The Tiki Shed Supper Club

A few weekends ago my supper club teamed up with my favourite supper club, The Shed Likes Food, and our friend "Tiki Tim" to host the first (hopefully of many) Tiki Shed Supper Clubs. We held one on the Saturday night and a second on Sunday afternoon. Suffice to say, it was a rather large weekend.

Tiki is based on the culture of Pacific Rim/Polynesian countries, however Tiki themed bars originated in America. Americans thought of Polynesia as a strange and savage place, filled with scowling tiki statues and smoking volcanoes. The origin of the tiki bar dates back to the late 1800's when America's elite became fascinated by primitive art from the South Seas. After the First World War the great age of travel began and the islands of Polynesia became a prestige's destination, America's interest was pricked.

Tiki Tim has always had a keen interest in all things Tiki - he describes it as a culture in which you can escape and just have fun. He makes brilliant (often using several different types of rum) tropical cocktails, using his own sugar syrups, liqueurs and freshly squeezed juices, plus has an impressive array of Tiki carvings (some of which he's done himself) and mugs. If you're not convinced of his passion, we're talking about a guy who managed to work a Tiki convention in Miami into his honeymoon! You don't get more Tiki-mad than that!

Tiki Tim dreams of one day opening a Tiki bar in Sydney, so why not host a Tiki supper club to test out his cocktails?

Diners were greeted with a flower lei and "Coconaught" cocktail in an emptied coconut to get them in the mood. After an introduction from Tiki Tim into the world (and his passion) of Tiki, guests were led through the backyard to the Shed, which had been transformed into a bamboo hut straight out of the South Pacific.

Tiki Tim & his gorgeous assistant Marcela, had a bar set up in one corner of the Shed so that guests could see Tim mix their cocktails. Tim explained each cocktail to the guests and they got to keep the fabulous Tiki mugs (which came from Cheeky Tiki in Stoke Newington) in which one of the cocktails was served.

Here is the menu (it was written on cardboard fish which were scattered over the table). As usual, things got hectic in the kitchen and there aren't many food photos as a result.

Starters:

Fresh Summer Rolls with hoisin & peanut dipping sauce

Fish cakes with dipping sauce

Sate pork skewers

Main:

Tuna ceviche

Mango, peanut & vermicelli salad

Hot & sour aubergine

Griddled Tiger prawns with saffron & lime butter

Beef braised in coconut milk

Nasi Goreng

Palate cleanser:

"Dirty Donkey" - Nicola's invention, made by essentially adding cardamom to a Moscow Mule (and poaching ginger in ginger beer)

Dessert:

Coconut panna cotta with grilled pineapple in lime & mint syrup

The highlight of the night was Tiki Tim's volcanic cocktail. The cocktail was served in large communal vessels, and was lit - everyone cheered (whilst Nicola pondered whether "burnt to the ground" would be an auspicious end for the Shed) before slurping up the delicious pineapple and rum cocktail with their super long straws.

Both supper clubs were a huge success and have inspired us to hold some more Tiki suppers as well as some further collaborations with The Shed Likes Food & LexEat. Keep a look out for some exciting events happening in the new year - some ideas we're playing with are a games night supper club, a photography treasure hunt & supper club, a 60's themed supper club and a Vietnamese banquet. We've set up a Facebook page called Lex & The Shed (the Facebook name is actually Lex-Shed Supperclub, if you're searching for us) - so befriend us and you'll be the first to hear about the events we're planning, as well as seeing photos of our suppers and updates on what we're planning - we welcome your input too!

