Guest Chef Evening -Honest Edibles.
CONCEPT
The Guest Chef Evenings are a new series at Three Pools, where we collaborate with chefs that share the same passion for food and sustainable eating as we do. We will be showcasing a different guest chef or chefs every month for the winter season. The evenings aim to bring together like-minded, food conscious people to experience different cooking styles, cuisines and atmospheres as we move through winter.
MARCH
William Collins (Billy) is the man behind Honest Edibles. He has taken the Northern foodie, health and wellbeing market by storm. This March we had the pleasure of hosting Billy in the Three Pools kitchen. HONEST EDIBLES Honest Edibles creates an innovative approach to optimise our relationship with food and nutrition – one of holistic mind-body connectivity that starts with eating food as it should be: whole, nutritious, ethical, and without chemical pesticides, cruelty or harm to the environment. What we eat forms the basis of who we are and how we think, so it is vital we engage with food as a more conscious process. As we begin rethinking our connections with what we put inside us, it becomes similarly paramount to rethink our external connection to the after-effects created when purchasing an item with multi-step production chains. Honest Edibles strives to create bridges that form healthier relationships for the inner and outer worlds of choice. We provide a fresh and exciting new twist on plant-based nutrition that is as delicious as it is imaginative. Our changing menus use wild, seasonal, local and organic ingredients - showcasing how diverse and creative plant-based food should be.
THE FOOD
AMUSE BOUCHE
Miso & kohl rabi sushi with kelp caviar: The amuse started things off in true Honest Edibles fashion. Billy is well known for his sushi and has lead many courses on plant based sushi making. What I loved about this course was the way that Billy had seasoned the rice, this is not something I have personally seen before but the added flavour that this created was truly novel and fantastic. These perfectly rolled aquatic bite-sized delicacies kicked the evening off and gave people an inkling of what was to come over the next few courses of international plant based fusion.
STARTER
Wild morel & truffle mozzarella arancini with parmesan seed crumb, garlic flower & spicy napolitana: At first glance this dish doesn't scream plant based, with the listing of two types of cheese. We actually asked Billy beforehand to check that it wasn't a mistake and his response was brilliant. Billy stated that he doesn't want to sell his food overtly labelled as vegan, he wants to deliver tasty food that is naturally vegan, based on his and Honest Edibles food values and of course the cheese on the menu follows suit - Silly us for even
asking!
The arancini stole the show for a lot of people. The balls were crisped to perfection on the outside and still gooey and tender on the inside. The spicy napolitana sauce cut through the creamy richness of the arancini. This, topped off with the truffle and wild garlic flower, created an explosion of flavour!
MAIN
Jerusalem artichoke with parsnip cream, farm radish, nettle pesto & mung bean fettuccine: Seasonality and localism are huge drivers for Billy and Honest Edibles. The first thing Billy asked when we approached him to do the guest chef evening was; “what is growing near you at the moment and what do you have on the farm that I can use?” We love this! It just so happened that the new nettle shoots started coming out about a week before Billy arrived, along with the first radishes and wild garlic of the year. We went on a farm forage, collecting all we could.
Thinking on his feet, Billy managed to utilise all of the foraged goods we collected on our walk. The abundance of wild garlic was incorporated into the baby nettle pesto - the colour, as you can see from the pictures below, was incredible. It goes to show that cooking seasonally isn't just beneficial from an environmental and localism perspective but the flavours and colours you can get from freshly picked ingredients is magnificent!
A lot of people, including myself, had never tried mung bean pasta before. Billy is a huge fan of this and we can now see why. The naturally gluten free / plant based power pasta has great texture and an almost nutty flavour which complimented the wild garlic and nettle pesto perfectly. Mung beans are a real super food with exceptional levels of fibre, protein, magnesium and vitamins. Definitely one to incorporate into more meals in the future.
PALATE CLEANSER
Silver birch sap, cucumber, farm mint & juiced goose grass: Clean, powerful, refreshing and energising. This is the first palate cleanser we have had at a guest chef evening and it has set the bar high. Again, Billy served something which a lot hadn’t experienced before, silver birch sap and goose grass being the two very unique ingredients here.
SWEET
Raw beetroot fudge with beetroot crisp, chocolate mousse, rhubarb jus & wild violets; Talk about saving the best till last - this dessert without doubt took the prize for me! The whole dish was a surreal experience; reading, seeing, tasting, all contrasting and amazing. A dessert in its essence being created mostly from ingredients that you wouldn't normally associate with sweet courses. Beetroots are one of Billy's favourite vegetables as you might be able to tell from this course and the Honest Edibles logo. He actually said feeding people beetroot in unusual ways has became a lifetime passion of his and I can now see why.
The beetroot was manipulated in a few different ways, all of which brought out its sweetness and charm which is not always associated with the vegetable. The mousse as well, being created with avocado and coconut milk, was another surprising combination that worked liked a dream. Having not being able to find wild violets on our forage, Billy substituted foraged dandelion flowers instead. In the end I think the colour combinations of the deep reds and purples worked very well with the yellow of the dandelions! What a way to end a truly magical evening.
THANK YOU
We would like to say a massive thank you to Billy for the time and creation put into our third Guest Chef Evening. Also, a big thank you to everyone that came and supported the event. The night was true exploration into another world of amazing cooking styles, which also just happened to be vegan! We look forward to putting on more food focused events here at Three Pools - helping us to bring people closer to the food and the methods that are used in producing and sourcing the ingredients.
Our next Guest Chef Evening on the 27th of April, will be with Jack Richardson, focusing exclusively on Welsh produce.
To book a place place email us at info@threepool.co.uk
