Truffle-y good!

The other J and I found ourselves peckish and slightly footsore after a post-Cabaret mooch around Covent Garden outside Neal Street Restaurant and felt it would be rude not to pop in avail ourselves of their fine Italian fare. A quick glance at the menu made me come over all truffle-y and the only decision to be made was which of the delicious sounding truffle enhanced dishes should I choose. It was a tough call and this is a seriously fabulous seasonal menu but after some due consideration I plumped for:

Tagliolini al Tartufo Bianco
Hand-cut tagliolini served with butter and truffle sauce with shavings of white truffle

QUAGLIE AL TARTUFO NERO

Boned quails stuffed with black truffle and served with seasonal sautéed wild and cultivated mushrooms

SEMIFREDDO AI MARRONI

Chestnut and chocolate semifreddo served with crème Anglaise

The fresh pasta with the white truffle was utterly divine. A trolley is wheeled up to the table and a pan of just cooked pasta is expertly tossed in the juices and then a perfumed lump is carefully shaved all over the pasta. And the smell is just so amazing, I always find it hard to describe, it’s heady, it’s evocative and somehow quite primal. And boy does it get the juices flowing! And it tastes even better. This was rather a decadent starter but I’ve been hankering after white truffles for a while and as it’s the truffle season, I just couldn’t resist. And if you’re going to indulge in some white truffles an expertly Italian-made dish would seem the way to go.

To continue the truffle theme, my main course were very tasty quails stuffed with truffles with some very Antonio Carluccio-esque wild mushrooms. The Carluccio fondness for mushrooms is very apparent here, as you enter the restaurant you are greeted with a giant stone mushroom (carved from some leftover stone from the House of Parliament apparently) filled with a plethora of wild mushrooms. The walls of the restaurant are lined with long sticks that Antonio has whittled/carved in moments of quiet contemplation. The quails were really good but after that stupendous starter everything else pales somewhat.

The other J had ZUPPA DI FAGIOLI CANNELLINI E FUNGHI Cannellini beans and wild mushroom soup followed by LINGUINE ALL`ASTICE Classic Lobster linguine. And the lobster was bought to the table with the similar theatre as the white truffled pasta.

We shared the very Christmassy light chestnut and chocolate semifreddo and then just in case I felt I hadn’t explored the truffle theme enough we were bought the most unctuous chocolate truffles. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

As we were getting our coats I commented to the other J about the drawing of three middle aged trouser less men in the ladies’ toilets and pondered if the men’s toilets had an equivalent picture. The maitre d’hotel overheard me and said that the men’s toilets had no such picture, in fact no pictures at all and explained that the picture in question was a David Hockney that had been presented to Antonio Carluccio. Hockney had drawn and sold the picture to raise funds for a court case back in the 80’s when the three pictured men were accused of publishing a lewd magazine. In fact the maitre d’ was so lovely, I wish I’d taken his name, he didn’t just clarify the trouser free men but told us all about the décor as well and laughed when I told him I'd seen his boss at the Blueprint Cafe Cookbook club and he'd told a joke in a slightly impenetrable Italian accent and we'd all struggled to understand the punchline. It turned out to be rather rude!

I left very happy and in a haze of aromatic white truffle; it really is pungent stuff. This meal was truffle-y good and deserves three truffled forks. Excellent real Italian food as it should be.

A perfect night!

What would be my recipe for a perfect evening?

Well first of all there would be great company, hopefully there would be Patrick Dempsey wearing that special smile of his (and little else preferably!) if he were available. Though unfortunately he never seems to be. Of course there would be some magnificent food and some equally delicious wine to wash it all down with. And maybe just maybe if that weren’t enough indulgence they'd be an opportunity for a little retail therapy, possibly of something fabulous and shiny! Mmmm, heaven!

And that was pretty much my perfect night tonight. Okay Patrick was busy... again but maybe next time!

Tonight was my second Divertimenti extravaganza and the theme was Festive flavours of Perigord with a special dinner prepared by Flavia Rowse - so completely up my boulevard! Last time we had a demonstration and we passed bowls around to taste things and had a couple of small plates but this time there’s only twelve of us and we sit on barstools around their ‘La Cornue’ range and demonstration island and the lovely Mary serves us each fabulous plate with a flourish as Flavia creates it. When I think of Perigord, I think of truffles, foie gras, and possible mushrooms and that's exactly what delights were on offer. We were positively awash with foie gras treats and I for one wasn't complaining.

Firstly, Flavia whipped up a little taster of a heavenly tiny baked potato topped with shavings of foie gras and black truffle with a glass of Sauternes! Just gorgeous!

Next we have the ultimate starter. An amazing indulgent plate of foie gras filled pasta with a truffle and mascarpone sauce, with which we drink some Champagne. I think I have died and gone to heaven, that sauce is just stunning. I could have had it by itself as an amazingly decedent fondue. Flavia certainly knows her foie gras, she tells us the history of the Egyptians worshipping the goose headed god which first established foie gras as the ultimate high days and holidays foodstuff. Romans improved on the original Egyptian method and developed a system of force-feeding the geese figs instead of grain. With the fall of the Roman Empire, such luxury foods were forgotten for the next millennium. She postulates that it was the Jews settled in Italy that spread the word and reinstated foie gras and maybe not the Gascon peasants as otherwise believed. Though with Flavia’s mother being French she wouldn’t normally admit to that!

Next we have a foie gras hiatus and Flavia makes us a lovely little warm salad of Chanterelles with some country bread. Then it’s back on the foie gras for a new take on burgers. We have the most delicious ‘burger’ made from brioche, flash fried foie gras, ruby chard and duck crackling. There was also a tomato jam made with Balsamic, ginger, coriander seeds and of course… tomatoes! I had mine on the side in case it spoilt the taste of the amazing ‘burger’ and yes, I did try it and declared it ‘not too bad!’. I’m glad I didn’t have it all over the brioche though!

Finally we have figs in puff pastry with mulled wine and cranberry coulis and a little more Sauternes. The meal wouldn’t generally be a normal complete dinner party menu it was meant to really showcase the fruits of Perigord, well actually foie gras and it was truly stunning. Flavia gets three well-deserved three forks for her efforts.

And if the evening wasn’t wonderful enough, there was time for a spot of shopping after our magnificent meal which is always extra fun after a few glasses of Sauternes etcetera! And somehow I ended up with a new pan and a cookbook. But I guess I better explain those ‘accidents’ in another post. And that doesn’t include the cookbook that Flavia is writing with her mother, which I intend to add to the burgeoning shelves when it is completed

And then when I returned home from the ideal evening what did I have waiting for me? Yes, you've guessed it Patrick Dempsey. Well at least on my Sky+ anyway!

So it really was the most perfect evening after all.