CHEF'S BLOG

TIME FLIES

I can’t believe we are already into September. I have just come back from a two week break which actually turned out to be quite hectic.

At the moment I am very busy preparing for the launch of Street Kitchen, an innovative mobile food project I will be running during the London Restaurant Festival. It is a joint project with my good friend Mark Jankel.

Although the London Restaurant Festival is not until the beginning of October there are lots of preparations we need to get underway. All ingredients will be sourced in the UK directly from sustainable, organic farms so at times it has been a challenge to find ingredients which we would usually have readily available in the restaurant.

The exciting thing about Street Kitchen is that it’s the UK's first ever destination street vendor to sell gourmet cuisine and what’s more all the dishes will be sold at affordable prices.

We will be moving around London during the festival so keep an eye out for more information and locations nearer the time.

Before I go here is a taster of some of the dishes we will be serving.

Braised feather blade of laverstoke park beef carrots and celeriac.

Roast butternut squash salad with old Winchester cheese, cobnuts and red onions.

Cheesecake with wild blackberries and shortbread.

SIGNS OF SPRING

For me the first sign of Spring is Morels coming into season, they are one of my favourite wild mushrooms and only in season for about two months so I am always keen to use them in lots of different recipes. This year I am thinking about using Morels as part of a stuffing for Milk-fed lamb and serving this with spring vegetables and a Morel consommé. Look out for this dish on my menu soon.

Another spring ingredient that I get excited over is wild garlic, I have recently put this on the menu. The dish is a tart tatin of Smoked Roscoff onion, wild garlic puree and chanterelles. The easiest way of cooking with wild garlic is to think of it as an alternative to spinach.

If you want simple recipes to try at home;

Roughly chop a handful of wild garlic, add to warm pasta with a dollop of Ricotta, sprinkling of pinenuts and plenty of freshly grated parmesan.

or

Fry off morels with butter, finely chopped garlic and shallots, add a tbsp of crème fraiche and a squeeze of lemon juice and serve with toasted sour dough.

Spanish blood oranges and English rhubarb are still at their best. Why not come and try my pan fried foie gras with pickled rhubarb, ginger and crisp ginger bread and finish with a blood orange trifle with honey and ginger ice cream.

Lately, I have been experimenting with seaweed. I’ve been trying all different varieties including Dulse, Konbu, Wakame and sea spaghetti. I am hoping to feature it on the dinner menu soon, one dish I am planning to prepare is Monkfish poached in a Konbu stock, - Konbu is a Japanese type of kelp, it is sweet tasting and great for flavouring soups and sauces  - and pickled sea spaghetti with a langoustine consommé.

I have also just finished filming the new series of Daily Cooks Challenge. It will be on ITV1 throughout  April at 3pm on weekdays. This series was really fun to film as it is a competition between two chefs, we have to cook for celebrities according to their likes and dislikes. The first recipe for each show is a five minute challenge – you have to be really inventive to create recipes which can be cooked from scratch in five minutes. I was competing against Brian Turner and the celebrities were; Trisha Goddard, Zoe Salmon, Ricky Groves, Laila Rouass and Kim Woodburn.

That’s all for now, but don’t forget to catch me on a special Easter edition of Market Kitchen, it is going to be a great show packed with lots of delicious things to cook over Easter.

I will be demonstrating at the Ideal Home Show at Earl’s Court on Monday 22 March and Monday 29 March 2010.

I am also going to be at The Real Food Festival, Grand Designs Live and Hampton Court Foodie Festival in May and Taste of London in June.  Make sure you check here for all the dates nearer the time as it would be great to see you all there!

THE MAGIC OF WINTER

Happy New Year from all of us at Pearl and I hope you've been able to enjoy the snow.

I am sure this year will pass as quickly as the last and as you'll see from the card shops and supermarket displays, Valentine's Day will soon be here. To help make your decision on a romantic venue easier, we're opening the restaurant for dinner on Sunday, 14 February.

Rosabella Gregory, our resident pianist, will be joining us to entertain you from 7.30pm until 10.30pm. The bar opens at 5.00pm with first reservations from 6.00pm, and last orders at 10.00pm.

For those who haven't visited us before, Valentine's at Pearl is a fabulous opportunity to impress your loved one with an evening of good food in a relaxed yet glamorous setting. I've created a menu that will hopefully wow your partner with delicious tastes. Match it with wines recommended by Frederic, our Head Sommelier, to enhance the experience even more.

Our Valentine's five course tasting menu is from £125 per person, or £175 with wines to match each course. Please note the a la carte menu will not be available on Valentine's evening.

Best wishes to all for 2010 and we look forward to seeing you in Pearl soon.

AUTUMN IS HERE!

It seems summer has passed and autumn is now upon us.  I have had great fun changing the menu in Pearl to encapsulate the autumnal ingredients.  Now we are busy looking towards Christmas and New Year!  This year has really flown by, but I am looking forward to a busy few months to end the year.

Recently I appeared in a week of programmes for the Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen, which was broadcast from 5-9 October 2009. 

I am going to demonstrate at The Restaurant Show at Earls Court at 3pm on Tuesday 13 October 2009.  The show is attended by everyone in the restaurant industry, so it is a great opportunity for networking.

I will also be demonstrating at Taste of Christmas, held at London’s ExCeL Centre on 4–6 December 2009, and at The BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham on 25-29 November 2009.  Both of these shows are fantastic events for food lovers, with chef demonstrations, products for sale, and masterclasses.  Check my blog for times and dates of my demonstrations later this month. 

