Cook House Issue 4

cookhouse Soho House Food Magazine

spring loaded spring 2011 COOKING perfect pasta sauces EATING dinner out with Nigella Lawson PLAYING new friends for the Cookhouse network

a taste...

4 DIGEST THIS

spring 2011 Welcome to edition of magazine and people

the spring 2011 the Soho House food dished up for chefs who love to eat

This magazine celebrates the food philosophy of all the Soho House Group restaurants worldwide: Soho House New York, Babington House in Somerset, Soho House West Hollywood, Soho House Berlin and Cecconi’s in LA, as well as all the London sites: Pizza East, Cecconi’s, Dean Street Town House, Shoreditch House, The Electric, Cafe Boheme, BKB, High Road House Chiswick, Hoxton Grill and Soho House.

Food for the Oscars, cooking for charity and an Electric visit to the Fat Duck

8 10

LADIES FIRST

TV cook Nigella Lawson and TV presenter Kirsty Young take over Babington House for a night

WHAT I KNOW

Head chef of Soho House New York Paul Gerard on how cooking is noble and why he doesn’t like sharks

12

In this issue we've set the chefs against each other as they compete to find out who has the most delicious pasta sauce recipe in their repertoire and what’s more, we need you to be the judge. Turn to p12 to find out more. We’d also like to introduce you to some new pals - chefs and food producers who are members of our Cookhouse network. We’re also reporting back from Miami where there’s been some major food festival action, as well as bringing you all the news from throughout the Soho House Group.

Oh, and look out for our new little brother - he looks sleek, but he’s a bit of a boozer! House Tonic, the Soho House drinks magazine, launches in April.

Tuck in!

PERFECT PASTA Eight world pasta wins?

chefs from around the compete to find the best sauce recipe...ever. Who You decide!

22

LOVE, ACTUALLY Two inspiring food producers tell us what makes their food so special

26 29 30 31

MIAMI VICES What really went down at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.

(Uh, eating?)

MATES IN HIGH PLACES

Editor Rebecca Seal Art etc. Dominic Salmon images by WorldRedEye.com Photograph on p8 by Iain Kemp, Miami andiford, ylan Murray, Eliot S thanks to Dan Flower, Kat Hartigan, D onnie Bonetti, Kelly Taylor, R Caroline Boucher, Matthew Armistead, stead, Daniele Pampagnin, i m r A y e l l e Jon Pollard, Paul Gerard, Sh ave Green, Ashley Lent Maurilio Molteni, Andrea Cavaliere, D

www.sohohouse.com

Cookhouse has a new friend! Meet Andy Appleton, head chef of Fifteen Cornwall

FEELING SHEEPISH?

b shank recipe Member Patrick Drake shares his lam

WHAT’S COOKING? Cookhouse events for hungry members

star quality

Go West!

Each issue of Cookhouse likes to give credit to some of the unsung heroes of the kitchens. Here are Spring’s rising star chefs.

Dave Bielecki, Soho House New York

The West Country Committee, spearheaded by Cookhouse, met again in Watergate Bay, Cornwall, to discuss how to further develop a network of chefs, trainees and suppliers in the southwest of England.

As an area that suffered particularly badly during the economic downturn, the committee is playing a part in improving things for young people and businesses locally. Babington House chefs met with Fifteen Cornwall staff and apprentices, along with chef Paul Wadham from the renowned Tresanton Hotel and chefs from Rick Stein’s group of restaurants.

As a result eight Jamie Oliver Foundation apprentices from Fifteen have joined the Soho House Group, and a chef from Tresanton has done a stage at Babington.

The plan is to set up similar networks local to all the Soho House Group sites, and if your restaurant or hotel or food business would like to join in then get in touch:

cookhouse@sohohouse.com

NIBBLES

food news from around the world

new recruits C O O K H O U S E 4

The children of Shoreditch went head to head with top chef Maurilio Molteni making pizza. The day started with the tiddlers designing pizzas on paper, then learning how to make their pizzas...and finished with the most important thing of all: eating pizzas. www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

“Our newest New York sous comes to us fresh ‘n’ fine tuned from the Kitchens of Keller and Colicchio (Per Se and Craft), and this rising star is raising the bar with the moxie that is Made in New York!” says Paul Gerard, his head chef.

Michael Mysziewicz, Shoreditch House

“Sous chef of the 4th floor at Shoreditch House, at 26 and one of the few non Italians in the kitchen brigade, he not only excels in his work but also is a master of the skills needed to work in such an environment!

Passionate, enthusiastic, hard working and a credit to Shoreditch House,” says Maurilio Molteni, his head chef.

Michael Adamus, Cafe Boheme

“Since joining us Michael, who is senior chef de partie (recently promoted because of his attitude and dedication to his profession), has been a revelation in regards to always wanting to take on extra re sponsibilities, career progression, training and development of junior chefs. He is an invaluable asset to the kitchen,” says Neil Sedgwick, his head chef.

Roys Fabian, Soho Beach House Miami

Roys Fabian is our second pizzaiolo and has been with us since we opened. From his first day he showed as great atttitude and a desire to make it happen! Now Roys is second to no-one and his pizza is as good chef. head his his teacher, Evan. Roys is a great asset to Soho Beach House,” says Sergio Sigala,

sweet charity Dave Green and Adam Hutchings from Hoxton Bar and Grill headed out to Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire last month, where Dave grew up, to raise cash for windows in the local church – a bit of altruism away from the heat of an east London kitchen. Dave did a demo of the menu for 30 at lunch and 40 in the evening and served smoked haddock rarebit tart, braised blade of beef and then a blood orange and bergamot pannacotta to finish. Although he did all the prep at Hoxton it was quite the challenge cooking in the village hall’s teeny kitchen, but the hard work paid off as they raised nearly £1500.

