Fried Mushroom & Cheesy Onion Soup
A stone-glazed bowl is placed before you, steam noticeably seeps from the crevices. As the pottery lid is removed, a burst of heat, laden with the sweet smell of onion and freshly fried mushrooms. A fine layer of lightly crisped cheese and a few fried mushrooms coats the top of the soup, containing the vast majority of the soups aroma. Not only has the bowl contained the warmth of the soup but you can smell how the cheese has infused with the onion. Breaking the cheese loose, the sweet yet spicy tang from the onion and chicken broth are coated with the richness of the cheese’s fat. Each spoonful of this soup contains the mixture of sweet yellow and tangy red onion, alongside more fried mushrooms that have soaked in the soup's broth, allowing for additional bursts of flavor.
Barley & veggie soup, made with a rabbit based stock, with a slice of bread
A stone-glazed bowl is placed before you, steam noticeably seeps from crevices. As the pottery lids are removed, a burst of heat emits from the vessel. Mixing with the cool air, you pick up on the scent of finely shredded rabbit and vegetables. Upon your first scoop of the soup, you can see swollen bits of barley that have taken in the rich stock among diced carrots, sweet peas, and rabbit. The rabbit, from what you can assess, has been seasoned prior to being roasted and shredded into the soup with salt, pepper and basil, enhancing the sweet and salty acidity in the stock that now coats your tongue.
Egg Potato Hash, a Guest of Honor Exclusive
A warm oval-shaped hash is presented before you. The potatoes coating the outside of this otherwise smooth shaped dish have been shredded and salted before being baked to a crispy exterior. As you cut into the shape, you are greeted with the smell of lightly salted eggs and cubed pieces of venison and potato. The shape of the dish seems to have been created by a thinly sliced sheet of venison, encasing the hashed mixture. As you take your first bite, you can taste the salty crunch of the potato pieces from the outside of the hash along with the cubed inner potato that gives way to a softened interior. The venison has retained a pink, juicy center, lightly spiced with pepper seasoning the outside of each piece before mingling with the salted scrambled eggs.
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Vegetable stew with slice of wheat bread
An entree is set before you. A hot bowl of what seems to be stew riddled with refreshing greens. Many of the vegetables seem to derive from forest vegetation. A twist to your typical stew, this one seems to have spring onions, dandelion greens and nettle amongst the traditional carrots and potato. The broth itself is a thickened boar broth, made with the bones and giblets of wild boar giving it a strong kick that then mellows out alongside the greens. The stew itself is fatty but also offers a medicinal value with the dandelion greens and nettles giving it a slightly tangy bite. Served with the stew is a loaf of wheat bread that seems to sufficiently absorb the flavors intermingling within the broth.
Braised Beef and crispy onions
A plate it set before you. On it you find a medium cooked, braised beef seasons with salt and what looks like a crisp coating of fat and honey sauce. The meat seems to glisten in the candle-light. Garnishing the top of the beef you find crispy onions, some with a golden brown crunch while underneath the crisps you find sauteed onion, cooked in butter until caramelized. The rich, creamy juices coat you mouth as the braised beef and onions dance around your tongue.
The Iron Chef Special: Smoked Boar stuffed with herbs, with baked potato and optional cheese, butter, salt and pepper, a Guest of Honor Exclusive
A number of servers carry in a large wooden board, at first it is hard to discern what it is they are carrying in and then it is set before the nobles. A whole smoked boar rests upon the plate, skinned and smoked whilst being sure to keep the head intact with tusks displayed proudly. A gentleman leans in to cut the meat for serving and within it you are greeted with an array of aromatics that permeate your senses. The boar itself has been smoked over maple wood, while the body has been filled with both sage and basil, while pepper and salt extend throughout the body. As you begin to cut into your boar, you see that the sheen on the skin appears slightly crisp. A fine layer of scored fat has been left on the body allowing for the outside to become crisp while also containing the smoked maple flavor of the meat. Potatoes are displayed along the exterior, the skin baked to a fine wrinkle, leaving the inside soft and tender. The potatoes seem to have been pre sliced along the center, and as you open it further, you see that the interior of the potatoes have also been seasoned with salt, pepper and a generous layer of sharp cheese.
Shepherd’s Pie
A slice of what appears, at a quick glance, to be pie is set before you. Upon further inspection you see that this flakes pastry has been stuffed with both mutton, cut into strips and mashed potatoes, cupping the thick layer of meat in the center. The mutton has been seasoned with basil, salt and pepper while the potatoes retain a velvety texture from the absorbed juices of the meat. The crust of the pie remains flakey, offering a variety of textures to mingle as you enjoy the dish.
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Spongecake with Apple Jam
Before is placed a delicate looking desert. The outside of the cake is a sunny golden colored cake that offers an almost bouncy give as you cut into it revealing a satin white interior with a thin layer of sweet ginger-spiced apple jam. Taking a moment to take in the flavors, you can feel the buttery, fluffy texture of the cake intermingling with the apple bits within the rich ginger jam.
Apple Strudel
An almost individualized strudel is placed before you with an intricate braiding of the pastry dough. The exterior is glazed in egg wash and sprinkled with sugar granules giving it a glittering effect against candle-light. Cutting into the pastry you can see each layer of dough flake and crumble before being consumed by the finely cut apple compote. The crunch of the apple seems to be preserved in each bite, yet cooked to just the right level of softness that it offers no resistance to your each cut.
Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping, a Guest of Honor Exclusive
Placed before you is a creamy slice of cheesecake. Its body is composed of freshly churned milk before being processed into cream cheese and mixed with sugar, eggs and a slow churned butter. The crust of the cake is a granulated mixture of crumbled, crispy bread, butter, ginger and sugar, packed into a golden brown casing for the exterior of the cake. Atop the cake, it is dressed with a generous glazing of strawberry topping that had been sliced and layed out to rest in a mixture of sugar-water until it represents a rich fruit syrup. From there, fresh strawberries are once again, sliced to garnish the presentation before you. As you cut into the cake, its body remains firm, but immediately gives way in your mouth to a velvety, creamy texture.
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Drinks
Cider
Mead
Wine
Gin, a Guest of Honor Exclusive