There is excitement in the air. The diary is filling up with intimate Spring weddings and even 100+ guest summer events. The team is abuzz, flexing planning muscles once more with site visits, tastings and quoting like mad. And our kitchen has finished developing a beautiful new menu for the upcoming party season.
It doesn’t need saying that our menus are based around the very best, British-sourced ingredients (and the times when they are at their peak), that’s the expected Rocket philosophy. This Spring Summer, the menus are focussed around delicacy and elegance, emphasising the individuality of hero ingredients such as asparagus and Dorset crab. But we have also taken on inspiration from our recent endeavors with A Cook’s Tour, from the Nordic influences in our Daim cheesecake dessert to the Moroccan take on our confit lamb canapé.
With the country unlocking, we asked our event team to highlight some of their top choices from the new menus. And of course, some tasting was required in order to decide too…
Victoria Kalirai, Head of Events
“Everything I’ve picked here shouts summer with those ingredients. Incredible flavours, lots of variety of colours and textures and all the dishes are not only absolutely gorgeous to look at, they’re even better to eat.”
Cold canapés:
Secret Smokehouse salmon, pickled mouli, pimento pepper
English Wagyu bresaola, IPA beer bread croute, goat’s curd, balsamic pearls
Portwood asparagus, saffron, honey and citrus hollandaise
Hot canapés:
Seared Scottish scallop, seaweed, orange and caper butter
Moroccan spiced lamb confit, pressed mint, aubergine and pomegranate
Garden pea and mint, smoked mozzarella and goat’s cheese arancini
To Start
Pugliese burrata, miso pumpkin seed pesto, peas, broad beans, confit lemon (v)
To Follow
Grilled leg of lamb, Tuscan white beans, pickled summer vegetables, artichokes, summer cherries
OR
Roasted cauliflower, Roscoff onion and giant couscous cannelloni, baba ganoush, smoked hummus dressing (v)
To Finish
Strawberry and vanilla tart, strawberry and basil sorbet
Ismay Hawthorn, Event Manager
“I’ve gone big on canapés here as they are my absolute favourite. You get such variety with every mouthful, I would probably have just endless amounts of them as my dinner choice if I could!”
Cold canapés:
Dorset crab and English crème fraîche garden bon bon
English Wagyu bresaola, IPA beer bread croute, goat’s curd, balsamic pearls
Potato thins with truffle and parmesan cream
Hot canapés:
Seared Scottish scallop, seaweed, orange and caper butter
Pavé of aged Hereford beef fillet, béarnaise sauce
English pea, broad bean and horseradish rice cake, garden bloom (ve)
“When it comes to a sit-down dinner, I think that variety and thinking to suit the season is key. Nothing heavy in July, nothing too cold in winter! Also don’t discount serving veggie options for all – vegetarian friendly dishes have come such a long way in the past few years and the ingredients one can get today taste are so flavourful (particularly burrata, which you can now get made in the UK, we use La Latteria in London and it’s superb) that you don’t miss a meat or fish element.”
To Start
Pugliese burrata, miso pumpkin seed pesto, peas, broad beans, confit lemon (v)
To Follow
Romney Salt Marsh rump of lamb, buttermilk mash, white asparagus, summer greens, salsa verde
To Finish
Peach Melba pavlova, white peach, pink ginger
Charlie Grant Peterkin, Director
Canapé
Monkfish croquette, chip shop curry velouté, peas
“Nostalgic and a little naughty. A mouthful of deliciousness that as all good canapés get, full of flavour, texture and makes you smile. Perfect anywhere for any occasion.”
To Follow
Cotswold white chicken, Jersey Royal ecrassé, smoked sea salt, primavera vegetables, Romesco sauce
“You can’t under play the deliciousness of great poultry, perfectly cooked. This dish has all the ingredients that I love about English Spring – Jersey Royals, young vegetables and then a little hint of the Spanish summer sun with a romesco sauce. Excellent light main course.”
To Finish
Daim cheesecake, French marigold, salted caramel popcorn, Daim Ice cream
“A huge hit from A Cook’s Tour when we visited Wild Nordic, I can’t wait to see this in action at our events. Ideal for a private party.”
Whatever your choices, our food is always a talking point among guests. See more of our food here and speak to our team for the full menus and to discuss how we can bring your party or wedding to life.