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NIBBLES

and the winner is...

n in February Soho House West Hollywood got in on the Oscars actio on the night with some hearty partying and seriously good food m Carter, before the big event. Actors Colin Firth, Helena Bonha beth Banks, Helen Mirren, Javier Bardem, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eliza ed in for to Jon Hamm and the director Kathryn Bigelow all dropp paella to try SHWH’s Oscar specials - from saffron chicken and and French pistachio rose water meringues, chocolate ganache tarts , whose macaroons. The whole do was hosted by Grey Goose vodka movie-themed mixologist Dimi Lezinska also designed some special a nod with a cocktails just for the night. The Kings Speech got martini – drink of its own: Speechless was a riff on a classic orange bitters, vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, Noilly Prat Ambré and , Pas served in a vintage cocktail glass. Black Swan’s drink ds, while de Deux, featured edible, floating, swan-like orchi vodka, Social Status, in honour of the Social Network, was an elderflower, lime juice and soda. The Golden Goose, cocktail homage to the statues themselves, was a tall zesty been garnished with real gold leaf! Wow. There must have some sore heads getting dolled up for the do the next day...

C O O K H O U S E 6

“The Kings Speec h got a nod with a drink of its own: Speechless was a riff on a classic martini”

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Ducking amazing!

Last month, five chefs plus food and beverage director Dylan Murray, emptied their piggy banks, checked down the back of the sofa and scraped together the serious cash required to go all out at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck*. We’re talking a 14-course tasting menu, cheese, whisk(e)y gums, 15 wines, the whole shebang. Starting at 8.30pm, designated driver Dylan didn’t get back to London until 2am. He gives us the highlights.

“It was an eating marathon and everyone’s first time, which made it a real experience. There was an overwhelming array of textures and tastes, and because it’s a bit gimmicky it was also real fun. With me were Paul Witherington, Tamas Prikkel and Jason Loy from the Electric Brasserie, Todd Glore from the Electric Club and Dave Green from Hoxton Bar & Grill.

The stand-out dishes were things like Sounds of the Sea, which you eat listening to an iPod hidden in a shell, actually playing you the sounds of the sea, but which also had fantastic flavour and balance.

The snail porridge, Iberico Bellota ham and fennel was surprisingly good, as was the salmon poached in liquorice, artichoke, vanilla mayo and trout roe – it came with a grapefruit that must have been picked apart with tweezers. The red cabbage gazpacho and pommery grain mustard ice cream were also amazing.

And black forest gateau and kirsch ice cream was simply unbelievable.

Tamas Prikkel (Pringles), Dave Green, Jason Loy (Tank), Paul Witherington (Fluffy), Dylan Murray, Todd Glore.

(Above) Galette of rhubarb, neroli scented yogurt and rhubarb sorbet (below) Salmon poached in a liquorice gel, artichoke, vanilla mayonnaise and golden trout roe

There was nothing that wasn’t good. Also, our waiter was a real character, which was so nice because so often when you go to these starred places, it’s all really pretentious. I agree that it’s one of the hundred things you should do before you die. It was inspirational – every course came with a detail, a story. There was just total silence whenever a new dish came to the table – well worth the visit!” *Cookhouse made a wee contribution, of course.

“There was an overwhelming array of textures and tastes, and because it’s a bit gimmicky it was also real fun.”

C O O K H O U S E 7

Babington Bash

ladies’ night Nigella Lawson and Kirsty Young take over Babington House for the night, raising £20,000 for Positive Action on Cancer.

“...she really couldn’t decide between chicken or steak and was adamant that she had to have mash, chips and roast potatoes” Babington House came over all lady-like last month, when celebrity cook Nigella Lawson was joined by Kirsty Young, a top broadcaster, to host an evening of great food and conversation. Although most definitely not a girl, Soho House Group CEO Nick Jones was allowed in on the action – after all, he is patron of the charity and Nigella Lawson with Nick Jones, Soho House Group CEO, also happens to be married to Kirsty. Positive and his wife, Kirsty Young Action on Cancer provides essential counselling and support for people affected by cancer and its director, Mary Taylor, introduced the evening.

The menu was chosen by Nigella. There were four starters which included dragon wings (spicy chicken wings) and a pepper, anchovy and egg salad, which were then followed by beer-braised pork knuckles with red cabbage and pomegranate. The feast was finished off with a rather scrumptious version of her very own rhubarb crumble and custard.

During courses, Kirsty interviewed Nigella in the style of her famous BBC Radio 4 show, Desert Island Discs, and took questions from the audience about Nigella’s food loves and restaurant hates. When asked what her desert island-meal would be, as is fitting for the queen of British comfort food, she really couldn’t decide between chicken or steak and was adamant that she had to have mash, chips and roast potatoes...but then her own guacamole and potato skins were another favourite...as well as her spaghetti alle vongole (“without tomato just as I like it”). Sounds like a great desert island to wash up on!

Kirsty Young grills Nigella Lawson

The evening was a big success, raising piles of cash via a live auction which included a surprise lot offered on the night – a beach house in the Bahamas for 10 days which ended up selling for £6000. Must have been just too tempting for the winning bidder, after the chill of an English February!

