Walk along The Backs

When the sun comes out, we get greedy about the outside. We take long walks, drink beer amidst buttercups and cow dung, choose restaurants that have tables in the sun, watch Chotto-Ma scoot off to pet other people's dogs, and comment obsessively on how spotlessly, madly blue the sky is.

We go overboard. We do all the things that people do in sun-starved countries; except take our clothes off to sunbathe in the park, because we're Indians and born with all this lovely tanned, subcontinental skin. (I had this awful urge to write 'tanned when canned', but I didn't. Except now I just did. The sun's gone to my head, I rhyme.)

I thought I'd take you along the walk we walked recently; it's been a while since I took you on a Cambridge walk, hasn't it? The last time, it was a different season, a different light.

I also thought I'd cook you something weekendy: I made cheese fritters with a simple mix of ingredients I had at home, but had no plans of blogging about (so, iPhone photos again). But it was really good, so even though the photos are less-than-good, they had to be shared with you. The fritters have a ripe, peppery flavour - Camembert, rocket, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. It's wonderfully melty in the middle, crisp on the outside and a few minutes in the making.

And so that was what it was. A long walk through the morning, and the rest of the day on the sofa, the sun slanting in. An old movie, a cup of tea, a plate of fritters and a floor strewn with Lego.


First, the walk:

It's a series of iPhone photographs, just as they were shot; in bright sunlight. They're too obvious, too unsubtle for my liking, but I'm hoping you won't mind.

We live in one of the prettiest cities in England, and Cambridge, in summer, is something special. This walk goes past the River Cam, around The Backs, skimming the colleges, through old alleyways and out into the marketplace which sits at the centre. The Backs - here you can see the backs of all the colleges in one grand row, sloping off into the river - is my favourite strip of the city.

And this is where our walk ended: in front of King's College where cycles leant in patient queue; next to cafes where coffee and croissant beckoned.

You must be hungry.


So now, the fritter: 

Camembert & Rocket Fritters

Ingredients:

125 gm Camembert or Brie, roughly cut into pieces
2 cups rocket, roughly chopped
3 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
A generous sprinkle of coarsely ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
2 tbs of flour
1 tsp fine semolina
1/2 cup milk
Salt

Mix in all the ingredients except the milk. Then pour the milk in, a bit at a time to make a thick batter.
Heat oil in a deep pan. Lower heat and drop in blobs of the batter. Fry till brown.
Transfer on to a a sheet of kitchen paper, and then onto your serving dish. Drizzle with a squeeze of lemon. Bite in.