Taste of London 2012 - Regents Park

I have had a busy week in London being asked to write reviews for the Electrolux Cube and with Taste of London for AEG.  I blogged about Taste last year too, and the Festival is still as great as it has been in all previous years Ive attended.  You arrive with gastronomic energy and leave with a full belly and a fond farewell, safe in the knowledge you have indulged in what the Capitals finest eateries have to offer.

Taste of London appears to be growing stronger each year.  For those who know little about it, it is a 4-day food festival, where around 40 of London’s top hitting restaurants come together in Regents Park to let you sample their dishes.  Each restaurant has 3-4 mini dishes you can try, in which you pay for the dishes in a currency of crowns.  There is also a plethora of exhibitors gunning for your attention, with samples of their food and drink for you to try and buy, as well as music, entertainment, and dedicated world cuisine areas.

However, ‘Taste’ offers much more than just a walk in the park.  It’s main sponsors British Airways and AEG (plus several others) also have put on within the festival various, exciting features to make the day more interactive.  For example BA are keen to show you how food 35,000 feet up has an impact on your taste senses, thus giving you the opportunity to learn about ‘Height Cuisine’, and even sample their new first class summer 2012 menu.  AEG are the premium appliance sponsor, and feature the Taste Theatre, where you get to see some of the countries biggest names demonstrate how to cook.  Situated next to that is the AEG mobile academy where you can see in action and ask questions about AEG’s Neue Kollektion, (you must see the steam ovens and a cleverly shaped wok induction), and my personal favourite is the AEG Perfekt Cooking Classes with Angela Malik.  Here you get to use the AEG appliances and cook dishes within 30 minutes.  Angela is the queen of Asian cuisine, and is always on hand to chat with, and show you how to create a great little dish.

Each year’s features are worthy of a visit, and this year my favourites include the Nespresso coffee experience (learn to match coffee with food), The Weber BBQ experience, The Secret Garden (full of all sorts of hidden indulgent extra’s), and the Laurent-Perrier champagne Masterclasses.  Sadly it is not possible to fit all of the activities into your 4-hour visit, so booking these sessions is a must, and you really must do it as soon as you enter, as availability is limited.  My top tip is to check out tastefestivals.com to see what the line-up is in advance, and work out a strategy of what you really don’t want to miss out on and book it immediately as you enter the park. 

As for the Secret Garden (which is in it’s second year), it is worthy of an additional mention as I was privileged to attend ‘The Menu’ in the secret garden which is a unique meal cooked by five world-famous chefs who each cook a course.  Angela Harnet, Bruno Loubet, Nuno Mendes, Wolfgang Puck and Jason Atherton wowed us with their skills, in an elegant enclosure found within the secret garden.  Dishes that got everyone talking were Angela’s first course of San Marzano tomatoes, burrata, basil purée, and black olive powder.  Although a very simple starter, burrata is relatively new on our food menus. It’s basically mozzarella cheese as we know it (but with a mozzarella and cream filling). The thought of being able to re-create this dish at home appealed.  However a simple starter like that is needed when followed by cod and tripe with a stew of onions.  This was everyone’s most apprehensive dish, but turned out to be delicate and flavoursome, with the confit cod bringing an unusual texture to the taste buds.  Wolfgang Puck followed this up with a duo of beef - grilled New York sirloin, roasted baby carrots, cipollini onions, armagnac sauce and an Indian spiced short rib with curried sweet corn purée and garam masala spicing.  This was murderously good, and I can see why this chef has a global empire of restaurants.  This meal takes place on the 1^st two nights of the festival.  Each chef comes out to introduce his or her dish, which is a nice touch.  This event is available at an additional cost, but if you’re a real gastro-pilgrim like me, you may just find that the ‘Menu’ is right up your street.  When would you normally get 5 world-class chefs cooking you a meal together in one evening!  Highly recommended!

Taste of London is a super-hot ticket, and I can’t wait until next years show.  This stylish festival of gastronomy never fails to win my heart!

If you can’t wait until Taste of London 2013, then check out Taste of Edinburgh - 6^th to 8^th of July, and Taste of Christmas in London’s ExCeL - December 7^th-9^th.  Tickets options vary from standard entry to VIP packages.

http://tastefestivals.com/london/

http://www.tasteofedinburgh.co.uk/

http://www.tasteofchristmas.com/

Best In Taste 1st prize award winner Pascal Aussignac of Club Gascon's Marmite Royale

Angela Malik Cooking class with guest chef/restaurateur/Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers

The 'Menu' at Taste

Wolfgang Pucks duo of beef dish at the 'Menu'

The pop up restaurants at Taste

The Cube - Electrolux

People attend the Olympics and such like events when they are hosted by our own nation, because it's nice to feel like you have had a part in the making of history.  Well for food lovers all over the UK, here is an experience that will rival that sensation.  Allow me to introduce you to The Cube - by Electrolux.  I was asked this week to review this unique dining experience.  Read on to see why you really should make the effort before the end of September to dine like you have never dined before!