C O O K H O U S E 8

For more information or to donate, go to www.positiveactiononcancer.co.uk www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

ohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 9

starters

Paul Gerard on the roof of Soho House New York

what i know Paul Gerard executive chef of Soho House New York, 41 I like a good New York slice of pizza or a traditional Neapolitan. Joe’s Pizza on the corner of Bleecker and Carmine Street is great. Some people might call their pizzas burnt, but they’re not, they’re crispy and charred and delicious.

I’m scared of sharks. I mean, I like sharks, but I’m not crazy about having them swimming around me when I go diving. I try and avoid them where possible. I used to live in Puerto Rico and they’d tell me that they hadn’t had a shark attack since the beginning of the last century, to which I’d respond, “Well, we’re due one then, aren’t we?”

I believe feeding people is a noble task. To see people feeding each other, or making yummy noises, or sitting at the table not even able to speak, that’s the best. That’s even better than the cooking process.

My worst habit is smoking. I still enjoy doing it, but it’s drilled into you these days about how bad it is for you. Smoking was always portrayed as a “cool” thing to do, but they never showed you pictures of James Dean or Steve McQueen panting at the top of the stairs.

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When I started dating my son Frank’s mom, she was a waitress and I was a sous chef at a restaurant in New Orleans. She was leaving the job, and when I showed up at her going-away party she said, “Who invited you?”, to which I responded, “Ya wanna go down by the river ‘n’ make out?”...Ten years later, we’re still together. Our relationship is like the Mississippi river, long and winding...and a force to be reckoned with!

I have a tattoo that says “The War Is Over”. It has to do with my youth on the streets of Brooklyn. It keeps me from fighting – fighting of any kind. I was a latch-key kid and New York in the 1970s was a pretty rough spot. I was all kinds of trouble.

But I’m older now, and my priorities have changed.

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

“Keith Richards inspires me. I tried to emulate his lifestyle but I had to give it up. If you’re not in the Rolling Stones it just ends up being painful!

But it was fun trying...”

The worst job I ever did was as a chef for an on-location movie catering company, working through July on the South Louisiana border, cooking in a mobile kitchen that was basically a metal box and which got unbelievably hot. Sometimes we worked 24 hours straight, sleeping in the van. I was the also the driver of this van full of propane, plus everyone was drinking all the time.

I have a big collection of prints – I like street art and I try and buy stuff from artists before they get famous. I’m teaching myself framing too. My daughter, who is 15, thinks I’m crazy - I can stay up until 4am looking at frame materials on the internet. But I find it relaxing.

I’m ridiculously ambitious. I’m nowhere near where I want to be. Maybe I’d be happier if I wasn’t working on a million different projects, like I’m consulting on a chef graphic novel, writing my own book, writing recipes, working as a chef and learning framing...But I want an empire eventually.

Keith Richards inspires me. I tried to emulate his lifestyle but I had to give it up. If you’re not in the Rolling Stones it just ends up being painful! But it was fun trying...

D SOUND? GOO

to find out more about how you could become part of the Soho House Group team contact cookhouse@sohohouse.com

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 1 1

pasta la vista

PASTA OFF! the great

Many of the Soho House Group kitchens around the world serve pasta.

They each do it in different ways – and each thinks they do it best!

Here, we challenge the pasta-crazy head chefs of eight restaurants to tell us why theirs really is better than the rest and share one of their top pasta sauce recipes.

Read their justifications, try the recipes and then vote for your favourite via cookhouse@sohohouse.com. Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win a pasta supper for two at a venue of your choice (and no – travel to Cecconi’s Miami is not included in the prize!).

C O O K H O U S E 1 2

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 1 3

Ronnie Bonetti 2 Babington House

Maurilio Molteni 1 Shoreditch House

Why is my pasta the best? Because it’s mine! No, I’m kidding, of course. I’ve worked with pasta for a long time, in restaurants all over the world and wherever you are, it’s all about the ingredients. In a two-star place in Emilia Romagna, an old lady made the pasta every day and used 50 egg yolks for every kilo of flour, while in Puglia we made orrechiette with no eggs at all.

But for me, the best pasta has to be my mum’s lasagne. I remember getting in so much trouble because I loved to steal the burnt crispy edges, and she used to make it a day before so it tasted even better. Another great dish is spaghetti with sea urchin which I had with my wife on holiday in Sicily. It’s so delicate and sexy. We knew the chef and he hid the dish under a cloche as he bought it to us, because he didn’t want anyone to see how much he was giving us!

Maurilio’s Sicilian purple

aubergine, cured pork cheeks and pecorino cheese

serves 4 2 garlic cloves 1 pinch of dry chilli olive oil 1 purple aubergine 00 flour to dust 200g / 7 oz guanciale, finely diced (cured pork cheeks) 25ml white wine 250g / 9oz cherry tomatoes cut in half 10 basil leaves 150g / 5 oz good quality grated pecorino (aged pecorino Romano or Toscano) pasta of your choice to serve

C O O K H O U S E 1 4

pasta la vista

First cut the aubergine into cubes, season with salt and drain them in a colander for half an hour so all the water comes out. Pat them dry, dust with flour and deep fry in olive oil until golden, then set aside. In a saucepan fry the garlic cloves and the chilli with a little olive oil, then add the guanciale. When it is golden brown pour in the wine and let it evaporate. At this point add the cherry tomatoes and a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes. Add the aubergine and the basil and adjust the seasoning. The sauce is now ready to make love to the pasta (paccheri, penne, fusilli…) just don’t forget to sprinkle it with the beautiful pecorino cheese!

