Places to visit before you die: Bilbao

This little known town on the north coast of spain's basque region is oft overshadowed by the likes of Madrid or Barcelona, but this small city, nestled between San Sebastian and Santander is truly a gem in the heart of Spain's industrial north.

Founded during the 14th century, Bilbao was the birthplace of the spanish civil war, and at its peak was one of the largest in europe, after industry fell away, Bilbao reinvented itself as a centre of culture and art, with the founding of the Guggenheim Bilbao in 1997, the town flourished, becoming an architectural jewel.

I will admit that visiting the Guggenheim was my main reason for going to Bilbao, but I fell in love with this gloriously avant-garde city and it's pleasures. The historic center of the town is known as the Casco Viejo is a beautiful labyrinth of winding pedestrianised streets filled with tapas bars and restaurants. Our base during our visit was the Plaza Nueva, a neoclassical square surrounded by colonnades which conceal a covered walkway, hiding some of the best food I'd ever eaten. Food in Spain is casual and copious, and I very happily wolfed down a thick spanish frittata served with bacon, smoked ham or vegetables, or deep fried breaded cheese served as a sandwich.

Outside of the old town the 18th century buildings fall away, to reveal newer, more daring architecture. The metro system is designed by Norman Foster, and the glittering diamond in Bilbao's crown is the Guggenheim, a towering cathedral, monumenting modern art. The building, designed by Frank Gehry is a towering edifice carved out of metal arranged as scales, limestone and finally glass. The atrium of the museum is vertiginous and bold, stretching up over three stories, like a glass chimney, crooked in perfection.

The first room is a series of sweeping metal sculptures, designed to be walked through, though they shouldn't have been, they were a supremely emotional experience, and one I shan't be forgetting in a hurry. The other rooms oscillate between Louise Bourgeois' Cells, and Shadows, by Andy Warhol, displayed here for the first time in its entirely. Outside, are pieces from Jeff Koons Celebration series, the tulips made of glass to appear as giant balloon sculptures, and Puppy, a giant floral terrier.

Between old and new is the river, the guggenheim having been built on the ashes of the old port, what was previously polluted, has now been turned into a beautiful promenade, lined with flower markets and bridges. Bilbao is almost dichotomous in its glory, a beautiful combination of old and new, of the traditional and the radically progressive.

Rosemary Focaccia

I lived in Milan for a year from 2008 to 2009, and one of the most wonderful things about Italy is focaccia, soft, golden and glistening with olive oil, focaccia in Italy comes topped with more toppings that your average pizza, and is essentially a meal in itself.

This recipe makes a glorious focaccia, and whilst it pales in comparison with the actual article, it's the best I have tasted on these shores. I have made a rosemary focaccia here, using fresh rosemary,but you can use any herb you like, thyme would work well also.

Start your dough by sifting and mixing together your dry ingredients. Finely chop your rosemary needles and add them to the dry ingredients, add a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs and some crushed black pepper to taste. Add your wet ingredients and mix with a fork until you have a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for ten minutes until you have a smooth dough. Return to the bowl and cover with a tea towel, leave to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

When the dough has risen, knock it back gently, and place it on a greased swiss roll tin, work the dough with your knuckles, stretching it until it covers the whole of the tin, don't worry about it being too uneven. Cover with clingfilm and leave again to rise for 30 minutes. Remove the clingfilm and top the dough with some rosemary leaves, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and add some crushed black pepper, finally drizzle the bread with olive oil and bake in the oven at 200C for about 40 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer doughy. Leave to cool slightly before eating.

ingredients

200g plain flour
1tsp salt
4g dried yeast
2tbsp olive oil
150ml water

3 rosemary branches
1tbsp dried mixed herbs
olive oil
salt & pepper

Avocado, Lemon and Spinach Linguine

This recipe was inspired by my friend Jason, who was recently soliloquizing on the virtues of serving pasta with avocado, with the addition of lemon and spinach. This is my version, and I have added basil, which adds a welcome piquancy. The importance with this recipe is to work fast, you can make the sauce while the pasta is cooking, and after the sauce is added to the pasta it needs to be served instantly, otherwise the avocado will cook, which is rather unpleasant.

