it was perfect for summer.
Horchata was my favourite drink for breakfast during my stay in Spain. It has wonderful nutty flavour and if you dunk a sugar coated bread in it, it is even more than an Oreo cookie with milk!
Pan tumaca is an open sandwich of olive oil, tomato and salt (the photo is not an open sandwich, though). It is such a simple food but made me realise how wonderful olive oil is! I have already made them twice at home since back from my holiday.
スペインの家庭で食べられているものもおいしいものばかりでした。以下は私のお気に入りベスト３です。
まず、エンサラダ・カンペラというのは彼の母曰く典型的なスペインの田舎サラダで、これは彼の祖母が作ってくれたものです。ジャガイモ、オリーブ、パプリカ、ピーマン、コーン、ツナ、エビが入っていて塩、こしょう、オリーブオイル、そしてかなり大量のお酢で味付けされていました。夏にピッタリのサラダです。
オルチャタというのはナッツを使って作られた飲み物で、ものすごくいい香りがします。かなり甘いのですが、ここにさらに甘いパンを浸して食べるのがスペイン流です。イギリスで買えないのが残念なくらい、病みつきになりました。
パン・トマカというのはトマトのオープンサンドで、オリーブオイルと塩で味付けされたごくシンプルな料理です。でも、これがオリーブオイルがどれだけおいしいのかひしひしと感じさせてくれるのです。写真はイギリスに戻ってから生ハムと一緒にしたもので（オープンサンドではありませんが）、恐らくこれからも何度も作ると思います。
4) Sweets
Just too good to resist...!
日本でも人気のチュッパチャプスやチュロスがスペイン発祥だと初めて知りました。
5) Restaurant Palacio del Negralejo
I went to such a wonderful restaurant to celebrate a 35th wedding anniversary of my boyfriend's parents. It is located in a big property and the building is old, pretty and romantic I would say, so it was a perfect place for anniversary. Interestingly, although it is such an elegant restaurant, it still gives relaxing atmosphere at the same time and so I can just enjoyed being there.
今回の滞在で感動した場所のひとつが、彼のご両親の結婚３５周年を記念した食事会で行ったレストランです。ゴルフ場なども兼ねそろえた広大な敷地の中にあるレストランで、建物は古く、とてもロマンチックでまさにこういった記念日を祝うにふさわしい場所でした。外観も内装も非常にエレガントなのに、同時にリラックスできる雰囲気があり、ただそこにいるだけで満ち足りた気持ちになれました。
They serve Spanish cuisine and all the food that I had was really delicious. I had grilled fish and tempura, which came with 2 kinds of sauce of apple and squid ink. My boyfriend had pork steak and he said it was very good too.
私はグリルした白身魚と天ぷらをオーダーしました。リンゴのソースとイカスミのソースで食べるのですが、とてもおいしかったです。彼は豚のステーキを食べていましたが、こちらもおいしかったとのことです。
Please forget about diet because their ice cream is really really yummy!
また、絶対試すべきなのがデザートのアイスクリームです。絶品！
Their service was very sophisticated and I would say it is not a super expensive restaurant. You have to come to San Fernando but I strongly recommend this place.
サービスもとても洗練されていて、なおかつ桁外れに高いレストランというわけでもありません。サンフェルナンドまで来なければなりませんが、ぜひお勧めします。HPは英語がないようですが、メニューは英語のものを用意してもらえました。
Palacio del Negralejo: http://www.negralejo.com/#
I think this is it for my Spain diary. It was one of the best trips that I have ever experienced. I was able to see so many beautiful things, meet wonderful people and enjoy amazing food. I just cannot wait to go back there again and until then I will work on my Spanish and learn Spanish history a little more!
以上でスペイン滞在記は終了です。今まで色々な場所を旅行しましたが、間違いなくベストな国のひとつでした。きれいなものをたくさん観ることができ、素晴らしい人にもたくさん会え、また絶品のスペイン料理を堪能できました。また次に行くことができる日を楽しみに、スペイン語の勉強とスペインの歴史の復習を頑張りたいと思います！
