I've been on holiday in France and Spain recently, hence the lack of content on recent dinners. However, I've caught up on work now and will resume 'buisness as usual' from today!
Last night we hosted a combined formal hall for the Nihon Special Lecture and Nihon Postgraduate Programmes. The dinner began with an Italian inspired dish of marinated artichokes, with basil pesto and Parmesan cheese. This style of antipasto traditionally marks the beginning of a meal in Italy.
Following on from the artichokes, the menu took a sharp steer towards Britain with the main course of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. The Yorkshire pudding is a staple of the British Sunday lunch and in some cases is eaten as a separate course prior to the main meat dish. This was the traditional method of eating the pudding and is still common in parts of Yorkshire today. Because the rich gravy from the roast meat drippings was used up with the first course, the main meat and vegetable course was often served with a parsley or white sauce.
We cook our beef using the sous vide method of vacuum packing the meat, and then cooking slowly in a temperature controlled water bath until the exact degree of cooking is achieved. Alongisde the beef and Yorkshire pudding, we also served local asparagus and Anna potatoes.
Everyone loves a good sweet, and last night we aimed to please with an infusion of summer berries, topped with a lime and fromage frais sorbet. We make all our own ice cream and sorbets using a special Pacojet machine. The must-have appliance of any decent pro chefs, Pacojet makes sorbet and ice cream that are more velvety and ethereally light than any you’ve ever had in your life. The machine looks like an old-school drip coffeemaker but is actually a high-powered, precise Swiss food processor that takes food that’s been frozen rock-solid and shaves it at 2,000 rpm, in layers less than 2 microns thick. To get an idea of how fine that is, a strand of silk is about 7 microns thick. The results are ultrasmooth, with no ice crystals surviving the whirling internal blade.
Bon Appetite!
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