The first Candlestick Maker dinner was
held last Friday at the Roundhouse Chapel in Clapton and it went
superbly if I don't mind saying so myself! It was a crazy few 17 hour
days leading up to it, but was worth every second. Massive thankyous
to all who attended and to my awesome team, Ani, Emma & Alex who
help me pull it all together, not to mention Kat who played a sort of
maitre d' role whilst 'sipping' a glass of wine!
5pm sharp we crammed ourselves into a
tiny kitchen and got set on all the fresh, last minute prep, finished
the pigs head and got the heart and chest marinating. The meat was
from an amazing butcher called Nathan (
http://www.thebutcheryltd.com)
who orders in whole rare breed animals, and prepares the cuts in the
traditional old school manner. I believe the meat for Friday was from
a farm in Devon. Will have more details in future!
Anyway, back to Friday, it was
fantastic. The girls set the room up beautifully, with lots of
candles of course. We managed to produce all the courses, nearly
exactly as planned. I had hoped to pick the asparagus from a farm in
Oxfordshire last week but the cold weather had delayed the PYO
season, darn it. The bread I had baked the night before and was laced
with coriander, cumin & orange zest and was served with a slow
roasted tomato & herb salsa. The seabass was baked almost en
papiotte style, in tin foil however, with julienned veg, chilli,
ginger, lemongrass & lime leaves.
We served up a little cleanser of
tomato jelly, orange granita and basil foam which tasted really fresh
but the jelly was struggling to stay jellied due to the acidity of
the tomatoes I reckon. I think agar agar will be used in future, its
vegetarian and much stronger.
The pigs head had been braised for four
hours at my house then we crisped up the skin and served it with the
reduced broth on a bed of radish leaves and watercress. Man, it smelt
good! It was a pleasure to hear all the tales afterwards. I believe
Anna, a vegetarian, carved one head whilst Wooz ate an eye! I had
hoped for some new culinary experiences for the diners but wasn't
quite expecting that!
The onglet and bavette we served medium
rare with a radish, shallot, herb and orange zest salad, whilst the
ox heart was served with a herb viniagrette. Both tasted delicious,
rich & flavoursome. The simple marinade of garlic and rosemary
helped deepen the flavours and the freshness of the salad and
viniagrette helped cut through the richness and liven up the mouth, I
thought/hope! Some of the guests/friends who I spoke to were glad
they'd tried heart but were confident they preferred the onglet,
whilst others absolutely loved the heart!
The desserts were lots of fun too. Milk
n honey panna cotta with salted caramel and chocolate milkshake
followed by rhubarb meringues, tuilles & dehydrated rhubarb
served with bowls of warm rhubarb compote and vanilla custard, a play
on rhubarb n custard. I know these went down well, especially with
comments like “it just got better and better!” (max)
I popped my head in towards the end of
the mains and was so happy to see the room exactly as I had hoped,
full of people, chatter & laughter, with wine & food
everywhere, whilst candles provided the only illumination. I knew at
that exact point that the evening was a success. Then I was spotted
and was beckoned in with a round of applause which turned me a shade
of rouge! I managed to hold brief chats with most people, my mind was
in a fair few places all at the same time, then made a swift exit to
finish the desserts.
All in all, a brilliant evening. We
raised over 300 pounds for Butterflies, a charity in India who work
with homeless children. Tim, who represented Butterflies whilst he
was in India, presented me with a bottle of single malt which shocked
me completely and I just gave him a massive hug! Thanks again to all
those who attended and who helped out on the night, it has definitely
inspired me and it will certainly not be the last!! Lots of lessons
were learnt and lots of fun was had. This continued in the bar round
the corner, who suggested tequila?!
Keep your eyes n ears, taste buds n
beers at the ready and the next event will be posted soon. Please
leave any comments & suggestions you have about the night and I
look forward to seeing/meeting you soon
ix