Cue Point

By Eve Tudor

I found Cue Point last summer when I met up with some friends at the Big Camden BBQ. It was a great event, lots of incredible food and smoked cocktails. What a night. But there was one set of guys that stood out with their huge smoker sat in the middle of the North Yard filling the air with their smoked meaty goodness, and that was Cue Point.

We actually fought over the food which was juicy and delicious, and they made the best roast potatoes (crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle) to have with their brisket that I’ve ever tasted. that just melted in your mouth with new flavours that really catch your taste buds and make them zing. I’d never tasted these flavours together before and it was heavenly! Welcome to the Afghan/ Western BBQ!

A time later having Insta-stalked Cue Point of course, and for some reason just not made it to their restaurant yet, and Lockdown let me drift into a low point. All of my articles are all about me going on little adventures which admittedly I didn’t need to go far for, but for obvious reasons had me stumped for what to write for this issue. That was until my favourite BBQ porn posted up that they had been working on getting

The perfect accompaniment to the meat their incredible food straight to your door without losing any of their flavours or tenderness with a take-way, but with a very specially packaged box! Well I’m IN!!

Nacos. Let’s just put that word there. Brisket, Lamb Brisket, Smoked Beef Short Ribs - all covered in these incredible spices and herbs and smoked for hours until bliss is created. Having been specially packaged so that I could simply heat it up, it’s ready to be placed onto little warm nacos and piled high

with Afghan chutney, crispy onions, red onion pickles, jalapeño jam, sour cream and oh you could keep going with the condiment pleasures! Wow! Use your hands. Open your mouth as wide as you can and baby enjoy! Your eyes will roll back and you will make happy yummy sounds, I can promise you that!!! And of course, your fingers and chin will be covered in all kinds of wonderful, but just let that happen because one mouthful is not enough, that’s for sure.

All the flavours work perfectly together. Alone the meat is simply wonderful. Head Chef Joshua has worked out not only how to combine his partner’s Afghani heritage flavours along with his experience with Texan, Guyanese, Brazilian, Argentinian AND British cooking techniques, but he has also combined all of these things into a new way of cooking altogether and it’s ingenious! This guy knows his spices and his smoker and is most definitely a force to be reckoned with! NOW having designed his food so that you can re-heat it at home, IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY!!! Cue Point is set to take over the country’s food box industry too, with their smoked goodness.

Cue Point is the box to order! But is there anything else I can tell you about Cue Point? Where do I start! The amazing thing about Cue Point is that they only use Halal meat. Now that is partly because of their founders’ heritage but also because actually the amazing thing about Cue Point is that it’s for everyone. The true power of Chef Joshua and Mursal is that together they make this wonderful cultural mix that is a true reflection of London, and why not allow our melting pot be even more inclusive and help us all, regardless of your beliefs, to eat this incredible food together.

Sitting together and enjoying a meal is something that creates a bond between us. There is something about a meal, about breaking bread together that celebrates our relationships. Whether it’s as a family, friends or acquaintances, we are a community, certainly as neighbours, as a city and as people brought together with a meal. Cue Point is a place to come together, passing condiments and smiles, regardless of your religion, your skin colour, how you see yourself and if you are him, her or them, love is love is love. And what better place to be together at this time than over a delicious meal.

So, whether you are able to sit at their tables or at your own, Cue Point is at your service! Bringing everyone together with a messy face and a full heart as well as a full stomach.

A Bit on the Side

Something special for summer

By Gillian Balcombe

With summer upon us and BBQ season in full swing, backyard burger parties will soon be happening everywhere – while observing social distancing of course! And while a lot of effort goes into the construction of the burgers, be they for carnivores, omnivores or vegans, the sides are sometimes a bit of an afterthought. So here are few ideas for summer sides that will please everyone!

The first thing to do is make your Classic French Dressing. Take a screw top jar, and add the following:

4 tbsp sunflower oil 3 tbps wine or cider vinegar of your choice (I use walnut vinegar because I love the flavour it imparts) 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tsp Colman’s mustard powder or strong Dijon mustard ½ tsp ground black pepper ½ tsp Himalayan salt ½ to 1 tsp caster sugar Screw the lid on tightly and give it all a good old shake till it’s well blended and you can’t see any signs of the mustard. This dressing goes with so many salads and can be adapted easily too, using different vinegars, herbs or spices to achieve complementary flavours to your own concoctions. You can even replace all the vinegar with lemon juice, which makes a gorgeous lightly flavoured dressing.

4 tbps extra virgin olive oil

Now you have your basic dressing, you can make the Mixed Bean Salad. You’ll need a large mixing bowl and a sieve. Gather together: 1 x 400g can of borlotti beans 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans

1 x 200g can of unsweetened sweetcorn kernels 1 x 200g can of petits pois Half a red onion, finely diced 50 to 100g drained sundried tomatoes in oil, diced 6 to 8 canned artichoke hearts, diced Chopped parsley Classic French Dressing

Drain and rinse the canned beans, corn and peas thoroughly and pop them in your large bowl. Add the onion, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and parsley and combine. Finally stir in the dressing – I usually find about half a batch does it. Transfer to a favourite serving bowl.

While you’re making the bean salad, you can get started with the Asparagus Mimosa. Prepare a bunch of green asparagus spears by rinsing them and breaking off the woody ends – you’ll find there’s a point at which they break naturally. Cook them gently until they are al dente (not too soft!), cool them quickly in iced water to stop them cooking and set aside to drain. In the meantime, hard boil two eggs. Take about three tbsps of capers in brine and drain them, then chop them finely, along with half a shallot. Add these to about half the batch of Classic French Dressing and mix it up well. Lay the cooked asparagus on a serving platter and finely grate the hardboiled eggs over the spears, then drizzle over the caper and shallot sauce you just made, pouring the rest into a jug for guests to serve themselves if they want more. Alternatively (because capers are a bit of an acquired taste), just put all the sauce into the jug and let the diners help themselves. You’ll need hard-boiled eggs for the Avocado, Egg and Onion Salad too, so it’s best to cook those while you’re doing the ones that go with the asparagus. For each avocado you use, you’ll need two hard-boiled eggs and two spring onions. You’ll also need lemon juice, mayonnaise and garlic pepper and Himalayan salt to taste. Cut the avocadoes in half, remove the stone, peel off the skin and dice the flesh. Pop it into a bowl and turn it in lemon juice so it retains its colour and doesn’t go brown. Chop the hard-boiled eggs, slice the spring onions into rings and mix it all in with the avocado. Add mayonnaise, mix it all up gently so that everything is nicely coated and season to taste. Once it’s in its serving bowl, you can dust the top of it with smoked paprika for a little extra kick.

I was thinking about desserts that would suit, but your Editor and I decided that, after chowing down on all the burgers and salads, you’ll be pretty stuffed! So, to finish, I’ll just say slices of refreshing watermelon, bananas baked in their skins on the BBQ and marshmallows toasted on skewers to delight the kids, whatever their age. Enjoy the party everyone!