Enjoy! GJ x

The background

Ginger Jar Food is a young, dynamic catering company offering fresh, innovative food to private and corporate clients. We have worked on small, intimate events for six diners, right up to canapés and full bar events for 400+ people. The company is ambitious and growing strong, however, our primary aim is to enjoy our cooking and have fun along the way. Find out more at www.ginger-jar-food.com

The role

We are currently seeking a bright, enthusiastic individual to work as an intern for a minimum of a one month period. The role will cover a variety of tasks, including:

> Building our online presence on social networking sites to increase our brand awareness to as wide an audience as possible
> Responding to new business enquiries, working with sub-contractors to build proposals
> Supporting the general running of the kitchen, including ordering food supplies
> Helping setup and manage events including arranging event equipment
> Assisting our Event Managers with their daily tasks
> Sourcing new venues around London for us to work with
> New business data entry, cold calling and database management
> If you are also a budding chef, there will be some opportunity to work along side us in the kitchen on prep or event shifts

The detail:
> Need to commit to working for at least a month
> We will pay £60 a week for travel and lunch costs. No other additional payment
> Working hours: 9:00am-5:00pm with one hour lunch

Qualifications Required:
> You must be eligible to work in the UK
> You must be able to speak English fluently
> You must be adept with word processing and spread-sheet work

To find out more or apply please email to hello@ginger-jar-food.com with a covering letter and your CV.

José (the tapas place, not the man) is small. This isn’t unusual amongst this clan of restaurants, but you wouldn’t want to be travelling heavy on visiting the place.

I needed a table for three, so we started the negotiation with a stand up window bar space for two, then moved to the bar with space for two and a stool for one, then, finally graduated to a prime bar spot with three whole stools. Thankfully, we barely noticed due to a catch up/download period, smoothed along my oloroso (me) and viognier (them). José isn’t for you if the prospect of being slightly jostled by other diners bothers you, but it’s popularity, even on a wet and windy Wednesday evening, is never in doubt. We found out why.

After mopping up my tears at finding Padrón peppers crossed off the blackboard, we nibbled on some excellent olives and salted almonds and figured out what to have next. The menu is definitely more classic Spanish tapas than the Moritos of this world, with a few nice touches.

Being three chefs, no-one is shy in coming forward with suggestions, but there was common ground found over a salad of radicchio and blue cheese, some croquettas, a plate of baby chicken with sliced potatoes & romesco sauce, and some chubby chorizo with piquillo peppers.  All of these dishes were good, very good, not stop you in your tracks amazing, but great non-the-less. The croquettas fell foul to my recent spiritual experience with the same dish at morito, but the romesco sauce evened up the score, packing a punch with a pleasing, rough texture.

One outstanding thing, which tied together a lot of the dishes and brought them to a higher plain, was the use of an amazing olive oil. This lusciously fragrant oil dressed the radicchio leaves and some of our later chacuterie, bringing the seasoning to life.

To tell you more of the dressed charcuterie, our next round involved some incredible smoked beef (more please) and pluma ibérica. This morning’s research has led me to think that ‘pluma‘ is a small cut of meat which attaches itself to the tenderloin and is often trimmed off. Described as a poor man’s cut, it has a layer of fat attached which makes it super succulent (if anyone out there knows I’m wrong, please enlighten me!). The chefs at José serve it rare, scorched on the outside, and dressed in their heart soaring olive oil.

To round things off we did the only thing we could; order a plate of mixed cheese. The blue and the goat hit the spot, while the slightly sweaty manchego lacked a little sparkle. Unfortunately the plate was topped with a blob of tomato chutney so sweetly spiced that if it touched the cheese it blotted out the taste. I am, however, a cheese purist. No chutney for me please, so it may well be to the taste of others!

Would I go again? Certainly. If I’m in the area I’d pop in to try some other sherries on the list, this time going earlier to score myself some Padrón peppers.

Food: 8/10
Value for Money: 8/10 (approx. £35 a head inc. sherry & wine)
Service: 8/10 (our waiter was excellent, making sure those elusive stools became ours the second they were available)

No reservations. www.josepizarro.com/restaurants/jose/

Thanks to the ‘twinkling’ skills of the first diner to arrive, we secured a sought after table for four, instantly. Most impressive considering the number of reviews quoting frustratingly long waits as you see the food you crave being guzzled all around you. It’s all a little cramped, but as tapas lovers with agree, it’s all part of the charm.

