W
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OBSESSION19 AT NORTHCOTE
by Carl Housbey
A quick glance at the photo above and you may think that you’ve
missed this month’s Gastro Grazer article and ended up in the
motoring section of the magazine. However, fear not dear reader,
the Porsche is featured because they were one of the sponsors of
Obsession19 at Northcote and provided a variety of cars to run
the visiting Chefs back and forth to the airport. On more than one
occasion they even transported me and Mrs GG, which was an
experience we could easily get accustomed to, although I must confess
after eating all that wonderful food my generous proportions were
more suited to the Cayenne than the Panamera.
I have enjoyed many fantastic nights at the Obsession festival since it
started and count myself very privileged to have eaten dishes prepared
by some of the worlds leading Chefs, but this year in particular made
me realise what a brilliant team they have at Northcote and just how
under appreciated Nigel Haworth and Lisa Goodwin-Allen have been
over the years. Yes, I know that Nigel held a Michelin Star for 22 years, 17
of them with Lisa at his side, and that she has since gone on to win that
star for another year in her own right now that Nigel has stepped aside to
become Northcote’s global ambassador, but I do seriously wonder why
they have not yet been awarded a second star.
So, all eyes were on Lisa for the opening night, and her first dish of
west coast crab left us in no doubt that we were in for a great time,
the beautifully sweet crab had been left in large flakes to give plenty of
texture and the orchard apple with horseradish elevated it to a whole
new level. Next, she wowed us with a superb Ox tongue with aged sour
cream and cucumber pickle that in my humble opinion was even better
than the veal tongue dish we had later in the festival, and that was from
a Chef with 3 Michelin Stars.
Lisa’s fish course was a succulent scarlet prawn with black and white
garlic in a rich bisque that was so tasty I wanted to lick the plate clean,
fortunately I’d had the foresight to keep some of my bread from earlier
on, so I put it to good use. The Yorkshire duck that followed was going
to have to be seriously good to keep up with the first three courses, and
guess what – it was brilliant, melt in the mouth tender with crisp skin and
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perfect seasoning. Dessert was a showstopper, but you wouldn’t expect
anything else from Lisa, this time it was her interpretation of a Jaffa
Cake made from blood orange presented under a dome of impeccable
blown sugar that had everybody in the room oohing and aahing, if only
McVities made them like this.
Fourteen more nights of culinary magic followed before it was time for
Nigel to close the festival on the final night, which must be some pressure
for a Chef, however this is where all those years of experience come into
play. We were treated to a tour de force of Nigel’s classic dishes including
his famous Lonk lamb for main course, but first was a beautiful piece of
firm fleshed halibut with squid and fermented cabbage, followed by a
perfectly al dente Champagne risotto with Oscietra imperial caviar that
must have completely blown the budget.
One of my favourite courses of the whole festival was next, the poshest
sausage roll you’ve ever seen, which was actually winged game in a light
butter puff pastry, with celeriac and a rich Madeira sauce – absolutely
delicious. After all of this we were left in no doubt whatsoever as to why
he never lost his Michelin Star.
Throughout the whole of Obsession19, Craig Bancroft and Head
Sommelier Tamas Czinki ensured that superbly matched wines were
served to accompany each and every dish, whilst GM Craig Jackson led
the perfectly orchestrated front of house team so that everything went
without a hitch and we all had a magnificent time. I will finish off by
thanking Porsche Bolton for chauffeuring me around, Allen Markey for
the use of his eye-popping photographs, and all the team at Northcote
for looking after us in style.
Northcote is a fantastic place to visit at any time of the year, but as
they are currently showcasing Lisa’s Obsession19 menu you need to
book yourself a table, a room, or both straight away by clicking on
www.northcote.com or by calling 01254 240555
To see what else I get up to, why not follow me on Twitter @carlhousbey