A night out with Tony Rodd

Last Friday we got home from work and boyfriend mentioned that Tony Rodd, one of the three finalists in this year's Masterchef competition, was hosting a pop-up at a restaurant nearby. Boyfriend had seen an advert about this in the papers and, being the food lover that I am, knew this would get me very excited. Which of course led me to immediately Google the event, only to discover it was being held this Monday (three days later) and I probably didn't have a chance of getting a booking. Nevertheless I decided to give it the old college try and phoned the restaurant, only to be told it was full and be placed on a waiting list. My hopes were dashed and the future was bleak...

...Until shortly after lunch on Monday, when I received a call from a very Italian sounding man to let me know that there had been a cancellation, and they had space for boyfriend and I to attend that very night!! Thankfully I'd only had a very light lunch, as the evening of gourmet glamour ahead of me was to involve a five course taster menu, designed and prepared by Tony Rodd as the guest chef at Chapters of Blackheath!

So, who is Tony Rodd you ask? What even is Masterchef? Let's start with the latter. Every year, a TV program called British Masterchef features Australian chef John Torode and media personality (and former greengrocer(!)) Greg Wallace as they bring on some of the best amateur home cooks in the UK. They set them a bunch of cooking challenges, get them to serve up for some big name critics, chefs and former winners, and generally tantalise us with the breadth and depth of innovative, exciting cheffiness. I have learned so much from this program and it has certainly worked out well for contestants who got far enough through the competition - many of them enter the food industry ad become top notch chefs.

Tony Rodd was one of this year's contestants, and he was a favourite to win, only just missing out on the top prize in the final exciting episode. I love his cooking, because he likes mixing flavours, presents his stuff beautifully on a plate and follows his pre-prepared Gantt chart to the second to ensure that he gets it right (I know, I'm a total geek...whatevs). To top it all off, he stands out by having a great TV personality and a show stopping 'tache. What's not to love?

OK...enough gushing. Time to talk about the main event...I.e. the incredible five course meal that was put together for us on Monday night.

We were told that dinner begins at 7.15 but naturally I was so excited that we got there fifteen minutes earlier. Luckily the staff were on super form: sat us at our table, gave us the wine list and brought a sumptuous selection of breads to choose from. The focaccia was incredible...so much softer and yummier than the one I make. I could have eaten ten pieces, but I suppose then there would have been no space for the real food. We ordered our first bottle of wine: a lovely 2014 Hazy View Chenin Blanc from South Africa. Boyfriend found this one a bit sweet and I have to agree that the second bottle was slightly cloying. But in retrospect, I think it was a good choice, as it went well with all the white meats and fish that came later. And as we waited, I studied the menu and my lips began to water.

A taste of the night to come...

The restaurant gradually filled up and I could see some people were (almost) as excited as me. And then finally Tony Rodd stepped out in front of us all, welcomed us to the pop-up and began to introduce the first course, which was the Bloody Mary Gazpacho. He said his inspiration for this came from the restaurant we were sitting in itself, because he spends every hungover weekend sitting there, sipping a Bloody Mary.

He finished up and the waiters brought us our gazpacho soups. Now, I've had a bad experience with gazpacho in the past and since then, I've always refused to eat it. I'm also not a fan of cold food, especially not cold soup. But I was hardly going to turn down the first course prepped by a Masterchef finalist, and I'm so glad that I didn't. This gazpacho was beautifully creamy, and served at just below room temperature, making it more than palatable. After a few mouthfuls the flavour of Worcestershire sauce came through, as did the tabasco (although not in a spicy way). I couldn't taste the vodka unfortunately but I suspect that it was the reason behind the supreme creaminess of the soup. And it was all perfectly topped off with a celery stick, which was fun to stir through the gazpacho and chew on. A perfect starter!

Bloody Mary Gazpacho

with a touch of Worcestershire sauce, tabasco,
celery salt and vodka

We didn't have to wait long until Tony came back out to regale us with the inspiration behind his second course: a Celebration of Cauliflower. He dedicated this to a friend of his who's a vegetarian, but ate every single meat dish that he cooked whilst on Masterchef. What a legend! And then out came this incredible looking cauliflower cooked three ways: absolutely gorgeous on a plate and (considering I don't actually like cauliflower), pretty damn tasty too!

