Ingr3dients – Ubiquitous Chip

When having a meal, how many of your senses do you really use? 

Of course, there are the obvious ones; taste and smell.  If you wanted to be pernickety, you could argue that sight, touch and sound all have their place in the dining experience.  But have you ever had a dining experience that focuses exclusively on exploring the senses?  Probably not, if you haven’t attended the Ubiquitous Chip’s event: Ingr3dients.  It claims to be the World’s first sensory dining experience. 

The event was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant, situated within Ashton Lane, at the heart of Glasgow’s West End.  This charming lane is filled with character and very pretty to look at.  But if, like me, you enjoy wearing heels… be prepared to stagger along the cobbles looking like you’ve had one too many cocktails!

I was kindly invited to experience it for myself, and asked Irene to be my ever faithful companion.  On the invitation, the event was described as “combining fine food and cutting-edge digital art, including Alasdair Gray’s first digital artwork”.  I don’t know much about cutting edge digital art, but I do love my food!

The decor in the Ubiquitous Chip made for tranquil surroundings.  Soft lighting, provided by millions of teeny lights, along with an abundance of plants and a gorgeous water feature in the corner of the room, making a relaxing trickling sound.

On the table, there were 3D glasses waiting for us.  Safe in the knowledge that everyone was going to look as cool as us, we donned our attire…

One of the waiters pointed out the interactive sea bed, on the way to our seats.  It was so cute!  There were fish, crabs and lobsters etc, scurrying around the floor from a projection on the ceiling (I assume).  When you stood within the “sea bed”, they all scurried towards you.

Throughout the event, there were various digital art displays, running in a concurrent theme along with each course.  The first image was of a giant fish, darting around the screen and zooming in at you (in what Irene found to be a hilarious fashion; she was cackling away to herself!).  We were henceforth presented with our first course: A Tassie of Cullen Skink.

This creamy soup was so moreish; it was so thick and luxurious, with delicate chunks of fish and potato.  I could easily devour a massive bowl of this, and intend to recreate it soon!

Next up, there was a visual display of 3D shells.  With our glasses on, they looked beautiful and intricate.  This was to introduce the next course: Seafood Trinity.

This consisted of:

Queen Scallop, Dulce and Mirin Ceviche

Black Bottle and Beetroot Cured Organic Salmon

Crab, Pear and Celeriac Choucroute

I have to admit, I was apprehensive about this dish.  I’m a complete seafood novice; having never tried scallops or crab and not being very keen on smoked salmon.  But, in the spirit of adventure (and being able to talk about the food here!), I tried it.  The scallops weren’t as scary as I thought, but they didn’t taste of much.  The crab had a lovely texture, and I will try it again.  The only gripe is that I felt it was overpowered by the taste of mustard.  The salmon was a nice surprise for me; the whisky and beetroot gave it a lovely taste, and I ate the lot!

Whilst we waited on our next dish, the display showed a flock of birds, flying in an erratic fashion and in a sequence that was quite hypnotic.  We didn’t even notice the waiters coming up to us with our next course: Pressed Perthshire Game Bird Terrine, with Warm Puy Lentil and Shiitake Salad, Sherry and Walnut Pickled Enoki Mushroom.

If I was apprehensive about the seafood, I was terrified of the game bird terrine!  I didn’t start eating vegetables and fish till my early twenties, so this is a big hike from my picky days.  And I’m delighted to report; this was one of my favourite dishes of the evening!  I cleared the plate entirely and I kept interrupting my meal with outbursts of “this is delicious“, and Irene wholeheartedly agreed.  The terrine was pure meaty goodness.  The mushrooms complimented it wonderfully, and the salad was sweet and fresh; perfect for lightening the dish.

As we made way for our next course, we were greeted by a massive Highland Cow, strolling across the screen lazily and grazing on nothing at all.  This indicated our next meal: Rioja Glazed Shin of Beef, Marrow Beignet, Shallot Essence, with Potato and Sage Gnocchi.

I could have used a spoon to cut through the beef; that’s how tender it was.  The Rioja glaze was outstanding.  Irene’s favourite wine is Rioja, so she was especially delighted.  She did find the shallot puree rather salty, but I couldn’t agree.  The waiter told us the gravy was made using a reduction of the meat juices with some wine and chicken stock.  It was incredibly flavoursome; if I were serving this up myself, I’d have flooded the plate with gravy (one of the many reasons I’m not a chef!).  The marrow beignet was scary in theory (I tried to convince Irene it wasn’t bone marrow), but we reluctantly admitted it was very tasty.  The potato and sage gnocchi was the star of the show for me, out of EVERYTHING.  The only criticism is that there wasn’t more of them on the plate.  Considering the large portion of beef, I feel more gnocchi would have given a better balance (or less beef, but always more potato if I can get it!).