(With many thanks to Tiki Tim & Marcela, and, as always, to long suffering Andrew & Y)

Taking over the world with gingerbread

Yes, yes, it’s only October, but some things are worth planning far in advance, and this is one of them. At our place on both Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th December we are hosting supper clubs at which our guests won’t only be eating the usual 3 course fare, but making their own gingerbread houses. Y & I have made gingerbread houses for the last 2 years (see last year’s post here) so this year we’re spreading the love and we’ve got 30 people signed up to construct and decorate over the 2 days. Most of the guests (I hope) will be baking their own gingerbread slabs and I’ll be cooking them for some people. We’ll all meet to glue them together with super strong icing before decorating them, wrapping them in cellophane and lining up our street of gingerbread houses for a photo at the end. Throughout all this hard work we’ll be feasting on Christmas lunch.
Why am I telling you this? Surely I am not so cruel as to torture you with details of what you’re missing out on? I want you to join in! Where-ever you are, grab some friends, get together and make gingerbread houses! I’m confident my sister will be getting together a group of people in the large country town of Armidale in Australia’s New South Wales (she has experience from last year’s gingerbread workshop in London). Are there any other takers? Any takers in New York? The small contingent in Hong Kong? There must be some Sydney-siders? Any others in London? I have complete faith that the loyal readers in Australia’s Dubbo and Coonamble could do wonders with some gingerbread slabs.
Leave a comment or drop me at email at lexeat@gmail.com if you or a group of friends want to be involved. I’ll email you the gingerbread recipe and dimensions. You guys get together (or go solo) to make your gingerbreads – and you simply MUST photograph the event and send me the photos. There will definitely be a Christmas time blog post and all the gingerbread houses from all over the globe will feature (and full credit will be given to their creators).
Let’s take over the world this Christmas, one gingerbread house at a time!

Cheese stuffed kataifi

Many years ago I bought a book in Australia called "Moorish" by Greg & Lucy Malouf. I never cooked anything from it but always wanted to try the cheese stuffed kataifi, mainly because the buttery crispy pastry looked so delicious. It wasn't until I was in Dalston's Turkish Food Centre recently (some 8 or 10 years later) when I saw a packet of kataifi pastry that I remembered I had this recipe. So on a visit to Australia a few weekends ago, I grabbed the book and came home to make these delicious morsels. I tested them first for friends, and then made them again on Saturday night as part of our supper club menu.

These are easy to make in advance and they look really impressive, not to mention taste gorgeous!

Cheese stuffed kataifi

Stuffing

1T olive oil

2 small shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped/minced

100g grated/finely chopped halloumi

100g finely chopped mozzarella

120g chopped/crumbled fetta

100g pine nuts, fried until golden brown

30g breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1T roughly chopped coriander leaves

1T roughly chopped parsley leaves

1T roughly chopped mint leaves

zest of 1/2 lemon

3 dried figs, diced and soaked in water for 30 minutes

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180g kataifi pastry

180g unsalted butter, melted (I would err on the generous side and go for 250g)

freshly ground white pepper

1T za'atar (optional - i.e. I always forget to sprinkle this on the kataifi at the end)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the shallots and garlic until they soften. Allow to cool.

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In a bowl, mix the cheeses, pine nuts, breadcrumbs, egg and egg yolk. Add the cooled shallots mixture, all the herbs and lemon zest. Drain the liquid from the figs, add them to the cheese mixture and mix everything together (I find it best to do this with my hands, to ensure the cheese are all squelched together well).

Form the mixture into balls - you can make largish golf ball sized balls (you'll get about 10 of these), but I prefer to make about 20 smaller balls. Put these on a plate in the fridge for about 30minutes.

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Unfold the kataifi pastry and cut it into lengths of about 25cm. Divide the pastry into small bunches (hopefully the photos assist with working out how much). Keep the pastry covered with a wet tea towel to prevent it drying out. Brush the pastry with melted butter (be generous!) and sprinkle the pastry with white pepper.

Place one cheese ball at the end of the pastry and roll it half way along the pastry, then turn the ball 90 degrees and continue rolling - you should end up with a fat criss-crossed pastry ball.

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Once you've done all the balls, place them on a plate and cover with a wet tea towel. You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of hours, but at least 30 minutes.

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When you're ready to serve up the balls, place them on a baking try, (I like to brush some more melted butter over them), and cook at 180 degrees C for about 10-15 minutes, until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on a kitchen paper and serve immediately (sprinkly with za'atar, if you remember).

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Enjoy!