being the food magazine of Soho House
EASY... AND FRESH
recipes for spring
9/10 - a new food initiative Cooking with flowers
Spring 2013
Photo by Dai Williams.
TOP SCORE
9/10 is Soho House's fantastic new foodie initiative. 2013 is all about getting better as a group - in food, drinks, service and style. It will mean new training and development programmes, new guest chefs and new inspirations - coming from all over the world of food. We are so excited about this year.
See page 12 for an exclusive interview with Martin K, who came up with 9/10. Tuck in!
COOKHOUSE spring 2013
Welcome to the spring 2013 issue of Cookhouse and to celebrate the end of winter we’ve got some delicious and simple recipes for you to cook at home, specially devised by a few of our best chefs. We’re lucky enough to have recipes from Jamie Oliver and Vivek Singh, as well as an exclusive interview with US wine and food festival founder Lee Schrager. We’ve also got reports from Slow Cooked, a chefs conference in the US, and the first ever Cookhouse Food Show in London, plus results of the latest Cookhouse cooking competition and the winner’s recipe. We are also thrilled to introduce 9/10, a new food initiative just launched for 2013 - see page 12 for the full story. You can also catch up on all the news from Soho House’s kitchens. Soho House is recruiting - if you’d like to join one of our food teams around the world - in Berlin, New York, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Somerset and soon in Barcelona, Istanbul and Chicago too – then get in touch. Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com for more details. We’d love to hear from you.
a taste... 4
NEWS
What’s been happening at Soho House
08
WHAT I KNOW
Soho House NY’s German Lucarelli
16
FRIEND IN HIGH PLACES
Cookhouse on stage
19
WE KNOW THE SCORE
Martin Kuczmarksi introduces his new food programme for Soho House
14
COOKHOUSE TOUR
US chefs’ conference
What to cook now in Europe and the US
Jamie Oliver and Vivek Singh’s recipes
12
SLOW COOKED
WHAT'S IN SEASON
10
THE FOOD SHOW
24
15&18
26
COMPETITION
It’s like a pressure cooker as Cookhouse gets competetive
28
GREY GOOSE
LEE SCHRAGER
Cookhouse makes a floral tribute
Food festival founder explains how he made it
30
20
GET FRESH
Spring recipes from our best chefs
IN PRAISE OF...
Alex Farrey explain why sumac is his favourite ingredient
Travelling chefs tell their stories
you know who you are... Editor: Rebecca Seal Art Etc: Dominic Salmon Publisher: Dan Flower Thanks to: Martin Kuczmarski , Dylan Murray, Gareth Jones, Julia Taylor-Brown, Phoebe Strawson, Oli Juste, Caroline Boucher, Thomas Lennard, Ronnie Bonetti, Shelley Armistead, Matthew Armistead, Antonella Bonetti, Andrea Cavaliere, Jake Rigby-Wilson, Lilaj Battista, Jacki Spillane, Pete McAllister, Chris Tomsett, Sarah Simon, Jolina Hoang, German Lucarelli, Dai Williams. Cover photo by Steven Joyce.
www.cook-house.info
Slices
The team go hunting
nibbles and food news
SHOOTING STARS
18 chefs from Soho House met for an early morning start at Kentish Town and Dirty Burger for a Dirty Breakfast to set them up for a day shooting near Babington House in Somerset. Arriving at Wellow Trekking on Wellow Farm, run by Frank Shellard, it was straight to the range for clay pigeon shooting followed by a light lunch and then on to the pheasant drive, which even the beginners were very good at. On to the pub, for a tasting of local cheddars and dry cider with cheesemaker Eric Hobbs before on to Babington where everyone made the most of their beautifully prepared pheasant pies and red cabbage, all washed down with a fine claret and port. Frank has a knack for putting on a great day, and this didn’t disappoint. We’ll be back soon! Wellow Trekking Centre, 01225 834376, info@wellowtrekking.com
SINGH FOR YOUR SUPPER
Executive chef of the Cinnamon Club, Vivek Singh has transformed the face of Indian cooking through pairing classical Indian flavours and spicing with western culinary styles. A regular face on TV as part of Saturday Kitchen and Celebrity Masterchef, he invited a team of Soho House chefs to a masterclass session and dinner at the Cinnamon Kitchen, which was a huge success. Thanks Vivek! Check out his wonderful recipe on page 16. www.cinnamon-kitchen.com
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www.sohohouse.com
In other news...
Stan's the man Numbered boxes filled with edible treats for Wreck It Ralph's premiere
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS
Jake Rigby-Wilson explains what the Edible Cinema is all about: “Edible Cinema at the Electric gives an extra dimension to your cinema experience. As you go in to see the film you are given a series of numbered boxes and someone at the front of the cinema flashes up cards to tell you when to open and eat or drink what’s inside. The contents are designed to give you a sense of the scene and for the premiere of Wreck It Ralph, we used lots of cartoon imagery – for a bit including bugs we made coconut and lime caviar lit with a glow stick and on a charcoal meringue. It’s really fun for the chefs because we don’t normally do anything that could be called molecular gastronomy, so it’s a brilliant challenge and the whole pastry team gets involved.”
“It’s a brilliant challenge and the whole pastry team get involved”
ON THE RANGE
The US teams go ranching. By Julia Taylor-Brown “We were greeted at One Gun Ranch by Natalie Wilt, a New Jersey transplant who, after visiting the ranch, fell in love and relocated to assist them. The ranch is tucked into beautiful hillside in the Malibu Hills and is called One Gun Ranch because its former owner is a member of Guns n Roses. We toured their planting grounds and learned that everything they grow is planted in compost from the ranch with no chemicals or pesticides. The ranch grows vegetables and herbs and offers an educational experience for people of all ages who are interested in pursuing a healthy lifestyle. They provided a great lunch for us along with a wine tasting from the family vineyard.”
JOIN US! Soho House is recruiting chefs. Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com or visit www.cook-house.info. www.cook-house.info
Did you know that Stanley Tucci is not only an amazing actor, but a whizz in the kitchen too? He visited Soho House New York, sharing and cooking recipes from his new book, The Tucci Cookbook. Chefs Andrea Cavaliere and German Lucarelli also got involved – making timpano for 100 guests!
South Beach Wine and Food Festival
Alongside festival regular Soho Beach House, Dirty Burger participated for the first time ever in Pat LaFrieda's Burger Bash at Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. It is the most anticipated event of the festival with over 3,000 people in attendance. Guests walk around sampling the country's best burgers. Our very own Harvey Ayliffe, exec chef of Dirty Burger, got busy during the bash - alongside Sergio Sigale, Jorge and Didiana from Soho Beach House, and together they served 1800 burgers to the huge crowd - many of whom came back for more. TV chef Rachel Ray was a huge fan, particularly loving the onion fries. spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 05
Fifteen Foundation apprentices at Pizza East Kentish Town
Ice fishing in Canada
SWEET FIFTEEN
Hosted by head chef Theo, apprentices from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Foundation paid a visit to Pizza East Kentish Town, toured the kitchens, proofed dough, and trained on cold cuts and cheese, before turning their hand to creating their own pizzas. Theo and his team helped shape and bake the pizzas, whilst the deli masterclass was led by Deli Station’s Ben Milne who plated up tasting dishes, and talked costing, sourcing and quality. To finish up, everyone also visited Dirty Burger and Chicken Shop, which share the same site. The apprentices will also join head chef Brian McGowan over the coming months for taster sessions at Pizza East Shoreditch.
