Masterchef Charity Dinner. The Frog, Shoreditch. 27th March 2017.
For a night of delicious food and a charity raffle the guys managed to raise a fantastic £9,400 for a great cause!
There are a number of things I can say for certain that I am obsessed with. Food, my dog, Harry Potter and Masterchef: The Professionals.
As anyone who has read my previous entries can attest to, I am a fan of Masterchef Alumni Adam Handling. Now I will clarify. I am a FAN, and not as he says (and hope he jokes), his stalker.
On March 27th Adam Handling and Andi Walker(2015 Finalist) held a Charity Dinner for SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) Adam and co previously held a similar event in November 2016, raising money for Dementia UK, and this seems to be something that may continue with the possibility for more in the future.
After hearing the story of Albert Simpson, a 92 year old WW2 veteran who was scammed out of £10,000 of his life savings by phone fraudsters selling him bogus arthritis medication over the telephone. Being, as he puts it, an Army Brat this story hit close to home for Adam, and Andi, they decided to raise some money for Veterans like Albert.
At the recommendation of Andi via Twitter I bought my ticket with only 2 weeks to wait. It's a fantastic cause and I was certain amazing food, why wouldn't I?
Hosted at The Frog, in Shoreditch Adam and Andi were able to rally 8 other Masterchef Professionals to help with this noble cause. Service was provided by serving members of the military in full 2’s.
Joining them would be 2016 Runner Up Elly Wentworth, 2015 winner Mark Stinchcombe, 2015 Semi finalist Dean Westcar, 2015’s; Joey O’Hare, Danilo Cortellini, and Gavin Barnes, and, 2014 finalist Brian Mcleish. Due to unforeseen circumstances 2015’s Darren Sivewright was unable to make it.
The premise was simple, 2 chefs would take a main ingredient and showcase it to the best of their ability. A food battle royale as it were.
I do love a vague menu...
The first of many Chef’s G&T’s were ordered, they're still as good and verdant as ever, and dinner began. Plates were placed between diners for us to engage with each other, share and compare and ultimately decide who had the best dish per course.
Snacks.
A selection of snacks arrived one after the other starting with savoury macarons filled with a rich and smooth duck liver parfait.
Bitesized doughnuts full of a cheese and truffle sauce and covered in a snowdrift of parmesan were next. I’d tried these before during my 11 course tasting lunch last year and they're still incredible.
Thirdly came crunchy shells of jerusalem artichoke filled with the smooth flesh and truffle.
The final snack came in the form of squid ink crackers topped with finely diced salmon tartare. Bright and lightly acidic with crunch provided by the slightly salty cracker.
All four were delightful.
Course 1 - Potato.
Andi Walker & Dean Westcar.
The humble spud was the hero of the first course. What could these 2 accomplished gents do with the mighty tuber. Quite a lot actually.
Andi chose to present a potato and truffle terrine, mushroom ketchup, crispy ricotta with pickled onion, nasturtium leaves and frozen feta. The terrine was melt in the mouth in texture with the heady perfume of truffle permeated within. The pickled onion helped to balance the richness of the cheese and potato and the nasturtium added a good mild pepperiness.
Dean created a potato mousse served in a crispy potato tube with potato relish, truffle and charred spring onion. The mousse was lighter than a feather delicately creamy whilst the the charred onion lent some bitterness to the dish. The almost sweet relish countered this perfectly and the truffle. Well that was another level.
Unfortunately as with Highlanders, there can be only one and the first course went to Dean. In fact it was my favourite savoury dish of the night and given the chance I would have eaten any spares.
Course 2 - Mackerel
Adam Handling & Brian Mcleish
Mackerel was next. I love mackerel anyway so I was very excited by this course.
Adam served mackerel with yoghurt and dill. Dusted with an ash of burnt vegetables its both sweet and a little bitter the aniseed of the dill working well with the oily fish.
Brain gave us a touch of luxury with his cured mackerel in the form of a perfectly sweet oyster hidden beneath the soft fish and lightly pickled vegetables. Whilst this was very tasty the mackerel was a tad under cured for my taste and it did get a little tricky getting through the skin of the fish.
Point; Handling.
Course 3 - Duck
Mark Stinchcombe & Elly Wentworth.
Duck is possibly my favourite protein of any beast on land. Scallops will always hold the top spot. Now was the time for 2016’s Elly and 2015’s Mark to show us their skills. And show us they did.
Mark prepared duck breast, slow cooked leg, jerusalem artichoke roasted and in crisp form with fresh pomegranate. Apparently he aged the duck by hanging it and blow torching it every 2 days to render the fat. It was delicious whatever witchcraft and wizardry he applied. The leg was spectacular, soft and almost melting.
Elly gave us duck with a pistachio crumb, pickled; roast and puréed turnip and a cherry and duck sauce. The purée was velvety smooth and the sauce was beautifully rich.
This was too close to call for me. Sorry guys.
Course 4 - Lemon
Danilo Cortellini & Everyone
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not one for desserts but if I am to have one I always lean towards fruit or citrus. Lemon is always a good idea.
For the first dessert of the evening Danilo provided a lemon, polenta and olive oil cake, with yoghurt pannacotta, italian meringue, lemon segments and basil. It tasted like summer on the amalfi coast. The cake was dense but moist, the pannacotta had the perfect wobble and the lemon was lifted by the aniseed hinted at by the basil.
The second dessert was a group effort of lemon cheesecake topped with a lemon thyme gel, macerated blueberries and meringue. It was light and creamy with a good acidic spark from the lemon.
Danilo knows his pannacotta. He wins.
Course 5 - Rhubarb
Gavin Barnes & Joey O'Hare
The final dishes were to be served. The final hero; rhubarb.
Gavin was up first and made rhubarb compote and vanilla custard inside a white chocolate dome, poached rhubarb, meringue, caramelised white chocolate and fennel fronds. Rhubarb and custard has honestly never tasted better. The tart rhubarb compote was matched perfectly with the set custard inside the dome and the white chocolate added background sweetness that was cut with the sharp poached rhubarb and the crispy meringue added extra texture.
Now Joey did something I didn't think possible. I enjoyed vegan food. No slur to vegans out there, if it’s your jam good for you. Joey made a ‘cheesecake’ using cashews, a rhubarb compote, lime granita, buckwheat crumble and matcha sorbet. Had I not known it was cashew i could have believed it was an actual cheesecake and the sorbet was beautfully smooth. the flavour of the tea was subtle but added slight bitterness to the rest of the dish, it was really well balanced.
Final point - Joey.
The night wound to a close and I was lucky enough to spend a little time talking to most of the guys involved and I wanted to thank them all for their hospitality and to thank them for their efforts as the military has a strong connection to me and my family.
I hope these events continue and I hope I can make it so as many as possible in the future. As long as they'll let me!
So once again THANK YOU Chefs.
Now here's a picture of me after dinner and a few drinks wearing a 'stolen' hat. (I promise I returned it to its rightful owner!)
