tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9535697195686963652024-03-12T19:30:00.165-07:00Kitchen PersonAndy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-50005291369017755522017-07-20T07:58:00.001-07:002017-07-20T08:12:31.910-07:00Brighton's Best Cookbook: Michael Bremner 64 Degrees <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Due to space limitations, we weren't able to publish every recipe we collected from Brighton's top 20 chefs (as voted for in the <a href="http://www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com/top-20" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Brighton's Best Restaurants awards 2017</a><span style="text-align: left;">) who contributed to </span><a href="https://www.chefpublishing.com/collections/brightons-best-cookbook/products/brightons-best-cookbook-edited-by-andy-lynes" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Brighton's Best Cookbook </a><span style="text-align: left;"> so rather than let them go to waste, I'll be posting them here over the next few weeks. I'm starting with what has become a firm Brighton favourite and the only way to finish a meal at the number one restaurant on the Brighton's Best Restaurant list, <a href="http://www.64degrees.co.uk/" target="_blank">64 Degrees</a>. You may have seen chef Michael Bremner on BBC's recent </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08ww9jn/great-british-menu-series-12-45-banquet" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Great British Menu</a><span style="text-align: left;"> series where he served the main course at a banquet at Wimbledon to mark 90 years of the BBC broadcasting the competition. </span></span></div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rum Bear Jelly by Michael Bremner </span></h2>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BZ9OX5hCEC4/WXC8bmuHi1I/AAAAAAAAHX8/y_s307bw80Uie3g4heCOKMHou-k0raafQCLcBGAs/s1600/little%2Bfish%2Bmarket74152%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BZ9OX5hCEC4/WXC8bmuHi1I/AAAAAAAAHX8/y_s307bw80Uie3g4heCOKMHou-k0raafQCLcBGAs/s400/little%2Bfish%2Bmarket74152%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This has been a staple on the 64 Degrees menu since
day one. It came about on a quiet evening when the chefs were playing around
with rum and Tangfastics. Vitamin C powder is available from Infinity Foods in
Brighton or health food shops nationwide. We make the sherbet using a 50:50
ratio of vitamin C to sugar, but if you prefer a less mouth-puckering result,
reduce the amount of vitamin C.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span><span style="font-size: 16px;">Makes 15 jellies) </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the jellies<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">215g bag Haribo Tangfastics <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">200ml white rum <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">100ml apple juice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the sherbet<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4 tbsp powdered vitamin C <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4 tbsp caster sugar <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Put the Haribo, rum and apple juice in a pan and a
melt over a very low heat. The Haribo will melt at 70°C but alcohol evaporates
at 78.3°C, so use a kitchen thermometer to ensure the mixture remains somewhere
between the two. Pour the mixture into </span>30ml
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">teddy bear jelly moulds (or any shape of your
choice) and leave to set in the freezer for 1-1½ hrs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Make the sherbet by mixing together the vitamin C
and caster sugar. To serve, unmould the jelly and sprinkle over the sherbet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brighton's Best Cookbook: Recipes from the Top 20 Restaurants edited by Andy Lynes (</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">£25) </span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is available to buy in Brighton from all the featured restaurants (full list <a href="http://www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com/top-20" target="_blank">here</a>), <a href="http://www.city-books.co.uk/" target="_blank">City Books</a> Waterstones <a href="https://www.brighton-fish-sales.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brighton and Newhaven Fish Sales</a> and the <a href="http://britishairwaysi360.com/" target="_blank">i360</a> gift shop, with other retailers be</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ing added soon. You can order the book online from <a href="https://www.chefpublishing.com/collections/brightons-best-cookbook/products/brightons-best-cookbook-edited-by-andy-lynes" target="_blank">Chef Publishing </a>and <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/brightons-best-cookbook/andy-lynes/suzanne-lindfors/9781908202994" target="_blank">Waterstones</a>. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rOkapRVsH6E/WXC91-4OOuI/AAAAAAAAHYI/ZP1405bGPLEysppn-V0-zSmx79APY7VeACLcBGAs/s1600/Final_Cover_1024x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rOkapRVsH6E/WXC91-4OOuI/AAAAAAAAHYI/ZP1405bGPLEysppn-V0-zSmx79APY7VeACLcBGAs/s320/Final_Cover_1024x1024.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-13722817528774565522017-07-18T05:16:00.002-07:002020-11-16T14:48:59.345-08:00Heaven's Plate: Chefs as the new cult leaders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div>
<span style="font-style: italic;">Fine dining will eat itself, unless someone can stop the culinary circle-jerk that has seen high-end restaurants around the globe become unwitting carbon copies of each other. Enter chef Jordan Kahn and Vespertine, a brand new LA eaterie that rips it up, starts again and ushers in the age of the cult leader chef and the disruptaurant. </span></div><div><span class="cke_image_px_indicator" style="text-align: center;"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" style="text-align: center;" title="Click and drag to resize"></span></div><div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="5" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: url("https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); display: block; left: 0px; top: -15px;"></span></div>
<div>
On the 26 March 1997, following an anonymous tip off, officers from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department entered a rented mansion in the affluent community of Rancho Sante Fe, California. There, they found the bodies of 21 women and 18 men, members of the new age messianic UFO cult Heaven’s Gate, dressed in androgynous black shirts, sweat pants, box fresh black-and-white Nike shoes and closely cropped hair. Cult leader Marshall Applewhite, who claimed to be a higher evolutionary being from a ‘kingdom level above human’ had convinced his followers to eat a final, fatal meal laced with phenobarbital, telling then that their souls would ascend to a spaceship trailing the Hale Bopp comet where they would enter ‘Next Level’ bodies, allowing them to travel to Heaven, a physical planet according to Applewhite's unhinged mythos. 'If you want to go there…it requires…that you leave behind everything human’, said Applewhite in his final video message. </div>
<br />
<div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="4" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<div class="align-center cke_widget_element" data-cke-widget-data="%7B%22hasCaption%22%3Afalse%2C%22src%22%3A%22%2F%2Fimg.youtube.com%2Fvi%2FW6IAf_y8pQc%2Fmqdefault.jpg%22%2C%22alt%22%3A%22%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22640%22%2C%22height%22%3A%22360%22%2C%22lock%22%3Atrue%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22classes%22%3Anull%7D" data-cke-widget-keep-attr="0" data-cke-widget-upcasted="1" data-widget="image">
<span class="cke_image_resizer_wrapper" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-cke-saved-src="//img.youtube.com/vi/W6IAf_y8pQc/mqdefault.jpg" height="225" src="//img.youtube.com/vi/W6IAf_y8pQc/mqdefault.jpg" width="400" wix-comp="{"id":"innercomp_5vhy2l2w","dataQuery":"5vhy2l2w","propertyQuery":"5vhy2l2w","componentType":"wysiwyg.viewer.components.Video","styleId":"","skin":"wysiwyg.viewer.skins.VideoSkin","src":"//img.youtube.com/vi/W6IAf_y8pQc/mqdefault.jpg","minWidth":"240px","minHeight":"180px","videoId":"W6IAf_y8pQc","videoType":"YOUTUBE","width":1,"dimsRatio":0.5625,"display":"block","marginLeft":"auto","marginRight":"auto","isFullSize":false}" /><span class="cke_image_px_indicator"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"></span></span></div>
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: url("https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); display: block; left: 0px; top: -15px;"></span></div>
<div>
On 7 June 2017, the headline ‘Get Ready To Leave This World With Chef Jordan Kahn's New Restaurant Vespertine’ appeared on <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMedia1yci" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">laist.com</a></span>, referencing an interview that the Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz-trained chef had given to <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMediafqi" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">GQ magazine</a></span> about the forthcoming opening of his second LA outlet, 'a gastronomical experiment seeking to disrupt the course of the modern restaurant' according to the <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMediap3y" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">restaurant's website</a></span>. In the piece, Kahn, who named his other restaurant Destroyer after a comet, claims that the building housing the restaurant 'is a machine artefact from an extra-terrestrial planet that was left here like a billion years ago by a species that were moon worshipers' and that the food ‘doesn’t come from local-it comes from a place that doesn’t exist’. Waiting staff, reported GQ, will be ‘dressed in custom, androgynous uniforms’ and will serve ‘spaceship food’ (a shot of one of the restaurant’s dishes is captioned ‘What looks like wisps of plastic compose a dish made from white asparagus, macadamia nuts, and squid’) to a specially recorded soundtrack. 'The sound and the space [are] the transportive mechanism,' says Kahn in the piece, who is having wine glass labels etched off because 'those are all markers that remind people that they’re still on Earth.'</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Despite having extra-terrestrials, comets, the disassociation from earthy matters and androgyny in common, it would be wrong to draw parallels between a dangerously unhinged cult leader and any ambitious young chef. Given that the Heaven’s Gate cult’s last meal was drug-laden apple sauce and ‘pudding’ washed down with vodka, it’s obvious that Kahn is a much better cook than Applewhite ever was. And let's be clear, one look at former FBI Behavioral Analyst Jo Navarro's list of '<span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMedia1ka1" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">dangerous traits of cult leaders</a></span>' that includes 'demands blind unquestioned obedience', 'is arrogant and haughty in his behavior or attitude' and 'is hypersensitive to how he is seen or perceived by others' and you know that chefs and cult leaders are two entirely separate species. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It’s also highly likely that Kahn doesn’t believe a word of what GQ calls the ‘constructed mythology’ of Vespertine, whereas Applewhite was deadly serious. But the similarities, however accidental, are striking. Both have employed an elaborate utopian sci-fi narrative with a number of overlapping elements to persuade a group of people to take a particular course of action; Applewhite to, ostensibly at least, advance the evolution of mankind and Kahn to get fashion conscious foodies to part with $250 per head for a 20-course tasting menu.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kahn is not alone in employing cult leader-style tactics. Dan Barber of Blue Hills in Stone Barns strikes a Redeemer-like figure as he evangelises from the TED stage or travelling the globe to preach his wastED gospel of sustainability and ‘creating something delicious out of the ignored or un-coveted and inspiring new applications in our food system’ which in practice turns out to be the world’s most paradoxical pop-up with rich and famous chefs jetting in from around the globe to serve dishes made with leftover latte milk, stale bread and broken rice at £15 a pop to over-indulged foodies on the roof of Selfridges, one of London’s most exclusive department stores. But ever mind the details, all you need to do is believe. </div>
<br />
<div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="3" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<div class="align-center cke_widget_element" data-cke-widget-data="%7B%22hasCaption%22%3Afalse%2C%22src%22%3A%22%2F%2Fimg.youtube.com%2Fvi%2F4EUAMe2ixCI%2Fmqdefault.jpg%22%2C%22alt%22%3A%22%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22640%22%2C%22height%22%3A%22360%22%2C%22lock%22%3Atrue%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22classes%22%3Anull%7D" data-cke-widget-keep-attr="0" data-cke-widget-upcasted="1" data-widget="image">
<span class="cke_image_resizer_wrapper" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-cke-saved-src="//img.youtube.com/vi/4EUAMe2ixCI/mqdefault.jpg" height="225" src="//img.youtube.com/vi/4EUAMe2ixCI/mqdefault.jpg" width="400" wix-comp="{"id":"innercomp_ozmk28an","dataQuery":"ozmk28an","propertyQuery":"ozmk28an","componentType":"wysiwyg.viewer.components.Video","styleId":"","skin":"wysiwyg.viewer.skins.VideoSkin","src":"//img.youtube.com/vi/4EUAMe2ixCI/mqdefault.jpg","minWidth":"240px","minHeight":"180px","videoId":"4EUAMe2ixCI","videoType":"YOUTUBE","width":1,"dimsRatio":0.5625,"display":"block","marginLeft":"auto","marginRight":"auto","isFullSize":false}" /><span class="cke_image_px_indicator"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"></span></span></div>
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-image: url(https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png); background: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5);"></span></div>
<div>
Chefs have become increasingly nomadic, a trait often found in religious cults, a lifestyle that separates followers from their families and social structures and increases reliance on the cult and its leader. In the 1970’s, Jim Jones led his Christian radical-left People’s Temple cult from its origins in Indiana to San Francisco and finally to Guyana in South America where Jones persuaded over 900 of his followers to commit suicide by drinking cyanide-laced, grape-flavoured Kool Aid (like Heaven’s Gate, another cult where food and beverage played a crucial role - did someone mention the Eucharist?).</div>
<div>
</div>
<span class="cke_image_px_indicator"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"></span><br />
<div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="2" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-image: url(https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png); background: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5);"></span></div>
<div>
In 2015, Rene Redzepi relocated 70 staff from his Copenhagen restaurant Noma to Japan for five weeks; the following year Noma was transplanted to Sydney for 10 weeks and then in 2017 for seven weeks in Tulum, Mexico. There are no doubt sound business reasons for a peripatetic restaurant (it was reported that <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMediaw9" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Heston Blumenthal made $10million from a six month Fat Duck residency in Australia</a></span>), but as well as hoovering up income from around the world that might not otherwise be accessible, there is an undeniable evangelical aspect to such a project, and one that sets up Redzepi as a leader that is followed to the ends of the earth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Kahn, Barber, Redzepi et al don’t just want customers. Like Applewhite, they need followers. Fine dining is in crisis, and has been for some time (Patrick Kuh’s book The Last Days of Haute Cuisine was published way back in 2001). Although every high-end chef is desperately trying to appear unique, the cutting edge is beginning to look dully similar. At international culinary congresses and award ceremonies like Madrid Fusion and World’s 50 Best, chefs meet, talk and demonstrate dishes to each other and post pictures of their latest creations on Instagram, ensuring that the globalisation of gastronomy is complete. One carefully tweezered plate of this and that looks, and tastes, very much like the next.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In reality, it’s time for chefs to abandon the draining elaboration that masquerades as creativity, that circles in on itself to ever diminishing returns, and go back to serving food that has a name, like steak Diane, tournedos Rossini and spaghetti carbonara, actual dishes that people understand and remember because they not just a collection of ingredients on a plate, but an actual thing, something more than the sum of their parts. But too much is at stake, from the years of tribulation invested by young chefs like Kahn on their way to the top, to the vast sums of tourist revenue up for grabs from having the ‘world’s best restaurant’ in your city or country. And so the game continues.</div>
