Courvoisier are hosting an incredible four day food extravaganza from 14-18 July, in the heart of London, guiding you through an epic edible adventure of cuisine through the ages! On Tuesday we thought we'd seen it all when we sampled Europe's finest nitro ice cream. Now, Courvoisier's TheComplete History of Food with jelly giants Bompas & Parr has enlightened our taste buds further with a magnificent walk through, multi-course dining and sensory experience, complete with historical installations and more. What a mouthful!
Set in an enormous property in London's rather grand Belgrave Square, The Complete History of food guides visitors up through what is certainly no conventionally decorated house. Each story promises to offer a different culinary delight from Medieval all the way through to contemporary and it doesn't fail to dissapoint.
With no lull and definitely no false sense of security, the tour kicks off to a dramatic start as it's recommended shoes are removed for the Medieval installation. We cautiously follow into the year 1280, stepping carefully on metal grates set in deep dark waters filled with Bilingsgate's finest wriggly eels, to a ship's galley... yes, in a house, in London!
Here we are met by what we can only assume is a pirate mixologist, nothing odd about that. According to our assessed personality, we have mixed for us a "melancholic" cardomom and sorrel Courvoisier Sidecar cocktail with lemon popsicle, courtesy of mixologist Joe McCanta from the Michelin Rosette winning Saf.
A swift aperitif and some sea legs later, we fast forward to 2010, a spectacular view over west London and a Champagne cocktail constructed by East London's Lounge Bohemia with a glamorous Rocher à l'Or, almond coated fois gras, rolled in gold leaf no less!
It may have been the spectacular view, the dazzling summer sun or a second dose of Courvoisier, but by this point it's already starting to feel like taste-bud heaven!
We don't linger on taste-buds for long as we're swallowed down into an inflatable biological journey of the stomach! Less padded cell and more bouncy castle, this colourful representation of the stomach provides a rather wobbly intermission. Who ever said jumping and digestion don't go together!
Tripping through a mushroom lined corridoor, we find ourselves heading back through time to the 1950s. Post the second world war, rationing becomes a thing of the past and we settle down for a light hearted, 20th century TV dinner.
Processed to within an inch of their lives, our favourite modern day meal molecules have been micro-encapsulated into a scratch 'n' sniff dinner. Probably for the best that we only enjoyed the smell of our chicken and chips as our next sitting is mammoth... or should I say dinosaur!
Travelling back to times of Victorian fine dining, we sit down for a decadent 1853 New Year's Eve dinner inside a dinosaur. Westfield Stratford City's brand new Bistrotheque is behind this part of the historical tour and we are treated to a rich duck confit with black champagne sauce. It doesn't get much more luxurious than this!
After a delicious Courvoisier, green tea and elderflower punch, we move onto the final part of the banquet.
Jellymongers Bompas & