Gingerbread!
Look at these fab gingerbread cookies! As some of you may know, we have now moved to New Zealand, and were welcomed by the lovely Lizzie, who had made us these hilarious and tasty biscuits - we couldn't resist taking a wee picture to commemorate their abstract beauty (before being scoffed!).
Hamilton Christmas 2
A few foodie snaps from the Hamilton family Christmas!
Hazelnut was the theme of the day, with our favourite nut featured in every dish - Beef carpaccio, followed by hazelnut crusted cod and samphire (no picture I'm afraid!), a little beetroot and horseradish sorbet palette cleanser, and finally a layered dessert of cherry jelly, dolce de leche mousse, dark chocolate and hazelnut crumb, and lemon thyme with edible flowers.
Nutty!
The Last Supper
Saturday marked ‘The Last Supper’ - a biblical themed meal, to celebrate our last supper club in Edinburgh.
Prior to the event, we sent out invitations with animal masks, so that attendees came in pairs, aka, the animals came in two-by-two…
We introduced the night with a little bit of help from our old pal Noah, who made an appearance at our very first supper, so it seemed only fitting that he was brought out of retirement for our last Edinburgh event, welcoming our pairs with warm olive bread, baba ganoush, whipped butter, and our signature parsley pesto.
To start, we decided once again to hark back to our first supper, with a dish titled ‘Two Peas in a Pod’ – pea puree, scallops, salmon, mash, white chocolate sauce, dill oil, and pea shoots – two variants of pea on a plate.
Our main course was inspired by the story of ‘Adam and Eve’ - a candy snake, pork rib and caramelised apples, all within a dish of brined pork loin, pork bolognaise, celeriac, beetroot and apple blossom garnish.
Finally, ‘The Exodus’, which historically was the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to found Israel (also known as the land of milk and honey). A tenuous link perhaps, but milk and honey – what could be taster!? A honey set-cream was served with olive oil and pistachio cake, and half a poached pear, all decorated with edible gold leaf and rose petals.
Needless to say, this was a momentous event for us, after all, it was our last Edinburgh supper, and marked the end of sixteen months of hard graft and growth, and resulted in an emotional (yet tremendously fun) final farewell.
Thank you to everyone that attended this weekend, and all of those that have attended our suppers to date, it has been truly wonderful to meet and greet you through our floral door.
We will shortly be moving to New Zealand, but plan on continuing our suppers on the other side of the world in some form or another, so please do keep your eyes peeled for our latest updates and exciting new projects.
For now, goodbye Edinburgh, you have been fantastic!
All photographs by Isabel McCabe
Retro
At the beginning of the month we celebrated our penultimate public supper with a retro theme, and some our favourite classics brought bang up to date.
We started with a deconstructed coronation chicken dish - devilled eggs, stuffed ice gem lettuce, roasted apricot, cucumber ribbons, and roasted chicken thigh with coronation mayo. Our main course of venison wellington was served with cavalo nero, chestnut puree, mash, black pudding , fresh fig and our famous AT gravy. Finally, our take on a baked alaska, with raspberry ripple ice- cream and browny, all served in a cream cone with Italian meringue.
We're almost coming the end of our time here in Edinburgh, and next weekend marks our last supper - we intend to go out with a bang!
Thank you as always to all the wonderful folk who came to celebrate with us at Retro, your support means the world!
Be Back Soon
We know, we know, updates have been rather thin on the ground lately. This is mainly down to the fact our computer is having a much needed M.O.T.
We should be back up and running with a new blog post on November's Retro supper soon, but until then, here's some retro Martin Parr!
Sunday with OH! Taste
This Sunday we spent the morning plating up a storm at the Secret Herb Garden, with photographer Olivia Halvorsen of OH! Taste, and good pal Hilary Sturzaker of Mymonkfish acclaim, who now also runs public relations at SHG.
After our initial meeting with Olivia (way back in June!), we were keen to collaborate on a project that brought together our passion for food, a unified aesthetic, and the beauty of an interesting Edinburgh landmark - the Secret Herb Garden was undeniably our first choice. So, after talking with Hilary over the summer it was agreed that SHG would work tremendously, but when would our conflicting diaries permit such a collaboration?? Four months later of course!
