A media mention

So of course as you can imagine I am very excited to announce that my supper club has made itself onto the pages of Stylist magazine  – as one of the best 4 supper clubs don’t you know!

Some VERY cool press

I should get round to scanning the mention in though for my luddite brain this is just too tricky. The magazine is free, cool and with a circulation of around 500k has quite a reach! I am delighted to be busy cooking for my – erm very good supper club! Hurrah and without sounding too ‘Paltrow’ a massive thanks to you all my previous and current guests, these evenings only work with the punting nature of our punters.

I do indeed cook seasonally and the afformentioned list of Kent and Sussex veg comes from Nick & Muir via their fab Brighton based company Fin and Farm. They also sell to domestic clients, delivering each Tuesday and Thursday. Check them out. www.finandfarm.co.uk

The Little Fish Market – Hove

For me, writing a restaurant review always poses three main issues. A: I run a food business so it feels a bit wrong to criticise and potentially sycophantic to enthuse – B: It is hard not to come across as a middle class knob, words such as delish, nom-nom, yummy, scrum are just way too irksome and  C: I have a habit of killing all my phones, 3 in the past 8 months, and as you need a few snaps and I don’t own a camera this expensive habit is not perfect. However I do like eating and always have an opinion, I also have a new phone, I will not be too prissy and this place deserves lots of praise.

Today a chance call from my sister offered us a great chance to try Little Fish Market since its transformation from fishmongers to restaurant some weeks ago. I had no intention of writing this thus it is from memory that I recall the dishes but they will stay in my head for some time to come.

The owning chef Duncan Ray (with a CV that includes the Fat Duck and Pennyhill Park) is a really friendly fella. He is working alongside a front of house man (sorry, didn’t ask his name) and together they have nailed it. The decor of the space is plain and simple, cool and calm, set in a residential street with windows on both sides. The food clearly has a massive fish focus though there is more than a nod to the meat.

The cooking – is just excellent. Well sourced ingredients are important to Duncan which is illustrated in all the food we shared.  We started with a fish soup with brown shrimps, hake and a crouton with a chunky spoonful of rouille. This fresh tasting broth was packed with herbs and sweet juicy fish and is all about taste and produce.

The chicken terrine was sublime. A layered affair of moist chicken with slices of fresh figs, marinated black grapes and I think shitake mushroom. (Next time I shall ask questions and take notes!). The flavours so clean and simple,  a textual  sexual eating experience.

To the mains; Fish and chips with mushy peas; A slice of  bang-on flaky hake with crisp skin and even crispier bacon slithers, I liked the sliced rather than batons of bacon which was rendered of its fat and almost dehydrated which I loved.  Bacon and peas of course go great together, the salty meat balancing a perfectly smooth  sweet pea puree with some whole peas too and a handful of peashoots .  A generous bowl of chips chunky, well salted. Perfect.

Seabass with fennel and pink grapefruit with a crab ravioli. Was exactly as it said. The fennel cooked yet retaining a crisp texture with the sweet crisp skinned  fish and sour pink grapefruit making for the perfect bed for a single pasta pillow with a deep and salty crab filling.  Again just delicious.

Puddings….oh good bloody God. A chocolate plate of rich ganache disks sitting on top of a malted chocolate crumb with a salted caramel ice cream, buttery salted butterscotch caramel sauce and a cripy chocolate disk. Christ on fire……amazing.

I am a real fan of rhubarb as any of you who come to my supper club at this time of year will know. Last night I did a rose a rhubarb fool which went down well…….At Little Fish  a cheesecake in the old fashioned way, dense texture with a biscuit base, the richness offset with a creme fraiche ice cream, a rhubarb sorbet and a ribbon of the fruit. Tart, sweet, light, rich, again all balanced and perfect.

We also had a couple of glasses of fecking great wines. The ‘guys’ have just chosen wines and are putting together a list;  they have been granted a licence so although I did not see their selection, I am pretty convinced the wines will be as well thought out as the food.  Duncans cooking style  is not about foam, froth and billowing smoke it is about starting with fantastic produce and with a light, highly trained hand turning out plates of perfectly cooked food. Each dish we ate was considered and balanced,  salty juxtaposed with sweet, and soft measured by texture. Starters and puds come in at around £6 with mains between £12 – 18. They do a cheaper set lunch which I did not notice until my departure so I can not actually say what it comprises. Whatever, I really suggest you book soon as they only have 20 covers. Because I am in culinary love…….  it might well be just 19.

