Smashed at the Weekend #9
Celebrate with Wraxall English sparkling wine, indulge at Umu, have a happy Hanukkah brisket doughnut and shake yourself up a cocktail from Pearly Cow
NB: there will be no edition of Smashed on 24 December. The next edition will be a Twixmas Smashed at the Weekend special which will be in your inbox on 27 December and will be the last of 2024. Merry Christmas and thanks so much for reading Smashed in 2024, there’s much more to come in 2025.
Something to cook
Festive recipes with a twist from Eran Tibi, Founder and Executive Chef at Bala Baya and Kapara, London
Kapara – Hanukkah Falafel Scotched Egg
A falafel scotched egg, served with yogurt tahini, tomato relish, lemon preserve
‘This recipe is one of our favourite for Hanukkah. We chose this, as with lots of the food during Hannukah, they are fried in oil. This is due to the significance of ‘oil’ from the story of the oil lamp that was supposed to run out but miraculously lasted for 8 days, which kept the minora burning. This also is an important dish because egg symbolises life.’
Note – makes x10 falafel scotched eggs
Ingredients
Falafel mix
Chickpeas (either dried and soaked overnight or canned) x 1kg
Parsley x 1 bunch
Coriander x 1 bunch
Garlic cloves x 5
Large Onions x 1 (chopped into large chunks)
Spring onions x 3
Sliced bread x 2 chopped into small chunks
Ground cumin x 1tbsp
Ground coriander x 1tbsp
Baking powder x 1 tbsp
Soft boiled egg
Eggs (preferably golden yolk eggs) x 10
Yogurt tahini
Yogurt x 250g
Lemon juice x 50g
Table salt x 10g
Tahini x 100g
Tomato relish
Chopped tomatoes x 1kg
Tomato paste x 50g
Dill x ½ bunch
Garlic cloves x 10 units
Mint x ½ bunch
Onion x 1
Parsley x ½ bunch
Method:
Falafel
Soak chickpeas for 24 hours at room temperature if not using canned.
Boil eggs for 5 ½ minutes then place straight into ice cold water to cool.
Place all falafel mix ingredients in blender and blend until a fine mix.
Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
When eggs are cool carefully peek of the shell. Be careful not to damage the eggs. The fresher the eggs the better for this.
To build the scotched egg carefully cup approx 100g of falafel mix around the egg.
When fully sealed place falafel in frying oil @170c. for approx 3-4 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Serve with yogurt tahini, tomato relish and Pea shoots. Recipes below
Yogurt tahini
Place all ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined.
Tomato relish
Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
Add tomato paste, honey, vinegar and red wine.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and all herbs.
Cook down until thick and sweet.
Season with salt and pepper. Then mix in a blender.
Kapara – Hanukkah Brisket Doughnut
A Moroccan doughnut topped with beef brisket, bonfire tomato & chilli, orange spiced jus, amba tahini, coriander
‘This recipe is one of our favourites for Hanukkah. Brisket was and is still used as a special cut of meat on Jewish holidays such as Hannukah, Shabbat, and Passover. The cut of beef was decided to be celebratory and important due to its location. Brisket is found in the cow's front breast, making it kosher for Jews to consume; it is also an affordable cut making it easy for all families to use. The doughnut are also fried as oil has great significance during Hanukkah from the story of the oil lamp that was supposed to run out but miraculously lasted for 8 days, which kept the minora burning.”
Prep time: 3 hours approx. Cooking time: 5 hours approx.
Makes 8-10 brisket doughnuts
Ingredients:
BRAISED BRISKET
Brisket 1k
Brisket rub 100g (recipe below)
Carrots x 1 roughly chopped
Onions x 1 roughly chopped
Celery x 1 roughly chopped
Star anise 20g
Orange Juice 2ltr
BRISKET RUB
Paprika x 50g
Chilli powder x 5g
Garlic powder x 10g
Salt x 10g
Coriander ground x 5g
Soft dark sugar x 10g
Cumin ground x 10g
MASHWIYAH
Tomatoes x 5 units
Turkish Chili x 3 units
Garlic x 2 cloves
DOUGHNUT
Pizza flour x 260g
Water tepid x 170g
Yeast dried 10g
Sugar x 16g
Salt x 4g
Method:
BRISKET
Dry rub brisket put on a roasting tray with chopped veg with baking paper and roast for 20mins at 200C degrees to seal the meat.
Once sealed add the orange juice to about halfway up the brisket in the roasting pan.
Cover with baking paper and tin foil and braise at 160C degrees for 5 hours.
When cooked, separate meat from brisket juices and reduce gravy by half.
MASHWIYAH
Grill Tomato and chili until skin is charred. Let cool and peel both. And remove seeds from chilli.
Fine chop the tomato and chilli to a pulp and mix with garlic, fresh lemon, coriander season with salt and pepper to taste.
DOUGHNUT
Dilute sugar and yeast in water.
Place flour and salt into dough mixer and mix for 1 minute. Or by hand.
While still mixing slowly add water into flour and let mix to a sticky dough.
Put in flour bowl and let rest for 1 hour. Or until doubled in size.
Once doubled in size knead dough then roll out on table to 1” thick. Using ring cutters sizes 76mm and 22mm cut donuts into rings. (Any scraps leftover you can re roll into more donuts. Or just chuck in the fryer and sprinkle with sugar for a little treat.
Place on floured tray and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
When risen Place in deep fat fryer @190c
when golden on one side approx. 2 minutes. Flip the donut and fry for another 2 minutes.