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="1" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<div class="align-center cke_widget_element" data-cke-widget-data="%7B%22hasCaption%22%3Afalse%2C%22src%22%3A%22%2F%2Fimg.youtube.com%2Fvi%2Ffh1kaHVt-lA%2Fmqdefault.jpg%22%2C%22alt%22%3A%22%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22640%22%2C%22height%22%3A%22360%22%2C%22lock%22%3Atrue%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22classes%22%3Anull%7D" data-cke-widget-keep-attr="0" data-cke-widget-upcasted="1" data-widget="image">
<span class="cke_image_resizer_wrapper" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-cke-saved-src="//img.youtube.com/vi/fh1kaHVt-lA/mqdefault.jpg" height="225" src="//img.youtube.com/vi/fh1kaHVt-lA/mqdefault.jpg" width="400" wix-comp="{"id":"innercomp_oc4g2myb","dataQuery":"oc4g2myb","propertyQuery":"oc4g2myb","componentType":"wysiwyg.viewer.components.Video","styleId":"","skin":"wysiwyg.viewer.skins.VideoSkin","src":"//img.youtube.com/vi/fh1kaHVt-lA/mqdefault.jpg","minWidth":"240px","minHeight":"180px","videoId":"fh1kaHVt-lA","videoType":"YOUTUBE","width":1,"dimsRatio":0.5625,"display":"block","marginLeft":"auto","marginRight":"auto","isFullSize":false}" /><span class="cke_image_px_indicator"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"></span></span></div>
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-image: url(https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png); background: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5);"></span></div>
<div>
But what Kahn has done brilliantly is ripped up the rules. At a stroke, Vespertine, with its audacious, unearthly nonsense (‘a place of cognitive dissonance that defies categorization, exploring a dimension of cuisine that is neither rooted in tradition nor culture-it is from a time that is yet to be, and a place that does not exist. It is a spirit between worlds. A place of shadows and whispers. Future’, according to that stupendously over-the-top website that'd keep <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMediaefz" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Private Eye’s Pseuds Corner</a></span> fueled for months,) has pulled the rug out from under the local, seasonal foraging pack and left them looking decidedly work-a-day and last century.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=953569719568696365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=953569719568696365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=953569719568696365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=953569719568696365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=953569719568696365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>That's not to say Vespertine is going to be all surface and no substance. Johnathan Gold, LA's most respected restaurant critic, called Kahn's food at the now closed Red Medicine '<span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMediam55" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">stunning</a></span>'. But what Kahn understands is that stunning food alone won't cut it; people want a superb meal far less than they need a great anecdote. Try telling someone about the exquisite, vivid flavours and matchless ingredients you experienced during the best dining experience of your life and watch their eyes glaze over. But a meal in a spaceship served by hermaphrodites and cooked by a chef who looks like an alt-rock God? Now that’s what I call a Facebook/Instagram/insert-social-network-of-choice-here post.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the highest level, restaurants have moved on exponentially from their origins as a place where you can sit and eat a meal, pay for it and be restored (the word restaurant means literally to ‘restore to a former state’). But such a simple, pure transaction is now beyond us; we expect and demand much more from eating food outside the home. It must entertain, excite, create memories and add to our bank of experiences that we can then relay on social media to give our lives meaning. We don't want to be restored, but changed. We want 'disruptaurants'.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Just as the followers of Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite looked to their cult leaders to disrupt their ordinary lives with tall tales and the promise of adventure and new experiences, we now look to chefs to elevate us into the extraordinary so we can tweet and Instagram back to the earthbound masses about our expedition into the far reaches of the gastronomic galaxy. But exclusivity is all and Vespertine, today's news, will soon be tomorrow's fish and chip paper. As global interconnectivity gobbles up and spits out novelty as quickly as it can be created, what is left for the high end operator hoping to attract that most jaded of Johns, the fine dining enthusiast? </div>
<br />
<div class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_block cke_image_nocaption cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="0" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1">
<div class="align-center cke_widget_element" data-cke-widget-data="%7B%22hasCaption%22%3Afalse%2C%22src%22%3A%22%2F%2Fimg.youtube.com%2Fvi%2FMJ2LehsA1dk%2Fmqdefault.jpg%22%2C%22alt%22%3A%22%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22640%22%2C%22height%22%3A%22360%22%2C%22lock%22%3Atrue%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22classes%22%3Anull%7D" data-cke-widget-keep-attr="0" data-cke-widget-upcasted="1" data-widget="image">
<span class="cke_image_resizer_wrapper" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-cke-saved-src="//img.youtube.com/vi/MJ2LehsA1dk/mqdefault.jpg" height="225" src="//img.youtube.com/vi/MJ2LehsA1dk/mqdefault.jpg" width="400" wix-comp="{"id":"innercomp_txtMedia177c","dataQuery":"txtMedia177c","propertyQuery":"txtMedia177c","componentType":"wysiwyg.viewer.components.Video","styleId":"","skin":"wysiwyg.viewer.skins.VideoSkin","src":"//img.youtube.com/vi/MJ2LehsA1dk/mqdefault.jpg","minWidth":"240px","minHeight":"180px","videoId":"MJ2LehsA1dk","videoType":"YOUTUBE","width":1,"dimsRatio":0.5625,"display":"block","marginLeft":"auto","marginRight":"auto","isFullSize":false}" /><span class="cke_image_px_indicator"></span><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"></span></span></div>
<span class="cke_reset cke_widget_drag_handler_container align-center fixed_drag_size" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: url("https://static.parastorage.com/services/blog-manager/1.490.0/bower_components/ckeditor/dev/builder/release/ckeditor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); display: block; left: 0px; top: -15px;"></span></div>
<div>
Jones and Applewhite proved that there's nothing more exclusive than death. As <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a dataquery="#txtMedia208g" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Christopher Hitchens once observed</a></span>, ‘Monothetic, messianic religion, with a large part of itself quite clearly wants us all to die. It wants this world to come to an end. Those of us who have chosen rightly will be gathered to the arms of Jesus leaving all of the rest of you behind. If you don’t believe that there is to be an apocalypse, there is going to be an end, a separation of the sheep and the goats then you are not really a believer. We are the pure and chosen few and all the rest are damned, there’s room enough in hell for you'.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We won’t be satisfied until we find the disruptaurant that will change us forever. We will be finally happy when a cult leader/chef opens Heaven's Plate where we'll obediently drink the cyanide-flavoured Kool Aid and spoon up the our phenobarbital pudding and with our dying breath, type one last post on social media before we escape into eternity; 'Heaven's Plate is to die for'. </div>
</div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-65780892095145111702017-07-18T04:43:00.003-07:002017-07-18T04:51:37.763-07:00Time to pay: the revolution in restaurant reservations <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>With the arrival in the UK of the American-developed Tock
restaurant reservation system, buying a ticket in advance to eat in a
restaurant could become as normal as paying up front for a flight. Will diners
benefit from the change or is the restaurant industry putting it's own
operational considerations above customer service? Andy Lynes investigates</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eating out in the UK, and London in particular is a very
different experience from even five years ago. On the plus side, there is more
quality, value and choice than ever before and at all price points. Dining has
become more democratised and affordable with numerous casual restaurants that
offer great quality food and service. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there's also been a shift towards making things more
convenient for the restaurateur rather than the customer. You're more likely to
find yourself waiting in a queue for a table, and when you do sit down, your
choice might be limited to a few dishes. Those dishes might be delivered to
your table as and when the kitchen has prepared them rather than the order you
might like to eat them in <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You could find yourself in a very expensive fine dining
restaurant with no choice at all but to eat an extended tasting menu of
whatever the chef has deigned to cook that day.
And now you might have to pay for it all in advance. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Clove Club in Hackney, currently rated number 55 in the
extended World's 50 Best list is the first British restaurant to adopt the Tock
booking system developed by Chicago based restaurateur Nick Kokonas. If you
want to eat chef Isaac McHale's acclaimed £65 and £95 tasting menus for dinner
that might include raw Orkney scallop, hazelnut, clementine and Perigord
truffle you'll have to buy a ticket in advance. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'Increasingly we buy products and services and experiences
through e-commerce and restaurants are no different,' says Daniel Willis,
co-owner of The Clove Club. 'The real benefit for us, and the guest, is we stop
a minority of people from cancelling last minute or not turning up with the
numbers that they booked for which in turn allows us to keep costs down and
re-invest resources into trying to improve the food and service'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kokonas began developing the Tock system since 2010 in order
to try and mitigate the loss of over a quarter of a million dollars per year in
cancellations and tables with partial no-shows. With $3million worth of tickets
sold in 24 hours for Alinea's sister Chicago restaurant Next and a drop out
rate down from 10-15 percent to just 2 per cent across the group (which also includes
high end cocktail bar The Aviary), it appears the system is working. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'We've had just shy of 200,000 people create an account for
Next/Aviary/Alinea, and many more on the pilot program restaurants which
include The French Laundry and only a handful of people, just 1 or 2 per month,
who email or call requesting to reserve a table over the phone. The analogy I
use is like a travel agent, they used to be the gatekeeper for airline
bookings. Now it just is much more pleasant, fast, and simple to book online.'<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Clove Club, who still take reservations for lunch and
their bar menu over the phone and welcome walk-ins, also say their customers
are happy with the change. 'We've had very few complaints and a tiny proportion
of our mailing list came back saying they weren't happy. Most people have found
the new system really simple and efficient'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But not everyone is convinced that payment in advance is the
way for the restaurant industry to go. 'Maybe it's me being French and old
fashioned but I can't understand why some people are doing it,' says Claude
Bosi of two-Michelin starred Hibiscus in Mayfair. 'I don't think it's customer
orientated. I went to Brooklyn Fare in
New York and had to pay in advance. I was a bit angry, I wanted to hate it. I
thought to myself, "what the hell is that restaurant about?". I
absolutely loved it, one of the best meals I had in the states, but paying in
advance puts you on the defensive and the meal has to be good. Our job is to be
consistent everyday but sometimes shit happens. We're not robots, we're only
human. People book because they've heard about you but they don't necessarily
know about the food and maybe the style isn't going to please everybody. If
they don't enjoy it they may think "I've paid in advance for this I can't
even argue for a discount". <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fred Siriex, general manager of Galvin at Windows in Park
Lane agrees. 'A restaurant has to be run for customers The historical and
accepted practice is you book and then you pay and personally I don't see that
changing in the near future. I wouldn't like to be an early adopter of this and
alienate people as a result'.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Duck and Waffle head chef Dan Doherty believes a ticketing
system wouldn't suit his restaurant's 24 hour operation. 'The type of
restaurants that have committed so far are once in a lifetime places. It's like
going to a great exhibition or a play, you buy tickets for that, why not commit
to the art that these chefs produce which takes time and money and a huge team?
So I respect their decision to use it, but it just wouldn't fit for us'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While many chefs and restaurateurs accept a proportion of no
shows as inevitable, they don't see payment in advance as the only way of
trying to deal with the issue. At Hibiscus, Bosi says that the simple
expediency of taking credit card details and levying a £50 per head
cancellation fee has reduced no shows to a handful per year while Siriex sees
the solution in staff training and communicating with the customer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'You have to have standards and discipline to enforce those
standards, and you have to do it with heart and hospitality. We have a double
confirmation policy which works very well. If we can't contact a customer the
first time we leave a message then follow up the next day. We also stagger our
bookings so that if someone walks in at 8pm we find a way to accommodate them
always. You will always have no shows, but the thing is the extent of them,'
says Siriex. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Duck and Waffle, Doherty tackles the issue from a
different angle. 'We analyse our no-shows for each day of the week, then take
into consideration seasons and festivities, then overbook by that amount. There
is naturally a risk with that method, but if you need to hold someone at the
bar for 20 minutes you buy them a drink and they are generally ok with that.
It's all about good management'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But according to Kokonas, restaurateurs could be missing a
trick if they focus solely on the pre-payment aspect of the system. Tock allows
for ordinary reservations too with booking at a zero price or small deposit
(which Kokonas claims virtually eliminates no-shows and therefore the need to
overbook tables) and the system can also encourage customers to book less popular
time slots by offering them at a discounted price, similar to airline pricing
models. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'Just like a sporting event or theatre, the less desirable
seats at Alinea, say Wednesday at 9:30pm are less expensive than a prime seat
on Saturday at 8pm. We have a range from $210 to $295 for our prix fixe menu.
