Food: Four Seasons London

Duck.

That's what Four Season's is all about. Duck. To not order duck, would be a henious crime to humanity and poultry. To devotees of Roast Duck, Four Seasons is a temple worthy of worship. I am a big fan. So big, I berated a poster over on this Chow Hound thread for leaving Chinese off his list of places to eat in London.

Maybe I went a little far in stating that 'of the capital crimes punishable by death by Celine Dion, surely missing out on the Roast Duck at the Four Seasons in Bayswater must top the list.' but hey, I'm a fanatic.

I've had roast duck just about everywhere I can- even braving bird flu in Indonesia and Vietnam, yet I can say that the Four Seasons' duck is still the best. Sure, Duck King in Jakarta is pretty good, and the guitar Duck next to *snicker* Gay World Tanjong Pagar in Singapore is crispy with a capital K, but Roast Duck is Four Seasons. Period.

The Four Seasons dinner ritual starts off by getting a group of people together. Usually 1 line SMSs along the terse lines of '4 seasons tomorrow dinner 8?' is enough to garner equally efficient, but no less enthusiastic replies of 'on' or 'baby'.

Then you place a reservation on the day for a time and size.

Then you arrive about 5-10 minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting and booking to get your name checked off whilst staunchly adamant that your party will be there within 2 minutes. You then meet up with the gang, discuss the merits of on the bone/off the bone duck for 20 minutes whilst joustling the hordes of devotees awaiting your name to be called out.

Then you get to your meal. Duck aside, I recommend the braised Tofu, garlic Kai Lan and the Mince Pork with Mui Choy to go, along with for a group of 4.

But onto the duck.

Duck is meant to be roasted skin on, and then left to dry. The longer it dries, the crispier the skin, and the more aromatic the meat, which reabsorbs the goody-goody juices trapped within the skin.

At Four Seasons, that's exactly what they do. The marinate is a wonderful mixture of barbeque flavor and Soya Sauce with hints of Seasame and Sweet Vinegary notes. The meat to fat ratio is important and most of the time, it's a superb 80:20 mix, although I have heard disturbing reports that it's skewed in favor of fat since the management change- more on that later.

The crispy skin is full of the marinade's flavor and provides a great compliment to the gamey but tender flesh. This is not a dish to go with Fried Rice, but plain steamed fragarant grains which soak up the sauce and gives a fluffy, subtle-starch-sweet counterpoint to the duck.

The Tofu and Kai Lan are pretty much standard fare, but the Minced Pork with Miu Choy is a great dish- stir fried to perfection, the Diced Miu choy, a sweet preserved mustard leaf is crunchy to the bite and compliments the Soya Sauce flavored pork.

Now back to the bad news. In 2004, management changed and quite a number of folks feel the ducks have not been left to dry for long enough and the meat to fat ratio has fallen. On the occasions I have dined there since 2004, I haven't had this experience, probably because I look the waiter in the eye and tell him to leave the meat on the bone- which is regarded as the purest form of Duck consumption.

However, I do hear that the original chef is now at Magic Wok, down the road, so I will head down there and have a Roast Duck eat off with other devotees and report back with lurid details, exposing photos and an expanded waistline. Stay tuned.

Four Seasons
84 Queensway
Bayswater
London W2

I got chicken pox. No doubt from some kid whom I saw on call. It sucks because I'm an adult and it's bad-ass now. I am sure you don't appreciate pics and frankly neither would I. So we'll this episode at that, until I gather enough spare, non scratching time to write it up.

So, I got the Crayfish Coctail from Forman and Field which they claim is: 'A spectacular gourmet fish starter, prepared with crayfish tails, wild smoked salmon julienne and keta caviar.' That's basically, Crayfish tails, wild smoked salmon, keta caviar, basil, parsley, chives, mayonnaisse, lemon juice and black pepper.

It's a good looking dish, with the oranges of the crayfish, smoked salmon, keta and greens of the herbs. But man, with the first bite, it was 'zing!' my ears were ringing and it felt like my head nearly came clean off. I mean the salt, the salt! The Smoked Salman has salt in it, the Keta is definitely salty, the mayo probably has some but it looks like they boiled the crayfish in brine for good measure then tossed a whole load more just for fun.

