Formal Hall Friday 30th October

On Friday night whilst the Fellows enjoyed their Parlour Evening Dinner the students were not forgotten. Formal Hall was pretty full on Friday with 100 Pembroke students and their guests joining Fellows in the hall for dinner. Whilst the Formal menu was different from the Fellows menu, they both enjoyed French Onion soup as a starter. The lovely rich soup was topped with a large crouton of melted Gruyere Cheese. At Pembroke we love our vegetarians so much that we made a second 'veggie friendly' version; the original being made with beef stock.

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For a main course we served confit of duck with roasted sweet potato, pak choi and plum jus. The duck legs are liberally salted and left for up to six hours to draw the moisture out of the skin; this results in a crispier finish. The duck legs are rinsed and dried then covered with goose fat and slow roasted for 6 hours. At this point the legs are allowed to cool in the fat and will keep well in a fridge for several weeks. Duck Confit is seen as a speciality of Gascony and is a centuries-old process of preservation.

Pak Choi (also known as bok choi or Peking cabbage) is a Chinese cabbage commonly used in Asian cooking and is in season between October and March. We combined the flavours of duck, pak choi and plums in this Asian inspired dish which we finished with the sweet potato.

For the sweet we served a Bailey's dark Chocolate Mousse with shortbread biscuits. The mousse was made by melting dark chocolate and mixing with meringued egg whites. The egg white/chocolate mixture is then folded into semi-whipped cream flavoured with Bailey's and sugar. The mousse is then refridgerated until it sets up. We topped the mousse with whipped cream and a chocolate coffee bean

I hope everyone enjoyed their dinner.

Coming next: saturday's Halloween Formal Hall.

Parlour Evening on Friday 30th October

Parlour Evening is an opportunity for the Fellowship of the College to dine with guests at High Table. The dinner takes place six times a year on a Friday, and consists of a four-course meal followed by dessert in The Senior Parlour. As only 46 places are available the special dinner fills quickly!
On this occasion we served an amuse bouche of salmon tartare in a tuile biscuit cornet. The raw salmon in finely minced with shallots and lemon- the cornet is filled with creme fraiche and chives. The cornets are tricky as they're baked flat and then wrapped around a cornet mould whilst very hot, lots of burned fingers! Ouch!

We followed the cornet with a classic French Onion Soup topped with a Gruyere cheese crouton. The sliced onions are slow cooked for six hours until caramelised before adding beef stock and simmering. This soup is best made a day in advance and reheated prior to service, allowing the soup to sit overnight helps to develop the lovely flavour of the soup.

Following the soup we served a fillet of sea bass with sweet parsnip puree, wilted spinach and a saffron and vanilla cream sauce. The parsnips are cooked sous vide with milk, cream, sugar and salt for one hour at 82 degrees C. Whilst still hot the parsnips are pureed until smooth in our Vita Prep Blender.
This has to be one of the best fish dishes I have ever tasted! The sauce was wonderful, the fish was cooked to perfection, and when combined with the parsnip and spinach it was truely sublime.....I could eat this every day!

As we are now into game season we settled on fillet of Venison for the main course. The Venison was cooked sous vide for three hours at 57 degrees C and served with Dauphinoise potatoes and a panache of winter vegetables. We served a redcurrant and thyme jus to finish the plate.

The Venison is incredibly tender and has the most fantastic colour and flavour-it simply melts in the mouth!

To follow the Venison we served warm chocolate Bouchons with clotted cream ice cream, cherry coulis and cherry's marinated in Kirsh. The warm Bouchon is similar to a chocolate brownie and went well with the very alcoholic cherries and clotted cream ice cream.

After the sweet the fellows retire to the Senior Parlour for cheese, dessert fruit, petite fours and coffee.

I received an e-mail on Saturday morning from a fellow who dined on Parlour Evening:

'A quick note to thank you very much for all the hard work that went
into such an excellent dinner last evening. I was fielding compliments
all night long, both for the food and for the excellent presentation
and service.'

A good night had by all.
Very best, and thank you again,

Good feedback makes all the hard work worthwhile, thank you!