However, our cheque average remains the same in the middle but our revenue is
much better since we book those 'shoulder' times and less desirable days far
more frequently due to the lower price. Absolute revenue goes up and that's a
win-win for restaurants and consumers,' says Kokonas.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'Tock is just another tool by which to reserve a table, it
can be used in a number of different ways,' says Willis. 'In Chicago they use
it at three different restaurants for bar reservations, a la carte menus and
tasting menus, so it’s not limited in that sense. Tasting Menus inherently
limit choice but we love eating that way and people have always responded to it
well at The Clove Club. If you go to a restaurant and want to try the food it’s
a great thing to place your trust in the Chef and the team behind it and see
what happens'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although Tock is unquestionably an evolutionarily step for
restaurants, diners in the UK have become increasingly used to paying in
advance for their dinner. The supper club and pop up scene is now more
established than ever and organisers working on very tight budgets usually
require payment up front, often via online systems like Brighton-based
Tabl.com. Dining vouchers, purchased direct from restaurants or via online
reservation services like the nearly two decade-old OpenTable.com are another
well established way to pay before you eat. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
'Tock is in place at every kind of restaurant in the US and
it’s only a matter of time before more people in the UK start using it,' says
Willis. 'I think we’ll see it adopted in restaurants who serve tasting menus
first as it’s more obvious and logical but then it’s only a matter of time
before others follow suit'. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This article was originally published in <b>Seasoned by Chefs</b> magazine in 2015</i></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-71127136745069652472016-10-31T10:01:00.000-07:002016-10-31T10:52:05.661-07:00Cookbook review: Salt is Essential by Shaun Hill <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
published by Kyle Books, £25<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857833383/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0857833383&linkCode=as2&tag=kitchenperson-21" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0857833383&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=kitchenperson-21" width="311" /></a></div>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=kitchenperson-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0857833383" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We are living in gastronomic end times. Culinary Armageddon is upon us. A chef with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns on his horns emerged from the sea and turned the air into carrot. Then, a chef emerged from the earth having two horns, a head like a lamb, his body as a sheep, a tail like a wolf and feet like a goat, speaking with the voice of a dragon, directed his peers to make an image in homage to the Beast of the Sea on the plates before them, wrought from the very memories of their childhood.<br />
<br />
And behold, a white horse: and he that sat on him had some oysters and some pearls, though never would he taste them, and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And there went out another horse that was red: and he that sat upon him carried moss and lichen, and there was given unto him a great sword. And lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a citrus based confection that tumbled from his grip. Whoops. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was The Death of Gustatory Ambition, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to cook over open fire the beasts of the earth. And the sun turned black, the moon to blood. The sky receded like a rolled blind and the stars fell to the earth.<br />
<br />
But there was a voice of hope. And I turned to see the voice that spoke to me, his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire. And I saw in the right hand of him a book, 'Salt is Essential'.<br />
<br />
It's been 12 long years since Shaun Hill's last book, the baldly titled <i>How to Cook Better</i>. In that time we've seen the weird excesses of molecular gastronomy (in Salt is Essential, Hill reveals he gave the keynote speech at a biennial workshop in Sicily organised by Nicolas Kurti, the Oxford physics professor who coined the term. Heston Blumenthal took Hill's spot the next time around and the rest is history) replaced by locavore fundamentalism which in turn has been usurped by a caveman-like obsession with fire and smoke. In the highest echelons of gastronomy, diners feast upon live insects and plankton.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EXaOkBQnQvM/WBd4Qrxrp7I/AAAAAAAADak/lzXjHeaJdB4R6jer87KsOXudgw_bMUN1ACLcB/s1600/malfatti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EXaOkBQnQvM/WBd4Qrxrp7I/AAAAAAAADak/lzXjHeaJdB4R6jer87KsOXudgw_bMUN1ACLcB/s320/malfatti.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malfatti, cooked by Andy Lynes from recipe in Salt is Essential</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While all this has been going on, Hill has remained aloof, continuing to cook, first at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030423234838/http://ukgourmet.com/merchant.html">The Merchant House</a> (click the link for my review from 2002) and then at <a href="http://www.thewalnuttreeinn.com/">The Walnut Tree Inn</a>, the sort of food that the practical application of his craft for a mind-boggling 50 years has proved to him to be correct. And now he's distilled some of what he has learnt into the all-too-short 190 pages of Salt is Essential.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Kit Chapman's excellent book <i>Great British Chefs</i> published in 1989, I discovered Hill (who was then cooking at Gidleigh Park) early on in my own personal gastronomic journey and have subsequently read virtually everything he's published. Over the years, his understated dry wit and pragmatic approach to his subject have wormed their way into my brain and profoundly influenced how I think, and write about food.<br />
<br />
For those not familiar with Hill's take on the world of cooking (I would never accuse him of anything so crass as having a 'philosophy' about food), Salt is Essential provides the perfect primer. This is food writing with an iron back bone and as much attitude as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InXwZc4RS7M">Mark E Smith</a> on an amphetamine jag. Chapter titles such as 'Creative thinking is a bad idea if you know nothing', 'A well done fillet makes no more sense than an undercooked stew' and 'Soya beans are best left for cattle feed' are clear signals that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vQLNS3HWfCM" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
In a series of essays and elucidating recipe introductions, Hill combines opinion with practical advice, historical fact with personal anecdote and common sense with hard-earned insight to provide a hugely entertaining and edifying read. So you learn that 'larger eggs have thinner shells and absorb air more quickly. This means that although fresh, they are more likely to lose shape when cooked and the yolks are fragile'; Worcestershire sauce is a cousin of both Thai fish sauce and the ancient Roman sauce garum, all three being made with fermented fish; and that Elizabeth David's ancient precursor was a chap called Archestratus from the fourth century BC who knew all about the best cuts of tuna and 'advised against allowing Italians near your sea bass a they had a tendency to cover the fish with cheese and pickle' (a scholar of Latin, Greek and ancient history, Hill has been an honorary research fellow at the University of Exeter and has written several books on ancient food with Professor John Wilkins, including Archestratus: Fragments from the Life of Luxury about the man himself).<br />
<br />
As one of the prime movers of the late 80's modern British cooking movement that took inspiration from across the globe, it's no surprise that Hill's recipes cover everything from risotto bianco to twice baked Lancashire cheese soufflés. Hill is widely travelled with a particular fondness for the Indian subcontinent and his tandoori marinade, made with lots of cumin, black peppercorns, cardamom and cloves is worth the cover price alone.<br />
<br />
He also has a particularly good nose for dishes from northern, central and eastern Europe (one of his first jobs was at the Gay Hussar, the famous Hungarian restaurant beloved of politicos in London; his wife Anja is Finnish and has written several books on the food of Finland) such as karjalan piirakka, a rye pastry snack from Eastern Finland, and turos placsinta, sweet cream cheese pancakes from Hungary.<br />
<br />
Although a few of the recipes demand a commitment in terms of time, money or concentration (you'll need 3 kilos of veal bones, a kilo of diced beef shin and 12 hours of your life that you'll never get back to make a classic demi glace sauce and just the odd five hours to make Hill's extremely delicious version of baked beans), the vast majority are straightforward yet still likely to expand your culinary repertoire in ways other books might well fail to do. I may not rush to make the Maksalaatikko Finnish pig's liver pudding with lingonberries, but lamb's sweetbread pies; malfatti (ricotta and spinach dumplings) or puntarelle salad with anchovy and garlic dressing? Just try and stop me.<br />
<br />
While Salt is Essential is aimed primarily at the home cook, I would implore every young professional cook, dazzled by the glittering parade of over-hyped superstar chefs and their weighty art-wank tomes, to read it. For therein lies your, and the dining public's salvation. Amen. </div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-72765325896232959532016-06-07T02:53:00.002-07:002016-06-07T02:53:25.319-07:00The critical point: Tom Sellers vs Fay Maschler <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When I
read Fay Maschler's <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/fay-maschler-reviews-restaurant-ours-tricky-sequel-for-sellers-a3260876.html">1 (out of 5) star review</a> of restaurant Ours in
the Evening Standard last week, I asked myself a few questions. When
you say them out loud, actually how different are the words 'ours'
and 'arse'? Is it likely that a restaurant that features a 30 foot
catwalk as it's entrance ever going to be anything else other than a
magnet for reality TV stars, minor league footballers and low-rent
royals? And how the fuck can anyone justify charging 12 quid for one
scallop?
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I might
have been a one man Question Time, but one thing I knew for absolute
certain was that Ours's consulting chef Tom Sellers of
Michelin-starred Restaurant Story wasn't going to be happy when he'd
finished reading the review. And I knew for sure that the one thing I
didn't need to see was a smugly passive aggressive 1000 word 'review
of the review' by Sellers. Call me a psychic mentalist mind reader
with mad telepathic skillz, but when you see phrases like 'weirdly
slithery', 'tasteless' and 'mouth-puckering saltiness' used about
food, you know the person responsible for cooking it won't be jumping
up and down with glee.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d43n8XR-cZE/V1aNb7-iJdI/AAAAAAAADGM/57zIycxx8yIgFFRCC2lhNcP3EF6veM99ACLcB/s1600/anton-ego-290x290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d43n8XR-cZE/V1aNb7-iJdI/AAAAAAAADGM/57zIycxx8yIgFFRCC2lhNcP3EF6veM99ACLcB/s1600/anton-ego-290x290.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nevertheless,
within hours of Maschler's 'Tricky sequel for Sellers' review came
Sellers's essay '<a href="http://www.tomsellers.co.uk/2016/06/faymous-a-response/">Faymous</a>'. Unless Sellers was given a preview of the
review, it seems unfair to parse his writing style given that the
piece must have been bashed out in a matter of minutes. Whatever the issues with the
prose, Sellers's raw emotions come through loud and clear as he picks
over Maschler's review like food returned uneaten to a restaurant
kitchen.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He regrets
that a salmon dish, which he claims was tasted by the critic and
which the chef is obviously proud of, is not mentioned. He quibbles
over just exactly how a table was assigned to Maschler (she:' I have
been recognised. Suddenly there is a table ready'; he: 'the table
reserved for your pseudonym was always your table and the delay was
due to the staff re-laying it'). He complains that his CV is referred
to in the review, even though he has a version of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/dining/131rrex.html">ratatouille</a> by
Thomas Keller (one of Sellers's famous mentors, along with Rene
Redzepi and, unmentioned by Maschler, Tom Aikens) on his menu, and at
a whopping £17 a portion.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On closer examination, there is little of substance in the piece, underlined by the fact that his
main bone of contention is that the critic has failed to
correctly identify some of the ingredients in an eschabeche of red
mullet. Maschler guesses beetroot and red cabbage, Sellers says
onion, fennel and purple carrot. Although I did wonder why Maschler
didn't check with the kitchen on the ingredients either on the day or
by phone later on, Sellers might be better off considering why the flavour of his food can't be detected by a
critic of more than 40 years standing and if he needs to do anything to make them more distinct, than pondering whether she had 'eaten out
too many times that week, or that day even, and become confused'.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By
concentrating on the apparent error, Sellers allows himself to brush
aside the actual criticism, that the ingredients, whatever they may
have been, were 'dissing what should be a delicate flavour' as
Maschler put it, and unbalancing the dish. And by letting a bad
review get under his skin, Sellers has also missed two crucial wider
points. He might have received plenty of support on Twitter for the
piece (just check out his feed at @tomsstory, he's re-tweeted most of
it) but 'Faymous' ultimately has brought a great deal more attention
to a bad review than it might otherwise have received and his
defensive tone has only served to lend weight to Maschler's carps.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
greatest irony however is that Ours is the kind of restaurant that is
mostly immune to reviews. The sort of people likely to head to South
Kensington for an £8 kale salad or a £10 side order of asparagus
have probably never heard of Fay Maschler. Or Tom Sellers. Better
that the chef kept a dignified silence or at least appear to take the
review on board rather then dismissing it out of hand. </span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Although
Maschler's visits were both in the first week of trading, the
restaurant was charging full price and it would be unlikely that
Sellers would have refuted a positive review on the basis that they
had only be opened a few days. 'Give us time we are working extremely
hard to reach the level we desire' pleaded Sellers in response to a
tweet from a paying punter who agreed with Maschler's assessment. But
the only way new restaurants can buy time from reviewers and
customers alike is with free family and friends nights and reduced
price soft opening weeks. That's when mistakes can be legitimately
made and compensated for, otherwise chefs and restaurateurs have to
accept they are fair game as soon as they start charging full whack.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is
most disturbing about Sellers's riposte is the implication that
critics are something the restaurant industry has to endure, like rat
infestations or immigration raids, that the award of just one star
was somehow invalid because Sellers chose not to accept it. If he's
unwilling to accept the judgement, based on two visits, of one of the
country's most experienced diners, it makes you wonder how seriously
he takes customer complaints. Sellers should be delighted to have
been given what is in effect free consultancy (Maschler has been know
to charge for the service through the now defunct Private View
company she set up in 2008), the pay off being that it was conducted
in the full glare of publicity of course.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Does
Sellers take no notice of reviews when he's deciding where to dine?
Does he never talk critically about meals he's eaten in other chef's
restaurants? The truth is that everyone who eats out on a regular
basis and cares about food is a critic, whether they are paid for it
or not, whether they have a column in a newspaper or just tweet.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Restaurant
critics (and critics of any stripe, be it opera, theatre or cinema
etc) are not parasites, living off the work of others, taking and not
giving anything back. They are part of an essential dialectical
relationship that improves the restaurant scene for everyone. You
only have to look at London compared to the rest of the UK to see how
important that relationship is. There are of course many other
factors at play, but I firmly believe that strong critical voices
have at the very least speeded up the evolution of the London scene,
and that their absence elsewhere in the country is sorely felt.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Although
Sellers accuses Maschler of being 'confused', infers that she's weak
on detail and lacks passion and quotes cartoon restaurant critic
Anton Ego saying that 'the work of critic is easy' (sic), he also
claims that his respect for Maschler 'goes beyond description' and
hopes to one day enjoy dinner with her. If he isn't being hugely
disingenuous and is simply suffering from a little cognitive
dissonance (he is, after all, 'just the guy that cooks the food' as it says on his <a href="http://www.tomsellers.co.uk/">website</a>) , then a Sellers/Maschler summit might not be a bad thing. </span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because there is a real risk that the growing lack of patience displayed by chefs in general with criticism received through sites like <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/">Tripadvisor</a> is spilling over to reviews in general and that is a dangerously blinkered attitude to adopt. It's something recently recognised by James Lewis <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.8px;">creative director at Gauthier Group who told a Caterer magazine summit that negative reviews provided</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.8px;"> '<a href="https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/367144/restaurateurs-should-kill-tripadvisor-negative-reviewers-with-kindness">incredible data' that operators should 'relish'</a></span>. </span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps a meeting between Sellers and Maschler might begin to mend this apparently broken relationship. Maybe they can work out their differences over a dish of red mullet
served with beetroot and red cabbage. And onions, fennel and purple
carrot. </span></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-59977890965424945982015-12-15T16:17:00.000-08:002015-12-15T16:17:24.499-08:00Where I Eat feature from issue 42 of Chef Magazine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<iframe height="480px" src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?srcid=0B8g819uAest-U2llZnByZkdPVE0&pid=explorer&efh=false&a=v&chrome=false&embedded=true" width="580px"></iframe></div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-12787591594008470472015-11-01T16:34:00.001-08:002015-11-01T16:39:13.519-08:00The Eternal Lunchtime by Addled Palate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QPFRMCFWOU/Vjatp6h5jmI/AAAAAAAACsw/Zad4DitZ1y8/s1600/Ham_sandwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QPFRMCFWOU/Vjatp6h5jmI/AAAAAAAACsw/Zad4DitZ1y8/s320/Ham_sandwich.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Time has passed since I broke fast this morning. Hours, made up of minutes, they themselves created by seconds, seconds forged by milliseconds, milliseconds a mere procession of yoctoseconds. Each unit occupied by but a single thought; what foodstuff would my body envelop when the sun hangs highest in the sky? What victuals would vie for my visceral attentions as the day begins it long, slow but inevitable descent into night? Or, put another way, what's for lunch, I'm bloody starving.<br />
<br />
Impossible though it seems, it was but a blink of an eye since I allowed opaque liquid harvested from a cow - cooled by the chill kiss of the gently humming silver box in the corner of the room in my apartment where culinary alchemy occurs - to cascade over a receptacle filled with corn fashioned into tiny crisp wafers. Dusted with crystals of sweetness, I devoured them, masticating while musing on the nature of sustenance. I felt their energy merge with my own as they became a part of me, until later (about 11.00am to be specific) when they no longer were.<br />
<br />
The midday repast is a special thing. It is when we reward ourselves for time spent not eating, even though we have not stopped ingesting with our minds. Lunch should not be onerous, but a joyous thing, it should ease the passage to afternoon, not jar it. No one wants a jar in their passage. And yet it is a meal to linger over, to celebrate with friends and at which to make new friends (I recall the look of pleasant surprise on the face of the plumber, who had come to fix a dripping tap, when I offered him a roll).<br />
<br />
Yet lunch must not dominate the day, I ask only of it that it leave room for afternoon tea, some street food perhaps on the way to the artisan deli, a fucking enormous great dinner and Madeira cake and sherry before bed. Lunch must lurk in the margins of its sister meals, like a heroin addict in a shadowy alleyway, waiting for the next drunk to mug.<br />
<br />
There is only one thing that can satisfy all these conditions. It is a meeting of carbohydrate and protein, a culinary conclave as ancient as an Italian granny. The cured flesh of the swine environed by milled wheat, water, yeast and salt that has been transformed into the staff of life by the magic of heat. Yes, a ham fucking sandwich.<br />
<br />
Bring the ham whole to the table, along with a pristine loaf and allow your guests to rip away at flesh, crust and crumb with their bare hands. In that way, the meal becomes an energy vibrator that touches your guests in a very deep and real way. And you haven't had to go to the bother of making a load of sarnies for your freeloading mates.<br />
<br />
Too soon, the meal has ended and friends drift away, leaving the gift of their memory in the form of the literal bare bones of the feast. I may use the ham bones for stock, or sharpen them and carry them as weapons (the alleyways around here are full of malevolent heroin addicts). To have offered food to your friends is to commit an act of love. And when you feed others, you feed your own needs too. You are saying 'I love you' but also 'I really love myself'. And no one's going to argue with that. <br />
<br />
<i>Addled Palate is categorically not related to Tamar Adler, and The Eternal Lunchtime in no way resembles her book and Guardian column <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/28/desserts-everlasting-meals-tamar-adler">Everlasting Meals</a>. </i></div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-68137448581173207862015-06-17T10:47:00.003-07:002015-06-17T10:47:55.158-07:00The Kitchen Person ultimate cheese guide <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBhAOaghmu0/VYGwvaGYoLI/AAAAAAAACaQ/XyChiYg2AqQ/s1600/adult-cheese-costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBhAOaghmu0/VYGwvaGYoLI/AAAAAAAACaQ/XyChiYg2AqQ/s320/adult-cheese-costume.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Danish Blue - like licking a mouldy fridge, this Panzer attack of savouriness is the black hole into which most of the earth's salt reserves have been poured. Stick to the pastries and TV dramas. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Ready grated Parmesan - perfect for cheese lovers who are unable to figure out exactly how a grater works. Buy in a cardboard tub for that authentic two-day-old-dried-vomit-on-a-dirty-carpet aroma.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Dairylea - an emulsion of water, skimmed milk (and some cheese) all magically held together by sheer force of profit motive. Any child of the 70's will instantly recognise the unmistakeable flavour of parental neglect. Pairs perfectly with brown floral wallpaper and G-plan furniture.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Philadelphia with Cadbury's - you're a real go-getter, you're clawing your way to the top. You're juggling work, play and family life with a career on the side as an international assassin. You don't have the time, or frankly inclination to eat chocolate and cheese separately. You want it all, all of the time. You want medium fat soft cheese, you want fat-reduced cocoa powder and you want locust bean gum in your face-hole now!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Primula with ham - comes in a handy tube, perfect for squeezing directly into the mouth at 3.00am after downing a crate of Stella while binge-watching an entire season of Entourage. Can also be used as a substitute for toothpaste, grouting and spot cream. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-8305900129755867872015-02-08T05:18:00.002-08:002015-02-08T05:20:00.823-08:00Kingdom of Cooks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>New
e-book Lifts the Lid on the UK Restaurant Scene</b></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xKwHchotKds/VNdiKkOzW1I/AAAAAAAACEY/xh1bXB6KXG0/s1600/andy_lynes_book_final_4500x2820px_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xKwHchotKds/VNdiKkOzW1I/AAAAAAAACEY/xh1bXB6KXG0/s1600/andy_lynes_book_final_4500x2820px_final.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">Andy
Lynes, the well-known food, drink and travel writer, has published
his first e-book, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"><i>Kingdom
of Cooks: Conversations with Britain's New Wave Chefs</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">.
