Theatrical picnic: A homage to Heston Blumenthal and Albert Adrià
The creation of food is magic, as much an act of transformation as of necessity. It is little wonder that food is a source of escape and pleasure for many. People eat to forget, remember, celebrate, commiserate and survive. Food is at the heart of the most sacred and secular rituals. At its core, the preparation of a good meal is a demonstration of love and the desire to give pleasure, a moment of catharsis.
Theatre has long been intertwined with food. Ancient societies lounged about, feasting for hours. Tudor banquets delighted in surprising the diner with a pudding that was actually meat or a castle made of sugar. Now, newer immersive dining experiences riffing off Punch Drunk Theatre’s success such as The Gingerliners’ London creations play with our senses (I have been to many and can’t recommend the Gingerline experience strongly enough).
The most famous modern day pioneers of gastronomic molecular theatre are the Adrià brothers, Ferran and Albert, as well as Heston Blumenthal. What they accomplished with El Bulli and The Fat Duck did more than inspire a whole host of world-renowned chefs and amateurs to adopt a different, more scientific approach to cooking. These adventurer-chefs took the world by storm by re-igniting a sense of playfulness and drama in their restaurants. Not with flourishes, performances or tricks (although they all understand the power of suggestion and the art of theatre) but by injecting surprise into the menus themselves.
I never had the good fortune to eat at El Bulli but I have been extremely lucky enough to have eaten at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. This is his restaurant whose menu is dedicated to re-imagining dishes of yesteryear, exulting in the mischievousness of the past. “Meat Fruit” is the picturesque pinnacle of this – the most delicious chicken liver parfait disguised as a mandarin orange.
Meat Fruit at Dinner by Heston. Photo credit: eater.com
In February 2020, before the world comprehended the scale of Covid-19 disruption, I underwent twin gastronomic pilgrimages of my own. Firstly, Matt and I “ate” at the Fat Duck, a privilege we had been planning for years. Secondly, on a visit to Barcelona, my brother and I “ate” at Enigma. The brainchild of Albert Adrià and the widely-touted successor restaurant to El Bulli.
I say “ate” because whilst food is the central pillar of both these restaurants it can hardly describe the essence of the experience, the sheer escapism and hedonistic joy that each chef and their teams craft for their guests. I will not detail either experience here as that would cheapen and diminish their power. While each approach their menus and experiences very differently, Heston’s advice to ‘question everything’ applies to both. The restaurant industry, like my own, is currently in crisis and I only pray that both restaurants rebound from this upset. The world would be a greyer place without these founts of curiosity that inspire and train future culinary stars and perspectives.
“Question everything...”
In homage to the theatrical food espoused by both chefs, I created the following menu. Much more basic and mundane but my best effort to elevate the humble picnic.
A very different kind of picnic
Heston’s Scotch eggs and garden salad with sauce gribiche and my surprising green quiche
‘Scotch Eggs’ by Heston Blumenthal from Heston Blumenthal at Home
I have two confessions before describing this recipe. Firstly, peeling such softly boiled eggs is not easy. I wasted quite a few and to be honest I think that the eggs could stand up to an extra minute and still remain soft. Secondly, I did not flavour the sausage meat as per the description – I had some hand-seasoned, herby sausage meat in the freezer already (courtesy of Sausage the pig who featured in my last article) left over from making the Christmas stuffings.
The goal and drama of this dish: A runny yolk.
10 medium eggs
450g sausage meat
1 tsp chopped thyme leaves
45g French’s mustard
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped chives
Plain flour
50g whole milk
125g Panko breadcrumbs
Place 8 of the eggs in a large pan with enough water to cover the eggs by 2cm. Place the pan over a high heat. Bring the water to the boil; as soon as it starts to simmer allow the eggs to cook for 2 minutes exactly. [I recommend doing at least 4 extra eggs to accommodate for peeling mishaps and boiling the eggs for 3, not 2 minutes].
Remove the eggs to a bowl and place under cold running water for 2 minutes. Let them cool for 10 – 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the sausage meat in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of cold tap water and pulse six times. Turn into a bowl, add the thyme, mustard, cayenne pepper, chopped chives and season with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. With clean hands, mix the spices into the meat and divide into eight balls, approximately 55g per portion. [There were only 4 of us for dinner so I made big scotch eggs and divided the sausage meat into just 4 balls which worked (and cooked) just as well].
Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the shells. [Don’t worry if you mess a couple up, I had a lovely lunch of my broken eggs on fresh bread with smoked salmon!]. Flatten each portion of sausage meat between two sheets of clingfilm. Place an egg in the centre of each sausage-meat circle. Wrap the sausage meat around the egg, pressing the edges to seal it but being careful not to press too hard. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes [or until just before you plan to eat].
Pre-heat the oven to 190˚C.
In the meantime, put enough flour to coat the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Beat the remaining eggs in a second bowl and stir in the milk. Put the Panko into a third bowl. Roll each eggs in the flour, gently tapping off any excess, then dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs, making sure that all sides are coated.
Heat a deep fat fryer to 190˚C or place a deep saucepan no more than half filled with oil over a medium-high heat until it reaches this temperature.
Fry the scotch eggs two ar a time for 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon ad place on a drying rack over a baking tray. When all the eggs have been fried, place the tray in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately while the yolks are still runny.
