Wednesday 29 July 2015

Olia Hercules at Carousel, London

Last year, my parents phoned me telling me that neighbours of ours were opening up a supper club. My dad (being the crazy old neighbour he is) even knocked on neighbour Ollie's door to put him on the phone to me so I could talk to him about their supper club.  Our neighbour told me that they were always keen to grow their foodie network and I should pop in (get the pun) to a pop up when I was back popping. 

I typed "carousel" into Google and have been following their updates on social media for a little while, so I decided to finally pop along. The event I booked was hosted by Olia Hercules, a Ukrainian born chef and food writer. 

Funnily enough, on my way to London from Paris, I opened up the Eurostar magazine to the foodie page and found an interview with Olia Hercules in "My life in Food."  Sometimes coincidences are just too weird. 

 On attending Carousel, we were welcomed very openly by the staff and invited to get a drink and sit in the beer garden which was filled with a group of fellow food explorers. 

Olia gave a welcoming speech just before the dinner started about the menu, which was called "The Wild East," she had created and the inspirations she had from her Ukranian heritage. 


The dinner started with a shot of vodka, designed to accompany the plate of toasted rye bread served with Ukranian Salo, and fermented tomato. The idea was to take a bite of the rye bread with Salo, a sip of vodka followed by the fermented tomato. It was an explosion of flavours, a great way to start the dinner. 


The course that followed was Ukranian Green Borsch, Pulled duck with sorrel, spring onions, quail's egg and dill, served with homemade crusty sourdough bread. 





We then had Steamed pork belly manty. Absolutely delicious.


The main course was Georgian Poussin Tabaka with an assortment of different fresh salads: vegetable caviar, picked carrots, Ukranian grilled aubergines, onion, herb and pomegranate salad and tamarind, beetroot, walnut and prune salad. 



The last but obviously not least (and if anyone knows me I eat dinner just to have dessert) was "Verguny and two sauces." The pastry was served with chocolate and caramel sauce. 


A huge thanks to Olia Hercules and the Carousel team for such a brilliant supper club! 




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