Cambridge University Chefs Competition- live event

A very special culinary competition for chefs from the University of Cambridge and the Colleges is being planned this year to commemorate the University’s 800th Anniversary. With more classes than ever before the event, which takes place on Thursday 5 November at The Guildhall, promises to be an exciting celebration of culinary excellence with over 100 dishes on view to the public together with a live Front of House competition, where waiting staff will compete against each other by demonstrating their skill in creating fabulous table settings. New classes such as Petit Fours have been added alongside starters, mains and sweets and several others.

Chefs from Cambridge University and the Colleges were also invited to enter a Live Cookery Competition, which took place on Wednesday at Cambridge Regional College. Representing Pembroke as one of the ten competitors was Elvis 'Sasa' Williams. Below is the menu that Sasa produced.

The competitors were able to use the new state of the art cooking facilities at the newly opened Cambridge Regional Colleges Kings Hedges Campus. As you can see in the two photos below, Sasa had plenty of room and great equipment at his disposal. Each contestant was given 2 hours to prepare and serve a two course meal using products from the Major Company's range of stocks and bases. Judging the contest were representatives from Major foods, Cambridge Regional College and the University.

Sasa putting the finishing touches to his starter of citrus marinated salmon.

Pictured below are Judith Sloane from Conference Cambridge, Bill Simmonett-Catering and Conference Manager at Selwynn College and Robert Lee-Catering Manager at St Catherine's College. Conference Cambridge are helping sponsor this years competition which is greatly appreciated!

Below is a photograph of Stephen Mather- Executive Chef at Sidney Sussex College and former TUCO Chef of the Year Winner; Stephen, formally from Pembroke was a judge in this years contest.

This is a photo of Sasas' Citrus Cured Salmon with pea shoot coulis and citrus fruit.

Sasas' Roulade of Chicken wrapped in Swiss chard.

This year's contest was a big, big, success largely due to the hard work of the contests committee, and the generosity of Cambridge Regional College and our other sponsors.

In The Master's Kitchen-Sous Vide cooking at The Lodge

Last night The Master and Lady Dearlove held a dinner party at The Masters Lodge, this would be our first opportunity to cook sous vide in their kitchen. The menu consisted of a crab tian followed by fillet of beef, a cheese course and finishing with Marquis au chocolat (some of you may remember me discussing this sweet in an earlier entry). Below is our Clifton Water Bath which we set at 57 degrees C which ensures the meat is cooked to medium-rare. On the right of the bath is the beef fillet that's been vacuum packed with a herb sachet and seasoning.


What is sous vide cooking? Sous vide - which literally translates from French as 'under vacuum' - was originally developed in France during the early 1970's. The process evolved when a chef and a university food scientist joined forces to devise a method for perfect foie gras. The best method proved to be sealing the food in a pouch under vacuum before slowly cooking it at a controlled low temperature. With the right sous vide equipment the gentle cooking process results in tender textures and enhanced, intense flavours, which are now part of every serious professional chef's life.
The Clifton Food Range of Water Baths guarantees accurate temperature control, and is now in use in the most exciting and acclaimed kitchens in the UK, including many Michelin starred restaurants. The Range is ideal for all types of low temperature cooking, including sous vide, in line with the growing appreciation of the benefits of Molecular Gastronomy. Below Seb Little, our Junior Sous Chef adds the beef to the water bath.

The water bath has a tiny propeller that gently circulates the water ensuring uniform cooking.

Tonight's dinner service was managed by our College Butler Savino and his team of assistants; Savino is widely recognised as being the best Butler in Cambridge.

With the beef we served French beans topped with glazed baby onions and crisp pancetta. The asparagus was on hand in case we needed a vegetarian alternative.

When catering at the Lodge we use the best College silver as seen below in the preparation of coffee.

Several hours later and the beef is nearly ready. Because the water bath holds the food at an exact temperature it is impossible to overcook; in fact the longer the meat remains in the water the more tender it becomes (the collagen in the muscle breaks down into gelatin which produces a tender finish).

The candles are lit minutes before the guests enter for dinner.

Below is our crab tian topped with micro-herbs seconds before a citrus dressing is added and the meal begins.

In the photo below, from left to right we have: Nick Rose-Head Chef, Xandra Diaz-Catering Assistant and Seb Little-Junior Sous Chef.