Oh and in shameless self promotion; here is my own rhubarb fool!

The Little Fish Market – 10 Upper Market Street Hove -  01273 722213

Venues and menus

I love being a supper club hostess. Combining my passions of cooking and chatting is my dream job. Of course I am delighted my suppers have proved so popular; with close to 800 guests fed from the room formerly known as my sitting room the project is, I delighted to report a success. September sees my first anniversary with 2 suppers on 14^th and 15^th to be held as part of Brighton and Hoves wonderful food festival. www.brightonfoodfestival.com. I launched my supper club last year with the help from the wonderful organising team that work so hard to put together twice each year a fantastic program of food-tastic events. In addition to my supper club this year I shall have my usual stall at New Road on the 8^th and 9^th and shall be….oh lord making vegan maki as part of the fab Maki Challenge event at Moshi Moshi. You really should check out the festival list of events there really are some cracking experiences and days and evenings out.

One year into the club and wanting to be mindful that I have neighbours who are delightfully supportive and tolerant of my home restaurant it seems time to find some additional locations. I shall always want to hold suppers from my home; it is where I started and actually my sitting room works perfectly and the home is at the heart of this whole idea. Reaching this stage is of course not a problem I shun, it is bloody marvellous to be in need of a new space and I am thrilled to report I have discovered 2 fantastic homes to use for my suppers that offer a larger dining space that can hold more than my own 20 maximum.  Both properties are full of wow – having been lovingly restored in a high end chic and cool style and have open kitchens within unique dining spaces that will no doubt allow my chaos to be viewed.  One of the homes is for      week night suppers which I hope to host on a regular basis, the other I will enable me to offer a larger space mainly for my private supper club weekend bookings.

My first supper at using these fantastic venues is on Septmeber 27th and should be fun. I am also doing a pop uo on October 6th with some details to follow on here in the coming days.

Umami, meditation and pills

So this Friday I am going Japanesey and actually am well excited. It was a real privilege to be invited along to do a special supper club as part of Brighton Japan. www.brightonjapan.com  This  ten day  festival of wide-ranging Japan-related topics and treats with a chunk of local businesses getting involved in creative activities offering  fantastic and interesting events.

Personally speaking it has honestly been a challenge, pushing me out of my culinary comfort zone. Working with a set of condiments that whist not exactly new are certainly very different, though truthfully my cooking ethos is mostly centred around  flavour balance of sweet, salty, savoury and sour….and Japanese cookery is indeed about this too.

I want to deliver a menu that keeps to my usual 5 course supper club formula,  a mini soup, veg starter, fish, meat and pud with fruit; whilst obviously using and integrating Japanese ingredients.  In its writing I have been reminded of  Dashi a clear stock made with kombu, shitake mushroom and at time bonito flakes.  Umami water some may say. Japanese cuisine is rich in umami ingredients, soy sauce, miso, mirin and sake which all provide the basis for many Japanese dishes and have a high umami content.

Umami the 5th taste discovered and developed in the early 1900′s at Tokyo Imperial University by Dr Kikunae Ikeda who was employed by  to research and investigate the flavour giving elements of Kombu kelp. He was fascinated by its natural ‘deliciousness’ and thought it should be possible to commercially manufacture the compound if he were to isolate the flavour giving substance. He pursued his theory and found that stocks made from Kombu did indeed contain high levels of the naturally occurring amino acid, glutamic acid. The white substance evident in the Kombu was rich in glutamate that when removed and used it did add depth and enhance flavour. In 1908 the term ‘umami’ was applied to Dr Ikedas discovery, a word derived from the Japanese language, meaning savoury or delicious. From 1909 his findings led to the commercial production of the flavouring enhancer MSG which is produced using a bacterial fermentation process.

Umami is detected in amino acid rich foods that give a sense of lingering mouth-feel and body. It is not a detectable taste of itself, but it tends to accentuate, deepen and balance flavour. The perception of flavour is complex and it is unusual for a single substance to be responsible for the flavour of a certain foodstuff. So how can this seemingly tasteless substance be detected? Taste cells are situated within taste buds and on the surface of these cells are taste receptors. It is through these receptors that the 4 tastes and umami are detected. Going all sciency for a moment helps to understand;  umami taste is given by many small molecules. Studies conducted over the last 15 years have proposed to understand what triggers the taste receptors to detect umami. Two specific receptors glutamate selective G protein mGluR4 and mGluR1 are activated by both glutamate and nucleotides. Research has also concluded that these taste receptors may also be evident in the stomach . This theory has an evolutionary root and the proteins contained within the amino acids are detected through the vagus nerve in the stomach, sending a message to the brain and the umami is experienced.

