What an absolute joy to welcome the prodigal brother, Andrew, back from Jordan for a flying visit. Sixteen wonderful guests were treated to a menu inspired by so much of what we’ve enjoyed from our cooking odysseys over the past two years – a blend of middle eastern and seasonal British dishes, with a flash of Asian flavours.
We kicked off with Chicken ‘Baklava’. This dish initially raised some eyebrows on our Lebanese guests, though they quickly turned to smiles of satisfaction. Chicken thighs, cooked in onions, olive oil, and their own juices for two hours before being pulled apart; filo stuffed with said pulled chicken, baked, and topped with sweet honey and zingy Sumac.
Next up was Shishborak, a sort of Jordanian dumpling stuffed with spinach and garlic, cooked in a Jameed sauce and finished with tarragon and bread crumbs. The Jameed sauce is somewhat of a Jordanian speciality, combining the hard, salty, Middle Eastern cheese with yoghurt.
After the now customary but endlessly moorish ‘No Knead Bread‘ with roast garlic and rosemary butter, we combined three beautiful variations of Asparagus (white from Francois in Dunkirk, green from James in Cornwall, and purple from an unknown Peruvian grower) with hazelnut pesto and egg to form an Asparagus & Pickled Egg Yolk Salad.
Continuing the theme of springtime ingredients, we had a chilled Wild Garlic Soup with Wild Garlic Toasts, the recipe for which can be found here. Dom fell in love with Wild Garlic in March 2020 when locked down in West Cork and walking daily amongst the stuff.
The mainer was Salmon (courtesy of Bourne’s) with Nori Purée and Miso Butter, an unusual but stunning flavour combination first devised by Kiwi chef Peter Gordon when cooking a dinner for the visiting All Blacks in London. All finished with some charred seasonal spring onions.
To wrap up, we served some beautiful Brown Sugar Meringues with Tahini Ice Cream, Burnt Orange, Pomegranate Molasses & Pistacchio. The Taroocco oranges, from Salvatore in Palagonia, were to die for.
The wine pairings from Amber Gardner were, as ever, a knock out.
- Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico “Le Oche”, Fattoria San Lorenzo 2019
- Weissburgunder, Weingut Judith Beck 2020
- Baby Bandito Stay Brave, Testalonga 2021
- Brachetto d’Acqui, Alasia 2020
For tickets to future events, come on over here.