ICE WARRIORS
The Toronto team spent a day catching perch at Lake Simcoe. The team met in front of Soho House Toronto at the gawdawful hour of 6am – the city still black and the temperature at least 5 degrees below what one would have described as freezing. Not the type to let weather (or the early morning hour) intimidate them, Nano, Sarah, Luca, Winston, Amit and Julia were ready to rumble. The day was spent bouncing back and forth between two huts on Lake Simcoe, with large rectangles cut out of the floor for fishing, and space heaters (phew) to keep our toes nice and warm. The team caught at least 30 perch, half of which were fried up on the spot in a cornmeal dredge with tarragon and fresh lemon. Luca’s spicy garbanzo bean stew made for a delightful accompaniment, as did the fresh focaccia and Sarah’s savoury rolls made from croissant dough layered with porchetta, gruyere and parmesan. It was a feast fit for a king… or six hungry fisherman! The rest of the catch made their way back to the House for a very special family meal.
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www.sohohouse.com
Slices The chef get stuck in to their supper
TABLE DANCERS
The Chefs Table is a new regular event designed to reward our hardest working chefs. Chef Ferdinand Montoya was at the most recent one, at the The Electric: “The evenings are pitched as a reward for a nominated chef from each of the kitchens to eat out. For me it was an opportunity to not only try the food (which was amazing!) but to also meet with other dedicated and passionate chefs within the business. It was certainly an eye opener for me in regards to the space, as I have the luxury of being able to work in a large kitchen at Dean Street Townhouse so it was very interesting to see how they are able to manage such a busy establishment with a much smaller space. Our meal was accompanied with beer tastings. Each dish was given with an explanation as to how it was conceived and made. The standout dishes were the bone marrow and beef cheek marmalade and the crispy potato hash with confit duck gravy”.
RISING STARS
Cookhouse celebrates the unsung heroes of the kitchens
ANTONIO CARLOS FERNANDEZ, DIRTY BURGER
nominated by Sienna Pulati
Antonio’s a grill chef here and has shown such a positive attitude, constantly willing to help in any area and when the crowds start to queue out the door of our little shed he has them demolishing our dirty burgers in minutes. He’s proved time and again to be a great asset to our team
PIOTR ENGLER, CHICKEN SHOP
nominated by Sebastian Price
Piotr is a chef de partie over here in Chicken Shop. I have nominated him as he is a key team player over here, he marinates and steams over 600 chickens a week. Nothing is a problem for him. He is a passionate and hard working chef and is a pleasure to work with every day.
DARIO OSSOLA, SHOREDITCH HOUSE
nominated by Michele Nargi
Dario is one of our junior sous chefs, he’s just 22 years old and so impeccable. www.cook-house.info
In other news...
Chooks Away
What happens when you send six chefs down to a plant full of organic, free range chicken? Well... you get a bunch of chefs and a whole lot more chickens. Deb from Rocker Brothers took our chefs from Soho House and Cecconi's West Hollywood to Mr. Mao's plant in downtown Los Angeles to see where all of our chicken is processed. These hyper-local chickens are vegetarian-fed, organic and are raised hormone and antibiotic free. Mr. Mao's Jidori chickens are delivered to restaurants within 24 hours of processing.
Whet your appetite? Soho House is recruiting in its kitchens. If you'd like the chance to work with brilliant guest chefs and to get bespoke training and support for your career, then get in touch. Call Gareth Jones for jobs in Europe: +44 (0)20 7851 2569. Or email Julia Taylor-Brown for jobs in North America: julia@ sohohouse.com. See www. cook-house.info for more details and how to apply.
spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 07
what i know
“I’m very lucky. I get to cook the way I want to eat”
GERMAN LUCARELLI Head chef, Soho House New York
M
y grandma was a big baker. She made cakes for the whole town. I grew up in Argentina, but my family came from Italy originally. Cooking was her passion – she cooked cakes and sweets for our birthdays and any occasion: vanilla sponge, dulce de leche, shortcakes. In fact, I have one of her recipes, handwritten and framed, in my house, as well as a framed copy of my father’s empanada recipe. For my family, my getting into cooking was a little controversial. A boy in the kitchen wasn’t the thing – cooking was for girls. But my mother’s mum made beautiful food, so I hung out with my grandmother whenever I could. I started off working as a dishwasher, then got work in a ski resort in Argentina. I was 15 years old and it was hard, a 1200km bus ride from home and I was earning just $320 a month. I was from the city and nobody liked people from the city. I also did jobs where I made nothing but ice cream, spending my days cracking hundreds of eggs (I learnt a lot), and another where
I had to make 400 crepes an hour. Once someone stole all my money – my very own financial crisis! - and I had to get extra work in a casino for tips.
There are some great books out there. Giorgio Locatelli’s are wonderful and I do a lot of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes and some from the Moro books too.
I actually started studying to be an architect – I did it for two years and then decided to work in the kitchen. I was 18 years old, going to university and living in Buenos Aires with my aunt and my uncle. When I said that I wanted to work in a kitchen they threatened to kick me out of the house because they wanted a nephew with a diploma. When I decided to become a cook they said, “What do you want to do all your life, make Milanese and French fries?” And I said, “Maybe… but I’ll make the best Milanese and French fries you ever ate.” So they kicked me out! Now, years later, I’m still doing what I love.
You get to cook with some unusual people at Soho House. We’ve just done an event with Stanley Tucci, the actor, presenting his new cookbook. He cooked with us and gave a talk. I’m trying to get Gastón Acurio, an up and coming chef from Peru to come here too, and we’re doing soba noodles by hand as well.
I have so many ingredients that I like to cook. I love meat – I mean, it’s in my blood. In Argentina it’s relatively cheap and so delicious because it’s grass fed. But then I also love to play with stuffed pastas – for me on a Sunday, it is always either barbecue or pasta.
From the beginning, I’ve never wanted to give up. It’s taken me 23 years or so, but now I’m in such a good position. The thing to remember is that when you think you’re doing well, look for another way to do what you’re doing even better. The greatest challenge is to be consistent. I’m very lucky. I cook the way I want to eat. I want to teach my guys why we do what we do. My inspiration comes from the mentors I’ve had, past and present: first my grandma and now my little son.
SOUND GOOD? Want to join one of our kitchen teams in London, Somerset, Berlin, New York, LA, Miami or Toronto? Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com or check out our website, www.cook-house.info to find out about vacancies and how to apply.
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cookhouse food show
Photographs by Dai Williams
SHOWTIME!
Hot on the heels of the success of our sister drinks programme’s House Tonic Bar Show, the Cookhouse Food Show rolled into London town.