I couldn’t resist Matt’s mother’s offer to lend me her stunning silver egg cup set. All in the name of theatre of course!
‘Garden salad with sauce gribiche’ by Heston Blumenthal from Heston Blumenthal at Home
This is definitely a recipe I will do again! It was very easy and can be made in advance and assembled at the last moment. Looked beautiful, tasted wonderful and went extremely well with the Scotch eggs. The veg choice is personal and seasonal. Just choose 5 different types of baby veg. I cooked my veg in a mixture of water and butter (Oh the decadence!) separately until each was just cooked, then I refreshed them in ice water and kept them in the fridge until I was ready to assemble.
I’m terrible at presentation but this recipe is foolproof!
For the salad:
200g pitted black olives in brine, drained and rinsed
25g Grape-Nuts
8 baby carrots
8 Brussel Sprouts
8 Baby asparagus
8 Baby Broccoli
8 Baby bock-choy
For the gribiche:
1 Medium egg
130g [homemade] Mayonnaise [I used Heston’s recipe which called for ground nut oil rather than olive oil and was delicious]
35g cornichons finely chopped
30g capers, rinsed, patted dry and finely chopped
15g white wine vinegar
30g whipping cream
2 sprigs of tarragon, leaves picked
10g flat-leaf parsley
10g chives
Pre-heat the oven to 110˚C.
To dry the olives, spread them on a tray lined with parchment paper and dry in the oven for 4 hours. Halfway through the drying process, roughly chop the olives so they dry more quickly.
Remove the olives from the oven and allow to cool before chopping very finely. Do not be tempted to chop the olives in a food processor because it will become a paste.
While the olives are cooling, increase the temperature of the oven to 180˚C. Toast the Grape-Nuts on a baking tray for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before crushing with a pestle and mortar to a coarse powder.
Mix the toasted Grape-Nuts with the dried olives and set aside.
To start the gribiche, lower the egg into a small pan of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and cool under running water. Remove the shell, then separate the white from the yolk.
Finely chop the egg white and press the yolk through a sieve. Stir both into the mayonnaise with the cornichons, capers and vinegar.
Lightly whisk the cream the soft peaks and fold into the mixture. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until needed.
When ready to serve, cook the vegetables in oil or water, depending on the vegetable, or serve them raw.
Just before serving, chop the herbs and fold them into the gribiche.
To construct the salad, put a layer of gribiche in the bottom of individual bowls or one large serving dish. Sprinkle the olive and Grape-Nut mixture in a layer on top and ‘plant’ the vegetables in neat rows in the soil.
My veg garden will never look this regular…
Surprising Green Quiche (Pea, mint, broad bean and goat’s cheese)
The surprise within this quiche is the pea puree and the flavour punch it delivers. From the top it looks bland and creamy, then you cut into it and the green of the pea puree arrives. The broad beans hidden in the topping add additional notes of surprise and texture.
Surprise! There are peas and beans in here!
For the pastry:
140 grams butter (chilled)
280 flour
Water
Crazily I made pastry on one of the hottest days of the year, in a country where air conditioning is practically non-existent (and unwarranted for the most part). If you are insane enough to attempt the same then just make sure that you, the pastry and the fridge become fast friends! You do not want melted butter at any stage of the process, you’ll need to work quickly and do your best to keep your hands cool.
Shortcrust pastry is simple and an act of balance. The basic rule is 1 part butter to 2 parts flour. Then add water gradually by the tablespoon until you have the right consistency.
Firstly chop your chilled butter into cubes (avoid handling it more than necessary, if it becomes too soft then put back in the fridge to harden) and put into a large mixing bowl with the flour. Using your fingertips, crumble together until you have something that resembles breadcrumbs. Add water (a couple of tablespoons at a time) until it comes together into a ball. If it is too sticky, add more flour, if it is too crumbly, add more water. Then cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C and get your tart tin or case out (c. 25cm).
Once rested, roll out the pastry on a surface lightly dusted with flour to the size of your tin – you want around 5cm extra all the way around. Gently lift the pastry into the tin ensuring overhang all the way around. Make a ball of the off-cuts and use this to press the pastry gently into the edges. Cover the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Then blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and the beans and continue to make for a further 20 minutes or until biscuit brown.
Whilst your pastry bakes make the filling:
300g peas
A good handful of mint (I used a mix of mint and lemon balm), chopped finely
200g broad beans, blanched, podded and shells removed
2 eggs
200g goat’s cheese
6 spring onions, finely sliced
A splash of olive oil
284ml or 300ml pot of double cream
Blanch the peas until they are cooked, then drain and blend until smooth. Add in a splash of olive and the chopped mint, mix and season well. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then whisk in the cream gradually; finally stir in the spring onions and season.
I love broad beans for the same reason that I savour their fleeting summer season. You should always remove the individual skins unless they are babies and the skin is still supple and green (who wants their beautiful flavour marred by a tough, chewy skin?). An easy trick to de-shelling broad beans is to blanch them quickly in boiling water (1 to 2 minutes), which loosens their shells and makes them easy to pop off.
When the pastry in baked, spread the pea puree along the base in an even layer. Then pour over the egg and cream mixture. Drop over the broad beans (they will sink and become invisible) and crumble over the goat’s cheese. Bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown and set. Leave to cool.
Who would suspect the green that lurks within these creamy depths?
Enjoy!!!