Last Night's University of California Summer School Formal Hall (and the British weather)

Pembroke Chapel in the rain

University of California Summer Sessions (UCSS) have been established at Pembroke College for over thirty years. Most participants are juniors or seniors from the University of California, but students at other US universities are also welcome to apply.
Participants take two courses for credit from the approximately ten options on offer in each session. Courses are available in the arts, social sciences and humanities, and each comprises a combined lecture and seminar programme of 30 hours in total. The academic element is complemented by a varied programme of social and cultural activities, and the aim of the course is to provide students with a more profound insight into modern British life and culture than would be attained by the casual visitor.
Last night was the last UCSS dinner of the summer, with students returning to the US on Wednesday the 1st of September. Whilst I'm confident that the students will miss the wonderful food we've served them (;-), I'm not so sure they'll miss the weather! The photo below was taken a few minutes ago outside my office window. The rain has not relented for several days now, and the forcast is for more to come! At least the grass is nice and green...

Last night's dinner began with steamed smokey sea bass, served with Chinese pak choi and a spicy tomato sauce. We source all our sea bass fresh, and from sustainable fisheries.

Our main course of confited pork belly tasted amazing! We salt cure the pork overnight, before slow cooking in olive oil to produce the wonderful tender and flavourful pork seen below. The pork is pan-fried until crisp prior to serving. Along with the pork we served gnocchi pasta, peas, broad beans, baby onions and herbs.

Sara, our American pastry chef, returned from holiday in time to prepare last night's sweet. Mascarpone and Amaretto mousse, with white coffee ice cream and amaretto jelly; it's the kind of dessert you normally find in only the most expensive restaurants, no wonder then that the recipe came from Alan Murchison, author of Food for Thought, and owner of three, Michelin Star rated restaurants.

Bon Appetite!