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Ottolenghi

June 12, 2009 8 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized






@timhayward took me. I’ve been wanting to go for ages. I’ve got the book. What interested me about this place is that they do great things with vegetables. Vegetarian food has such a terrible image…all brown puddles, worthiness, hairy toes. You say the word ‘vegetarian’ and your heart sinks. It’s the culinary equivalent of going on a protest march. And I’m a vegetarian. (I eat a bit of fish sometimes, when I’m out..)

Ottolenghi has enormous meringues in the window. Some people think they are never changed, that they are props, dusted occasionally. Tim and I stayed so late I can confirm that the meringues are fresh, new ones are brought out at night. By elves.
There are a few bar stools (hate bar stools. I’m short and don’t like my legs dangling in mid-air, like a child) but the room is dominated by two long communal tables. Decor inside is white and glossy. Meringue-like. It could be a hospital except for the candlelight.
You are advised to order three dishes each. When they arrived I could see why, the portions are tapas-style. But the taste…every flavour was separate. The combinations…every mouthful an explosion of pleasure. Pink peppercorns, preserved lemons, purple fronds of cress and chives, pillowy goats cheese, caramelised nuts, smokey barbecue flavours, olive-oiled baby vegetables danced around on your palate. Some of the ingredients were getting up and doing the hokey cokey.
Tim and I gossiped, using our fingers to dip into our food. I was hard pushed not to lick the plate. We talked about digital versus print journalism and TV. How TV companies only pay what they call a ‘sofa fee’; for £75 you sit on their sofa and talk for ten minutes. You fill a bit of airtime. How nobody wants to pay properly… trying to get your services for free because it is good for your ‘profile’. (So true, one’s ‘profile’ will slim down considerably on that kind of money). He alluded to a secret forum which sounded like a ‘Bohemian Grove’ for foodies; visions of food critics getting together in a forest, dancing naked around a fire, worshipping a giant Perigord truffle rather than an owl.
Complaints…I have a few, too few to mention. Well I will mention them. £120 for two and I was still hungry. No free bread. Why? Is it for people on the Atkins diet? Fortunately the drunk people sitting next to us on the communal table, one of them was actually moo-ing, gave us their half-eaten desserts, so we scoffed our way through the pudding menu at a bargain price. Passionfruit meringue tart…divine. Blackcurrant sorbet, not bad. Cheesecake, average, could get better in any Jewish deli. Some sort of ginger sponge thing, allright.
I went home feeling very inspired by Ottolenghi’s food. Now going to work my way through their book’s recipes…

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Comments

  1. eatmynels

    June 12, 2009 at 10:42 am

    Lovely nosh innit…

    Reply
  2. Krista

    June 12, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    I loved the blackberry sorbet myself!

    Fun running into you last night! And too funny that you were there with @timhayward, who I have been obsessing about for the last few weeks!

    Reply
  3. MsMarmitelover

    June 12, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Our Tim well worth obsessing over. Quite the dish. Was going to offer post-ottolenghi rumpypumpy in the back of me van. But he's awful married.

    Reply
  4. gastrogeek

    June 12, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    I did wonder about those meringues….! Doing the hokey-cokey – what a great line. I too was a late-comer to the whole Ottolenghi experience, it’s inspiring stuff isn’t it?

    Reply
  5. Helen

    June 12, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    I absolutely love the book – have you tried the squash with brunt aubergine and pomegranate molasses? Shame we are in 'summer' now – I would urge you to make it straight away! I've heard how expensive the restaurant is from so many people though, think I'll stick with the book for now.

    Reply
  6. Krista

    June 13, 2009 at 10:15 am

    Helen, if you go, go for lunch! Same dishes, much cheaper!

    Reply
  7. Kate Lord Brown

    June 14, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    Mm – yum, shall have to eat first before coming to this blog! Love Ottolenghi (thank heavens for the cookbook …)

    Reply
  8. MsMarmitelover

    June 14, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Hi Kate,
    Well I've started…I made the poppy seed and parmesan crackers this weekend and they were
    a) easy
    b) delicious

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

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

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Looking at vegetables in Italy. Photo by @loredana Looking at vegetables in Italy. Photo by @loredanaparisi72
My piece in the @hamandhigh about the 3 day @heat My piece in the @hamandhigh about the  3 day @heathostile training course. Incredibly interesting & challenging. Link: https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/things-to-do/hostile-environment-training-9037980 to read more #hostileenvironmenttraining
Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot eggs, cheeseboard, stracciatella & cucumber, tomato/strawberry/peashoot salad with real balsamic & spruce oil, home cured dill gravlax, smoked salmon, homemade sourdough crisp bread, potato salad with wild fennel & lots more! #supperclub #midsummer #eattherainbow (miss you @linnsoederstroem)
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I recently completed the 3 day @heathostile train I recently completed the 3 day  @heathostile training course. On the last day I was kidnapped by ex-special forces for a few hours & learnt how to deal with compliance training & a hostile environment. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. 3 intense days of combat first aid, navigation & how to survive in a war zone. I handled short, long guns, mortars, grenades, bullets, and tourniquet & bandaged an amputee. I learnt where to sit in a car, where to hide from a bullet, where to protect myself if in a car. It was brilliant. Highly recommended for any journalists, photographers, cameramen, charity workers, paramedics going into any difficult environment say a disaster or war. The stories from the tutors & the other participants were so interesting. My piece on it out soon. Book a course: https://hostile-environment.co.uk/  They also do jungle & desert training. I’d love to join the Antarctic expedition. Anyway that’s me hooded in the front. #adventures #het #hostileenvironmenttraining #experiences #travel
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