2012 is a fine year for London with both the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics to celebrate, and sitting tall overlooking these prestigious events right in the heart of the city, is the Electrolux Cube.  This 4-month restaurant is open between the 1st of June and 30^th of September and is situated above London’s Royal Festival Hall.  It is a stunning piece of modern art, mixing a modern structure atop of a classic building, with glass sides offering unrivalled views of iconic sites such as the River Thames, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

The line-up of chefs (purposely located from various regions of the UK, and holders collectively of 8 Michelin stars) are Tom Kitchin from The Kitchin – Edinburgh, Sat Bains from Restaurant Sat Bains – Nottingham, Claude Bosi from Hibiscus - Mayfair (with all three appearing regularly on Saturday Kitchen), Daniel Clifford from Midsummer House - Cambridge  (who we saw reach the finals in this years GBM), and brothers Jonray and Peter Sanchez, (who shot to fame in Gordon Ramsay’s TV series Best Restaurant in 2010). 

Upon arriving on the rooftop of the Royal Festival Hall, a champagne reception with canapés on the constructed terrace awaits you, before you enter the Cube to sit down at a single long table which seats 18 people.  Should the British weather not be in your favour, I discovered that the dining table has been constructed to allow it to be electronically lifted to the ceiling, thus allowing guests to sip champagne in the comfort of the cube!  Its interior feel is very simple and clean, which reflects Electrolux’s Scandinavian heritage.

Upon being seated, everyone's excitement was clear to see.  The kitchen is not so much open but is part of the dining room space, which allows you the opportunity to get up and interact with the kitchen team, and view the dishes as they are being plated up on the open ‘pass’

The cuisine from each chef promises to be exclusive to the Cube, and is a highly guarded secret until the actual day, which all adds to the excitement, so for people like me who love to look up menu’s beforehand, had to show a measured degree of patience!

2 Michelin starred French born Claude Bosi was our host chef.  He describes the Cube as a unique experience, innovative and experimental, so did his food reflect this?

Without giving too much away (as this would spoil the secret nature of the Cubes menu), our lunch comprised of a seven-course menu, which in my opinion comprised of very classic French style food, but with some experimental Michelin inspired elements!  Shrimp paired with strawberry, chicken with hints of sharp fruits, a dessert with pepper infused cream and white chocolate infused with a spring vegetable, were some of the culinary highlights!  All eaten whilst listening to a play list, personally selected by each chef.

What the Cube offers is the ability to enjoy a fine dining experience, without the anxiety of wondering what everyone around you is thinking, wearing, and talking about, because your so busy interacting with the chef, the food and the company you keep throughout the meal.  For anyone seeking new gastronomic heights, then the Cube by Electrolux will deliver physically as well as metaphorically!

The Cube showcases the link between the new range of Electrolux home kitchen appliances and how they can be used in the professional environment.  Surely an inspiration for any aspiring home cook!

The Cube is in its final leg of touring Europe, having visited Milan and Brussels and is currently in Stockholm and London.

 The Cube by Electrolux in London is open daily. Weekdays Lunch: 12:00. Dinner: 19:00. Reservations required at all times. Set lunch: £175. Set Dinner: £215 (including paired wines). For further updates and the latest news visit Electrolux Facebook Page or visit: http://www.electrolux.co.uk/Cube/London

Kitchen Gadgets Giveaway

To celebrate the make-over of my blog, I am giving away to one lucky follower a Baumatic rechargeable wine bottle opener, Oxo Goodgrips hand held mixer,  and a Kitchen Craft oil drizzler.

To win this prize, you need to:

1) Follow this blog and
2) Answer this simple question:

How many courses were featured in the review of the Electrolux Cube?

Please leave your answers in the comments box below.  Winner will be notified by e-mail. Competition closes 21st July.

