A menu tasting at HQ, © Jacaranda
February is well under way with a very busy week of menu tastings ahead of us here at Jacaranda HQ. The first is today for a wedding in May, the second on Thursday for the Bury Court Opera and then we will be rounding off the week with not one, not two, but three wedding tastings on Saturday!
Both the opera and weddings are extremely glamorous, lavish affairs and we tend to find that hosts of such prestigious events have the same concerns as betrothed couples about pleasing the majority of their guests whilst still creating a menu that reflects their own personal tastes.
Whilst creating ideas for the menu options with Bury Court Opera, there was a suggestion that the food ought to be themed to match the 1950’s period in which the production is set. However, we struggled with 50’s diner food as the theme for the main course and decided to go with something that we thought would appeal more to the opera crowd.
Instead, we will be offering the following two choices for the main course:
Slow roast pork belly, cheek croquette, parsnip and potato puree, leeks and apple
~ or ~
Lamb cannon, crushed butternut, shepherd’s pie, fine beans with lamb jus.
We will then give a cheeky nod to the 50’s theme with a twist on a couple of options of modern Knickerbocker Glories. The first option is chocolate-cherry jelly, milk, white and dark chocolate, chocky sauce, nuts & marachino cherries and the other is tropical fruit jelly, lime posset, panacotta, passion sorbet & pineapple crisp. If these go down well we’ll be serving them alternately around the table leaving guests to swap between themselves as they wish.
If you want to try them yourself you’ll have to make sure you grab a ticket to the show!
When clients come down to the beautiful Cowdray Park for their tastings, they are welcomed into our bespoke tasting room. On one side of a glass partition it’s all high-end finishes and fancy cutlery, whilst on the other side one of our passionate chefs can be seen creating the very morsels that you’re about to devour in our onsite catering kitchen.
A typical bespoke tasting would usually consist of a selection of canapés, followed by two or three starters, two main courses and finally two separate puddings as well. This means that both you and your partner can pick a menu that you like and then swap dishes to see who has the better culinary style. You may even find that you liked her starter best with his main course and end up mixing up your menus to get the best of both worlds.
We like our clients to savour their tasting sessions and enjoy the dishes that we have created for them without the pressure of immediately making their choice. Whilst we find that most people tend to make a decision before they’ve even left HQ, they are certainly free to go away and cogitate on their decision, which just makes the anticipation of finalizing their menu even greater!