There are some silver linings to a socially distant end to this ghastly year. Top of my list is the chance to taste the food of super talented chef, Adam Handling.
Handling, who is still only 32, started his training aged 16 at Gleneagles, and has a clutch of awards on his mantlepiece. If his name sounds familiar, it may be because he was a finalist on Masterchef: The Professionals in 2013.
Pre-pandemic, he was at the helm of five restaurants and a bar — but, like many of his fellow restaurateurs, was forced to close one — his Hoxton restaurant. Thankfully, he’s still operating at The Frog in Covent Garden and Adam Handling Chelsea and at the Belmont Cadogan Hotel — both of which have more than one venue.
And, here comes our silver lining — he and his team have come up with Hame, sending you his fine-dining menu to eat in your own home. (Hame is Scottish for home.)
Handling had been unwilling to do a simple delivery service, as he felt his form of fine dining wouldn’t travel well, so this menu needs a little DIY before you can tuck in, but the Hame team has done all the hard work. Each dish is a high-end, flavour-filled treat.
We tested the vegetarian menu for New Year’s Eve and, at the start of December, took delivery of a box full of clearly labelled pots and pouches for two portions of each dish. Also included were recipe cards and — and this is the most important part — a QR code on each recipe card that links to a video on his website of Handling demonstrating how to do the assembly.
On the menu were two giant sourdough rolls which needed crisping in a hot oven, with a jar of onion butter to slather on, and crispy onions to sprinkle on top. Heavenly. I could lunch on those every day. The leftover onion butter was swiftly gobbled up.
Next up was “Mother” — a dish invented for his mum. It involved plating up truffled cheese, a slow-cooked egg, sweet/sour lime and date paste, crunchy Granny Smith apple, pungent mushroom powder and bright green spring onion oil. This was the most fiddly dish to assemble — especially as I hadn’t noticed the instruction to watch Handling’s video. (Doh.) Once you have a video to follow, it’s relatively easy. (Now I know what I should have done.) Even if mine looked like it had been constructed by a two-year-old, it tasted amazing.
Creamy burrata sat on a thick, garlicky tomato Romesco sauce, more bright green oil — chive this time — and some softly cooked leeks. Gorgeous.
My favourite was in the mushroom agnolotti dish, which was super-simple to assemble and exploding with flavour. Again, make sure you watch Handling’s video – there’s a top tip for taking the butter out of its plastic pouch. And a need-to-know prep instruction about the sauce.
The menu is definitely indulgent — before dessert there’s a gooey, truffled Tunworth cheese plus sticky fruit loaf that only needs warming.
It’s probably fortunate for my waistline that we tasted the menu before they’d finished the dessert, so you’ll need to test that for yourself. Handling did send a large square of outstandingly good, chocolate brownie, though (I fought my children for that).
I’m fessing up to having missed the memo about the QR code. I had to make up the presentation as I went along. Having now seen Handling doing it, I think I didn’t do too badly, but do watch it. You’ll have fun plating up — maybe even compete among yourselves for the best attempt.
Cocktails are also available to order as is wine.
If you’re not sure how to spend December 31 and you love great food, this will end your 2020 on a high.
www.adamhandling.co.uk
