Soho | Real Food Lover

Cup of chamomile tea in the Poetry Café

I confess I don’t always do what’s good for me. For instance, I am prepared to sacrifice inner peace for a caffeine buzz. My intestines protest and I just ignore them.

Anyway, the other day in Soho, I decided to chase my over-exhilarating cappucino with a chamomile tea. Wow. Who says the herbs don’t work? My stomach was instantly soothed.

It was especially pleasing that the chamomile was made from dried flowers (although a chamomile tea bag works as well).

So here I was (see pic) in the Poetry Café – yes, a café devoted to verse, how cool is that?

I picked up an ’80s back issue of the Poetry Society magazine (I’m just as addicted to print as caffeine). That rhymed by itself (is poetry contagious?).

And I came across this quote in the Letters page. I’m sure you can see how apt it is, as well as sage. (Enough of the rhyming blog. Ed).

“Rien n’est beau que le vrai.”

“Nothing but the truth is beautiful.”

(Here is the original French poem).

Soho hummus

Down memory lane in London’s Soho. 1978, unmarried, pregnant, I saw a poster in a funky vegetarian cafe’s noticeboard that changed my life.

Fast forward to 2008. I walked past Food for Thought (it’s still there!) and smiled nostalgically. I did not stop as I was on my way to the 24/7 internet cafe, Netstream.

Starving at 2pm on Wardour Street I found my dream eaterie, Hummus Bros. If you love hummus and in London, you have to go.

Hummus Bros serve each dish (see pic) with a free and unexpected egg, a choice of rye bread (from Fresh and Wild) instead of the traditional pita bread, chilli relish, extra lemon juice and if that wasn’t enough love, a complimentary glass of mint tea made with the fresh herb.

One of my top fave foods, hummus is both comforting and nourishing. It packs protein by combining plant foods. Two different plant groups roughly equals one complete protein, and hummus, with pita, offers three: chickpeas (bean), tahini (seed), and the pita bread (grain).

I yearn to tell you how to make hummus at home because it will be a lifelong friend. The cooked (high fibre, low-GI) chickpeas are mixed in a blender to a creamy gunk with olive oil, lemon juice, a bit of garlic and tahini – now that’s a convenience food I approve of. I also prize tinned organic chickpeas as a larder-friend. (So there, Delia.)

Cooking from scratch saves money and takes planning (beans need an overnight soak and one hour of cooking). This recipe explains it really well. I have never used yogurt, as it suggests. Must try.