As you can see from the pictures, the beauty behind this dish comes from the accessories. Although there was roasted cauliflower in the centre of the dish, and pickled cauliflower sitting around it, the complement of white grapes, pureed cauliflower, hazelnut and pistachio crumb and finally the port sauce just made it incredible. Boyfriend's favourite part was the crumb (I'm going to have to splurge on nuts more often), but I fell in love with the pickled cauliflower paired with the sauce and grapes. Truly delicious and, the piece de resistance, the battered cauliflower leaf lying across the roast cauliflower was the highlight of my night.

A Celebration of Cauliflower

Drops of cauliflower puree, surrounded by a nutty crumb,
grapes and all kinds of cauliflower goodness

Don't even bother to ask if we were getting full by this point - our tastebuds had merely been tantalised by the first two courses and they were eager for more. And this came in the form of the fish dish, with the inspiration coming from Tony growing up by the sea in Essex eating the fresh cockles. And this dish, chaps, is where the evening went from merely fine dining to the ultimate gourmet experience. For out came this wonderfully presented, plump, firm, piece of monkfish, delicately wrapped in parma ham and cooked exquisitely. The pea shoots sitting beneath this were barely registered, because the rest of my focus was taken up by the delicious saltiness of the cockles, contrasted with the fresh, creamy lemony taste of the sabayon. I had never eaten monkfish, cockles, nor indeed a lemon sabayon before, and I would happily eat this every day for the rest of my life. Incredible.

Monkfish & Cockles with Lemon Sabayon

A culinary delight - plump, juicy monkfish with a zesty lemon sabayon,
 and the saltiness of the sea from the cockles

And it didn't stop coming. Next Tony told us about the meat dish - a trio of rabbit. He informed us that he had cooked something very similar on the show, but it had been rabbit four ways and he had been so pressed for time that he cut himself quite badly. So this time, he stuck to rabbit three ways.

Now you lot know that us Maltese have a particular affinity for the rabbit (see my previous blogs on Maltese cooking), and we love it chopped up and fried in garlic. So I was slightly worried that this gourmet way of dining wasn't the place for rabbit but boy, was I wrong. This dish was possibly the most beautifully presented of the lot and it was far and away the tastiest. The rabbit was cooked in three, delightfully different ways: wrapped in bacon, with a beautiful herb crust and shredded. My words cannot do the moistness and flavour of this meat justice. The mushroom sauce was delicately flavoured and light, and the spinach puree brought the whole dish home. I finally understand why John Torode always tries to stick everything on a fork at once and shove it into his mouth - because separately the morsels of food are good but together? Together they sing.

Trio of rabbit

There is no doing justice to this dish

And finally...just when I thought it couldn't get any better...the dessert. A hugely filling, but incredible delicious Jamaican ginger cake that was amazingly full of flavour, the creamiest home-made ice cream sitting on top of it. Just in case that wasn't enough, a solid chocolate tube sat next to it, filled with a beautifully light caramel mousse. And for sharpness, three drops of gooseberry coulis which, paired with the chocolate, meant that I had a furious argument with my stomach about how I didn't care if it was full, I was going to keep eating.

Chocolate, Caramel & Rum
Understatement of the Centure

And that was it chaps. An amazing dinner, cooked by someone I'm going to take constant inspiration from. What better was is there to spend a Monday night?

Cruising in Food Heaven

If you read my other blog, you'll know that all too recently we returned from a cruise to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. One of the absolute highlights of this trip with the four course dinner every night, which featured Italian cuisine with fantastic presentation and a great taste - and imagine! the cooks were catering for hundreds of people at once! Quite the accomplishment.

So although the rest of this blog doesn't actually feature any of my own recipes, I simply had to show you all the amazing things we ate on this Costa cruise line in the Mediterranean, and hopefully it will not only inspire you to try your hand at some of these dishes, but it will also inspire me to try and make some of these food creations. I've made a few notes below the pictures, with a few suggestions for changes I would make to the dishes. After all, the poor chefs on the cruise had to cook these dishes up for hundreds of people at once!

Squid Ink Risotto with Prawns and Cherry Tomatoes

This was pretty nice - I've never tasted squid ink before and I was concerned it would be too salty and strong. It wasn't, just a really lovely flavour. I would have loved king prawns with this dish, cooked in garlic and butter and added on top. Probably wouldn't have bothered with the cherry tomatoes, but maybe some chilli instead?

