In canapé heaven

'Would you like to come and judge some top canapés?' says the email from Square Meal. Errrrrrrr, YES, I would very much like that please. So Wednesday afternoon finds me hobbling down to Old Billingsgate (long story involving dodgy shoes, booze and a wedding dance floor) to the Square Meal Canapé Cup.

I snaffle a couple of drinks walking past the stalls and get talking in the queue of fellow judges to a vegetarian teetotaller. Hmmmm, this might not be as fun as first thought. But once we're in the canapé room, I realise that he is pure gold, most of the dishes are not vegetarian, much to his chagrin and my delight, so I eat his as well. I'd like to apologise in advance for the quality of the pictures here, but it's quite difficult to take photos when balancing a glass of champagne, a voting form, a handbag and a pen, all the while trying to avoid someone leaping in and getting their hand in the photo.




Subterranean canapé tasting.

First up is Alistair Hugo, with organic Atlantic salmon, with fennel cream. It's good, but too much fennel, I happen to like fennel, but thought that horseradish cream would have worked better. Gosh, how fussy I am getting in my old age.



Organic Atlantic salmon.

Next up are tiny little parcels of canapé loveliness, the perfect size for finger food, and light too. These little beauties are from the Winter Garden at The Landmark Hotel, and are "fresh tuna and marinated cucumber, rolled in rice paper and topped with sesame seeds and ponzu caviar". They are little bundles of deliciousness.



Yellowfin tuna rice paper roll.

My favourite table for the sheer enthusiasm and positive attitude of the lady manning it is Stratford Old Town Hall. The food is windfall too, and makes my new friend very happy as its pretty much the only veggie dish on offer (I still snaffle two). This is a jollof rice, which I love, black beans and spices rolled in a courgette and served on fried plantain. It's wonderful, and I love the fact that people are commenting on the size, only to be told that Africa doesn't have a tradition of canapés, so eat up!


Odun Nengor "Nice Nice"


London's friendliest lady from Stratford Old Town Hall.

Back to meaty goodness for the next course, and I'm not just talking about the boys in the picture below.



Meaty boys from Rotunda.


This is Rotunda's offering of teriyaki marinated beef, and it's so, so tender, the beef having been hand reared and grass fed, then aged for 32 days. How could anyone be a vegetarian after tasting this? Nice work boys.



Teriyaki marinated Northumbrian beef.



I'm a little disappointed with the next offering. It's from Quince at the May Fair, and sounds like it should be fabulous - " tea smoked duck with scotch quails egg", and while you can taste the slightly gamely quality of the duck, there's nothing of the tea smoke I recognise, and the bread 'soldiers' to scoop out the egg are a bit lacklustre. Next!


Tea smoked duck with scotch quails egg.


Next doesn't let me down. This is by Melissa Webb at Hedsor House (check out the fab yet simple presentation), and it's cured wood pigeon, molasses, beetroot and anise blossom. The flavours work perfectly together and it's autumn in a mouthful, the sweetness of the molasses and beetroot and the gaminess of the duck brought to life by the anise. I love it.





Out of the Woods (and on to my plate) cured wood pigeon.


I think it says a lot about the next offering that there is no photo. It's from the Hippodrome, hardly gourmet central (miaow), and it's six hour cooked beef fillet, with "organic heirloom tomato gazpacho jelly, gin salt crystals, celeriac and wasabi remoulded with brioche dust." There's way too much going on here, the beef tastes nowhere near as good as the offering from Rotunda, and the squares of toasted bread it's served on are soggy. The guy manning the table makes no attempt to engage with the punters, and all in all, it's a bit of lame effort. Proving what I have long thought, that it's not just the food, but the interaction of those cooking and serving it, that makes it all part of the experience of how we enjoy what we're eating.

I confess that I spend a lot of time in Feng Sushi, as they have a branch in Borough Market, near my office, I love sushi, and a now sadly ex-colleague and I used to spend an inordinate amount of time in there gorging on soft shell crab. Their offering is crispy miso salmon cube, and, as the name suggests, it's salmon served on warm rice, with popping salmon eggs and yuzu tobiko (some form of citrusy roe apparently, I had to Google it.) It's pretty good, but way too big, not the sort of canapé you'd want to be caught attempting at the Christmas party by the cute boy from the accounts department.



Crispy miso salmon cube.


Rather randomly, a dessert follows before we go back to savoury. I have practically no sweet tooth, a fact that seems to annoy other females intensely, until I reassure them that my love of cheese and wine means I'm never going to be a size zero. I digress. This is by Eden Caterers at Ministry of Sound and is a cherry, packed with the flavours of Black Forest Gateau - kirsch, chocolate and cream - without the evil sponge that makes you want to fall asleep before you've even hit the dance floor. Yum.