In a series of in-depth interviews with some of the most exciting,
acclaimed and innovative UK chefs, including Simon Rogan (L'Enclume,
Cartmel, and Fera at Claridge’s, London), Mary-Ellen McTague
(Aumbry, Manchester), Neil Rankin (The Smokehouse, London) and Gary
Usher (Sticky Walnut, Chester), the book details the harsh realities
of being a chef, the astonishing hard work it takes to make it to the
top, and reveals the secrets of creating delicious restaurant dishes.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Kingdom
of Cooks</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> is a
must-read for foodies, professional chefs and anyone who has ever
dined in a restaurant and wondered just what goes on behind the
kitchen door. The interviews take the reader behind the scenes of
some of the most famous kitchens in the country to show what it's
really like paying your dues working for chefs such as Gordon Ramsay,
Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
book also documents an important moment in the history of British
restaurant cooking where the eclecticism first mooted by the modern
British movement of the late 80's meets the locavore imperative of
the 21st century to create a truly distinctive style of British food
for the mid-2010's.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br />“I've
been passionately interested in food and drink for more than 30 years
and writing about it for a decade. In my experience, there has never
been a more exciting time to eat out in this country,” says Lynes,
who embarked on a journey of more than 2,000km and criss-crossed the
UK in order to speak to 14 chefs in 13 restaurants, and consumed over
80 courses of restaurant food in the name of research. “Although
London is the accepted capital of food in the UK, I've literally gone
out of my way to prove there is something gastronomically exciting
happening in every corner of the country.” </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
chefs talk about their careers, their cooking styles and the
techniques and ingredients that help set them apart from the crowd.
Individual signature dishes, such as Chris Harrod of The Crown at
Whitebrook's suckling pig with celeriac, pear and woodland sorrel,
are discussed in detail, and you'll learn everything from how to make
the perfect pork crackling to how to use every last scrap of a fish,
literally down to the last scale. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Each
chef has contributed a recipe – these include partridge, burnt
heather, celeriac, watercress and chanterelles by Ben Radford of
Timberyard in Edinburgh; Neil Rankin's Smokehouse short rib
Bourguignon; and salt-baked beetroot, smoked eel, lettuce and chicken
skin by Stepehen Toman of OX in Belfast. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Contact
details for all 13 establishments are included in the book, covering
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, making the book a
short restaurant guide for readers to follow in the author's
footsteps. Numerous other chefs and restaurants, both in the UK and
abroad, are mentioned in passing, making </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Kingdom
of Cooks</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> an instant
primer to the current restaurant scene. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: 11pt;">There
is nothing I like better than a good old chin wag about food and
drink, and I realised that my work as a journalist afforded me
privileged access to talented chefs,” added Lynes. “By
documenting some of those unexpurgated conversations in print I've
allowed readers in on some fascinating conversations they might
otherwise not be party to.”</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Kingdom
of Cooks: Conversations with Britain's New Wave Chefs</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
by Andy Lynes is now available from Amazon's Kindle store, priced
£2.99. </span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">Andy
Lynes is an author and freelance food, drink and travel writer. His
work appears in The Times, The Telegraph and The Independent. He
has reviewed restaurants for the Metro and the Guardian, and is
currently a member of the </span></span><a href="http://60secondreviews.com/"><span style="color: #094ee5;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US"><u>60SecondReviews.com</u></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">
team. Andy is also a contributing editor to Seasoned by
Chef's magazine, and food and drink editor of Zuri magazine. He
writes regularly for Host, the pub and bar magazine, and The Caterer.
As well, he has contributed to a number of books, including two
editions of </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Where
Chefs Eat</i></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">
and the </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Oxford
Companion to Food</i></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">.
His second book, </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US"><i>How
to be a Chilli Head</i></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">,
will be published by Portico in May 2015. </span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span lang="en-US">Chef/restaurateur
Simon Rogan commented: “Andy is a true professional. He cares about
food, and likes to dig deep into the creative side of the whole
cooking process in order to understand chefs and restaurants.”</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Andy
Lynes is available for interviews, or to write articles related to
the book. A PDF version of the book is available for review on
request. His contact details are: Email - andylynes@gmail.com, or
Mobile - 07838-299 589.</span></div>
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-16885785616431139502015-01-28T12:05:00.001-08:002015-01-28T12:05:20.610-08:00Lynes & Co Pop Up Event, 6 Feb, Brighton <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-top-width: 0px; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><br /><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 197px;"><tbody></tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-top-width: 0px; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 9px;" valign="top"><img align="left" alt="" class="CToWUd" src="https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/h42wviCkRWoRN6C1eaNf9PJEN3KryK1dL3f7DMU0b1ImwH2a9xMYk5QHEaphvFoySvqQ0jt4-fWygbDSODh6N9IKjxcefds82mRxE5I243BekAYsG0fgcAFXL_bHu44KDn9T22z73Dey_kjVCP6Fi9RTwNY6euBq7QMcWkY=s0-d-e1-ft#https://gallery.mailchimp.com/39682e44fe772470104c5c919/images/d0639735-d411-470a-88f7-2ce2c7ebd611.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline !important; max-width: 200px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="200" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-top-width: 0px; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 18px;" valign="top"><h1 style="font-size: 40px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 50px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
Book now for 'Generations'<br /><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">Lynes & Co are delighted to announce their first pop up event in Brighton </span></h1>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Brighton based restaurant critic, author and Masterchef semi-finalist Andy Lynes will be swapping his laptop for a stove top when he collaborates with his professional chef son George at a pop up dinner in central Brighton in February.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">The event, titled 'Generations' will take place on 6 February at The Marwood Cafe in Brighton's Lanes in association with Tabl.com and see the father and son team collaborate on a four course menu that will draw on their diverse culinary experience with dishes such as ham hock, broad bean and Sussex curd served with scorched beer-pickled onions, warm bacon and mustard emulsion and parsley oil.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Although this is not the first time Andy has cooked at a pop up in Brighton (as founder of the Brighton Food Society, he has headed up the kitchens on several events since the society's inception in 2012), it is the first time he's put his name to an event. 'Cooking for up to 50 people at several sold out events over the past couple of years and getting great feedback has given me the confidence to do something for myself with my family. It's a great opportunity to get together with my son to cook, he works long hours so its a rare chance to get into the kitchen together. My wife Gill and daughter Alice will be there on the night too, running the front of house alongside The Marwood's staff.'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Andy is no stranger to professional kitchens, having staged in his spare time in numerous restaurants including Michelin-starred establishments in London and Belfast. He once ran the cold starter section for a night at the acclaimed Coohill's in Atlanta, Georgia serving 100 people during a hectic dinner service, and has worked part-time in the kitchens of Hotel du Vin Brighton where the head chef at the time was Graham Ball, formerly of the two Michelin-starred The Square in London.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">As an amateur cook, he reached the semi finals of the BBC's Masterchef TV show in 1997 and was the only British contestant ever to take part in the prestigious Sofitel Amateur Cook of the Year competition in Lyon in 2000 with chef mentor Bruce Poole of the Michelin-starred Chez Bruce, competing against teams from all over Europe.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">George, 21, began his career as an apprentice at Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning The Chilli Pickle in Brighton before taking a position as commis chef at The Coal Shed, also in Brighton. In his short career, George has managed to fit in stints at Maze and Chez Bruce, both in London and the Michelin-starred Curlew in Bodiam.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">'I've never cooked with my dad in a professional kitchen, so its going to be an interesting challenge,' says George. 'I'm really excited to have this opportunity to present some of my own dishes under my own name for the first time.'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">The event is being promoted by Tabl.com, the Brighton based company that provides an online platform for pop-up kitchens, supper clubs and 'food adventures'. 'Tabl.com is thrilled to be working with Andy Lynes and his son George on a rare pop up dining event,' says Andrew Fisher ,co-founder of Tabl Media. 'As a nationally renowned food critic, food writer, and accomplished chef in his own right, Andy is collaborating with his talented progeny to bring us a one-off culinary experience that fits with our mission to bring interesting people together for shared experiences around food. Tabl is going from strength to strength with big and exciting expansion plans for 2015.'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Andy, a regular contributor to the national press on all things food drink and travel, has written restaurant review columns for the Metro and the Guardian and is a member of the 60SecondReviews.com team. 'It's a bit scary being on the other side of fence for once and putting myself on the line like this, but I'm confident that we'll be able to deliver some fantastic food and that it will be a really great night.'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">The menu is partly inspired by Andy's travels around the UK last year, researching his newly released eBook Kingdom of Cooks: Conversations with Britain's New Wave chefs. 'Speaking to a dozen young chefs, including Douglas McMaster at Silo in Brighton was truly inspiring. I picked up loads of ideas about ingredients, techniques and flavour combinations as well as how to present food in a modern way and all of that will be reflected on the menu.'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Generations</span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">6 February 2015</span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">The Marwood</span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Brighton</span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Book via Tabl.com (<a href="http://tabl.com/events/132870" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">tabl.com/events/132870</a>)</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br /></div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-65708596047819892382014-12-29T07:32:00.000-08:002014-12-29T07:32:00.496-08:00Foodie predictions for 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNJhoqhODRM/VKFycIyOp9I/AAAAAAAAB7M/oHpZ4qsT1FI/s1600/condensed%2Bmilk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNJhoqhODRM/VKFycIyOp9I/AAAAAAAAB7M/oHpZ4qsT1FI/s1600/condensed%2Bmilk.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Think 2014 was a great
year for foodies? Then think again because 2015 is set to be a great
year for foodies like 2014 was a great year for foodies, but even
better. Than 2014 was. Why? Because things will happen that haven't
happened before, or at least not in quite the same way, making it one
of the best years for foodies that people will be able to remember
once it's all over. But it's not over yet, so here's Kitchen Person's
2015 foodie hot list for 2015.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Simply follow our hot
tips for the coming year and 2015 will be your foodie-ist year ever.
Unless you followed loads and loads of tips last year and it was a
really amazing foodie year in which case its going to pretty
difficult to top. Here's a tip. Don't follow quite so many foodie
tips next year and then you'll be able to create an upward trend
that, if you're careful, won't top out until say 2022 and then you'll
be able to legitimately start again and keep on having great foodie
years until you die of a diet-related disease. Happy New Year!!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1. Die-hard foodies are
set to flock to Stamford Hill where Lickspittle, the world's first
restaurant built entirely from kale and condescension opens in early
Feb. Menu details are sketchy but expect small plates such as damp
sausage with fermented rage alongside a wide selection of pickled
waiters.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2. British supermarkets
will be sneered from the retail parks and high streets by the culinary elite and driven
underground. Buying a prawn ring from Iceland will become edgy, the gastronomic equivalent of bare knuckle fighting, resulting in a slew of
arch, knowing and wordless magazine photo features, signalling the return
of supermarkets to the mainstream, albeit re-branded as 'artisan
food halls' and selling the same stock as ever, but all wrapped in
butcher's paper.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
3. Somewhere remote,
difficult to pronounce and with virtually no cuisine to speak of is
the new must-go-to foodie hot spot. Don't let the fact that its one
and only speciality is served in a restaurant in Acton that's far
superior to anything you'd find the native country put you off going-
book as soon as you read the broadsheet double page spread.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
4. Someone, somewhere
will serve a de-constructed Aztec Bar as a dessert. They will have an
ironic look on their face as they do it. The bill will be presented
with home made Black Jacks and Fruit Salads.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
5. By the end of 2015,
your bill for monthly mail order food and drink clubs will far exceed
your mortgage payments. You will come to your senses just before you
hit the PayPal option for Heritage Carrot Club.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
6. If you want to drink
right then think right and get in early on the home brewed Tizer
craze that's set to sweep the nation next year as part of the
locavore soft drink movement heading our way from the states very
soon.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
7. Participate in Eat
Dirt, the government-backed campaign to help address the impending
food security apocalypse by encouraging ordinary families to chow
down on soil from their own gardens (Londoners should ignore this tip
and continue to eat in a newly opened restaurant everyday, but are
encouraged to spare a thought for less fortunate provincials).
