Last Night's iCUSU International Formal Hall

On Monday Night we hosted the International Cambridge University Student Union Formal Hall.

One hundred and sixty one students from most of the Cambridge Colleges gathered together for a Feast Night Formal.

 As we were serving an incredible number of guests we settled on a nice, fairly simple menu; one we could do well and quickly, but would also reflect the high standards expected of Pembroke Food!

For a starter we served an organic carrot soup garnished with a cilantro (coriander) coulis. The cilantro is blanched quickly in boiling water before being plunched into ice; this method results in a vibrant green colour that is then blended with a stock syrup (sugar and water).

A few facts about carrots:

The carrot crop is Britain's major root vegetable, producing over 700,000 tonnes of sold carrots each year from 9,000 hectares.

Each year 22 billion carrot seeds are sown in Britain, producing around 100 carrots per year for every member of the population.
The sales value of British carrots is around £290 million.
Freshly harvested carrots are washed, packed and distributed to nearly every shop in the whole of Britain almost every day of the year.
Convenience carrot products, such as batons, shaped carrots and salad shred, are becoming increasingly popular.
So, as you can see, the humble carrot soup is big news in the UK!

To follow the now legendary carrot soup we served an intermezzo of lemon sorbet. Unfortunately, the chef on duty forgot to take a photo of the aforementioned sorbet. However, I did manage to find the picture below to help wet your appetite!

For a main course we served free-range Pouisson Royale (baby chicken) locally sourced from our friends at Charnwood Fayre. CF have been supplying Pembroke with free-range chicken for the last two years. To accompany the Pouisson we served caramelised red cabbage (yes, locally sourced-again), Boulangere potatoes and a thyme jus.

To complete another great Feast Night at Pembroke we served pistachio cake with dark chocolate ice cream and a cherry coulis. The cake is made with 'super green pistachios', great colour, no shells and £25.00 per kilo. Ouch! However, they do make a fantastic cake and the colour is stunning.

I hope that everyone who attended the dinner had a great time, and thank you for choosing Pembroke!