Umami is found in foods that are rich in amino acids. Generally food and beverages that are at their peak in terms of ripeness and those that are aged cured, fermented, roasted or toasted have a high umami content. Ripening, maturing, drying, curing and fermentation are all processes that concentrate flavour thus increase umami.

Ripening

If we take for example, a tomato. An unripe green tomato is not as flavoursome as a fully ripened red one. As a tomato, ripens, the natural content of amino acids and glutamates increase. This model can be applied to many vegetables.

Maturation

This process is in effect another form of ripening.  When a cheese matures the proteins are broken down into smaller polypeptides. The flavour of the cheese deepens and we can see this clearly evident in parmesan which is a very umami rich cheese.

Drying and Curing

These methods both concentrate flavour and break down proteins. By removing moisture in a food levels of guanylate are known to increase. Smoking and salting also have the same flavour enhancing consequence.

Fermentation

This process is perhaps the most effective way to increase umami and is central to Japanese and some Asian cuisines. In these process bacteria, enzymes and other living organisms break down larger molecules into smaller compounds. Thus proteins are converted into amino acid.

I am no umami expert; the sciency bit loses me beyond taste receptors  be but in 2010 whilst at Brighton uni doing my degree in Food and Culinary Arts  I was fortunate to interview Claude Bosi of the michelin starred Hibiscus. www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/. He uses lots of dashi – Japanese stock as the backbone of many of his dishes and went to Japan on a umami seminar;  he is very much fascinated by their cuisine whilst at the same time feeling that umami detecting is inherent in most good chefs and cooks.  Around this time I did some taste research making some maki rolls where I flavoured 3 batches of  rice with water, kombu dashi and an MSG sachet. The latter was the most flavoursome though the rolls made with dashi were the most favoured in my small blind testing sample.

I have used some of this knowledge and have been recipe testing like a loon….honestly its a bit scary not using my usual tin of Spanish and North African spices, though have found some comfort in sesame seeds. The menu is a little bit playful and full I hope of ‘savoury deliciousness’. I am to be joined by the youthful and gorgeous duo that make up Yum Yum sushi - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yumtum-Sushi who make and sell vegetarian sets each week at Churchill square farmers market and on Friday shall be handing round some bits as you guests arrive. Also there is to be some entertainment by a fantastic local performer; though the element of surprise will stop me from sharing on this. So for me; now for some meditation or perhaps come Friday some medication. COME COME

Spring lamb braise for an Autumnal day

I have just procured a cook book MALOUF  which totally floats my culinary boat. I love flavours of the Middle East, layers of aromatics and herbs, fresh tasting food with depth and interest;  this book totally clicks into this love.   Of course I always enjoy reading new cook books; though this one really excites me,  want to cook everything. I seem to be drawn to all things Australian at the moment: Greg Malouf the chef and food guru behind this amazing food is originally from Melbourne;  I had worried that I would have to fly to Australia to eat at his restaurant so am delighted that he is currently cooking at Petersham Nurseries  after the departure of another one of my Australian born food heroes Skye Gyngell. petershamnurseries.com

The book is full of recipes for soups such as artichoke, Spanish sausage & roasted pistachio – salads, Sweet and sour aubergine -  fish dishes; Red mullet with golden spices and citrus salad….I mean COME ON!

I have 2 supper clubs next week both with a  lamb braise on the menu;  Spring lamb being so so good at the moment whilst the weather is so so bad thus a braise seemed a good recipe to try. This kind of dish is all about using a small selection of the best quality produce with a  simple cooking technique to showcase the ingredients. Get the best lamb you can.

I often stick true to the original recipe on a first test run unless there is something I want to do differently. The book suggests Turkish red pepper paste, a red pepper based firey sauce but  I substituted with harissa. It also comes served with a ‘cheesy eggplants puree’ which whilst sounds intriguing was not what I fancied for my tea.

