Author Archives: Qin Xie

Truffle making with William Curley

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Published on Foodepedia on 10th October 2010:

William Curley Kitchen

Dark chocolate truffles are the only kind of confectionery that I find absolutely irresistible. I like that they offer all the taste of dark chocolate without the bitter after taste. I love the way they release a burst of rich chocolate intensity before gently melting away on your tongue, always leaving just enough flavour to keep you wanting more.

Every year, when the weather turns wintry and Christmas is on the horizon, I would start my search for the perfect dark chocolate truffle for the season. Last year I even cobbled together a recipe and made my own. It was passable, delightful but by no means perfect. So when I heard about William Curley’s chocolate making masterclass, I thought to myself “what a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon”.

And why should it not be? William Curley started out with an apprenticeship at Gleneagles before moving on to a number of Michelin-starred establishments including Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. He opened his first store in Richmond in 2004 and has since been voted the Best British Chocolatier in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the Academy of Chocolate (2010 hasn’t been decided yet). With expertise and tastings incorporated, this was set to be a good one.

The masterclass took place at Curley’s Belgravia store where there is a small kitchen beneath the cafe store. Lucy, one of Curley’s patissiers was heading up the afternoon session with a handful of eager participants.

We started with a cup of William Curley’s hot chocolate, the perfect antidote to the miserable weather outside. The ingredients were all laid out on the counter, prepped and ready to use. As we sipped on the cups of liquid gold, Lucy explained the history behind William Curley’s shop and gave us the recipes for the truffles we were going to make – Japanese whiskey and sesame.

Spatula in chocolate

First, there was the ganache. In pairs, we were given a bowl of finely chopped dark chocolate and a small knob of butter, weighed out according to the recipe. Lucy boiled the cream for us and weighed it out into our bowls. The hot cream started to melt the chocolate immediately and we had to mix the two together until smooth, minimising the number of air bubbles, before adding the butter. When the mixture became a silky runny liquid with a temperature just cooler than skin, the whiskey was weighed into the bowl and mixed in. Finally the whole thing was put into the fridge to cool until solid. Then we moved on to the sesame truffles with the same principles except instead of the whiskey, we added black and white sesame paste for flavour.

While we waited for the ganache to cool to a solid enough state to pipe, Lucy talked about the chocolate we were using. The William Curley chocolate of choice is Amedei, which he has been using exclusively for the last few years. Amedei only uses ethically sourced Criollo and Trinitario beans to make their chocolates so the quality is excellent and the product morally sound.

When the ganache is sufficiently cooled, we moved on to phase two of the chocolate making – piping. The last time I held a piping bag was when I was attempting to decorate a Christmas cake, aged 15 and in a “food technology” class. Needless to say it wasn’t really a skill I possessed or practised. Lucy demonstrated the best way to pipe out a round ganache but we all somehow failed in that task because in front of us were trays lined with ugly little pellets, barely recognisable as truffles.

Piped chocolate truffles

These were quickly stashed away to be cooled for a second time before being coated in tempered chocolate. Tempering is when the chocolate is melted and held at a liquid state while it’s being worked. Once the tempered chocolate cools, it will set and form a hard shell, protecting the ganache inside but also giving it a glossy sheen.

In the interim, we were treated to a selection of Japanese inspired chocolates from William Curley’s portfolio of flavours. Curley’s Japanese wife Suzue, the co-owner of William Curley Chocolates, has been a great influence on the flavours produced by the chocolatier.

In the final part of the truffle making masterclass, the chilled ganache is coated with the liquid chocolate and then covered with toppings such as soya powder or sesame seeds. A little sneaky rolling before the coating solved the problem of the ugly pellets. Once the chocolate coating sets, they were ready to be boxed and gift bagged.

My piping skills aside, I’m not sure if these are the perfect dark chocolate truffles but they do taste pretty good. The masterclass however, was very educational and hands on and comes highly recommended for the truffle making beginner.

William Curley runs a number of truffle making masterclasses at his stores, as well as bespoke classes by request. For Chocolate Week he is also running a special masterclass at Claridge’s.

William Curley Chocolates are at 198 Ebury Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 8UN and 10 Paved Court, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1LZ.

www.williamcurley.co.uk

Cloudy Bay Chef’s Table at The Montagu, Hyatt Regency

by Qin Xie | 1 Comment

Published on Foodepedia on 6th October 2010:

Ahead of the London Restaurant Festival this week I was invited to The Montagu at Hyatt Regency, London, to sample a rather special meal.