Due to lateness (Kew to Exmouth Market, not a fantastically quick journey), I missed the sherry round, so we plunged straight into the wine list, choosing a brilliant and incredibly reasonably priced garnacha. I say this as I’m a total convert to the Salt Yard Group, Iberica Food & Culture, Polpo (and offspring) – esque establishments of this city, but finding a good bottle of wine under £20 in any of those places is no mean feat.

After a prolonged catch up, we tackled the menu. One co-diner is a regular so already had her eye on several dishes. I blocked my ears and skim read the lovely long list (amazing considering the tiny kitchen they are working out of), before homing in on a top 10. On ordering this became, err, eight dishes, on the proviso that we can have more, right?

They came out one by one… cauliflower in saffron with sultanas & pine nuts was followed by padron peppers with the right amount of heavy handed sea salt, then jamon & chicken croquettas, which literally made me stop, close my eyes and savour (I also later ordered a second portion). Huge spicy lamb chops were slightly hard to eat on the little side plates we were given, so I did the only thing I could and picked it up to scoff.

A little montadito (apparently means small toast/bruschetta type thing), piled with pork fillet, fennel and quince aioli was welcomely sweet after it’s salty predecessors, then the scallops followed this theme with such natural sweetness that twinkly diner actually groaned (also a dish we ordered seconds of).

We didn’t make it to dessert so I can’t comment, but having rubber-necked other tables around us, I think the quality continues.

So to complete this slightly gushing review, yes I will be going back. I need to give the sherry list my full attention, revisit the croquettas and give Morito the chance to charm me with pudding, it’s only fair.

Food: 9/10
Value for Money: 8/10 (approx. £45 a head inc. sherry & wine)
Service: 8/10

ENJOY!

Find out more about Ginger Jar’s bowl foods view our new menu or contact us:

Serves 4 as a bowl food

INGREDIENTS
4 very large king prawns, or 8 medium sized
200g grated coconut
1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper
A generous pinch of sea salt
2 egg whites
Vegetable oil to fry – choose if you are shallow frying (in which case you’ll need a centimetre in the bottom of a frying pan) or deep frying

For the mango & apple salad
1 small mango, peeled and diced into 0.5cm cubes
1 small sharp apple, such as a granny smith, peeled and diced into 0.5cm cubes
1 inch of fresh ginger, finely diced
1 small bunch of coriander, leaves picked (reserve the stalks for the nahm jim), or a handful of micro coriander leaves, available from specialist green grocers
In the picture above we have also used micro red amaranth, also available from specialist green grocers

To make the nahm jim: 
The juice of a lime
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of palm sugar
1 red chilli, seed removed and finely diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
The stalks of the coriander bunch, above, finely chopped

METHOD

1. First make the salad: Mix together the nahm jim ingredients and lightly dress the salad ingredients, except the coriander leaves, which should be added at the last minute.
   
2. To make the coconut & black pepper prawns: Mix together the coconut, black pepper and salt on a plate. Whisk the egg whites and dip the prawns in them before rolling the prawns in the coconut mixture. Heat your oil for shallow or deep frying, and fry until cooked through, crisp and lightly golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.
3. To serve: Add the coriander leaves to the salad then place a mound in the middle of a small plate. Top with your prawn(s) and a few more leaves.

ENJOY!

Find out more about Ginger Jar’s bowl foods view our new menu or contact us:

Makes around 18 mini sausage rolls

INGREDIENTS
1 kg of pork belly, skin on
75ml cider vinegar
A bulb of garlic
200ml cold water
2 sheets of ready-made puff pastry (2 x 250g sheets)
A handful of toasted sesame seeds
2 egg yolks

For the BBQ sauce
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted then crushed
3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
50ml dark soy sauce
300ml tomato ketchup
Salt and pepper

METHOD

1. To cook the pork: Heat the oven to 150C. Place the pork belly in a roasting tray with the cider vinegar, water and the garlic bulb (sliced in half to reveal the cloves). Cover tightly with foil then place in the oven for around three hours, until the flesh shreds easily when pulled apart with forks.
   
