The Culinary Journey of Hassan Haji

La Fourchette in Mumbai

Menu complet:

Salade frisée with mustard vinegerette

Minute steak with frites and a dollop of Café de Paris sauce (herbs and garlic butter)

Crème brûlée

Porcini Mushroom Festival in Cortona, Tuscany

Menu completo trifolato:

Pasta ai Porcini

Scaloppine ai Porcini 

Contorno di Porcini

On the Pensione roof terrace

 Wild asparagus served with fagiole

Beef charbroiled on wood fires

Walnut biscotti dunked in Vin Santo

Dufour estate, Lumiere in the French Jura

Pain chemin de fer

Maison Mumbai - la culture indienne en Lumière

Clear trotters soup

Lamb brain stuffed with green chutney, coated with egg and tawa-grilled

Chicken cinnamon masala and beef cooked with vinegar-spices 

Steamed rice crumpets and cottage cheese simmered with fenugreek

~

Prawn samosas

Goa fish stew

Chicken tikka marinated in pink spices and lemon then grilled

A skewer of yogurt-marinated lamb liver, sprinkled with crunchy pine nuts

Okra and tomatoes

Cauliflower heads in brown sauce

Fluffy yellow basmati rice

Pickled carrots, cool yogurt and cucumber, unleavened bread 

~ 

Le Saule Pleureur (The Weeping Willow)

 Nineteenth-century oil painting of the Marseille fish

markets

Orchid centrepieces

Satie music in the backbround

~

Hors d’oeuvres of pike carpaccio with a truffle and asparagus vinaigrette

Fricassee of freshwater oysters

Spinach and carrot semolina two-toned bread with chilled terrine de foie gras served under a white truffle and port gelée

Bouillabaisse

Roast suckling pig

Fennel ice cream and toasted figs with nougatine

~ 

Salmisde palombes (pigeon pie in a Merlot and shallot sauce)

~

Goat cheese and pistachio soufflé

~

Mille-feuille with preserved citrus cream made

from Menton lemons

 Chunks of pike grilled on metal skewers accompanied by a crayfish and sherry saffron sauce

Rouget stuffed with asparagus and simmered in a grapefruit bouillon

Stewed hare served with infused couscous and a cucumber and sour cream salad with a handful of lingonberries

~

Hassan's French Cooking Apprenticeship with Madame Mallory

Study the Lyon butcher’s treatise.

Early morning visits to the market with Madame Mallory for purchases and lessons.

Kitchen duties: Washing dishes, mopping the kitchen floors, scrubbing and preparing les légumes.

Restaurant: a bread-boy in tunic

and white cotton gloves, closely studying the ballet of service.

 Set the dining room off-hours under the supervision of Madame Mallory.

 

Kitchen: Plucking and cleaning wild pigeons, quail,

and pheasant.

Front desk with Monsieur LeBlanc: Taking reservations and learning the skill of properly seating a restaurant and the delicate politics of not offending repeat customers.

Early evening: Thirty minutes of wine tasting

and corresponding lecture, under the tutelage of the sommelier.

Promoted to commis chef after passing an oyster test.

La Gavroche, Paris

Hired by Chef Pierre Berri.

Working as sous chef then promoted to senior sous chef.

La Belle Cluny

Working as chef de cuisine alongside Chef Marc Rossier.

Le Chien Méchant

Number 11 Rue Valette

(Landlord: Le Comte de Nancy Selière)

Hassan opens up his own restaurant with his sister, Mehtab, as business partner and funded by his father.

Chef de cuisine: Serge Poutron.

Maître d’hôtel: Jacques.

~

Daurade aux citrons confits

Smoked eel with fresh horseradish cream

Siberian ptarmigan roasted with tundra herbs 

served with caramelized pears in an Armagnac sauce

 Le Coq d’Or, Courgains, Normandy

Owned by Chef Paul Verdun.

~ 

Omelet with codfish cheeks and caviar.

Poularde Alexandre Dumas.