The meal was special in that the entire menu had been created to complement a small portfolio of six New Zealand wines rather than the usual method of matching wine to food. It was also special because the new world wines are almost exclusive to The Montagu restaurant at the Hyatt Regency since so few cases have been imported into the UK.

The wines in question were from Cloudy Bay, one of the oldest wine producers from the Marlborough region of New Zealand, where their vineyards have been established since 1985. The most notable wine from Cloudy Bay is perhaps their Sauvignon Blanc, known for its “vibrant aromatics, layers of pure fruit flavours, and fine structure” and often considered the benchmark for the variety. But Cloudy Bay also produces a number of other varieties including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and late harvest Riesling as well as limited release whites like Pinot gris.

Upon arrival at the restaurant we were given a glass of Cloudy Bay Pelorus NV, a sparkling white wine, to kick off the evening. There was a choice of two Amuse Bouche to match, one was a seared swordfish with Parmesan crisp and the other was tuna with salsa verde. These were enjoyed in the bar area so that all the guests in attendance had the opportunity to meet each other, the chef and the restaurant manager.

The man who created the menu we were sampling was Carlos Teixeira, a relatively young Portuguese chef currently holding fort as the Head Chef at The Montagu. Together with The Montagu’s sommelier and his team, Teixeira pulled together a further five courses to complement the other five beautiful wines we were about to sample.

After the Amuse Bouche, we were seated at the Chef’s Table – front row audience to the action inside the open kitchen of a five star hotel. As each of the dishes were plated in front of us, restaurant manager Adam Skrzypczak explained the tasting notes behind the wines and Teixeira explained how the dishes complemented the wines.

To begin the meal, we had Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007 matched with smoked duck breast with fig and roasted pepper salad. Course two was the infamous Sauvignon Blanc, the flagship wine of Cloudy Bay. We had a young vintage from 2009. Matched to this was a very fresh and fragrant fricassee of scallops, prawns and clams with lime and lemongrass. With the regular topping up of my glass, I was beginning to wonder how I was going to try and pace myself as well as remember everything that was said.

The third course was the Cloudy Bay Te Koko 2007, a wine named after the legend of the explorer Kupe. Whole roasted Foie Gras with Cox’s orange pippin and black truffle was selected to complement this wine. It was a match which was extremely difficult to do but done very well on this occasion. The flavours are so perfectly complementary that you could recall the tastes and smells for weeks afterwards.

The fourth course was the Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2008, the only red wine on the menu and in Cloudy Bay’s portfolio. Matched to this was braised breast of veal with curcuma polenta, blackcurrants and glazed root vegetables. The final course was the Cloudy Bay Gewurztraminer 2007. A very aromatic, light and fruity caramelised lychee parfait with cardamom foam and pistachios was chosen to match.

Five courses may sound like a lot but the dishes were light enough to allow the full sensory experience without filling up. By the end of the meal, it was obvious that everyone had decided on their favourite course and favourite wine which they happily reminisced as they staggered off into the night.

The menu is available now until early December. To book, call 0207 299 2037 or emailing montagu.hrlondon@hyatt.com.

The Montagu is at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, 30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH

Trinity, Clapham

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Published on Foodepedia on 21st September 2010:

4 The Polygon, Clapham, London, SW4 0JG www.trinityrestaurant.co.uk

Trinity is the second Clapham restaurant of chef patron Adam Byatt, with the first being the now defunct Thyme, and it works very hard to amalgamate fine dining with its friendly neighbourhood restaurant ethos. From the outset, there’s the unassuming entrance. Soft lighting gently framed the windows with only a small discreet plaque revealing the restaurant within, Trinity. Facing a disused building, it manages to be in the centre of Clapham Common and yet at the same time sneakily tucked away, giving diners accessibility and an incredible sense of privacy.

Mondays are traditionally very quiet for restaurants. For Trinity, this meant a merry-go-round of taxis stopping to set down groups of eager diners. Their a la carte, tasting and prix fixe menus offer extensive choice without pricing out the average visitor.

