Orasay sandwichism

matcha cookies, how to optimise your gut-brain connection (part 2)

Today’s review below: sandwichism at Orasay, gushing over potato bread, and some of London’s best desserts

Since I see a few new faces on here, I decided to move the paywall a little further down just this week, to let you guys get a taste of what you can get on my weekly menu of ramblings! I put in a lot of heart for these newsletters, so I genuinely appreciate every one of you who has found a way to contribute. It means the world to me.

Food news of the week:

Some of the most exciting highlights in a while. A buttery house-made croissant at Neighbours Café on the ground floor of 1Hotel Mayfair (yes they only make this for the hotel) passed my croissant pull test, all laminated and sweet and 90% butter. Then there’s Copita, whose gooey mushroom croquettes with punch have stood the test of time, and bouncy curls of truffle mafaldine at Circolo Popolare, that hands-down beats their carbonara.

pastry of the week: housemade croissants at 1Hotel Mayfair

Science of the week:

This week’s blogpost, or part 2 on our series on the gut-brain axis, is all about how to optimise this connection, with practical tips on what you can do now in order to leverage this important connection. It’s important, science-backed stuffed. An optimised gut, after all, is an optimised life.

Insight of the week:

I’ve been experimenting with PS (phosphatidylserine) as a cognitive supplement for more than a month now, and I do feel a difference– a fresh alertness upon waking (I take it before sleeping usually), and less susceptibility to rumination, which is not part of its usual set of benefits but still an interesting observation. Its cognitive benefits include enhanced learning and memory.

Recipe of the week:

If I buy matcha, it’s usually to make dessert not tea, since there are so many places who brew better than I whisk.

Soft and Chewy Matcha Cookies

Ingredients (makes about 10-12 small cookies)

1 tsp matcha powder

165g plain flour

Pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

165g white sugar

113g soft butter

1 egg

Directions

Preheat your oven to 190C and line a baking tray with baking paper. You may need two baking trays if yours are thin or small.

In a large bowl, cream together the soft butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, using a whisk or spatula. I used a metal fork and then switched to a rubber spatula to really work the two into each other. This will take 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the pinch of salt and the egg.

Place a sieve over this bowl and sieve in the flour, baking powder and matcha powder. Using a rubber spatula, fold in your dry ingredients until you get a smooth, playdoh-like consistency. It may be easier to use your hands towards the end. It should be soft and pliable, the dough holding together easily when squeezed, neither too dry nor too sticky and wet.

Roll small balls of dough with your hands and place the balls on your prepared baking tray. You should get around 10-12 balls. Slightly flatten the tops with two fingers. The cookies will not spread much, so you do not have to worry about placing the cookies far apart. Bake them in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and let them cool for another 10 before serving. Amazingggg.

Restaurant of the week:

Third time here at Orasay, third time impressed, third time leaving with a very full belly. An expertly crafted seasonal menu with heavy seafood focus.

Whipped cod’s roe on this grilled potato bread better be on their menu forever. Their mainstay, the prize. For good reason, too. It’s dense yet packed with air, bouncy but not rubbery. Jackson Boxer, Orasay’s creative mastermind, has a thing for cod’s roe, and makes it work without the cod being the overwhelmingly salty element. Stay tuned for more fishy things stuffed in bread at J Boxer The Corner, his newest opening at Selfridges, which I’m going over next week.

Baby squid, roscoff onion, which is off-skewered in front of you (and they’re pretty adamant about doing it themselves, though I have no idea why). Stuck in a pool daintily marked with saffron, soft and buttery.

Early summer tomatoes, raspberries, garum adding a fine hint of salt without making it fishy. Fresh, earthy, bright. And needed, next to our other carby-rich dishes.

One of the simplest dishes here takes the cake. Like a McD’s fish fillet sandwich 3.0. The firm favourite of the group, manifested in toasted, sliced brioche squashing firm but tender haddock laced with tartare and sriracha. If there ever is a sandwich I’ll die on, make it this one, please. It’s like the board director for the Guild of Sandwiches, the king of Sandwichism.