Sultans Delight – Lamb Ragout

 Apparently serving 4 -perhaps as a mezze dish though I would say 2

700g cubed lamb – 40g butter  – 2 red onions, diced – 3 cloves garlic, chopped -  2 tsp chopped fresh oregano -  2 vine tomatoes, skinned, seeded & chopped -  250ml chicken stock – salt & pepper

Melt the butter and fry the lamb until browned.

Remove from pan, sweat onions, garlic & oregano for 5 minutes

Add the honey, turn up the heat cooking for another couple of minutes

Stir in harissa, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper, bring to a simmer slide in lamb

The original recipe suggest a gentle simmer for 1 – 1/2 hours but I prefer to low oven at 150 for the same

Oh lord this is good! Lamb  soft and  full of depth. The honey does come through though balanced perfectly with  tang from the harissa. I served it with a cracked wheat salad though little cubes of roasted potatoes would have worked, also would be good with a blob a tztatziki and soft pitta like bread to juice mop. Simply delicious.

Mr Wolfe, me and Pop up

I know a long black from an Americano, a latte from a flat white.  Though I am certainly no expert I do like – read addicted – my daily coffee. It was through a recommendation via twitter from  Sam of  www.samsofbrighton.co.uk that I discovered and fell in love with Mr Wolfe www.mrwolfe.co.uk. This relative newcomer to Brightons growing ‘know what we are doing’ coffee scene arrived a few months ago and is neatly tucked in Montpelier. They add to  handful of  Brighton and Hove coffee house’s who give attention to bean, machine,  temperature and texture of milk and take real pride in every cup.  Think Coffee @33, Small batch, Ground, Cafe coho,  Marwood, Taylor Street……let me know of more!

Mr Wolfe is run by owning husband and wife team the gorgeous Kat and Travis. Originating  from Melbourne both  are designers  which  is evident in the space utilisation  of their small  perfectly formed cafe.  They use  wood, glass, vintage china and some well-chosen retro furnishings and black board walls to create a space that has a real tranquility about it.

Travis makes the coffee, Monmouth on a Marzocco (machine handmade in Florence)  whilst Kat hand bakes all  the cakes which are beautiful in visual and taste. Tall carrot cakes, rich chocolate tarts, almond and star anise loaf  to name a very small selection of her delection…great sourdough toasties,  savoury pies from local supplier Magpies and morning goods from Cocoa www.cocoabrighton.co.uk It took them nearly a year to find the right premises and I think they have landed perfectly.

So I am in love; can you tell? The space really appeals to me; with this in mind and some chatting with Travis and Kat we have decided to collaborate and I am to…erm I think the term is Pop Up at theirs for a lazy Sunday lunch on June 3rd. The kitchen facilities are bespoke but having cooked for a wedding of 120 on a selection of camping stoves I have not let this small detail limit my menu. 4 courses, a FREE welcome cocktail and some live music for £25. Please do check out the menu posted on this here website of mine.

As I write this we are close to being full – have space for 14 but I have a very good feeling my love affair will last and I feel confident we shall continue to engage in culinary cuddles on a frequent basis. I should also mention love for my 14 year old son who took most of these pictures…..Hench (I am so down with the kids)

I shall also be popping up at Brighton Japan www.brightonhjapan.com. Both these events made it to Tuesday’s Argus oh and I have been asked to think about a car park event…so watch this space.

6 days in the life of a happy fatty

I have gained 2 stone in a year, wear big knickers through necessity rather than retro choice though as luck would have it have also gained an ample bosom.

I have been asked to write a little piece for a  fanzine to be produced as part of The Underground Open House Art Movement  – (www.uoham.co.uk) So here is my diary!

Thursday 19th

Cooked for 14 hours today, as I have 2 supper clubs coming up. As usual skipped most official meals, dipped my chubby fingers in truffle honey,  young goats cheese  (www.la-cave.co.uk), cheesecake mix and sorrel pesto whilst drinking cups of Assam tea, the vanilla and ginger juice from my poached rhubarb and a coffee from SMALL BATCH (www.smallbatchcoffee.co.uk )  Made and baked 48 pasties and sweet potato frittatas for my one wholesale client TEN GREEN BOTTLES (www.tengreenbottles.com)  they have 45 each week, of course ate the spares with some chilli jam, could have done without the latter as I had already eaten 11 teaspoons of the sweet and fiery chutney throughout my day.

