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An Evening with Alan & Gerard

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Alan and Gerard L'ortolan

It’s a rare occasion indeed when Alan Murchison and Gerard Basset combine talents to deliver an evening of spectacular food, astonishing wines and conviviality.  Both masters in their respective fields, Alan and Gerard will be sharing their knowledge of food and wine and regaling guests with anecdotes from their years in the trade.

About our hosts…

Michelin Starred Chef, Alan Murchison, has held a Michelin star at L’ortolan for 11 years and is the inspiration behind the 10in8 Fine Dining group of restaurants. Prior to taking up his position as Executive Chef at L’ortolan, Alan trained with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons.  Alan has appeared several times on BBC2’s Great British Menu as both competitor and mentor and his recipes are regularly featured in the national media.

Gerard Basset is arguably one of the greatest wine professionals of his generation, the reigning World Champion Sommelier and the only person ever to simultaneously hold the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and MBA Wine honours. Gerard co-founded the hugely successful Hotel du Vin Group and latterly the award winning, New Forest boutique wine hotel, Hotel TerraVina.

Alan and Gerard are business partners and have been friends for more than 10 years.

L'ortolan Prestige Menu

About the evening …

Alan and Gerard invite you to join them for a very exclusive evening at L’ortolan.  Aperitifs and canapés precede a sensational seven course menu devised by Alan with wines selected by Gerard.  Of course, during dinner Alan will comment on the food and Gerard the wines, but more than that, they will talk about their careers with some behind the scenes stories.  There will be plenty of opportunity to ask them both questions during this relaxed and informal evening.

For further details please visit our website or call 01189 888 500 

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L’ortolan Festive Cocktail

Posted in l'ortolan, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan festive cocktail

A couple of years ago we blogged about the history of the L’ortolan festive cocktail; a sparkling favourite during the festive season.  We thought we would share this great blog with you all again and give you an update on all the flavours that have gone into making the 2012 festive cocktail so scrumptious.
To sample the 2012 festive cocktail book a place on the L’ortolan Festive Lunch.

L'ortolan Sparkling Festive CocktailThe sparkling wine cocktail with a specially blended syrup dates back to December 2005, and each year the syrup is developed by adding new flavours and spices. In 2011 a mulled wine reduction was infused with flavours of blackcurrant, strawberry, blueberry, fig, peach, pear, chestnut, herbs and spices & tot of Scotch. Using the syrup left over from last year as a base, L’ortolan Sommelier Craig Steven has blended raspberry, blueberry and cream fruit liqueurs of blackcurrant, blackberry, peach and wild strawberry. Earlier in the a year syrup was made from the poaching liqueur from cooking Mirabelle’s that were foraged from the local area for the use in some of the chef’s dishes. The Mirabelle syrup has also been added to the blend for this year’s festive syrup.

(more…)

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Great British Cheese Board

Posted in Food, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »

L'ortolan Cheese TrolleyFrom today the L’ortolan cheese trolley gets a British makeover. It’s out with the French cheeses and in with the British. The L’ortolan cheese trolley will now contain a variety of 14 different English cheeses and a Scottish blue cheese.

Head Chef Nick Chappell explains that as L’ortolan moves forward with contemporary tasting menus it is important we support British artisan suppliers. British artisan cheese producers produce great quality cheese, as good if not better than French suppliers.

A couple of cheese suppliers can be found on L’ortolan’s doorstep in neighbouring Berkshire towns; Village Maid in Riseley produce two of the cheese trolley’s classic soft cheeses, Wigmore and the French farmhouse style Waterloo. The Barkham Blue produced by Two Hoots Cheese is another local favourite with its rich blue taste, smooth buttery texture with a melt in the mouth flavour.

Other suppliers are sourced from all over the country, from North Yorkshire and Linconshire to the southernmost counties  including The Isle of Wight Cheese Co. with their award winning IOW Blue.

L'ortolan Goat's CheeseBrock Hall Farm in Shropshire is one of L’ortolan’s most prolific British artisan goats cheese suppliers. Sarah and her goat’s supply three wonderful cheeses; Capra Nouvea, Dutch Mistress and Pablo Cabrito. Capra Nouvea was a winner of 3 Gold Stars at Great Taste Awards 2012 and named as a Top 50 Food in Great Britain 2012. This is one the Chef’s favorites and can often be found on the menu in dishes such as; Scorched Brock Hall goat’s cheese, beetroots, beetroot sorbet, soy nuts & seeds.

Foraging at L'ortolanDiners can enjoy a selection of L’ortolan’s British cheeses as an additional course with any of the menus. The cheeses are plated with a variety of different condiments such as a truffle honey with the goat’s cheese, quince paste jelly with the blue chesse, a pear and fig chutney with the soft cheese, and a rosehip jelly with the hard cheese.

L’ortolan Sous Chef Mark Apsey is a keen forager and when the ingredients are in season you’ll often see him around the grounds of the building and in the local area foraging for the fruit to make the chutneys and jellies to accompany the cheese.

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A Shellfish Masterclass

Posted in Cookery School, Food, Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Shellfish MasterclassWednesday saw the demo studio come to life once again with an entertaining Shellfish Masterclass from L’ortolan Chef Ian Swainson. Due to the bank holiday weekend the demo was rescheduled for the following day, so we breathed a sigh of relief in the morning when the freshly caught shellfish arrived.

Our demonstration guests arrived early and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to prepare dressed crab, cooked lobster, clams mariniere and oysters with pickled shallot & chilli.

Here is one of the recipes that Ian demonstrated:

How to make Clams Mariniere

Ingredients

1kg – Clams (washed)
200ml – White Wine
1 – Banana Shallot (diced)
1 – Clove Garlic (pureed)
100ml – Double Cream
Parsley (chopped)
25ml – Riesling

Method

  1. Take a large saucepan and heat until very hot.
  2. Add the clams and pour in the white wine, cover with a lid. The clams will steam in the wine very quickly.
  3. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
  4. Finish with the cream, followed by parsley and Riesling.

Following the demonstration Ian showed the guests around the L’ortolan kitchen and introduced them to the rest of the culinary team. Once the party were seated in the main restaurant for their lunch, Ian took a couple of minutes to demonstrate how to remove the tail meat from the lobster that was cooked earlier. Take a look at the video.

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L’ortolan Cookery Demonstration Programme

11th September – Shellfish Masterclass – If you love shellfish but like many find preparing and cooking it a daunting task, then our Shellfish Masterclass will teach you how to transform it into some wonderful and tasty dishes.

9th October – Game Cookery – As we embrace the game season the L’ortolan Chef’s will be revealing secrets behind some of our favourite signature dishes

30th October – Food and Wine Matching - Basics

27th November – Food and Wine Matching - Advanced

18th December - Turkey Masterclass - taking the strain out of Christmas

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