Borough Market Cookbook Club (BMCC) – It’s too much of a mouthful !
A lot of people have asked me about BMCC, so rather than constantly repeating myself I thought I should write a quick overview of the most recent event to demonstrate how it all works.
BMCC was set up a little over 2 years ago, and is a club free to join, and for “anyone who loves good food, good cookery books and good company “ as quoted in their website. It is organised and run by Food Writer Angela Clutton who is also food historian on BBCs RIP Off Britain, and Co- Chair of The Guild Of Food Writers. She is also the most lovely and charming person, and it is one of my great pleasures that I have gotten to know her via the BMCC.
Angela starts dishing up at the BMCC
I believe the membership is currently running at something like 500-600 foodies, and when you imagine each event can only accommodate a maximum of 16 persons, it is somewhat difficult to get a place. Attendance is ran on a balloting system to give every one a fair chance of participating at an event. Events take place – well until the end of this year anyway – twice per month. Basically a Cookbook is selected and if you are lucky enough to be one of the attendees, you are invited to choose a recipe , e mail Angela and – provided your chosen recipe has not already been taken – you prepare the food at home and bring it along to be tried and tasted by your fellow Cookbook members. It is not a competition in anyway, and this is very important. Nobody is out to judge you or your food. Rather it is a relaxed social environment where, even if your food does not turn out as you had planned, we can all laugh at it or at ourselves.
You are asked to present your meal and talk a little about your experience in preparation, how user friendly the recipe was, and generally your thoughts about the book in its entirety. Recently the format has changed so that 2 events are planned around one Cookbook, so even more recipes can be tried and tested. The two events are held within a week of each other and some recipes are duplicated on the second event, and – as Angela has told me- the results are often quite different in styling or appearance, and some people’s views of the same recipe can vary wildly to another’s.
The Event actually takes place in Borough Markets kitchen above their Admin office. It usually lasts two and a half hours, and taking into consideration you are tasting 16 meals plus whatever Angela prepares herself ( usually another 3 or 4 dishes) you leave suitably full and sated! Borough Wines also provide a few bottles of free wine to help lubricate the tongues, and it is a great chance to make new friends. I have been lucky enough to be involved in half a dozen of the events now, and at some you are meeting foodies who you have met at previous events. At the same time there will always be newbies who have recently joined the club, or never been lucky enough to attend previously. They run a waiting list too ( as people’s plans do sometimes change) and it is worth participating in this as I have attended before via the wait list. The only issue then is that you are attending at short notice, and you have to act quickly to determine a recipe and to organise ingredients etc – especially if you want to do a practice run before the event itself. Personally I always like to try the recipe once before presenting at the Club – at least to try to avert a disaster ! BMCC also recognises SE1 residents and this is a card you can play, as have I, ( only once a year ) to ensure a place at the table.
I have challenged myself at a few of these events to come up with something I would not have tried before. Angela cites one of her favourite e mails ever as my one to her starting off “ I am just about to order my Pigs blood powder”. I was planning to have a go at homemade Black Pudding from Shaun Hills Cookbook SALT, and had established that as Joe Public you cannot get your hands on fresh Pigs blood, and I wanted to ensure that my Reconstituted version would go down well at the club. Angela, as usual, encouraged me to proceed and leave my comfort zone big time !
This weeks event was even more special, and Angela was very excited about it, as we were to make dishes from the newly released Borough Market Cookbook. So for the first time ever the BMCC was to experience food from its own Cookbook, that Angela had a hand in, but – as she was very clear to point out – only a small band in, the lions share of the writing and recipes all put together by Ed Smith, an award winning food writer. Ed has his own food blog Rocketandsquash.com and released his debut Cookbook in 2017 On the Side: a sourcebook of inspiring side dishes. The Borough Market Cookbook is beautifully presented and laid out, and runs through the seasons providing you with recipes and ideas celebrating the most fantastic seasonal produce. There are also fab articles about the Market with focus on different traders and other historical events that still take place in the present day – like this Sundays annual Apple Day !
Anyway back to this weeks event. I had chosen to bake Muffins. I had never prepared something sweet in my previous outings at the event, and I do not usually bake or prepare many desserts at home. So in the spirit of getting outside that old comfort zone again I went with Ed’s unusual recipe for Persimmon, Walnut and Nutmeg Jam Muffins.
This recipe falls under the Autumn Section of the book and states that Persimmon is usually found from mid September onwards and all throughout Winter at the Market. Do you think the market had them ? Nein. Not one trader ! One explained it was due to the long hot summer. Another offered me Kaki fruit , a variety of Persimmon which are very astringent and inedible until very ripe. These were a long way off ripe – hard as bricks and yellow rather than orange and I only had 48 hours before cooking my muffins ! In desperation I went West – visited Harrods food store. None. Then Selfridges who, as luck would have it , had received a few trays of some very ripe( maybe over ripe) fruits 10 minutes before I walked in. So I had my fruits, and I was able to present in accordance with the recipe.
This particular occasion there were 15 Ladies and my good self. I am used to being outnumbered on such events but usually I have one or two male supporters, but not this time. No complaints however from my side ! The Ladies produced some wonderful food and the dishes were so varied. It’s a wonderful way to sample dishes you have seen in the book and are considering cooking as you can try other people’s efforts first.
Amongst the dishes were :
An Autumn Panzanella – A lovely salad using Carola Nero and Ciabatta as compared to the usual summery Tomato version
Swede and Stilton pie – which had been chosen to overcome the latent dislike of Swede by its creator ! Anything with Stilton is fine by me !
One Pot Golden Chicken and Judion Beans – Basically bigger than butter beans from Brindisa.
Cod ,Smoked Haddock and Romanesco bake – one of Angela’s contributions.
Heritage Tomato,Olive Tapenade and Belper Knolle Tart. The chef had prepared this 3 times in the past 48 hours, one to practice, one she burnt, and then one to bring along to the event !
Winter Squash Red Curry – which contained 6-10 dried Thai Red Chillis (7g), and blew your head off but I loved it. Seriously recommend reducing Chilli content dramatically if you are not into spicy food !
Chorizo and Piquillo Pepper Tray Bake – a version of the Chorizo/ Rocket/Pepper Sandwich that Brindisa serves as a great take away.
Sage and a Honey Baked Figs with Ginger Butter Biscuits – lovely combination of Sage and a Fig which I had not experienced before
Roast Plum Pavlova – I am not ordinarily a Sweet Fan, but this was maybe my dish of the night as the Plums had been macerated and Baked with Tarragon which worked spectacularly well !
There were other dishes but I did not photograph all – a great Venison and black bean Chilli will be one to try at home.
Anyway it was a fabulous evening with some wonderful food and next week the Borough Market Cookbook will be celebrated again on the second event before other books are tried out during November and December.
Angela as ever is supported by a great team in the kitchen who ensure the evening runs smoothly and also enables everyone to go home with the Utensils, Baking sheets, pots etc that they arrived with, and with a box of surplus food to also take home. There was a lot to get through, as always, so doggy bags are appreciated. I am so happy I got involved with the BMCC, but don’t want to shout it too loudly as it will be even more difficult to secure a place at future events !
I am going to buy the book. And love the muffin idea