boobs and blaggertinis

So, it has taken me this long to recover from the blaggertinis and delicious Portuguese wine (from Casa Leal, called Quinta Lagoalva De Cima) from the Blaggers’ Banquet the Sunday before last.

When I and a dozen or so other bloggers dribbled into the Hawksmoor that morning there were mountains of vegetables waiting to be julienned for decoration, shaved into crisps, oiled up and pureed down. It was somewhat daunting. We began by putting the leeks with the leeks, the carrots with the carrots etc – which involved dancing around each other Crystal Maze style. Food Urchin allocated canapes and chopping duties. I and A Girl Has To Eat took charge of the beautiful cherry tomatoes from Abel & Cole, marinading them in oil, lemons, salt and pepper, as instructed by head of the kitchen and super organiser Scandalicious, then skewered them alongside Laverstoke Park’s creamy buffalo mozarella.

Gin and Crumpets and a rather unusual chinaman prepared these canapes of Peter’s Yard crispbreads topped with fresh Brock Hall Farm goats’ cheese, chives, pomegranate seeds and Halen Môn vanilla salt…

…while Hollow Legs and The Princess and the Recipe got going on the thyme and chive-flavoured gougères, which filled the restaurant with a mouth-watering, cheesy pastry aroma.

We started the sit-down meal with monkfish tartare, made by Charlie of Eat My Nels with Fish for Thought’s super-fresh Cornish produce.  I didn’t get to try this, but it looked delicious and Charlie has offered to help out at Rambling Restaurant, so fingerscrossed I’ll get to taste one of his creations.

Mains were made by Neil Rankin: tasty Laverstoke Park buffalo steaks with bearnaise, spiced winter Donald Russell beef stew and lamb hotpot. These were served with Riverford Organic vegetables and handmade sourdough bread from St John Restaurant. Not to mention the wine, expertly poured by our sommeliers for the evening (Intoxicating Prose and The Winesleuth), the beer and cider (overseen by Billy) and the cocktails (championed by Essex Eating, Tim Hayward and Fake Plastic Noodles).

There were many many drinks to be quaffed and I’m not entirely sure whether these are Blaggertinis (Sipsmith’s vodka, Chegworth Valley apple and raspberry juice, Galliano Balsamico) or Cornish Cocktails (Bramley & Gage quince liqueur, Chapel Down sparkling wine).

Pudding consisted of chocolate fondants (Trish Deseine, Easy Tasty Magic and Sainsburys So Organic) and best of all, Bompas & Parr’s titillating jellies with golden nipples.

The cheese plate included Barbers 1833 Vintage Chedder, Trethowans Dairy Gorwydd Caerphilly and a selection of cheeses from Pong.

My waitressing partner in crime was the lovely Carla, from Can be Bribed with Food, who didn’t look at all like she had just “lugged 10 kgs of stewing beef from North London to East London in a suitcase on public transport”. Well done to Niamh at Eat Like a Girl and Signe of Scandalicious for organising this mammoth feast, along with a whole host of other bloggers, food and drink suppliers, those that came to dine and the Hawksmoor for putting up with us all. However, the Blaggers’ Banquet is not over yet… the ebay auction is still underway, with delights such as a Brays Cottage 3lb(!) pie or afternoon tea at the Ritz up for grabs. And as Tim demonstrates below, We Need You!

Photographs by Mark N – www.foodbymark.com