T
he Cookhouse Food Show was a two-day extravaganza of tasting, demos, showcases and competitions, all taking place on the roof of Shoreditch House. Dozens of chefs and front-of-house staff from around the company came to visit and take part. For those of a competitive mind there was the omelette challenge to get stuck into – and we totally recommend a visit to the Cookhouse website to see the video, especially if you’d like some tips on how not to make an omelette. At the end of each day a winner was announced – someone who had made, as the judges put it, an omelette that was an actually an omelette. Although we wouldn’t swear to the eatability of any of the chefs’ creations! The overall winner was Lliam Boyle, with a time of 15.4 seconds. If visitors were hungry (and didn’t
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fancy one of those omelettes...) there was a huge array of goodies to try. Jake Rigby Wilson, group pastry chef, took charge of a table positively groaning with cakes – Electric donuts, Shoreditch House muffins, Hoxton Grill’s baked cheesecake, Dean Street Townhouse’s afternoon tea, Pizza East’s salted caramel tart, Chicken Shop’s apple pies, petit fours from Soho House London...unsurprisingly his stall was busy all day long. And if you needed a starter before hitting the cakes, Dirty Burger was also there, feeding the crowds. Some of the group’s head chefs also got on stage and miked up. Michele Nargi from Shoreditch House did a terrific risotto demo (also giving out the top tip of never washing scallops under running water) and produced three incredible dishes for everyone to taste, one of which was a beautiful shade of beetroot-pink. Ronnie Bonetti from
Babington and executive chef Harvey Ayliffe also took to the stage to do a brilliant fish demo. Some of Soho House’s best suppliers also had stands. Berkmann wines were there with plenty of wines to taste (again, a very popular stall...), plus Deli Station, with their amazing gorgonzolas, truffled goat’s cheeses and tasty green and nero olives. Daily Fish, a sustainable fish supplier, Millers Bread, Original Beans chocolate, Fairfax Meadow butchers, Denny’s Uniforms, Tea Palace, Murray’s Fish and KIN Knives were all also on show – with tidbits to taste and plenty of information about what they do and supply to Soho House kitchens. Mash was particularly fascinating, with unusual vegetables, fruits and flowers to try – like Japanese artichokes, nasturtium roots and Gold Rush apples. www.sohohouse.com
“ Dirty Burger was also there, feeding the crowds...�
Top left, Ronnie Bonetti and Harvey Ayliffe's demo; Bottom, second left, Lliam Boyle wins the omelette competition, congratulated by Thomas Van Berckel. All other pics, goodies and treats from Soho House suppliers.
getting better Photographs by Dai Williams
THE NUMBERS GAME Martin Kuczmarski – above – has just launched 9/10, a new initiative designed to help Soho House raise the game in 2013. His special area is food.
“The tough job starts now” 12 COOKHOUUSE
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www.sohohouse.com
N
ine-out-of-ten is a new initiative run by Soho House’s top brass. It’s about getting every part of the company better and to the highest possible level. Perfection is impossible for anyone, so this year is all about getting everyone and everything to score 9/10. Martin explains how it’s going to work. “We got all the most senior guys from our sites around the world together in Chicago. We chose that particular city because it’s probably the most exciting foodie city in the US right now, it’s full of young chefs who are very individual and it’s got a huge food culture. And of course, we’re also opening a venue there next year so it was a great opportunity to explore. Before the trip I asked each of the team to prepare a presentation on what their objectives are for 2013, looking at how their sites are doing around human resources, finance, food and drink, music, and the look and feel of their site. Everyone presented and took notes and fed back – everyone had thousands of ideas. Ultimately we rated every aspect of the company, in every site, out of ten. And we found that, we are on average at 7.5/10.
because inspired chefs will improve our food culture, lower the turnover in our kitchens, make recruitment easier and ultimately lead to happier, more satisfied customers and members. We have lots of ideas. One thing is to have regular food tours of places like London, dining in five innovative restaurants in one night, then feeding back what we learn the next day. If new dishes get created as a result that are particularly good, then we could even put them straight onto the chefs’ menus. I also want to organise more international trips to places like San Francisco or Chicago for head chefs and general managers, when they can meet head chefs of other restaurants, play with the food and above all learn something new and better! And I want to work with great executive chefs in places like Chicago
and San Francisco but also Paris or Barcelona and have people come in to help coach and train our teams. We can learn a lot from people outside the business, just as we did by bringing in Brendan Sodikoff from Au Cheval in Chicago to help create the new Electric Diner. We were nervous about it for sure, working with someone from outside the Soho House family, but it opened the door to something so positive and better, and opened all of our minds. For the next year, my focus is going to be on food and cooking. For me, great cooking and great restaurants are about simplicity and confidence, not hiding behind extra ingredients and techniques. I want to allow the chefs to be creative. I’m very excited about this year. Lets get better and let’s get foodie!”
Martin tucks in wearning the special 9/10 hoodie he designed for Chicago.
To achieve 10/10 would be perfection and perfection isn’t always possible, but we really, really want to get everywhere up to 9/10, so each of the nine people in Chicago were given areas of responsibility to focus on. Mine is food, so I have the rest of the year to get food, everywhere, up to 9/10, which is so exciting. I love food and eating. 2013 is the perfect time to think about how we can do things better. The tough job starts now. We’re going to introduce new initiatives and systems that will inspire our chefs, www.cook-house.info
“I want to allow the chefs to be creative” spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 13
tour rules... What goes on tour...
COOKHOUSE TOUR
Every year, a few Soho House chefs who have shown great commitment to their jobs are offered the chance to move within the company and work overseas. We catch up with four of those chefs, who have now worked all over the world.
Massimo Ruggieri:
For me, the best bit of moving around was meeting new people from the same Soho House family and discovering new products. I would recommend it to all chefs who are willing to improve their knowledge about global food and travel too. My best memories are from Miami: of taking part in events like Art Basel, cooking risotto by the pool for a private function and cooking in the sunshine of the Tiki bar. I went first to LA, doing a month at Soho House West Hollywood and then six months in Cecconi’s West Hollywood, working closely with executive chef Andrea. I moved to Soho Beach House and Cecconi’s Miami and then I came back to London to wait for Little House to open. Now I am junior-sous chef at Pizza East Kentish Town. I would like to go to Berlin because I haven’t worked there yet but mostly I would like get involved in the next opening abroad – in Istanbul or Mumbai – because I think I completely understand the Soho House ethos.
Tamas Prikkel: In mid 2011 my
Cookhouse American tour got confirmed and my dream came to a reality – since I was a kid I’d wanted to
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live and work in NYC! It was amazing and a great experience. I was there for seven months and moved to LA after that, for four months. I loved the American road trip that I did to get there, crossing America from New York to Los Angeles. Now I’m at Pizza East Shoreditch as a senior sous and my goal for this year or the near future is to be a head chef somewhere or be in the opening team for the upcoming openings. The benefit for me from the whole tour was to see and learn operations on the other side of the world, to be a better leader and to learn different cultures and aspects of running a kitchen. The best bit was having a whole year to meet new people and to learn from the chefs who I worked with. I’d definitely recommend it.
Markus Pieterse: I started in Soho
House New York and then moved to LA, plus I also worked at the Toronto Film Festival and Art Basel in Miami. I was in NYC for about eight months and in LA for about four. I came back to London and worked at Little House for a few months, during the opening, and I am currently in Soho House’s kitchen. I hope to go to more places within the
company and learn a lot more. I can’t list everything I learned, it would be too long to publish! Everything from different ways of cooking to different ways to manage people. But the main thing I learned was how to adapt to new situations and kitchens quickly.
Adam Hutchings:
I was sent to West Hollywood for six months during the winter and then went to New York for six months during summertime. I loved working in West Hollywood in that amazing restaurant, cooking for all those film icons, but it was living in New York city that was the highlight for me: the food, the people, the nightlife, the lunatics on the subway, living across the road from Central Park. It was definitely my kind of place. If you could fall in love with a city New York would be it for me. During the summer New York imported 12 waiting staff from LA and Miami to help out, as well as ‘Skip’, a sous chef from the recently burnt down Electric. We all stayed in an apartment block on the Upper West Side together, so no matter what time of the day there was always someone to party or explore the city with. It was one of the best summers of my life. www.sohohouse.com
Onsequos quas vit, quaecte ssinctu riatur, ut esent quia qui bernat atis eosseque nectatint vid minumquae. Nequat.