There was just enough room for our last course; dessert: The Chip’s Famous Caledonian Oatmeal Ice Cream, with Caramelised Banana, and Angostura Rum Fattened Golden Raisins.

I’d never heard of oatmeal encrusted ice cream before, and after tasting this, I’m surprised I haven’t.  It’s absolutely gorgeous!  It creates a lovely texture, as do the glazed bananas that practically snap when you bite them.  Irene wasn’t crazy about the raisins, but I loved them.  For the second time that night, I cleared my plate. 

I tried to take pictures of the 3D show, but they just looked blurry, as if through the eyes of a drunken fool.  It would certainly not have done the artist any justice for me to post them here.  I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty about these images of the animals we were essentially tucking into.  Me being a hardened carnivore as well!  I mentioned this to Mal Young, the man who controlled the images, and he alleviated my conscience by explaining the images were more about exploring the locally sourced produce (which Ubiquitous Chip is renowned for), rather than having little animals zooming in at you, with pleading eyes, crying “don’t eat meeee”.  I’m sure it wouldn’t placate the vegetarians out there, but it’s good enough for me.

Overall, it was a wonderful night.  As much as I love having a gab between courses with my fellow diners, I absolutely adored the 3D animations and believe it did enhance the meal on the whole.  The restaurant clearly puts a lot of effort into creating an excellent atmosphere, and the staff really do make a fuss over you (in a good way; not in that intrusive way that I detest).  If I were to sum up the food in one word, it would be Magnificent. 

If you’re looking to take someone for a fancy meal, or have a special occasion coming up, I would thoroughly recommend Ubiquitous Chip.

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THE Definitive Shortbread Recipe

Lately, my baking attempts have resulted in disaster.  My “Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies” looked fabulous, but sadly could have been confiscated as an offensive weapon.

To add further insult to injury, my Brownies resembled a pool of brown mess with a tooth-breaking crust on top (which someone and their spoon went to town with… shame on you, Mother!  At least it tasted nice…).  Needless to say, those blog posts made the cutting room floor.

I’m more of a savoury person anyways (in taste bud only; not personality, I hope), so I was nearly resigned to the fact that I just could not bake sweet treats.  I had almost come to terms with it; flicking past the apple crumble and pumpkin pie recipes despondently… wondering what was so wrong with the chocolate muffins in McDonald’s, anyway?  Sigh.

But after reading this blog post the other day, I was spurred on to give it another shot.  I drool at every food picture at the best of times, but the craving for home-baked shortbread was overwhelming.

Having baked “shortbread” once before, I was apprehensive.  My last batch looked like a tray of sunken, week-old scones (hence the inverted commas in my description; shortbread it certainly was not!).  They didn’t even taste similar. 

BBC Good Food… your version of shortbread left me nothing short of disenchanted.  How could you?  I’m one of your biggest fans… sniffle. 😦  Thankfully, your abundance of other lovely recipes has mended our once broken relationship.

So; it was time to see if my next shortbread attempt would leave me crestfallen once more… 

I am happy to report; faith in my baking ability has been fully restored!  Of course it has! 🙂  I can safely say you won’t need to look elsewhere for an authentic shortbread recipe; this one is perfect.

I don’t (yet) have the adorable shortbread tin like Wendy’s; I just packed my mixture into two sandwich tins.  I was going to re-type the instructions here, but I followed every ingredient, measurement and method to the letter (a first for me), so if you want to try it, you’re best checking out the link above. 

Rave reviews all around from my samplers; I thoroughly recommend it to any bakers who have had a knock in confidence!

Enjoy 🙂

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My Burn’s Night Meal

Haggis was alien to me until last year (the 250th anniversary of Rabbie Burns), when I tried it for the first time at a céilidh in Edinburgh (how utterly Scottish of me).  I was pleasantly surprised and have eaten it many times since then!

Last night, though, we opted for the Vegetarian Haggis, as my twin sister wont eat the real stuff.  I love tatties and I love neeps, but if you mash them together, add some cream, butter, and a sprinkling of fresh chopped chives… mmmm there you have some deliciously creamy Clapshot!  I wont even tell you what my sister though “Clapshot” was; I will show you a picture of it instead!

 

I made a “whisky jus” to go with it, by adding 30ml whisky to a hot pan, where I tipped it towards the flame and set fire to it, thus burning off the alcohol (my first flambé!!), added 150ml single cream (once the flames went out), salt and pepper, then reduced for a minute or two!  In retrospect, I should have added ALOT more cream (maybe 4-500ml for serving 3), as there wasn’t much to spread around. 

