Autumn. A time for reflection.

Our journal has been on pause for a while whilst we have been throwing ourselves back into hospitality full time. After a turbulent 18 months a steady rhythm has settled in, the groove of service has been a joy to revisit but not without its challenges.

Some say September feels like the beginning of a new year. A time of planning, organising and reflection after a summer of relative freedom. As a chef it is a time to preserve the summer’s harvest, process gluts and retain some of the sun’s energy in your store cupboard to brighten up winter dishes down the line when the sun’s warmth is a distant memory.

Autumn’s bounty

Citrus season

As citrus seasons draws to an end for 2021 we are busy trying to preserve the fragrant oranges, lemons and bergamots we have become used to since January. With them they bring a hope of sunshine on the horizon. To best respect their sweetness and acidity a variety of preparations is advised to make the most of them.

For me marmalade is too bitter and I turn to cakes, salads and chutneys to get my citrus fix or just a straight up juicy, dribbling down your chin orange wedge. Blood orange finds a happy marriage with earthy flavours like beetroot and compliments the bitter notes of radicchio.

A favourite on our counter at this time of year is our blood orange, buckwheat + almond drizzle cake. A simple recipe most can master, the nuttiness of buckwheat and moisture coming from the almonds produce a dense and squidgy cake balanced by the blood orange drizzle.

You will need:

3 blood oranges

380g caster sugar

5 eggs

280g ground almonds

200g butter, softened

100g buckwheat flour

To make this at home start by lining a 22cm spring form cake tin with parchment paper and pre heating your oven to 160c fan/180c.

Cream the butter and 300g of the sugar together either by hand, using an electric hand whisk or with a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Once they have combined and lightened in colour add half of the ground almonds and the zest of the blood oranges, followed by the eggs, adding these one at a time making sure each egg is fully combined before adding the next. Lastly tip in the remaining ground almonds and the buckwheat flour and stir or mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into your lined tin and spread it until you have an even surface. Place on a baking tray and put into the oven for 40-45 mins or until the cake springs back when you touch the surface.

When the cake has around 10 minutes remaining in the oven juice 2 of the blood oranges and pass the juice through a sieve into a small saucepan and add the 80g sugar. Place on a medium heat and stir until dissolved. Once the cake has cooled slightly pour the syrup over and leave it in the tin to cool completely.

If you wish to decorate it with some neon pink icing simply whisk the 25ml juice from the third blood orange with around 200g sieved icing sugar until you get a thick smooth icing the coats the back of a spoon, this isn’t always an exact science and you may need to add a little more liquid or icing sugar. Pop the cake out of the tin, peel off the parchment paper and position on a wire rack. Spread the icing over the cake and allow it to create some satisfying and decorative drips down the sides.

At Isca we complete the look with some thinly sliced and dehydrated blood orange slices, if you have access to a dehydrator you can try this at home, or dry thin slices or blood oranges in your oven on 50c for 3-4 hours.

Forced rhubarb recipes

The arrival of January brings with it mixed emotions for many. A new year, new ideas and pressure to create a new you. For us it means a return to a slower pace of life post Christmas and perhaps a little less indulgence.

Amongst the grey there is some relief with citrus season getting into full swing and forced rhubarb from the Yorkshire triangle. We visit our friends at Whitley’s Farm in Yorkshire to collect the beautiful pink spears which we make into jams, hot sauce, flamingo pink cakes and pickles. Grown in the dark in traditional rhubarb forcing sheds and often picked by candlelight to preserve it’s vivid pink hue with a sherbet like acidity forced rhubarb is one of our favourite ingredients.

Forced rhubarb jam

1kg forced rhubarb

800g raw cane sugar

1 lemon

Wash your rhubarb and trim off the poisonous green leaves. Trim the stubby ends off, keep these aside if they are in good condition and use the to infuse in vinegar. Slice the rhubarb into around 1cm pieces.

Place into a large pan, with a heavy base if you have it. Add the sugar, stir and leave overnight to allow the sugar to cure the rhubarb and release it’s juices.

The next day start cooking the fruit and sugar mix over a medium heat stirring often to dissolve the sugar and prevent it from sticking to the pan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon.

Once the sugar has dissolved turn up the heat slightly, now you are looking to achieve the set. If you have a jam thermometer or probe use it, you are looking for 104c. In the absence of these place a small plate in the freezer, when you think the jam is ready smear a small amount onto the plate and place it back in the freezer. A few minutes later drag your finger through the cooled jam, if you see it wrinkle it is ready.

