GLOBAL GASTRONOMY / CINNAMON KITCHEN

This post is so embarrassingly late, I don't know where to start with the excuses! My photos are also dark, but I promise it's worth a read!

In November (the 3rd to be precise), I was kindly invited to a wonderful feast, provided by top chefs at Vivek Singh's restaurant, The Cinnamon Kitchen, near Liverpool Street. It was the most wonderful evening, and was put on in aid of Action Against Hunger's Global Gastronomy campaign.

Five chefs gathered to create four exquisite courses for us, and in doing so, helped raise over £35,000 for the campaign on the night. It might seem a little odd to feed people in order to raise awareness of global hunger, but if it means you can raise that much money, then it can only be a good thing.

Our chefs and their assistants for the evening included Vivek Singh himself, Jose Pizarro, Simon Rogan, Bjorn van der Horst and Abdul Yaseen.

The evening centred around a silent auction and a regular auction (with wonderful foodie and non foodie prizes up for grabs) and the seated four course feast - and was hosted by these 2 lovelies - broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli and writer Rebecca Seal, who kept the money coming in and reminded us why Global Gastronomy is such an important cause to support.

Once we'd schmoozed, checked out the auction lots and nibbled on Abdul Yaseen's delightful canapes, we sat down to eat. Four courses, each prepared by a different chef.

The first course was by forager and chef extraodinaire Simon Rogan who'd cooked a veggie starter of vintage potatoes with onion ash, lovage and wood sorrel. This dish was unlike anything I've tried before, with earthy flavours and an extraordinary texture combination.

Up next was fish from Jose Pizarro. A perfectly cooked piece of stone bass sat on a chorizo risotto, which I devoured immediately!

This was followed by the main course, Vivek Singh's dish. We had tandoori spiced lamb cannon with rogan josh sauce, and naan breads and chutneys. I hadn't tried Vivek's food before, and was in for a real treat. The lamb was as tender as you can get and the sauce full of flavour, without actually overpowering the meat. The little crispy deep fried nugget of deliciousness you can see on top of the meat in photo was so yummy... but it was so long ago I can't remember the actual detail of what it was!! Sorry!

I'm not sure how I still had room for pudding after 3 magnificent courses, but I squeezed it in. The coconut and passion fruit pave with crunchy coconut and a mango sauce was the perfect palate cleanser to end such a tasty meal.

  

If you'd like to find out more about the work that Action Against Hunger do, then click HERE -  £7 per month can provide a month's worth of food for one starving child. I can think of lots of things I spend £7 a month on that I don't really need to, so if you feel you can spare some money, please donate what you can.

Thank you.