We went to the East Twenty Bar & Kitchen within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the Urban Feast laid on using fresh locally sourced seasonal produce by Abbey Garden producers.
Abbey Gardens are a community gardening project located near Abbey Road, and the site contains the ruins of a 12th Century Cistercian Abbey.
The view from the upper terrace of East Twenty is beautiful at night taking in the Arcelor Mittal Orbit, coloured dancing fountains, the Olympic Track stadium, and the deep blue hue from the Aquatics Centre.
We enjoyed botanical cocktails of Sweet Basil Meadow with Butler’s Gin made in Hackney, and a Bramley Apple Pie.
We enjoyed a variety of vibrant salads with edible flowers made with produce from the Abbey Garden plots including beetroot, figs and juicy vine ripened cherry tomatoes and stuffed courgette flowers with herb cream cheese for starters.
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Mains included a flavourful Coq au Vin and a fishcake with hollandaise sauce.
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To cleanse the palate we tucked into a wonderful array of cheeses from Howard & Alexandra, owners of The Urban Cheese Maker (Artisan Cheese from London), based in Tottenham. These were accompanied by a bespoke quince jelly made for them using Simon’s (Head Chef at East Twenty) damsons from his garden – a dark treacle black quince jelly cubes which had a tartness from the damsons complemented by the sweetness from the quince.
They wrapped up the evening with a dessert of Pear and Apple Crumble with custard – it had a great crunchy texture from the oats in the mix and was topped with a light, buttery shortbread crust. Unfortunately, no photo of this as we were busy chatting to Leanna (from Abbey Gardens project) and Matt, and ate it before realising. Just have to take our word for it!
The dessert was accompanied with light Panama coffee from Union Hand-Roasted Coffee, which had a tropical fruits and pomegranate notes. Matt, from Union Roasted Coffee, explained that the beans are from Los Lajones and that they used a honey caturra process to create this unique type of coffee. A good pairing with the dessert – I recommend avoiding adding sugar and milk to ensure you can enjoy the full flavour profile of this light coffee.
Abbey Gardens have a Pumpkin Fest on this Saturday 27th September, 2014 from 1pm-4pm. Go and support them!
Twitter: @ArcelorMittal #EastTwenty @_AbbeyGardens #UrbanFest #UrbanFoodFortnight @wildescheese @unionroasted #share
Facebook:
Wildescheese
https://www.facebook.com/ArcelorMittalOrbit
https://www.facebook.com/abbeygardens
https://www.facebook.com/queenelizabetholympicpark
Abbey Gardens,
Bakers Row,
London. E15 3NF.
http://www.abbeygardens.org
East Twenty Bar & Kitchen:
http://arcelormittalorbit.com/eat/#.VCSgnfldXIk
Arcelor Mittal Orbit:
http://arcelormittalorbit.com/visit-arcelormittal-orbit/#.VCShevldXIk
http://queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/
Wilde’s Cheese:
The Micro Dairy
18 Frontier Works
33 Queen Street
London. N17 8JA
http://www.wildescheese.co.uk
The full menu from the evening, if you are interested, was:
MENU
• Bitter mizuna with organic new potatoes tossed in extra virgin olive oil and chili dressing
• Roasted baby beets and fig salad with blackberry and balsamic dressing
• Marrow with peas and basil in lemon oil
• Peppery wild rocket salad with shavings of hard cheese, vine-grown cherry tomatoes
• Stuffed courgette flowers with wild herbs and Wilde’s Londonshire creamy cheese, dipped in a light batter and deep fried
• Nasturtium and watercress micro-herb salad with pomegranate, cucumber, spring onion and vine tomatoes
• Coq au vin with British wine and free-range chicken
• Fishcakes made with sustainable salmon and haddock
Followed by
• Pear and blackberry crumble with custard
More information about the evening:
http://arcelormittalorbit.com/easttwenty-local-feast/#.VCSjBvldXIk
About goantolondon
International food and travel blog by London based British Goan duo: Jason and Chiara Pinto.
