NATURAL SELECTION DINNER
Concrete Studios, Shoreditch
April, 2012
Natural Selection approached Blanch and Shock and event producer Polly Betton of Teatime Production to design a bespoke dining experience to promote their work. One evening in April Polly dressed their showroom with an array of beautiful objects suited to their own particular style, and we cooked a four course dinner which was served to their guests.
Natural Selection requested that there be some playful elements to the menu, and we duly began with an encapsulation of apple juice in lieu of a cocktail. The evening finished with a smoked menu printed with edible ink on edible paper, which guests were able to consume in whole or in part as they desired.
As always the menu focused on seasonal ingredients including wild garlic, pea shoots and hogget. Being an older animal than the spring lamb, hogget is hugely flavourful, yet a little younger than mutton. This was also an opportunity to serve our oxtail 'tartare,' cooked at a low temperature for several days to give a yielding texture with the appearance of raw oxtail, the connective tissue being completely broken down by the cooking.
High Easter sourdough and hay butter
Sphere of Katy apple juice, mint
Chopped Oxtail, sorrel, hen egg, spring onions
Hot-Smoked Mackerel, asparagus, chervil & yoghurt whey, pea shoots
Slow-roasted Belly of Hogget, pearl barley, samphire, pickled radishes & mustard seeds
Tea bread, hay and whisky carrageenan pudding, rhubarb, Dulwich honey and raisins
Smoked edible menu