Finally, on Sunday, we were there, and the scene was set on a beautiful soft-lit morning in the glass house. After a recce of the wonderful edible flowers and herbs that were on offer in this living larder, we got started on four simple dishes that can be assembled easily at home.
We began with a crab rarebit – brown and white crab meat combined with cornichons, and topped with a layer of mature cheddar sauce. This was followed with a bowl of ripe figs and soft burrata, covered with lashings of peppery rocket and pistachio pesto.
Smoked chicken is a firm favourite of ours, so we created a dish using roasted leek and courgette, blue cheese and sprigs of fresh rosemary. Finally, that much loved retro classic - trifle, which we made in individual portions and decorated with blue borage flowers from the garden. All recipes will be added to our recipes page.
Every dish brought together the simple and clean flavours that we love here at AT, as well as herbs and flowers direct from the SHG glass house – what a luxury!
As you can see, Olivia has done a beautiful job documenting each step of our dishes, and even worked her magic on yours truly! This project also has additional significance, as Hilary was the first person we met on our Edinburgh food journey, so it felt fantastic that she was involved in one of our last projects, providing assistance and support.
After months of date deliberation and procrastination we finally got there, with lots of scrumptious food and photographs – well done ladies!
A huge thank you to the Secret Herb Garden for allowing us to use their space; if you haven't been already, then you really must. Book a tour to see the bees (or better, sponsor them!), treat yourself to a slice of cake in the fragrant glass house, or speak to the team about using the space for something exciting.
Freeze Frame: The Wizard of Oz
Last night marked our last ever Freeze Frame at Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith, serving up a 3-course meal to one of our favourite classics - The Wizard of Oz.
To start, we served up "There's No Place Like Home" - Corn chowder with fresh herbs, crispy bacon and corn bread.
A main course inspired by the Scarecrow - Straw smoked venison/smokey aubergine with boulangere potatoes, parsnip puree, kale and berry gravy.
Finally, a colour spectacular "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" - Strawberries, orange cake, lemon tuille, lime and coconut panna cotta, blueberries, raspberry sorbet and rose petals.
It was a wonderful evening and I was chuffed to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. I would like to thank the Drill Hall team for being so supportive for the last year, Isabel, my fabulous sous chef, and everyone that has come to support Alright Treacle and Freeze Frame in the past, it has been a fantastic event to be a part of.
MEAT HEAD
This weekend was carnivore central at AT HQ with a 3-course menu made out of MEAT, MEAT and, well, MEAT! A theme we have wanted to try for a really long time, Saturday was a sell-out success, with faces old and new tucking in to some of our favourite dishes to date.
We started with our signature homemade bread and dips, this time the bread was flavoured with pancetta, cheddar and shallot.
Our first plate was a complex venison carpaccio with parsnip puree and crisps, seasonal fig, parmesan, pistachios, pickled shallot rings, mustard frills and a dressing made using pomegranate molasses.
The main course was a beef extravaganza - beef cheek, blue cheese and walnut pie, rare fillet, celeriac puree, chanterelles, poached pear, blackberries, pea shoots, buttered beef and porcini gravy.
Dessert was an Alright Treacle first - cheesecake - made using bacon and salted caramel with a hazelnut base, tart berry topping and earthy beetroot sorbet.
One down, two more to go, and we can't quite believe it's almost over...
The Wizard of Oz
We're incredibly excited to announce that this month's Freeze Frame Film Club is one of our absolute favourites - The Wizard of Oz.
For anyone who has never seen the movie/been living under a rock all their lives, The Wizard of Oz is the incredible tale of a bamboozled young lady called Dorothy, who, after an incident with a twister in Kansas, is transported to a mysterious land. Like any unexpected trip, Dorothy is desperate to go home, but not without befriending some unlikely characters... Witches, wizards, hot air balloons, murder, monkeys, creepy casting, and Judy at her best, this Freeze Frame is not to be missed!
