Chefs Notes

Where to buy Fal Oysters... October 25 2012, 0 Comments

Below is a list of where to buy fresh, wild, native Fal Oysters

Cornish Native Oyster, Mylor Harbour - Internet order/collections

Silver Sponsors:

Dinings Restaurant, 22 Harcourt Street, London, W1H 4HH - 020 7723 0666

Other great places to eat Fal Oysters:

Try Tempura (battered) Oysters at home....

Tominari Chiba - Dinings October 23 2012, 0 Comments

Tominari Chiba discusses questions of Taste before his appearance at the 2011 Taste of London Festival

http://dinings.co.uk/

When it comes to buying British, which local producers can you recommend...

Cornish Native Oysters and Fundimentally Fundus

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/taste-festivals/tomonari-chiba-talks-taste

Sonya Meagor - RSPCA Good Business Awards 2011 October 23 2012, 0 Comments

Eco cuisine – RSPCA Good Business Awards 2011 – Highly Commended Eco cuisine’s ethos is simple – great tasting food with respect for the environment we live in. Founded in 2007 and running as a full time business since 2009, last year was a very good year for this small ethical and sustainable catering business which now has founder Sonya Meagor plus two part-time employees working regularly – with a larger team put together for events including a recent WWF conference and Greenpeace video production. Regular business includes a contract with the School of Economic Science - which has committed organic vegetarian food policy which Eco cuisine adhere to and feed over 300 people each week in term time. “We use Woodland Trust free range eggs - making egg mayonnaise sandwiches we use Hellmans free-range mayonnaise,” confirms Sonya. “In fact, whole Woodland Trust eggs are used in all recipes using eggs - even quiche made for 100 people at the vegetarian school we break in whole eggs. “We also use outdoor bred RSPCA Freedom Food ham for sandwiches and also Freedom Food Gressingham duck. We use free range chicken and turkey as a minimum standard. We buy British meat only and all suppliers adhere to the same standards. These minimum standards apply to 100% of the meat we use. “When sourcing seafood I look for MSC-registered fish like smoked mackerel and also search for sustainable species and to use seafood seasonally. We use pollack or whiting in our eco Thai-style fishcakes and MSC-registered smoked mackerel in our pate. I use Cornish native oysters from a sustainable supplier and I am always looking at better ways to source sustainable produce.” http://www.goodthings.org.uk/food/eco_cuisine/

Rose Prince - Tried &Tasted Valentine's Day Treats October 23 2012, 0 Comments

I used to be a Valentine’s Day curmudgeon; a killjoy that resented the tacky card and naff chocs industry and a snob that found the whole thing rather American, like Trick or Treat. In my view, expensive clichés (does anyone really enjoy a bunch of red roses?) is a turn off, not on. The real cure for the Valentines cynic is a bouquet of originality.

If you must give roses, give the type you can eat. A rose infused dish has more fragrance than most sold by florists. Try scattering edible pink Moroccan rose petals on dinner plates (£5.95/50g from The Spice Shop, www.thespiceshop.co.uk) or serve roast lamb with Belazu’s intensely deep red Rose Petal Harissa (£3.59/90g www.mybelazu.com).

Have care if going down the aphrodisiac route. It may be that garlic increases desire, but the smell of aioli lasts far too long. White truffles, in all their various incarnations, are more beguiling. My favourite is the truffle infused honey, delicious dribbled over one of those heart-shaped cheeses. Poddi Truffle Honey is available from Luigi’s, £12; visit the shop in Fulham Road, London, SW10, or see www.luigismailorder.com.

Oysters are a sensuous food, the best natives leaving a tingling, clean ocean taste in the mouth that lasts for several minutes even if sipping wine. If you are confident about opening your own – and do use a proper oyster knife to do this – you can order the best of all native oysters from Cornwall. The Cornish Native Oyster company are offering a dozen of mixed types, serving two people, for £21.50; harvested, most romantically, by sailing boat in the Fal River. Ask about delivery times (www.cornishnativeoysters.co.uk, 07791 378503).

For many, Valentine’s is simply an affirmation of love, and can begin at breakfast. There is something lovely about Hsiu-Li Yeh’s Green Tea Hearts; little heart-shaped lozenges of compressed tea that, once in boiling hot water, unfurl to make fragrant tea (£6.50/30g box, from Harrods, www.harrods.com).

There’s more charm in the form of a heart-shaped shallow pan cooker in which to make loving buttermilk pancakes and serve with blueberries, Greek yoghurt and maple syrup. Brush the heart mould with oil or melted butter and place in a similarly prepared pan. Make a pancake mix - whizz or whisk together 200g fine plain white or “00” pasta flour, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp butter, 3 level tsps baking powder, 60g caster sugar and 300g buttermilk. If you cannot find butter milk, use milk with the juice of half a lemon stirred into it before adding to the batter. Pour batter into the mould, over a medium hot pan; cook until bubbles rise to the surface, lift away the mould and flip the pancake over. Serve two pancakes stacked with the berries and cream, syrup spooned over the top. Heart-shaped shallow pan cookers are £12.50 from Jamie At Home (www.jamieathome.com, 0844 871 2010).

Valentine’s teatime will be cheered with the help of Biscuiteers, a London-based bakery that has taken the biscuit to dizzy creative heights. Iced by hand in cheerful colours – they will even stick a heart-shaped biscuit to a card and send it to your loved one (from £9). My favourite, however, is the pretty biscuit tin, filled with iced biscuit letters that spell 'I Love You’ (plus iced love hearts). £38.50 for 16 biscuits, and well worth the money. Finally, those in love who live near Bristol should make a trip to the special Valentine’s Day Love Food Festival tomorrow (February 12) where they will find, among many good things, a champagne lounge and an oyster bar, a pop up restaurant and stalls selling local food and cider. 10.30-4pm, entrance free; at The Paintworks, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EH www.lovefoodfestival.com.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/rose-prince/9079139/Tried-and-tasted-Valentines-Day-treats.html

Nathan Outlaw September 15 2012, 1 Comment

Dale McIntosh's Signature Dish - Cornish Native Oysters in a Camel Valley Jelly
Photo: David Griffin

Pandora team wins Cornwall Catering Excellence Challenge 10/02/2010

Chef Dale McIntosh and his team scored a fantastic victory in the Cornwall Catering Excellence Challenge on Monday night (8 Feb). In a tense cook-off judged by a panel of Michelin-starred chefs, lecturers, restaurant owners and food critics, they beat five other teams from top restaurants and hotels in the county.

One of the judges, Michelin-starred chef Nathan Outlaw, described Dale's starter of "Cornish Native Oyster set in Camel Valley Jelly" as one of the best dishes he had ever tasted.