Chez Pierre, Marseilles

1928 Krug Champagne

Teacup of Marseille fish soup

Dish of tiny clams

Loup de mer 

(sea bass grilled on fennel stalks and bathed in warm Pernod then flambéed)

Maison Dada, Aix-en-Provence

A minimalist restaurant owned by Chef Mafitte.

~

Crystallized foam

(a hard froth made from sea urchin eggs, kiwi and fennel)

 

Bowl of 'pasta' 

(made entirely out of Gruyère cheese and reine des reinettes apples)

Lobster lollipops served with truffle ice cream

 Frogs legs deboned and caramelized in fig juice and dry vermouth served alongside a polenta 'bomb' studded with foie gras and pomegranates

Paul Verdun’s memorial dinner

Champagne under Monet’s Gare Saint-Lazare and Seurat’s Circus.

Dinner was served in the grand salon with white tables dressed with long-stemmed irises in glass; adorned with Baroque murals and Rococo mirrors; surrounded by tall windows offering a panoramic view of Paris.

~

Amuse bouche: 

A shot glass filled with a bite-sized baby octopus cooked in its natural essence, extra virgin olive oil from Puglia, and a single caper on a long stem.

Served with the 1959 Château Musar from Lebanon.

Oyster in clear broth.

Salad of Belgian endive garnished with chunks of

Norwegian smoked lamb and quails’ eggs.

Served with the 1989 Testuz Dezaley l’Arbalete.

Poached halibut in champagne sauce.

Served with a 1976 Montrachet Grand Cru, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. 

Paul’s Partridge in Mourning.

Served with the 1996 Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Romaine.

Guests at table seventeen

Hassan Haji

Chef André Piquot

Madame Elisabet (fish wholesaler to northern France)

Le Comte de Nancy Selière

James Harrison Hewitt (American expat writer and food critic for Vine & Pestle)

One of Hassan's favourite paintings

'Gray Partridge, Pear, and Snare on Stone Table' a still life painting by Chardin

Books mentioned

 Le Bottin Gourmande

 

De Re Coquinaria by Apicius

Margaridou: The Journal of an Auvergne Cook

1871 edition of Larousse Gastronomique

* Information taken from The Hundred-Foot Journey written by Richard C. Morais *

Omnes Thermae Romam Dugunt

Lucius Modestus, a thermae architect and personal designer for Emperor Hadrian from Ancient Rome; he finds himself randomly transported to various time periods in Japan where he encounters the "flat-faces" and their bathing culture and practices as well as their bathhouse innovations, and incorporates them once he is transported back to Ancient Rome. 

Items, ideas and advanced looking technologies from modern Japan he is mind-blown by: 

Episode Two

~ A painting of Mount Vesuvius from the Gulf of Naples and framed by pine trees as the main background.

~ A plastic bucket

The shade of yellow on this epicurean anomaly is beautiful.

~ Massive pane of glass (mirror).

~ Bulletin board - notices for weekly performances (film posters).

~ A contraption creating wind from nothing (electric fan).

~ Curtains for blocking the sun at the entrance (noren).

~ Fruit Milk (chilled and sweet nectar from the gods).

Episode Three

~ Outdoor hot spring (onsen)

A picturesque fountain of rejuvenation tucked away in the mountains.

~ A wooden pipe bringing spring water in and water drains into the river.

~ Hot spring eggs (onsen tamago)

Eggs slowly boiled using the heat of the spring water. Ambrosial texture, silky and smooth soft boiled snack.

~ Warm sake

Complements the egg.

Episode Four

~ A bath inside the comfort of one's own home.

~ Bath tub for a single individual with a lid to help maintain the hot temperature.

~ Shower nozzle.

~ Soap dispenser.

~ Bath shoes.

~ Exfoliating body cloth.

~ Shampoo cap

To avoid suds getting into eyes.

~ Can of beer.

Episode Five

~ A built-in TV

Lucius mistakes this for a jellyfish aquarium within the walls of the bathroom whilst bathing in a customised bath tub.

~ Private toilet rooms

High tech toilet with automated lid; music playing in the background and automated shower spray for washing.

Episode Six

~ Hot stone spa.