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I found this dish in a trattoria in Piano di Sorrento. It’s called “trachiollele,” which I’d never heard of before. I couldn’t even say the word, and my wife Antonella (who is Italian) told me that if I couldn’t say it, I couldn’t have it. So I got into a bit of a sulk! It’s absolutely delicious – really cheeky but so good.

The meat falls off the bone when it’s ready, but leave the bones in and then you can suck the sauce off them. My only trick with pasta, if I have a trick at all, is to keep it really simple, like I’ve been doing a great, really straightforward dish with the last of the cavolo nero cabbage, pureeing it with the new season’s olive oil and serving it with cheesy semolina gnocchi, scattered with pecorino or parmesan.

Ronnie’s penne with pork ribs and tomato serves 2-3 for the sauce: a few pork ribs – go for 3 per person a tin of chopped tomatoes chopped garlic 1 onion roughly chopped a slug of red wine crushed dried chilli (to taste) olive oil a good pinch of dried oregano parmesan to serve penne to serve

Turn on the oven to a medium heat. Melt the onion and garlic together with a little oil until soft in a solid pot with a lid (a cast iron pot would work a treat).

Throw in the ribs, dried oregano, and the wine. Give it a stir. Add the tomatoes, chilli, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Pop the lid on and put it in the oven and cook it until the meat falls off the bone. Cook the penne.

Stir the sauce through the penne and grate over a good amount of parmesan. That’s amore!

Paul Gerard

3 Soho House New York When it comes to pasta, I aspire to cook like someone’s grandmother. I don’t aspire to re-write the book on pasta, it’s been written so well already.

So, for the most part, I’m very classic. I love so many different pastas that it’s hard to choose – although I do have a soft spot for strozzapreti, mostly because it means “strangle the priest” which is pleasantly sacrilegious. I think in America people often drown pasta in sauce, whereas I really like to be able to taste the pasta itself, which is why you just can’t beat pasta with butter and good parmesan or a simple dish like this one:

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

Cacio e Pepe

serves 2 ½ lb / 225g homemade spaghetti ½ cup / 50g pecorino cheese, grated 2 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked ½ tbsp butter salt

Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Drain and reserve pasta water. Heat a pan and add ½ cup pasta water and butter. When butter starts to melt, add the pasta and toss well.

Then add half the cheese and 1 tsp pepper and keep tossing. The cheese will melt and form a creamy sauce.

Remove from heat and pour into a bowl, sprinkle with the rest of the pepper and cheese and serve right away.

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pasta la vista

Alessio Biangini and Andrea Cavaliere

4 Cecconi’s LA and America’s Soho Houses

Jon Pollard 5 Pizza East

Andrea: Pasta is the best comfort food ever invented and is amazing because it’s so versatile – it can be fine dining or it can be basic, and you can eat it anywhere. One of my old favourites is a recipe that sometimes appears on all the menus that I introduced – pappardelle with taggiasca olives and rabbit ragu, which is one that my mum used to make using the rabbits that my grandfather kept. Pasta was a big deal in my family – every Sunday my mum made fresh tagliatelle, gnocchi or lasagne; we would go to church and then come back for lunch.

It became a ritual and I remember waking up to the smell of her sauces. I would even eat her gnocchi raw, which always got me in trouble. My favourite overall pasta is spaghetti with clams. I dream of having this on holiday with a nice cold glass of wine. This recipe, another favourite of mine, is one that Alessio and I developed together.

Pasta is one of my favourite foods and it’s one of the main ingredients that got me into cooking. I remember when I was a kid our Italian neighbour used to come round and show us how to make pasta. My brothers and I would put on fake moustaches and aprons and jump up on chairs to see everything that was going on...after years of destroying my mum’s kitchen we finally got it right!

My little brother Brian used to think it was Play-dough you could eat. It’s quite an easy thing to make once you get a technique that suits you. We’ve only had a couple of pasta dishes on our menu and at the moment we have a delicious mushroom dish.

We put a little stock into our pasta dough to maximize the flavour and it really enriches it. We use chestnut mushrooms and porcini along with the porcini juice.

A few shavings of truffle pecorino on top and it is so good.

Alessio’s gnocchi with lamb and artichoke ragu serves 8 2 ¼ kg / 5 lb diced lamb (leg or shoulder) 250g / ½ lb ¼ inch / 1cm diced red onions 250g / ½ lb ¼ inch / 1cm diced carrots 250g / ½ lb ¼ inch / 1cm diced celery 450g / 1 lb peeled baby artichokes, cut into ¼ inch / 1cm dice fresh bay leaves, sage, rosemary, thyme 1 tbsp tomato paste/puree 250ml red wine 2 litres lamb stock (made in advance with the lamb bones)

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Cook the diced lamb with olive oil in a very hot pan until it goes golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a different pot roast the celery, carrots and onion. When the vegetables are nice and browned, add the meat and cook together for 5 minutes. Make a bouquet garni with all the herbs, then add it to the pot with salt, pepper and the tomato paste. At this point add the red wine, let it cook for 5 more minutes and add the lamb stock. Cook the ragu on a low heat for 2 hours until the meat is medium tender. Reduce if necessary.

Finally add the artichokes and let them cook for the last 10 minutes. Serve with freshly cooked gnocchi. Buon Appetito!

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Jon’s in-season tomato sauce fresh plum tomatoes garlic extra virgin olive oil fresh chilli, finely chopped marjoram 36 month-aged alpine Parmigiano Reggiano There are so many great pasta sauces but I think the original is best! When tomatoes are in season use beautiful plum tomatoes and slow cook them with thinly sliced garlic and good extra virgin olive oil Add some marjoram and stir them through the pasta, add some chilli and some Parmigiano Reggiano and enjoy!

