Wedding Bells and Donkeys!
- Mike B
- Dec 18, 2019
- 7 min read
Morning, afternoon and evening all!
Dinners!
The summer brought its usual string of events including the ever popular 'Wornal' Progressive Supper in aid of Church Funds.
Held in Worminghall for many years Adele and I had the pleasure of hosting around 50 locals for the 'Fizz & Nibbles' which kicks the evening off. We also christened our newly built Asado BBQ. A true work of craftsmanship. At the end of the evening, the auction was held and it was where I bid for one of the most bizarre items ever! Three dvd's chronicling the progress of one of Africa's long lasting conundrums....what is the best height and weight of your traditional Donkey Cart in the Sudan! I have to say that Adele and I are truly the only people this side of the Great Sahara ( apart from the local retired vet who made the videos in the late 90's ) who now have the most profound knowledge of the subject.
Next year I will bid for something more exciting!
I had a great evening out with Adele and Pascal the Royal Albert Hall when we attended the 'Business in the Community Awards' dinner celebrating businesses supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
Fantastic venue and really weird having dinner in there.
The other highlight as far as dining out goes was a superb dinner at the often overlooked Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly circus. An Art Deco Parisienne-Brasserie. Be sure to book, as that allows you to use the American Bar for a cocktail, before you go into the fabulously decorated restaurant.
Travels
China was on the agenda again !
I had been asked by our GAA Team in Qingdao, to host a panel of International Salmon giants at the World Seafood Shanghai Exhibition and Symposium. A great honour to moderate and then the following day to partake in a panel talking about the world of Snakehead Aquaculture....yes I know what you are thinking ''what the hell does Mike know about that fish!' Well bugger all actually but I was able to speak about all the attributes that BAP certification would give the growing contingency of Snakehead farmers and processors. The fish itself is remarkably pleasant, pristine white and light, moist firm texture. Can't see it selling on your average menu here in the UK with that name though!
Scotland for a day trip to Edinburgh seeing more Salmon Processors, looking at potentially getting BAP certified. EU, USA, China and Japan are helping drive growth in demand.
Amsterdam (well Schiphol airport actually) for a business meeting which could pave the way for some fascinating seafood projects in the coming years. Watch this space!
London to help judge The Tabasco British Oyster Opening Championship. https://craftguildofchefs.org/news/top-shucker-tabasco-british-oyster-opening-championship
Always a great occasion seeking the very best in British skill at this challenging task. The winner Fredrik Lindfors opened 30 of the little buggers in 3 mins 18 seconds! That is what it takes me to open about 10!
Portugal for a much appreciated few days with the Original M&J - Marion and Jeff Archer. Great hosts and great fun! A few rounds of golf, plenty of good food and wine and wall to wall laughing and
reminiscing! We talked of old tales and buying trips and selling trips....Marion definitely preferred the buying trips! What a fun part of my life it was working with M&J and I am so pleased it also turned into a great friendship to boot.
....and this was an amazing piece of art at one of the hotels in Vale de Lobo
India
As we glided through the back-waters of Alleppey just south of Cochin in the Southern tip of India, the pressures of the annual Global Outlook for Aquaculture Leadership conference ( GOAL ) and our busy time of arranging our third Aquaculture Catering Student Cook off, slowly melted away.
Our team of World Class Chefs, George Smith and Shaun Kenworthy had sifted through over 700 contestants to arrive at the final three, who were flown into Chennai from Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The competition - now in its third year - has become an integral part of the conference and has as its objective ‘to encourage Catering Students in whichever country we are holding the conference ( next year Japan! ) to present a dish using an Aquaculture specie and to provide research into that specie and its method of farming’. I have discovered that Aquaculture has not been present on Catering curriculums around the world and am now dedicated to ensuring that in the future it is!
The ‘cook-off’ was a very special event and one that would lead to me being invited, whilst in Chennai ( old Madras ), to the House of Lords in London!
Dr Suborno Bose the Chairman and CEO of the Young Chef Olympiad ( YCO ) and also Chairman and co-CEO of the International Hospitality Council had been instrumental in helping run the competition through his 7 Hotel management schools in India which have over 7000 students on campus .
As the Chairman of the YCO Council it was his vision of bringing the young and future stars of the international culinary community to a single platform where they could connect, share ideas and innovations, whilst creating something exceptional out of their experiences.
Started in 2015 by sending emails to everyone he knew around the world, Dr.Suborno managed to get 15 countries to compete. By 2018 he had 50 countries and in January 2020 he will have over 60!