I revived the salt marsh by giving the whole thing a quick rinse in milk and then adding some single cream. Much better. The crayfish is well shelled with no hint of crunchy unspeakables and has been cooked to just past done- which is probably wisest considering the dish is served cold and not fresh from the kitchen.

The Smoked Salmon is nicely sliced into portions which provide counterpoint to the texture of the crayfish and the Keta Caviar provides wonderful surprises in between the 2.

All in all, a very good dish once you're past the salt.

Pics to follow.

Forman and Field are wonderful wonderful genius-es

I can place my hand on my heart and say thank goodness for the internet and thank goodness for folks like Forman and Field .

F&F is a fine food mail order company operating under H.Forman & Son. The parent company has been in business since 1905, first starting as purveyors of fine Scottish smoked salmon to leading chefs. Now, this has expanded and F&F offers a wide range of traditional British produce from small independent producers. Hmmm.

I was introduced to them via a chef mate who uses them exclusively for his pork products and although I have never placed an order until today, their range is extremely tempting!

You can tell they take their meat seriously- they have a seperate for sausages and another for bacon. You have to respect that. But one of the crowning glories of their meat range is the whole suckling pig. I sampled this last year at a friend's and it's just as it states on the website: "Silky, melt-in-the-mouth meat which is softer and sweeter than pork, with a thin, crisp crackling." I was shocked at really how accurate their statement was and even more so when I learnt all the cook has to do is bung it into an oven and drink wine whilst waiting for the sweet, sweet meat.

So anyway, I have to cook on thurs/fri for some folks and being on nights hasn't improved my temperament for supermarkets (which is thin at best) or my organisational skills (which is probably thinner). So I gave them a panickied, hasty ring to beg if they could deliver by this thursday, a variety of seafood and meats.

I spent the best part of 20 minutes on the phone to a very helpful and accomodating chap who sorted out everything, and I mean everything for me. I chose:

• Six boneless fillets of Mullet, prepared with saffron threads and smoked garlic.
• Crayfish cocktail with crayfish tails, wild smoked salmon julienne and keta caviar.
• Lobster bisque- okay, okay soup.
  

I also managed to get the rather omniously named Forman and Field BBQ Box which conjured inages of a ready made barbeque pit with mean on top of the grill- just pull the cord which will release the contents and simultaneously start the Braai. In truth, it is nowhere near my imagination's conjurings.

Instead, it is: Luxury Beef Burgers, Traditional Sausages from Musk's of Newmarket, Boned and Stuffed Chicken Legs, Tiger Prawn Brochettes, Denham Estate Venison Steaks and Marinated Pork Chops, Plantation Jalepeno Jelly. Which translates to: lots of meat and a bit of relish. Just what I like.

So, I await the order and will post up what occurs in the aftermath, but before I go, my sincerest apologies to the man on the phone, as I entirely forgot to get your name, but my hat's off to you and Forman and Field!

Nights...

Nothing much to shout about this week- I've been working nights which means I'm a zombie during the day hence I have no contact with the outside world for the duration of the night shift.

I'm just out of it though so expect to see more, much more!

I've republished an old guitar article on goodacoustic.blogspot.com and I present it here also, I am trying to figure out a good format for seperating all the topics on here- I am considering splitting the blog into 2- 1 dedicated to the music and another to travel, food and photos. .

anyway.. this is an article I wrote for the inaugural issue of Acoustic in magazine. Luckily I have a republishing rights clause in my contract with them so I present my earlier work in an unedited form, but with additional pictures for your pleasure.

George Lowden 1979 L32 ‘Least Likely’

This wonderful guitar designated L32 is in good condition with some play wear and a few minor side cracks. Constructed with Indian Rosewood and Spruce, this guitar pre-dates any factory Lowdens, and was made in a shop by George Lowden and 4 apprentices. It’s one of 70 guitars from the earliest period in the illustrious history of Lowden guitars.