READY...STEADY...COOK! Get the lowdown on Cookhouse’s inaugural cooking competition.
A Seasonal View: Europe
Leeks
Like other members of the allium family, leeks love cheese, butter and potatoes and pair with eggs and creamy dishes. Always buy more than you think you need as you’ll have to trim a lot away. In Europe we often use them in soups, but try them stir-fried Chinese-style, with soy or ginger. Leeks: photo by Dai Williams, styled by Alice Wigley
Also in season:
Although this is technically known as the “hungry gap” between overwintering veg running to flower and new season’s crops being ready to eat, look out for hot pink forced rhubarb, purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, swede, cauliflower and kale. Also be sure to check out mussels and oysters.
Coming in...
Look out for Jersey Royals, asparagus and watercress, the three ingredients that herald the beginning of summer in the UK. Hurrah!
out......... cut it
Recipes for you to cut out and keep from some of the top chefs who’ve visited Soho House Group’s kitchens around the world.
JAMIE OLIVER PENNE ARRABIATA Jamie Oliver is an internationally renowned TV chef and food campaigner who owns several restaurants in the UK and is author of many fantastic cookbooks. This delicious recipe is from his kitchens at Jamie’s Italian.
serves 4
60g crème fraiche 3 to 4 fresh red chillies, finely chopped 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped 2 x 400g tins quality chopped tomatoes 200ml organic vegetable stock 400g penne a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked and torn 25g Parmesan cheese optional: ¼ Scotch bonnet chilli, very finely chopped extra virgin olive oil
for the pangratto
50g sourdough or ciabatta breadcrumbs ½ a bunch of mixed fresh herbs, such as, sage, rosemary, thyme, leaves picked and chopped 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped olive oil Mix all the pangrattato ingredients and a lug of olive together in a bowl. Tip onto a baking tray, then spread out evenly and toast under the grill for 2 to 4 minutes, or until lightly golden, giving the tray a jiggle occasionally for even cooking. Leave aside. Add a splash of olive oil to a large pan over a medium heat, then fry the chilli and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes, or until softened and smelling fantastic, then pour in the tomatoes and veg stock and bring up to a simmer. Meanwhile, add the pasta to a pan of boiling salted water and cook according to the packet instructions. When the pasta is al dente (still with a bit of bite), drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water. Tip the pasta and most of the basil into the tomato sauce, then cook for a further minute or so, adding a splash of reserved cooking water to loosen, if needed. Divide between your plates, then finish with a few shavings of Parmesan, the remaining basil leaves, a sprinkling of scotch bonnet chilli (if using), and some crunchy pangrattato. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, then serve straight away.
Photography © Matt Russell
VIVEK SINGH BRAISED OX CHEEK IN DATE AND APRICOT SAUCE WITH FONDANT POTATOES
Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade, then rub over the ox cheeks, cover and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
Vivek Singh is chef patron of the Cinnamon Club, Cinnamon Kitchen and Cinnamon Soho (www.cinnamonclub.com) and will be hosting events for both members and chefs.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the onions and sauté on a medium heat for 4-6 minutes, until translucent. Add the tomatoes, salt and chilli powder and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes start losing their juice. Stir in the stock or water.
serves 4
850g / 1.8 lb cheeks, trimmed and cut into 90g pieces 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
for the marinade:
1 teaspoon garlic paste 1 teaspoon ginger paste 2 teaspoons red chilli powder 2 teaspoons salt
for the sauce:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 large onions, quartered 4 tomatoes, quartered 1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 500 ml / 2 ¼ cups chicken stock or water 2.5cm / 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick 4 star anise 2 bay leaves 1 ½ teaspoons black peppercorns 3 ½ tablespoons malt vinegar 8–10 ready-to-eat dried dates, sliced 5–6 ready-to-eat dried apricots, sliced 4 tablespoons single cream
for the fondant potatoes:
200g / 7 oz butter 4 Desiree or waxy potatoes, peeled and cut in half 4 sprigs of thyme 3 star anise 2.5cm / 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick 1 teaspoon salt 250 ml / 1 ¼ cups water oil for shallow-frying
GET ON THE GUEST LIST!
Once the ox cheeks have marinated, heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan on a high heat, add the ox cheeks and sear for 2-3 minutes on both sides until browned. Arrange the ox cheeks in a casserole just large enough to accommodate them all and evenly spread the sauce on top, making sure the ox cheeks are completely covered. Stir the cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, peppercorns and malt vinegar into the sauce. Cover the casserole and transfer to a preheated oven to 150°C/300ºF/Gas Mark 4 for about 2 hours, until the ox cheeks are tender. Meanwhile, to make the fondant potatoes, slice the cold butter into a heavy-based pan and neatly arrange the potatoes on top, trying to avoid leaving gaps in between. Add the thyme, star anise and cinnamon and pour over just enough water to cover the potatoes. Add the salt and place the pan over the heat. Cover the potatoes with baking parchment or the pan lid to prevent them from drying out and simmer for about 35 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Turn up the heat, uncover and cook until the base of the potatoes turns brown. Remove the potatoes from the buttery liquid and allow to cool slightly. Heat enough oil for shallow-frying in a heavy-based frying pan on a medium-high heat.
Add the potatoes and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep hot. Do not discard the oil in the pan. When the ox cheeks are tender, remove them from the casserole and set aside. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a saucepan, pressing down to extract as much flavour as possible. Add the dates and apricots and boil, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until they are soft. Stir in the cream and simmer for an additional minute and check seasoning. Set aside and keep hot. Warm the oil in the frying pan on a mediumhigh heat and transfer the ox cheeks to the pan to caramelise for a couple of minutes on each side for extra texture. Divide the sauce between 4 serving plates, place the ox cheeks and fondant potatoes on top and serve immediately.
Join one of Soho House's kitchens and work with great guest chefs. Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com
A Seasonal View: US
Artichokes
Artichokes are related to the thistle plant, hence their hairy, scratchy parts, which are Onsequos quaseating. vit, quaecte always discarded before Avoid dry looking artichokes or ones with ssinctu riatur, ut frayed esent or split leaves, choosing tightly closed waxy quia qui bernat atis plants instead. Artichokes go brown very eossequeto nectatint quickly when exposed the air, sovid always have lemon juice orminumquae. acidulated Nequat. water handy when prepping.
Also in season: Fennel, asparagus, avocado, strawberries, tomatoes and turnips.
Coming in soon...
Cherries, apples, raspberries, nectarines, peaches will all be available shortly, if they’re not already. Artichokes: photo by Dai Williams, styled by Alice Wigley
friends of cookhouse “Life is full of great opportunities”
LEE SCHRAGER
Lee Schrager started the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival 12 years ago, turning it into a huge Miami event, plus launching dozens of others across the USA.
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e’re thrilled to say that Lee Schrager is now a friend of Cookhouse. Here’s how he made it.
“I grew up in a family with a mother who was and still is a great cook. There was always a passion around me for food. My earliest job as a kid was baking cakes and going around selling them door to door. Even at age nine, I had jobs in a take-out restaurant, or on a hotdog stand in the mall. So it was not bizarre to anyone when I said I wanted to work in food or when I went to train to be a chef at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. I knew there would be a career for me in the food industry.