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
8. Drink, like, a
really cool cocktail? In some bar or other?
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
9. From 6-14 March,
Italian superstar chef Adalberto Abandonato brings his 96 course
birdsong-inspired tasting menu to central London. Abandonato's
cooking is so progressive that diners don't actually eat any food but
are 'forced to sense the taste, texture and aroma through the chef's
psychic will and sheer force of personality'. From £999 per head
plus matched psychic 'wines'.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
10. Condensed milk is
the ingredient for 2015. Whether it's served chilled in its cute
retro can as a pre-dinner drink, cascaded into soups, stews and chip
pans or simply roasted over an open pit fire, this versatile and massively
sweetened dairy product will add zing to any switched on cook's
repertoire next year. </div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-45816515344525598832014-12-09T03:01:00.000-08:002014-12-09T03:09:58.524-08:00Dining Decorum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was very flattered to be asked to contribute a few quotes to this piece on dining etiquette by Jenny King, deputy editor of Conde Nast Traveller Middle East. The article appeared in the October 2014 food special edition and they've kindly given me permission to reproduce it here. You can download the whole magazine and other editions for free from the App store and you can follow the publication on Facebook at Conde Nast Traveller Middle East, on Instagram – CntravellerME and Twitter - @CNT_Middleeast.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/249625374/Dining-Decorum" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Dining Decorum on Scribd">Dining Decorum</a> </div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="1.5642361111111112" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_77291" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/249625374/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-Kzybs2qPmkg0du01A6pm&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe></div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-26797113615173377832014-11-27T10:51:00.000-08:002014-11-27T10:51:04.251-08:00Restaurant review: Le Soixante-Neuf <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Mustela_nivalis_-British_Wildlife_Centre-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Mustela_nivalis_-British_Wildlife_Centre-4.jpg" height="273" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A weasel, yesterday</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>by guest reviewer Crispin Weasel, restaurant critic,
beauty and sex columnist and editorial consultant on Middle Eastern
affairs for the Mid-Wessex Times</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm not really a fan of French cooking.
Too many fancy sauces for my liking Give me good old fashioned
British grub any day. But when my good friend A invited me along to
try out Le Soixante-Neuf, a brand new hi-toned joint opened by our
continental chums, I couldn't resist.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We wended our way down the Wessex lanes
in A's open top sports car, the wind blowing through my lustrous
mane, and arrived at the converted Victorian mansion set in 20 acres
of stunning Mid-Wessex countryside in plenty of time for a sharpener
before lunch. As we sipped our pints of single malt with brown and
mild chasers, we perused the menu.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now, I'm no cheerleader for le
Française as I've said, yet I could hardly choose between the
delicious sounding dishes and we ordered a second round as we umm'd
and ah'd over the thrilling document we held in our hands. The 'foie
gras pochés en Tesco lager value' sounded to die
for and the salmon cremated in lighter fluid intrigued. Hell, I
wanted to order the entire carte.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
At last, we breathlessly gave our order
and followed the waiter to our comfortable chairs at our linen clad
table. As we sat down, we noted that the bright and airy room was
redolent of a cruise liner, all wood panelling and Art Deco stuff. We
sat back, sipping our apperitifs (A, a cheeky crème de menthe
cocktail; me, a sambuca and Orangina dirty martini, both whipped up
with élan by the talented mixologist) and admired the performance
before us as the waiters moved around the room with all the
choreographed grace of a corps de ballet.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As we chugged down the crisp Chablis,
poured beautifully by our sommelier (who was obviously delighted when
I pronounced his title correctly: 'so-meh-yay') we appraised our
fellow diners. To our right, a young couple dressed in high street
clobber who obviously didn't know their béchamel from their
guacamole (maybe they will read this review and learn something) and
to our right, a table of businessmen buttoned up in their suits and
ties and more interested in discussing warhead sales targets than the
quality of the crust on their bread (we of course noted it's
excellence).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We had already popped the cork on a
fine bottle of claret when the starters arrived, but they were well
worth waiting for. If the chef is a conductor, and his cooks players
in a culinary orchestra, then my armadillo fillet on a bed of roasted
cactus was a symphony of flavours that danced like angels on my
tongue. Indeed, it was piping hot and a generous portion too but I
finished every last morsel, scraping them from the plate with the
side of my knife. A's baby back ribs made for a dirty, filthy, sexy,
messy, evil, Godless, serial killing, pagan Morris dance of a plate
of food that had us both sucking his fingers clean.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We polished off the mid-meal sorbet
without which no fine dining experience is complete. This was a
particularly fine example fashioned from kitten saliva and ennui that
we washed down with a slurp of the Super Tuscan we had moved onto.
Then our main courses arrived and our lovely lunch was ruined. Its no
exaggeration to say that they were not only the worst things
we have ever been served in a restaurant, but they were in fact the
worst things ever to be served in any restaurant anywhere, ever.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
How the chef had managed to concoct
such hideous creations from such fine locally sourced, hand grown,
artisan, virginal, Soil Association certified ingredients I'll never
know. My lamb's brain with chocolate jus looked like something you'd
step on in an aggressively working class public park, while A's
torchon of Boursin a la Lawson looked like it had been scraped off a
Glasgow pavement on the Sunday morning after the Saturday night
before, and then served with 'chef's special sauce' if you know what
I mean.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Thank God then for desserts. You know
me, I can't resist a pud and these were quite simply divine, (as was
the bottle of Château d'Yquem '36 that we were by now necking back
at a frantic rate). A Caramac and Softmint soufflé was heaven sent,
forged by the sweat of some angelic chef pâtissier whose nimble
fingers are probably equally at home playing Chopin's Ballade No.1 in
Gm on a rare day off. It was ethereally light and melted in the
mouth.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By contrast, A's tarte au flapjack was
all crunch. And texture. And chewiness. It was sweet. It was nutty.
It was the best tarte au flapjack full stop. We didn't want them to
end so we ate them very very slowly and ordered another bottle of the
spiffing Yquem to wash them down with.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the main courses (never to be
spoken of again), we gladly paid the bill over a cognac or two and
would have willingly paid more had they let us. As we slowly made our
way back to the car we looked back longingly to Le Siouxant-Neuf, sad
that we were leaving but content in the knowledge that we would soon
return.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A three course meal with wine, water
and service costs an arm, a leg, your first born child and last shred
of dignity. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>(Attentive readers may have already realised that Crispin Weasel, and indeed Le Soixante-Neuf are both figments of my imagination, although both are very distantly based on composites of real people and real places. This piece was written as an illustration of the worst excesses and cliches of modern restaurant criticism for the students of Lulu Grimes's Food Writing Course, held at Leith's School of Food and Wine in London where I am a regular guest speaker in the 'art' of restaurant reviewing. Check the <a href="http://www.leiths.com/">website </a>for dates of the next course)</i> </div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-47876095503353152632014-11-20T01:45:00.002-08:002014-11-20T01:50:54.072-08:00After the flood:Brad McDonald, The Lockhart, London <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div nbsp="" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
This article was scheduled to appear in the October 2014 edition of Food Arts magazine. Unfortunately, the publication folded in September so I've decided to make the PDF available here. The final touches including picture captions and last minute sub editing were not completed so please excuse the imperfections.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/247233983/Brad-McDonald" nbsp="" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Brad McDonald on Scribd">Brad McDonald</a></div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_80074" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/247233983/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe></div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-82625426370065973802014-11-19T14:58:00.000-08:002019-08-25T08:37:20.884-07:00Mashed: Disappointment on Death Row<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
At a gala hotel dinner I attended
recently, the guest chefs cooking that night came into the restaurant
to answer questions from the customers. Inevitably, one of the
queries was 'what would be your last meal'. The reply involved large
quantities of caviar, a lobster and a cote de beuof among other
things. The luxurious excess of the answer was met with gasps,
laughter and a smattering of applause. As a well traveled food
writer, I too was asked the same question by someone at my table. My
response, which I'll get to later, was met with palpable
disappointment and a puzzled expression.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The last meal or death row dinner
question has been popularised in recent times first by American bad
boy chef, writer and broadcaster of note Anthony Bourdain (his most
<a href="http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/25/anthony-bourdain-last-meal-favorite-food-alcohol-video/">recent response</a> to the question - really good sushi) and subsequently
in a pair of books by Melanie Dunea called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Last-Supper-Worlds-Greatest/dp/0747594112/ref=asap_B001K8H8K6_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416434439&sr=1-1">My Last Supper</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Last-Supper-Portraits-Interviews/dp/1605290769/ref=asap_B001K8H8K6_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416434439&sr=1-2">My LastSupper: The Next Course</a>. At the beginning of 2014, I was commissioned
by a national British newspaper to write a last meal feature. I spoke
to more than a dozen of the UK's leading chefs who offered
suggestions ranging from a meal served on a beach in Thailand to
bouillabaisse eaten in bed with a beautiful woman in Provence. The
piece is yet to appear, although it may still do at some point, but
in the meantime and entirely coincidentally, a rival paper has
launched it's own <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/last-bites">Last Bites</a> column based on
exactly the same premise.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The gala dinner wasn't the first time
I've been asked the question and I'm sure it won't be the last, but
I've always found the fascination around the subject a little
bewildering. If we're very lucky, most of us won't know that we're
eating our last meal, which could quite easily be a packet of prawn
cocktail Discos and a can of Tizer seconds before we're mowed down by
the no 47 bus, blown up by a fundamentalist or drop dead on the loo
while forcing out a recalcitrant stool (our constipation perhaps
caused by a terrible diet of prawn cocktail Discos and Tizer).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And unless we're the fundamentalists
doing the blowing up, few of us will be in a position to order a last
meal on death row. And even if we are on death row, I'm not sure our
appetites are going to be up to much, an opinion that has been
reinforced recently by watching <a href="http://www.wernerherzog.com/">Werner Herzog's</a> documentary film Into
the Abyss and related TV series <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/death-row/on-demand">On Death Row</a>. They make for
fascinating, if harrowing viewing. During Herzog's interviews with the murderers who are the subjects of the films, the topic t of
what they'll eat for their last meal doesn't come up. Mostly
because these are serious films tackling the ethical issues
surrounding capital punishment, but also because its a bullshit
question that trivialises and demean. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The death row cell, just a few steps
away from the room where the prisoner will be strapped to a gurney
for their last moments on earth is a solemn place indeed. Put it this
way, it's not the fucking Ivy. And of course in reality, every death
row meal is intravenous, consisting of an amuse bouche of sodium
thiopenta (anesthetizing barbiturate) followed by an appetiser of
pancuronium bromide (muscle relaxant) and a main course of potassium
chloride to induce cardiac arrest. Maybe they get the sweet course in
the next life, or maybe they've already had their just desserts.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So anyway, lets imagine for a moment
that by some miracle I've avoided unexpected or slow painful death
and I'm in a position to order up something tasty (perhaps I'm booked
in at Dignitas before the cancer really kicks in or I've been
sentenced to death for stabbing the last person who asked me what my
death row meal would be). My last supper/final meal/ death row dinner
would be (drum roll please), poached eggs on toast.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GNljpmKXF8/VG0d5wkHBDI/AAAAAAAAB2g/u1qYPy5BgdM/s1600/poached-egg-vortex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GNljpmKXF8/VG0d5wkHBDI/AAAAAAAAB2g/u1qYPy5BgdM/s1600/poached-egg-vortex.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A poached egg on toast, yesterday (image from cookperfecteggs.com)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
OK, I admit it, my choice is partly to
pull the rug from under the whole thing which I find tiresome in its
predictability. I also don't like being cornered by the question
which seems to have the passive/aggressive undertone of 'oh, so
you're a food writer are you? Prove it' and it also begs the sort of
food snobbery that's still alarmingly common among the mostly middle class food writing community. But it's also
something that I genuinely crave on a regular basis, something I
think I could manage to eat given the (fictitious) circumstances and
something that I would find comforting in my last moments. As much as
I enjoy fillet steak, truffles, shellfish, rich sauces, expensive
Burgundy and poncey multi-course tasting menus, its not food I find
myself yearning for that often (well, apart from the expensive Burgundy).</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For food to really make an impact, it
has to be simple and memorable. I recall standing at the pass of
Michelin-starred restaurant, observing a lunch service for an article
I was writing about a well known London chef. One of the sous chefs
proudly pushed a plate my way (not to eat, just to look at. I didn't
even get a cup of tea that day, but that's another story) and said,
'That's the lamb dish', as though it was a 'thing' and not just a
billion disparate elements forced together in time and space by a massively overstaffed
kitchen brigade of testosterone-fueled bully boys and looking like every
other main course being served up in every other Michelin-starred kitchen
in the country at that exact same time.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So my simple, memorable last meal would
be two slices of home-made bread (any home-made bread, even if it's
baked with smart price flour, instant yeast, cheap table salt and tap
water will beat the living crap out of anything you can buy in a
shop, and I mean anything), well toasted, spread generously with the
best butter available (ideally the unpasteurised stuff Claude Bosi of
<a href="http://www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/">Hibiscus</a> gets from Shropshire - how's that for a bit of culinary elitism) and topped with two fresh eggs poached
in a large pan of gently simmering water (you can put a little
vinegar in to help the coagulation, I don't mind as long as I can't
taste it. Even better, take a tip from chef Tim Johnson at <a href="http://www.restaurant-apicius.co.uk/">Apicius</a>
restaurant in Cranbrook and use a tall asparagus pot, the long drop and rise allowing for the perfect
shape to form as the egg poaches). A pinch of <a href="http://www.cornishseasalt.co.uk/">Cornish sea salt</a>, a twist of freshly ground pepper and a mug of
builders tea and I'm all set. I'm just not dying to eat it. </div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-48768344058465617062014-11-19T01:07:00.000-08:002014-11-19T01:07:15.034-08:00The Butter Viking <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vyh37Z21LiI/VGt611EwujI/AAAAAAAAB1U/70qyBg6rqSQ/s1600/Butter%2BViking%2B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vyh37Z21LiI/VGt611EwujI/AAAAAAAAB1U/70qyBg6rqSQ/s1600/Butter%2BViking%2B.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: start;">Patrik Johansson aka The Butter Viking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Patrik Johansson has had quite a life.