'Cherry Picking'


Finally, we come to 'A Taste of Autumn.' Again, I feel I should apologise for the picture quality, but this was the last one In this particular batch, and there was someone else eyeing it up, so I had to get in quick. This is "sweet smoked ham and sticky apple skewered on liquorice root and rolled in pork crackling." It tasted like Bonfire night, and I mean that in a good way. Pork and apple is a classic and this didn't fail.



Autumn Classic



Having tasted everything, I nabbed myself another glass of champagne and as there was still more food coming out, I felt it my duty to go and try everything one last time, just to ensure that I was making the correct decision when voting, you understand. I decided how to vote and also that the golden rule of canapés is that they should be small, it is finger food after all. If they are going to be big, they have to be exceptionally good, and here I refer you back to Stratford Old Town Hall, and their veggie option.

So I voted, in no particular order, to quote Strictly Come Dancing, and I gave my votes to Melissa Webb at Hedsor House for the 'Out of the Woods' pigeon, Stratford Old Town Hall for the 'Olun Nengor' taste of Africa and Rotunda for the teriyaki marinated Northumbrian beef. Winners are announced in the Autumn edition of Square Meal and I look forward to seeing these three take the Gold, Silver and Bronze.

www.squaremeal.co.uk

www.melissawebb.com

For Stratford Old Town Hall contact Alison.davenport@newham.gov.uk

www.rotundabarandrestaurant.co.uk



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Location:Old Billingsgate Market, London

Monday 19 August: the day I've decided to give up smoking. Having done it successfully before, I feel a fool for even starting again (following a break up from a long term boyfriend), and getting myself hooked.

My reasons for giving up are many and numerous; it's terrible for my health and my wallet, I can't run as far and as fast as I used to, my friends and family hate it (and I in turn hate smoking around their children), that first cigarette of the day makes me feel like shit, I can hear myself wheezing when I wake up, I can't enjoy Breaking Bad because every time Walter starts hacking up, it freaks me out that that will be me in 10 years time. I could go on.

And honestly, does anyone want to come out on the balcony of a morning to this:





I know it's going to be tough, it always is, especially after a few drinks. I've heard it said that one of the greatest pleasures in life is a glass of wine and a cigarette. I can think of many greater pleasures; sunset over the Pacific, galloping on the back of a horse, laughing with friends until you cry, orgasms, being able to really taste food that someone's lovingly cooked for you, moving into a new home, meeting my friends new tiny children for the first time.

So, I'm determined this time. I have my trusty electronic cigarette, and have now put it out there that I'm off the fags. Whatever life throws at me is not stressful enough to keep inhaling a lungful of toxins for.



I'm blogging it in the hope that by doing so I can encourage others around me to do the same (you know who you are!) and the shame of publicly having to admit that I've failed will be enough to keep me off the Marlboros.

This time next week I'll let you know how I've got on, and any and all encouragement is much appreciated!

Location:Goodbye and good riddance, Marlboro Lights

Lily in vintage

I went to a hen night in Brighton on Saturday night and met this lovely lady, with a great sense of style, wearing this fabulous piece of vintage.




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Restaurant Story

A couple of months ago, a friend and I were walking up Tooley Street when we happened across a sauna-esque glass and wood building with no name. Investigations were undertaken back in the office and we found it that it was Restaurant Story, raved about as London's hottest new restaurant. We don't actually care about such things, all we knew was that they served a ten course tasting menu and are staggering distance from our place of work. So, the table was booked (for two months in advance), and we settled into a state of heady anticipation.

I confess, I wasn't going to blog about Story. I had planned to go, enjoy myself, not take photos and have a bit too much to drink. After all, ten courses, two loveable rogues, and an afternoon off work, what could possibly go wrong?

But the food was so beautiful, and so gorgeously presented that I found myself taking pictures. And wanting to write about it.

The ten course tasting menu:




We got cocktailed up and settled in. And then the food started coming. Tiny little gorgeous mouthfuls of amuse bouches, including an incredible crisply fried cod skin and the beautiful peas and truffle pictured below.





Upon being seated, the waitress had bought over and lit a candle at the table and we'd noted that it smelt ever so slightly garlicky and then thought nothing else of it. Until out came the sourdough bread and we were informed that the candle was in fact the dripping in the bread and dripping course: genius! It's tastes fantastic too, as indeed that much fat should.


Nick puts on his American anchorman face for the bread and dripping photo.