LAUNCH OF SIMPLE TO SENSATIONAL

It is an exciting time for me at the moment.  My new book, Simple to Sensational, launched on 5 May, so I am busy promoting it. 

I will be appearing on BBC1 Saturday Kitchen on Saturday 9 May, where I will be creating some delicious recipes and hoping to win back my crown for making the fastest omelette! 

I recently took part in a cookery demonstration at the Grand Designs Live Exhibition at ExCeL in London.  I will also be demonstrating at the Hampton Court Food Festival on Saturday 23 May.

Recently I revisited Market Kitchen for a week’s worth of programmes which will be aired on UKTV Food from 25 - 29 May.

I will also be demonstrating some recipes from my new book at this year’s Taste of London which will take place on 18 -21 June 2009.  Visit this website sometime soon for more updates.

PEARL ON BBC1's HUSTLE

Thursday 5 February 2009 - Pearl appeared on the hit BBC1 series Hustle on Thursday 5 February.  The main characters were shown having drinks in the bar and dining in the restaurant.  If you are quick you can watch the program on BBC iplayer.  Pearl is featured about 40 minutes into the episode. 

MARKET KITCHEN

I recently appeared on UKTV Food’s Market Kitchen from 26 January – 30 January 2009.  I demonstrated a delicious Pollack with cockle chowder that is quick and easy to make, and also gave some great suggestions for credit crunch style lunches.

I have filmed another week of shows for Market Kitchen and some episodes of ITV Daily Cooks, which will aired in February.  I’ll let you know the dates as soon as they have been scheduled. 

SEASONAL TIP

I thought I would share with you a dish for you to try at home.  My warm vegetable salad is the perfect healthy meal for the winter months.  Not only is watercress packed full of vitamins, but if you have a cold, the horseradish will help clear your sinuses.

(Four People)

For the dressing, mix 150g crème fraiche, one tablespoon of Dijon mustard and two tablespoons of creamed horseradish in a bowl.  Add the juice of half a lemon.

Peel two carrots and two parsnips and cut into eights lengthways.  Cut 100g of beetroot into cubes.  Place 40g walnuts on a baking tray and roast at 160°C for four minutes.  Cook 50g of broccoli in salted boiling water for two minutes, then plunge into iced water.

Pan-fry the parsnips and carrots in olive oil for three minutes, add 20g butter, and cook for another three minutes.  Add the beetroot, walnuts, broccoli and two tablespoons of honey and warm.  Serve on a plate, garnish with a handful of watercress and spoon dressing over the top.

JUN TANAKA TO APPEAR ON BBC1 SATURDAY KITCHEN
ON 27th DECEMBER 2008

Just to let you know that I'll be appearing on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen Christmas Special in December.  Hopefully you’ll be able to tune in to see one of my recipes being demonstrated.

SIMPLE TO SENSATIONAL COOK BOOK

I have been extremely busy working on my new cookery book, which will be available in all book shops from May 2009.  It’s particularly exciting as this will be my first book.  Within the cook book there will be 100 recipes, including starters, salads, main courses and desserts.  First I will provide simple recipes for inexperienced cooks that will build confidence and teach basic skills.  The opposite page to each recipe will then demonstrate how this simple recipe can be transformed into something spectacular in a few easy steps.  For example, once the simple Butternut Squash Soup has been mastered, it can be turned into sensational Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelised Scallops, Wild Mushrooms and Parmesan. 

JUN TANAKA APPEARED ON BBC2 MARKET KITCHEN
FROM 3RD UNTIL 7TH NOVEMBER 2008

I enjoyed presenting on Market Kitchen every day at 2.15pm from 3rd until 7th November 2008.  It is the first time that Market Kitchen has been shown on BBC2, so hopefully the ratings will have soared.  During the five days, I cooked a number of dishes such as Duck Breast with Caramelised Chicory and Lentils, and Clementine and Orange Blossom Clafoutis.

GOURMET CANDY FLOSS AT PEARL

We have just introduced Gourmet Candy Floss at Pearl which is offered complimentary with our guests’ petit fours, or in Pearl Bar for only £5 for two candy floss.  It’s only available on Saturday evenings and the flavours include Marshmallow; Chocolate Profiterole; Lemon; and Strawberry Candy Floss.

JUN TANAKA AND PEARL SHOWCASE AT TOP LONDON GASTRO SHOWS

With many exciting and interesting gastronomic events happening in London during 2009, I am always delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the talents of Pearl’s kitchen to food fans and London’s gastronomes!

One of the largest events will be Taste of London in Regents Park.  Running from the 18th to the 21st June 2009, Taste of London is a great environment for us to demonstrate our cooking talents, alongside some of the best restaurants in London.

JUN TANAKA AT PEARL RESTAURANT

Jun Tanaka is the Executive Chef at Pearl, one of the Capital’s most glamorous restaurants, with over a million hand-strung pearls in its décor. Since its opening in June 2004, the restaurant has established an excellent reputation for its exquisite modern French cuisine.

Prior to Pearl, Jun spent 10 years working with some of London’s best chefs in seven top Michelin star restaurants, including The Oak Room with Marco Pierre White.

WELCOME TO PEARL’S WEBSITE

Welcome to our new website. Keep a look out in this section for hints and tips on how to cook great tasting dishes in your own home.  These will be appearing in this section regularly.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me at info@pearl-restaurant.com.

Jun