STOP THE PRESSES

In what will certainly be listed as a day of infamy and send tremors through the "culinary endeavours and gastronomique" megaverse, King Boletus is not a proper scientific term but a conflation.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have determined that the Porcini mushroom, the so-called namesake of this weblog, is known as King Bolete to the layman and Boletus edulis on the Linnaean classification system. So, is King Boletus a common or scientific name? The answer, sad to say, is no. 

BUT do not despair! This is a conflation, an amalgamation, a synthesis and dare-I-say lovechild of the two common and scientific terms. Like the finest of cooking, synthesis of styles yields delightful results (see the breakfast burrito). In a melding of the common man's and the common nerd's name for this fine mushroom, King Boletus represents this blog's dueling Apolline/Dionysian, endeavours/tourismes, creation/consumption disparities. But is this a duel?!? I say thee nay! This is not a duel but a dialectic.

For those keeping score at home, King Boletus is a proper name of this blog and should be treated as such. 

Copenhagen

The Danes are a delightful Nordic people, austere in style and blonde in coiffe. Their love of bikes is paralleled only by the thickness of their pancakes, which, I must say, are remarkably cake-like. I traveled to Copenhagen to do business among the finest Eurocrats in the land but it was the food (and Freetown Christiania) which captivated my senses.

I arrived in Denmark after a long flight and was conveyed immediately to my meeting, where I was greeted by a lunch of Danish meatloaf, lingonberry preserves, and a fine array of soft cheeses, including the mild Danish blue for which Denmark is famous. While I have no pictures of the welcoming feast, I did snap a few of my dinner that evening, eaten at a fine purveyor of haute Danish cuisine.

To start, an amuse of smoked ham and soft cheese, delicately balanced on a toasted crostini, and presented to me on an almost hilariously austere piece of slate. I wish I had gotten an image before I greedily devoured this exercise in Danish restraint.

I dutifully captured the first course, however. A piece of delicately fried plaice arrived at my table, surrounded  by the mathematic perfection of romanesco cabbage, dill sauce (forest green) , two other unidentified sauces (yellow, red), a mound of caramelized cabbage puree (beige), and a triumphant dill garnish. This dish was well executed, with the mild place holding its own amidst the rich puree and panoply of herby/acidic/sweet sauces. The romanesco cabbage, while beautiful, did not have quite the crunch needed to balance out the texture of the rest of the plate, which a toothless geriatric would have otherwise relished.

After this foray in surf, I was granted a brief respite in the form of a sorbet course (such extravagance in a man so young). The sorbet had a touch of lemon liquor, which did the palate right. The turf came shortly thereafter: rack of lamb, salted almonds, tomato relish, fried turnip, more dill. The lamb was expertly cooked, and the various sauces excited the palate. I was particularly partial to this combination of meat and nut, with the slight gaminess of the meat well tempered by the subtle sweet/salty/crunch or the almond. This was a dish well suited for a frigid North Sea winter: rich and warming in all respects.

Throughout this two course adventure, I managed to take down the slightly piquant brown bread with which I was provided, all of it slathered with what I believe was a homemade aioli. The combination put me into an immediate catatonic state.

(The Danish rainbow consists of three colors: black, white, brown)

The rest of my trip I spent biking the city, eating the occasional smørrebrød, and contemplating the possibility of becoming a purveyor of fine Danish smoked salmon. 

Fried Pork Cheek

Yeah, well, long time no post. But when you are jostling with the global south for communal kitchen space the product slips. Anyways, I'm going to Basque country tomorrow but decided to post a few pics from when my sister was here.

The first two were from Great Queen Street which is a nice "gastro-pub".

Fried Pork Cheek with Horseradish and Red Cabbage

crispy,unctuous, delish

smoked trout w. beets

 Grilled Raclette and Red Onion Sandwich (from Borough Market)

Raclette under a heater: you can have them melt it on top of roasted new potatoes. 

Bonus, the view from Borough Market across the Thames.

Bonus2: Sharing the rock

on to the pinxtos.