2. To make the BBQ sauce: Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil with the chilli flakes, fennel seeds and sugar. Add the soy sauce and ketchup and season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for around 10 minutes then allow to cool.
3. To ‘pull’ the pork: When the pork has cooled a little, but is still hot, shred it into small pieces, removing the skin and some larger layers of fat, then chop down even further. Mix with some of the BBQ sauce to taste, without making the mixture too wet.
4. To make the sausage rolls: Lay a puff pastry sheet out on a floured surface. Divide into three long strips lengthways, then cut each strip into three rectangles. Turn the rectangle so the short edge is at the top/bottom. Place a small amount of the pulled pork  across the top of the strip then roll the pastry down till it meets itself. Brush a 1cm wide strip of the pastry with egg yolk, then roll to seal, trimming off any extra pastry. Repeat with the rest of the rectangles and the second sheet.
5. Place all the rolls on a couple of baking sheets then etch a cross-hatch pattern onto the top of the rolls (see picture), brush with egg yolk and place in the fridge for 10 mins.
6. Heat the oven to 200C.
7. Take the rolls out of the fridge, brush with more egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and then bake in the oven for around 10 to 12 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.

ENJOY!

Find out more about Ginger Jar’s bowl foods view our new menu or contact us:

Serves 6 as a tasting portion

INGREDIENTS
250g ricotta, drained
200g spinach, stalks removed
100g Parmesan, grated
A pinch of ground nutmeg
1 egg
100g plain flour, plus a little for dusting
Salt & black pepper

For the sage butter
1 small bunch of sage, leaves picked and finely chopped into strips. Reserve six of the leaves for deep frying as a garnish
150g salted butter

METHOD

1. To make the gnudi: Cook the spinach in a little water until fully wilted, then squeeze out as much water as you can using kitchen roll or a clean tea towel. Finely chop the drained spinach then add to a bowl with the rest of the gnudi ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture should feel a little wet, but if it feels too wet to mould, add a little more flour.
2. Sprinkle some flour on a baking tray and flour your hands. Drop small spoonfuls of the mixture onto the flour and then form into dumplings with your hands.
3. To make the crisp sage garnish: Heat a little oil in a pan (1cm deep should be enough). When nice and hot, drop in your sage leaves and fry for around 15 to 20 seconds, then drain on kitchen roll. They should be nice and crisp when dry.
4. To cook the gnudi: Heat some heavily salted water in a large pan until boiling. Drop in the gnocchi and poach for around three minutes. As with gnocchi you often know they are ready when they start to float to the top. Meanwhile place the butter in a non-stick frying pan and heat till foaming, add the sage and stir briefly. Now spoon out the poached gnudi and pan-fry briefly in the butter until they take on a little colour.
5. Portion out onto small plates and spoon over a little more sage butter. Top with some grated Parmesan and your crispy fried sage leaves.

ENJOY!

Find out more about Ginger Jar’s bowl foods view our new menu or contact us:

Makes 5 to 6 bowls

INGREDIENTS

1 tuna steak (approx 300g), cut into 5 to 6 nice portions
Sea salt & black pepper
Groundnut oil
30g pea shoots or other sweet baby leaves

For the lemongrass guacamole
1 ripe avocado, peeled, flesh scooped out and mashed with a fork
5 to 6 cherry or baby plum tomatoes, dice
1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with a rolling pin then very finely chopped
The juice of half a lime
A tablespoon of finely chopped coriander
Some dried chilli flakes, to taste
A tiny bit of grated garlic, to taste
Salt & pepper

METHOD

1. To make the lemongrass guacamole: Simple mix all the ingredients together and adjust to taste by adding more lime juice or lemongrass for more acidity, chilli flakes or raw garlic for heat, sea salt or sweet ripe tomatoes.
2. To cook the tuna: Simple heat a non-stick pan over a high heat with a tiny bit of groundnut oil (or other oil which is not too strongly flavoured). Season your tuna well with sea salt and black pepper, then sear very briefly, just a few seconds, on each side, making such the sides don’t touch the heat so that you maintain that lovely strip of pink through the middle.
3. Serve straight away with a blob of guacamole and a salad of pea shoots or other sweet baby leaves.

ENJOY!

Find out more about Ginger Jar’s bowl foods view our new menu or contact us: