Valentine's Day - Passion on a plate
Richard Fox looks at menu ideas for putting your customers in the mood for love.
At great risk to my good reputation, I wish to challenge Shakespeare himself on the subject of love. Now there's a topic to get your teeth into - and that's exactly my point. In the opening line of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the great Bard claims music to be the food of love. I beg to differ - food is the food of love. Eat on! For a start, eating is the only activity, other than lovemaking itself, that employs every one of the five senses simultaneously - think about it.
I could harp on here with lyrical analo-gies, inextricably linking food with acts of love and the body parts involved, but I suspect my editor would prefer not to be drawn into the murky world of top-shelf publications. I shall, therefore, curtail my natural urges and put forward a more pragmatic account of how to woo your customers with a menu of lip-smacking sensuality.
Planning a Valentine's Day menu takes as much thought, care and deftness of touch as the tender art of seduction itself. I mean, how often is a beautiful dinner the catalyst for a new and exciting relationship, let alone love, babies and "until death do us part"? Do it correctly and you could be - quite literally - increasing your customer base nine months from now! Starters can be fresh and raw - what an exciting way to kick off any romantic evening. Think of oysters - the best are natives and readily available right now.
Serve in the shells with a shallot vinaigrette, Tabasco sauce for a hot kick and a wedge of lemon on the side. For the less adventurous, salmon tartare is a little less graphic, but still retains that fresh and raw quality. Simply, finely dice some very fresh salmon fillet. Combine it with finelychopped shallot, dill, chive and parsley and a little squeeze of lime juice at the last minute. Pack the mixture into a cooking ring in the middle of the plate and top with a thin layer of crème fraiche. Try also tuna instead of salmon, where an anchovy mayonnaise in place of the crème fraîche works wonders.
On the cooked front - the appropriately phallic asparagus is a guaranteed hit. Serve it hot with hollandaise sauce or cold with a lemon mayonnaise. This is one to serve without cutlery, as a plate to share - just don't hold me responsible if things get out of hand! Creamy soups such as celeriac or wild mushroom laced with truffle oil are certain to induce very apt noises. Alternatively, bring back the oysters - deep fry in a tempura batter and serve with a shot glass of creamy stout. Main courses should be tender and succulent before building to the eye-closing sensuality of a rich chocolate dessert.
Steamed sea bass, with creamy puréed potatoes, spinach and a mussel and saffron sauce, fits the mains criteria to the letter. Don't be concerned about the idea of having fish as a starter and a main course in the same meal.There can be sufficient difference in the fish types, textures and preparation methods to ensure that the balance essential to all good menus is achieved. The dessert I've outlined right is a tried and tested classic. In total contrast to previous courses, it is rich, smooth and very, very chocolaty and should, therefore, be served in very small quantities - we're aiming to induce romance and expectation here, not lethargy and sleep. Bonne chance!
Sexy suggestions
Michael (easy tiger) North, head chef, the Goose, Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire: "In a restaurant it has to be luxury foods such as oysters, above, foie gras and white chocolate. But if you're eating at home with your lover then what could be more sexy than sipping chilled vintage Champagne from your partner's bellybutton and licking a bead of caviar from their nipple!"
Craig Wilkinson, head chef the Bay Horse Inn, Forton, near Lancaster:"A dish that goes down really well is seared west coast scallops and buttered asparagus with a pot of hollandaise between the two. Just put it in the middle of the table use your fingers, dip in and feed your lover."
Gareth Eddy, right, of St Austell Brewery's Pescadou in Padstow, Cornwall: "Oven roasted, locally harvested shellfish with garlic and lemon with parsley. This is a shared dish for two. To me, this dish jumps out as an obvious choice for a Valentine's dish for two, as it conjures up aromas before it even hits the table. After some serious indulgence, you are left to mop up the juices with warm bread, before a romantic stroll around Padstow."
Recipe ingredients: 2 small squid 4 rock oysters - opened just before roasting 1 handful cockles 20 mussels 1 handful small clams 4 medium langoustine 3 cloves garlic 1 lemon 1 bunch flat leaved parsley 4 strips lemon zest Extra virgin olive oil
Method:Dice garlic and add, with lemon zest, to the olive oil (this can be made up to three days in advance and kept in fridge as it increases the flavour). Into a very hot roasting tray, add prepared squid and whole unshelled langoustine, drizzle with olive oil, mix and roast in hot oven for 3-4 minutes. Take out of oven and add remaining shellfish (open the oysters just before cooking), lemon (cut into 4 wedges) and remaining olive oil mixture. Place back in hot oven and roast for a further 5-6 minutes. When the mussels, cockles and clams are open, discard all unopened shellfish. Add parsley and allow to wilt. Serve in large bowl with fresh warm bread and crisp leaves.
TIPS: Be flexible with your shellfish. Defrosted tiger prawns can be used instead of langoustine and 1/2-shell scallops can be used instead of oysters. Buy only the very freshest shellfish and transport with care (in a cool box if possible). Once home, transfer straight to the fridge.
Saint Emilion au ChocolatServes 2
Ingredients:100g/31/2oz dark high-quality chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) 100ml/31/2fl oz milk 50g/11/2oz unsalted butter 50g/11/2oz caster sugar 1 egg yolk 75g/3oz almond macaroons or ratafia biscuits 1 tbsp brandy
Method: Heat the milk and chocolate very gently in a small pan until the chocolate is melted. When stirred it will become thick and creamy. Allow to cool slightly. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolk. Add the chocolate mixture. Crumble the biscuits into the bottom of two espresso cups or similar vessel and dampen with the brandy. Pour the chocolate mixture into the cups and leave to set overnight in the fridge.
Valentine trivia
3% of pet owners give their animals Valentine's cards and gifts.
Valentine's Day is second only to Christmas as an occasion for giving cards - approximately one billion cards are sent each year.
Historians claim that the first Valentine was a poem sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.
In the middle ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their Valentines would be. A man would then wear a women's name on his sleeve to claim her as his Valentine.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor, if she saw a sparrow she would marry a poor man but be very happy, and if she saw a goldfinch she would marry a rich man.
In the US 15% of all women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day
