The first Franglais Kitchen supper club

If you’re in the Cambridge area and interested in food you might know Franglais Kitchen from their blog or twitter account or even one of their cooking classes. Last week they moved into the Cambridge supper club scene with their first offering of French-Indian fusion food. The event was held in their modern home in Cambridge and, with only 12 guests, worked perfectly.

We were greeted by a duo of nibbles, a home made Bombay mix which was so much better than any packed versions I have tried as there seems to be always something inedible in it.

The other bowl of the dish contained some bhel poori, also freshly made, with a fantastic tamarind sauce. Many thanks to Deepa for the permission to use her photo.

The other snack were pani puri, a crispy shell filled with a few bits of crunchy veg, into which a fresh sauce of coriander and mint was poured. Very refreshing with a little zing to awaken your tastebuds.

The meat starter were spiced duck rillettes, mango and papaya chaat, crisp caraway seed flatbreads. The rillettes were very much like what you would get a French bistro in texture and base flavour but enhanced by Indian spices. The fresh chaat cut nicely through the rich meat and the flatbread worked well, too.

The vegetarian starter were roasted peppers with smoked rajasthani Paneer, coriander and mint. I only took the photo but I was assured by those who had it that this starter was equally excellent.

Then there was a Haleem Stew, with slow cooked lamb for the meat eaters and roasted butternut squash for the vegetarians. This rich and flavourful soup came with sourdough naan, which I sadly didn’t take a photo of.

The vegetarian main was BBQ broccoli, aubergine and cauliflower with Achari couscous.

The meat main was roasted poussin with a spiced crust, served with mushroom rice and okra. Extras for both mains were pickled lemons, cucumber raita and more pickles. The poussin was well cooked, the meat tender and moist, its flavour enhanced by cinnamon and star anise. All the sides matched perfectly, too.

The trio of desserts was just as delicious as the previous courses. There was a chilli chocolate macaron with just a hint of the spice, a coconut halva which reminded me of marzipan in texture and a very light chocolate mousse with chocolate “soil” and pistachio. I could easily have eaten another plate of those…

It was a splendid and entertaining evening with excellent food and equally excellent company. Highly recommended. Their next event will be in January. You can sign up for the announcement on their website.

There are a few more photos on flickr.