
At 33, with Simon we are having the greatest time of our lives, with windows and doors appearing in every direction – all we have to do is open them, with our own hands and look forward to many great things.
Yet again, we had the most amazing supper clubs last weekend and we are astounded that we can still feel so happy about doing them after 9 months of solid work! And a lot of fun too!
Menu
-Pea Soup With Ham
-Figs w/ Goats Cheese & Prosciutto
-Tortilla & Tomate Picante w/ Courgette, Cucumber & Feta Salsa
-Deep Fried Lotus With Carrot & Chicken Salad & Prawn Crackers
-Banh Cuon With Cured Ham & Pork Belly
-Tuna Sashimi & Chips
-Beef Pho
-Coconut Sorbet W/ Cointreau
-Pea Soup With Ham
-Figs w/ Goats Cheese & Prosciutto
-Tortilla & Tomate Picante w/ Courgette, Cucumber & Feta Salsa
-Deep Fried Lotus With Carrot & Chicken Salad & Prawn Crackers
-Banh Cuon With Cured Ham & Pork Belly
-Tuna Sashimi & Chips
-Beef Pho
-Coconut Sorbet W/ Cointreau
(Figs w/ Goats Cheese & Prosciutto)
Via Adrian Bevan at Visit Britain (who looks after journalists from all over the world when it comes to food in the UK), Luiz Hara -The London Foodie bought over Annabelle White, New Zealand’s answer to Delia Smith. Annabelle is Author of 10 cookbooks, has a popular TV and radio cook show. It was slightly terrifying.
I spoke to her at some length at the beginning and at the end of the night, she was so lovely. She came in pretty happy but when she left, she was really really happy. She enjoyed herself so much and she kept asking me how I made the Pho – of which I have directed her to here and here. Must repost this with updates.
(Banh Cuon With Cured Ham & Pork Belly)
Annabelle told me what gives her so much satisfaction is writing recipes so that other people can try to make your recipe at home themselves. She says how thrilled she gets when people stop her on the street to tell her how they made one of her recipes and how it made them so happy to feed their families and loved ones, a great dish.
I told Annabelle that I need more experience with writing recipes (I hardly follow them myself) because its very precise and I have not really had time to test a recipe with measurements before. Simon is better at recipes. I cook instinctively.
She said a great thing, that food needs to be shared. It doesn’t matter if someone can not make it taste as well as you can, but it’s the act of other people cooking what you have shared with them is the most important thing. Food is for sharing.
We totally agree. I will be doing my next pot of Pho with scientific precision so that Annabelle can share it with Kiwis!! Yay!
Not only was Thursday night’s guests were spectacular and Luiz stayed chatting with us, he said, we keep ‘outdoing ourselves’ as we were polishing off all the left over wine on tables. (Someone opened a bottle and didn’t even touch it – thanks guys!!!)
On Friday, we were expecting Tim Hayward! OMG – he is the Editor of our favourite publication: Fire & Knives and he wanted to record a show for BBC Radio 4 for The Food Programme about Supper Clubs. He should have already been to the fantastic Civet Cat Supper Club in Newington Green and the famous - The Underground Restaurant in Kilburn for the show and we were the last stop. Now that is terrifying!!
Tim & Dan Saladino (the producer) mingled with 24 other guests. The garden swapped with strangers meeting strangers and becoming friends. It was extraordinary to see how people simply chat willingly to other people in a small place because it is allowed and accepted in this space, this supper club.
How often are we packed full to the brim like cattle and sheep on the tube and we only look at the smallest available space to avoid even the blink of eye contact.
To us, this idea of bringing people together is just as important as making the best tasting food we can to our ability. It is such a high to see people get on like a house on fire!
Tim, one of my favourite writers, is as lovely, charming, charismatic as I imagined him to be and he was interviewing us. What the-...
Tim and Dan asked us very sophisticated questions. I like those as we always get asked the same questions. One interesting one, was about supper clubs and what they mean to us – is it a performance art?
To us, creating and continuing to have strangers come into our home to be fed is a lot like a two way affair. We feed our guests, but they also feed us in more ways than food, in which a lot of our guests form many colours on a blank canvas we once started with 9 months ago.
The Food Programme on Supper Clubs will be on Radio 4 on Sunday 4th July 2010 from 12:30 pm.
Listen to Podcast here
In picture above: Most people have gone home, but sometimes, a few brilliant people stay behind and talk to us. Its fantastic- the best part of the day! We are tipsy and we are having very funny conversations. We are all either ourselves or we are someone else, it doesn't matter because we can be as we are, as we want, and we all become friends.