New dishes
Kenneth Culhane Caterer Masterclass and you-tube film

Our head chef, Kenneth Culhane, this month held a masterclass for Caterer Magazine on ices, published on 8 April, and a film was made for ‘you-tube’

The masterclass dish is new to our Spring a la carte menu and is a millefeuille of exotic fruits, young coconut ice, lychee sorbet, rosehip syrup

The masterclass can be read in Caterer Magazine or, much better, come in and enjoy the dish here

The ‘you-tube’ film features a dish added to our tasting menu – a pre-dessert palate cleanser of preserved lemon, Petersham wild damsons, hawthorn berries and liquorice root ice, with lemon bergamot sorbet

Link to the film here
Link to the recipe here – preparation described in the film

Both dishes illustrate themes important to us:

• The millefeuille is another dish like the honey custard that is indulgent and luxurious, yet light and delicate with natural sugars, used sparingly
• Not all ices are sweet and the granita in the palate cleanser is a perfect illustration of this
• In the wrong hands added refined sugar destroys the real flavours of nature
• With the best ingredients, using natural sugars in the foods and thoughtful cooking, added sugar is either unnecessary or beneficial only if used sparingly
• Using only organic, top quality ingredients in peak season and peak quality, founded on traditional husbandry delivers the finest flavours ;  you only get out what you put in
• traditional, classical preparation and cooking, relying on freshness and quality of ingredients delivers natural intense flavour
• classical skills do not stop the evolution of this dish by removing  the traditional heavy fondant on top and the intense  sweetness of millefeuille of old to bring a light and delicate touch
• naturally sweet fresh fruits work well with syrups made from hedgerow ingredients like hawthorn berries, rosehips and wild damsons and undertones of tartness
• the puff pastry is made in the classical way
• if the natural sugars in the ingredients need additional sweetening there are natural sugars like the ones used in these dishes, coconut blossom nectar and chestnut honey

Links:

• Sugar in the News
• our approach to the purity and enjoyment of food
• our recipe for ‘burnt honey custard Chablis apple’ from our a la carte menu, a wonderful pudding with intense flavour, as indulgent as one could want, with no added sugar and using the natural sugar in the apple and honey
• Some Food Trends for 2016