Monday 10 June 2013

Week beginning June 10th - Stone fruit, Rabbit and Burdock stems

With the sun, London seems to become a more eventful place. Miscellaneous days suddenly become filled with endless activities and options. Much like the variety of ingredients that suddenly start appearing when the sun is shining.
This week's menu makes use of ripe stone fruit that have arrived from the Mediterranean and arid coasts of Spain. At Kaffeine we try to make the most of local seasonal ingredients, however the UK does not have the desired climate to make stone fruit sweet, tender and juicy. Thankfully our neighbouring European countries have the great conditions for soft tropical and stone fruit such as bananas, oranges, grapes and peaches. Our menu this week consists of flat peach muffins, baguettes filled with apricots, speck and Camembert. We also have a foraged salad with nectarines, wild French asparagus, wood sorrel and baked burdock stems. 

Burdock is known as a root vegetable, however in the summer the stalk stems can be eaten much like broccoli. When eaten raw the stems are very stringy and have an intense bitterness, but if peeled and baked they take on an earthy new potato slash asparagus flavour. For centuries burdock has been used as a medicine in many different cultures. In Chinese medicine burdock seeds are used for symptoms such as fever, cough and a sore, red, swollen throat. It is also used to clear heat and toxicity from any red swelling, even in cases of rashes, measles and mumps. In western herbal medicine, the roots are used as a tea to cleanse the liver, purify the blood and good for clearing the skin. The leaves are often used as a poultice to treat bruises, burns and joint swellings.

Kaffeine also sees the return of rabbit to the menu. We will be serving the roasted rabbit in a salad, complimented with finely sliced raw spring vegetables and foraged fat hen (look at last week's menu blog for a description of fat hen) and garnished with another foraged item rosey garlic flowers. These flowers look like miniature pink rose buds and taste distinctly like garlic. 

Come get caffeinated and while you're at it, satisfy your hunger pains.

Jared Bryant
Lead Chef
Kaffeine
@redjar50

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70 (add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Flat peach 2.20
Savoury Scone: Linseed, mustard and watercress 2.20
Elderflower friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Chocolate chip cookies 1.80

French retro baguettes 4.90
Speck, camembert, apricot and spinach
Salmon, cucumber, lime soft cheese, basil and rocket

Foccacias 5.00
Ham, grilled pineapple, gorgonzola, coriander pesto and rocket
Spicy red onion marmalade, mature cheddar, gherkins, mustard and spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Roasted rabbit with raw spring greens, peas, carrot, sauteed fat hen and garnished with rosey garlic flowers.
Baked burdock stems served with nectarine, toasted pine nuts, wood sorrel, raw wild asparagus and dressed in a goats cheese and water-mint dressing.
Curried roasted sweet potato with wild rocket.

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Polenta with courgette and capers

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