Wednesday 23 September 2009

Inchivala...



Melinda Lovells 60th Birthday gathering brought the legs of lamb together for the first tme in months in the unlikely region of Cantal in the Auvergne.

I say unlikely but it is home of Cantal cheese and also Aligot one of our favourite cheesy potato dishes so it was inevitably on a long list of places we'd like to visit. It is also home to Sanchias parents and their wonderful 'Potage' which we spent the weekend raping and pillaging . Well it is after all Harvest time and we did have 25 people to cook for! We had a guest leg of lamb for the weekend too, in the guise of Oliver Rowe chef patron of Konstam at the Prince Albert.... and there were arguments either!

Onions, Beetroots, pumpkins, purple runner beans, carrots, apples and quinces .... and a leg of ham from a local butcher.... There are a few things to fill you in on but I will have to wait until next week when I have photos.
I will leave it to Pippa and Sanchia to add to this escapades tales. More from me next week!

The Eagle (cookbook) has (re)landed!

The Eagle had its 18th Birthday earlier this year and its coming of age has brought with it a reprint of the original Eagle Cookbook with additions from chefs past and present...like David Eyre, Tom Norrington-Davies, Sam & Sam Clarke, Margot Henderson, Trish Hilferty and Ed Mottershaw, the present head chef, to name a few.

The unlikely pair who started it all are Mike Belben (on the left) and David Eyre (on the right) and the forward of the new edition, which is written by Fay Maschler, summarises how it all started and where it stands now amongst all the spin offs and copy cats ... and all of us who learnt a thing or two from working there.

You can buy this book on amazon for a steal and probably buy it in Borders or Waterstones too, however I recommend buying your copy in the eagle after sampling something from the book so that you can see for yourself where the Gastro Pub began!

The Eagle, 159 Farringdon Road EC1R 3AL, 020 7837 1353