Menu inspiration: Salmon Starter

Salmon Gravlax with wafer thin cured salmon, fennel and radish salad, fresh grapefruit

Menu Inspiration: Fulham Palace Wedding Menu

Something elegent and fresh for Joanne and Tristan's early Spring wedding at Fulham Palace.

Start
Portobello mushroom with parmesan, roasted garlic and thyme
with a demi tasse of wild mushroom soup, truffle oil

Homemade ciabatta, herb bread and butter

Main

Scottish fillet of beef served with dauphinoise potatoes,

wilted spinach, fine French beans, shallot tart tatin and a rich Burgundy jus

Finish
Warm caramelised pear and thyme tarte tatin
with fresh vanilla ice cream

(photo by Lloyd Dobbie)

The Royal Wedding: What they ate, When they ate it and Why

What a wonderful day, it made me so proud to be British! Especially the Royal Wedding menu which said so much about the wealth of incredible food we have in this country.

Unfortunately unlike many of my wedding industry friends who can comment on the dress, the venue, the hair and the flowers, I can only speculate on the look and taste of the food!As I predicted in this previous article, the theme around the food was “seasonal, local and organic”. Clarence House made sure to point out that “All the ingredients were carefully sourced from Royal Warrant holding companies using UK-based ingredients”. Free from French or strawberries - refreshingly unusual given Royal Wedding menus of the past!
Ingredients included: Gressingham duck, English goats cheese from Paxton and Whitfield, English asparagus, Welsh organic celery salt, langoustines from the North West Coast of Scotland, pork from the Cotswolds, English crayfish, Windsor Estate lamb, smoked haddock from the East Coast of Scotland, Beef from the Castle of Mey, selections in the North Highlands of Scotland and English rhubarb

1.30pm – The Canape Reception

A total 10,000 canapes were served to 650 guests over a two hour reception. Whilst this would have meant about 15 canapes per guest, I do feel a little sorry for those who had been inside Westminster Abbey since 9am and probably up since 6am.As predicted, every choice is an absolute bite-size classic, no spoons, no forks, no skewers or faff. The canapé selection was biased towards vegetarian options, five choices compared with four fish and four meat options. Believe it or not, choosing a lot of vegetarian options is a great way to ensure most guests are kept happy and fed. What did surprise me was that there were eight (eight!) sweet options - four bite sized puddings and four types of chocolate truffles - although I suspect proportionally less of these were served than the savoury options. Someone at the Palace clearly has a sweet tooth! Guests drank non-vintage champagne and soft drinks.

MEAT

Pressed Duck Terrine with Fruit Chutney
Grain Mustard and honey-glazed Chipolatas
Miniature Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Fillet of Beef and Horseradish Mousse
Bubble and Squeak with Confit Shoulder of Lamb

FISH
Cornish Crab Salad on Lemon Blini
Scottish Smoked Salmon Rose on Beetroot Blini
Scottish Langoustines with Lemon Mayonnaise Pressed Confit of Pork Belly with Crayfish and Crackling

Smoked Haddock Fishcake with Pea Guacamole

VEGETARIAN

Roulade of Goats Cheese with Caramelised Walnuts

Assortment of Palmiers and Cheese Straws

Miniature Watercress and Asparagus Tart

Poached Asparagus spears with Hollandaise Sauce for Dipping

Quails Eggs with Celery Salt

Wild Mushroom and Celeriac Chausson

SWEET
Gateau Opera
Blood Orange Pate de Fruit
Raspberry Financier
Rhubarb Crème Brulee Tartlet

CHOCOLATES
Passion Fruit Praline
White Chocolate Ganache Truffle
Milk Chocolate Praline with Nuts
Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffle

3pm-7pm – The Break
Take note if you are getting married earlier than 2pm: by including a “break” in proceedings, Kate and William have avoided two things; they have avoided a “black hole” in the momentum of the day and avoided feeding their guests twice (lunch and dinner). I imagine that guests that went to both the canapé reception and the evening reception appreciated the chance to refresh, recharge and have a small bite to eat to keep them going. I cannot stress enough how flat the atmosphere will be on your Wedding Day if you insist on having an early wedding and then don’t feed your guests properly or leave them hanging around in a black hole of proceedings. 2pm or 3pm remains my ideal time to get married.

7pm – The Black Tie Reception
300 closest friends and family gathered for the “party party” whilst The Queen, Prince Phillip and the young bridesmaids retired to bed. This time, guests were offered vintage pink champagne, peach bellinis and elderflower cocktails as they gathered for the formal meal.

8pm - Dinner in The Palace Ballroom

Decor was kept simple and elegant, tables with white flowers, candles and named after places special to the couple. By all accounts the table plan made sure to mix both Royals and the less regal guests to encourage a relaxed atmosphere. Details on the food are still coming through…

Start: Dressed Welsh crab with mini crab timbale, crayfish and prawns

Main: Highgrove Estate Lamb “done three ways”

Finish: Trio of mini-puddings: trifle, chocolate fondant and homemade ice-cream

11.30pm – Evening Buffet in The Throne Room
After speeches and fireworks, guests headed to a cocktail bar serving champagne, spirits and Mojito cocktails (I doubt it was a cash bar!) Bacon sandwiches and icecreams were served from food trucks in the courtyard for “survivors” before the hardcore party addicts headed back to the Goring for an afterparty.

May Big Picture

Ensuring that 250 perfect covers go out of the kitchen on time and on temperature takes perfection and precision.

