Bring on a Foodie 2012!

Happy new year to you all!

To kick start 2012, I will be hosting a series of Grazing Asia and London Cooking Club events at my home in Islington in the next few weeks and months, and I hope to see some of you there.

After an inspiring two-month stay in Tokyo, I have returned to the UK with lots of new ideas and recipes to try out. If you would like to learn more about Japanese dining beyond sushi and sashimi, the Japanese Supper Clubs in January, February or March will be a good place to start.

If you would like to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Malaysian by May's Chinese New Year Special events on the 27th and 28th January will be for you.

Or if you fancy honing your cookery skills at one of our London Cooking Club events, there are a few events scheduled in the next few months which might be of interest. From Burmese to Jewish, Neapolitan and Filipino, I hope you will find something to tickle your palate.

I am also looking for budding home cooks or professional chefs who would like to host one of our London Cooking Club events in 2012 at my home in Islington, so if you would like to share your food passions with other like minded foodies, please get in touch.

Grazing Asia

Japanese Home Cooking Supper

21st January 2012
3rd, 11th, and 25th February 2012
23rd, 24th, 30th and 31st March 2012

Hosted by Luiz Hara of The London Foodie

Location: my home, Islington, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £35 donation, BYO

Book: e-mail luizharaAThotmailDOTcom

Malaysia by May - Chinese New Year Special

27th and 28th January 2012

Hosted by May of Slow Food Kitchen

Location: my home, Islington, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £35 donation, BYO

Book: e-mail mayATgrazingasiaDOTcom

London Cooking Club

How It Works

Every month, I choose a theme, cookery book or cuisine, and have a group of readers of The London Foodie come to my home to cook, eat a delicious meal, drink and talk. I distribute a suggested menu a week or so prior to the event, the participants choose their dishes and I e-mail out all recipes. Each person contributes a dish and accompanying bottle of wine. There are no fees to pay.

If you are a foodie (an amateur home cook or a professional chef), passionate about good food and would like to share some of your culinary repertoire with us by hosting one of our London Cooking Club events at my home, please get in touch, I would like to hear from you.

If you would like to take part in one of these evenings, please contact me on luizharaAThotmailDOTcom using LONDON COOKING CLUB in the subject line.

12th February 2012 - "Jewish Cooking Club" - Hosted by foodie extraordinaire Stella Newman and Ira Dubinsky who will be devising and introducing us to a fantastic Jewish menu and recipes for London Cooking Club members.

Jewish novelist  Stella Newman is the author of Pear Shaped, a novel about love, heartbreak and food. Stella also writes her own popular food blogs Stella Newmans Blog and Pasta Friends.

A former political staffer in Canada, Ira now spends his days in London studying for an MBA and his nights studying new recipes. Ira is an amateur charcutier, occasional caterer, and DIY smoker construction expert.

18th March 2012 - "A Neapolitan Easter" - Hosted by Gina (@Gigi_nav) and Italian food blogger Fede Rilli of Pasta Bites, Italophiles and resident experts on their home cuisine.

15th April 2012 - "Discovering the Cuisine of The Philippines" - Hosted by Tina P who is devising a magnificent Filipino menu to show us what her native cuisine is all about.

Tina grew up in the Philippines but has since then lived in the US, Singapore, France, Hong Kong and now London. Growing up in a family of 9, she's had some good practice preparing large meals for a (critical) audience and now enjoys sharing her knowledge of Filipino cuisine with friends from all over the world.

Grazing Asia - Diwali Supper Club

To celebrate Diwali this year, the most popular festival in the Hindu calendar also known as the "Festival of Lights", I was invited to host a special Diwali Supper Club sponsored by Tilda Rice.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

Celebrated around the world, Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and marks new beginnings. It is a festival with food at the heart of the celebration with families and friends getting together for long, sumptuous feasts.