Photo by Melanie Dumea
When my parents went away in the summer we had a nanny who took care of us. She was a wonderful old Italian lady, a great baker and cook, and she introduced me to yeast, to baking and dough. My earliest hands-on experiences were through her and were of Italian food. I still clearly remember the smell of yeast from cooking with her. I never had any expectations of what the South Beach Wine and Food Festival would become. I started it not knowing what I was doing and making lots of mistakes. It was a good combination of being passionate, having an amazing location and doing it at the right time. It probably wasn’t until the end of the second year, that I thought, wow, this is
they said, “He’ll think about it next year but he’s not going to do it this year”. So I said, “Tell Mr Ducasse that there may not be a second year if he doesn’t come the first year”. And he came. On the night of that first dinner he did for us I said, “If we are still doing this in ten years, I’m going to honour Alain Ducasse”. And I did. He has been very loyal to us. He gave us more credibility and clout with his name than anyone else could have done.
Lee Schrager way bigger than me and has incredible potential. That was when we started focusing on it as a business, rather than as a fundraiser. It’s overwhelming when you think about it. If I started to think about everything that’s involved, I would be crippled by it. So I don’t. At the beginning I knew nobody. I begged people to appear. I would go to people’s houses and put notes under doors if I knew where they lived – I’m not joking. I was convinced this was the right thing for people to be doing even if they weren’t. I just didn’t take no for answer. The first year, I approached Alain Ducasse – I was connected to a connection of a connection of his and
When you create something you have plenty of good memories. A lot are of the tribute dinners: having the king and queen of Spain attend and honouring the wine and food of their country; Ferran Adria coming; doing brunch honouring Robert and Peter Mondavi, geniuses and trendsetters in wine who had been estranged for many years but who came together for the festival; Jamie Oliver being honoured and Alice Waters giving him the award. The best advice I have is to use the answer, “No”, as a starting point. When someone says no – like when I asked Nigella Lawson to do the festival and she said no – that is a starting place, because at least she was responding. Now, Nigella appears at the festival. I work hard, but when you love what you do it’s really not a job. I’m a great connector and that’s how I’d like to be known in the hospitality world. As a wrangler of people.”
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Join one of Soho House's kitchen teams and work at amazing food events. Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com
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spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 19
freshen up...
EASY DOES IT
These recipes from chefs working in Soho House’s international kitchens take in all the flavours of spring, setting us up for the months ahead. Wherever you are in the world you’ll find something in season near you from these ideas, whether it’s nettles in Somerset or soft fruits in California. What are you waiting for? Get in the kitchen!
MIKEL TREVINO DE LUIS, SOHO HOUSE NY CONFIT COD WITH CATALONIAN TRINCHAT AND MORELS IN ESCABECHE Serves 4
For the trinchat: 1kg / 2lb 3 oz fingerling potatoes, peeled 200g / 7 oz pancetta, in one piece, unrolled 500g / 1lb 2 oz Savoy cabbage leaves, rough cut into 3cm/1 inch pieces garlic and parsley, to taste water to cover
Add the fried pancetta and the fat that you sautéed it in. Add minced garlic and parsley to taste. Allow to cool. Form into discs with the help of a ring mold, about 1.5cm/½ inch high. Cook in a pan, like a hash brown, until brown and crispy on both sides.
For the escabeche:
250g / 9 oz morels 375ml/ 12 ½ fl oz olive oil 375ml / 12 ½ fl oz grapeseed oil 240g / 9 oz soy sauce 150g / 5 oz sugar 450g / 1lb rice wine vinegar
Combine everything in a large pan and add enough water to cover. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Remove the pancetta and cool, then dice and fry until crispy in a sauté pan. Crush the potatoes and cabbage with a fork.
Add everything to a pan and bring to just below the boil. Remove and allow to cool. Once cold, add 2 thumbs of ginger, peeled and grated with a Microplane.
JAMES DRYE, SHWH
Leave to rest, refrigerated, for approximately 1 hour.
PEACH AND MULBERRY PIE For the dough:
7 ½ cups / 1kg all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1 lb 8 oz / 800g butter, cubed and cold iced water as needed (have 1 cup ready) Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter, working it into the flour with your fingertips, leaving some of the butter in large, irregular bits. Slowly pour in water, gently stirring with one hand until the dough begins to form clumps. Divide the dough into the desired portion (for a 10 inch/25cm pie tin, you’ll need 10 oz/280g of dough, plus leave extra for a lattice top). Bring each part together into a ball, wrap with plastic and flatten into discs.
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spring 2013
Turn the dough out onto a completely dry, very lightly floured work surface. Flour your hands generously. Tilt the rolling pin and sprinkle it with flour. Flour the top of the disc and pat it down with your floured hands. Using as little flour as possible, roll the dough into the crust size that you need, constantly pick up the dough and moving it. If you feel it sticking, gently lift up and throw some flour underneath. Try to control the rolling pin and move from the centre out. Rotate in quarter turns until the dough is about 1/8-¼ inch thick / ½cm. Roll onto pin and place into a lightly greased pie tin. Gently push the pastry into the tin, trimming any overhang.
For the cod:
4 x 200g / 7 oz portions of unsalted Norwegian cod loin 500ml / 17 fl oz extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic head, cut in 2 halves thyme and rosemary
Confit the cod in the olive oil, with the garlic head and herbs, at 60ºC/140ºF, in a small pot for 11 minutes (use a small pot or you will need too much oil). Remove from the heat, place the cod on a paper towel to get rid of any excess oil, reserve and keep warm. To serve: place the trinchat patties on a plate and lie the warm confit cod on top, leaving a little bit of space to be able to see part of the trinchat. Scatter a few of the morels in the escabeche (at room temperature) on top of the cod and a few spaced out on the dish itself.
For the filling:
6 medium-sized yellow peaches, cut into slices about ½ inch thick 2 cups / 250g mulberries ¾-1 cup / 150g sugar (depending on the ripeness of the berries) 4 tablespoons tapioca starch lemon juice to taste ¼ teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Combine the ingredients and place in the prepared pie tin. Cover with lattice strips or top crust. Brush the exposed pastry with eggwash (beaten egg) and sprinkle with sugar. Turn down the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 360ºF/185ºC and then drop the temperature to 350ºF/180ºF, baking until crust is golden brown and there are thick bubbling juices in the centre. Let cool completely before slicing.
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RYAN SILVER, SOHO HOUSE WEST HOLLYWOOD SPINACH AND COUSCOUS SALAD WITH ZESTY CILANTRO-LIME DRESSING I make this vegan salad for Soho House West Hollywood’s Sunday brunch. 2 cups / 315g Israeli couscous, cooked spinach leaves, washed walnuts cranberries salt and pepper to taste
DAVID VATRAN, CECCONI’S WEST HOLLYWOOD CAULIFLOWER PIZZA CRUST 1 small head of cauliflower (approx 2 cups) 1 large organic egg ½ cup / 50g parmiagiano reggiano ½ teaspoon fennel pollen ½ teaspoon dried wild oregano pinch of kosher salt
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For the dressing:
2 cups Vegenaise (egg-free mayonnaise) zest and juice of 3 limes 1 bunch cilantro (coriander) 1 clove garlic salt and pepper to taste Combine the salad ingredients – the proportions of each are up to you. Blend the dressing ingredients – you can add water or more lime juice if too thick. Now just toss the salad with the dressing. www.FoodBySilver.tumblr.com
Preheat oven to 450ºF/230ºC . Place a pizza stone or upturned baking tray in the oven to heat up.
crust and then slide the whole thing onto the pizza stone or upturned tray and into the
Begin by removing the leaves from cauliflower. Grate the florets and smaller stems of cauliflower with a cheese grater. Steam the cauliflower for ten minutes until soft, but not mushy. Allow to cool. Mix the cheese, herbs, egg, and cauliflower together. Once mixed, use a large plate to mould your
Remove the crust from the oven and top it with your favourite vegetables and cheese. Move the stone to the top rack of the oven and turn the dial to broil/grill.
oven. Cook for 14 minutes.
