Another Food Blog

In a previous life it was Base One, and before that a couple of similar incarnations called Bar Excellence and Bar 21. It is on Abbey Orchard Street, across from New Scotland Yard. The other incarnations didn’t work because its owners conceived it as a sports bar, and imagined youngsters ten deep round the bar drinking designer beer with pieces of lemon or lime sticking out of the bottle. The problem is that there are not enough of them in Westminster. The market would support a place with wooden cubicles and Tiffany lampshades, where middle aged and middle income civil servants could entertain their colleagues, and MPs their staff.

It’s been closed for a year or so, and is a little more intimate this time. It is called The Abbey (being within sight of Westminster Abbey). We tested its lunch menu, having between us an OK Greek salad, a steak and chips (which came rare, as requested), and a pasta Neapolitano, which was nicely sharp tasting. The Concho y Toro Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon (13%) was velvety smooth.

The verdict was that it’s good enough to make us regulars, given its proximity. It isn’t brilliant, and they could lose the TV screens, but it’s a welcome return as it is. Given that it’s next door to Conservative Campaign Headquarters, and close to Labour’s Central Office, there might be enough local trade to sustain it.

After Thanksgiving the next festival is St Andrew’s Day on Nov 30th. It is big among Scots, especially with those based in other countries, but not widely celebrated otherwise. I’ll probably celebrate it with haggis, if I can get any, and Scotch whisky. Meanwhile my thoughts turn to Christmas, and I just acquired my Christmas goose.

I used to have goose as a child. My uncle did the accounts for a local farmer, and one of the rewards was a goose at Christmas. Then for many years the fashion went to large chickens or turkeys, but I have returned to goose. Originally I bought fresh goose, but it involved putting one’s name down early, then queuing in a line for hours on the day the butcher released them. And there was quite some extra preparation required to get the bird oven ready.

I tried frozen goose, and was surprised to find how like the fresh ones it tasted. Given the huge extra convenience, I found it a better deal. Geese are raised free range. They do not take to being battery raised. They need some grass, a pond, and a place to walk up and down honking at other geese and passers by. They have a much stronger taste than chicken or turkey, and are less likely to dry out while cooking. Indeed, the amount of goose fat which comes out always surprises. I collect it as a clear liquid in a tray below, and it sets to a pure white, about 5 jars of it.

I usually cook it alongside roast potatoes, and serve it with a bramley apple sauce and vegetables that I always decide on at the last minute. This year I bought a 5kg bird, about 11lbs, and my thoughts are already turning 4 weeks ahead…

I started with Jackie’s recipe. A pint of chicken stock with the shredded turkey. Onions and carrots, yes. Then I added some leek, augergine, and sweet potatoes, and I did include a fair helping of sweetcorn as Jackie suggested. A few twirls of black pepper, and I used a good pinch of cayenne pepper in place of the chillies and ginger. I added the recommended herbs and let it simmer.

It came out as more of a turkey broth, but it was completely fantastic as I ate it watching a thunderstorm rage outside. What a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers!

In the heart of London’s theatre-land, on a corner in St Martin’s Lane, is La Roche restaurant. It’s layout makes it uncrowded and uncluttered, and there’s a big room downstairs as well. There are wooden floors and tables, mirrors and high ceilings, and coloured glass lanterns. The cuisine is Lebanese with some Moroccan, though traditional English dishes are also available.

At 8.30 pm the place was nearly empty. It’s a good time to go because there’s a pre-theatre crowd, and a post-theatre rush when the Duke of York’s across the street comes out. The menu has typical Levantine dishes featuring slow cooked lamb and aubergines, cous cous, and aromatic charcoal grills. One of the starters chosen was spicy potatoes done with olive oil, red pepper, spices and green chillies. They were delicately done, unlike Mediterranean versions which tend to come in tomato sauces. The other starter was Kibbeh Shamy, lamb meatballs with crushed wheat and herbs, with fried minced lamb and pine nuts in the middle. It was superbly fragrant and utterly delicious.

One of the main courses, chicken cous cous, was not as good. The chicken came under great lumps of vegetables, and was described as ‘OK.’ The lamb tagine was better – a big chunk of mostly lean lamb cooked on the bone in a clay pot and served with pita bread and salad. It was nicely herbed and pleasantly sweet. The wine with this was a Lebanese red, Clos St Thomas (14 percent), a blend of cabernet, syrah and cinsault grapes, with cabernet dominant, which left a liquorice taste on the tongue.

This is definitely a place to go back to, especially in warmer weather when there are outside tables available.

The thanksgiving meal was more modest than Jackie’s, but captured the essence of it. It started with New England clam chowder, served with champagne. After that came roast turkey, with a chestnut based stuffing. The whole turkey was wrapped in foil for the first two and a half hours in the oven, then opened up for half an hour to get the top properly brown. Alongside it went sweet potatoes, peas and corn. Cranberry sauce and gravy were added to taste. It was eaten with Pouilly fume, a Loire favourite. Then came pumpkin pie, made with eggs and sugar whipped into the puréed pumpkin, and with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger added. The surface skin had parted slightly, giving it a smiley look. It was certainly popular, with everyone having at least two helpings. By this time we’d gone on to port and Madeira. We finished with big cigars over more champagne.

Now I look forward to a few days of fried sweet potatoes, sweetcorn soup, corn bread, pumpkin soup and bread, and cold turkey baps, of course.