___________________________

Congratulations to Michelle Kirkwood!
Please contact me with you details

  

Cookery Book Review - 'Eat Your Veg'

Arthur Potts Dawson – Eat Your Veg

Having been given this cookbook to peruse and review by Octopus publishing, I initially could not recall the chef to mind, until I opened the book and instantly remembered him from his series televised on Channel 4 – The Peoples Supermarket.  During the series he was very big on eating fresh and locally sourced fruit and vegetables, and this really comes through in the publication.  The book is not a rant on how we should eat more vegetables, but gives practical and exciting ways to cook with vegetables as a main course.  Personally I am only happy to eat with vegetables as a main dish if such recipes have been intelligently thought through....  By intelligent I mean that they are packed with flavour by combining ingredients with herbs/spices or use of seasonal ingredients simply that bring out their amazing flavour when they are at their best such as Jersey Royals/British Asparagus.  Flicking through the ingredients list for many of the recipes in this book, it is clear to see that Arthur has done this.  His time working at River Café really comes through in this book, with its vast array of seasonal, fresh produce.  I was excited to cook with vegetables. 

The book is practically divided into different sections of food types, and I had a fridge full of tomatoes, so I opened up the ‘fruits’ section, and decided to make baked tomato, garlic and red pepper crostini.  As you can see from my picture it came out just as in the book, which tells you the recipes are explained well, and that the images have not been photoshopped just to please the eye!  This was a simple dish but there are recipes and ingredients to please the more experienced cook too, so something for everyone.  Would I recommend this book?  Yes!  I would give it an 8 out of 10.  In one sentence I would describe it as a punchy vegetable based cookbook designed to challenge the British way of everyday eating!

Garage Lounge - No.1 Albert Buildings, Southsea

If you have failed to notice this new cafe that has opened in the last few weeks (March 7th to be exact), then perhaps you need to get out in the fresh air a little more!  Situated on the corner of Albert Road and Victoria Grove, it used to be the old old Allen Bros Tyre & Van Hire place.  I have been 3 times now with different friends who wanted to try it out, and so we find this cafe culture seems to be hitting Southsea furiously, with cafes popping up everywhere.

The owner Alex who is an architect by trade is from Portsmouth and has been looking for the right venue to open for business.  Himself and 3 of his friends transformed this site into the modern, stylish cafe we see before us.  He has worked in London, and is a  regular visitor to Brighton, and you certainly do get the feel that his cafe is oozing with the style found in both of these trendy cities. 

It is more than a cafe though.  It's a place to sit and relax with friends and take in the beautiful ambiance and the antique charm bursting from every corner.  With beautiful big airy windows when the sun is shining it truly is the place to be.

All food including cakes are made daily, and there is always something unusual to tempt you which faces you on the open counter as you walk in.  No detail has been left to chance, even the food is served up on wooden boards lined elegantly with paper. There is a good selection of teas to choose from too, I will vow to try as many as I can!

The Garage lounge is open daily until 11pm and I recall Alex saying he was opening for breakfasts too as early as 7/8am.  This is a great alternative to going to the pub on an evening, which seems to be our only other optionin the UK!  I hope more cafes will see that this is what people want, and will also jump on board.  I know of an ice cream parlour in Eastbourne of all places that does a roaring trade in the evening!

One thing to note is that you need to find a table, then go and choose your food, and place your order at the counter.  This is not obvious when you first walk in and may be a little confusing, but on your second visit you soon get the hang of it.  Pricing is reasonable too, and falls in line with most other  places in town.

What do you think of the Garage Lounge?

Kitchen Inventions: The modern dinner party

As I sit here in my kitchen surrounded by the latest kitchen inventions and pondering on what makes a modern dinner party such a success  – it has to be partly due to the developments in technology that help make cooking so enjoyable and fun!  I smile to myself as I write this post because actually if it was not for these inventions, I don’t think I’d enjoy cooking so much as I do.

So I’m going to run you through my last dinner party preparation, and lets just see how heavily it features on gizmos and gadgets.  Of course not to be taken for granted is the simplicity and beauty of the everyday items we use and take for granted, such as chopping boards, knives, and kitchen scales, but I wonder just where we have got to today in 2012 in the modern kitchen…

The largest and most expensive item that I have just switched to is an Induction cooker.  I have used these at different cookery schools and demo’s I have attended and I was in love!  So willing my old oven to die a quick death, I am now the proud owner of this stylish cooker.  I started off prepping my pudding which was a boozy chocolate mousse topped with strawberries and Microplaned chocolate shavings.  Did I need to bring to the boil a pan of water, and sit a glass bowl over the top, etc, etc, etc?  Oh no – Induction allows you to melt the chocolate directly into the pan!  Fantastic!  It really is the future. Nothing burns on, so spillages wipe off instantly, and water comes to the boil in no time at all – there is a boost button to quicken this process too.

