BARRAFINA

I've been hearing a lot about Barrafina recently so when I happened to find myself on Frith Street one Sunday I was determined to try it out. On this particular Sunday I was with oldest friend Sophinna (oldest not in age but in length-of-time-knowing and who would kill me if she wasn't mentioned) - it was one of those deceptively cold numbers which in classic British style we chose to ignore and opted to sit outside under a well-placed heater.

I realised when we found it that I must have been unwittingly walking past Barrafina quite often but had somehow never been inclined to go in. Perhaps it was the stooled interior – a lot of filled stools does tend to put me off at first sight - I'm only little and it's tough to get up on those things. Plus, they're not exactly comfortable.

Anyway, the first thing to happen upon being seated outside was being told to move our table and chairs closer to the restaurant window because the council weren’t keen on the tables being there. Good.  Surely don't put them there!? Following that we were told that the restaurant was too busy so they could only serve para picar (or 'nibbles' for the uninitiated) for the next 30 minutes. Fine. But from then on, every time we wanted to order, the waiter would dismissively shout "one minute!" or "one second!" and then scurry inside. It became almost hurtful when he gave the table next to us the specials menu, completely failing to acknowledge us or our pleas.

The menu is a little bit weird. Not the food they're selling, just the language -  it was neither consistently in Spanish nor English. Perhaps written by an Englishman who knew a few Spanish words and thought that would do? I'm not sure it makes much difference... it's just rather peculiar!

Service and menu writing aside, the food when it finally came was DELICIOUS. The best croquettes I've ever had in this town. My mouth is salivating at the mere memory of those little morsels. The tortilla alone is worth returning for - so yolky and well seasoned. Everything we ordered - which was a lot (Sophinna interprets sharing plates as an opportunity to order as much as she possibly can) was amazing. It was authentic and the kind of food that really makes you smile. 

I must admit we did order too much... I wasn't convinced we'd make it through those final plates and it was only on the merit of everything that had come before that greed won out.

crazily creamy croquetas

"pan con tomate", we also had "bread with alioli" (see what I mean about the menu?)

chorizo, always a winner

these prawns were flavour sensations

gooey tortilla - so cool you get your own freshly made little number

more goo

asparagus a joy to see on any menu when the season arrives, and it has!!

beef - rich, a bit overwhelming after all the food we'd devoured

grilled quail with alioli

For a moment with the sun shining down on us in our puffer jackets we could almost have been in Spain. Then the bill came. Not Spanish prices, but the sad fact is that we were not in Spain and if you consider that Bar Italia across the road charges £7.50 for a take-away panino, a £90 bill for two people to eat glutinously was not unpredictable. Definitely worth a visit if you're up for splashing a bit of cash and aren't in a hurry.

http://www.barrafina.co.uk

54 Frith Street

W1D  4SL

CROQUE MY BOUCHE UP

The croquembouche: the tower of delight that looms large at a wedding reception.  It knows that you know that you want some, with its sweet, fluffy, sticky, crunchy buns.  What a tart.  And with wedding season almost in full swing we have been experimenting with the croque construction conundrum: how to build?  

To pile or not to pile?  Upside down in a cone or upside up on a cone?  And crucially, what glue is the best glue?!  If feeding an army of half-cut wedding guests, the traditional stacking looks like a winner; the pile will be plentiful and hold its own as it’s demolished by greedy fingers.  But for the smaller party, sticking them around a cone provides the drama of height and presence without squashed profiteroles at the bottom (and if you’re going to croque it you may as well show off)(not a natural Local Sauce trait, obviously).  In this weeks Local Sauce lab, we opted for cone.

The building blocks for this sugary skyscraper (this construction analogy is just too good to let go) are so simple: choux buns with a creamy filling.  For an added bit of fluff to our buns, we tapped into the knowledge of a Mr.J.Martin, throwing half a cup of water into a hot dish at the bottom of the oven to steam them as they rose, before piercing and crisping.  He doesn’t lie! It works a treat, with plenty of space for the filling - crème patissière (or ‘chefs concrete’, I thank you Raymond Blanc for that one) for a proper job, or whipped cream for a quicky.

