A Wee Dram at the Salt Bar

Yet again, those Qype gurus have come up aces with another memorable gathering. This time it was another topic close to our hearts (and stomachs): a Burns Night/Talisker whisky tasting event at Salt Bar on Edgeware Road.

I still remember my first Burns night only 2 months into my move to the UK. We were living in Aberfoyle, a picture postcard town nestled in the Trossachs. The Burns night we attended was in a nearby town, Gartmore. We had just moved to the area so didn't know anyone, and, just like the unspoken cafeteria rules in school we found ourselves marooned off all the 'popular' tables. Our dining partners looked to be the elders of the town. They seemed amused at the lesbian couple, one of which was American. Nevertheless, we made the best of our situation and settled in for the meal. Oh, that was the other incongruity - we were still vegetarian! Luckily they had veggie haggis, but that definitely added another mark to our otherness that night. I got to experience the whole 'performance', from piping in the haggis, the various addresses and then a round robin of people reciting his poems from heart. Needless to say, most of the people who knew the poems from heart happened to be sitting at our table!

We've had various Burns celebrations since, and now this year's to add.



We arrived at the bar before they sent the piper out to bring in the stragglers. While the rest of attendees were arriving we were treated to a Manhattan with Talisker of course. I had a very interesting conversation with the barman about the recent shortages of Angosturra bitters, in fact he was using his own stock and said imports in were stopped until April/May this year. I wonder if we'll start seeing eBay auctions of Angosturra bitters. And does anyone out there in the interweb know why there's a shortage?



There was lots of friendly milling about. We met Billy who told us about his specialty glass collection -- basically a glass specifically matched to it's contents. We met Ian who also is a whisky aficionado and we met the fellow behind tiredoflondontiredoflife.com. He didn't seem so tired about the evening though.



I had a great conversation with Clark McGinn, a Burns specialist who gave the crowd a great overview of the poet, his life, and his lasting influence today. The bar area was decorated with gorse bushes that had Burns poems tied to the branches. This was a nod to Burns own practice of analog blogging during his time.



The first whisky we tasted was a Talisker 10 year old. Our tasting was led by Colin Dunn. He took us through the procedure step by step: first cup the top of the glass with one hand and swirl the contents to get the aromas circulating. second, take a good long sniff and let the taste permeate. third, take a SIP and swirl the contents in your mouth for a 10-second count. fourth, and final: swallow and experience the follow through. I found with this one that by the time I had swallowed my gums and tongue were tingling. I did taste that salty mermaid's kiss that you find in Islay malts though and was looking forward the next. This first whisky was paired with a canape of smoked salmon. The fattyness of the salmon helped to smooth out the edge of the whisky.







The second whisky was Talisker Distillers Edition. A much smoother, headier taste that, per Colin's instructions was meant to be held in your mouth for 15 seconds before swallowing. Another note about the space: there was a small table set up with the three whiskies and behind the bottles were apothecary jars of the various flavour notes each whisky displays. I remember for the second whisky the jar was full of dates. This whisky was accompanied by haggis, neeps and tatties, and yes, Clarke did the full address, spearing the haggis with his knife.





Our third and final whisky was Talisker 57-deg. For me this was the highlight of the evening, especially paired with the chocolate mousse.



After the tasting we had more milling about. I picked up on the Billy thread and had conversation with Colin about the glass shape used during the tasting. As expected it's all about concentrating aromas and flavours to build a lasting experience. His explanation included a scenario with Robert De Niro in a hotel room, but I'll spare the details.





At the bar we admired the extensive whisky selection on offer. I never would have expected such a great collection. We spoke to the manager about his collection and noted they were selling Salt Bar labelled bottles from their own casks. The food features lots of Scottish sourced ingredients, from Salmon to Aberdeen Angus steaks. Needless to say we'll be back for a lengthier tasting and a bite to eat.

And to preserve our memories of the evening we were each given a goodie bag that contained a half bottle of Talisker, a Talisker etched tumbler and a personalised hand calligraphed note book.



Thank you Qype, Salt Bar and Talisker for a great evening.