Menu Inspiration: Champagne Canapes

The brief: to satisfy the equisite palates of a hundred guests who have come to drink rather than eat. Bovingdons recently catered for the French Trade Commission event showcasing the wares of twelve small domain French Champagne producers.

As you can see from this rather lovely thank you note, the secret to success was in providing great service and ensuring that the champagne flowed and flowed and flowed. The canapes were a mixture of flavours to compliment the champagne in both sight and taste. They were elegant, varied and interesting.

"Our event could only have been as successful as it was  because of your amazing team! Tony and Aini were fantastic! I am sure this was deliberate and that they were hand-picked etc but really they effortlessly ran the show. They were delightful to all of us, charming to our guests, nothing was too much trouble... of course the canapés were also sensational but that we already knew!"

Canapés

Scottish smoked salmon with cream cheese on baby bagel

Quails egg Royale

Fresh asparagus tortes

Blinis of crayfish tail with spaghetti of cucumber

Bruschetta topped with marinated eggplant and Chevre

Chopstick forks of seared magret of duck with honey dipping sauce

Mushroom croquettes

Vegetarian sushi roll with ginger

Lemon shortbread with blueberries
Almond biscotti with caramelised pear and mascarpone

F.R.O.D.O. Spring Ball - Fulham Palace

I'd like to use this blog post to plug this years F.R.O.D.O. Spring Ball at Fulham Palace.

F.R.O.D.O. are a charity whose aims are close to our hearts here at Bovingdons.

Do buy a ticket and come along, I can promise delicious food (ours!), a beautiful venue (The Chaplains Gardens at Fulham Palace) and fun all in return for your help towards an incredible cause.

www.frodokids.org

British Asparagus... eating it!

Here are some wonderful ways to enjoy asparagus…

As a trio: asparagus torte, chargilled spears, a quails egg and a shot glass of cool asparagus vichyssoise (see left)

As an incredibly elegant starter…
Saturn bowl filled with a salad of fresh asparagus, artichoke hearts, blistered cherry tomatoes and avocado with chervil and mustard dressing

As a natural way of adding some drama to a salad…
Fresh hand made asparagus ravioli with herb emulsion and micro shoots

Spring take on pasta…
Rare roast Sirloin of beef with wild mushroom jus, chargrilled asparagus and thyme Talegio potatoes

As a perfect partner to some phenomenal centrepiece…
Asparagus bundles tied with chives served with a vanilla and pomegranate mayonnaise

A stylist ingredient in a working brunch…
Fresh asparagus soup with crème fresh and sage parmesan bread

Stand alone stand out soup…
Poussin with fresh asparagus stuffing, lemon risotto and tarragon tus

And two ideas from the British Asparagus Growers website ...
Gizzy Erskine’s British asparagus, broad bean, mint and mozzarella brushetta
Tiffany Goodall’s British asparagus Thai coconut curry

British Asparagus.. growing it

The smell of cut grass, the sound of birdsong, the sight of daffodils, the taste of asparagus – Spring is here!

As I mentioned in my asparagus article this time last year, asparagus represents British food at its best but it has a woefully unpredictable and short season. The good news this year is that the first crop has come very early indeed. You may have noticed it already in the shops or at your local farmers market. At Ripley Farmers Market on Sunday, bundles of asparagus on Secretts stall were snapped up very quickly.
I have tried to grow asparagus from two year old crowns – but my soil if definitely not right! One of my girlfriends has a whole bed of it (envy). Once the tips have stopped growing (apparently you must always leave a third unpicked towards the end of the season) the leaf fronds that are produced all summer are fabulous for flower arranging.
In my opinion the very best way to enjoy it is communally. Gather a group of close friends in the garden, wander through the beds with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc in hand picking fresh spears and popping them onto the BBQ for a minute. Dip in melted butter or lemon mayonnaise, fresh, tasty, heavenly.
Happy eating and gardening!

Gatecrasher at The Orangery...

Not a gate crasher we mind though...

April Big Picture

A Modern Tuna Nicoise: seared tuna with quails eggs, black olive tapenade, crostini, fresh tomato salsa and micro shoots.

Ripley Farmers Market

We had a fantastic turn out at Ripley Farmers Market on Sunday. Hello to everyone that came to enjoy fun in the sun.

This months market had a Royal Wedding theme so bunting a plenty (see left). There was also a dog show which was free to enter for corgis!


Walking past the piles of fresh, seasonal produce, asparagus, radishes, spinach.... was inspiring and invigorating. I feel like I have come out of hibernation.

Local Suppliers: The Conisbee Family

As you know, I am a huge champion of local and seasonal ingrediants. It was great to see one of my longest suppliers, F Conisbees and Son, mentioned in The Guardian this weekend.

Bovingdons have been buying meat from the Horsley based Conisbee family butchers since 1996, although the Surrey farmers and butchers has been around for 250 years.


I have served their award-winning sausages to Royalty and common man alike and they are on high demand at the annual Meat and Livestock Commission BBQ at Westminster Abbey Gardens. Their home cooked ham and pork pies are pefect for a picnic in the sun. It is a pleasure to deal directly with James Conisbee, he is hugely knowledgable and incredibly passionate about the welfare of his animals.


The team are right in the thick of lambing at the moment, as you can see from these very evocative series of photos in The Guardian."Up to 300 ewes are lambing at Barracks Farm in Fetcham, Surrey. The farm is owned by the Conisbee family who supply their own butchers shops in nearby Horsley. The business has been run by generations of the family for more than 250 years."