Tahini blueberry muffins

Rika Moon sucks, and two systems of the self

Food news of the week:

There are restaurants that make me never want to trust social media again (today’s review) and then there are places like brand new 42 Holborn with a grand mezze platter and sea bass so sizeable, soft and flavourful, piled high on oiled, sweet tomato. Get in there before they take away the opening discounts! I’ll pass on the fries, though. Next, I know it’s getting old but I’ve been extremely passionate about my tahini blondies for a long time, and today’s tahini blueberry muffins celebrate the ingredient once more.

Science of the week:

Despite all my gallivanting about town trying a billion new restaurants, I must say that I maintain a pretty steady health routine, modified here and there since I was a teen but mostly unchanged. I suffered minor health scares in my teens and then earlier twenties, which triggered a harder look at these routines. I never really share my routines since I don’t really think about them, but since reaping the benefits from something I eliminated and then re-incorporated, I feel like apple cider vinegar is an underrated gem. More and more studies and meta-analyses have shown how it helps people balance their blood sugar (in my case after eating things like tahini blondies) due to the presence of acetic acid, which counters the digestion of starch. Fluctuating blood sugar levels also affect your mood, so there’s that secondary effect. On either side of the elimination period, it’s been: 2 tbsp of (Bragg’s!) ACV in water with a squeeze of lemon.

Insight of the week:

There may be two different brain systems for processing the self, rather than just one. One is a ‘me’ system and the other a bodily system, as scientists who used fMRI to scan the brains of study participants elucidate: part of the brain called the anterior precuneus was activated when a person’s bodily sense of self was changed. It is separated to but also connected to the default mode network (DMN), which is the other system for processing the self, that builds a narrative about oneself.

Recipe of the week:

Tahini Blueberry Muffins (makes 6 large muffins, lightly adapted from my nut-butter-stuffed matcha cupcake recipe)

Ingredients

130g (1 cup) plain flour

70g (1/3 cup) white sugar

75g (1/3 cup) packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

2 eggs

113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

80ml (1/3 cup) tahini

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g (1/2 cup) fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat your oven to 170C (340F) and line a muffin tin with liners, or simply place some cupcake/muffin liners on a baking tray.

In a medium bowl, briefly whisk together the flour, two leavening agents and salt. Dump in your blueberries and lightly toss to coat in flour.

In another large microwave-safe bowl, microwave your butter for 20 seconds until partially melted. Whisk the butter and two sugars in this bowl (quick creaming method) to aerate the mixture slightly, for at least a minute. Add the 2 eggs, vanilla and tahini, and whisk everything together well. Pour the dry mix into the wet mix, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently fold in the dry mix until everything is just combined.

Spoon the batter into 6 muffin liners, and bake in the preheated oven for 25-28 minutes. The muffins are large ones, so they need time to rise and brown. Check them at the 25-minute mark– a wooden skewer inserted right in the middle should come out clean. They should have a medium brown, almost caramelised and slightly domed top. You might even need a whole half hour. The insides will be fluffy and tender.

These muffins are best served the day they’re made, but you can keep them for an extra 1-2 days in an airtight container. Otherwise, freeze any uneaten ones in the freezer and microwave when the mood hits.

Restaurant of the week:

Times like this remind me why, a while ago, I quite Instagram food blogging altogether. As fun as it was, there is an essence of delusion that seeps into the consumer, when looking at a pretty photo of food or stellar Reel review. You don’t see the promotion, the lighting edits, the food going cold. I remember sitting next to a really famous food blogger (literally hundreds of thousands of followers), who not only took so many pictures that the food went stiff, but also remarked on how she never personally visits Asian places because ‘those places just aren’t her thing’. Wow. Scroll through her page and you find glossy reviews of a ton of Chinese, Indian or Thai haunts. Of course.

Swayed by the excited giggles of an influencer’s review, I visited Rika Moon in Kensington Park Road, since I live so near anyway.