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Hackney Versailles

March 8, 2009 2 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

Hackney home restaurant
Hackney home restaurant
Hackney home restaurant
Hackney home restaurant
Another home restaurant I visited, part of a short series of one-off themes, was the Marie-Antoinette dinner at a third floor flat in Hackney, East London. It took a while to find the place, several laps around the one way system, before slipping through a tiny opening into a car park, the difficulty adding to the adventure. Stumbling through the dark we came across another guest, equally clueless as to which flat in the modern 1980s block.

The hostess did not cook dinner, as she said

“it’s enough work dressing up as Marie-Antoinette!”.

She had a professional chef cooking in their little ‘cuisine Americaine’ in an alcove off the living room.

“He’s the help” dismissively waved the hostess in character.

The flat was atmospherically decorated: walls draped with mock Versailles style curtains and tables lit with chandeliers, although the laptop in the corner slightly took away from the 18th century look. Nicholas, a professional costumier (he has dressed Madonna and says she is aloof and professional even when he is measuring her inside leg) sat in an armchair in the corner, sipping champagne. He took care not to smudge his heavily made-up face, white foundation, red lips and heart-shaped beauty spots. 
Tamsin, a burlesque performer, perched stiffly, her bosom jutting out of her heavily laced bodice, a massive dark curly wig balanced atop her head. The hostess Emily wore a tall white wig and pale blue drapery. 
This is a tough dress code. One woman came in Spanish attire and while I did my best, I could not compete with the others in terms of authenticity. Another fille sported an enormous pink wig, studded with bijoux and ribbons, an 18th century Amy Winehouse.
As the candles burned low, we made small talk, salon chit-chat, like something out of Molière’s ‘Les precieuses ridicules’. The tendency was, getting into role, to speak a kind of Franglais. Jewellery was rattled and pinkies were cocked.
Women were seated alternately…big dress, small dress, to fit us all 10 of us  around the oval table.
 The wine was served in jugs, accompanying an hors d’oeuvres of salad. The main course consisted of quiche, gratin dauphinoise and vegetables. Dessert was warm tarte tatin with cream served on a silver platter. We brought our own wine. The food was excellent but we were still hungry at the end.
No matter, the real thrill consisted of the strangeness of being in someone elses home, getting to know them. 
I asked Emily where her live-in partner was.

“Oh he’s gone down the pub” she said cheerily in her Irish accent “this isn’t his sort of thing”. 

Looking around the flat “How long did it take you to make it look like this?”.

“All day. And weeks to find the stuff and the costumes. We were glad you were late as we weren’t ready yet” replied Emily.

At about 11pm, booze running low, some of the women swayed to the off-licence in their crinolines and wigs. In retrospect I should have accompanied them, just to see the reaction of the shop-keeper. 
At midnight chairs had to be returned to the neighbours “or they will turn into pumpkins” quipped Emily. 

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Comments

  1. Lennie Nash

    March 9, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Great post! Sounds like a really interesting night. Are you going to try a fancy dress night for your Underground Restaurant??? Growing veg for your resto will make a nice touch, wish I had green fingers, want to try and overhaul my tiny garden.

    Lennie

    Reply
  2. MsMarmitelover

    March 9, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Hmmm maybe…do you think people would be into it?

    So when are you coming anyway Lennie?

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam. Rose Appl Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam.  Rose Apple Blossom Tarts

Serves 8

Equipment: 
Microwave
Cupcake or muffin tin

I use a red-skinned apple to make these, to get a hint of blush at the edges of the ‘petals’.

Ingredients:
4 Pink Lady or Royal Gala apples, cored, cut into quarters, sliced thinly into half moons
1 lemon, squeezed
1 pack all butter readymade puff pastry 320g, on a roll, cut into 8 strips about 6 cms long
100g of melted butter
1/2 jar of rose jam
1 or 2 tbsp cinnamon or cardamom, ground 
Pinch maldon salt
2 or 3 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

Prepare a bowl of acidulated water (cold water with lemon juice) to prevent browning.
Core the apples, and cut them in quarters. Slice thinly into half-moons (a mandolin is useful for this). 
Put them into a large bowl of cold water with the lemon.
Microwave the bowl of sliced apples for 5 minutes until soft enough to bend slightly but not cook them.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Roll out the puff pastry. Divide into 8 sections by cutting the roll into quarters then halving each quarter. You will end up with 8 approximately 6cm strips.
Brush the strip with melted butter then paint with a layer of rose jam. You can then dust with either ground cinnamon or cardamom.
Lay the apple slices along the top of the pastry strip, overlapping them. Fold up the bottom half of the pastry strip to make an pleat with the skin side of the apple half moon poking over the top.
Roll up the folded pastry strips until they look like a rose made of apple at the top
Place ‘rose’ side up, in a buttered cupcake tin
Repeat until all are done and bake for 20 -30 minutes.
Using a tea strainer or small sieve, sprinkle with icing sugar.
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