The Indian rosewood was purchased from a wood merchant’s in London by George himself and painstakingly driven back to Ireland and resawn! The design aesthetic is classic Lowden; a handrubbed satin finish is present through with curly maple bindings and all wood purfling and rosette. It has a very comfortable egg shaped neck profile which almost feels moulded to your hand and a 1.75 inch nut width makes for fingerstyle and flatpicking a pleasure. Custom dots and diamond inlays adorn the fingerboard and it even retains the original bone nut, saddle and very early Calton case.

The L32 is the same body shape as the modern O series. This is a big guitar approximately the size of a Gibson J200 but it is ergonomical because of it’s curvaceous outline. Thus it sits nicely in the lap and the playing hand is nicely supported by the upper bout. It is unsurprising that the body is exactly the same as it’s modern sister O models.

This is one of only 3 Lowdens I have played which has appealed to me and I have played many Lowdens from Van Morrison’s 1991 L25 to a mid 80’s 0 made solely by George Lowden. It is truly a majestic guitar; the curves and design aesthetic has weathered the years with grace and the sound simply takes one’s breath away. In fact this was the very first Lowden that I wanted after being disappointed with so many of the previous Lowdens I had played, hence the nickname ‘least likely’.

It's a great fingerpicker with a clear, responsive tone that is surrounded by the characteristic Lowden overtones. Dennis Czech summed it best: “It has the authority, the clarity, the roundedness and fullness of tone, the mature, solid, muscly strength of a good vintage Martin. Quite wonderful. For such a big guitar, it has very clear and responsive trebles and yes, there is that desirable evenness of tone all the way across the fretboard.”

The fun doesn’t stop there. Although is a great guitar in it's own right, this guitar also has a fantastic pedigree:

• It is made by George himself before any factory involvement.
• It was originally owned by Garth Hewitt, a Christian singer/writer
• In the late 80’s to early 90’s it was bought by Paul Stacey who is best known for producing Oasis, although it is unsure that the guitar was ever used by them. Paul was a well known session guitarist and band member of the Lemon Trees with Guy Chambers who went on to produce and co-write for Robbie Williams. Paul went on to engineer Oasis and now runs his own studio.
• Huw Price acquired it on 4th February 1993. Huw is a freelance producer, sound engineer and writer. It is the guitar seen on the cover of "Recording guitar and bass- Getting a great sound every time you record" Price, Huw; Back Beat Books 2002; ISBN 0-87930-730-7. It was also used on the following albums:
• Delicious Monster - their last EP 3 songs
• Stereolab - first album (space age batchelor pad music/super electric)
• Becky Duke - "like it like this"
• Venas Pluton - first album 1 track (Pinophilia/Petaco/Binocular )
• Frank Tovey - various recordings (Worried Man In Second - Hand Suits/The Best Of Fad Gadget)
• I purchased the guitar from Huw in October of 2003.
• It was my main guitar until a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous acquired it in September 2004 where it remains in his possession.

The current owner wrote to me recently declaring that it was the best Lowden he had ever played, and he has one from almost every era of George Lowden’s production. I strongly believe that the older Lowdens especially those which predate any factory production have something special; George maintained not only a very high build quality, but the materials were more closely selected than possible in a production facility.

Furthermore, small changes in the design over the years have impacted on the Lowden sound. For instance, although minor, the symmetry between the bridge, soundhole and the body had changed by the late 1980’s such that the neck is noticeable further away from the player on later Lowdens. However, the Dolphin shaped bracing, much beloved by Lowden aficionados has made a comeback with George’s new workshop. But that’s another article entirely….

Quick Specs:

• Designated the L32 now the O model
• Made 1979 by George Lowden
• Spruce top
• Indian Rosewood back and sides
• Satin finish throughout
• Brazilian rosewood bridge
• Lowden decal on headstock
• Schaller tuners
• Curly maple Bindings
• All wood purfling and rosette
• Custom fret markers
• Bone nut and saddle

C. Tan Liwen Terence 2004.

Terence is a medic currently based in London where he also runs goodacoustics.com the UK’s only shop exclusively carrying luthier made guitars with a business partner and a tonewoods supply house specialising in Salvaged Brazilian Rosewood and European spruce. He is an active musician gigging regularly and a freelance journalist. Please send correspondence to liwen.tan@imperial.ac.uk