172 degrees longitude: Anna Hansen cooks for Global Feast

Anna Hansen is the perfect chef for a global feast. Her parents were Kiwi and Danish, she’s lived in Canada, Jordan, Europe, Asia and London. Her food reflects this multi-national upbringing: she cooks widely, using ingredients from all over the world. We can see a fragment of this in last night’s thoughtful menu:

Cocktail

Williams Gin with elderflower, tonic and muddled mint

Wines from New Zealand vineyard Marlborough Wines, perfect for this menu

Canapés

Smoked mussel and fennel seed besan (gram flour) chips, seaweed tartare

Roast beetroot, goats curd and pumpkin seed crostini, Seresin Estate orange oil (from New Zealand)

Starter

Lemongrass braised cherry tomato, lemon roast fennel, green bean, marinated feta and endive salad, hazelnut crumbs, verjus (often used in New Zealand, I’ve noticed, it’s a less acidic vinaiger)and manuka honey dressing

Main

Persian spiced lamb rump, roast sweet potato and amchur mash, tahini and moromi miso lemon cream

Veg option: Feuilles de brik

Dessert

Pacific Eton mess, Matcha meringue, spiced red wine poached tamarillo (or tree tomato), yoghurt cream

This menu draws inspiration from New Zealand, particularly with the smoked mussel (NZ is famous for the green lipped mussel), the manuka honey and the tamarillo. The Eton Mess is a nod to the Pavlova, the ultimate Antipodean dessert.
Anna is, according to interviews, MsVegemitelover. Her food is confident, flavoursome, deceptively casual in the Antipodean style. With a loyal following, her night was the first to sell out at Global Feast.
Global Feast news: The bar has turned into a techno rave late night jobbie. If you want to meet a medallist, come along. We seem to specialise in rowers.
The night before last, a prisoner on the run came home nearby and was reported by a neighbour. Police chased him through the Global Feast site at 5am. The week before, we discovered one of our chefs couldn’t stay to work, as he had to leave the country to face charges of triple murder.
Only a handful of nights to go, then I can put my feet up for a bit. Then Bestival.
Book here for Global Feast. Ends Monday night.
Book here for Bestival.

Visit Anna’s restaurant The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell, book here.