To start put your pasta on to cook in boiling salted water. Peel and slice the avocado and place it in the blender, add a large glug of extra virgin olive oil, and a clove of garlic. Blitz with a small dash of salt and the juice of half a lemon. Add the leaves of a large sprig of basil and blitz again, check the seasoning, you may need to add more salt.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the pan off the heat, and add a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves, stir until the spinach has wilted and then add the sauce, stirring quickly to combine. Grate over some lemon zest and serve.

ingredients

300g linguine
1 avocado
1 clove garlic
2 tbsps olive oil
1/2 lemon
50g spinach
large sprig basil

Potato Korma

Part of what I love so intensely about indian cuisine, is their lack of fear at serving carbs with carbs with carbs. I adore carbs, as was illustrated recently when I ordered a jacket potato with a side of chips. My adoration of starch aside though a potato curry served with rice might sound a rather bizarre prospect, in all honestly it is wonderfully comforting.

I've added carrots to this recipe in addition to the traditional potatoes, and I've used a korma curry paste, making this more of a spiced dish than a spicy dish. This dish is also vegan, entirely accidentally, as I used coconut cream instead of dairy cream to make a lighter, less rich curry.

Start by prepping your veg, chop the potatoes and carrots into large chunks and place in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Salt and cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 minutes until tender and drain. Put the saucepan back on the heat and add the korma paste. Stir with a wooden spoon to coat the vegetables in the paste, and add the coconut cream. Stir until the cream has combined with the paste and add a large dash of sea salt flakes and some crushed black pepper.

Turn down the heat and simmer the curry until it has reached your desired level of wetness. I enjoy my curries relatively dry. Serve on a bed of cooked brown rice.

Ingredients

250g small potatoes
2 large carrots
250ml coconut cream
2 tablespoons korma paste
salt & pepper

Conchiglie alla Vodka

There are many theories about the origin of this dish. Some claim that the dish was created by a graduate of Columbia University, James Doty in the USA, others claim that it was first served at a restaurant in Bologna. It has also been claimed to be a roman concept, first created and served during the 1980's.

This may sound bizarre, but to be entirely honest, it doesn't exactly taste of vodka, but the alcohol brings out the flavour of the tomato, leading to a sauce that is rich, thick and smooth. Some recipes add the vodka straight to the sauce, I elect instead inspired by Nigella Lawson to toss the pasta in the vodka before adding the sauce.

Finely chop half an onion, and fry it in garlic oil sprinkled with salt until it has softened and is translucent. Add the can of chopped tomatoes to the frying pan, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until thick, add the double cream and stir until smooth. Meanwhile cook your pasta in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Toss the drained, cooked pasta with the vodka and the butter, and add the sauce. Stir to combine and serve, with a little grated parmesan.

ingredients

1/2 onion
garlic infused olive oil
salt
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons double cream
300g conchiglie pasta
50ml vodka
2 tablespoons butter
parmesan cheese, to serve

Naan Pizza

When the craving for soft or crispy dough topped by tangy tomato and gloriously stringy cheese hits I find that it is often at an inconvenient hour. And given that I sadly don’t live in an urban area where pizza-by-the-slice is readily available even at the witching hour, I need to resort to other measures.

Making pizza at home is often fraught with problems, thick premade pizza bases are often doughy with an unpleasant chemical aftertaste, and fail entirely to replicate the italian heaven I so often crave. Ready rolled dough is also available, and though it is ultimately inoffensive in itself, conventional household ovens rarely get hot enough for the dough to crispen and brown, leaving an unfortunate soggy bottom. If your passion for pizza is so great that you have installed a wood fired pizza oven in your garden, and are willing to light it whenever the craving hits, then by all means use ready-rolled pizza dough.

For those of us without such dedication, Naan bread makes a fantastic substitute for pizza dough, it is already cooked, so these flatbread pizzas will cook in no time. I try to always have naan breads and a tin of tomatoes in my pantry, so as to be prepared whenever the craving hits. As for the rest of the ingredients, I have given an example here, but you can of course use whatever you have leftover in your fridge, this recipe is but a guide and an idea.

Start by spreading the naan bread with the tomato puree, drain the chopped tomatoes and top the naan with two tablespoons of the tomato. Roughly dice the courgette and fry it lightly in olive oil, and add this to the pizza.