Also on hand to assist we had Fiametta Leotta (left) and Sonia Benito (right). Seen here with Head Chef Nick Rose

Rounding off our waiting staff was Adrienn Csiba seen below on the right of the picture.

When the beef is removed from the water bath and taken out of the vacuum bag is has a 'poached' appearance. We address this by quickly flashing the meat in a very hot pan, this gives the appearance and flavour of pan-cooked food.

as you can see in the picture below, the beef is cooked uniformly from edge to edge. This is the perfectly cooked result that is only possible with sous vide cooking.

Below the beef is plated with the French Beans, glazed onions, crisp pancetta and Anna Potatoes. We finished the plate with a nice thyme jus.

After the beef we followed the French tradition of serving cheese before the sweet. This allows for the continuation of red wine from the beef course.

Below is the Marquis au chocolat garnished with creme Anglaise, chopped pistachios and micro mint. The Master enjoyed this when we first served it on the 19th of October and asked for it again last night.

I spoke with Lady Dearlove earlier today and she expressed her happiness with the food and service provided.

Another great meal from the Master's Kitchen!

Formal Hall Menus 2/11 to 8/11

Feast Night Formal Hall
Monday 2nd November
SOLD OUT
Organic Carrot Soup
Cilantro coulee
-0-
Intermezzo
Lemon Sorbet
-0-
Free-Range Pouisson Royale
Boulangere potatoes and caramelised red cabbage
Thyme jus

(V) Goat’s Cheese, Ratatouille and Parmesan Crust
-0-
Pistachio Cake
Homemade Dark Chocolate Ice Cream and cherry coulee


Feast Night Formal Hall
Tuesday 3rd November
SOLD OUT
Amuse Bouche
Smoked Salmon Mousse with Orange

(V) Cream cheese Mousse
-0-
Brie en Croute
Compressed Vanilla Pear and watercress dressing
-0-
Crisp Belly of Pork Sous Vide
Spinach risotto and spring onion
Roasted shallot jus

(V) Spinach and Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
-0-
Raspberry and Brioche Pudding
White chocolate Custard


Feast Night Formal Hall
Wednesday 4th November

Amuse Bouche
Shrimp Cocktail

(V) Smoked Tofu Cocktail

-0-
Minestrone Soup
Parmesan and herb crouton
-0-
Char-grilled Asian Salmon
Lime, red chilli, garlic and coriander
Wild rice and Asian Greens- sweet soy reduction

(V) Vegetable Stir-fry
-0-
Chocolate Crème Brulee
Financier Cake and yoghurt sorbet

Formal Hall
Thursday 5th November

Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese tart
-0-
Sirloin of Beef Sous Vide
Peas, carrots, baby onions and turnips, sautéed potatoes
Béarnaise sauce and crouton

(V) Bubble n Squeak
Peas, carrots, baby onions and turnips, sautéed potatoes
Béarnaise sauce and crouton
-0-
Warm Apple and Cinnamon Turnover
Vanilla Ice Cream

Formal Hall
Friday 6th November

Ballotine of Salmon
Horseradish relish, beetroot puree

(V) Beef Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil
-0-
Moroccan Lamb Rump Sous Vide
Harissa spiced couscous, chickpea salsa, spinach and jus

(V) Falafel Medallions
Harissa spiced couscous, chickpea salsa, spinach and jus
-0-
Pistachio Soufflé
Apricot sorbet

Formal Hall
Saturday 7th November

Duck Liver Pate
Red onion relish

(V) Cream Cheese and Artichoke Pate
-0-
Grilled Sea Bass
Fondant potato, spinach, parsnip puree
Vanilla and saffron cream

(V) Spinach and Ricotta Crepes
Béchamel and tomato sauces
-0-
Baileys Bread and Butter Pudding
Coffee Bean Custard

Formal Hall
Sunday 8th November

Prawn Cocktail
Marie Rose Dressing

(V) Cucumber and Tomato Cocktail
With Dill
-0-
Breast of Turkey Sous Vide
Cocktail sausage, cranberry stuffing, bread sauce,
Panache of roasted vegetables and potatoes

(V) Cranberry and Hazelnut Loaf
-0-
Pear and Apple Crumble
Crème Anglaise

Bon Appetite!