Wednesday 11 September 2013

Week beginning September 9th - Ox-Eye Daisy, Damson Plums and Tansy

After last weekend’s wet and windy spell it became apparent that Mother Nature wasn’t going to grace us with an Indian summer. Once again we kiss goodbye to fresh English strawberries and begin to layer up like an onion. Here are a few highlights that feature on our menu this week.

Rowanberries: appear in bright vibrate clusters on trees that can grow up to 20m high. Though these trees are more at home in the woods, councils throughout London have been planting them along road sides. They are low maintenance trees and don’t need much encouragement. During late summer and early autumn berries appear, these berries are excellent cooked and made into syrup for drinks, or a jelly. This week we have on sale quite a few jars of rowanberry jelly, its ashy marmalade flavour in perfect on toast or used as a condiment on fatty meats such as duck or lamb.

Ox-eye Daisy: commonly found in grassy areas such as meadows and grazing pastures. The flower heads are aromatic and when cooked in oil or brewed like tea takes on an incredibly nutty bouquet. We’ve cooked the dried flower heads in oil on a low temperature for 1 hour until well and truly infused with a nutty flavour. Once cooled we braised ox-eye daisy residue with minced beef and vegetables, then incorporated into a flaky pie with mature cheddar to make a traditional Aussie mince pie with a foraged twist.

Tansy: this native perennial shrub has quite a distinctive appearance and smell. The blossoms grow in tight groups of 20-30 heads. The flower heads are round and almost look like yellow doughnuts. The flavour is quite hard to explain, best described as a pungent sweet curry and was traditionally served at Easter in sweet custard or used to season Drisheen a Irish version on black pudding. This week we’ve infused the tansy in a dressing made with Sambuca, apples, bay leaves and drizzled over a salad of torn glazed ham, baked mirabelle plums and runny rustic camembert.

Come get caffeinated and while you're at it, satisfy your hunger pains.

Jared Bryant
Lead Chef
@redjar50


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and apple 2.40
Savoury Scone: Cheddar, onion, mustard and thyme 2.40
Blackberry friands 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Chocolate chip cookies 1.80


French retro baguettes 4.90
Pancetta, jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted red peppers, rocket
Roasted courgette, crushed minted peas, satay, red onion and spinach

Foccacias 5.00
Ham, baked damsons, brie, spinach
Plum tomatoes, mozzarella, aioli, basil, rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Glazed ham with mirabelle plums, runny camembert, spiced tansy dressing and rocket
Julienne carrot, celery, onion, radicchio and goats curd with a lemon, fennel and garlic dressing
Parsley root roasted in citrus fruits and basil

Tart: 4.40 or 7.50 with salad
Beef cooked in ox-eye daisy with mature cheddar

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