And so to glue: Chocolate vs Sugar syrup. In method one, our recipe championed melted chocolate as means to fix buns to base; a nice idea if building in, say, a fridge or a wind tunnel, but not in a little kitchen on a summer’s day.  The little bunners just wouldn’t hold!  With little warning and no fanfare, they gently slid down before an avalanche of buns hit the counter.  Not so much a thundering collapse as a sticky thud. Thud. Thud thud thud. Thud.  The thought of a sobbing bride, face awash with mascara and snot as she wails at the chocolatey heap is not appealing, even with the back-up arsenal of the ever comforting, “but it tastes great!”.   Suffice to say, the chocolate method is a potential minefield.  Avoid that one.

Croque and choc carnage.

Method two: sugar syrup, which again requires some fairly rapid cooling to prevent subsidence (still going....).  In House of Clever Hands we have at our disposal a fan; a massive, turbo, hyper-cooling beast with the thrust of a Boeing 747.  I cannot recommend the cooling fan enough; when choux + glue hit cone, and they really aren’t going anywhere.  As we worked from the foundations up (okay, that’s enough), the buns kept their shape beautifully, keeping their crispiness for the contrast of crunchy shell and explosion of the sweet, creamy filling.  But before punching the air, there is of course the taste test...  The Boy Wonder came home to find a monument to pastry and joy, and couldn’t help himself. “That’s really good that”.  

Achieved.  

Croquembouche with white chocolate and almonds

Phoar.

The recipes

You can find a good profiterole recipe here.  

For the sugar glue we dissolved 150g caster sugar in 250ml water before boiling the mixture for about 5  - 8 minutes until the mixture was super glue -py! It's handy to have a pot of water and a pastry brush to hand just in case the sugar crystallises at the side of the pan while it boils. Allow the glue to cool and thicken before use as croque glue. Good luck!

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

It's been a long time since I've written on my lovely blog. The end of last year was a really busy time for Local Sauce Catering and once I stopped writing, not dissimilar to how I stopped going to the gym, I got the fear and wasn't sure how I could possibly return.

As you'll have spotted, I'm back! Now is the time to embrace a new beginning and introduce you to two very important people before we continue on our merry culinary way.

The first is my brand new partner and old friend, Rachel Antonio. She has the cleverest hands you will ever come across - not only has she worked for top fashion designers, she runs her own fashion label and even has some architectural know-how! 'Clever Hands Rache' or 'Cake Bitch' as she's fondly known is bringing her design expertise and creativity to Local Sauce, specialising in cake decoration and food presentation. Sugar paste is putty in her hands. Fact. 

"Clever Hands", Rachel Antonio 

The next is the possessor of the voice which has coaxed me through blogdom thus far - Miss Jenny Lewisohn. Amongst her other talents she is the wittiest of women who is consistently exasperated by my determination to put as many commas into each sentence as I possibly can. You'll notice there are none in this paragraph.

Wordsmith, Jenny Lewisohn

As the blog continues you'll now also get to hear from Rachel as she gives tips on sugary things, gluten-free recipes and whatever else we may stumble across along the way.

TACOS GET JAZZED UP

With the wild success of last month's Jazz Nursery behind us, tomorrow holds the next in the series and some new culinary ventures to boot: Korean Tacos!

Not my own idea, I must admit. I have stolen it from the famed Korean taco trucks that roam the streets of LA. It's not been easy to try them out - while some people are obsessing over "50 Shades of Grey", boyfriend Matt appears to prefer my Korean cookery book and refuses to return it to me, resorting to sending photos of select pages to placate me. Thankfully my new techni-capable phone means I can now carry these precious recipes everywhere I go! Hooray!

Indeed last week he hosted a small soiree where he revealed a new favourite - barbecued pork rib in chilli sauce. This treat was excessively spicy and yet through the tears of agony our taste buds were screaming with frazzled joy! Last night I made my own attempt at it and triumph was ours for a second innings. This time it was a little less spicy because my sister and I, she is staying through the trials of the Olympics, are delicate creatures who have been known to cry at the furor of an extra strong mint.

