SUMMER
BIRTHDAY
A few weeks ago, I was asked to cater a very special 60th birthday garden party in London.
July is such a wonderful time of year for seasonal produce so I jumped at the chance to be involved in a summer birthday, and asked the birthday boy to choose some of his fave ingredients for inspiration. He came back with an array of many of my favourites too, including duck, lamb, crab, goats’ cheese, passion fruit, physalis, apricots, avocado, lavender, and capers.
Leafy canapés were served for guests on arrival - blue cheese, pear and hazelnut, pork belly and apple in green, and Mexican spiced mince, sour green, avocado and onion.
The starter consisted of a brined heritage tomatoes, crab and fennel mayonnaise, cold cucumber and avocado soup, and basil oil.
My client wanted a less formal main course, allowing people to come and help themselves, so I created a few different sharing salads, including
Shredded lamb with radicchio, goats cheese, pistachio, mint, capers and pomegranate
Duck breast with roasted squash, lime, mango, coriander, cashew and chilli
Seasonal greens (courgette, broad beans and runner beans) with a herb dressing
Finally, dessert was a choice of either lemon and lime posset with passion fruit curd, or apricot and lavender tart with with vanilla custard (or both!).
This event was a total joy to cook for, and the menu went down a treat -it’s always a delight contributing to someone's special day.
