November 2009 Archives

In January, Michelin-starred hotel-restaurant, Northcote, celebrates 10 years of Obsession, its annual festival showcasing fine food and fine wine. This legendary gastronomic celebration offers up some of the UK and Europe's most talented chefs, each of whom cook an exclusive 'one night only' menu at Northcote, Lancashire.

To celebrate the festival's 10th Anniversary, chef Nigel Haworth and his business partner Craig Bancroft have confirmed a superb array of talent for Obsession 2010, which starts on Monday 25 January and concludes Wednesday 3 February 2010. Participating chefs include: Tom Kitchin, Phil Howard, Theo Randall, Lisa Allen & Angela Hartnett , Ken Hom, Jacob Jan Boema from Restaurant De Leest, Netherlands, Andrew Fairlie, Nathan Outlaw and Nigel Haworth himself.

Food critic and Great British Menu judge, Matthew Fort and food columnist and presenter Tom Parker Bowles, will be swapping their pens for spoons for one evening during the festival.

To mark the occasion, Caterersearch.com and Obsession have teamed up with industry cahrity Hospitality Action to give one lucky reader a chance to attend the last night of the event hosted by Nigel Haworth.

The prize includes:

• Dinner for two with matching wines on the last night of Obsession hosted by Nigel Haworth
• Overnight stay in the hotel
• Two Obsession 2010 cookbooks
• A set of Nigel Haworth's Food with Roots Hotpots

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize worth £500, all you have to do is donate £5 to Hospitality Action and your name will automatically be entered into the prize draw.

ENTER NOW!

 

 

Competition Terms and Conditions
1. This competition is open to all UK residents aged 18 or over except for employees of Reed Business Information Limited and their immediate families.
2. The "Caterersearch.com/Obsession" competition closes at midnight on Friday 22 January.
3. Winners will be chosen by Caterersearch.com.
4. The prizes do not cover any additional expenses incurred such as travel expenses.
5. The winners will be notified by e-mail within a few days from the date of entry.
6. No cash alternatives are available.
7. Entry is by donation of £5 to Hospitality Action.
8. The prize will be awarded to the winner picked randomly by Caterersearch.com.
9. The decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
10. The names of the winners will be available from Caterersearch.com by calling 020 8652 4424 or by viewing our winners' page.
11. By entering the competition, entrants are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions.
12. Caterersearch.com reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition or these rules at any time without prior notice.
13. Entrants can contact Caterersearch.com at the following address: 'Caterersearch.com/Obsession competition', Caterersearch.com, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS.

Following on from my Taste of Christmas dining experience, armed with a video camera I spent time with three of the chefs that will be appearing at this year's Taste of Christmas at Excel, London.

Bjorn van der Horst from Eastside Inn, Francesco Mazzei, chef-proprietor of Italian restaurant L'Anima and Pascal Aussignac, co-owner of Club Gascon all welcomed me into their kitchens so that I could capture a sneak preview of what will be on offer from their restaurant during the three-day event.

Watch van der Horst cook All Cremet, Mazzei prepare Capitone Eel stew and Nicolas Bellorguey pastry chef at Comptoir Gascon demonstrate the restaurant's new signature dessert, Gascon Mess.

Taste of Christmas in partnership with Waitrose, returns to ExCel from 4-6 December, for three full days of indulgent eating, drinking and shopping.

Last week I was invited to a mini-tour of four of the restaurants that will be appearing at the three-day event and sample the food that they will be showcasing.

First stop was Trishna. Trishna showcases a combination of the Mumbai restaurant's signature dishes - along with a fresh take on the coastal cuisine of south-west India. On the menu at Taste will be Lobster and Crab Salad with Mooli, Cucumber, Cauliflower Pakora, Green Chilli and Lime (below)

Next on the tour was Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill which are offering two types of Oysters, native and Oysters Rockefeller (below). Oysters Rockefeller was created at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's in 1899 and named after the richest American at the time, John D. Rockefeller because of the richness of the sauce. The sauce is made of spinach which is added to the top off the oyster, followed by breadcrumbs and baked.

Following on from the oysters we headed to Japanese restaurant Sumosan in Mayfair. We were presented with a plate of maki rolls which were all perfectly made - which is what you would expect for a restaurant that has gained a reputation for serving some of the best Japanese food outside of Japan.

At Taste of Christmas expect sushi including Maki rolls such as Black Cod, Unagi, California and Salmon and Avocado (above).

Our final stop was to Tarmarind which specialises in stunning dishes from north-western and southern India. Chef Alfred Prasad presented us with Masala Welsh Lamb cutlets, Green Pepper Pulao, potatoes, broccoli and toasted cumin.

All in all the Taste of Christmas menu preview was was a great way to spend a lunch hour or two...

And if this has whet your appetite then why not enter our exclusive competition to win a pair of tickets to Taste of Christmas 2009.

Caterersearch.com has teamed up with Taste of Christmas and is offering five lucky readers the chance of getting their hands on one of five pairs of tickets. All you need to do is e-mail your name, address and e-mail to info@caterersearch.com with "Taste of Christmas 2009" in the subject line.

Winners will be selected at random at midday on Monday 30 November will be contacted via e-mail.

For more information on Taste of Christmas visit its website at www.tasteofchristmas.com/2009/

Photos by Katherine Alano

The video team at Caterer have been busy bees over the past couple of months travelling to some of the top kitchens to film some food demonstrations.

In September, we spent an afternoon with Alan Murchison in his demo kitchen filming four dishes from his menu at the Michelin-starred L'Ortolan in Reading.

Watch Alan prepare confit of duck and pan-fried foie gras; pan-fried organic salmon; confit shoulder of lamb and caramel souffle.