Meat filled Ravioli

This tasted a lot better than it looked, although I haven't a clue what the sauce was. And they were advertised as 'meat'-filled, as opposed to any specific meat being named. Some spinach and more garlic would have been welcome here.

Sea Bass with creamy potato, sautéed greens and cherry tomatoes

A classic, beautiful dish. The presentation could use a bit of work, but I wouldn't change a thing!

Grilled Swordfish with lightly fried Octopus

This was one of my favourite dishes on the entire cruise. The octopus was cooked absolutely beautifully, and the swordfish wasn't bad either! Adding anything extra here would probably ruin the dish - it really didn't need any carbs or veggies on the side. Swordfish is pretty filling actually.

Steak with stuffed pepper, bubble & squeak and red onion chutney

The steak and stuffed pepper were great (a nice change from steak and chips) but I wasn't a fan of the bubble and squeak at all. It was more like a quiche, and they would have done so much better with potato fritters. I don't like having gravy poured on top of my steak either...

Mussel broth tagliatelle

Absolutely beautiful dish. You could taste the freshness of the mussels, and Italians never go wrong with pasta.

Fried courgettes in a creamy pasta sauce

This was quite a surprising dish. I'm not a big fan of courgettes, but sliced thinly and fried like this, they really work! The cream was surprisingly light, and it was an excellent starter.

Rare steak with jacket potato and kapunata

Yum yum yum! Served beautifully rare and the kapunata (Italian dish of peppers and garlic and other veg) complemented it amazingly. Again, nice change not having chips on the side - the baked potato was great!

The most amazing seafood platter

We didn't actually have this seafood platter on the cruise - I ordered this for dinner the night before we boarded in the port town of Savona. Aside from being a huge dish, at an amazing price of 20 Euro, it was perhaps the best dish I've ever tasted. The highlight was certainly the octopus, which was cooked perfectly and was absolutely divine. The mussels, prawn and scallops were fantastic, and the fish itself: swordfish, tune and the whole sea bream(?, maybe?) were incredible. And there were chips on the side!! The best start imaginable to this holiday, and I will one day return to that restaurant and order it again!!

A Review of Maltese Cooking

Before I start overwhelming you all with my delicious sounding and ever so unusual Malt-British recipes, I thought I'd give a quick overview of the typical kinds of foods found in a Maltese kitchen, and in Malta in general. Some of these dishes may sound quite typically Italian, and some may have a more Moroccan or Arabic twist, and some may just sound weird, but trust me - they're all delicious.

When thinking about Maltese food, I always begin with Maltese bread, or hobza Maltija. Although 'normal' white bread can be bought in Malta, we prefer our traditional bakers and the uber fresh bread that we get from them., often still warm. Maltese hobza is a sourdough, which means that each baker has a unique flavour associated with their bread. The bread is extremely crusty, and comes in two main varieties: one which can be cut into slices and the other which is known as ftira and is used to make the unique Maltese sandwiches. Both types are absolutely delicious, and I have no doubt that many of the chunkier Maltese locals will attribute their weight to the copious amounts of hobza that they have eaten before, during and after their meals all their lives.

From hobza we naturally move onto hobz biz-zejt (hob-zz biz zeyt) which translates literally into bread with oil. But it is so much more than that. We like to make up a mixture of stuff that we place into the bread, usually a combination of kunserva (tomato paste), fresh chopped tomatoes, capers, olives, salt, pepper, copious amounts of olive oil and sometimes canned tuna. Everyone has their own version of this mixture (or tahlita) and it is the most divine thing you can imagine. Give it a go - I had hobz biz-zejt for lunch every day of my childhood, and I would still if I could get my hands on some fresh hobza on a daily basis.

My own version of Hobz biz-zejt

All this talk of hobz biz-zejt is making me salivate so it's time to move on. Next I'm going to describe a traditional Maltese fenkata, which means rabbit feast. This is a very traditional local way of eating that goes back years, and it's so much fun to go out to restaurants in some of the small villages with a big family or a group of friends, and stuff yourself in this way.

At the beginning of a fenkata, you start with olives, hobz biz-zejt, more fresh bread, and bebbux (beb-boosh), which are snails cooked in garlic and butter. Yes, snails. Divine. Freakin' love them!! After this we move onto the starter, which is always pasta. You can either have spaghetti or ravioli filled with ricotta, traditionally served in a rabbit sauce. Then, in case you're not already full, the main course comes out.