Autumn/Winter Flavours at Wahaca

Last Thursday, Kelsie and I along with 28 other luck Qypers, decended on the Westfield outpost of Wahaca. I've been to the Covent Garden one once, and rated it then though at the time it was a 'team lunch' with my new teamates, at my then new job, and I had to keep my focus on the team and not the food.

Always the eager beavers that we are, we were the first to arrive and were expertly guided to the mezzanine seating area which was still being set up for the evening feast. A couple of cold Modelo's soon arrived and then we met charming and enthusiastic Cecilia who runs the Wahaca blog. She recognised us from our twitter postings about Pozole making and my other comments in the blog. It was definitely cool to match an online entity with a name. Soon after that we met Tomasina and had a fabulous conversation about Mexican food, chiles, posole, one of my food idols Diane Kennedy (who btw is coming to London soon!), Tommi's recent recipe competition for creative chilli recipes and more. Alas, duty called and she had to get back to the prep as more guests arrived.



Creamy guacamole and zesty salsa were passed around with proper tortilla chips and fantastically light chicharones. Our server recommended a squeeze of lime on the crackling which made all the difference. Su-lin and I honed in on that and nearly finished a bowl ourselves.



Finally we were seated and Tommi and her business partner Mark welcomed all the guests. We got the run down on what we'd be served this night, and to my delight Mark also told us about a trio of tequilas that would be served alongside the dishes.



And then the food started arriving. The menu is split between Street Food; Soups and Salads; and Platos Fuertes.

We started with a selection of some of the new street food dishes. First up was a tostada with MSC smoked herring topping. The oiliness of the fish beautifully complemented by a sharp Veracruz style tomato sauce with flavours of olives and capers. This dish is definitely one to come back for.



Next, a taco filled with Pork Pibil. Succulent shreds of slow cooked pork, with an altogether different sauce.

And last from the Street Food section a Huitalcoche Quesadilla. I was really excited about this one as huitalcoche is a peculiar fungus that grows in between corn kernels, and not easy to come by here. As a result, for this recipe the corn fungus was mixed with sweetcorn and british mushrooms to round out the filling. I have to say I couldn't really make out a distinctive huitalcoche flavour but it was a good quesadilla nonetheless.

The next set of dishes were centered around the Soups and Salads section. First up was earthy black bean soup. I missed the assembling of it but enjoyed the texture and flavour layers in it. This could easily be a meal unto itself.




The Winter Fuerza salad was one of the evening's highlights for me. Frisee, avocado, crispy fried ancho chilies, queso fresco (or was it feta?), locally grown spelt, roasted squash all festivally presented in a big bowl to share. The vinaigrette tasted of lime but didn't overpower the ingredients.



Without missing a beat, the main dishes started arriving.

There was a pollock cooked Veracruz style, which arrived in a foil packet. I loved the big hits of cinnamon flavour coming through in the sauce, but was a bit underwhelmed by the fish. Not sure why, but it didn't seem to carry the sauce as a complete unit it felt like fish + sauce rather than fish in sauce. If that makes sense.


The absolute hit of the evening was next: a classic Baja-California Fish Taco -- crispy fried fish with just the right kick of chipotle mayonaise served in a soft taco. I could have eaten a whole tray of these alone and am now contemplating throwing a fish taco party in the near future. High marks for this one.



Next up was chicken enchiladas served with Oaxacan (wahacan) mole sauce. Think rich, chile/chocolate/spicy sauce. A perfect foil for the shredded chicken and tortillas.



The last main was a vegetable burrito. By this time we were glassy eyed and really struggling to find room for this. I powered on, heard snippets of conversation about cabbage not belonging in the burrito (i wholeheartedly disagree btw), and managed to finish my 1/4 burrtito.



Miraculously we all found room for the dessert which was a platter of light crispy churros served with a bowl of hot chocolate. Another inspiration i am going to try making these at home.



Add to the wonderful food an absolutely exhuberant group of people to share the love of good food and drink and it was an evening to remember for a long time. I had great conversations with http://tikichris.wordpress.com/, sulin, and made a new friend of thelondonfoodie.




Thanks again Qype and Wahaca for putting on this event!