As the second wave starts to show signs of receding here in Birmingham and the West Midlands (but the low tide line is still a long distance away) the city and region, like the rest of England, remains locked in - and the doors are bolted (metaphorically not literally obviously) - restaurants remain firmly shut down and their owners and chefs continue to do their best to tread water till the tide is out again.
By far the most favoured way of keeping going is the home food parcel. At the weekend I had my third package from Purnell’s which to be fair was rather more Purnell’s Bistro than the mother ship itself. Hence the enjoyable bread course - can you call it a course?, it is after all a distinct entity in itself - was a pleasing chunk of focaccia with accompanying little tubs of a selection of olives, some pitted, some stoned and some neither, olive oil with balsamic, three slices of chorizo and a humous which was fine but rather too lemony for my taste and with too little garlic - all a matter of individual taste I suppose.
On then to a generously sized fish cake which was robustly flavoured but again it seemed that the chef had been a little too enthusiastic with the lemon. The effort involved in frying it was minimal and the accompanying sauce was ready in less than a minute - wilted spinach in momentarily boiled crème fraiche with a generous sprinkling of chives. Rather successful but the lemon, needed for the potently flavoured fish, again seemed a little overwhelming.
What a remarkable main course - a beautifully sized piece of Chateaubriand, which by following the instructions carefully I turned into a delicious meal and very nicely accompanied by some very edible broccoli, a little square of Dauphinois (I should have liked to taste some garlic in it) and some perfectly cooked carrots enhanced by a tasty liquor and an exquisitely unctious beef sauce to pour over. A memorable Sunday lunch in which I had played my part.
But there was a little more to go. I like light puddings. I could probably live on a diet of pannacotta. So the dessert pleased me very much. It had a nice little wobble and was nicely dressed by some very tasty toasted seeds, blueberries and lemon gel (more lemon but this time a perfect addition to the dish). A very happy dessert.
The whole was rounded off by a “gift from the kitchen” - 2 little cubes of raspberry fudge which could not be bettered as gifts even if they had been gold, frankincense and myrrh. The meal was wonderfully good value. I was purring contentedly throughout. So what else could you ask for? Well I do miss the edible charcoal and black potatoes, the traditional appetisers at Purnell’s, but I’m prepared to wait that little bit longer for the present closure of restaurants to come to an end to enjoy those pleasures again if I must. But it’s hard.
Tonight’s the night when a thousand British chefs’ hearts pump that little bit faster - the 2021 Michelin reveal which will be relayed to an attentive audience at 6PM. How will Birmingham and the West Midlands fare? Not long to go to find out ... but I wonder, 2 stars for Opheem?
No comments:
Post a Comment