Twitter:
@goantolondon
@jasonpinto100
@chiarapinto
About Goa:
Goa is a small state on the western coast of India. Though the smallest Indian state, Goa has played an influential role in Indian history. Goa was one of the major trade centers in India, thus it had always been attracting the influential dynasties, seafarers, merchants, traders, monks and missionaries since its earliest known history. Throughout its history Goa has undergone continual transformation, leaving an indelible impression on various aspects of its cultural and socio-economic development.
History of Goa:
The East-West symbiosis of Goa makes it different from other parts of India, more than the historical and social niche. The history of Goa is a sweet and sour story of colonial heritage, oppressive rulers, a glorious culture, and uneventful immediate past.
As a land with the identity of its own, Goa was brought into focus when it was liberated of Portugal from its oppressive rule of around 450 hundred years in 1961. Goa was captured and annexed to the Portuguese in 1510 following the urges of trade and demand of spices and also cottons and indigo. But, Goa has a history that starts much before Portugal even thought of Goa being where it is.
Goa was coveted and ruled by a great number of Indian kingdoms and dynasties from the 4th century onwards. The first kingdom to rule Goa and Konkan were Bhojas, who were the feudatories of Ashoka in 4th and 5th centuries AD. The city of Chandrapur (present Chandor) was founded by Prince Chandraditya, son of Chalukya King Pulakesin from 566 to 597 A.D. after this, Goa was ruled consecutively by Silahara Dynasty, Kadamba Danasty, and finally Hoysalas from 1022 to 1342 A.D.
From the 14th century onwards, Goa became a great trading center on the west coast, especially in the vast trade of horses imported from the Middle East. This was the time for bigger empires to move in and Vijayanagar Empire conquered it in 1344. But there empire was not going to last too long and in 1347, Bahmani Sultans defeated Vijayanagara forces in 1347 and controlled Goa. Afterwards, it was a time of great prosperity and peace for Gpa, especially during the rules of Yusuf Adil Shah and Ismail Adil Shah. They created beautiful houses, fortified Goa, and encouraged local craftsmen. Their liberal and progressive rule was not going to last too long and situation changed in 1510 A.D.
Goa for all purposes was not on the Portuguese Radar even after a long time of their presence in India. When the Portuguese nobleman Alfonso de Albuquerque and his cousin Francisco de Albuquerque were sent with a powerful fleet in 1503 on the orders of King Dom Manuel I, the purpose was to defend the cargoes of spices, mostly pepper, against Arab Muslim raiders.
The center of spice trade was Calicut at that time and Portuguese had built forts in Cochin and Cannanore. It was in 1506-08 that an opportunistic pirate, Timoja, persuaded Albuquerque to attack Goa and acquire a better land base. This made Goa, Portugal's first real territorial acquisition in Asia. After a brief period of recapturing by the Muslims, Goa Albuquerque finally captured Goa in 1510.
The inquisition of Goa in 1540 reversed the previous liberal policy of Albuquerque and imposed strict censorship of literature and new laws to forbade non-Christians from professions. Forced conversions took place continuously, censorship was established on literature, the temples were destroyed, and non-Christian priests, holy men, and teachers were evicted. This led to continuous fleeing of Hindus from Goa to other parts of India.
It is not that the relationship with Portugal brought only destruction for the Goans. Portuguese also built great churches like the church of St. Cajetan and Bom Jesus basilica in Old Goa, which is a pilgrimage site for the Christians from around the world. But it is also true that pre-1961; Goa was a highly impoverished region very backward and primitive. It is after the liberation that Goa of today has emerged and it has surprised even the locals many of whom had left their homeland before its liberation. Portugal and India are today friends and Goa continues to be a fascinating blend of Latin and Oriental.
Information sourced from:
http://www.royalorienttrain.com/goa/goa-history.html
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