At my home in Islington, private chef and food blogger Maunika Gowardhan of Cook in a Curry was in charge of devising and executing the Diwali-themed, delicious menu using Tilda Rice for most of the dishes. We spent a lovely day together as I assisted her in the preparation of her dishes and learnt about her impressive career in the food industry.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

To kick off proceedings I prepared a delicious but lethal Indian-inspired Martini made from vodka, Cointreau, cardamom and orange marmalade as a welcome drink and to accompany Maunika's Indian interpretation of Italian arancini - deep fried sundried tomato and mozzarella rice balls served with a mint dipping sauce.

As with most of the events I host, I normally don't get to eat much, but this time I managed to have a mouthful or two of some of Maunika's delicious dishes. My favourite was the Keralan Fish Curry. This was a fantastic dish also known as Meen Moilee, made by infusing lightly fried sea bass fillets in a coconut gravy with fresh curry leaves, ginger and zesty lemon juice. It was so delicious, I could have eaten that all night and nothing else!

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

The Paneer Haraa Tikka was also excellent, and another dish I would love to cook in future. What really made this dish was the addition of Maunika's homemade pineapple and black pepper chutney to  grilled pieces of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) marinated in green herbs, garlic and fresh chillies.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

The Lamb Yakhni Pulao was good and surprisingly mild in flavour making it a good accompaniment to the other fiery curries. Maunika slow-cooked chunky pieces of lamb,  also making a delicious stock from it. She then fried the succulent pieces of meat with whole spices, Tilda Basmati rice in plenty of ghee, finally adding the lamb stock to cook the Pulao.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

Other lovely looking dishes were the Haraa Masala Chicken (The Skinny Bib's favourite dish of the evening!), Baingan Ka Bharta (charred aubergines cooked in spices and fresh ginger), and Bhapa Doi, a Bengali dessert of cardamon infused, sweetened yoghurt served with mango puree and chopped pistachio.

To accompany the food, we had Santa Rita Gran Hacienda Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and Carmenere, which I thought were robust and fruit-driven, and therefore good choices for the style of food we had on the evening.

Image Courtesy of Hot & Chilli

I thoroughly enjoyed hosting this event with Maunika Gowardhan for Tilda Rice; the experience has inspired me to learn more about Indian cuisine and cook it more regularly at home. For more information about Maunika's fantastic recipes, visit her website (Cook in a Curry) here.

Image Courtesy of Nutmegs Seven

For more eloquent accounts of this lovely evening, please visit the following blogs:

The Skinny Bib

Nutmegs Seven

Hot & Chilli

Rice & Pickles

Kavey Eats

Hungry in London

Grazing Asia - Forthcoming Events and Dates

Grazing Asia, a collaboration of four food bloggers from different Asian backgrounds, launched in June 2011 at the test kitchens of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Restaurant. May (Malaysian by May), Mimi  (Meemalee's Kitchen), Uyen (Love Leluu) and I (The London Foodie) have joined forces to start Grazing Asia, a new Asian Dining concept in London.

We bring our culinary heritage - Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese and Japanese to the tables of Grazing Asia, doing what we love doing best - feeding our friends. We will be hosting a series of supper club nights, cooking clubs lunches, cookery demos and classes in the coming months.

Events will be organised either jointly (among the four members) or independently by any one of the members for Grazing Asia. To kick off this series of events I will be hosting a Diwali Special Supper Club at my home with Maunika Gowardhan of Cook in a Curry on 12th October 2011.

Forthcoming Grazing Asia events:

12th October 2011 - Diwali Special Supper Club

Hosted by Maunika Gowardhan of Cook in a Curry and The London Foodie for Tilda Rice
Location: My Home, Islington, from 19:30 hours.

Cost: Free Event

Book: By Invitation Only

27th October 2011 - Partnering Fine French Wine with Japanese Food

Hosted by Denise Medrano of The Wine Sleuth and Luiz Hara of The London Foodie

Location: My Home, Islington, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £50 (French wines included)

Book: e-mail denisemedrano@gmail.com and/or luizhara@hotmail.com

28th and 29th October 2011 - Malaysian by May

Hosted by May of Malaysian by May

Location: my home, Islington, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £35 donation, BYO

Book: e-mail bookings@grazingasia.com and/or luizhara@hotmail.com

Leluu & The Supper Club
7th, 14th and 21st October 2011
3rd, 4th, 10th, 18th, 19th Nov 2011

