The curious incident of the fiddleheads that arrived frozen in a bag

The other day one of our regulars, a French Canadian who had just returned from a holiday in Quebec, came to the counter and propositioned me with a bag of fiddleheads.

Qu'est que c’est?

Fiddleheads or têtes de violon: the unfurled heads of Ostrich ferns which grow in the forests of Quebec and the Maritime Provinces.

These strange looking edible fronds are not cultivated so are only available for a short time in early spring when they are picked over a period of two weeks after which time they unfurl and become inedible. Foragers must only take three of the five to nine fronds produced by each plant as harvesting more than three can kill the plant.

I surmised that fiddleheads are a highly prized delicacy and I felt honoured to be offered a small bag of them which had been bought at an organic food market in Quebec, blanched, then vacuum sealed and frozen before being flown back to London and delivered into my novice hands.

After researching how to cook fiddleheads, noting nervously that cooking them incorrectly can result in food poisoning, I put the frozen bag into boiling water for about 7 minutes then sauteed them in butter and finished them with a squeeze of lemon juice.



The verdict? They tasted like a cross between asparagus and spinach and were much more palatable than the real fiddle I tortured my neighbours with for years.

Frequently asked questions #2. What’s in a Hummingbird cake?

“Banana, pineapple, cinnamon, walnuts with a cream cheese icing” has become a mantra for staff at Lantana as it is our automated response to the 2nd question most frequently asked by customers (after "what's the difference between a latte and a flat white").

While these cakes may look sweet and innocent, they are the most misunderstood, lusted after and fought over item on the Lantana counter.

Misunderstood, because people think they are cakes that we’ve bought from the Hummingbird Bakery. I'm tempted to rename them Lantana cakes.

Lusted after, because you know that amount of icing can not be good for you so you deny yourself the indulgence of eating one every day.

Fought over because our chefs can’t bake and ice them as fast as we can sell them and I have seen grown men argue with each other over who should have the last cake.


The reason I put them on the menu is because they remind me of my childhood growing up in Queensland in the 70s/80s when tinned pineapple was a dietary staple, appearing on pizzas, in burgers, salads and in Mrs Fogarty's incredible trifle.

I always thought hummingbird cake was an Australian invention but after looking at some spurious websites have found that Americans claim it as their own.

According to ‘food historians’, in 1978, Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, North Carolina submitted the recipe to Southern Living magazine, the "Southern belle bible of gracious hostessing", and the cake became renowned. "It is still our most requested recipe," says Donna, one of the writers for the magazine.

No one seems to be sure of the derivation of the name 'Hummingbird'. One theory is that people hum when they eat the cake. Another is that it refers to what these small south American birds like to eat as they are attracted to intensely sweet food. But I’d like to think that it is related to the ancient Aztecs who apparently wore Hummingbird talismans to draw sexual potency, energy and vigor. Imagine what happens when you eat one.

This is Mrs Wiggin's recipe. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but see if you think it beats ours.

Mrs Wiggin's Hummingbird cake
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups salad oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
2 cups chopped bananas

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and salad oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped pecans, and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees F. For 25 to 30 minutes; remove from pans, and cool immediately. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Yield: one 9-inch layer cake.

Cream cheese icing
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 (16 ounce) packages powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Yield: enough for a 3 layer cake.

Mrs. L.H. Wiggins, Greesnboro, North Carolina
"Making the most of bananas," Southern Living, February 1978 (p. 206)

Aussie snubs Mayor

Last Saturday saw the rainy return of the Charlotte Street Festival after an 8 year sabbatical.


We were in the middle of our mid morning rush at Lantana when Jim Murray, organiser of the Festival, came in to tell me that he had the Mayor outside and asked me whether I wanted a photo with him while he was doing his rounds meeting and greeting the local business owners.

“Boris is outside?” I asked excitedly.

No, Omar Faruque Ansari, the Mayor of Camden.

"Oh. Can he come back a little later? I’ve just got to clear a couple of tables, take some orders, seat these people…."

Jim rolled his eyes and muttered “Australians” to a woman standing at the front of the line waiting for a table. She was a Kiwi so nodded in agreement.

Fearful that the next edition of the Fitzrovia News might carry the headline “Aussie snubs Mayor” I decided the customers could wait and invited the Mayor in for a photo.

The first for our coffee machine of fame.

In Vogue

While some women may secretly fantasise about having their face on the cover of Vogue


I've always dreamed about having a cafe in Australia’s Vogue Entertaining and Travel.


Go on and pinch me because if I'm not dreaming that's Lantana striking a pose in the June/July 2009 edition of VE&T*.


*If you don't have a sister in Australia to post you a copy (thanks Helly) you can buy VE&T from some newsagents in London that specialise in international publications, like Rococo in Nottinghill.

A national treasure

They say you should never meet your heroes as they will only disappoint. But when I met Maggie Beer at an event at Australia House last week she was everything I imagined her to be; passionate, inspiring, warm, and extremely down to earth. The Agent General for South Australia, Bill Muirhead, introduced her as a national treasure, and a treasure she is.