He managed a coffee plantation in Madagascar, prospected for gold,
lived in New York and Paris and for ten years owned his own IT
company. But for the last six years, he's been living in the Swedish
wilderness and making butter. 'I made more money, but there was no
passion, no romantic thoughts about grass and cows,' said Johansson
over coffee at London restaurant Grain Store where earlier this year
he collaborated on a special menu with head chef Bruno Loubet and
Frank Hederman of Belvelly Smoke House in Cork.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Commercial brands aside, Johansson is
the world's best known butter maker and the 47 year old Swede is
unabashed about the reason for his fame as the Butter Viking. 'I
guess its all thanks to Noma. We were supplying the restaurant just
before they were named number one for the first time. It was amazing,
we went there and had a meeting with Rene, he was the first one to
buy our virgin butter which is quite different to normal butter. He
saw the potential in it whereas a lot of other chefs didn't really
understand.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vm5DoGQ7DOQ/VGt8A7sIVhI/AAAAAAAAB1o/Hw8qWCpABE4/s1600/2014-02-25%2B19.14.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vm5DoGQ7DOQ/VGt8A7sIVhI/AAAAAAAAB1o/Hw8qWCpABE4/s1600/2014-02-25%2B19.14.58.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johansson's butters churned at the Grain Store in London, February 2014 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Things could have turned out
differently however. 'About four years ago, a Swedish chef told me he
was going to London to work for Gordon Ramsay and I asked him to take
samples of our butter with him. I heard nothing. I tried to call the
Swedish chef but no answer. It was not until one year after that he
told me he didn’t dare to present it to Ramsay because it was so
different.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So what makes Johansson's virgin butter
('Normal butter we have plastic gloves and we work it with our hands,
this butter is never touched by man so it's kind of virgin and the
name kind of stuck,' says Johansson) so unique?
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
'My grandma was a butter maker in the
40's 50's and 60's and she taught me how to make butter, but I'm
sorry grandma, I do the opposite to what you might say. I've read 400
scientific papers on the subject and I have been experimenting a lot.
I don’t wash my butter with a lot of water to get rid of the
buttermilk, on the contrary, I want as much of the buttermilk to stay
in the butter. It may not keep as long as her butter did and it's not
suitable for frying meat or baking, its only suitable for the table.
We want maximum flavour, not maximum 'keepability'.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QylL7MFarnw/VGt-MejNabI/AAAAAAAAB2A/cIxlKJ1peIQ/s1600/grain%2Bstore%2Binterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QylL7MFarnw/VGt-MejNabI/AAAAAAAAB2A/cIxlKJ1peIQ/s1600/grain%2Bstore%2Binterior.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grain Store restaurant, London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Johansson refuses to reveal the
entirety of his production method but does say that he uses 40 per
cent fat cream that's cultured for three days (instead of the more
usual 8-18 hours) and that a secret temperature curve and precise
timings are crucial to the churning process. 'If I churn five
seconds too long, if I just turn my back its ruined, it turns into
normal butter and buttermilk. I have to constantly watch it.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The result is an incredibly distinctive
and delicious butter; light and creamy but with a complex flavour and
pronounced but balanced acidity. It makes an ideal partner to
Hederman's superb, subtly beech wood smoked salmon that's served as a
starter at the Grain Store meal. As well butter made from crème
fraiche smoked by Hederman, Johansson served his p<span lang="en">ièce
de résistance</span>, King's Butter, originally created for a royal
visit to Gothenburg by the King of Sweden.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s64Ov56ZpV0/VGt7-Vv6S_I/AAAAAAAAB1g/TgDOchKbv4c/s1600/2014-02-25%2B18.49.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s64Ov56ZpV0/VGt7-Vv6S_I/AAAAAAAAB1g/TgDOchKbv4c/s1600/2014-02-25%2B18.49.26.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Hederman's smoked salmon served with virgin butter at the Grain Store</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
'We would never sell it because it
takes ages to make. I came up with this idea of cream cultured for
three days and salted until it sings in your mouth. I melt regular
butter and add it drop by drop on the surface of the cream, wait a
minute or two, fold it down gently, repeat the process 30-40 times
until the cream is saturated with small pearls of butter.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Passion is a word too easily used in
connection with food, but not when it comes to Johansson. Unable to
compromise on quality, he turned his back on a thousand square metre
production facility when investors suggested he used cheaper cream
and now commutes weekly to the Noma kitchens to make virgin butter on
site.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
'I hope to find a place here in London
where I can come two times a month and make some butter. There are
several interesting restaurants here and we have previously supplied
some places,' says Johansson. 'I have to find an investor again I
guess. There might be someone who understands. We make a profit, its
not that much but I feel good. I just love this food business.' </div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-79142526943393321482014-11-18T02:11:00.002-08:002014-11-18T02:18:34.110-08:00Recipe: Lamb cake with pea, anchovy and mint<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This recipe came about after a
conversation with chef Stephen Terry of <a href="http://www.thehardwick.co.uk/">The Hardwick</a> in Abergavenny
about fish cakes which he makes with finely diced and sweated fennel,
leeks, celery, onion, garlic and chili plus lemon zest, horseradish,
tomato sauce, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, basil, tarragon
and parsley mixed into the potato and fish base. My version replaces
the fish with braised lamb neck and Terry's long list of veg and
condiments with peas and shallots and an anchovy, caper and mint
mayonnaise which gives the cake lightness as well as loads of
flavour. I served the cake with braised shank and pan fried chump of
Richard Briggs's amazing <a href="http://www.briggs-shetlandlamb.co.uk/">Shetland lamb</a> which you can order online between September and December annually (last orders for 2014
are 29 November).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aOtkCT1ka_I/VGsZI3_96jI/AAAAAAAAB00/maRAWFCrlhs/s1600/Potato%2Bpea%2Band%2Banchovy%2Bcake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aOtkCT1ka_I/VGsZI3_96jI/AAAAAAAAB00/maRAWFCrlhs/s1600/Potato%2Bpea%2Band%2Banchovy%2Bcake.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamb cake with braised shank and roast chump of Richard Briggs's Shetland lamb </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Ingredients
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
(makes 8 generous sized cakes)
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For the braised lamb neck </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 whole neck of Shetland lamb or 500g
lamb neck on the bone</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 carrot, chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 onion, chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 stick celery, chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 tbsp tomato puree</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
440ml Guinness</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 bay leaf</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sea salt</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
black pepper</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For the mayonnaise </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2 egg yolks</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
7.5ml cider vinegar</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 tsp Dijon mustard</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
75ml extra virgin olive oil</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
75ml vegetable oil</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 tbsp capers, chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
15 mint leaves, finely chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
juice of half a lemon</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sea salt</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
black pepper</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For the cakes</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
800g potatoes, peeled weight, boiled</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
150g frozen peas, defrosted but not
cooked</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2 banana shallots, finely diced and sweated in 1 tbsp olive oil</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
flour for dusting</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
vegetable oil for shallow frying
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sea salt</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
black pepper</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Pre-heat the oven to 150<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">º</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">C.
</span> Heat the rapeseed oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan, season the lamb then fry in the oil until browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen
paper. Add the carrot, onion and celery to the pan and sweat until
coloured. Add the tomato puree and cook over a low heat for 5
minutes, stirring all the time. Add the Guinness, deglazing the pan
as you go. Put the lamb into an casserole dish and pour over the
vegetables and Guinness mixture. Add water if necessary but the lamb should be partially uncovered. Add
the bay leaf, cover the casserole and braise in the oven for 2 hours or until completely tender - the meat should fall off the bone. Allow to cool then remove the meat
from the bone, shred and set aside. Strain the braising liquid and
reduce and use to make a jus or gravy.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Make a mayonnaise by combining the
yolks, vinegar and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper,
then slowly whisk in the oils. Add the capers, mint and anchovy then
taste to check the seasoning. Add as much of the lemon juice and salt
and pepper as you think necessary.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In a large bowl, crush the potatoes
then mix in the lamb, peas and shallots, then stir in half the
mayonnaise. If the mixture is too tight, add more mayo a tablespoon
at a time until your achieve the desired consistency (you may need to
add the full amount). You want it reasonably loose but not sloppy or
batter-like. Chill for 2 hours in the fridge.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Pre-heat your oven to 180<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">º</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">C.</span>
Form the mixture into 8 balls then flatten out into thick cakes. Dust
with flour, tapping away the excess. Heat the vegetable oil in a
roomy frying pan and fry the cakes for 2-3 minutes on each side until
nicely browned (you may need to do this in batches. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and cook in the
oven for 8 minutes or until they are hot in the middle. Serve with
braised or roast lamb. The cakes re-heat successfully in the oven. Serve any left over topped with an egg and some hollandaise for brunch the next day. </div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-86491043455902384072014-11-17T10:40:00.005-08:002014-11-17T10:40:27.518-08:00Northcote food festival : a beautiful obsession <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>As Northcote announce an amazing <a href="http://www.northcote.com/obsession-2015">international line up</a> for the hotel's 15th annual Obsession food festival in January next year, Andy Lynes recalls chef Paul Cunningham of Henne Kirkeby Kro in Denmark's memorable visit to the 2014 event</i> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gy-b1TU_0PM/VGo8iVGWcVI/AAAAAAAABzA/Z7PAdmirh_I/s1600/Paul%2BCunningham%2Bturbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gy-b1TU_0PM/VGo8iVGWcVI/AAAAAAAABzA/Z7PAdmirh_I/s1600/Paul%2BCunningham%2Bturbot.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On a crisp Thursday afternoon in
January, the recently and impressively refurbished kitchens at
Northcote country hotel reverberate to the sound of Adam Ant. Guest
chef Paul Cunningham of Henne Kirkeby Kro in Denmark interrupts
preparations for his seven course dinner to be served that night as
part of the hotel's annual Obsession festival, to re-enact the 80's
pop star's Prince Charming dance routine as immortalised in the
famous video. As Cunningham strides regally across the kitchen, his
moves are surreptitiously videoed on iPhone, to be replayed to
everyone's great amusement at the champagne reception where
Cunningham will mingle with the guests while sipping a glass of Louis
Roederer that's garnished with a whole black truffle.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's a scene that sums up the joyful
nature of Obsession, an event that over the last 14 years has grown
from four nights to ten nights of guests chefs travelling to Langho
on the outskirts of Blackburn in the North of England from around the
UK and Europe to cook with chef and propriator Nigel Haworth and his
brigade.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Over the years, the festival's
multi-Michelin starred line up has featured the biggest culinary
names in the UK including Heston Blumenthal, Fergus Henderson,
Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux Jr and Phil Howard of two Michelin starred
The Square who has cooked at no less than at 11 Obsession festivals.
International chefs include Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz, Spain (2
stars), Jacob Jan Boerma, Restaurant De Leest, Vaasen, Netherlands (3
stars) and Dieter Koschina, Vila Joya, Portugal (2 stars).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
'They tried to get hold of Rene Redzepi
and they couldn’t so they asked me,' jokes Cunningham, who first
cooked at Obsession in 2007. 'It's always fun and they're always very
hospitable. January to March we're closed so I guest chef in the
winter. Its just nice to catch up with some friends - you don’t do
it for the money but the PR value is priceless.'</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For Haworth, who owns the Northcote
group (that also includes the Ribble Valley Inns pub company) with
business partner and wine expert Craig Bancroft, the hospitality that
Cunningham enjoyed is a key to the event's continued success. 'I
cooked at an event a few years ago and you feel like a piece of meat.
You just go, cook, come away and think, I wouldn’t do that again.
But if somebody loves you a bit and shows you why the area and
suppliers are important to them and why the chefs should want to come
and absorb some of your skills, its a great thing. I feel very
honoured because so many people say they would love to do it.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7k8w_DsR7T0/VGo8_KXpDZI/AAAAAAAABzI/2HiZdbiHQw4/s1600/Paul%2BCunningham%2Btruffles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7k8w_DsR7T0/VGo8_KXpDZI/AAAAAAAABzI/2HiZdbiHQw4/s1600/Paul%2BCunningham%2Btruffles.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Although Haworth is a proudly British
chef (he's championed local produce and indiginous dishes like
Lancashire hotpot for more than a quarter of a century), the seeds of
Obsession were sown in America. 'I went to the Masters of Food and
Wine festival in Carmel and was completely inspired by working with
some of the top chefs, the Kellers of this world, and I came back
thinking, could I host something like that here? <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span></span></span>I wanted to create something where I
didn’t work my absolute nuts off for December and then lose it all
in January.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Haworth describes the first event in
2001 (billed simply as a Festival of Food and Wine, the Obsession tag
didn't arrive until 2006) as 'a suck it a see senario' and had no
idea if the four nights that included TV chef Nick Nairn and the
Newcastle-based Michelin star holder Terry Laybourne would attract
any interest. In the end it was a sell out and Haworth was far more
ambitious in 2002, extending the festival to 6 nights and inviting
his first overseas chef, Danyel Couet of Fredsgatan, Stockholm.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the good natured vibe, the
event is not without its challenges. 'It was chaos,' admits
Cunningham. 'My restaurant manager Daniel said its like giving birth
to a horse, I don’t know how that feels and I don’t want to know
how that feels but it was difficult. I wanted to give the guests a
bit of something different. In Denmark I've got this tiny kitchen and
we play rock and roll in there. Its nice, its fun and we can do it
because we've only got 20- odd guests. But when you're doing 100
lovely guests in three different rooms and you've got to go in and
present the food as well it all goes a bit...and it went 'a bit' last
night. But things tasted how they should. We made all of the sauces
in advance and brought them from home over here and just did the
finishing touches yesterday.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
'Obsession is 10 days of
'not-what-we-normally-do,' says Haworth. 'You allow people to express
themselves as best they can. You're seeing different characters, some
are methodical and some are not, some are really disciplined and some
are not and I think that's the wonderful thing about cookery. That's
what fascinates me, when I work with someone like Paul Cunningham you
see why food comes out differently, because the unorthodox reaches
great heights.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FNFx0XzJTjw/VGo_fFW3e4I/AAAAAAAAB0g/7W1-wQM6IMs/s1600/Champagne%2Band%2Btruffle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FNFx0XzJTjw/VGo_fFW3e4I/AAAAAAAAB0g/7W1-wQM6IMs/s1600/Champagne%2Band%2Btruffle.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Haworth's customers evidently agree.
Dishes like Cunningham's oxtail and Faeno cepe, smoked bone marrow
and truffle, and Hvide Sande Turbot with pig ears went down a storm.
'The most expensive item on the menu last night was the turbot at £25
a kilo and the biggest one was 8.8 kilos. Those were maybe six days
old, but you need six days with a turbot. I was sat in a Japanese
restaurant a little while ago in Tokyo and we had 14 day old, week
old and day old tuna. Unbelievable, it was liking eating aged game.
It was an amazing experience and you can do it with a fish like
turbot, you can age it and it only gets better.'