Place the pizza on stone and cook till crust browns and cheese melts.
spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 21
freshen up... SHAEL CARR DEAN ST TOWNHOUSE BERGAMOT CURD ICE CREAM I was inspired to use bergamots in my recipe after seeing it at the Cookhouse event at Shoreditch. Bergamots are a fragrant fruit the size of an orange, with a green colour similar to a lime. Its taste is a mixture between a lemon and grapefruit. This recipe is really simple and has a rich, creamy taste, and even though I have chosen to flavour the ice-cream with curd, it can be any flavour you want.
Makes around two litres
500ml / 17 fl oz double cream, semi-whipped
For the bergamot curd:
Beat the egg yolks, salt and sugar together with an electric mixer until pale. Then add the condensed milk and mix. Take the bowl off machine and fold in the semi-whipped cream by hand. Put ¼ of the bergamot curd in a piping bag and set to one side.
Combine the eggs, bergamot and sugar together in a pan and bring gently to boiling point, whisking continuously. Turn the heat down and whisk in the butter, allow it to start simmering again, then take off the heat and pass through a fine sieve. Allow to cool in fridge.
Fold the rest of the curd into the ice-cream base. Choose a container to store the ice-cream in, and pour a 1/4 of the mix in.
180g / 6 ½ oz egg yolks 6 whole eggs juice and zest of 9 bergamots 300g / 10½ oz sugar 350g / 12 oz butter
For the homemade ice-cream:
Then pipe a drizzled layer of curd across the surface. Repeat the process until all the mix is used. Leave in freezer for about 5 hours or preferably overnight.
6 egg yolks 1 pinch of salt 150g / 5 oz caster sugar 1 can condensed milk
As this bergamot ice-cream is quite rich it’s nice to serve it with fresh bergamot segments and fresh zest on top of the scoops of ice-cream.
MATT ARMISTEAD, SHWH
Serves 4
SALAD OF LENTILS, AVOCADO AND GOAT’S CHEESE
1 cup / 200g braised Puy lentils 2 ripe avocados juice of ½ lemon 12 slow-roasted tomato halves 200g / 7 oz tangy, fresh goat’s cheese 100g / 3 ½ oz roasted red onions sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons basil oil extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Divide the lentils among 4 serving plates. Halve, stone, peel and slice the avocados, then toss in the lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Layer the roasted tomatoes, goat’s cheese, avocado slices and red onions on top of the lentils, alternating them and seasoning with a little salt and pepper as you build.
I love the toolbox flavours here – the earthy, nutty lentils with a hint of sharpness from their dressing, the intense roasted tomatoes and deep purple onions all brought together with the vibrant basil oil.
JOE HILL, DEAN ST TOWNHOUSE JOHN DORY WITH CHARGRILLED LEEKS, PICKLED GIROLLES AND SOFT BOILED EGGS Serves 4 For pickle liquor:
250ml /8 ½ fl oz white wine vinegar 100g / 3 ½ oz caster sugar 1 star anis 1 cinnamon stick
For vinaigrette:
1 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar 1 ½ teaspoon honey 8 teaspoons olive oil
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spring 2013
Bring all pickle ingredients to the boil, add the girolles and set aside to cool in the liquid. Cook the eggs in boiling water for 6 mins so that the yolks remain runny. Cool, peel and cut in half. Shave some thin slices of parmesan and set aside.
For the fish:
250g / 9 oz girolle mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed 4 eggs a thick piece of parmesan 16-20 baby leeks, trimmed and blanched 2 x 350g/12 oz John Dory fillets, skin on and cut into 8 portions 1 bunch chervil
Spoon over the basil oil and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together except the oil, and then slowly add it, whisking. Season to taste. Heat a heavy-based or griddle pan over a high heat, brush with a little oil and char-mark the baby leeks for 1 minute each side. Drizzle a little olive oil over the John Dory fillets and season, then place under the grill (skin side up) or in hot oven for approx 4 mins. Arrange the leeks in the centre of a large warm plate, drizzle with vinaigrette and a bit around plate too, then put two halves of egg on each plate. Place the fillets on top, scatter the plate with 5-6 drained girolles, top with parmesan shavings and a little picked chervil. Enjoy.
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GAVEN DAVIS, BABINGTON HOUSE NETTLE PASTA WITH PORK RAGU Serves 3 For the pasta:
For the ragu:
1 clove garlic 200g / 7 oz pork mince peeled rind of 1 lemon 3 sage leaves nutmeg 300ml /10 fl oz whole milk parmesan for grating
150g / 5 oz nettles, cooked weight (about a shopping bag full, uncooked) 500g / 1 lb 2 oz flour 25g / ¾ oz water 2 egg yolks pinch of salt
Cook your nettles well in salted and rapidly boiling water, drain and then squeeze dry. In a robot coupe or good blender, place the flour, egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Add the nettles to the blender and blitz until it all comes together as firm green pasta dough.
MATT ARMISTEAD, SOHO HOUSE WEST HOLLYWOOD
1 ripe avocado 8-12 slices of Parma ham 8-12 wafer-thin slices of young pecorino (optional) 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
PROSCIUTTO, GRAPEFRUIT, AVOCADO AND WATERCRESS SALAD For the dressing:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons hazelnut oil
For the salad:
50g / 2oz hazelnuts a bunch of watercress 1 pomelo, oro blanco (both citrus fruits) or sweet grapefruit
ANDREW MEAD, ELECTRIC DINER GOAT'S CHEESE FONDUE WITH PICKLED WILD MUSHROOMS, HAZELNUT DRESSING Serves 4 For the goat’s cheese fondue:
230g / 8 oz double cream 300g / 10½ oz Cernay Pyramid goat’s cheese 50g / 2 oz glucose Boil the cream and glucose together and whisk in the cheese till completely smooth, Season to taste, then allow to cool and set.
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Add a little water if necessary. Rest the dough in cling wrap for about half an hour, roll very thinly and cut into ribbons. For the ragu: Chop the garlic finely and sweat off until sweet. Add the pork mince, lemon rind and sage and cook out. Add the milk and cook for about 20 minutes. Add grated nutmeg to taste. Cook the pasta for 4 minutes in a large pan of salted boiling water, until al dente. Add a knob of butter to the ragu to finish, fold through the pasta and grate parmesan over to serve.
