Is there a better way to celebrate St. Valentines than a visit to St John?

Delicious & delightful Valentines meal with Wist at St John Bread & Wine (Spitalfields).

St John was set up by Fergus Henderson – a chef famed for his philosophy of nose to tail eating.

So first up in our meal – Smoked Sprats & Horseradish.
Beautifully smoked and beautifully fresh.

Next up – the elusive Ox Heart.
Served with a tasty celeriac coleslaw.
The heart is the only muscle that’s continually working – so should be the toughest of all meat – but the way it had been cooked meant this one was flavoursome and tender.

For our main, Wist and I shared a huge Hare and Trotter pie, with buttery cabbage.
The meat was gamey and well cooked and the pastry was insane – so rich and flaky.

Incredible Valentines Day.

UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Creme de menthe
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat

You know when you’re just randomly walking through your local supermarket and you pull open a fridge to find a vacuum packed, skinned, gutted squirrel – ready to cook?

No, me neither.

But I did happen to read the other day that my local Budgens has been serving ready-to-cook squirrel for the last couple of years.
So I popped down to have a look.

And sure enough…

(Told you it was disgusting.)

But cooked – it was actually pretty nice.

There wasn’t an awful lot of meat on it.

And it tasted somewhere between lamb or duck.

But not as nice as lamb or duck.

There’s probably a reason why squirrel isn’t on the shelves of every supermarket in the UK.

But god am I glad it was in my local Budgens.

Squirrel Nutkin – you’re now crossed off the list.


UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Creme de menthe
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat

Creme de menthe – complete.

A constituent part of the cocktail ‘Dr Henderson’ – created by Fergus Henderson of St John.
The cocktail is supposedly a cure for any over indulgence.

2 parts Fernet Branca
1 part creme de menthe
Ice

Mix together and drink. Do not be put off by the colour.

Unfortunately I didn’t take heed of his advice – and shamefully let ‘the cure become the cause.’
Nonetheless – at least it is now crossed off the list.

UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Creme de menthe
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat

Dandelion wine is elusive.
I’ve been looking for it all year.
In wine stores, country pubs, farm shops…
All to no avail.

So what a lovely surprise to find it in one of my Christmas presents this year.

Alas it wasn’t as tasty as it was thoughtful.
It tasted like a cheap white wine, that had been left open for a week or two.
But well worth trying.

In the words of R.Sexsmith: Such sweet and simple days, though bitter tasted the wine.

Onwards…

UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Creme de menthe
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat

After writing and posting the 23:Eat list, I immediately regretting writing Foie Gras.

So a delectable edible Christmas present from Wist. (Wistmas present?)

Insects.

Edible insects.

Salt and vinegar grasshoppers and a chocolate covered scorpion to be exact.

The grasshoppers were dusty and crunchy.
Not a snack you’d eat willngly, but I’m glad I can tick them off the list.
I’ve read they’re nice in stir frys.
I’m not so sure.

It was quite hard to figure out what the scorpion actually tasted like – as the chocolate was rather overpowering. I’m not too sure that’s a bad thing, if the crickets are anything to go by.

Brilliant Christmas present nonetheless.

Merry Christmas!

UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Foie Gras
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat

Quick trip to Cambridge – brilliant fun.
The colleges there are beautiful – it must be such an inspiring place to study.
And I managed to tick Souffle off the list…

So that leaves Sweet Meats, Dried Insects, Foie Gras (I might swap this one out – I actually don’t WANT to eat it), frogs legs, snails, oysters, dandelion wine, ox heart, squirrel (where the fuck am I going to find squirrel!?) and kumquat. 11 in total. And six months to go…

UPDATE
1. Jellied Eels
2. Pig Cheeks
3. Sweet Meats
4. Bubble tea
5. Dried Insects
6. Quails egg
7. Foie Gras
8. Frogs legs
9. Snails
10. Kangaroo
11. Nettle tea
12. Oysters
13. Steak Tartare
14. Dandelion Wine
15. Gazpacho
16. Pea Soup
17. Root beer float
18. Gnocchi
19. Ox Heart
20. Squirrel
21. Spotted Dick
22. Souffle
23. Kumquat