What to buy: Waitrose’s Whoopie Pies

If you had not noticed already, the American craze for ‘Whoopie Pies’ hit the UK food fashion well over a year ago. What are they? They came about as a way to use up leftover batter amongst Amish groups in New England. They almost look like mini Victoria Sandwich Cakes (though you can get different coloured sponges according to flavour), but the difference is the sponge has a slightly more biscuit texture and the butter creamed filling often consists of melted marshmallows.

I had my first try of these Yankee concoctions last year when M&S launched a range of pre-packaged ones. Overall out of the few I tried, none were particularly good and my verdict was that Whoopie Pies were simply overrated plain pieces of sponge with butter cream plonked in between. Just like the way I feel about the revival in cupcakes really.

Yet, this opinion was altered when I went into Waitrose last weekend. Seeing slightly large sized ones reduced down to 89p in the bakery counter and having never yet given Waitrose the chance to prove me wrong, I went ahead in sampling the toffee, and chocolate & cookie ones. I could not detect any toffee in the former. Still it was a lot fresher than those dull overpriced M&S ones had been. As for the chocolate & cookies one, I wanted more! It was a lot like consuming a cake version of Oreo biscuits, and my views on Whoopie Pies were forever erased. In fact, I think these will probably be emerging on my cravings list very soon!

‘Jamie’s Italian’: the perfect meal or a promise of food poisoning?

One may have read the numerous reports raiding the newspapers recently regarding food poisoning scares amongst Jamie’s Italian restaurants. From November 2009 to November 2010 eleven have failed inspections including suspicions of virally contaminated food at the Cambridge chain. Even worse, poor meat preparation at the Guilford partner placed customers at risk of e-coli according to a Freedom of Information request done by the Daily Mail, which is hardly assuring with the recent vegetable e-coli outbreak in Germany. Albeit Jamie will not welcome this news and many will undoubtedly view his empire with trepidation, the eateries still deserve praise. With a chain rapidly expanding it indeed must be difficult to ensure every individual branch is meeting every single legal standard. In fact, there are plans to launch the chain in USA, commencing in California. Not that food bugs should be addressed with such a cavalier attitude. But if anyone is to blame then it is surely the managers of those particular restaurants affected? I have visited two of his restaurants and none of the people I dined with or myself have ended up spending the night on the toilet.

Admittedly my last memory of visiting his chain may have been hazed, despite my fears of a plastic artificial vibe, at the Westfield branch. With sensual potted herbs all around me and the typical British euphoric response in behaviour to the rare blaze of sunshine that evening, my thoughts may have very well been blinded. Nevertheless, most of the food I have sampled there and on other occasions has been superb. One can tuck into a fresh crisp calamari with aioli for starter at £5.75, and perfectly paper-thin homemade Panzerotti of rich ricotta and mushrooms topped beautifully with an almost rustic baked breadcrumb-like texture of tangy chilli, zesty lemon, herbs and Parmesan for main. While the amaretto component of the brownie dessert hints deplorable metallic undertones, and the chocolate and espresso tart is oppressively heavy; the tiramisu is perfectly balanced in texture and flavour including the agreeable addition of orange, priced at only £4.95.

Some blog reviewers have claimed the prices veer towards the expensive side. Excluding the non-pasta main courses, I beg to differ. My pasta was £10.35, and in my experience you will not find pasta made from scratch at such a low price as this in UK restaurants. Besides, if you consider that desserts in other chain restaurants are often pre-packaged, yet are roughly the same price, one might retract such statements. But what ever the allegations are about food poisoning, Jamie’s Italian is still worth a visit if you can successfully avoid the badly managed ones.