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 1 7

Simone Serafino

Simone Gobbo

7 Cecconi’s London

6 Soho House Berlin

My favourite pastas are orecchiette a cime di rapa for winter (because cime di rapa, turnip tops, are a wintery veg) and pici con scampi for spring and summer (pici is fatter, hand-rolled spaghetti-like pasta). Here is a version of the former with a little variation from the original Italian version. I chose this pasta because it is very simple to make yet very tasty! I don’t think there is a best recipe for this, or that there is a best chef to cook it. In fact I don’t think I’m the best. But I do think it is very difficult to find someone as good as me at cooking, in general (haha!)

I come from the Venice countryside, which is close to the sea. Between there and the lagoon, you can find a lot of very good fresh fish, but there is also an excellent range of game available, as well market gardens growing great vegetables. Where I come from has certainly influenced the way I cook, and this is one of my favourite pasta dishes from home.

Bigoli con seppioline

Orecchiette a cime di rapa e

di laguna e radicchio tardivo,

or bigoli with baby cuttlefish and red chicory serves 2 75-100g / 2 ½ – 2 ½ oz bigoli per person (a kind of spaghetti but thicker and with a hole in the middle) 450g / 15 oz seppioline di laguna (baby cuttlefish) 20g / 1 oz garlic 1 bunch of parsley a glass of white wine (125ml) 1 bunch of radicchio tardivo olive oil Slice the garlic, melt it in a pan with a 1 dried chilli touch of olive oil and add the chilli. Add the cuttlefish whole (it is not necessary glass of fish stock (125ml) to chop them because they are really tiny).

3 tbsp tomato purée sides and add the Brown them on both radicchio and the white wine.

C O O K H O U S E 1 8

pasta la vista

When the wine has evaporated keep cooking with a touch of fish stock and the tomato purée until the cuttlefish is tender. At this point the radicchio will be nice and caramelized. (Don’t allow the sauce to get too dry.)

Cook the bigoli in salted water, but remove from the pan 2 minutes before fully cooked.

(This is the only kind of pasta that I don’t like al dente). Add to the sauce and cook everything together for 2 minutes – add some fish stock if necessary. Add a touch of olive oil to make an emulsion and the chopped parsley right at the end.

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panure di noci,

orecchiette with cime di rapa and crumbled walnuts

serves 2 for the sauce: 2 cloves of garlic, sliced very finely 1 tsp dried chilli 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 160g / 5 ½ oz cime di rapa (this is also known as broccoli raab, turnip tops or rapini) for the panure: 30-40g / 1½ oz walnuts, crushed (but not too finely) 40g / 1½ oz cup aged pecorino (di fossa) cheese 50g / 2 oz breadcrumbs 1 tbsp garlic oil 30g / 1 oz grated Parmesan cheese 30g / 1 oz flatleaf parsley finely chopped salt and black pepper to taste 200g / 7 oz orecchiette, cooked (uncooked weight) vegetable stock (optional)

C O O To make the panure mix together all the ingredients and keep to one side until the pasta K is in the pan.

H To make the sauce: first blanch the cime di rapa and then chop roughly. Next fry the O garlic and chilli together in a pan and add the cime di rapa. Once it starts to brown add U some veg stock or some of the pasta cooking water. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, then add S the cooked orecchiette and sauté them for a minute on the heat. Remove from the heat (make E sure the sauce is not too dry – it’s better if it is a bit loose!) and add the panure. Mix until the sauce becomes an emulsion. Put on the plate and sprinkle with some more panure. 1 9 www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

Matthew Armistead

8 Soho House West Hollywood The infinite possibilities and variations are what make pasta so amazing. I love when people cook it for me because everyone interprets recipes in their own way, and that’s what makes cooking special. I based this on a River Café hare pappardalle recipe we used to do, which I loved and had a very strong gamey flavour. Hare isn’t available here in the US so rabbit was the next choice. It’s very simple once the rabbit is cooked, you just pull the meat of the bone and throw it back in to the cooking broth. One of my favourite pastas is spaghetti vongole – and as with any good meal, you start by opening a decent bottle of wine.

We make fresh pasta every day at work and I have probably been making fresh pasta for at least the last 10 years, so at home I only use dried pasta. I would never buy fresh pasta, particularly the stuffed ravioli, and those pre-made sauces always have a weird taste. It’s just as easy to open a can of tomatoes. The best pasta dishes for me are always the most simple and in fact I love pasta with just really good olive oil and parmesan. I remember as a teenager eating huge bowls of spaghetti with butter and cheese!

Rabbit pappardelle serves 4-6

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1 rabbit, jointed into 8, bone in 1 quail, cut in half, bone in mirepoix, (1 small carrot, 1 small onion, 1 stick celery) cut into small dice 50g / 2oz pancetta or guanciale (cured pork cheeks) 5 sage leaves 1 bay leaf 4 juniper berries 50 ml white wine (Zinfandel, preferably) 50 ml red wine 200ml chicken stock 200g / 100 oz mushrooms (mixed) 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 100ml veal stock or demi glace (optional) butter for cooking and serving parmesan to serve chopped parsley to serve salt and freshly ground pepper 500g / 1lb pappardelle

Season the rabbit and quail pieces with salt and pepper and sear separately until brown.

Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, sweat the mirepoix, pancetta or guanciale for five minutes. Then return the meat to the pan and add the juniper, sage and bay leaf.

Deglaze the pan with the wine and the chicken stock (allow the alcohol to evaporate). Cover and simmer for a couple of hours or until the meat comes away from bone easily.

