The Balkan Table

Thanks to all who came to the eastern European Table on Saturday. The night was a great success and we will certainly be cooking some of those dishes again. There were some lovely comments about the food, and one that was particularly flattering was that “there is nothing out there to compare this to.” We work hard to develop each of our tables and like to explore different possibilities for dishes, keeping the experience unique is close to out hearts. One of my favourite new items was the beetroot and orange puree topped with a walnut cream. The walnut cream is made using fresh walnuts, chicken stock and sour cream, it is then blitzed and passed through muslin to create a silky texture. This is then set in the fridge before serving. Although it is only served as an amuse bouche, it packs a real punch of flavour and is a delicious Bendy’s Kitchen discovery.

The idea of this particular table was to create a meal which took the diner on a journey through the cuisines of Eastern Europe, we had influences from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bavaria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. All of these influences were given a bit of a twist in keeping with our “taste globally, eat locally” approach, and we are now looking forward to our next event.

On the 12 May we will be holding our third Table Without Borders, and we will be setting off to South America to be inspired by the delights of Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. There will of course be some latin influence here, but also some Arab influence which was taken to this part of the world by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th century. We are expecting this to be a journey through a colourful and vibrant culinary tradition of spiced meat dishes, fresh salads and beautifully made baked products.

The South American Table is already nearly fully booked, but we will be looking for a larger venue to cater for more guests – still seated at one table, enjoying good food and good company. This Table is £20pp and will be a five course menu.

Enjoy.