Tasting Events at LA FROMAGERIE 2007
This is just a selection of some of the tasting events we hosted and co-hosted throughout the year.
January: As always we began 2007 events with Fondue Savoyarde. On January 23rd guests were invited to a cosy candle lit LA FROMAGERIE where they enjoyed a fondue supper with all the accompaniments & Savoie wines. Hopefully they had spent the day skiing down the black runs, as a hearty appetite was the order of the day.
We followed that up with our annual Burns Night Supper on the 25th. Co hosted with Compass Box Whisky we toasted Scotland's favourite son and champion of the common people, Robert Burns.
Guests feasted on a whisky laced supper of classic Scottish fare of Cock-a-Leekie, Scottish Smoked Salmon & the essential Haggis with 'Neeps & Tattis' accompanied by a hilarious cue carded rendition to the ‘Ode to a Haggis’ by John Glaser and Greg Glass, followed by a very Typsy Laird & Cheese Plate with Scottish oatcakes, all washed down with liberal tots of very good Scotch whisky with the sound of bagpipes ringing in our ears.
Following a sourcing trip to Krakow in January we began February 1st with an event celebrating Polish Cuisine, which became one of our favourite events of the year. Co-hosted with entrepreneur Ewa Spohn and chef Artur Moroz from Poland. Artur created an authentic Polish feast giving us a taste of the history of Polish cuisine as Ewa introduced us to its future through her work with artisan food producers. The dinner began with classic Polish fare of borsch with zurek (sour rye), smoked fish & cured herrings; various charcuterie with pickled cucumbers, horseradish & artisan breads
Grilled Oscypek (a sheep’s cheese from the Tatras), Pierogi (dumplings) filled with meat & cheese with cabbage and wild mushrooms followed by Bigos (also known as Hunter's Stew) served with Golabki - cabbage leaves stuffed with rice & meat.
It was a truly inspirational evening with copious amounts of vodka and mead enjoyed by all – Ewa will shortly be bringing in some artisan charcuterie from Mr Madry, just outside Krakow.
St Valentines Dinner 14th February was all about the cool French sounds of Francis Lai – Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back and we all enjoyed a delicious supper. Un Homme et Une Femme – Starting in Deauville, Normandy then ending on the train platform at Paris Gare St Lazare; Anne and Jean Louis meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their children's boarding school. Slowly they reveal themselves to each other, finding that each is a widow/widower. Each is slow to reveal anything personal so that each revelation is hidden by a misperception. They become friends, then close friends, and then she reveals that she can't have a lover because, for her, her husband's memory is still too strong. Oh the romance of it all…But the scene is set; Jean Louis and Anne meet, two sad companions of misfortune – Tragic we know, BUT in order that we did not all end up crying in our soup… the focus was on a delicious regional supper of French fare where we enjoyed classic dishes from the shores of Normandy to the Bistro’s of Paris. The supper will began with Fruits de Mer; then the classic French dish; Tournedos Rossini, followed by an essential La Fromagerie cheese plate & dessert; coffee & Calvados from Normandy brought the evening to a decadent end.
A tasting of Wine Washed Farmhouse Cheeses was held on 22nd February. It was a frosty February – so a perfect opportunity to do a unique cheese tasting based around Italian & French cheeses washed & macerated in alcohol. Full bodied tastes from cheeses washed in wine, eau de vie, dipped in barrels of grape must, macerated in sweet wine & finally flambéed with an apple laced Marc – it all went rather well with full bodied red wines along with some farmhouse hams, homemade pickles & breads.
March was all about Mothers Day Sunday 18th March
Possibly the most important date in the calendar!! La Fromagerie had everything necessary to treat your mum and make her feel special – from a LA FROMAGERIE Mothers Day breakfast of Prosecco & home made Gravadlax with toasted Brioche to a La Fromagerie Gift Box of all her favourite goodies. As usual staff were on hand to help customers create the perfect gifts.
April gave us the first of our Spring events with a Spring Cheese & Wine Tasting tutored by Patricia. The Spring weather had brought new lease of life to the pastures & meadows with flowers & herbs which the cattle, goats and sheep grazed on. The cheeses had taken on a fresh tanginess which was meltingly creamy but also buttery and crumbly. We focused on spring goat’s cheeses from England, France & Italy teamed with both red & white wines, it promised to make strong converts of those who did not consider themselves lovers of goat’s cheese.