Friday 20^th

Have 40 guests coming for supper clubbing tonight and tomorrow. Slicing baguettes baking them off to top them with tasty…erm toppings. Purchased 1kg of pork belly; needs to be fatty and cooked it down for 4 hours, shredded it, packed it amongst its own fat and leave to mature. Unctuous  soft meat, piled on top of celeriac, grated and mixed with crème fraiche, capers and tarragon, hate this word but YUM (though better than fecking ‘Nom Nom).  Drag all my sitting room furniture upstairs and set out the dining space. Love this venture and looking forward to my guests arriving. Managed to eat a bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes at 1pm and a large slice of vanilla cheesecake with the aforementioned rhubarb with praline bits at 1am, these got stuck in my teeth thus I continued to eat whilst sleeping.

Saturday 21^st

Another evening of supper clubbing though day 2 is always more relaxed. Need coffee and head to a new place for me MR WOLFE (www.mrwolfe.co.uk). Woah, great great coffee ‘tucked away, hidden gem’ with amazing looking cakes made by the owning wife. A lot of attention has gone into the design of this cool little Montpellier meets Melbourne coffee house.  Have never been to Australia but I can guess. I resist the calorie charms on offer; am meeting a friend for ‘brunch’. Don’t want to meet him at the peaceful cafe; he is likely to be hung over and hostile. We go to KOBA (www.kobauk.com) order 2 poached eggs with ham and hollandaise, on toast, Benedict to most people though the friend says ‘completely not’ without the English muffin. Head home to continue cooking. My guests arrive which include a ‘celebrity’ 80’s pop singer. Things get quite rowdy in a disco way, I cower in the kitchen eating handfuls of slow roast lamb contemplating how to manage the crowd. Grab the first things that comes to hand: a bottle of cabernet sauvignon wine vinegar and a paring knife and head on through to the dining room…..I look quite threatening and get a little bossy. Eat more lamb go to bed.

Sunday 22nd

Head back to MR WOLFES eat a COCOA (www.cocoabrighton.co.uk) croissant and drink another perfectly created coffee.  Wander round Waitrose buying cereal, marmalade, strawberries and pears, the berries will no doubt grow fluff before I get the chance to eat them. Have a good chat with a member of staff, show her my piece in OLIVE MAGAZINE (www.bbcgoodfood.com) and she wants to come supper clubbing. Bump into yesterdays friend in the sherry isle where we agree to share lunch. Nip home, shower. Meet at Browns; he is nice about my dress we complain about mucked around with Champagne cocktail, drink 2….. Go for Dim Sum CHINA GARDEN (www.chinagarden.name).  Eat loads, all delicious, friend orders, shall have to always bring him with me. See a guest from Friday’s supper club: I shout her name; apparently a little too loudly. Friend heads to BHS for ‘pillows n homeware’. Stagger home, fall into a coma, wake up eat toast and marmalade, cook oven chips and feel a little weak and yellow; think jaundice rather than bright and jolly.

Monday 23rd

Send the teenager to school and go back to bed…. Have a big evening of feasting ahead.  Am extremely flattered to be invited to a cheffy ‘do’ where I sit alongside all the finest Brighton and Sussex chefs at the delicious French restaurant L’EGLISE in Hove (www.legliserestaurant.co.uk) 5 courses of meaty marvellousness to show case the fantastic meat of Herefordshire farmer Richard Vaughan (www.huntsham.com).  A starter of porky terrine, a plate of lamb cooked in 3 ways, beef bourguignon complete with a piece of roasted bone marrow on a slice of bread fried in beef dripping.  Amazing cheeses, a desert with elderflower liqueur, pastry and cream.  I hope the espresso will boot my adrenal glands into burning off some of tonight’s calories though imagine I would need to consume a skip full.

Tuesday 24th

It’s now 10.12am and since this time yesterday my bathroom scales tell me I have gained 5.5lbs in 24 hours. Perhaps I should become a fruitarian though I suspect I would end up mainly drinking fermented grape juice with perhaps a little elderflower cordial; went to MR WOLFES again, long black with hot milk, sadly in a cup not a skip. Found myself at MOSHI MOSHI (www.moshibrighton.co.uk) for lunch….the new spring menu rocks, loved the tuna sashimi salad with an incredible zingy miso dressing. Met the lovely Eva for a glass of fermented fizzy grape juice at BOHEMIA (www.bohemiabrighton.co.uk)  talked cake.  Arrive home agree to take the teenager for ice-cream …I shall have sorbet and a glass of water and perhaps some Gaviscon.