We will of course be cooking a delicious three course menu alongside the film, but sadly this time will be the last time, so book now, don't delay and save your seat at the last ever Alright Treacle/Freeze Frame spectacular!
Advance booking for the supper required (£15 for 3-courses), please call the cafe on 0131 555 7100 to save your seat, or visit the website for more information.
Entry for the film – £3, payable at the door or in advance at the café.
Take One Action! Good Things Await
This weekend we were invited to cook for Take One Action! at Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith.
The film in question was Good Things Await, a wonderful and inspiring documentary that focuses on a Danish farmer's biodynamic approach to agriculture, food production and nutrition. Using ingredients mentioned within the film, as well as a variety of inventive cooking techniques, we chose lots of earthy and autumnal flavours to heighten the audiences senses whist watching the film.
We started the night with homemade seaweed breads and wild herb pesto, followed by smoked beetroot carpaccio (parsnip puree, fig, pickled shallots, goats cheese, hazelnuts and elderberry dressing).
Main course was a choice of either beef cheek or wild mushroom pithivier with celeriac and kale, and finally a dessert of walnut custard cake with poached pears and raspberry sorbet.
Next month is our last time cooking at OOTB Drill Hall for one of our favourite childhood films - The Wizard of Oz.
Book now to experience the final Alright Treacle/Freeze Frame Film Club union - www.outoftheblue.org.uk/freeze-frame-film-club-presents-the-wizard-of-oz-1939.
Baby Veggies
We're working on a really exciting commission at the moment... sneak preview!
HoneyBirthday
A few ostentatious snaps from Lydia Treacle's bright'n'boozy birthday in the Meadows!
We started at AT HQ with an Asian inspired lunch of shredded vegetable and peanut salad, sticky chicken, ginger and garlic potatoes and satay sauce. Then a delicious gluten free boiled orange cake and berries on the Meadows in the sun - fantastic way to spend a Sunday!
California Dreamin'
It was a hen-spectacular at Alright Treacle last weekend, with a lively bunch of lassies celebrating their pal's upcoming nuptials at our wee HQ.
Our theme from Yvonne (the maid of honour) was 'California', with an emphasis on light, bright and seafood, as Cali is Jacq's (the bride's) favourite destination.
To start we made a deconstructed California roll - brown crab emulsion, herby white crab, avocado puree, grapefruit segments, cucumber jelly and seaweed tuile biscuits.
The main course was our take on U.S. favourite fish tacos - pan fried cod, sweetcorn set custard, charred corn, pea and tomato salsa, scallop tacos and coriander cress.
Finally, a set lemon cream with blueberry centre, white chocolate cookie dough base, blackcurrants, homemade lemon curd and caramel.
Thank you to the gals for choosing Alright Treacle to kick off a raucous and fun-filled night! If you're keen to have a bespoke evening of celebrations then get in touch at info@alright-treacle.com.
Top 10
We love hosting private suppers at Alright Treacle. It's always an absolute pleasure seeing our HQ turned in to a bustling event space, with a rip-roaring atmosphere and (of course) our signature bespoke menu, and last Saturday was no exception.
After attending our Anti-Valentines supper back in February, we were asked to host a birthday party for the gorgeous Georgie and her pals, as she was keen on the idea of having her own one-off supper club.
Rather than providing a theme, we asked Georgie to collate her favourite 10 ingredients (harder than its sounds, as her original list was 35!), then we would try and include everything in to the menu.
Georgie's list - shellfish, courgette flowers, pistachios, berries, artichoke, saffron, cardamom, avocado, goats cheese, truffle oil - we couldn't have picked better ourselves - challenge accepted!
Starter - Scallops, artichoke puree, crispy onion and pistachio crumble, truffle oil
Main - Saffron baked hake, goats cheese stuffed courgette flower, avocado and red pepper puree, roasted vine tomatoes, sautéed potatoes
Dessert - Orange and almond cake, cardamom custard, berries, pistachio brittle, edible flowers
The menu seemed to go down a treat and the event itself was a joy to host. Lovely people, an elegant space and clever cooking - we'll consider that an AT hat-trick!
If you like the sound of your own bespoke supper, then get in touch at info@alright-treacle.com.