Remove the meat and allow to cool then pull the meat from the bones.

Return the meat to the cooking broth.

In a clean pan sweat the mushrooms with garlic and a little seasoning.

Finally, heat the veal stock or demi glace and mix with the meat, mushrooms and cooking liquor. Serve with cooked pappardelle and season with a knob of butter, parmesan and chopped parsley.

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

and finally Now we know everything about we could ever need to know about sauces, top chef Andrea Cavaliere shares his tips on how to cook pasta perfectly Cook pasta in salted water, and lots of it. You can’t cook pasta properly if you use only a litre per half kilo – you need much more than that, and in a big pan.

The water must be boiling when you add the pasta.

If it’s not boiling the gluten leaches out and the pasta cooks on the outside but not the inside and can become sticky.

Cooking times vary for every kind of pasta. If it’s a dried pasta then it has to be cooked al dente, it really need to have that texture. Fresh pasta is different of course, as is stuffed pasta – then it doesn’t have to be al dente.

Andrea in the kitchen

There are no rules for calculating cooking times. It all depends on the size and shape of the pasta, its thickness and how long it has been dried for.

You can touch pasta to tell if it’s cooked or not. As you get more experienced you really can do it by feel. You can touch first, taste second.

With supermarket pastas, I always cook them for one minute less than the instructions on the packet say.

Some pastas can be cooked in chicken or vegetable stock, and sometimes even served with it, as a broth. It does great things to the flavour of the pasta.

Baked pastas are different again. They should always be blanched first.

I know that you get lasagne sheets from the supermarket that say you don’t need to cook them first, but they’re no good. Far better to blanch the pasta first, then put into iced water to stop the cooking process, then make your lasagne or cannelloni.

Often, I let my pasta finish cooking actually in the sauce. So if it’s a simple tomato and basil sauce, I put the pasta in the pan with it for the last minute. Then the sauce really gets into the pasta.

pasta the test?

So...which is your favourite?

Email cookhouse@sohohouse.com and tell us to be in with a chance of winning a meal for two. Full terms and conditions online. Closing date 1 May 2011. www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 2 1

growing up

MEET THE PRODUCERS As the season changes and the weather warms, we meet two inspirational food producers and find out what gets them growing!

SALAD DAYS Buttervilla Growers, aka Funky Leaves, organically farm leaves, herbs, vegetables, fruit and edible flowers. It was started by Robert Hocking and Sean O’Neill in 2006 and now supplies top restaurants. Some of the farm work is even done by horses, making the set-up very environmentally friendly.

Robert gives us a taste.

C O O K H O U S E 2 2

“We’re old hippies really. I started growing for my family in the 1970s, just for ourselves, and we were near enough self-sufficient in a lot of things.

We had a herd of red ruby cattle, sheep, ducks, geese and chickens. We’ve always been foodies – in the 1980s I imported coffee and olive oils when you’d have been lucky to find more than one sort of oil in the shops.

“WE’RE OLD HIPPIES REALLY”

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

growing up

Gone fishing!

Matthew Stevens and Sons sell a huge range of fish to both the restaurant trade and individuals. The family has been fishing off Cornwall for generations.

Matthew Stevens (right) explains what being a fish merchant means to him.

Buttervilla produce

There’s nothing like the taste of the produce from your own garden. I got into supplying restaurants about five years ago when Neil Haydock, the chef from Fifteen [one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants], heard me give a talk.

He came up to the farm and after he’d tasted some winter salad leaves grown

by Sean O’Neill, another inspired grower from a farm nearby who we work with, Neil asked if we could supply him. Buttervilla was born. We had to start growing more, and quickly! Whatever we had, Fifteen took the lot – we’d grow 15kg of raspberries and they’d say, ‘We’ll have them all’.

We are five farms working together and there’s a really good market for the heritage varieties that we grow and sell. They just taste better – things like tomatoes will have thinner skins (which means they have a shorter shelf life than supermarket versions) and often we restrict the growth per hectare, like Grand Cru vineyards. We don’t use liquid feeds, just a lot of very old manure and pure spring water rather than from the tap. That they’re heritage crops also means they’re not licensed like 95% or so of the more common modern varieties are – which means we can grow again and again from them, rather than being obliged to buy new plants each year. We grow one tomato that was originally bred in the 1800s on the estate next door to us – Edgecumbe – but was lost after it was taken with part of the family to New Zealand. The current Earl came back from there when he inherited, and at around the same time I found the Earl of Edgecombe tomato in Southern California and brought it back here too.

We’re working with Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park now, which is different – he wants specific leaves at certain sizes for his two Michelinstarred kitchens, whereas Fifteen take what we’re growing and alter their daily menu accordingly. We also supply the Ledbury in London and Yotam Ottolenghi’s new London restaurant, NOPI, too. Very posh restaurants often get in touch – the next challenge will be growing enough.

It’s all very exciting indeed.”

www.funkyleaves.com www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

“When I was a child in the 1950s there were four generations of Matthew Stevens, all sharing the same name, living in the same house in St Ives. I went into the family business with my father when I was 15 – I don’t recall there being much choice about it, but I grew to really love it. I took over in my twenties when my father was diagnosed with cancer, although he lived another 30 years. He only died 18 months ago and when I cleared out his loft, I found nets up there that must have been at least 100 years old. They’re in a museum now.

It’s a fascinating business. It’s very fast-moving – literally – getting the catch from market to restaurants and hotels, and it follows the seasons and the weather. It’s the most natural food in the food chain, I think. After all, fishermen are hunter gatherers, really.

