There’s a lot said about the wonder of New Zealand and how because the country has locked out all infested foreigners the population there is able to lead enjoyable normal lives by attending in vast numbers such things as rugby matches (chaque à son gout) and theatre (which might be true if there was a theatre there worth mentioning) or dining out (I believe there is one restaurant there worth dining out at). Personally I’m happy here, in dear old Blighty, where at the time of writing approximately three times as many people as the whole population of New Zealand have received COVID-19 vaccinations and where our numerous remarkable restauranteurs have developed a system of getting their astonishingly good products out to their fans (what better word could be conscripted to describe the devoted food lovers who use the new home food services that have sprung up in a matter of a few weeks - fine dining does takeaway which is something you wouldn’t have predicted two years ago).
So having thrice indulged myself with a Purnell’s meal box this weekend ‘tis the season to be romantic with Antona At Home, care of the godfather of Birmingham’s cuisine. Not too much romance as I was dining with Lucy the Labrador who despite her status as a dog could easily be described as a gourmand in her own right, as experienced, if not more so, as most humans in Birmingham. And what a nice At Home experience it was.
The box very pleasingly contained a card signed “Andreas” with the immortal poem, “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Here’s a Valentine’s treat, prepared just for you” which I think does not scan quite perfectly but who’s complaining? Alongside this rather nice signed souvenir was a bejewelled real red rose. I don’t have enough fresh flowers in the house so, romance aside, this was very welcome and charming.
The packaging was excellent with each course contained in its respective box. And with the box emptied preparation was pleasingly easy and lacking in risk of emotional trauma. Soup, what a good choice for the first cause, the enthusiastic amateur, charged only with warming everything up and plating up, can hardly do much harm. So within a very short time I was sitting down to a deeply luxurious and delicious lobster and red pepper soup poured over some little slices of red pepper which in honesty really didn’t do much to enhance the soup, all finished off with pleasingly crunchy croutons and Parmesan shavings. A course as good as one might expect and generously portioned (even if my plating up was, er, a little rustic). And accompanied by a pleasing little milk bun with some very fine Jersey butter.
And so to the main course or Box no. 2 as you might like to call it - Corn-fed chicken, potato terrine, leeks and a cep cream. Preparation minimal apart from a little warming up and plating out. The chicken was excellent and delicious and the cep cream full of flavour. The potato terrine and leeks were pleasing accompaniments. As can be seen my plating up was far from elegant, but it still tasted pretty good to me.
On to dessert - what could be more Valentines than a dear old trifle? But not just any trifle. An Antona trifle or perhaps a Tipping trifle or a Bennett trifle or at any rate a trifle devised from someone at Simpsons or the Cross at Kenilworth. Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger trifle with toasted almonds. Just take it out of the fridge for 20 minutes and away you go. No plating up this time unless you feel you really must. This was indeed a very fine, and again generously portioned, English trifle. It reminded me of just how enormously enjoyable old English dishes can be though they be mocked by those who judge themselves to have sophisticated tastes. The amount of ginger was sensitively judged so that one was aware of the flavour but not blasted by it but it lived at the back of the tongue for a while after finishing the dish giving a happy persistence to the joy of the trifle. This was a luxurious trifle fitting for the day of celebration. The rhubarb was perhaps more precisely correctly crunchy than a flavour hit but it played its part well enough. I’d eat this every day if I could. Mmm, yes the ginger is still there, perfect. And there was a gorgeous little treat at the end which I consumed gluttinously before I could photograph it - a happy little petit four made of fine white chocolate, shaped as, what else?, a heart and filled with gorgeous, mango-flavoured splendidly, gooey pleasure. Thank you Mr Antona.
Despite the pleasure of these At Home meals it will be lovely to sit relaxed in a restaurant again, pampered and not even the slightest amount of washing up waiting to be done. I expect that we all hope that the new normal will give way to the old normal but for the moment we have the new normal to salvage our gastronomic spirits.
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