Judging by your reviews you lot are a knowledgeable bunch when it comes to food - you know what you like and you know why. That’s why we were so intrigued when we read Silverbrow On Food, the food blog of a man who’s keeping anonymous blogging alive with his nom d’ordinateur Anthony Silverbrow. Discussing anything and everything food-related from restaurants, ingredients, cookery books and celebrity chefs it all makes for a cracking read (and look, he even has his very own TrustedPlaces profile and reviews here) - we couldn’t wait to find out more.

So Anthony, you’ve been writing your blog since May 2005.  What prompted you to start it up and what keeps you going?

I started writing for a few reasons.  I had become aware of other food blogs through a food forum I was reading at the time.  I enjoyed them because they were such personal insights into other people’s attitudes to food and were free from the forum censor’s pen.  They introduced me to the concept of blogs, although in themselves weren’t necessarily what caused me to start writing.  For me it was mainly that I was cooking and eating out a fair bit and I wanted a way to record those experiences.  I wanted some way to refer back to what I had done in the past in an easy way and ensure that none of my details got lost.  That imperative combined with the wonders of the internet led me down this murky road.I didn’t tell any of my family or friends about the blog for quite sometime - I think about 6 months - because it really was intended as a resource for me.  However, as time wore on I enjoyed the activity of blogging - the reading, the writing, the interaction with those commenting - that it became a bigger part of my life.  I still enjoy all of that and that is why I continue to blog.

How did you come up with your nom de plume?

I couldn’t possibly divulge such a treasured secret.  Then again if you met me, you’d figure it out pretty quickly.

What is it about food that fascinates you?

The fact that it is as elemental as you can get but the choices available are infinite.  That and that individuals have such varying reactions to the same thing.  I literally cannot understand people who don’t take pleasure in their food.  It is completely beyond me that someone would choose not to enjoy what they are eating.

What are your top three restaurant recommendations?

That is an almost impossible question to answer because it depends on what mood I’m in, whether I’m after a high-end experience or something quick and to the point.  I can’t even say which are my three most enjoyable meals as one meal might be more enjoyable than another for a reason in no way related to food.  However, for whatever reasons the restaurants I most enjoy visiting in London are Hibiscus, Dizengoff, Scoop, The Golden Hind, Bacchus and Petrus.

You’ve written quite a lot about Gordon Ramsay - what do you think of him?  What chefs do you admire?  And should they be on TV?

I don’t have a strong view on GR per se, more on his brand and the way he is perceived by others.  I admire what he’s done with Gordon Ramsay Holdings and he’s done a great job protecting the brand.  It’s amazing that he can get away with rarely cooking and having pubs and high-end restaurants all in the same brand and he’s still considered the king of food.I admire a whole host of chefs.  Most probably aren’t on TV - or at least don’t have TV shows - but that’s not because I think it’s a bad thing.  It’s probably more a reflection of the fact that they are more focused on what’s going on in the kitchen.  Chefs I admire include some of the more obvious ones like Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Marco Pierre White (certainly in his White Heat days), but others in London include Giorgio Locatelli, Nuno Mendes and Aidan Byrne.

If we popped round for dinner, what would you serve?

I tend to veer towards cooking meat simply.  So it might be a roast or steak.  If it was the weekend, there’d be a good chance of some kind of stew.  Saturday lunch might well see cholent on the table.  It’s the traditional slow-cooked stew that Ashkenazi Jews eat on the Sabbath.  It’s put on to cook from before sunset on Friday night and cooks on a low heat until Saturday lunch.  It’s usually a combination of some of the cheaper cuts of meat, cubed, browned and then cooked with onions, carrots, leeks and beans.  It’s fantastic in the winter.  Somewhat heavy for the summer. If I am cooking for lots of people I like to either go fairly technical, with lots of courses, or simple, one of my favourite dishes being bollito misto.

If you popped round ours for dinner, what should we serve?

Unless you too are kosher it’s more about what you don’t serve than what you do.  Off the menu unfortunately would be meat, shellfish and a couple of other species of fish such as turbot, swordfish and monkfish.  Otherwise as long as there aren’t any baked beans on my plate I’ll eat anything.

Are there any common misconceptions about kosher food? Can you recommend anywhere for really good kosher food in London?

It’s a tough question because it depends on where the misconceptions are held. There are some dangerous misconceptions amongst a vocal group thatare opposed to ritual slaughter on a principled basis. As such, they are trying to ban both shechita (the method of slaughter for kosher meat) and halal slaughter. These people are largely misinformed but if they got their way, they would do a good job of destroying the way many people in the UK live. This is a massive issue - and a heated one - that may be for another day.

There are also misconceptions within the Jewish community about kosher food, fundamentally around the quality of kosher food, because of its religious associations. The word ‘kosher’ can be translated as ‘fit’ and all food that is kosher needs to be approved by a religious authority. Therefore there is an assumption that kosher food is ‘good’ food i.e. high quality. Often this is not the case. Many kosher chickens are intensively reared and would happily sit in cheaper ranges at UK supermarkets. This is an issue I regularly write about on the blog and I’m in the process of trying to raise awareness and address.

As for good kosher restaurants, there aren’t that many, but my favourite is Dizengoff in Golders Green. The food is pretty straightforward, lots of grilled meats and fresh salads. I’ve yet to have a bad meal there. I’ve always quite enjoyed the salt beef at Blooms, although the last time I went I had dinner with Jay Rayner (restaurant critic at the Observer) and our food was appalling. It’s rather embarrasing encouraging a national restaurant critic to go out for a meal and then eating one of the worst meals either of you has ever ingested. On a more positive note an honourable mention must be made for kosher bakeries. You can’t beat good proper bagels or freshly baked cholla, the bread traditionally eaten on the Sabbath (Friday night and Saturday). My favourite bakeries for both of these are Daniels, which is in Temple Fortune, and the Hendon Bagel Bakery, in surprisingly, Hendon.

Who are your readers?  Do they make contact with you?

My readers are a varied lot and getting more varied thanks to the wonder of Twitter (if you don’t use it, you really should).  There are quite a lot of fellow food bloggers and readers thereof.  I’m also a member of a couple of message boards focused on food such as Opinionated About and Mouthfuls, so I get readers from those sites as well.  Other than that I get quite a lot of hits from people searching for stuff on Google, especially kosher or London related topics.They do write in, either in my comments or by email.  My favourite comment is relatively recent.  I’ve got some swanky ways to stop spam comments but one slipped through the other day on a post about the forthcoming Big Fat Duck Cookbook.  I received the following comment.

I have recommended this article to my friends at LargeSingle.com. We BBW BHM are very proud of our size. I have known many plus sized people at this site, where you can find many Sexy, Curvy, Classy Women, open minded plus couples, hot big guys, also nice fat admirers, even some celebs.

Posted by: Coco / 30 Mar 2008 03:33:04

I’m sure it’s spam, but I love it so have left it up on the site. 

What other food blogs should we be reading?

There are so many it’s hard to choose.  But a few I really enjoy are:Cheese and Biscuits, Food and Drink in London, This Edible Life and Ideas in Food.

Now it’s over to you, dear readers - do you know any up and coming bloggers / writers / generally interesting people?  Who should we interview next? Get in touch!