I reckon the future will be good. We’ve got 80 people working for us, which is a nice feeling. We can sell five to seven tonnes of crab a week, say, or four to five tonnes of mussels, which would never have happened ten years ago. Cornish sardines are recovering from over-fishing and hake is a massive recovery fishery too. Fifteen years ago there were too many fishing boats going out, but the fleet shrank as the industry decommissioned itself, and net mesh sizes increased, meaning baby fish could escape. The job was almost fixed before the media got onto it – we have recovery plans on the go which are working. I know because I’m at the markets every day and I know the fishermen. Quotas are increasing for Dover sole, monkfish and cod, which means the authorities are beginning to recognise that stocks are getting better.

I get a lot of pleasure from talking with top chefs. I’ve worked with the chef and fish specialist Rick Stein these past 10 years and I go to his regular chefs meetings. We try and fit in with them and what they need. I love to eat fish too. John Dory and turbot are favourites, but then so is mackerel. Delicious.”

www.mstevensandson.co.uk “... It’s very fast-moving – literally – getting the catch from market to restaurants and hotels” www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

C O O K H O U S E 2 5

Miami vice

welcome to

miami

C O O K H O U S E 2 6

South Beach Wine and Food Festival has been going for nearly a decade, but Soho Beach House Miami was a first timer at this year’s festival in February. Not that the newbie didn’t make its mark – with star-studded parties, feasts of food and opportunities for chefs from the group to showcase their skills. www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

The festival itself is is the brainchild of Soho House member Lee Schrager and put on by the Food Network channel on US TV and Food & Wine magazine, and attracts an incredible range of chefs, celebrities, presenters and experts. (What could the attraction be? That it’s held in Miami? On the beach? Probably – but it doesn’t hurt that there is also an amazing range of cooking demos, meals, cocktail classes, talks and wine tastings to get stuck into. Plus the festival raises money for Florida International University School of Hospitality. Wait – did we mention that it’s held in Miami?

On the beach?)

TV chef and author of Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits, Anthony Bourdain gave one of his outrageous talks – unveiling a wheel which the audience could spin to choose the subject of his chat, from “politics or religion” to...“poop joke or d**k joke”. That last one wound up being about TV presenter Andrew Zimmern, who hosts Bizarre Foods, being questioned about how he copes when he has to eat “a big plate of *******”. Head chef of Soho House NY, Paul Gerard, was lucky enough to be in the crowd too.

“Bourdain was great – funny and irreverent. It was crazy – these guys were like rock stars. People I see in the street or in the club in New York all the time – Tony, Bobby Flay, Michael Simon, Tom Colicchio – I couldn’t have got near them if I’d tried. I’d have had more chance getting backstage at a Justin Beiber concert.” www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

Left, soaking up the sun.

From top: Paul Gerard with his pig roast; celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian is joined at his party by (L-R) his wife Margaret, chefs’ agent Scott Feldman, TV chef Ted Allen, editor-inchief of Food Network Magazine, Maile Carpenter and her husband, chef Wylie Dufresne; Margaret Zakarian

“I’d have hcaed more chan getting backstage at a Justin Beiber concert.”

C O O K H O U S E 2 all images by WorldRedEye.com 7

friends of

miami vice

trade secrets

cookhouse Top: Geoffrey Zakarian with Martha Stewart; bottom Paul Gerard with some roast pig

“the whole weekend was a micro version of the array of food styles available in Miami” Throughout the festival, celebrity chefs from Food Network guested at Soho Beach House alongside head chef Sergio Sigala.

Mexican chef Marcela Valladolid kicked proceedings off with a menu featuring her specialities – cactus padle fries with roasted garlic and chipotle aioli or tamarind braised veal shoulder. She was followed by Iron Chef’s Morimoto who served dishes like fluke sashimi or rack of lamb with kochujan soy, pickled carrot and daikon. Another Iron Chef was hot on his heels, Jose Garces, who laid on sopa de bolets with wild mushrooms, toasted brioche, crème fraiche and American caviar, plus roasted Colorado lamb loin with garbanzo purée, haricot vert, feta, anchovy and jus. The whole weekend was a micro version of the array of food styles available in Miami.

C O O K H O U S E 2 8

For Paul Gerard, the best bits were helping head chef Sergio host a pig roast on the beach for Geoffrey Zakarian, a chef who has earned his stripes in the kitchen over many years and is now just beginning to become a celebrity, and the Blue Ribbon party. “Blue Ribbon in New York is open really late and does simple, delicious food. Because of that it’s become something of a chef hang out so their party and their food was, as usual, amazing. I don’t know how they did it, but they managed to serve their signature bone marrow cut into half inch, half moon shapes, so you just got a spoonful of marrow. That was awesome.”

Yum. Cookhouse is booking tickets for next year’s festival already. www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

Cookhouse is all in favour of meeting new people and rather likes a party, so we’re creating a network of like-minded chefs and restaurants called Friends of Cookhouse.

This issue we’re getting to know our new mates a bit better. Andy Appleton is head chef at Fifteen Cornwall, which has just joined our gang. Here, he shares some of his tricks of the trade.

*I

do like to do a good barbecue. Often people try to cook while the flames are high, which doesn’t work. Let them die right down, then get started.

*Don’t

play with the meat either – put the steak on, and then leave it alone. If you keep moving it, it will take twice as long and won’t cook nicely.

