Monday 29 March 2010

From a Puppy to a Project

What is that old adage again, oh yes - "absence makes the heart grow fonder...” and I think there has been a noticeable absence from my meticulous updating!!

That being said, I think the puppy has officially graduated to a rebellious tween! No sooner than the day Faiza and I decided to undertake a fairly innocuous few supper club dates, did we obsess with space, a walk-in fridge and a room worth talking about to match our culinary minds. It is for this reason that I've been noticeably absent from my blog. We looked far and wide, East and West, North and South and low and behold found ourselves in the far corners of Dalston to undertake a series of 7 events. Urban Sage is going trendy, joining forces with Dalston Dining Club and proudly presents : www.number68.com

Last night was officially our first door opener and with Bohemian space, comes bohemian drama, quirky ovens, curious freezers and temperature obsession. We decided to title our first event: "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: An Evening of Food Deception and Storytelling."

In keeping with the stories read by actors, written by an award winning-short story writer, we prepared duck two ways, and deceptively hid the duck confit in a crepe, and a few other clever flavour tricks. A raging success, save the 25 sugar cages we tried multiple times to build for our tarts. (Thank you bohemian temperature issues). We were all very glad the line deceptive dining worked in our favour, it seemed a go to line, whenever our space failed us. I’m glad we didn’t have to rely to heavily on it!!
A peak at the menu with photos to follow!

* Amuse: Honey Truffle Pistachio Capresse
* Wine: Domaine de la Paleine Cremant de Loire
* Story: The Sacred Elephant performed by Sasha Waddell

* 1st: Wild Mushroom Risotto Cep Aspuma and Beetroot Jelly
* Wine: Mauro Molino Langhe Nebbiolo 2008
* Story: The Storyteller performed by Rebecca Hands -Wicks

* 2nd: Honey Lavender Duck Served Two Ways
* Wine: San Giusto a Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2007

* Dessert: Treacle Tart with a Beurre Noissette Foam
* Story: Deal or No Deal performed by Lin Sargovsky
* Burgeaumont Madeleines and Mint Tea

Stay tuned....

Monday 25 January 2010

The Menu

No self - indulging here, I'll cut to the chase and post the menu for last Saturday. We think it is shear genius but as I said, no self - agrandizing here...

An Amuse Bouche Phenom: Truffle infused custards served with a prosciutto crisp
Wine: Cremant de Loire

1st Course: Red cabbage gazpacho served with a mustard ice cream
Wine: Gavi

2nd Course: Lime sorbet intermezzo

3rd Course: Poached halibut served with a pistachio gremolata and a lemon mousseline sauce
Wine: Pinot Bianco

Dessert: Delice of chocolate with ginger gelato and cumin caramel (this comes with a very surprising discovery)

Mint Tea

Adopting a Puppy

Are you tired of visiting flawless London restaurants with perfect track records real depth of character, life or comfort?

Are you tired of not meeting an utterly delusional lover and her journalist Mister sitting next to you waxing on about his filming in Karachi and her hanging from chandeliers? The kind you’d find in an eccentric dinner party you considered joining before you added that last spot of ‘lippy’.

Have you read flawless food blogging sites that seem engineered disengaged and far too competent for the nascent chef? You've come to the right place.

I hold court with my partner in crime Faiza and we run an underground supper club called Urban Sage, and I, yes I, am completely untrained, unaccomplished culinary lout with absolutely no expertise in anything having to do with food. I have an immature palate (it’s maturing), an understocked pantry and a penchant for purchasing food that's already been prepared. In my defence, I read some impossible cookbooks that require supplies normally found in a laboratory, oh and I actually use Faiza as my cover for legitimacy (she is le cordon bleu trained.)

Why, then--you may be wondering--have I conceived a new blog dedicated to food?

The answer is easy. Despite my lack of knowledge, I have a great deal of curiosity when it comes to all things food related. A piddling passion, so to speak. My friends, unfortunately, think this is silly.

"This is silly," my friends say. "Can't you focus on something interesting? Like dating utterly dysfunctional men and reporting back with epic stories of disaster for our enjoyment?"

But my passion is persistent. The time has come for a forum of my own. A place where I can hang my hat and say: "Thanks for holding my hat." And I think this is it.

Cooksitandeatsit (that's me) has three major goals:

#1: To encourage more food aficionados and non (me), to take a leap of faith in a bourgeoning new supper club and join us for a meal. They say opening a restaurant is a bit like having a child. Since I am not in the business of baby making these days (I also leave that to Faiza), I did what any sane and pseudo-selfish potential mother would do, and adopted my very own puppy. I gave birth to a supper club.

#2: To encourage the ingredient trepidatious to cook more. Using our digital camera and kitchen, I will serve as your very own private Lewis and/or Clark; stalking my way across the knotty kitchen terrain, attempting recipes the brave, the deluded and of course only the imaginative would attempt. Hopefully, you will be so inspired by my derring-do that you will drop the computer you're reading this on and go cook something yourself. (NOTE: I will not be responsible for any wonky dropped laptops).

#3: To become an internet phenomenon. Look, I'm not going to lie. I have an ego to protect, and if one must be utterly candid I have little desire to stay in this unsatisfying rat race. When people ask me what I do, I stare at them dumbly and mumble hoping they think I've swallowed a chromosome. The truth is that the one thing I'm good at, the one thing that I care most about is writing and food. And this blog allows me and Faiza the opportunity to wrap our words around something that we all care enough about to do several times a day: (wait, I’ll answer that - food consumption and to ensure we have an opportunity to let that puppy grow and consider having that baby finally. Thus, my third goal is selfish. Love me, love us, and yes, love me!

Hungry yet? I hope you will join me in making The Urban Sage Supper Club the greatest non-restaurant the world has ever known and cooksandeatsit, the go-to-site you consider before you go-to-another ;) Happy Reading!