{"id":2786,"date":"2011-08-22T12:54:34","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T12:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jamesramsden.com\/?p=2786"},"modified":"2011-08-22T13:06:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T13:06:22","slug":"egg-night-at-the-secret-larder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamesramsden.com\/2011\/08\/22\/egg-night-at-the-secret-larder\/","title":{"rendered":"Egg Night at The Secret Larder"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>A couple of months ago I jumped on the sleeper to Cornwall to see Clarence Court HQ<\/a>\u00a0with Mark Hix, having recently been made an ambassador for the brand. After seeing all the happy birds I thought it seemed like a good time to put on an egg night at The Secret Larder<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anyone who has ever eaten a Clarence Court egg will know why this was such an exciting prospect – from the bowling ball-sized ostrich egg<\/a> to the pretty little quail eggs they are all stunning, with fat, rich, yolks and a flavour that makes the pale, insipid budget eggs seem on a par with pus-charged phlegm.<\/p>\n But I was wary of overdoing it on the egg front; it’s a special and not particularly pleasant feeling, that nausea you get when you’ve eaten too many eggs. So I came up with a menu that, I hope, showcased the versatility of eggs without totally, ahem, overegging it.<\/p>\n On arrival guests drank raspberry gin and tonics all frothed up with egg white – it’s a pretty straightforward drink. Blend raspberries with a little sugar and lemon juice and then strain. For one drink put equal parts raspberry juice and gin in a shaker with an egg white. Shake and pour over ice and top up with tonic water. Serve with a raspberry.<\/p>\n <\/a>There were soft boiled quail eggs with a version of celery salt – fleur de sel with celery seed – on the tables for everyone to pick at and chat over.<\/p>\n <\/a>To start I’d wanted to do bantam scotch egg arancini but 1) couldn’t find bantam eggs and 2) slightly undercooked the risotto (by arancini standards – you need to overcook the rice) and so couldn’t form the rice around the eggs. Things don’t always go according to plan. So I did yet more quail eggs perched on a half an arancino. A nest, if you will.<\/p>\n <\/a>Next was a chilled watercress, parsley and lovage soup with a poached hen’s egg.\u00a0 <\/a>By the main course I thought everyone might have had enough of eating whole eggs and so did very slowly braised lamb neck with an anchovy sabayon. A sabayon is like a hollandaise, in that it’s an emulsion of egg yolks and butter. This one contained a puree of anchovy and garlic. Guests seemed willing to drink it.<\/p>\n <\/a>Pudding was creme brulee. Well, almost brulee. My blowtorch ran out of gas and so I had to put it under my misfiring grill. It didn’t quite look the part but ramekins came back clean.<\/p>\n
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