Continuing my early autumn stay in Birmingham city centre, I can not help but publish a montage of photographs of dishes enjoyed at a dinner in Opheem and a lunch at Purnell’s. Previously reported on several times in this Blog, I shall not dwell on each in detail but merely revel in the visual funfair of food which delighted me at these two meals at two of Birmingham’s greatest restaurants this late 2021. And if they look good, then the eating was mostly even better.
New dishes on the menu at Opheem generally ranging from excellent to fabulous. The little appetisers certainly put the diner in the correct mood right at the start of the meal but the title of perfection in a mouthful has to go to the crab curry meringue which emerged from a mind of the same level of genius as Da Vinci - Coronation crab on a sweet meringue, who’d have thought it? - swoons with the undiluted pleasure of it. On the menu these are dismissed as ‘snacks’, this is wrong - they should be renamed ‘gems’.
After Bhutta, the now familiar and very tasty, get-your-fingers buttered, sweet corn dish comes Rassam, a wonder of heritage tomatoes based on cuisine from Andrha (note the tuile reminiscent of the chain that appears on the Black Country flag) and then Tisria, a magnificently sized tandoori scallop with apple, a new dish just brought on to the menu and a triumph.
The familiar Aloo Tuk inspired by Delhi cuisine, finds itself in the vanguard of a charge from the carbohydrate brigade with the also very familiar Pao bread course with powerfully flavoured lamb fat following not far behind, the two just separated by another wonderful new dish, Korma, fine cod (farewell to halibut which everywhere needs a rest) exquisite with girolles, pretty coloured-kale and yakhni sauce (all ascribed to Kashmir). After the pao came Bandgobhi Gosht, straying across the India-Pakistan border to Karachi, summed up as ‘aged sirloin, hispi cabbage, bone marrow’ (which hardly does it justice) photographed in a previous Blog, accompanied by lovely rice which I was too full to make the most of. And then Shrikhand from Maharashtra, a pleasing and soothing sheep’s yoghurt dessert accompanied by a little bottle of lassi.
And so to lunch at Purnell’s, also showcasing some new autumn dishes. Along with the always welcome black potatoes, chorizo dip and unique edible charcoal, a new little ‘gift from the kitchen’ has just been born into this world of gastronomic pleasure - a refreshing little ball of celeriac and apple, startlingly chilled. Which guides one headlong into a delightful new dish of mi-cuit Scottish salmon paired with horseradish cream paired itself with beetroot and a fennel salad to boot. So simple, so clever, so pleasing.
Then I am not unhappy to see and eat a new version of Purnell’s chicken liver parfait, pinks, deep reds, green painted prettily on the plate and then the fish course. Cod is back, Thank Cod. Mackerel is banished as proper fish - Birmingham’s beloved cod - steps centre stage on another gorgeously artistic plate with pink shellfish bisque and rouille emulsion. The autumn feel of the dish is emphasised by its being served with a bowl of mijote of coco beans and fennel; fair enough and no doubt loved by many but I rather liked the pleasure of the plate of cod by itself. Perhaps I’m not yet ready to let go of summer.
The meat course is one of Purnell’s daubes, but with a twist - instead of slow cooked beef it is instead pork, though more ham than pork (Alsace ham to be precise) but none the worse for that. This has all the feel of the advancing year, getting ready to hunker in for the dark nights, the short days, the coming frosts, the switching on of lights and central heating (if we are allowed to use it), ferreting in the attic to find the Christmas decorations. In short, comfort. Again there’s celeriac. This year’s must have vegetable?
And to dessert; choux is out and about it seems this end of the year. After a spectacular choux pastry at The Oyster Club recently I find a similar piece of pastry on my plate here in Purnell’s with the flavours of blueberry and Parma violets.
So, an autumn montage. A picture may speak a thousand words but it does not speak for the tastebuds. Words carry out that job more effectively.
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