Mike's Five Culinary Coups from the Croydon Crew

If I was being brutally honest, the five best eating experiences this year have probably all been ice-cream based, eaten after midnight having consumed a few beers. But that would be a very boring list, and the photos of me dribbling down myself should probably never find their way onto the internet.

(5) Birthday Fishcakes

Great because they’re almost a meal on their own, and they neatly combine the comfort aspect you get from fried food, but with the health kick of eating fish. Bonus.

Peel and boil your potatoes, then start grilling your fish, for which I prefer salmon. I generally have too high a potato-to-fish ratio, but you need at least 40% potato if you want the cakes to hold together when you’re frying them. Mash the spuds, flake the fish. Stick them in a bowl and combine with a handful of fresh coriander, garlic, some chilli, a dash of soy sauce and the zest of a lime. You can chuck in the juice of the lime as well, but probably not all of it. Beat an egg and then tip a bit onto a plate, while waiting for the mixture to be cool enough to handle. Get another plate and make a bit pile of breadcrumbs. I’m an unreserved ponce, and so like to use Tesco’s ready made ciabatta breadcrumbs with parmesan, but this is a bit silly given the amount of crusts we have knocking around.

Place a fair wack of oil in a pan and heat, around a centimeter deep. It depends on the size of your cakes – the oil needs to come up halfway.

Wet your hands. Get the mixture and roll into fist-sized balls, then gently squish both ends. Place on the eggy plate, then turn over, then place in the breadcrumb pile, again turning it over.

Place in the pan. All the ingredients are already cooked, so you’re just waiting for the breadcrumbs to turn golden really. Place on kitchen roll to get rid of any excess oil. Serve with peas.

(4) Weekday Randomness

We’re home, and the fridge is full. More often than not, this results in two or three meals on the same plate, but occasionally it comes together. This photo is of some girolle and enoki mushrooms sautéed in white wine vinegar and white wine, some gnocci in tomato sauce with some fresh basil, and some wilted spinach. Does anyone know what they put in gnocchi to make it so good? Potato doesn’t normally taste that good.

(3) YC

This is an institution. Everyone is invited. Guest speakers each week, rotating membership.

Yoghurt club.

YC.

This is the name a friend gave to the practice of having yoghurt after a meal. He went to public school and found in constitutionally impossible not to give acronyms or nicknames to almost everything in his life. It is pretty contagious though (both the eating of yoghurt, and the habit of giving things nicknames that are no quicker to say and only serve to confuse the uninitiated).

Popular guests include YCF (fruit), YC neat, and YCH (honey). The picture shows YCF (figs), which was very well received. Heat the oven to 200°C, half the figs, place on a baking tray, and drizzle with honey and white wine. Leave for about 10 minutes. The flesh should start to be oozing out of the skin. Place in a bowl with some Y. Get involved.

(2) Chocolate Fudge Cake

Baking. Good for the soul. We also had cookies, beetroot brownies, normal brownies, and cheese cake.

(1) Okonomiyaki

Osaka omelette style yumminess, cooked on a hotplate in your table by a waiter/waitress. Garnished with fish flakes, and mayonnaise and sweet chilli type sauces. Awesome.

Honourable mentions to the brownies of both Riverside Terrace and St John’s, the first time we went to Fisherman’s Catch on Southend Road, dukka and butternut squash, rhubarb crème brule, gazpacho, and the numerous four-hour stews after a session at Scream studios. Out to all the cashew nuts. Beers of the year: Kwak did constantly surprise me, although Duvel is becoming a firm favourite. Big up all triples, and everyone keeping it Trappist.