~ Healing hut with Ondol underfloor heating system (geothermal energy in the hot spring)

Used for rest and recuperation, thus improving circulation and bodily aches.

~ Boiled up bamboo shoots with shottsuru sauce

An intense scent that reminds Lucius of Roman garam fish sauce. 

~ Drinkable spring water

The sodium in the water acts as an antidote and cure for many things such as upsets stomachs.

Episode Seven

~   An Edo-era rest inn for travellers, Tokaido Road.

~ Men bathing with women.

- Yukata

When Lucius wears his correctly, it envelopes the skin like a gentle embrace from the softest of clouds.

~ Dinner

Simple meal bursting with flavour.

~ Live shamisen music as entertainment 

Splendid melody soothes the diner.

~ Chopsticks

Tiny javelins. Simple elegant motions.

~ Beautiful artwork with fine delicate lines flowing into one another like the Tigris into the Euphrates.

~ Interchangable work area and sleeping area in a small space.

~ Concepts applied to Taverna Deveroria.

Episode Eight

~ Bathing etiquette

Illustrated instructions for guests to understand how to pre clean themselves and not to wear a towel (for hygiene purposes) when entering the bath to relax.

Episode Nine

~ A golden bathhouse for the common people  inspired by the Golden Pavillion in Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji).

~ Use of gold in an understated way but remains classy and glamourous.

~ Diana, Goddess of the hunt and the moon, perched on top of a golden bath tub and lit up by moonlight. The golden splendour looks divine.

Episode Ten

~ A bathhouse that will inspire the people of Rome and to believe in the new ruler.

~ Water theme park for adults and children.

~ Hot water slides made of marble.

~ A pool with a shallow end for younger children.

~ Red wine bath for the adults.

~ Massage chairs.

Episode Eleven

~ A wellness retreat/spa town using the hot water at the base of Mount Vesuvius. Nature's copious bounty - water at the perfect bathing temperature.

~ A wonderfully relaxing vista enveloped in hot spring steam.

~ Food stalls such as hot and steamy Manju buns.

~ Souvenir shops selling items such as shell figurines.

~ Flowers of Sulfur

A bath additive that helps to recreate the soothing atmosphere of a hot spring in their own home bath.

~ Ramen restaurant

Shoyu ramen containing an entrancing soup with thinly sliced near and boiled eggs served in a bowl with a Greek meander pattern.

Complimentary side dish of gyoza.

~ Papyrus currency.

* Information derived from the anime Netflix series: Thermae Romae Novae *

Tnetennba

The IT department at Reynholm Industries in London consists of Jen Barber (Head of IT and Relationship Manager); Maurice Moss (IT Technician) and Roy Trenneman (IT Technician).

Hello IT, have you tried turning it off and on again? (Roy)

I have lots of experience with the whole computer thing: emails; sending emails; receiving emails; deleting emails - I could go on...the Web; using mouse - mices - using mice; clicking; double clicking; the computer screen of course; the keyboard; the bit that goes on the floor down there... (Jen, when asked about her IT experience).

Moss and Roy attempts to talk about football in a 'football voice':

Did you see that ludicrous display last night?

What was Wenger thinking sending Walcott on that early?

Thing about Arsenal is, they always try and walk it in. 

Lies that Roy and Moss tell to Jen:

If you type Google into Google, you can break the internet. 

There's an apple inside every Apple Mac.

Bill Gates is called Bill Gates because he owns a lot of gates.

The internet doesn't weigh anything.

The Elders of the Internet.

This, Jen, is the Internet

Friendface (fictional social networking website).

Cuke: it's heaven in a can (fictional fizzy drink).

Tnetennba: Good morning, that's a nice tnetennba (Moss' nine letter word on Countdown).

8+ 

An exclusive club for those gifted few who make it through to eight episodes of Countdown.

Moss wears a red beret and drinks a glass of milk, straight up. Ribena for Prime.  

Countdown groupies are the most sexually voracious of all groupies and the most beautiful.

* The Domestic Goblin cannot believe that it has taken her more than a decade to write a blog post on the IT Crowd *