The main course is obviously rabbit, and this can be cooked in two ways: as a stew or fried in garlic. The latter is, of course, my favourite way, and it is so flavoursome. You can't be a lady when eating rabbit, because there's lots of bones (and the head for the strong of heart), but it is so tasty that it's worth dripping rabbit juice down your fingers. The rabbit is served with thick-cut Maltese chips, and that's it!! No nasty vegetables at a fenkata - there simply isn't space to fit any in!

Rabbit stew

Finally, to finish the evening, they bring out peanuts in their shells (karawett) and helwa tat-tork (sugary mixture of crushed almonds). Some people even have space for mqaret (minced dates in pastry) with ice cream, but I certainly never do. By then, you've drunk the rest of the wine or beer (Maltese cisk is a local lager and I recommend you try it - yum!) and it's time to roll yourself home!

If rabbit isn't for you, there are plenty of other options to eat at a fenkata. You could have something relatively low key (they always serve chicken as an option), or you could go for another old favourite: horse stew!! Not easy to find, but there are a few select places on the island where they serve this up, and it is sooooo good!!

Fried rabbit, with lots of garlic

Let's move onto something a little less unusual. The Maltese don't actually dine on rabbit super regularly, so we do have a few more normal dishes. Baked rice (ross fil-forn) and baked pasta (imqarrun) are two very popular dishes, especially with children. I won't describe them in more detail here, since I will certainly be cooking them in the near future and will give the recipes in future blog posts. But *spoiler*: they are nothing like the rice/pasta bakes found in the UK!

imqarrun

Now, what kind of Mediterranean cuisine would be complete without fish and seafood. The Maltese bring in plenty of local, fresh fish all the time, and there is quite the appetite for prawns, calamari and octopus. I can't think of any specifically Maltese way of presenting these, although spaghetti with an octopus sauce is a firm favourite, but you can bet that fresh tomatoes, capers, olive oil and the like are commons ingredients served with the fish.

I'm going to bring this blog post to an end now, as I don't want to drive you all to a madness beyond control, caused by the description of all this tasty food. Go away, make yourself some hobz biz-zejt, and come back tomorrow for a description of Maltese fast food (unlike anything found elsewhere), and some Maltese desserts. I'll also tell you about some popular veggie dishes which draw influence from many countries, but all with the standard Maltese twist.

A Grand New Beginning....In the Kitchen

So here it goes....blog number 2. Those of you who have been avidly reading my other blog: Je t'aime le Chicken, will know all about me and the crazy stuff I like to talk about: holidays, cooking, life in London and previously in Preston. For those of you who have never heard of me but have stumbled across this because they happened to google 'Maltese' and ' cooking', or something along those lines, well, here's a brief intro.

By the way, those who have read my other blog might also like to read this quick intro. Just because.

If asked to describe myself in three words, the answer is easy. I am Maltese, I am an astrophysicist and I am a child in an adult's body. Ok, more than three words. But close enough. The first descriptor is the most important, the second the most interesting (see my other blog or my website if you're curious) and the last (phrase) the most obvious when you first meet me.

So, why have I started a new blog about cooking? Probably because when I started university in the UK over eight years ago I couldn't cook anything more exciting than a pot noodle (and I totes lived on those) and now most people I know will describe my food as being exciting, tasty and, most importantly, containing a great Maltese twist. Maltese food, and Mediterranean food in general, contain all my favourite aspects of good cooking: it can be healthy (but not necessarily so), it's mega flavoursome and it's so easy to do.

And to really sum up the reasons for this blog: I want to encourage Maltese people who have left the island to maintain the part of their heritage and culture that deals with food, and I want to give the opportunity for non-Maltese people to cook their own versions of tasty Maltese treats.

Also, in case you were wondering whether this blog would be all about how to make home-made pastizzi (pea cakes) and mqaret (fig desserts), well, think again. This is about how a chef brings the flavours of Malta to her (his) kitchen, not about spending hours filling and baking filo pastry with a delicious pea mixture. You want pastizzi?? I know a place in London. Just not my kitchen.

Mqaret

Pastizzi

Last, but not least, here's a picture of my home. Malta. It's in the Mediterranean. And it's awesome!!