Last Night's Formal Hall Tuesday 11th May

You know you're eating at Pembroke when you get served food like this!

Last night's formal hall featured a starter and sweet inspired by Franck Pontais, and a main course inspired by Raymond Blanc's Mother. To begin with we served a warm gammon verrine with cranberries, dried apricots and almonds. Chef Adam went the extra mile and also made some lovely cranberry tuille biscuits to garnish the starter.

Our vegetarian guests were served the equally delicious terrine of macedoine cut vegetables.

Maman Blanc inspired her son Raymond to become a chef, and a damn fine one he became! Raymond's simple philosophy of loving and respecting food for its beauty, freshness, and price has been the cornerstone of his success. Last night's main course contained sorrel, which grew wild in the countryside of France where Raymond grew-up. The recipe we use combines the slightly tart and acidic flavour of the sorrel, with the richness of salmon. This combination has become a great classic in French cuisine.

For last night's sweet we again drew inspiration from Franck and his repertoire of great verrines. Grapes, blueberries and figs were softened in orange juice, port and sugar, whilst raspberries were coated in butter, pistachios and biscuit crumbs. As an added flurish, we served some extra sauce in small pipettes.

 Bon Appetite!