Pour into warm sterilised jars and screw the lids on tightly. Keep your pots of jam somewhere dark and cool for maximum longevity.

The quicker you reach the set the more the rhubarb will retain it’s pink glow. If you are happy with a lightly set jam you can cook it for less time, however it won’t keep for as long.

Christmas is coming

C H R I S T M A S I S C O M I N G

The weeks are moving by and as we creep towards the end of 2020 we are pleased to bring you our Christmas offering. We hope that even the most unenthused among you will be able to find some joy in Christmas this year in what has been an otherwise miserable year for so many. For us the festivities mean good food, good wine + celebrating with those close to you, what’s not to like.

Last year we had only just opened our doors before Christmas and to be honest we were taken aback by the support and demand. This year, we have been preparing our Christmas offer to include wine selections, cheese, gift ideas and our first Isca Christmas hamper. For some it will be a very difficult Christmas, we will be donating 10% of our hamper sales to The Mustard Tree to support the work they do with those living in poverty and those experiencing homelessness.

Moving forward….

Summer is almost here, the sun is shining, fuzzy fruit is arriving from Europe and the scent of elderflower is in the air.

This week we begin the first, tentative, steps to re-opening Isca. We have missed you all and have decided to try out opening 11am-3pm on Wednesday and Friday this week for you to pop in to buy wine and provisions as well as takeaway coffee and some sweet treats. Only 2 people will be allowed inside at one and as usual we will be taking card payments only. Our delivery service will continue for those of you who would rather not come out.

Our online tastings continue this Sunday 31st with a visit to Spain to chat to one of our favourite producers La Salada. Caroline will be hosting the tasting with our dear friend Fernando from Otros Vinos. To join us simply purchase a bottle of their wine this week and we will be in touch, or if you already have a bottle and would like to join please let us know.

Thanks as always for your support, we look forward seeing some of you this week.

Spring is here

Spring is already here and we have been using what the season starting to offer.

Two weeks ago we travelled to Whiteley's Farm in West Yorkshire to collect some beautiful forced rhubarb which is grown in the dark in rhubarb sheds then harvested by candle light to maintain it's delicate pink hue. We have made the most of this beautiful product by preserving it into jam and cordials, experimenting with kombucha and on the counter in our baked goods.

Foraging is starting to prove fruitful with wild garlic shoots coming up and young nettles looking promising.

Levenshulme Market returns this Saturday after it's winter break and with it comes the return of the themed monthly night markets. We will be opening until 10pm on Fridays when the night market is on so please pop in for wine, cheese and snacks.

We hosted some wonderful events at Isca in February and we are looking forward to hosting more in March and April.

Tonight we are "In Stories" with Ladies of Restaurants at Cultureplex in the city centre followed by our first  Kombucha workshop with Jules of The Plucky Pickle on Thursday.

Spring is coming

It is nice to have the light a little longer every day. It feels like Spring is around the corner.
Wild garlic is coming out and so much more! We have been busy refilling our shelves after a busy December.
We have been making: Bergamot marmalade, blood orange marmalade, beetroot chutney, kale pesto, vegan kale pesto, kimchi, sauerkraut, granola, roasted honey nuts and more.

We are increasing our cheese selection and the makers we are working with.

We are approaching Spring with energy and are opening our home to people, hosting tastings, workshops, supper clubs, etc…

Happy New Year. Our plans for 2020.

Happy New Year to you all.

We hope you had a great festive period and had a chance to spend time with the ones you love.
We are back at Isca from today, very happy about how the last year ended, thank you all for your amazing support and ready and energised for 2020.

Ready we are, but with consciousness about how to continue our project. We are more and more aware about climate change, pollution, exploitation, fast consumerism etc and therefore as a small business we want to make sure that we make the right choices regarding who we work with and their relationship to sustainability. Therefore, we would like to see this new year as an opportunity to connect people together and consider the people we work with; winemakers, farmers, growers, carpenters, artists, importers, distributors etc.
We want to open our doors to others more and for our space to be occupied by people who share the same care and worry of the present state of this world as we do and those who are actively engaging with the care of others and our environment.
We will be hosting pop ups, tastings, workshops, etc throughout the year.

Isca is offering food to go or to eat in.

We are working closely with organic producers to increase our deli offering.
Expect to see organic cheeses, homemade ferments, pickles and
much more. We want to offer a place where you can sit and have a coffee or a glass of wine with some food or some goodies to take home for you or someone else.