Each competitor student ( who will represent their country ) brings one of their countries top chefs or college lecturer as a mentor and guide. It truly is a fantastic idea, brought to life by a fantastic ‘A’ team of Global giants from the Catering World.
….and the reason I was invited to the House of Lords…. was to be present at the 2020 draw and to see which country was sent to which venue in India to cook the heats.
Kerala
But now it was time to take a few days off!
Adele and I took in the sheer beauty of the canals and waterways, darkly reflected by a gun-metal sky and which, fed by the Arabian Sea, have become synonymous with Kerala just above the tip of the southwestern coast of India. We had booked ourselves onto a Houseboat, which was about 80 feet long, was made of wood tied together with coconut coir! No screws, nuts or bolts! The outside hull was covered in a thick waterproof paste of tar, made from boiled cashew-nut shells. Never the less, it housed a magnificent four poster bed and a double jacuzzi ( no we didn’t use it, as it looked like it would take a couple of days to fill...and water ( whilst we were on it…) is a precious resource for us all and not least in India. We had the Presidential boat as the one we were due to go on ( a 4 berth) had set sail 30 minutes earlier with the King and Queen of the Netherlands on board with their guests.
On the top floor was a dining room set for the two of us and a brilliant viewing platform.
Osprey, Kingfishers, Egrets, Brahmin Kites and Terns were just some of the birds we saw. It was an incredible 24 hours spent just soaking up the incredible views and the tranquility of the daily life going on up and down the banks of the water ways. Ratty, Toad and Badger would have loved it!
Slap! Splat! Slop! Were the sounds echoing out across the water as men and women went about their daily chore of washing their clothes ( and themselves ) in the waters and then bashing the hell out of their saris, shirts and pants on a large slab of rock opposite their front doors, to expunge the dirt of the previous day.
Wonderful!
Back at home …we ( ok, ok, ....Adele! ) just push a button!
After Kerala and Alleppey we trundled on down to Poovar which proved for me as an amateur photographer, to be even more exciting than Alleppey .
About 18 kilometres from the Leela Raviz hotel at Kovalam which was about 4 hours South of Cochin, the backwaters of Poovar dwell, silently ebbing and flowing, like a land that time forgot.
More and more birds and wild fowl and raptors revealed themselves as we motored gently through the salt marshes and inlets of this magical place. My old friend Lakey at M&J Seafood, who is a great amateur photographer, has got to get this place on his bucket list…he will absolutely love it.
Wedding!
Ah yes. The highlight of our year! Pascal eventually tracked down her man. A lovely young guy called Peter Golding. A Flight Lieutenant in the RAF Intelligence corps. Brimming with confidence and truly a lovely match for Pascal. Apart from this short extract from the Father of the bride's speech...yes me...I will write no commentary but post a few pictures!
''I would like to say how envious I am of Peter and his chosen career. Intelligence Officer in the RAF
It enables him to have the sort of conversation other husbands can only dream of.
“Hi darling where are you going this week?”
‘I‘m sorry dear I can’t tell you.’
‘Oh ok! ‘
‘What will you be doing once you get there.’
‘I’m sorry dearest I can’t tell you.’
‘Oh ok.’
‘Will you be back on Friday?’
‘Probably.’
Recipe 1!
Lemon Sole au Nature!
This is one of the best times of the year to get hold of a couple of these and simply cook them as Mother Nature would have intended.
Lemon Sole Whole 380 - 450 gm per portion ( Head off or on - your choice) - Black skin off
30 gm Butter - softly melted
Crunched Sea Salt and Crushed Black Pepper
Half a Lemon - de-pipped
Chopped Parsley
Method
Lightly butter a non - stick oven tray/dish. Season with slat & pepper and place the sole white skin down.
Butter the top of the sole and season again
Place in a moderately hot oven at Gas Mark 6 - 200° Celsius for about 20-30 mins Covered with foil for the first 15 mins
To check if cooked, pierce with a sharp knife ( avoiding the bone) and you should find no resistance.
Take out of the oven and let rest for 3-4 mins
Serve up with a squeeze of lemon juice, chopped parsley and the juices from cooking.
This dish is best when you have two Soles and two Souls!
You can use the same recipe for Sand Soles, Witch (sometimes called Torbay soles ) and Megrims but if you want the real McCoy then always remember the great Billingsgate Fish Market cry....' Our Soles Are Soles!'
Recipe 2!
Well Recipe 2 is a link to my friend Mike Warner who publishes his blog with much better recipes and visuals than I do!
Next time out....an invite to share a milestone with a truly famous Culinary Master, a 'second wedding celebration, The House of Lords and an update from The Clifden Arms
Comentários