I was very honoured to be invited to participate at Glenfiddich’s One Day You Will First Ever Pioneering Summit up in beautiful Scotland, particularly at this time of year.
They asked me to choreograph an entire Eating Experience for both nights of the summit. A challenge that I happily accepted.
These are some impressions of the Initiation Dinner.
The most tender venison I’ve ever tasted – it should be – it’s from the “valley of the deers” -Glenfiddich in Gaelic. Eaten with Wooden sticks – one end had two prongs hand carved into them like a chipfork.
Initiation Dinner Tuesday 18th October 2011
Menu
Find yourself.
Break your bread and eat it. Leave yourself behind.
Put on a mask. Become someone new.
Introduction from Caroline Hobkinson.
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Wild Mushroom and Whiskey Soup
served in test tubes Warm yourself with a secret portion.
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Smoked Herring served on lemon grass skewers Add old tradition to new flavours
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Hendricks,Tonic and Cucumber sorbet popsicle
clean your palate
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Saddle of venison
meet the mythical creature with candied and golden beetroot, purple and white carrot, onion squash and curly kale
Dig up the past and discover new flavours
Extend your arms with the branched of trees and devour for the mythical creature.
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Apple Butterscotch pies with a candied apple give in to tempation
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Tiny deep fried mars bars in fleur de Sell batter – served as petit fours. Shed new light on myths
and this was the Gala Dinner
The deconstructed Scotch Quails Egg with the “Cutlery Disc”
The conventional cutlery outline was laser cut into the giant cracker.
The inspiring mixologist Eben Klemm with his reversed cocktail using liquid nitrogen- it became stronger as you drunk it.
Diners attacking the iced creature with warm treacle served in test tubes.
Pioneering is seeing the magic in the humble everyday – in this case floating bread rolls.
The Haggis was “piped in ” by a real bag piper and addressed by a woman ( very unusual) with a Robert Burns poem.
( He wrote an entire hymn to the dish !)
You are part of a ritualist eating performance
Cocktail by Eben Klemm
Eat floating bread rolls suspended by thin air. Inject with Cream Cheese. Inspect Whiskey marinated Salmon.
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A manifesto of new eating experiences by Caroline Hobkinson.
Deconstruct everyday rituals. Force yourself to reassess. Look at the familiar in a new light and find new solutions.
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Blindfold yourself.
2 flavours are paired specifically to complement 2 fragrances
to complement the fragrance of fresh mint:
Petit pois on a crusty bread
are placed into your mouth
to complement the fragrance of fresh rosemary:
Roast squash on a crusty bread
is placed into your mouth
See again.
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The Sound of a back pipe carries a Haggis
The Haggis is served as part of a deconstructed Scotch Egg.
Haggis on a bed of breadcrumbs with quails egg
Look at customs of the past which give our culture the rich flavour of today.
Eat with cracker bread disks with fork and knife laser cut onto them.
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Clean your palate with Hendrick’s and Tonic
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Tinned Fresh Sea Trout
Things aren’t what they seem to be.
Bite into soft apples of the earth from branches of trees DIg up buried treasures and get inspired by the humble everyday
Baked potatoes served on two pronged chip forks carved into twigs
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Sponge cake and whiskey & raisin ice cream Melt the ice with your own warm golden treacle.
Me with the wonderful and very down to earth Peter Gordon, great-greatgrandson of William Grant who pioneered Single malt Scotch Whisky. It was such a wonderful thing to spend some time at this traditional distillery with so many people so passionate about pioneering – it gave me a real taste for whisky though.