Late April we ventured to Poitou for a Spring tasting supper of classic regional fare. An area separated from Brittany by the Loire, a rich fertile land especially famed for its goats cheeses. The menu featured a delicious dish of pigeon breast with herbs & truffles with stuffed spring cabbage finishing with a Tourteau Fromagé – a classic dessert of this region.
May 17th hosted a New Season Tasting Supper featuring new season produce and new producers that La Fromagerie had recently begun working with. The menu travelled from Essex to Poland to rural regions of Spain, France & Italy. We tasted everything from new season cheeses to polish pork loin smoked in beech wood rolled in locally grown herbs to Richard Eames Essex Hot Smoked Salmon served with new season Jersey Royals; we finished with mouth watering bowls of fresh vignola cherries & charentais melon with vanilla cream pots made with Springstep goat cream from Malden. It was a fabulous tasting with many of the Essex producers holding court over by the oyster bar!
On May 24th Patricia was back at Christies Education: co hosting a Wine & Cheese Tasting with Jane Hunt MW.
Italy remains unique amongst modern European countries to have maintained its firmly entrenched attitude to expect and insist on high quality, freshness, variety and authenticity from its home-produced food which its cheeses being no exception. The incredible quality developments within Italy's wine industry over the last 20 years now provide the consumer with a vast diversity of flavours and styles mainly from indigenous grape varieties not grown elsewhere. Patricia and Jane put together a selection of matching and contrasting flavours to illustrate the best of Italian cheese and wine.
The June diary was booked out with private tastings so we began planning three fantastic tasting events for July.
On July 6th we were delighted to co-host a tasting event with Yotam Ottolenghi & Nir Feller. Nir was the head chef of Ottolenghi in Nottinghill, but was about to move to Tel Aviv at the end of July to open up his own restaurant – more to follow on that shortly!
Nir devised a fabulous selection of tasting dishes featuring seasonal La Fromagerie produce – paired with Nir’s flair & that distinct Israeli touch. The menu included dry rubbed strip loin with beetroot vinaigrette, fatoush - baby spinach leaves, parsley, coriander & mint with marinated goat cheese & toasted pita, grilled prawns & squid with preserved lemon, smoked paprika & fennel. Finishing with fig & wild thyme honey ice cream with summer berries
This event proved to be a delightful evening for friends & colleagues wishing him well on his next venture.
On July 12th we held a Summer tasting of cheese & wine with a distinctly floral edge paired with some light summer wines including Prosecco, Rosé & a Sicilian white which evoked all that’s best about summer with its delicate freshness. Creamy Burrata & a selection of delicate goat’s cheeses, finishing with a very light frothy homemade Ricotta served al caffé – a delicious recipe from Campania featured in Patricia’s book ‘The Cheese Room’ made for a distinctly feminine tasting.
On July 18th we moved up to high ground with a High Mountain Cheese & Wine Tasting. The event had a more masculine edge. We travelled to high mountain regions starting in the Catalan Region onto the French Pyrenees and up to the Northern Italian Veneto region finishing in Switzerland. The cheeses were paired with regional beers & cider.
In August we were delighted to hold a Charity Cheese & Wine Tasting:
In September Marisa, one of our shop managers was getting married, she & her fiancée Keith decided to forgo the usual decadently lazy honeymoon & opt for helping a rather worthwhile cause instead. By participating in a ‘communitychallenge’, which involved trekking across Cuba, this Oxfam charity raises money for areas hit by famine and disease. In order to participate in the challenge Marisa & Keith needed to raise just over £2000 – which is where we came in! We held a fabulous tasting evening with a Prosecco & Seafood Bar followed by a regional cheese & wine tasting with Patricia Michelson. At the end of the evening there was a raffle of some fabulous prizes many donated by local companies including L'Artisan Parfumeur, Rococo, Skandium, Cologne & Cotton & even Claridge's in Brook St
On August 21st we had a Convivial Evening of Wine, Cheese & Lively Discussion
Co hosted with Andrew Simms author of TESCOPOLY - In his book Andrew explains that the rise of the supermarkets - and in the UK particularly Tesco - are now a corrosive feature within our society; and how they are endangering our communities & environment in their quest for continuous growth. The book shows how their actions undermine local food culture, destroy regional diversity & unpick the fabric of our communities. We think this is essential reading for anyone conscious about how they shop.