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Haworth describes the administrative,
organisational and marketing efforts required for Obsession as 'huge'
and credits sales and marketing director Kaye Mathew for her behind
the scenes efforts. 'You are a bit tired by the end of the festival,
partly because of the excess night activities until about three
o'clock every morning, but you are also re- energised because you've
had an experience that's very refreshing. Once the cooking's over the
hospitality really ignites and it's great that the chefs mingle with
the customers and that's what the customers want, people are just
genuinely interested in what makes a kitchen tick. We had people
dancing in the aisles last night to a point where I couldn’t get
the desserts out, it was wacky.'</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>Paul Cunningham's Obsession menu
January 2014
</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkzNWJIAEPk/VGo9NVeo8NI/AAAAAAAABzQ/kmZ7ao0GMz8/s1600/Keith%2BMoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkzNWJIAEPk/VGo9NVeo8NI/AAAAAAAABzQ/kmZ7ao0GMz8/s1600/Keith%2BMoon.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">'Keith Moon' sourdough bread and fresh Henne butter</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fRZ9uMToex8/VGo9-oSbaoI/AAAAAAAABz0/1i5YCfZCwbY/s1600/Cured%2Bmeats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fRZ9uMToex8/VGo9-oSbaoI/AAAAAAAABz0/1i5YCfZCwbY/s1600/Cured%2Bmeats.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Home cured meats, pickled vegetables</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmmQVvoKtDA/VGo-xGrlo0I/AAAAAAAAB0Y/F59fXIi9d40/s1600/Mussels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmmQVvoKtDA/VGo-xGrlo0I/AAAAAAAAB0Y/F59fXIi9d40/s1600/Mussels.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Jegino mussels and oysters, saffron and black olive</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ryxRHxfnyj0/VGo9_6vpgAI/AAAAAAAAB0I/NMZZ0Wr4xs4/s1600/Turbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ryxRHxfnyj0/VGo9_6vpgAI/AAAAAAAAB0I/NMZZ0Wr4xs4/s1600/Turbot.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Hvide Sande turbot and pig ears</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rheRTjWvz7s/VGo9_KW-VqI/AAAAAAAABz4/JOWdbbEwdTI/s1600/Beef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rheRTjWvz7s/VGo9_KW-VqI/AAAAAAAABz4/JOWdbbEwdTI/s1600/Beef.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Oxtail, Faeno cepe, smoked bone marrow and truffle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSMtGWvi24E/VGo9_a6EbxI/AAAAAAAAB0A/KdJSEgAlGBU/s1600/Olive%2Boil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSMtGWvi24E/VGo9_a6EbxI/AAAAAAAAB0A/KdJSEgAlGBU/s1600/Olive%2Boil.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Herb meringue and yoghurt sorbet</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
,</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MoK8unwUdpY/VGo9379nb8I/AAAAAAAABzs/E8uAM7eGf3k/s1600/Chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MoK8unwUdpY/VGo9379nb8I/AAAAAAAABzs/E8uAM7eGf3k/s1600/Chocolate.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Chocolate creme, aged Keith Moon and Tuscan olive oil</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>All images courtesy of <a href="http://photography-am.co.uk/">Allen Markey </a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; font-family: Helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.2000007629395px;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-54041760121463438132014-03-27T03:29:00.000-07:002014-03-27T03:29:17.633-07:00Restaurant Review: Sixtyone, London<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/214822990/Sixtyone-Review" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Sixtyone Review on Scribd">Sixtyone Review</a> by <a href="http://www.scribd.com/andrew_lynes" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Andrew Paul Lynes's profile on Scribd">Andrew Paul Lynes</a></div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.78915135608049" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_42243" scrolling="no" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/214822990/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2kvlnnzww8vswpdm325&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe>
</div>
Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-56896471435684240212012-07-21T08:13:00.000-07:002012-07-31T07:15:42.431-07:00Mashed: Rene Redzepi and the Joyless Division<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">John Banville's sombre fizzog stares up at me from the pages of
the</span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/ancient-light-by-john-banville-7922384.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Independent on Sunday</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">. He seems to
be saying 'Don't fuck with me, I'm a heavyweight writer.' He certainly seems to
be carrying a few extra pounds. I wonder if he practices the look in the mirror
at home before photo shoots, while mouthing the words 'I, author' quietly to
himself. Po-faced is not the word. Mother-Po-fucking fa-fucking-ced perhaps. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wm2LSzPyKe0/UArEAv_4OPI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qb1cYb-zWy4/s1600/john+banville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wm2LSzPyKe0/UArEAv_4OPI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qb1cYb-zWy4/s1600/john+banville.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="separator" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kCGEu72ZCTg/UAqJSec7q3I/AAAAAAAAAlc/D6WgLFF2duQ/s1600/john+banville.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Banville at least has the excuse of dealing with serious subject
matter in his work. Ancient Light, the book under review by the Indy tells the
fictional story of Cass Cleave who uncovers anti-Semitic articles by an
acclaimed literary theorist who also happens to be the father of her unborn
child. Suffering from a 'schizophrenic-like condition', Cleave kills herself.
With hilarious consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When it comes to the world of food world however, there really
is no excuse for taking yourself too seriously. Yes, being a chef is a
stressful job, it's hard work and kitchens can be dangerous places, what with
all the testosterone, sharpened blades and illegal aliens around the place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But
they're not artist's studios, or chemist's labs or philosophical summits. They
are places of work and at their best, highly efficient businesses geared to
extract as much money from as many people in as short a period of time using as few resources as possible. Simply adjust the variables to
make the model work for selling hundreds of 99p burgers or a few dozen £180
tasting menus. <span style="background-color: white;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are however a band of chefs who would have you believe
otherwise. They have taken the ludicrous hype surrounding the annual<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.theworlds50best.com/">World's 50 BestRestaurants</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>list (compiled it should be noted by a judging panel that includes chefs and restaurateurs who can vote for any establishment without having to prove they've actually eaten there) at face value and appear to
believe they can heal the world with a nice bit of scran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2011, a group of oh-so-serious minded chefs featured in that
year's list issued a manifesto - n<span style="background-color: white;">ot a
recipe, not a cookery book, not a 10% off a main course on a Tuesday night if
booking before 7.30pm voucher but a mani-sodding-festo - in the
form of an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/12/chefs-aim-to-save-world">'Open
Letter to Future Chefs'</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> saying
among other things that chefs could' serve as an important bridge to other
cultures'. The stunt was eloquently parsed at the time by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/12/chefs-aim-to-save-world">Jay Rayner</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The gang of nine (later reduced to eight when Heston Blumenthal,
who hadn't even turned up for the public signing distanced himself from the
document saying<a href="http://eater.com/archives/2011/11/28/heston-blumenthal-interview-2011-gastronomika.php"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>'I'm just a cook'<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></a>) included Rene Redzepi,
chef proprietor of Noma, <st1:city><st1:place>Copenhagen</st1:place></st1:city> which has famously topped the list for
three years running. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the time of writing, Redzepi is in residence at Claridges, touting <a href="http://www.claridges.co.uk/atasteofnoma/">'A Taste of Noma'</a> for £200 a pop plus wine and service. According to <a href="http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/08-05-12/a-taste-of-noma-at-claridges-sells-out-in-25-hours!/">Harden's</a>, the event sold out within 2.5 hours and was over subscribed by a factor of 10. However, early reports on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g189541-d694971-r135756535-Noma-Copenhagen_Zealand.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT">Trip </a><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g189541-d694971-r135756535-Noma-Copenhagen_Zealand.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT">Advisor</a> seemed to indicate that not everyone feels like they've got a good deal, including one reporter who said '<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">This was without a shadow of a doubt the worst meal I have ever had in a Michelin starred restaurant , much of the food was totally under seasoned and tasteless and all of it was uninspired and dull.'</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I met Redzepi in 2010 when I joined the media scrum on Hampstead
Heath that accompanied the diminutive chef's staged foraging trip. I was editing the Metro newspaper's food and drink pages at the
time and wrote a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/848024-rene-redzepi-go-wild-in-the-pantry">double
page spread<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></a>covering the
event and the lunch held at the Bull and Last pub where I sat next to Redzepi.
I included quotes from my brief interview with him on the day and found him to
be enthusiastic, eager to share his knowledge and unfailingly polite.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">His media profile continued to build until the following summer
when the hoopla surrounding Redzepi's first<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://madfood.co/">Mad<span class="apple-converted-space"> S</span>ymposium</a> food congress in <st1:city><st1:place>Copenhagen</st1:place></st1:city> reached fever pitch. Tweets from the
event were hyperbolic to say the least and the whole thing took on the cultish
air of a White Night in Jonestown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Having endured a number of similar arse-achingly tedious events in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:country-region><st1:country-region><st1:place>Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:country-region><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city><st1:city><st1:place>London</st1:place></st1:city></st1:city>, I tweeted that I'd like to see 'a little
less chin stroking and a little more cooking' from modern chefs. I would have
forgotten all about it the second I'd pressed the send button, had Redzepi not
responded directly on twitter, telling me to 'fuck off, and that's from all 300
chefs here.' <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Was this really the same sweet-natured man who had patiently
explained to how he used the various foraged plants we came across on Hampstead
Heath in his cooking? I was shocked but was soon reassured by people in the
know that Redzepi was no different from many of his peers and had a raging
temper and ego to match.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But being a haute cuisine cook hasn't always equated with solemn
preciousness. Redzepi's humourless approach (summed up neatly in this<a href="https://twitter.com/gilescoren/status/197092604188430336"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>tweet</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by Giles Coren. The celebrity
journalist's outburst is explained by Redzepi calling Coren 'a really really
nasty bastard' in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://eater.com/archives/2010/10/12/rene-redzepi-eaterrogation-part-one.php">an
interview</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>with American food
website Eater ) is in stark contrast, <span style="background-color: white;">for
example, to the demeanour of legendary French chef Fernand Point.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Running the epoch defining <a href="http://www.lapyramide.com/">La Pyramide</a> restaurant in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:place><st1:place>Vienne</st1:place></st1:place><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>near<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:place><st1:place>Lyon</st1:place></st1:place><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>between 1923 until his death in 1955,
where he invented nouvelle cuisine and trained the likes of Paul Bocuse,
Alain Chapel and Jean and Pierre Troisgros must have kept him pretty busy, but he
still found plenty of time to indulge himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lIJPu3CrLYs/UArEKKfMJrI/AAAAAAAAAl4/V8oSGfy40oE/s1600/fernandpoint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lIJPu3CrLYs/UArEKKfMJrI/AAAAAAAAAl4/V8oSGfy40oE/s320/fernandpoint.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="separator" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAZmRfEFTJM/UAqJxfKDGXI/AAAAAAAAAlk/tZXcGOVIqaI/s1600/fernandpoint.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">According to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ma-Gastronomie-Fernand-Point/dp/071563836X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342869585&sr=8-1">Ma
Gastronomie</a>, his cookbook and biography, Point would rise at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:time hour="4" minute="30"><st1:time hour="4" minute="30">4.30am</st1:time></st1:time><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>everyday to phone is suppliers at Les
Halles in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city><st1:city><st1:place>Paris</st1:place></st1:city></st1:city><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and then spend a few hours in his kitchen.
At<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:time hour="9" minute="0"><st1:time hour="9" minute="0">9.00am</st1:time></st1:time>, he'd crack open a nicely chilled magnum
of champagne and be shaved by his barber. By the time his stubble had
disappeared, so had the magnum. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A lover to practical jokes, he would regularly transport a
friend's fishing boat from its moorings to the branches of a tree or to the
inside of a church; put a raw egg among hard boiled ones in customer's picnic
baskets, and tease the tinker who relined the kitchen's copper pans by hiding
his tools and getting him drunk on champagne. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">During the World War Two, Point fed refugees in his restaurant
without payment but refused to serve Nazi army officers and received the Cross
of the Chevalier and the Distinguished Service Medal for his efforts. As well
as entertaining everyone from Jean Cocteau to the Aga Khan, he insisted that
two truck drivers who had simply come to look around La Pyramide dined as his
guests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Renowned for his sense of humour, Ma Gastronomie includes witty
aphorisms like 'Before judging a thin man, one must get some information.