I wanted to create a funky little palette cleanser so I made some gin and tonic sorbet in my ice-cream maker.  This can be done by hand but everyone who has tried knows that it crystallises and you have to constantly keep opening the freezer to stir it! TIP: If you ever make sorbets try add popping candy to give it another dimension of fizz (but don’t tell your guests it’s in there!)

We kicked off with spicy marinated prawns with aioli.  I remember spending hours researching different stick blenders/whisks to find something that was not too bulky but that would meet all my needs in one machine, so I settled for a Bamix. It is a stick blender with several attachments that aerates, beats, blends, chops, and minces all in one piece of kit.  When you make mayonnaise with an electric tool you have to trickle the oil in slowly, but the Bamix has amazingly high speed with a heavy duty motor that allows you to put the ingredients in at the same time and just whiz it up!  Will even turn skimmed milk into a creamy thick shake consistency!

The main course was fillet steak cooked on a griddle pan to give it those distinctive charcoal lines we all fall for, served with blue cheese bonbons where I made use of my potato ricer, and mini deep fat fryer.  This was served on heated plates thanks to my ovens plate warmer.
We enjoyed a nice bottle of Merlot to go with the main course.  I won a cheesy electronic bottle opener, which everyone laughs at, but hey it’s a talking point, so we had to get that out too!
We finished off with coffee made in my husbands Nespresso coffee maker that also has an Aeroccino to froff up the milk.

When the night was over we waved goodbye to our guests, got the energy to stack the dirty dishes in the dishwasher (nothing worse than facing that the next day!) and retired to bed

I love experimenting with kitchen products and I love putting them to the test.  Blogging about food allows me to share my experiences with others, and it becomes an interchange of encouragement.
Start>Shut down>Goodbye!

-Recipes available upon request

Brand New Morrison's - Victory Park, Portsmouth

Well today at 9am was the opening of a brand new Morrison's store in Portsmouth.  All the advertising stated it would be 'a fresh new shopping experience'.   Was it?  What did I think of the store?

Well as the Foodie I am, I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype, so I arrived at 9am to see for myself.  There was quite a line of shoppers ready to see in the the new store, many asking if there were any opening day deals, but there were none to be found.

What was to be found (and pleased me no end) was the amazing array of unusual global produce that introduced itself to you as you stepped through the door.  Yes the 'greengrocer' section was laden with all sorts of goodies and things you have possibly never heard of.  Produce included Kohlrabi, black and red kale, eddoes, galangal, tumeric, krachi, turia, white asparagus, candy and golden beetroots, smoked garlics, samphire, just to name a few. A great opportunity to go home, look them up and get creative, I was inspired to say the least.   There was an impressive mushroom section too and I was pleased to see the likes of Chanterelle, King Oyster, Pied Bleu and Enoki and many more exotic varieties to be found.


The store displays especially in the fresh grocery sections, very much reminded me of the Whole Foods Market chain of stores I have visited in the UK and US.  I hope this is the future of supermarkets.

Over at the fresh meat and fish counters the staff were eager to assist.  I was told that the butchers section makes it's sausages fresh and rusk free, and you will be sure to find at least 98% meat in them compared to the pre-packed ones.  They have traditional British beef which is something new that they have rolled out in only 7 UK stores including this one, and that it is an exciting time for Morrison's as these 7 stores will be rolling out new products and ideas, that won't be found in other stores.  If this is to be true then it may be worth a regular visit to see what they intend to produce!  The fish counter I was told only sells fresh and sustainable catch, and fishcakes, fish pinwheels, fish wellingtons (as they call them!), are all made daily. There is also a charcuterie counter.

It was funny to see Portsmouth's Lord Mayor walking about asking shoppers questions about what they had in their baskets - I quickly walked the other way!!!

I'd like to have high hopes for this store, but what it really needs is the people of Portsmouth to get behind and support this exciting produce, that will be hard to find elsewhere in Portsmouth all under one roof.  Because inevitably, if we don't support it and sales are down, then the powers that be will just get rid of the global produce by replacing it with everyday fruit and vegetables. 

So I encourage you all to dust off those Indian and Thai cook books you have sitting on your shelves, find yourself a recipe that has 'unusual' ingredients only found in ethnic stores, pop down to Morrison's and enjoy the 'fresh new shopping experience' it boasts about.  I did, and will be back next week armed with a decent shopping list!

A selection of fresh vegetables

Global fusion foods

A dedicated charcuterie counter

Much room for Mushrooms!

Seaweed, Spiced Curry and Lemon & Thyme rolls, great with soup I would imagine!