Hosted by Uyen Luu of Leluu

Location: Uyen’s home, Hackney, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £35 donation, BYO

Book: e-mail uyen(dot)luu(at)gmail(dot)com

Vietnamese Cookery Class
9th and 16th October 2011
6th November 2011

Hosted by Uyen Luu of Leluu

Location: Uyen’s home, Hackney, from 13:00 hours

Cost: £75 donation, BYO (Includes all ingredients, lunch/dinner, take away and recipes)

Book: e-mail uyen(dot)luu(at)gmail(dot)com

21st January 2012 - Japanese Home Cooking Supper

Hosted by Luiz Hara of The London Foodie
Location: my home, Islington, from 19:30 hours

Cost: £35 donation, BYO

Book: e-mail luizhara@hotmail.com

12th February 2012 - Burmese Cooking Club

Hosted by Mimi of Meemalee's Kitchen

Location: my home, Islington, from 13:00 hours

Cost: Free Event: each participant will cook one dish & bring a bottle of wine

Book: e-mail luizhara@hotmail.com

What others are saying of Grazing Asia:

The Skinny Bib

Hungry In London

Wai Yee Hong

Fernandez & Leluu

Hot & Chilli

 

Grazing Asia - The Asian Supper Club Launches at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Restaurant Test Kitchens

Grazing Asia, a collaboration of four food bloggers from different Asian backgrounds, launched in June 2011 at the test kitchens of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Restaurant. May (Slow Food Kitchen), Mimi  (Meemalee's Kitchen), Uyen (Love Leluu) and I have joined forces to start Grazing Asia, a new supper club concept in London.

We bring our culinary heritage - Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese and Japanese to the tables of Grazing Asia, doing what we love doing best - feeding our friends!

All proceeds from our launch event were donated to charity, and with no financial gains for anyone, we just wanted to have fun!

For our first gig, we were joined by Jamie's website editor Danny McCubbin, Joe Gray (Fifteen Graduate), Jai and Emma (Fifteen Apprentices) who helped us greatly and without them we could not have raised £1,290 for the Jamie Oliver Foundation.

I have great admiration for the three ladies of Grazing Asia and feel privileged to be part of such a team. I was lucky to be invited to Mimi's for a Burmese feast during the run-up to her successful supper club event at Mat Follas' Wild Garlic restaurant last year, and was completely blown away by her native cuisine. Having eaten numerous times at Uyen's fantastic supper club Fernandez & Leluu (reviewed here), and tried May's delicious cooking during "Malaysian by May" at the London Cooking Club earlier in the year (read here) I knew I was in for a treat.

For our launch event, we all cooked one dish from our specialist cuisines as follows:

Tuna Tataki (Seared Tuna) with Japanese Yuzu Ponzu and Sesame Dressing
By The London Foodie

Spicy Burmese Fishball Salad aka Nga-pè Thoh(k)
By Meemalee’s Kitchen

Baked Crispy Pork Belly with Banh Cuon, Pickled and Fried Shallots with Vietnamese Cured Ham, Thai Basil and Coriander
By Leluu

Malaysian Curry Laksa
By Slow Food Kitchen

Green Tea Panna Cotta with Summer Berries
By Fifteen

A big thanks to all our food and wine sponsors:

Japan Centre
Wai Yee Hong Supermarket (and thanks for the beautiful crockery too!)
Fin & Flounder
Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen
Naked Wines
Eurofrutta

A very special Thanks to Paul Winch-Furness who kindly photographed the event waiving his entire fee to support us and the Jamie Oliver Foundation. Unless otherwise stated, all photographs in this post are Paul's. Paul is one of the best food photographers in the UK, and you can see more of his stunning photography on his website here.

Our first event was by invitation only - I would like to thank everyone who turned up on the day for their kind support and donations. All future Grazing Asia events will be open to the public - to learn more, follow us on Twitter (@grazingasia) or join our mailing list at www.grazingasia.com.

You can read some of the excellent write-ups of our launch event at:

The Skinny Bib

Hungry In London
Wai Yee Hong

Fernandez & Leluu
Hot & Chilli