Herein lies the recipe for the sticky saucy pork which will be one of the taco fillings tomorrow night at Arch 61 Ewer Street, SE1 0NR. Also on the menu will be - Korean Chicken/Pork/Mackerel
with pear salsa, kimchi fried rice and special slaw. So come down, doors 7.30 listen to some amazing music from 8 and guzzle some tacos ALL NIGHT LONG.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 4

500g pork shoulder cut into slithers (the original recipe uses 1kg ribs, which you cut the meat off before marinading, this seems unnecessarily labour-intensive and costly to me)
4 tbsp gojochang paste
1 tsp Korean chilli powder (the original recipe suggests 4 tbsps, which I think is insane)
2 tbsps mirin
4 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1/2 white onion, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsps grated fresh ginger
3 tbsps maple syrup
2tbsps sesame oil
salt and pepper
sesame seeds to garnish

First make the marinade by mixing everything together, add the meat and coat thoroughly in the mixture. Place it in the refrigerator and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours.

Heat a frying pan over a medium - low heat and cook the pork for about 20 minutes. If you do choose to use the rib meat you should cook it for longer as it is a little fattier.

Just before you serve it sprinkle it with sesame seeds to garnish. Tadaaa, see you tomorrow. Doors at 7.30

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT GAZPACHO, JAZZ NURSERY PROJECT

Tomorrow, 5th July, I'll be donning my chef hat for the new and fabulous Jazz Nursery - an exciting new Jazz night held once a month under the railway arches in Southwark. Eccentric, underground, and trendy with a penchant for variety: Pintxos seems an ideal food accompaniment. Inspired by the pintxos bars of Barcelona, I'll be serving miniature tapas in an entirely unique atmosphere.

First on the menu are some refreshing gazpacho shots. Delicious! Thinking of doing this at home? Be warned: many gazpacho recipes you find suggest adding cream, eggs, stock, and even mayonnaise. GRIMSBY. Gazpacho should be made from easily available ingredients and served nice and cold, perfect for the heat we all long for this summer.

I've been given two recipes by two of my most esteemed chef friends: one a head chef at a two michelin star restaurant and the other a clever git who has cooked in some incredible michelin starred places and now teaches at Leiths School of Food and Wine.He's not really a git at all but his recipe caused me some serious pain and this is his punishment. 

The first recipe demands the best tomatoes around - you want them to be slightly soft. Whizz them up in a food processor with basil and sherry vinegar, loosening with water if your tomatoes aren't juicy enough. Then pass it through a seive and add salt, pepper and olive oil to finish. 

Love it. Simple, delicious, fresh and so distinctly without peppers. I hate peppers. But is this now simply tomato juice?! As far as I'm concerned that's a joy.

Second recipe calls for twenty tomatoes, two red onions, two cucumbers, two red peppers, one red chilli (deseeded) basil, thyme, salt ketchup and cab sauvignon vinegar. The idea is to chop everything chunky and leave it over night in the salt. In the morning the salt should have released all the juices. Then blend and pass it through a seive.

I got excited about this plan mainly because I love salt; the effect it has on things is magical. But tragedy truly struck during the chopping process. Yes...I put my finger in my eye after deseeding the chilli and then while blowing my nose I somehow got chilli up both nostrils. I then cried a lot, which in turn hurt more. Turns out water and chilli are a no-go: lesson, very painfully, learned. The result? After scanning the internet threw bleary eyes for chilli burn remedies I sat for 40 minutes (that is not an exaggeration) with two olive oil soaked tissues one held to my eye and one to my nose until the burn went away. The recipe creater proved himself to be even more dislikable when he said I'd obviously been tricked by a joke remedy web site. Rubbish. Olive oil totally works.

Pain aside, it's looking pretty cool. To find out how this one turns out come along tomorrow, the rest of the menu will include:

Traditional spanish tortilla

Chorizo skewers

Chicken liver pate

Olive and Goats cheese loaf cake

Gazpacho shots (!)

Prawn and Octopus skewers

See you there!

7:30pm, Arch 61, Ewer Street, SE1 0NR. Nearest tube Southwark Station (Jubilee Line), 5 mins walk down Union Street

MUM'S THE WORD

I think it's fair to say that my mother has never taken much interest, or found much enjoyment, in cooking. Even now, it seems more whimsical phase than raison d'être. That said, it's mad how good she's always been at the Profiterole. Her eternal party piece, these gorgeously creamy creations have given my little sister and I mouth-watering joy since earliest childhood.

