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L'Anima: Joining the Mazzei tribe

July 14, 2009 9 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

Bread and olives
Mackerel
Friselle salad
Spag Vong
Sorbets
Tiramisu
Liquorice zabayon
Wood oven apricots and amaretto icecream
Nothing is wasted
The oven
Making fresh pasta
Amaretto on the Tiramisu
Hazelnut ‘lance’ covered with hard caramel

To celebrate the anniversary of the French revolution I went to an Italian restaurant; L’Anima run by chef Francesco Mazzei is set in a glossy location near to Liverpool St. As you enter you are struck by the cool and classy colour scheme, very Armani; taupe walls, pristine white linen tablecloths, cream roses, white leather and chrome chairs. The waiting staff wear crisp white shirts with yellow ties. The room buzzes with efficiency, both from the waiters and the clients. The table settings are plain and fine…white porcelain round plates. You can see the kitchen through a series of small windows.

Francesco came over to chat; even after service his chef’s whites were precisely that; dazzling against his smouldering Sicilian good looks. So unlike your own dear MsMarmitelover who, a couple of hours into service at The Underground Restaurant is perspiring the welcome cocktail and staggering about in a smeared apron.

To book, I sent the restaurant a cheeky email:
Hi,
I’d like to book lunch for two next Tuesday 14th of July (eat Italian not French eh) at 1pm. Is spag vong on the menu by any chance? I’ve heard Francesco Mazzei’s version might almost be as good as mine. I’m bringing an Italian food freak so I hope you guys are up to scratch…
love
MsMarmitelover
x
Imagine my surprise, pleasure and slight embarrassment when the man himself graciously replied:

Hi Francesco here

Not sure about the vongole be better then yours but I will be there!

Look forward to meet you.

F

I took Marghe, an Italian friend who has helped out at The Underground Restaurant. Prices can be very reasonable at L’Anima: for lunch two courses are 22 quid, and three are £26.
The menu did not have Spaghetti Vongole. The waiter said:

“No problem, we make it for you”.

Marghe and I looked at each other

“Just for us?”

We started with a selection of breads, some plump green olives from Puglia (bella di cerignola), and a dish of grassy pungent olive oil. The breads included proper sourdough (Francesco got his 300 year old starter from Francomanca), olive focaccia and fennel grissini (unusual).
We ordered a carafe of house white at £12, fruity and light, perfect for a hot July day in the City.
Starters: good mozzarella and tomatoes (from England!) with friselle, torn bread soaked in tomato juice for Marghe, and mackerel on a bed of blue and white potatoes and parsley for me. Afterwards Francesco asked me what I thought. I really appreciated his brave desire for honest feedback. I said that I didn’t like the skin being on the mackerel but I’m just a bit fussy like that. He noted this with a seriousness I didn’t expect.
Mains: spaghetti vongole. The juicy tender palourdes were imported from France and the sauce was garlicky and oily with parsley. Excellent. But the pasta was al dente. Very al dente.

“Perfect” pronounced Marghe “this is how I like it”.

I like a little bite in the middle but for me it was too al dente.

Francesco explained: “when I saw your friend was Italian I thought I’d cook it as the Italians like it.”

However pasta continues to cook even on the plate (many people don’t realise this) and towards the end it was perfect even for this Englishwoman (whose great grandparents were Italian).

Marghe added later that people from the south of Italy prefer their pasta quite hard.
But another thing that was very Italian about it was that the amount of pasta was quite sparse by MsPiggyMarmite’s standards. Now I know the Italians eat pasta as a starter. I know that 100-150 grams is the usual portion. But I don’t eat meat. So I like lots of pasta, 250-300g, at that point we are starting to fill a corner. (Don’t worry I won’t have enough room for dessert. As my mother said, humans have a separate ‘pudding stomach’ for that.)
Francesco uses De Cecco, Cocco, Martelli (Bronze-die) and Spataro pasta. He explains that “each batch is different”. Freshness counts even with dried pasta. Barilla, which I like, he would never use for the restaurant. Bronze-die pasta, which roughens the surface so that the sauce sticks, was recently introduced into British supermarkets but hasn’t really taken off.
Despite being offered some palate cleansers of soft sorbet, mango, strawberry and divine lemon, we were still greedy enough to order pudding.
I chose a liquorice zabayon, yer classic zabaglione, perfectly done, with icecream in the middle, (conceptually a liquid Artic roll ?). I love liquorice and really it’s not used enough in cooking. It was accompanied by the lightest biscotti containing almonds and pistachios.