Something to eat
Umu, London
Arriving at Umu is like rendezvousing at the HQ of a clandestine crime-fighting organisation from a 60s TV show. We approached the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant down a narrow, dimly lit alleyway off Bruton Place in Mayfair. There, illuminated by a single street lamp, we were confronted by an impassive wood-clad frontage. A large white button read ‘UMU - touch to enter’ and so we did. A double-height door slid back to reveal not Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin checking in for their next assignment, but some smartly attired and smiling front-of-house team members manning the reception desk and beyond them a timelessly elegant dining room.
Umu celebrated its 20th anniversary this year but age has not withered her. The restaurant, with its open kitchen and dining counter, still looks as stylish as it did in 2004. We sat at one of the dining room’s polished wood tables and, even though I had my back to the kitchen, I could follow all the action in the mirrored wall.
Our seasonal eight-course Kyoto-style kaiseki meal turned out to be a four-hour epic. If I gave you a detailed description of everything we ate, by the time I’d finished the bells would be ringing out on New Year’s Day. Instead, a few memorable highlights of chef Ryo Kamatsu’s exquisite menu. The meal kicked off with a trio of raw squid preparations which I have to admit I found quite challenging but were very much enjoyed by my guest who has more sophisticated tastes than me. I did however admire the amazing knifework; one of the three bites included the squid sliced into very fine ribbons with exacting precision.
The next dish really hit the mark for me. Prawn and lobster shinjo was a very superior fish cake served in an umami bomb of white miso broth with some welcome crunch and acidity from carrot, daikon and yuzu. The ‘Tsukuri and sushi’ course was served as three waves of raw seafood: scallop, tuna and red seabream. Of the three, I favoured the delicate, thinly sliced red seabream the most; the sashimi was served with a beautifully acidic broth that was just magical.
The yakimono (grilled or fried) course was almost Western in its conception and featured very rare and exceptionally tender chargrilled slices of roe deer with truffle sauce and truffle shavings. The highlight of the plate however was a kind of venison faggot which I assume also contained the foie gras listed on the menu. It had the deep meaty flavour reminiscent of a long-cooked stew and was as tender as you like.
The kitchen didn’t miss a beat. The rice (both for the sushi and in the final ‘gohan’ savoury course of turnip and lotus root rice) and various broths served throughout the meal (including a show-stopping yasai nabe vegetarian hot pot) were as exceptional as the stunningly fresh fish seafood.
The wine (for me) and sake (for my guest) pairings were expertly handled by Ryan Johnson, possibly the world’s only qualified Kikisake-shi (sake sommelier) to hail from Romford. The gallery below shows just some of the amazing bottles we drank from.
Service, presided over with authority and grace by Seiji Takahashi, runs like, well, service in a restaurant that has been open for two decades. Nothing happens that shouldn’t happen and everything that does happen you are glad about. All of this wonderful food, drink and service doesn’t come cheap of course. The kaiseki menu is £260 and the pairings start from £120. You could navigate your way around the a la carte for less and lunch starts from £50 a head. Umu is very squarely aimed at the well-heeled, but if you can afford it, you are in for a serious and memorable treat.
Umu, 14 - 16 Bruton Place, London, W1J 6LX. 020 7499 8881; umurestaurant.com. Smashed dined as a guest of Umu.
Something pink to drink at Christmas (or anytime)
Wraxall 2021 Sparkling Rosé
English wine. That’s a new thing, right - last decade or so? Well, not quite. Wraxall in Somerset celebrated its 50th birthday this year (although Hambledon in Hampshire, established in 1952 pips it to the post as the oldest commercial vineyard in England). Acquired in 2021 by David and Lexa Bailey, the couple have launched Wraxall 2021 Sparkling Rosé to mark the 15-acre vineyard’s half-centenary and it’s a suitably celebratory drop.
Pale pink and elegant with appealing strawberry notes and controlled acidity (the makers also describe ‘aromas of ripe strawberry and red apple interlaced with notes of apricot and brioche’), it paired beautifully with a seafood dish when I sampled it. It was equally enjoyable on its own, sipped while watching TV coverage of the World Darts Championship.
As well as producing a total of five wines (a sparkling white, a still Bacchus, a still Bacchus Reserve and a still Early Pinot Noir rosé in addition to the new sparkling rose) the Bailey’s have developed the wine tourism side of Wraxall. Set in the Somerset countryside a few miles from the trendy town of Bruton, there are vineyard tours, tastings at The View@Wraxall wine bar and restaurant that has views over the vineyard and surrounding area, and overnight stays at the estate’s three holiday cottages. All great reasons to head to the South West in 2025.
Wraxall 2021 Sparkling Rosé - £38 (or £35 until 31 December), 75cl available from Wraxall Vineyard directly on site or via wraxallvineyard.co.uk.
Something to shake
Gimme Mure
Created by Pearly Cow’s Bar Manager Josh Williams
‘This is a favourite cocktail for a pre-dinner drink at Pearly Cow Brighton. In house we make our own blackberry syrup and dehydrated blackberry powder to coat the rim of the glass which adds a delicious sweet and tart element to every sip; it’s also a great way to use the leftover pulp from the syrup meaning we have no waste. The recipe below is a simplified version, come try the real deal at Pearly Cow for yourself!’
Makes one cocktail
Ingredients
35ml Brighton Gin (we always support local brands where we can)
15ml Aperol
50ml pineapple juice
15 ml lime juice
20ml blackberry jam or syrup (see recipe below)
Shake over ice and fine strain into a freezer-chilled coupe.
Blackberry syrup
500g blackberries
600ml water
600g caster sugar
Slowly heat blackberries in water, not going above 80 degrees and stir the fruit, slowly pressing the juice out. Add the sugar 100g at a time stirring until totally dissolved. Turn down heat continuing to stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Using fine mesh strain, press the fruit and juice through a fine mesh strain to remove the pulp. Cool and chill until needed.
Pearly Cow, Brighton
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