“. ..If you look *Burgers are the same – if you leave them alone then after your they won’t fall apart. A good tip is to look out for basics, the rest of your food the blood rising to the surface. Then it’s time to flip them. will follow”

*Don’t

be hasty flipping fish either. If you cook them on the grill so they’re facing you, you can easily lift them and the skin seems to stay on better.

*When

char-grilling meat or fish I make a herb brush for oil from branches of thyme and rosemary; it gives the oil the flavour of the herbs.

*The

best advice I ever got was from Ally Norr, when she was my head chef years ago at Dakota in Notting Hill. “Really love your stocks. Whatever kind of stock, take the time and do it properly.”

*If

you look after your basics, the rest of your food will follow.

*She

taught me to be careful with portions. Know your food costs and you’ll be much less likely to cut corners, which always backfires and leads to throwing things away, anyway.”

want www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse to cook? email cookhouse@sohohouse.com

C CO OO OK KH HO OU US SE E3 21 9

member’s recipe

PATRICK DRAKE’S

MEATY LAMB SHANKS

t a big There’s something distinctly impressive abou recipe hunk of meat and a statuesque bone and this is great for a DIY date.

Pop!

Ooh!

Balls!

Munch!

Continuing the success of the first series of Pop Up events at High Road House, Chiswick, Tom Aikens is taking over the kitchens on 29 March, followed by Anthony Demetre, chef patron of Arbutus, Wild Honey and Les Deux Salons who is cooking on 17 May. Book via reservations@highroadhouse.co.uk

2 lamb shanks 1 medium size onion 1 medium size carrot 2 cloves garlic 1 stick of celery 40g / 1 ½ oz lardons 25g / 1 oz pearl barley 1 x 400g / 14 oz can of butter beans 2 Toulouse sausages 250ml chicken stock

Don’t forget that Mondays mean meatballs in Miami, West Hollywood and New York – choose from a different selection of balls every time. In Miami, Meatballs Mondays are followed by Paella Tuesdays as well.

Plonk!

125ml white wine 1 tbsp tomato purée 1 bay leaf, fresh thyme and rosemary good in a really hot ovenproof saucepan with a Brown the lamb shanks quickly on all sides in and m mediu to set aside. Turn the heat down splosh of olive oil, then remove the meat and adding the roughly diced carrot, celery, onion the same saucepan brown the lardons before in nt stir in your tomato purée before adding and garlic. When the onion has gone transluce reduce by half. the wine (nonchalantly from your glass) and e first), bay leaf, a couple of sprigs of thym Next add the pearl barley (give it a good rinse pan, your on and the lamb shanks. Put a lid and rosemary, half the beans, chicken stock and invite your date to watch a particularly stick it in the oven at 120°C / 250°F / gas ½ each sausage into 8 pieces. Fry them off and long movie. Two hours in, press pause and cut g beans. add them to the saucepan with the remainin

C O O K H O U S E 3 0

There are loads of Cookhouse events being planned for Easter – from egg hunts for small members, to how to make perfect Easter meals and what to drink with them for big members. Check out sohohouse.com to find out what’s taking place near you.

thick saucepan, reduce the sauce on the hob until One hour later take the shanks out of the and serve it all with warm crusty bread. erwithpatrick.com To see the recipe in action check out www.dinn

ASE EMAIL IT TO IF YOU’D LIKE TO SEE YOUR RECIPE HERE, PLE

COOKHOUSE@SOHOHOUSE.COM

www.sohohouse.com/cookhouse

Sommelier Vincent returns to Soho House London with one of his wine masterclasses at Wine Club – this time he is looking at South American wine. 28 March, 7pm. Book via reservations@sohohouse.com.

Sweet!

Save room for dessert. Real housewives will be jealous of your skills learned from our expert chefs with pudding classes at Soho House Berlin, 30 March, tickets are €20, reserve via sweettooth@sohohouseberlin.com.

Over in Notting Hill there will also be plenty of sugary treats when Matt Hayes, executive pastry chef, takes over the Electric for a spot of chocolate making. Check online for dates and details.

An evening behind the scenes...at High Road House, 12 April, 7pm. Head chef Devon Boyce invites a handful of members into the kitchen to demonstrate how to prepare a starter, a main and a pudding (which you also get to eat.) Spaces are limited, £30 per head including ½ bottle of house wine – contact reservations@highroadhouse.co.uk

The chefs from Cecconi’s LA and Miami are heading over to NYC on 28 April to host a very special James Beard dinner at James Beard House (which is a real privelege) and the menu will feature delicious Cecconi’s classics. Book via reservations@sohohouseny. com. Just before that, on 24 April, get into the seasonal spirit with brunch and an Easter egg hunt at Soho House New York.

Tossed!

Hot on the heels of the successful pancakethrowing Cookhouse event, Shoreditch is also going to host a tossed salad night in April, using the expertise of chefs from Australia, New Zealand and Australia. Check online for more details.

Dough!

Learn to make pizza at Soho Beach House Miami. 20 April, book via researvations@ sohobeachhouse.com

Splosh!

C O Shoreditch is also in on the action - Sweet Arno Steguweit, Germany’s top Water O things with Maurilio and Michal takes Sommelier, will host a water tasting. That’s K place 9 April – book via reservations@ right – there is a difference. Learn the fine H shoreditchhouse.com points of nature’s best-loved resource and O school your water palate. 31 March, reserve via water@sohohouseberlin.com.

U S If you are interersted in attending any of the upcoming Cookhouse members E events, which take place in all the venues around the world and range from wine 3 appreciation to special cookery lessons, then check sohohouse.com’s calendar pages 1 or email cookhouse@sohohouse.com for more information