Your childhood self may have dreamt of running off with the local circus and hitching a ride with a big top, but some people grew up and did just that.
The late Nell Gifford launched cult extravaganza Giffords Circus in 2000, a travelling band showcasing spectacle, mesmeric acts (and silly ones too), handmade costumes and beguiling sets, and, eventually banquet tables laden with food.
Travelling restaurant Circus Sauce, headed up by chef Ols Halas, provides physically nourishing ballast to the enchantment of the live shows, and now you can recreate the food and bewitching feasting at home using the Giffords Circus Cookbook by Nell Gifford and Ols Halas.
The cookbook showcases the classic British fare you’d be served at Giffords’ much in-demand Circus Sauce. So think vats of bright-green nettle soup, whopping fish pies to share, globe artichokes dunked in hollandaise, perfectly dressed crab, banoffee pie with salted caramel and the most decadent steak tartare. Plus snacky bits you’d eat at the fair, like salted maple popcorn, posh hot dogs and barbecue corn with lashings of chilli butter. One of the best recipes to try first is pork belly baps served with poached rhubarb.
Pork belly baps with poached rhubarb
Equipment
- Deep saucepan
- Roasting tray
- Small non-reactive saucepan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork belly de-boned and skin scored
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- Vegetable oil for roasting and frying
- 100 g mayonnaise (see below)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 8 brioche baps cut in half
- Mixed salad leaves
- Sea salt
For the poached rhubarb:
- 200 ml cloudy cider
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 sticks rhubarb trimmed and cut into finger-length sticks
For the mayonnaise:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 150 ml vegetable oil
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Sea salt and black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- For the mayonnaise, mix the egg yolk with the vinegar and mustard in a bowl. Ever so slowly, trickle in the oil, whisking all the while, until you have a smooth, thick mayonnaise. Season well with salt and pepper and add a good squeeze of lemon juice.
- Place the pork in a deep saucepan, cover with water and add a couple of pinches of salt. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes, then remove and pat dry with kitchen paper. Transfer to a roasting tray and add the vinegar and a good drizzle of vegetable oil. Sprinkle a good pinch of sea salt over, then rub everything into the scored skin. Roast for 30–45 minutes, keeping an eye on it, until the skin is uniformly golden and crisp and the roasting juices run clear when you pierce the meat with a sharp knife. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
- For the poached rhubarb, bring the cider, brown sugar and cinnamon stick to the boil in a non-reactive saucepan. Turn down the heat to low, drop in the rhubarb and poach for 10 minutes, or until tender but not falling apart. Leave to cool.
- When you’re ready to eat, mix the mayonnaise with the paprika and lemon juice in a small bowl. Slice the pork belly into 1cm thick slices that will fit into the baps and fry in a skillet or heavy-based frying pan with a very small amount of vegetable oil on a medium heat until crisp. Fill each bap with a slice or two of pork belly, a few sticks of poached rhubarb, a small handful of salad leaves and a good drizzle of the smoky mayo.
Nutrition
Giffords Circus Cookbook: Recipes and stories from a magical circus restaurant by Nell Gifford and Ols Halas is published by Quadrille. Photography David Loftus.
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