Andrew Simms is also the Policy Director & head of the Climate Change programme at nef (the new economics foundation). www.neweconomics.org
We also took the opportunity to introduce the next ‘Dirt Café’ project - created out of a collaboration between designers, chefs, food specialists, medical and well-being researchers, economists, scientists, social entrepreneurs and many others. It is part of an on-going series of projects since 2004, the Dirt Cafe project for the 2007 London Design Festival, in September, was centred on global and local water issues. www.dirtcafe.com
October brought us into the month of plenty, when we enjoyed Autumnal produce. On the 16th we held a small tasting event focusing on Heritage Apples and other orchard fruits paired with farmhouse cheeses ciders and English wines;
finishing with a classic apple dessert of TarteTatin
On October 25th we were joined by Francis Bissell author of The Scented Kitchen. Frances is an internationally-acclaimed cook and award-winning food and cookery writer, broadcaster and TV presenter. We devised a fragrant menu featuring recipes from her book incorporating the heady scents of roses, lavender, fennel, violets, marigolds, saffron & rosemary amongst others. It was a delightful and informative evening where Frances also gave a book talk. We hope to follow up with another dinner in Spring/early summer 2008.
October 18th: Saw the next in the series of Christie’s Education cheese and wine tastings where Patricia and Nancy Gilchrist MW focussed on Wines and Cheeses of the (erstwhile) British Empire.
November 15th saw the beginning of the run up to the festive season with Beaujolais Nouveau Day – we celebrated in our usual way with Beaujolais Nouveau Village from Château de Belleverne & a classic menu of French fare, including Escargot with garlic butter, Bayonne Ham with celeriac remoulade & Boeuf Bourguignon followed by a selection of French cheeses, including St Marcellin paired with Beaujolais and Poilane, finishing with a delicious Tarte Tatin
We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday 22nd November in great style with a Prosecco bar & cocktails followed by a four course supper of all-American fare from pumpkin soup with pumpkin bread to turkey with all the trimmings, a cheese plate and the essential apple pie & pumpkin pie all paired with some fabulous wines completed the menu, and guest were entertained throughout by our in-house magician who mesmerised us with his card tricks.
It was a dark and chilly night on November 28th when La Fromagerie was transformed into a cosy candle lit room for guests to enjoy baked Vacherin paired with Savoie wine, charcuterie and crusty breads - this was classic La Fromagerie Winter fare followed by an Italian cheese plate paired with a warming red wine.
On November 29th Patricia was back at Christies this time with Peter McCombie MW focussing on Classics, Clichés, and Clashes. Red wine and cheese is a match made in heaven. Right? Well, yes and no. Actually more cheeses find better partners with white wine rather than red and the reason lies in the structure of the wine, specifically in the balance between acidity and sweetness. 'Classics, Clichés, and Clashes' will not only brought together some excellent and unusual wines and cheeses but also demonstrated why some partnerships can verge on the sublime and why some are doomed from the start!
December 7th: Following the transformation of our Highbury shop which now houses a small tasting café they held their first tasting event with a Christmas Cheese & Wine Tasting for the North London locals.
Guests joined Patricia for a glass of Prosecco, co hosted with Christophe our Highbury Affineur; as they took guests through a tasting of Christmas cheeses paired with wines & platters of charcuterie.
December 13th was our last tasting event of 2007 and we celebrated back at Moxon St with an Evening of Festive Fare & Christmas Shopping. The shop was brimming with Christmas fare and decked with holly and mistletoe. We began with mulled wine, Floc de Gascogne, Prosecco & a Maldon Oyster Bar. Guests feasted on all manner of delicious foods & the kitchen prepared delicious things to eat, along with a selection of Christmas cheeses and platters of charcuterie - all paired with a red & white wines. The evening ended on a decadent sweet note with a ‘dolce & espresso bar’
