I was invited to Sao Paulo, Brazil by the makers of the finest whisky in the world "Johnnie Walker" They were launching a new product King George V Edition. This celebrates the first Royal Warrant granted to John Walker and Sons Ltd to supply Scotch whisky to the British Royal Household in 1934.

I did some TV while I was there and you can see it here. If you speak Portugese, have a listen and let me know if they were being nice about me (laughs)

I recreated a Buckingham Palace banquet from that era that started with a Minted Pea Soup with Avocado, Lump Crab and Crispy Pancetta followed by Supreme of Turbot Victoria, Saddle of Lamb Windsor and a Chocolate, Whisky Torte with Salted Caramel Ice Cream.

While I was there I also got to try the famous Mortadella sandwich at the central market (Anthony Bourdain raves over it on his No Reservations TV tour of Brazil) and boy was it good! But for me the highlight of the trip were two other things. 1) Tasting my first baked Palmito (hearts of palm). It arrived at the table on a cart - a twelve inch tree trunk that was sliced open to reveal this steaming hot palm heart that was served with melted butter and tasted amazing. A million miles from the canned stuff we have here in the USA.

The taste that lingered on my tongue all through the ten hour flight home though was something I had never seen or heard of before. An ingredient from the Amazon called Acai. Acai described as "the wonder fruit" from a type of palm tree that grows about 30 meters high. The fruit, is a small, round, black-purple berry about 1 inch in diameter, similar in appearance and size to a grape but with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of 700 to 900 fruits and is freeze dried to make ice creams. I have to say it was the best ice cream that I have ever tasted. It has a real earthy flavor and would be amazing served with roast venison. I am trying my hardest to source it in this country.

A few weeks ago I was in London with a wonderful group of people that signed up for my culinary tour and we all had sucha fabulous time. We got to tour Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace where they have just opened the latest attraction there - a fully laid table for a state banquet. Of course as is typical with the palace you are expected to conform or get out (ask Princess Diana) and they didn't take kindly to me conducting my own commentry to the small group about how a state banquet was run and I was reprimanded several times and followed around the palace tour by an angry official. Good old BP, nothing changes does it!

It wasn't just a royal trip down memory lane, we did get to try some wonderful foods too. Touring Harrods food hall, the frais de bois were incredible, Grazing Borough Market, the clotted cream, English cheese, rhubarb and ginger drink and of course fish and chips were to die for. A visit to the Royal Windsor farm shop had us buying up the Windsor dairy cream and strawberries to eat on the way home and then a fantastic dinner at the Dorchester hotel (along with so many memories that I will share with you, along with photos on my web site soon) brought the trip to an all too soon end, leaving everyone saying " we just HAVE to do this trip again next year" Watch this space !

• August 20 Santa Barbara, CA
• August 27 Good Morning Texas WFAA
• September 7 Culinary Fundraiser. Market Street McKinney TX
• September 20 Scottsdale, AZ
• September 21 AIWF tea party, Dallas. TX
• September 27 Williamsburg, VA
• September 28 Harrisburg, PA

• 8 slices hearty white bread, several days old
• 2 lb mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, cherries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries)
• ½ cup water
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

• sprigs of mint for garnish
• clotted cream

• 1 two pint pudding basin or soufflé case

Prepare the fruit by stoning and halving the cherries, destalking the redcurrants and blackcurrants and hulling and quartering the strawberries keeping each type of fruit separate at this stage.

In a large heavy based pan add the cherries, water, vanilla paste and sugar over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Let the cherries simmer until they start to soften. Add the strawberries and blackberries and stir, simmer for a further two to three minutes and then add the blueberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and finally the raspberries. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the fruit. Strain into a colander and keep the liquid.

Cut the crusts off the bread and cut a circle using one slice of the bread that will fit the bottom of the basin. Dip it into the reserved liquid and into the pudding basin. Next cut the remaining bread into half and line the pudding basin dipping the bread into the sauce first and overlapping each piece slightly. Reserve two pieces of bread for the top.

Once the basin is completely lined, spoon the fruit into the center and fill to the top. Place the two remaining pieces of bread on top of the fruit and place a saucer that fits snugly inside the basin on top of the bread. Weigh down the top of the pudding by placing something like a large tin of vegetables on top of the saucer and refrigerate over night along with the remaining juices.

Run a spatula around the edges of the pudding and invert onto a serving plate. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and allow it to run down the sides. Garnish with sprigs of mint and serve with clotted cream.

Ackee and Saltfish

Last years trip to Jamaica I found ginnips. This year I was blown away by a native dish to the island called Ackee and Saltfish Ackee is a fruit that grows on the ackee tree. The Ackee tree grows to about 30 ft. high, & bears bright red fruit. The fruit ripen to reveal pods of yellow edible Ackee, each with a black seed. Ackee is usually prepared with salted cod fish & onions. Bacon can be substituted for the salted cod. The flavor & texture is somewhat like scrambled eggs - delicious! Beware though, unripe ackees and the inner red tissue of the ripe ackee arils contain potent alkaloid toxins which can produce a syndrome of vomiting, seizures and fatal hypoglycemia. Charming!

Ackees must be harvested, prepared and cooked properly. Ackee pods should be allowed to ripen and open naturally on the tree before picking. Prior to cooking, the ackee arils must be cleaned, washed, boiled and the water discarded. You can only buy canned Ackee here in the USA so no need to worry about poisoning anyone. Trust me it is worth cooking. I love it !

One more thing, I keep getting emails asking for the Bread and Butter Pudding recipe. Princess Diana told a royal reporter "Darren makes the best bread and butter pudding in the world". I'm not sure it's the best in the world - but it's in the top one (laughs). You can get the recipe and watch me make it on the NBC Today Show, cooking live in the plaza - click here

Until next time......
Darren