Pigs trotters made an interesting starter for me and my companion had the poached Loch Duart salmon. Trotters may be unusual but getting the entire dish served on a block of wood was definitely unexpected. Finely diced meat from the trotters were served on a slice of toasted sourdough with a single stick of crackling balanced delicately on top. Sauce Gribiche decorated the base and three perfectly fried quail’s eggs, centre still runny, framed the block. It seemed like a lot for a starter but somehow managed to remain light enough to make a pleasing appetiser. Suffice to say that it tasted as good as it was scrupulously presented.

A fillet of slow cooked Dexter beef served with artichokes, triple cooked chips and steak tartar made a deliciously filling main, the kind that makes it hard not to quip about a match made in meat heaven. Aside from being a demonstration of the skill and effort required to produce the dish, the taste and texture also perfectly reflected the quality of the ingredients used. For my companion, there was a slight quibble about the bones in his lemon sole and seeds in his Muscat grapes. It seems that having to work hard for the pleasure of tasting something wonderful was just a bit too vexing.

There was a good selection of desserts to round off the meal as well as the option for a cheese course. All the courses were accompanied by beautifully matched wines, a highly recommended and thoroughly pleasurable addition to the meal. My companion raved so much about his dessert wine I’m not even sure he finished his dessert, although I’m quite certain it tasted divine if my raspberry ripple souffle was anything to go by.

Overall the food was excellent, as expected, and meticulously prepared. The restaurant was run with military efficiency and impeccable attention to detail in every step from taking of the coats to seating at the table to a refreshing Bellini and welcoming flat bread. The staff were friendly, helpful and unobtrusive; effortlessly creating the relaxed atmosphere. And let’s not forget the fragrant loose tea and freshly brewed coffee at the end of the meal, served with a cookie jar.

And as an endearing extra, we were each furnished with a bag of hand-made mini meringues before we left. There has never been a local eatery so hospitable.

A potted tale of Canteen

by Qin Xie | 1 Comment

Published on Foodepedia on 16th September 2010:

Canteen is the critically acclaimed mini restaurant chain whose raison d’etre is to serve wholesome British food and this has been a major factor in its success from day one. There are four busy locations across central London playing host to a branch of Canteen: Spitalfields, Royal Festival Hall, Baker Street and Canary Wharf.

Now coming up to its fifth year of serving up simple delicious food, it’s still as busy as ever. So I took the opportunity for some sumptuous steak and chips to meet the founders and talk past, present and the recently released ‘Great British Food’.

The story began when co-founders Patrick Clayton-Malone, Cass Titcombe and Dominic Lake gathered round a table at the Real Eating Company, a restaurant that Cass was running in Brighton at the time. When it came to the subject of food, the three discovered that their different upbringings had converged on to one point, they all had a love of good quality British food, the kind grandma used to make. This is something which they felt passionate about and yet at the same time found to be uncommon on the British High Street. They craved for something that was good and wholesome but that was also affordable and accessible. So the idea for Canteen was born, a restaurant which served simple, high-quality ingredients in an unpretentious environment.

So here we have classics like devilled kidneys, fish and chips, and treacle tart to choose from on the menu. But perhaps in many respects the seed was sown many years before that when each of them were introduced to their idea of real food. For Patrick, the key influence on his ideology of food was perhaps growing up in rural Dorset and being immersed in home-grown produce and home-made food. Then of course there were the cattle markets, farmers’ stalls and village fetes which also played a key role in his experience of eating local, something which is very central to the ethos of Canteen.

Patrick’s first job was that of a kitchen porter at a Tex Mex restaurant, which although uninspiring, did propel him into the hospitality industry. He went on to a career in events organisation and promotion which later morphed into multimedia production. During this time, Patrick ate out regularly and discovered the growing discrepancy between the cheap but low quality high-street brands and fine-dining experiences. While event organising in Bath, Patrick met a young chef called Cass who later went on to work for Daphne’s, The Collection and Pasha in London.

Like Patrick, Cass also grew up with home-cooked meals in a rural surrounding. His parents were small-holders in Wales before it became cool. For Cass, memories of food were all about making elderflower champagne for the summer, preserves for the winter, raising chickens and ducks for eggs and goats for milk. Cass had felt for sometime that his heart lay with organic and seasonal food so when Patrick introduced Cass to Dominic, Canteen began to take shape. By pure chance, Patrick had also met Dominic through one of his oldest friends and discovered that he had a strong entrepreneurial streak. Despite studying at Central St Martin’s School of Art and Design to begin with, Dominic went on to become an investment executive at a boutique venture capital company before gaining an MBA from the London Business School. Dominic has always had a passion for food and in 2001 he even organised the European Motorcycle Extravaganza, combining Europe’s mountain roads with the best of Michelin starred restaurants.

