Seven Course Summer Heaven

Every so often I am lucky enough to meet a couple for whom their special day is quite literally all about the food. Here is an example of a seven course degustation menu which I took great delight in creating for Daniel and Frank.

Some course choices are personal to their story, some were inspired by their travels, some were just an excuse for a seasonal treat. Everything was utterly delicicious and enjoyed over the course of a long midsummer's evening by sixty special guests in The Orangery, Holland Park.

Canapés

Wasabi seared beef and watermelon with pickled ginger and coriander

Ricotta cakes with oven roasted plum tomatoes and basil

Fresh herb blinis simply topped with crayfish tails and a spaghetti of cucumber

First Wine:

Lugana Doc Trentino, Tenuta Rovegelia, Italy

Amuse Bouche

Demi tasse of chilled grape and white almond soup

Starter

Ham hock ravioli with pea veloute and truffle oil

served in a saturn bowl

Second Wine:

Chablis, Henri La Fontaine, France

Fish

Stuffed sardine

filled with pine nuts, brioche, chervil and raisins

Sorbet

Lemon, parsley and gin sorbet

served in saucer champagne glass with lemon slices

Third Wine:

Gigondas Domaine de la haute Marone, France

Main

Guinea fowl filled with spinach and ricotta

on smoked garlic mash, wilted spring greens and tarragon jus

Cheese

Trio of European cheese

with membrillo, grapes and walnut bread

Dessert

Sicilian lemon cheesecake with macadamia crust,

lime mousse with frosted berries and glazed tarte au citron.

Aperitif

White sambuca shots with coffee beans

To Finish

Fine tea, cafetiere coffee and fresh mint tea

Hand made petits four