First make the dressing. Combine the mustard and sherry vinegar in a bowl and add a pinch each of salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil, followed by the hazelnut oil, then set aside.
pat dry. Peel the pomelo (or oro blanco or sweet grapefruit), removing all the pith, then cut out the segments over a large bowl to catch the juice as well as the segments. Halve, stone and peel the avocado, then cut into slices, similar in size to the pomelo. Add to the pomelo with the watercress and toss gently to mix. If the dressing has separated on standing, give it a whisk, then drizzle half of it over the salad and toss lightly, so you don’t break up the avocado or the pomelo. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Place the nuts on a baking tray and roast in the middle of the oven for 3-4 minutes to warm and release the flavour. Turn onto a clean cloth and rub gentle to remove the skins, then roughly chop the nuts.
Arrange the salad on a plate, interleaving the Parma ham slices and pecorino if using, with the watercress, pomelo and avocado. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and drizzle over the remaining dressing.
For the salad, wash the watercress and gently
Finally, scatter over the hazelnuts and serve.
For the hazelnut dressing:
Place all ingredients except mushrooms into a pan and bring to the boil, pour warm liquor over the mushrooms and allow to sit until cool. Remove mushrooms from liquor and drain prior to use.
Whisk the oils and vinegar together and add to the hazelnuts. Whisk before use.
You can plate this dish many ways (add a crostini if you like), but the fondue makes a nice quenelle so I would centre this on the plate, scattering mushrooms around and finishing with leaves like mizuna and bulls blood leaf. Dress to give a nice crunchy texture alongside the smooth fondue.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350ºF.
25g / 1 oz crushed roasted hazelnuts 75ml / 2½ fl oz olive oil 25ml / ¾ fl oz hazelnut oil 10ml / ¼ fl oz balsamic vinegar
For the pickled mushrooms: ½ tbsp black peppercorns 1 clove crushed garlic 1 whole clove sprig of tarragon sprig of rosemary 250ml / 8½ fl oz white wine vinegar 125g / 4 oz light brown sugar 100g / 3½ oz chanterelle mushrooms
spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 23
slow cooking
TAKE IT SLOOOOW
Organised by Cookhouse US manager Julia Taylor-Brown and exec chef Andrea Cavaliere, Slow Cooked was a feast for foodie minds. The top chefs in the US properties got together for their first annual conference-slash-eat-a-thon to brainstorm and share their inspiration. he idea of Slow Cooked – which took place in Europe last year – is to support and develop Soho House's sous chefs and pastry chefs. It's about making sure everyone is thriving in their current roles as well as preparing them for whatever comes next.
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Luis de Trevino, German Luccarelli and Kate Goodyear from NYC, Eric Ting and Sarah Tsai from Toronto, plus Oscar Bonelli and Riccardo Tognozzi from Miami. Trainings for the chefs included everything from financial awareness, communication, teambuilding and food costs.
Julia and Andrea played host, while attendees included Nicky Pickup, David Vatran from LA, Jonah Eagan, Mikel
Although the conference was – of course – primarily about learning and development, there was still time to eat
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spring 2013
and cook a whole lot. Everyone went to dinner at Gjelina in Venice (see profile of chef-owner Travis Lett on the facing page and Bestia in Downtown LA (we have a terrific recipe from Bestia next issue). For the chef ’s roundtable meal, everyone prepared the signature dishes from their sites and the pastries incorporated fresh produce from a trip to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Delicious.
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Chef Travis Lett
Holly Eagleson meets Travis Lett, who guested during Slow Cooked in LA back in January. It’s rare to find a chef who commits to local food sourcing without being too precious or political about it. Travis Lett has managed to do just that with Gjelina, his Venice, California resto that’s grown from a local hangout to an unexpected hit LA-wide over the past four years. Crowds have flocked there for his rustic pizzas, sandwiches on house-made breads, and simply-prepared fish and meats, so many so that he opened Gjelina Take Away (aka GTA) in 2011. “Having not been trained as a chef, I approach the culinary field from more of a home cook’s angle. I almost act like a diner where I’m just trying to create simple, healthful food that I would really want to eat on a day-to-day basis. I see my restaurant as an experience as a whole, so that would be everything from what you see when you walk in there, the music that’s on, it’s all sort of sensory. I don’t think you should have to intellectualise the food to like it. It should be just very simply delicious. I previously worked at the W in West Hollywood and coming to Gjelina was really about returning to the basics. I drive a pickup truck to the farmer’s market
Travis Lett in Soho House's kitchens every day. I am in the kitchen usually wearing a T-shirt and jeans, not a uniform. I wanted to go back to my roots and do this sort of small, mellow place. I believe it embodies that spirit, but it has turned into quite the machine. I think it should be assumed that you’re buying sustainable meats and sourcing fish as close as you can and buying from the farmer’s market. Me and my team are at the farmer’s market, three, four times a week. I’m certainly not being judgmental about those who can’t do it. But I do believe you’re going to see more and more of it and that will become the standard. Elswhere in Venice, Axe is a restaurant that I’ve always really adored. The chef-owner Joanna has been there for almost 20 years now but she’s really ahead of her time in terms of the way she cooks. I like getting cocktails at The Tasting Kitchen and I love eating sushi at Shima, a brown-rice sushi place across from Gjelina.
“ I wanted to go back to my roots and do this sort of small, mellow place”
Far left, Travis Lett, The chefs get busy cooking, touring the markets and eating together.
www.cook-house.info
spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 25
soho shootout Photographs by Dai Williams
GAME OF BONES
The second Cookhouse cooking competition took place at Westminster Kingsway College and was another tightly fought battle, explains Gareth Jones.
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welve chefs from Soho House's venues gathered in the kitchens that Westminster College had kindly let us use for the night. The judges included Rob Shears from our butcher Fairfax Meadows, Dylan Murray from HQ, pastry chef Jake Rigby-Wilson and me. The rules were straightforward – all the chefs had to do was assemble a starter and a main, against the clock, using the ingredients
provided. They had a prime piece of pork to work with from Fairfax Meadows, fantastic seasonal fruit and vegetables from our greenery supplier, Mash, and sea bass and scallops from our fishmonger. The chefs could use the food in whatever way and order they prefered, as long as they used them all. All the dishes were produced to a consistently high standard, but there could only be one winner and after lots
of deliberation – and plenty of tasting – the judges agreed that Marcelo Andrade's pan-fried sea bass was the best of a very good bunch. Congratulations to him and we're looking forward to the next comp in a couple of months. See www.cook-house.info for a video of the night.
“All the dishes were produced to a consistently high standard, but there could only be one winner ”
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spring 2013
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Winner Marcelo Andrade
PORK TENDERLOIN WITH FONDANT POTATO, APPLE MASH AND JUS serves 1
2 white onions 1 carrot 5 cloves of garlic 3 celery sticks thyme, rosemary and bay leaf tomato purĂŠe trimmings from the pork fillet half bottle red wine reduced vegetable stock 1 leek 3 potatoes 3 teapsoons double cream 2 apples, peeled and cored 1 pork fillet butter, salt and pepper Dice the vegetables and sweat half the onions, the carrot, three cloves of the garlic, two sticks of the celery, a little thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, the tomato puree and pork trimmings in a nice hot pan till brown. Add the wine, reduce by 2/3, then add 250ml/1 cup reduced veg stock and leave it simmer till the sauce is nice and thick, then pass the sauce through a fine chinois.