Unless you have a Kitchen Aid, which thankfully I do, these require energetic commitment to say the least. This is something my mother has in spades - hers have always been light, fluffy and while they may be a little higgledy piggledy they're purely perfect. Good one Mum.

I know the cream/crème patissière is usually discreetly piped inside, but how pretty it is to see it! Don't you think? I was recently asked if I could make a croque-en-bouche for my best friend's wedding next year so profiterole practise starts now.

Fill me with cream.

 Ingredients

Choux Pastry
85g unsalted butter
270 ml water
140g plain flour, sifted
4 eggs, whisked with a pinch of salt

Chocolate Sauce
200g chocolate
50g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsps cream


Filling
250ml double cream
2 tbsp sugar

How to...
Make the pastry
Preheat the oven to 200^oC, line a baking tray with silicone paper.

Dissolve the butter in the water and bring to the boil. Switch off the heat and quickly throw in the flour, beating fast. When it's all absorbed put the dough on a plate. Spreading it out over a large surface area will help cool it down faster - you don't want the dough to cook and scramble your eggs. When it is cool, add the eggs little by little, whisking like a demon. This will be tough at first (maybe you'll be fine, I am catastrophically weak) but don't give up. When the mixture is a little less stiff and starts to look glossy, stop adding the eggs. Discard any extra egg mix.
Choux goes annoyingly hard if you leave it, so quickly spoon blobs onto your tray. Turn the oven down to 160^oC and bake for 15 - 20 mins. Do NOT open the oven door to check on them, or slam it shut when you put them in. These babies have loads of air in them and those are two sure-fire ways to knock it out. Love your choux!!

When they come out gloriously puffed up and filled with air leave them to cool down before you start assembling them


Make the filling
Easy peasy pudding and profiterole - beat the cream with the sugar until it can hold a nice peak.

Make the chocolate sauce
Melt all the ingredients in a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water - just let it be hit by the hot steam. This can be made earlier and then reheated before you serve.

Assemble
Cut the profiteroles in half and pipe in the cream filling.
Pour over the chocolate sauce. 

Eat. 

LET'S WOK!

Good Lord it's been a long time...

I started writing this a few weeks ago just as I became inundated with working an abominable amount. It's been great but exhausting, anyhow this is what I'd cook when I just can't be arsed.

Indeed, this one was whipped out just the other night when dinner was requested after a long day's slog. Boyfriend Matt, like so many others, becomes an emotional wreck when he's hungry (describing this as 'h-anger') so it's important to placate him as soon as possible. Anything vaguely East Asian has his mouth watering so with that in mind, and following a speedy trip to the supermarket, dinner can be on the table within 20 minutes.

This is a total winner. A one pot wonder and totally delicious, not to mention fresh. I was given the recipe by my best friend's mother some years back. I suspect, however, that I've lost some of the original ingredients and gained others along the way, but the basic concept is there. Easy peasy limey squeasy.

Curry in a hurry

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 seabass, gutted and kept whole
4-5 chilis, kept whole
1 onion
100g cherry tomatoes
2 limes
4 spring onions
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnammon
2 inches ginger finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tbsps dark soy
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 stick lemongrass
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 can of coconut milk
hefty handful of coriander leaves


Recipe
There's a lot of "whacking in" in this recipe. Slice the onions, fry in oil on a low heat and when they're softening down (remember to keep water at the ready in case the pan gets too hot!) add the turmeric, cumin and cinammon. Make sure these are nicely cooked out and absorbed by the onions - takes about 3 mins. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for maybe 30 seconds - definitely no more than a minute. Throw in the tomatoes and stick the heat up, adding a splash of water and the sugar. At this stage you can add the zest and juice of one of the limes and the chilis. Now add the sot, followed by the coconut milk, lime leaves and lemongrass and bring to the boil. Whack in the sea bass and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Garnish with coriander leaves, spring onions and the other lime, cut into quarters. Beginning to end 20 mins - done!