Perhaps he was once fat' (at six foot three and weighing in at over 300 pounds,
Point once said of himself, 'My weight is confidential but if you wish to
obtain my volume, you only have to multiply the surface of my base by my height
and divide by three').<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If Point, called 'Le Roi' by his peers and recognised during his
lifetime as the best chef of his generation was able to retain a sense of
humour and humility while simultaneously redefining an entire cuisine, it
surely can't be beyond the current crop of top chefs to find a scintilla of
self awareness and perspective about their day jobs. A<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.foodarts.com/news/views/18426/mad-a-voracious-hopeful-appetite">picture</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from this years Mad symposium of
Redzepi pushing an ice cream cart along<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city><st1:city><st1:place>Copenhagen</st1:place></st1:city></st1:city>'s waterfront offers some hope, even if
the chef's scowling expression makes him the most miserable Mr Whippy in
history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Why fun appears to be off the haute cuisine menu is anyone's
guess.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">The relentlessly earnest food bloggers who justify the enormous sums
they drop in expensive restaurants by pretending to themselves that they've had
a life changing experience? The maelstrom of media bullshit surrounding the
World's 50 Best? The self-aggrandising antics of Ferran
'I-invented-molecular-gastronomy-me' Adria whose ludicrously over the top
cookery tomes cataloguing the great man's every culinary burp and fart have
launched a thousand imitators (such as the recently released </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mugaritz-A-Natural-Science-Cooking/dp/0714863637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342878990&sr=8-1"><span style="background-color: white;">Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Andoni Luis Aduriz which, hilariously, includes a dish called 'Evoking the Work of Richard Serra' - Pretentious, moi?) and have now hit the big screen in the documentary <a href="http://elbullimovie.com/">El Bulli: Cooking in Progress</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Whatever the reason, it must have dear old
Fernand spinning in his grave albeit, </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">given his bulk,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> at a fairly sedate RPM. I'm sure he'd tell them to relax and open a magnum or two of
champagne; an idea that might even force John Banville to crack a smile. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>Mashed was a regular column created for egullet.org's The Daily Gullet webzine in the early noughties and will now appear from time to time on Kitchen Person<span style="font-size: large;">. </span></i></span></div>
</div>
</div>Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-11974321743847762182012-02-23T04:14:00.004-08:002012-02-23T05:13:12.306-08:00Simon Hopkinson interview from Great British Food<a title="View Simon Hopkinson 1 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/82552634/Simon-Hopkinson-1?secret_password=2ivq363cbazoburcj3hv" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Simon Hopkinson 1</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/82552634/content?start_page=1&view_mode=slideshow&access_key=key-1oyg34eez1abcfrb1qbo&secret_password=2ivq363cbazoburcj3hv" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.80952380952381" scrolling="no" id="doc_6971" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script><br /><br /><a title="View Simon Hopkinson Interview 2 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/82553360/Simon-Hopkinson-Interview-2" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Simon Hopkinson Interview 2</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/82553360/content?start_page=1&view_mode=slideshow&access_key=key-1s6v2ze5jbcyxf4r9jy" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.80952380952381" scrolling="no" id="doc_65520" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script>Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-24318833054171132202011-12-29T16:51:00.000-08:002011-12-29T17:17:06.876-08:00Turkey, gammon and leek pie<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m6Ptept8i5c/Tv0Mo4YazSI/AAAAAAAAAdA/Yl252WZhCCY/s1600/29122011347.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m6Ptept8i5c/Tv0Mo4YazSI/AAAAAAAAAdA/Yl252WZhCCY/s400/29122011347.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691719400535280930" /></a><br /><br />There are few things more satisfying than a properly made pie, requiring the basic but core skills of meat cookery, pastry and sauce making to produce something homely yet impressive. <br /><br />This is an great way to use up Christmas leftovers but is excellent any time of the year-just substitute chicken for the turkey meat. I usually remove the legs of the turkey and just roast the crown. I confit the legs in goose fat in a slow cooker and make stock from the remaining turkey carcass which comes in particularly handy for this recipe. <br /><br />The mix of roast breast meat and rich confit leg works very well and the stock is perfect for the veloute sauce. If you're cooking a gammon especially for this recipe, you can use the cooking liquor to make the veloute instead, otherwise a stock cube will also do just fine. <br /><br />Ingredients<br />(serves 4-6)<br /><br />500g cooked turkey meat, diced<br />200g cooked gammon, diced<br /><br />For the pastry <br />300g plain flour<br />150g butter, cut into small chunks<br />1 egg yolk<br />water to bind <br />pinch of salt<br /><br />For the poached leek<br />1 large leek<br />25g butter<br />250ml turkey or chicken stock to cover <br />salt and pepper<br /><br />For the tarragon veloute<br />50g butter<br />35g plain flour<br />500ml turkey or chicken stock or gammon poaching liquor<br />100ml cream<br />1 dssp chopped tarragon<br />salt and pepper<br /><br />Egg wash made with 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk whisked together<br /><br />1. In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and enough water to bind into a dough. Work lightly with the dough but make sure its well combined, otherwise it will crumble when you try to roll it out. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes. <br />2. Trim the leek by cutting off the green leaves and removing the first layer of skin. Slice into 1cm rounds and soak in cold water for 20 minutes to remove any dirt. <br />3. Melt the butter in pan and add the drained leeks in one layer. Cover with stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the leeks with a butter paper or cartouche and poach until tender. Drain, retaining the cooking liquid and set aside.<br />4. Make the veloute by melting the butter in a pan and stirring in the flour. Cook for a minute or two, stirring continuously. Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil , reduce the heat and add the cream. Simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes. Add the tarragon and season with salt and pepper. <br />5. Add the turkey, gammon and leeks to the veloute and stir well to combine and set aside. <br />6. Butter a deep sided 22cm pie tin. <br />7. Remove the rested pastry from the fridge and set aside one third. Roll out the remaining two thirds on a well floured work surface to a 3mm thickness. Line the pie tin with the rolled pastry, trimming the edges with the back of a knife. Egg wash the lip of the pie base<br />8. Pour the filling into the pie and place a pie funnel in the centre. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the pie. Using a fork, press the the two layers of pastry together, trimming the excess with the back of a knife. <br />9. Cut a small X in the centre of the top of the pie to allow the funnel to protrude and egg wash the top of the pie. Bake in the oven at 180ºC for 40 minutes or until golden brown. <br />10. Serve with boiled new potatoes and green beans, both tossed in the reserved leek cooking liquor.Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-85206433457426338032011-12-18T11:19:00.000-08:002011-12-18T11:56:46.332-08:00Rye and beer bread<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dx1W24Q2Xi4/Tu49cvPoifI/AAAAAAAAAcc/5tT_aeVVdEE/s1600/21082011135.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dx1W24Q2Xi4/Tu49cvPoifI/AAAAAAAAAcc/5tT_aeVVdEE/s400/21082011135.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687550943343184370"></a><br />I developed this recipe after interviewing butcher George McCartney about his hand made <a href="http://www.finefoodworld.co.uk/tastegold1112.htm">corned beef</a> which was named Supreme Champion in this year's <a href="http://www.finefoodworld.co.uk/">Guild of Fine Food Awards</a>. <br /><br />He was kind enough to ship me some over from his <a href="http://www.mccartneysofmoira.com/">shop</a> on the outskirts of Belfast, mentioning that his favourite way to eat the beef was with homemade rye bread. Its such a delicious, special and painstakingly made product that I thought the very least I could do to honour it would be to make some rye bread of my own to go with it. <br /><br />Barry Hawthorne of the <a href="http://www.isleofskyebakingco.co.uk/">Isle of Skye Baking Co.</a> had also be kind enough to send me off with a parting gift of some ales from the Isle of Skye Brewery when I visited him earlier this year and it seemed the ideal opportunity to put one bottle of it to good use. The results were spectacular even if I do say so myself. I hope when you try making this bread that you agree. Just make sure you’ve got some of that corned beef to enjoy with it (list of stockists <a href="http://www.mccartneysofmoira.com/corned-beef/stockists/">here</a> ). <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rye and beer bread</span><br />(Makes two loaves)<br /><br />Ingredients<br /> <br />500ml Isle of Skye Brewery Hebridean Gold porridge oat and malt ale or beer of your choice<br />200ml water<br />20g fresh yeast/10g dried active yeast<br />500g rye flour<br />250g wholegrain seeded flour<br />250g strong white flour<br />20g lard<br />10g sea salt<br />10g smoked sea salt<br />10g caster sugar <br /><br />Method<br />1. Heat the ale and water in a microwave for 30 secs or until tepid. Alternatively heat gently in a pan.<br />2. Measure the remaining ingredients into the bowl of a Kitchenaid mixer. Afix the dough hook attachment and mix at the lowest setting to combine.<br />3. Slowly pour in the liquid and mix for 5 minutes on the lowest setting. Turn the machine off and scrape down the hook with a flexible spatula. Mix for a further 5 minutes or until the dough has come together and looks bouncy and alive.<br />4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently but firmly into a ball. Set aside in the cleaned bowl, covered, in warm draft-free place for an hour or until doubled in size.<br />5. Knock back the dough, divide into two and form into a loaf shape. Cover and allow to rise again for an hour or until nearly doubled in size.<br />6. Bake in a hot oven (about 200 to 220°C for a fan oven or 240°C for a normal oven) until nicely coloured. Cool fully on a rack before slicing and serving with McCartney’s of Moira’s corned beef.Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-10346113131927289362011-08-15T09:38:00.000-07:002011-08-16T02:48:22.179-07:00Recipe: crushed and roasted potatoes<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HJjmHO3R33Y/TklRW1oIh2I/AAAAAAAAAUQ/-JV-NVyUKkQ/s1600/14082011134.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HJjmHO3R33Y/TklRW1oIh2I/AAAAAAAAAUQ/-JV-NVyUKkQ/s400/14082011134.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641129461052639074" /></a>
<br />
<br />I created this recipe by accident and as far as I know it's original. A few weeks ago, I overcooked the potatoes for the Sunday roast without realising it. I drained them and following the sainted Delia Smith method, shook the pan as I usually do in order to rough up the edges of the spuds which creates the lovely crispy finish that Delia's roasties are famous for.
<br />
<br />When I took the lid off I realised my mistake; about half the potatoes were reduced to chunks too small to roast. Rather than waste them, I piled them into a poaching ring to create fat discs of potato and roasted them along with the surviving potatoes. The result was a revelation - they were beautifully crisp, better in fact than the traditional roasties and had a very pleasing texture, somewhere between a roast potato and a hash brown. I've since made them for the family instead of roast potatoes to great approval.
<br />
<br />This simple recipe could be embellished with the addition of parsley, rosemary or thyme and garlic mixed into the potato before it's moulded, but I think it works fine as it is.
<br />
<br />
<br />Ingredients
<br />(serves 4)
<br />800g main crop potatoes e.g. Maris Piper
<br />800ml cold water
<br />8g salt
<br />50g lard or fat or oil of your choice
<br />
<br />Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks. Rinse well, then cover with the cold water and bring to the boil. Add the salt and simmer for 5-7 minutes until par-boiled. Meanwhile, heat the lard in a roasting tin in the oven.
<br />
<br />Drain then crush the potatoes using the back of a spoon. You want a chunky mixture and not mash. Spoon the potato into a 9cm by 3cm poaching ring, pressing down gently to compoact the potato so that it holds its shape. Repeat three times so that you have four discs.
<br />
<br />Place the discs in the roasting tin and baste with the hot oil. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through, turning halfway to ensure even cooking. Serve with roast meat and all the trimmings.
<br />
<br />Vote for this recipe at <a href="http://www.lovethegarden.com/blog/potty-about-potatoes">LoveTheGarden.com</a>Andy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953569719568696365.post-36097666879219311572011-08-06T10:02:00.000-07:002011-08-06T11:27:13.988-07:00Rojano's in the SquareOn the square with chef Paul Ainsworth<br /><br />Paul Ainsworth is probably best known for his wildly over the top 'Trip to the Fairground' dessert he created for the BBC's Great British menu series this year. You can try it for your self at Ainsworth's smart No 6 restaurant in Padstow if you've got the odd £21 burning a hole in your pocket. As that feeds two, and the prices on the rest of the menu are hardly greedy, you can't begrudge the chef cashing in just a little bit on his telly fame. <br /><br />However, if you're after a more relaxed, affordable and family friendly experience, then his new venture, Rojano's on the Square just around the corner from No 6 might better fit the bill. Ainsworth has taken over a Padstow institution that's been around for three decades and bought it bang up to date. The smart, modern interior is decked out with black and white Rome-themed photos and Warhol-style screen prints of Lambrettas. <br /><br />The menu is somewhat in the tradition of Jamie's Italian-olives are 'the best', tomato bread is 'really garlicky' and fries with garlic and parsley are 'funky'- but Ainsworth beats Oliver at his own game. Presentation, quality of ingredients and portion size are all a notch above the famous high street chain. But that's as it should be - this is a one off after all, although the price point is very close. Service is utterly charming and attentive.<br /><br />Nearly everything delights, with only some lower quality pitted black olives on a 'rustico sottile' ultra thin pizza and an overly-large and less than thrilling accompaniment of peppers, chorizo and potato with some beautifully cooked fillets of lemon sole falling short of the mark.<br /><br />An antipasto of parma ham, salami milano, spianata calabrese, bresáola, salami napoli, baked cheese, porcini relish, pickles, olives and rosemary toasts sounds expensive at £20 but would easily satisfy four as a starter or two as a light lunch. <br /><br />Ainsworth has filled a gap in the Padstow market for high quality, casual Italian dining with the sort of easy style that could happily translate to the high steet; the first floor 'grazing bar' is a nice on-trend metropolitan touch. Watch out Jamie? <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zjJVc0vndHQ/Tj11sdpGJXI/AAAAAAAAARc/NBacrudQV88/s1600/03082011105.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637791715269420402" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zjJVc0vndHQ/Tj11sdpGJXI/AAAAAAAAARc/NBacrudQV88/s320/03082011105.jpg" /></a> <br /><br />Calamari, garlic mayo (in the bucket) sweet chilli tomato salad<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XkNNdrwWOxw/Tj11sfT4i4I/AAAAAAAAARk/JsuNeNkZ098/s1600/03082011106.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637791715717319554" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XkNNdrwWOxw/Tj11sfT4i4I/AAAAAAAAARk/JsuNeNkZ098/s320/03082011106.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Mozzarella arancini with Arrabiata sauce<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E1e2uE-Ng0A/Tj11spK187I/AAAAAAAAARs/CMSlfaxnIdE/s1600/03082011107.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637791718363755442" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E1e2uE-Ng0A/Tj11spK187I/AAAAAAAAARs/CMSlfaxnIdE/s320/03082011107.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Antipasto<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KkYXGKF6Ls/Tj11s832PLI/AAAAAAAAAR0/BW1M1gSBeik/s1600/03082011108.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637791723652791474" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3KkYXGKF6Ls/Tj11s832PLI/AAAAAAAAAR0/BW1M1gSBeik/s320/03082011108.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Capricossa pizza - ultra thin crispy base but what's with the cheap pitted olives?<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BjLWset9XyA/Tj11tNk_e3I/AAAAAAAAAR8/de2JOH54WdE/s1600/03082011109.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637791728137108338" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BjLWset9XyA/Tj11tNk_e3I/AAAAAAAAAR8/de2JOH54WdE/s320/03082011109.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Linguini al gamberi e rucola<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ezXbOnl0jBU/Tj12UWSjg5I/AAAAAAAAASE/JurvI3M-HaI/s1600/03082011110.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637792400490595218" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ezXbOnl0jBU/Tj12UWSjg5I/AAAAAAAAASE/JurvI3M-HaI/s320/03082011110.jpg" /></a><br />Burger Italiano<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QpWJybALdbE/Tj12Us3aB9I/AAAAAAAAASM/BLA_Rf3j9bQ/s1600/03082011111.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637792406550742994" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QpWJybALdbE/Tj12Us3aB9I/AAAAAAAAASM/BLA_Rf3j9bQ/s320/03082011111.jpg" /></a> <br /><br />Rock fries with truffle and parmesan<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-fwMs6nJJQ/Tj12U8HOt7I/AAAAAAAAASU/AjBBm6aQEyk/s1600/03082011112.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637792410643642290" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-fwMs6nJJQ/Tj12U8HOt7I/AAAAAAAAASU/AjBBm6aQEyk/s320/03082011112.jpg" /></a> Fish of the day - lemon sole with potatoes, chorizo and peppers<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9nEY0yzVX4/Tj12VBUxcgI/AAAAAAAAASc/9RMFec16R6A/s1600/03082011113.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637792412042621442" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9nEY0yzVX4/Tj12VBUxcgI/AAAAAAAAASc/9RMFec16R6A/s320/03082011113.jpg" /></a><br />Gelatio mostro<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GFh8OYSaiQ0/Tj12VRfSsII/AAAAAAAAASk/Z-jPuMf9YHA/s1600/03082011114.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637792416381710466" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GFh8OYSaiQ0/Tj12VRfSsII/AAAAAAAAASk/Z-jPuMf9YHA/s320/03082011114.jpg" /></a><br />White chocolate pannacotta, berry compote and honeycomb<br /><br />Rojano's in the Square<br />9 Mill Square<br />Padstow<br />Cornwall<br />01841 532 796; rojanos.co.ukAndy Lyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803821726494196869noreply@blogger.com1