MARCELO ANDRADE'S PAN-FRIED SEA BASS, SCALLOPS WITH POTATOES AND CAPER SALSA serves 1
500ml / 2 cups fish stock reduced from 1 litre/4 cups 1 potato, sliced 3-4mm/ 1/8 inch thick 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar juice of 1 lemon 4 teaspoons olive oil 1 tomato concasse (cut into 5mm dice) fresh parsley and thyme, chopped 4 lemon segments 1 teaspoon capers 1 sea bass fillet 1 scallop butter to finish
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Bring the fish stock to boil and then add the potatoes. Simmer until the potato is cooked, around 10 minutes. Pull off the heat when done and drain. Whisk the white wine vinegar, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper together and add the tomato concasse, parsley, thyme, lemon segments and capers. Pan fry the sea bass and scallop, finishing with a little butter to make the fish look nice and glossy. Line up the potato in the centre of the plate then place the fish on top. Top with the scallop then sprinkle the tomato caper salsa over the plate.
Peel the potatoes then cut a flat top and bottom on two of the spuds. Cut out rounds of potato with a pastry cutter. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to foam. Place the remaining potatoes in the pan. Add stock to cover and reduce the stock till the batter starts to caramelise on the bottom of the pan. Sweat the remaining onion, celery, leek, garlic and thyme in butter without colouration then add the potatoes and apple. Cover with stock and add the cream. Cook till the potatoes are soft. Blend. Pan fry the pork in a very hot pan with olive oil and cook in a hot oven for 3-4 minutes. Finish with butter to caramelise the meat. Check the seasoning and then serve.
spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 27
flowered up
PETAL TO THE METAL As part of our ongoing partnership with Grey Goose Vodka, we decided to tap up their ingredients expert, global brand ambassador Joe McCanta, for some info on working with flowers, as well as asking two of our best chefs what they love about florals.
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oho House chefs often use flowers – either as ingredients in their own right, or as garnishes. But we were curious to know more, so we got together with Ronnie Bonetti from Babington House and Andrea Cavaliere from Cecconi’s West Hollywood to tell us their favourite florals, and to try one of Joe’s brilliant drinks, designed specially to go with one of their dishes. Ronnie Bonetti from Babington House says: “Spring has sprung and summer is around the corner! Summer time is perfect at Babington to take full advantage of the edible flowers in the walled garden and nearby woods. My favourite flowers are: wild garlic – the flowers are great fried with squid, red mullet and lemon; chive flowers – they have a wonderful purple colour and work well with wild sea bass carpaccio; rocket flowers – these are little white
numbers that gives the perfect punch to any salad; courgette flowers – my favourite flower in the garden! Stuffed with fresh goats cheese fried and drizzled with lavender flower honey or ripped over mozzarella pizza with marjoram; nasturtiums – these have an amazing peppery flavour and are fab sprinkled over raw beef with a few shavings of parmesan and a squeeze of lemon. We also have fennel flowers that are great infused in vinegar that then makes delicious salad dressings. Get out there and pick your edible bouquets! Andrea Cavaliere adds: “Using borage in ravioli is delicious as the borage has a fresh, light cucumber flavour and the ravioli works well simply tossed with burnt butter and Parmigiano. I love making hibiscus panna cotta with a few flowers made into a syrup and few
crystallised to use as garnish, or try my recipe for lavender panna cotta on the next page. The musky flavour of lavender, along with its hint of citrus also makes lavender ideal for use with white fish.” Joe McCanta is also seriously into floral ingredients. “At Grey Goose, we really enjoy using fresh seasonal ingredients, and you can build beautiful cocktails while trying to think of innovative ways of using the entire plant. It’s like the equivalent of nose-to-tail cooking, using stems and seeds in bitters as well as flowers in the actual recipes. I think the fact that Grey Goose uses the entire wheat grain in production and that we have complete control of every aspect of the vodka production – from field to bottle – means that this concept is very close to our hearts.”
“Get out there and pick your edible bouquets!” 28 COOKHOUUSE
spring 2013
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JARDIN DE FLUER
This cocktail will pair perfectly with Andrea Cavaliere’s lavender panna cotta. It’s a twist on the classic Silver Fizz and is a lovely way of playing with texture within the drink while complementing the flavours of the panna cotta. The egg white makes the drink light and airy and the hefty amount of honey water adds enough sweetness to balance the dessert. 35ml / 1 oz Grey Goose La Poire 50ml / 1 ¾ oz half and half (half cream/half whole milk) 20ml / ¾ oz egg white 30ml / 1 oz wild honey syrup (1:1) infused with fresh lavender leaves dash of lavender bitters Dry shake first without ice. Add ice to the shaker and shake very hard for 30 seconds. Strain into a small fizz glass. Top with a splash of soda.
Above: the Jardin de Fleur cocktail
ANDREA'S HONEY LAVENDER PANNA COTTA Serves 4 1 ½ teaspoons gelatin powder 2 tablespoons cold water 1 cup / 24oml half and half or cream ¼ cup / 60ml wildflower honey 1 teaspoon dried lavender 1 cup / 240ml milk strawberries or other berries and lavender flowers, to serve In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the two tablespoons of water and let soften for at least 5 minutes. Lightly oil four 5-oz/140ml ramekins with baking spray or flavourless oil. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat the cream, honey, and dried lavender to a light simmer then turn off the heat. Whisk to incorporate all the honey evenly, then strain into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the gelatin. Whisk for at least a minute to make sure it is very evenly distributed and that no lumps remain. Whisk in the milk. Pour into the ramekins, and put in the fridge to set. The panna cotta will need at least two hours to set – I prefer to wait at least four, especially if the puddings will be un-moulded. Serve it with fresh berries and sprinkle with lavender flowers.
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spring 2013
COOKHOUUSE 29
ingredients…
in praise of…
SUMAC
Alex Farrey is head at BKB, Boheme Kitchen and Bar, in Soho. He explains why his favourite ingredient is sumac.
S
umac is a vibrant citrusflavoured spice common throughout Middle Eastern cookery. The spice is made of small hairy berries, which are dried and crushed, leaving a powder with very little scent but a beautiful flavour and a deep red purple colour. It is used widely as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a fresh, citrus taste to salads or meat. I was first introduced to sumac by my Iranian girlfriend seven or eight years ago, when she took me to a fantastic Iranian restaurant on the Harrow Road in London.
It was like discovering a whole new world of cooking and eating; how a plate of perfectly cooked rice sprinkled with one spice could be such an amazing thing. The sumac plant is actually a relative of poison ivy, and was originally used as a medicine. It has been found to have hypoglycaemic qualities and can help combat diabetes, hypoglycaemia and even obesity – an added bonus to a delicious ingredient. Sumac is also used in the spice mixture za’atar - a condiment used in Arab and North African cuisine - made from dried herbs, mixed with sesame seeds, dried sumac and often salt, as well as other spices.
It truly is the go-to spice of the Middle East, and southern Europe, largely due to the Romans who spread sumac through the empire as a substitute for lemons, which were perishable and not easily transported. Nearly all recipes using lemon juice can be replaced by sumac, giving it the citrus zing with a more nutty floral taste. I’ve found sumac to be an extremely versatile ingredient, adding a fresh, zingy quality to salads and stews or even just sprinkled over rice as a classic garnish for kebabs. I use it most often as a rub or marinade for meat, particularly lamb and chicken, both of which are fantastic rubbed with garlic and sumac and cooked over a hot barbecue. Preferably on a hot sunny afternoon with a cold beer in hand...
“It truly is the go-to spice of the Middle East” 30 COOKHOUUSE
spring 2013
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