She was so approachable that I didn’t mind elbowing a few journalists and publishers out of my way to monopolise her in conversation as much as I could. There were many questions I wanted to ask her, (what does she really think of Simon her co-presenter on the ABC’s Cook and the Chef series?, was she offended when he snubbed her singing group's Christmas carol sing-a-long?) but most importantly, how had her career in food developed? She told me about the restaurant she and her husband had run for 15 years- an experience she said nearly killed her because it was so exhausting but, in true Maggie half-glass-full style, said she didn’t regret for a second as it has given her a launching pad for the rest of her career.

I took great comfort in Maggie’s words and in the food I cooked from her book. It doesn’t get much more comforting than chicken pie and baked apples.

By the way, she loves Simon.

Chicken, grape and champagne pie
(serves 4)

40g unsalted butter
3-4 chicken thigh fillets (770g)
2 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 cup champagne
¼ cup plain flour
11/2 cups chicken stock
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped thyme
½ preserved lemon, flesh removed, rind rinsed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons verjuice
1 cup seedless green grapes

Heat butter in large frying pan until nut brown then add a splash of olive oil. Season chicken with salt then sauté in batches until lightly coloured. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add leeks and garlic to pan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until soft. Increase heat to high, then deglaze pan with champagne and cook over medium heat until wine has reduced by half. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine then add stock and bring to simmer. Add chicken, herbs and preserved lemon and combine, then cook 4-5 minutes. Add verjuice and simmer another 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken from heat, then add grapes and leave mixture to cool completely.

Sour cream pastry
250g plain flour
200g chilled unsalted butter
120ml sour cream

Process flour and butter in food processor until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Gradually add two thirds of the sour cream then enough of the remaining sour cream to help pastry come together to form a ball. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

Cut in 2 and roll each piece to 3mm thickness. Line pie tin with one piece. Spoon cooled chicken mixture into pie and top with remaining rolled pastry. Brush with lightly beaten egg. Place pie in fridge to chill before baking for 30 minutes in preheated 220 degree oven.

Baked apples
(Recipe below is for 4)

50g unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons roughly chopped almonds
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
4 clusters dried muscatels
4 granny smith apples
2-4 tablespoons verjuice

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Process butter, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, lemon zest and half muscatels in a food processor until well blended. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining muscatels.

Use an apple corer to remove apple cores and create a cavity but don’t push through to base of apples. Use a teaspoon to scoop out any remaining cores and to create a good sized cavity for stuffing. Divide butter mixture between apples then place in baking dish. Pour verjuice over apples then bake 1 hour or until apples are soft. Serve with cream.

Dragged kicking and tweeting into the technolgy age

Two years ago I was one of the 34 people in the world who didn’t have a mobile phone. It was partly a social experiment to see how long I could go without one and partly because I am not that interested (or proficient) in technology.

I’ve come a long way in 2 years. Now I can adjust the settings on my mobile phone, I can blog, I can facebook, I can zip music, I have even stored my mobile phone contacts on a website in case I ever lose my phone. But the frustrating thing about technology for me is that just as I pat myself on the back for having mastered a device or application, something new comes along which seems to change (confuse) everything again.

Enter twitter. A bit like email, but not, a bit like texting, but not, a bit like blogging but not, a bit like instant messaging, but not. So what is it and what is the point? I can’t really tell yet but I have been persuaded to try it out.

About a month ago my technology embracing sister and brother registered Lantana cafe on twitter, printed a sign to display at the café, and sat me down for a lesson:

I can tweet about anything as long as it is less than 140 characters.

Following isn't stalking.

I can follow anyone and anyone can follow me.

If someone does follow me it is polite to thank them and follow them back.

I have to beware of twitter spammers ‘twammers’ who follow everyone. I don’t need to thank them or follow them- in fact I should block twammers so that they can't follow me.

I nodded and promised to try and get excited about twitter.

Since then I have felt the weight of expectation descend on me every time I am alerted via email that ‘x is now following you’ on twitter. I need to justify their decision to follow me. I need to tweet about something.

The only thing that will make me tweet more is if I start identifying as a tweeter and put myself out there in the tweeting community. So on Saturday I took the sign that has been sitting on my desk and stuck it up on the coffee machine for all to see.


right alongside Doonesbury's Roland Hedley who has set the tweeting benchmark high.

Cocktail hour at Lantana

All those thirsty people in Fitzrovia, including me, who don't want to sit on the footpath outside the rammed pubs on a summer evening will be pleased to hear that Lantana is now keeping its doors open until 9pm on Thursday and Fridays for drinks and bar food.




When I said to Megan, our new the sous chef, that I wanted her to create a supper menu for the evenings and suggested small tasting plates with olives, dips and terrines she told me that terrines are her thing. Really? Yes really. Terrines and pyrotechnics. An unusual combination of interests you may be thinking but wait until you taste Megan's terrines, they really are the bomb.

Megan's chicken, mushroom, cranberry and pistachio terrine.