It takes an adventurous stomach and big appetite for anyone interested in eating like a Red Wedding guest this weekend in London.
Hidden in a Victoria era London Hotel’s marble clad Masonic Temple has been transformed with candles and Baratheon and Lannister flags for a royal Game of Thrones inspired feast! As anyone can expect from a Lannister affair you will be graced with the prescence of knights, jesters singing ‘Incest is Best’, a contortionists and intrigue!
Only a lucky few contestants will be able to be a guest with by winning an exclusive invite to Chef Jamie Hazeel’s Game of Thrones inspired pop-up restaurant ‘All Men Must Dine’ celebrating the DVD release of season four of the HBO series. For those in attendance they were able to ‘enjoy’ a 15-course meal at the King’s Landing council chamber of the Seven Kingdoms well a restaurant whose interior design was reminiscent of everyone’s favorite gory fantasy series. Chef Hazeel wanted to make items described by George R.R. Martin’s prose but found that one of the delicacies (for example) traitor’s tongue with smoked serpent was difficult. He said that python is difficult to cook so they had to substitute smoked eel for one dish. Hazeel is not only a chef but he’s a fan of the show that uses medieval recipes for the many deadly banquets! As a co-owner of the Wandering Chef (catering company) he knows the importance of improvising and quick thinking that he used to create the recipes the guests were able to enjoy!
As any fan of the show knows the rich and powerful eat the very best and one of their favorite treats is honeyed fowl. I know when watching I always assumed they were eating chicken but to Hazeel luxury is something a bit more adventurous. So he created a honey and lemon-glazed quail stuffed with apricots, almonds and sultanas (have no idea what that is so google to the rescue! Sultanas is a “white”, oval seedless grape). His idea of food luxury is ten courses with lots of fruit and spices (something that the lower classes did not have access to in medieval times).
Some of the inspiration for dishes were for the characters many flaws for instance honey-fried locusts and a dish of poached calf tongue called ‘the lies of Tyrion Lannister.’ Obviously this was not a vegetarian friendly dinner party! This was for carnivore fans since the meal was of fish, flesh and fowl that the average person does not find at the local grocery store. Well let’s just say you won’t find most of these proteins at your average grocery store! Now I’m sure some people enjoy a yummy pigeon pie (made with pigeon meat) or the ‘dinosaur Scotch egg’ from an emu and an entire roast suckling pig (that I have seen since I grew up in Iowa and were a ‘pork’ state) on a pyre but the average grocery shopper sticks chicken, pork, beef or seafood but don’t often try emu! But the Chef wanted to really make dinner for the ultimate fan boy/girl who would be willing to eat like the boy king (well before his unpleasant end). Unlike King Joffrey Chef Hazeel made sure his guests had desert with his bone-marrow crème brulee. YES BONE-MARROW served in a real bone dripping blood-red sauce. Never fear the guest will have nothing to fear from Lalie Jacout, Hazeel’s business partner. She said ‘We have a lot of surprises in store, but they will leave safely,’ but my only question is will they try every dish? As a House Stark I’ve learned to avoid ALL feasts since they are murder on stomach or should I say throat??
Thanks to the Daily Mail for the partial menu (click on link for great photos)!
ALL MEN MUST DINE: A SELECTION OF COURSES FROM THE MENUÂ
A Guarantee of Safety: Bread and Salt
A Slice of Black Bread with Salt Cured Pork Fat, Smoked Salt, Chives and Roast Garlic
The Murder of King Joffrey
Spiced Pigeon, Dried Fruit and Almond Pie
The Lies of Tyrion Lannister and his Proclaimed Innocence
Poached Veal Tongue with Beetroot, Horseradish and Oldtown Mustard
Tales from the East of Daenerys’ Dragons
‘Dragon Eggs’: Giant Scotch Egg with Ham Hock, Prunes, Apple and Sage
House Tyrell’s Growing Power and Influence in King’s Landing
A Salad of Dandelion, Nasturtium, Mustard Flowers, Pickled Walnuts and Pear
The Greyjoy Sorties in the North, and the Slaughter at Moat Cailin
Bread with Seaweed Butter
What dish would you be willing to try?? Let me know in the comments.
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