SIMON ROGAN at home - again
I won’t detain you long with this.
A review of our first ‘Simon Rogan at home’ in July was given here. We ordered the August menu and ate again late in the month. It would be jolly polite to wax lyrical again about another fine meal but even I can recognise your limits and don’t intend giving you any more than a quick tour. Quick enough to leave you time to order your own treat. Sometimes pictures and a few words speak louder than pictures and a lot of words.
Heritage Tomato Water With Lovage, Tomato Salad And Goat’s Curd, bread crumb
The ‘water’ gave a lovely twist to what could have simply been a homage to a certain Great Milton (by way of France) chef’s ‘tomato essence’. Fruit and acidity was there but the lovage gave an earthy garden note - imagine the lingering aroma of bruised tomato leaves after a picking.
A perfectly judged starter.
Stuffed Shoulder Of Herdwick Lamb, Grilled Courgette And Wild Garlic, artichoke purée, pickled artichoke, yeast crumb and a sauce
The sort of thing you could do ‘without Simon Rogan at home’™. And I know some of us do. But I must admit that I’ve never quite achieved the tenderness and succulence of that slow cooked and pressed shoulder.
Everything here was in the right place at the right time. And I’m still chuckling at the ridiculous notion of merely describing that final glorious poured-over touch as a ‘sauce’!
Perfectly judged again.
Chamomile Sponge Cake With Gooseberry And Sheep’s Yoghurt, granola, sorrel syrup
Yoghurt couldn’t quite hold its own against the warmth of the sponge and slid down before it could be captured in pole position for my photo. Mild excitement over the prospect of pudding delight could explain my ‘casual’ plating. In any case, more sliding down followed very easily while we tried really hard not to rush the flavours here.
Erm. Oh. Yes. All together now - “Perfectly judged.”
We got close to the recommendations of sommelier, Valentin Mouillard, from our own supply.
The red is a familiar style but the Portuguese white was enough of a pleasant surprise to be investigated again with other perhaps more fishy dishes.
For a second time we dined very well indeed courtesy of the Cartmel kitchen. An adventurous cook might fear withdrawal symptoms as hours of preparation are rendered unnecessary. I say go with it and have a day off before enjoying a night of short, relaxed final touches for some of the most clever and tasty food which can arrive in a (somewhat) plain brown wrapper.
A busy September means that we are waiting eagerly to complete our trio of orders when October comes around. I wrote that very quietly so as not to excite my salivary glands too much.
Enjoy your own box if you haven’t already!