The meeting with Cass moved Dominic firmly away from fashion and into the food arena. Of course, while each was passionate and committed, it wasn’t as simple as upping sticks and opening a restaurant. There were logistics to be worked out. So after many months of planning, recipe tasting and tentative site applications, the first Canteen was finally ready to be revealed. And on the 19th of October 2005, Canteen was opened to the public at Old Spitalfields Market where it was welcomed with open arms. And it seems that everyone who is anyone on the food scene has eaten there, liked it and written about it; everyone from A A Gill to Fay Maschler.

Fast forward to today, Canteen remains a firm favourite of critics and customers alike and continues to serve those traditional dishes. And by popular demand, the three founders have decided to release their first cookbook, Great British Food. A cookbook which embodies the entire ethos of Canteen, from its tweed cover and simple layout to the nostalgic collection of their favourite Canteen recipes inside. It’s clear that Canteen has worked hard to stay true to its ethos and in meeting with its founders I firmly believe that it’ll continue to do the same for years to come. And my steak and chips? It was simple and delicious..

A three course meal courtesy of Prince Charles, sort of.

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published on Foodepedia on 13th September 2010:

You may remember that back in September 2009, Waitrose and Duchy Originals joined forces in a partnership deal which gave Waitrose exclusive rights to manufacture, distribute and sell Duchy Originals products. Duchy Originals was the brand set up by Prince Charles in 1990 to promote organic food and farming, and also to help protect and sustain the countryside and wildlife. A year later, Duchy Originals from Waitrose has finally hit the shelves so I got hold of a couple of products and tried to make an easy meal out of it.

As a starter, I had a beetroot soup with dill. I’m not a big fan of beetroot. It’s partly because I’ve had one too many beetroot and mustard mayonnaise sandwiches, it’s a strange combination I know but you have to spice up a boring sarny some how. But mostly it’s because beetroot seems to stain everything it touches. So when faced with this vibrant pink concoction, it was a little bit daunting. As it turns out, the soup tasted more like a tomato soup than beetroot and it was also surprisingly spicy. The kind of spice you feel on your tongue when you’ve just eaten raw garlic rather than hot peppers. With some warm garlic bread, it would have made quite a nice lunch. As it was, it didn’t quite tantalise my taste-buds.

For main I got some pork Cumberland rings and fresh beef gravy. Interestingly, the Duchy Originals from Waitrose range didn’t have any potato based products or anything that looked like it could accompany the sausages. That means no Dauphinoise potatoes, no rosties or even any sort of vegetable mash. Not that you would consider having these sausages as simple bangers and mash. These sausages are thick and wholesome, made from “prime cuts of free range pork shoulder”, British and organic of course. It’s the sort of produce where so much care has been taken to make it that you feel like you have to use it for something wildly exciting.

In the end I decided that the best way to treat these Cumberland rings was to make a sausage pie. All it took was one onion, one leek and one carrot softened in a pan with the sausage meat. Ten minutes later it was in the pie dish with half of the warmed gravy poured on top and ready rolled puff pastry pulled across for cover. Half an hour or so later, I got myself a tasty pie with some mighty meaty gravy to pour on top. And it was really good pie, if I do say so myself.

The sausage meat was nicely seasoned and not too peppery so it was perfect for the pie. The leek helped but what really made the pie was the gravy. I’ve never had gravy so meaty and flavoursome – it was like all the flavours of the meat had been distilled into this rich sauce. And unlike some gravies, it wasn’t heavily salted either which made it all the more surprising that it had such a distinct taste. This could be the gravy of choice for future pie making ventures.

I had high hopes for the monmouth pudding as a desert but perhaps I had placed the bar too high. Although the pudding tasted good, it wasn’t moreish; and it didn’t really round off the dinner, but rather, it felt like a snack on the side. Perhaps it just needed something extra like a little pouring cream.

By purchasing a pack of each product, with some cupboard ingredients thrown in, it was pretty easy to put together a three course meal for two hungry people or four light eaters. Although it wasn’t completely hassle free, mostly because of the lack of accompaniments to the Cumberland rings, it did offer a good opportunity to be creative. All in all, the meal was nice and afforded quality in terms of taste and value for money.