Finally add the cheese, peel the mozzarella ball into thin leaves and strew them atop the naan, and finally top with grated cheese. Place in a hot oven straight onto the oven rack for about 3 minutes, or until the naan has crisped and the cheese has melted, and serve

Ingredients

1 Naan bread
2 tbsps tomato puree

1 can chopped tomatoes, drained

1 courgette

1 mozzarella ball

50g grated cheese

Chicken Masala

I have named this dish Chicken Masala, as it doesn't follow any traditional curry recipe, nonetheless it is delicious and painfully simple to make, containing only six ingredients, one of which is pepper.

Instead of searing the chicken in a frying pan, I prefer to roast it in the oven first, which allows the chicken to be cooked from frozen, finally I have made this as a fairly dry curry, if you prefer a wet curry, then you can add more cream and simmer the sauce for less time.

Start by cooking the frozen chicken breasts, preheat the oven to 200C and brush the chicken with a little vegetable oil, bake for around 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Meanwhile process half a peeled onion in a food processor until fine, and cook with a little oil in a deep saucepan until translucent and soft. Dice the chicken roughly and add to the saucepan, stirring until the chicken has browned slightly.

Add two and a half tablespoons of masala paste to the pan and combine so that the chicken is now coated in the curry paste. Cook for a few minutes and add the cream, stirring so that it has an even colour. Turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken, add freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve on a bed of rice with a naan bread or poppadom.

ingredients

2 chicken breasts, frozen
vegetable oil
1/2 white onion, peeled
2 1/2 tablespoons masala curry paste
4 tablespoons cream
black pepper, to taste

Sweetcorn Fritters

A tried and tested dish it's true, but these are slightly dissimilar to what you would expect, the ingredient list is almost embarrassingly short, comprising just 5 ingredients and they take almost no time to prepare.

When I made these for the first time, it was also the first time I had ever separated an egg, I've always had a firm conviction that any dish that involves the separation of six eggs, in which you only use the yolks, was a waste of time, I can justify posting this recipe because firstly, it only involves the separation of two eggs, and secondly because you use both the whites and the yolk.

Start by separating the eggs placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Whisk the whites until they are frothy and slightly stiff, and then beat the egg yolks with the flour, and fold them into the whites. Drain the can of corn and mix into the batter with a large dash of salt. Finally add a teaspoon of turmeric and half a teaspoon of paprika to the batter and mix. You may need to add more flour to the batter if it is too slack, it should be able to hang off a spoon without running straight off.

Heat a little oil in a griddle or heavy based frying pan and add the batter to the pan in large dollops, flattening the batter with a tablespoon. Cook on each side for a couple of minutes until they have lightly browned on each side. Serve stacked whilst still warm, with a little relish, or tomato ketchup on the side.

ingredients2 eggs3 tbsp plain flour250g sweet corn, drained1/2 tsp paprika1 tsp turmericoil, for frying

Rosemary Slab Cake

Now this might sound bizarre but bear with me, whilst I appreciate that the idea of using rosemary in baking might sound bizarre, in this instance it really works, and though the cake doesn’t exactly taste of rosemary, the herb adds a peppery piquancy that is entirely welcome.

Pay attention to the quantity of rosemary used here, I find that when used over zealously and when chopped too finely or even, heaven forbid, when ground finely can taste soapy. So although the quantity of rosemary used may seem scant, it is just enough to add a herbal zing without a carbolic tang.

Though the inspiration for this dish came in the form of a loaf cake, I prefer to make this as a slab cake, for a few reasons, firstly it is easier to cook through, and you’ll have no issues of doughy, raw centres, especially useful when your oven is being temperamental, as mine often is. Secondly it keeps better, and you can even freeze it, as this cake defrosts well. My mother recently introduced me to the slab cake, and I have become rather taken by the concept, so expect to see more on here in the future.

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a square slab tin. Cream the butter and the sugar, and then beat in the eggs each with a spoonful of flour. After this has combined add the rest of the flour and fold it in, adding the chopped rosemary. Scrape into the lined slab tin, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.

ingredients

250g butter

200g brown sugar

3 eggs

210g self-raising flour

90g plain flour

2 tablespoons chopped rosemary leaves

4 tbsps milk approx

extra caster sugar