“The secret is to use 00 flour “ said Francesco.

Marghe ordered Cappuccino Tiramisu. I don’t like Tiramisu but I liked this. Crowned with a tuile of hard caramel and a slim baton of savoyarde biscuit, it wasn’t too alcoholic, and was light in texture.
We were given, gratis, a dish of wood-oven baked apricots with amaretto icecream. Now this is the sort of thing I would never normally order. It’s far too grown up a dessert for me and basically I think fruit is boring. But it was stunningly good…burnt orange apricots dotted with leaf green pistachios in a pool of moreish (or Moorish?) syrup.
Francesco sat down with us at the end: we asked if we could marry him (me as Wife Number One of course). Unfortunately he’s already married.

“Is your wife Italian?” I asked.

“No. She’s Sicilian” he zipped back.

We were taken on a tour of the kitchens, which I always love. Everything is used in the kitchen, meat and fish scraps make stock, watercress stalks go in the compost, nothing is wasted. We got to taste some of the other flavours of gelato; watermelon sorbet and my favourite, yoghurt icecream. Francesco started working in his aunt’s gelateria when he was 14. Nobody on the planet makes icecream like the Italians. A little birdy told me, Francesco may even open his own gelateria in London….can’t wait!
L’Anima,
1 Snowden Street
Broadgate West
London, EC2A 2DQ
0207 422 7000

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Comments

  1. gastrogeek

    July 14, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    Excellent! Am so glad you liked it, that vongole sounds delicious. They're such lovely people aren't they? Can't wait to go back…

    Reply
  2. foodsnobblog

    July 14, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    I went very soon afer it opened and thought it was at least comparable with the established (starred) Italians already in the city.
    It seems to be getting better, whilst the others…

    I think I would like the friselle. and the mackerel. and the zabayon. and the apricots…

    Reply
  3. Food

    July 14, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    made a spelling booboo. afer. please correct 😛

    Reply
  4. The Ginger Gourmand

    July 14, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    That's it. To hell with the cost. I'm booking a table for my 'holiday in London' in August! Lunch me thinks…

    Reply
  5. fingersandtoes

    July 15, 2009 at 6:47 am

    Oh yum that all looks so good…

    Reply
  6. Krista

    July 15, 2009 at 7:57 am

    Again, Ms. Marmite Lover (got your sex right this time!), you lead a very interesting life. Really love reading about your restaurant visits as they are always such adventures!

    Reply
  7. theundergroundrestaurant

    July 15, 2009 at 8:01 am

    ah thank you Krista, that's a real compliment coming from you…be interesting to read your opinion on L'anima too!

    Reply
  8. reading

    July 28, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Wow"Yemmy" different type of foods information,i really love it…
    ***Thanks for publish this***
    english language school

    Reply
  9. reading

    July 28, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    you can also hit this link:
    english school brighton

    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
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Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I get up later and later every day. I’m living in a twilight world- dim skies, getting nothing done. Next week it’s my birthday and every year I’m at my lowest ebb just before my birthday. Lockdown on your own is tough. My motivation, my mojo has disappeared. #lockdown3 #coronaloner #pastadinner #nofilter #january2021 #januarychallenge #selfemployedwomen #single #aquarius #0degrees
On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronal On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronaloner
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles, garnishing with spring onions or chives and or coriander leaves.  #veganuary #mapotofu #sichuanfood #tofu  #shitakemushrooms #supperclub #londonchef #msmarmitelover #ham&highcolumn #eatplants #lockdown3 #selfisolation #coronaloner #cooking #recipe #cookingfromscratch
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Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holdi Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holding on...
#happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #supperclub #hootenanny
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#christmasdinner #vegetarianchristmas #vegetarianchristmasdinner #supperclub #londonchristmas #liqueurs #christmasspread #grazing #cheeseboard #port #pavlova
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