Hope you all had a fabulous Burn’s Night!

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Argyle House

Sadly, I haven’t been cooking much the last few days; what with the gym, work and more work!  But I would like to post about the lovely meal I had at the Argyle House on Friday night.  We were supposed to go to a restaurant in Ayr (about a 50 mins drive), however, the mist fell down quite bad that evening and we decided to stay closer to home for our feast. 

My starter was Black Pudding Fritters with Savoy Cabbage and an Arran Mustard Essence.  I was quite surprised to see two black puddings on my plate, as they are quite filling!  I couldn’t finish it, but the taste was phenomenal.  You could tell the black pudding was of a very good quality, by it’s soft, velvety texture (which went wonderfully with the crisp batter).  I’d never tried savoy cabbage before (the aftermath of my childhood veggie phobia!) and I was pleasantly surprised with it; it was nice and light… a perfect accompaniment to the weighty black pudding.  I was interested to see how the mustard sauce would fare against the black pudding, as they are both really strong in flavour.  They paired together wonderfully and I really want to learn how to make my own “mustard essence”, as I feel it would be a great addition to so many different dishes.  If I were to make this dish myself, I would perhaps use more batter and reduce the amount of black pudding to one slice.   

After my triumph of tasting salmon for the first time last week, I continued my boldness, by opting for a Main Course of Seared Sea-Bass Fillets on a Smoked Haddock Fishcake with Harissa Mayonaisse.  I can now say I am a fan of Sea-Bass!  It was delicious!  I didn’t eat the skin (purely psychological – I can’t even eat skin on chicken), but I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and I will eat it again soon.  The haddock fishcake was beautiful.  I thought there would have been chunks of haddock throughout the cake, but I couldn’t see/taste any.  The smoky haddock flavour was definitely present though.  The Harrissa sauce set it off wonderfully, with it’s creamy texture and spicy aftertaste.  The peppery rocket gave the whole dish a lovely lighter balance.  If I were to make this myself, I would have more sea-bass and less fishcake on my plate.

My last course of the evening was Crushed Fudge and Baileys Crème Brulée.  I usually go for a chocolate dessert when I’m in a restaurant, but this one sounded tremendous.  It didn’t disappoint.  Cue theatrical “mmmmmm”‘s whilst devouring the lot!  The shortbread wasn’t necessary though; the Crème brulée was deceptively filling.  They are so easy to make, yet look so impressive!  I may invest in a blow torch…

Overall, a fabulous meal!  It’s inspired me to attempt my own versions of each of these dishes, so look out for them in my upcoming posts!

P.S – Sorry about the blurry images… it’s apparent that the wine was also very good… 😉

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Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year Everyone!

I thought I’d start off my first post by telling you how I came up with my Blog name: Noble Nourishment.

Writing out my New Years Resolutions, I came up with a potentially life altering list.  Not for mankind or anything; but on a personal level.  One resolution was to utilise my food obsession and make more of an effort to create wonderful dishes.  Another was to start up a journal, lest I go senile (I swear, I fear it’s already starting; I am more absent minded with each day that passes).

It occurred to me that writing a food blog can serve to honour each of those resolutions, in an uncharacteristically (for me) efficient manner… combined with my love for writing, it couldn’t be more perfect!  I haven’t written much lately, which, I have to admit has resulted in a rather malnourished soul.

We are all well versed in how to feed our bodies to function properly.  Unfortunately, making sure your soul doesn’t starve doesn’t have a “how to” manual (unless those “Books for Dummies” folk have cottoned on!).  This is why I said my New Years List could be potentially life altering.  It’s like forcing enrichment upon myself; I’d recommend it to anyone!  At the risk of sounding dramatic, the alternative just seems too tragic to comprehend.

Food, of course, is the primary form of nourishment; everybody needs to be fed in order to live and function.  I’m starting to realise that I need to nourish my mind in order to really live though; not just function.  For me, this can be done by making tasty food, reading great books and writing with passion and enthusiasm.  Essentially, just making time for doing things I enjoy and not feeling guilty about it.

Hence the Blog name Noble Nourishment.  My surname is Noble and this blog will be a tale of what I get up to in order to be truly Nourished.  I have come across some wonderful food blogs in recent times and can only aspire to create something that gives even half the joy to read.

To finish off my first post, I thought I’d leave you with some pictures I took in Pollok Park, on New Year’s Day.  I look forward to writing more posts!

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