Caramelised gorgeous blackened onions and sweet apricots follow, then on to the scallops, at which point the whole table went quiet with the appreciation of perfectly mingled flavours, fresh shellfish and dill ash. Please note the beauty of the presentation, in particular the tiny courgette, complete with flower.




Onto the mackerel and carrots. Lots of carrots: Tiny baby carrots, slivers of carrot, carrot tops, fish poached in carrot juice. The sweetness of the carrots works perfectly with the oiliness of the mackerel. More appreciative silence, broken with the occasional 'oh wow'.




The next course is my favourite, and I never thought I'd say that about mashed potato. Newmarket potatoes, with dandelion butter and charcoal oil, served with broad beans. It's rich, creamy, interesting and just perfect. I want a whole plate of it.





A little palette cleanser is next up, beetroot, raspberries and horseradish, simple and straightforward, even though the horseradish is a white powder that gives a delightful tingle in the nose (ahem).




The veal is next and it's slightly overdone, but we still wolf it down, even though we're seven courses in by this point.

The come the desserts, which I can't write about, because not having a sweet tooth and being somewhat full, I didn't eat them. I sip a glass of dessert wine and watch the boys wolf their own, and then my, puddings. They tell me they are excellent.

This is fantastic cooking, done really well and using seasonal products without being pretentious about it. It's quirky and fun, such as in the case of the dripping candle and the horseradish powder, and I loved it. We'll definitely be going back as the menu changes from high summer into autumn. Oh, and if that's not enough to inspire you, you can see the chefs cooking in the kitchen. And they are rather hot......

Falling down the rabbit hole

Afternoon tea? How civilised and lovely, a chance to get dressed up and pretend its the '50's again, or some other impossibly glamorous era, where women wouldn't dream of leaving the house without a hat or stockings.

My lovely friend Sabine (who has featured on these pages before) was over from her new home of Tennessee and requested the pleasure of my company for afternoon tea.

A caveat here: I am not a big fan of sweet food, so afternoon tea is always a bit hit and miss for me. But I loved this one, a modern twist on the Mad Hatters tea party from Alice in Wonderland, at the Sanderson Hotel.

Despite a rain lashed June (welcome to London) we arrived and sat outside, albeit under plastic awnings.

We're given the tea leaves to smell in individual jars, I pick the strawberries and cream, and Sabine goes for the rhubarb and custard. The lovely waitress asks if we're upgrading to the champagne afternoon tea. Of course we are, what a ridiculous question.












While we're happily quaffing our champagne, the tea arrives. I love strawberries and cream tea, could drink it by the pint, and proceed to do so. Check out the adorable Alice themed crockery, available to buy there, which I would have done had I had more than two glasses.

And then the food arrives. It's a total OMG moment. We're told what everything is and how it's all edible, and then I get stuck into the sandwiches in the hope that by carb loading and drinking fizz, I can shake off the last vestiges of a mild hangover.





But sandwiches are not the purpose of afternoon tea, a welcome addition though they are. Sandwiches are the sort of thing you can buy in Marks and Spencer. The real beauties are the cakes. And there are two of everything, this avoiding that very British "you have it, no, no, you" scenario.




These sweets are pretty darn fine (high praise from lack of sweet toothed me). I'm not overly fussed on the edible chocolate pot with green tea mousse, but that's a personal choice of not liking green tea. And I confess to not trying the Victoria sponge cake in the shape of a clock, or the sweet scones, although I manage to force a savoury one down.

But this little beauty is my particular favourite. The stripy outside is edible white chocolate, the inside is vanilla cheesecake and there's an 'egg yoke' of mango purée encased in the mousse, just waiting to be broken open with a spoon. It is DIVINE.












To round the calorie extravaganza off, there's also a little sugary potion, entitled 'drink me'. Even I can manage this, despite being stuffed to the gills.




By the end of the afternoon, we can't actually move. We both agree that the tea was excellent value for money at £45 including a glass of champagne, although our bill might have been slightly higher as we may have had more than one glass of champagne. We stagger off to Oxford Street, far too full to try on any clothes and vowing to never eat again.

www.sandersonlondon.com

Location:The Sanderson Hotel, London

What I've been up to instead of writing this blog

Just busy jumping out of aeroplanes in New Zealand. As you do.


Last October, I took a sabbatical from work and my friend Vicky and I travelled the world: 16 countries, 5 months and one hell of an adventure. You can read about it here: www.justalittletriparoundtheglobe.blogspot.com

I'm now back in London, doing loads of fun stuff, which I'll be blogging about. Thanks for reading and posts will follow shortly......


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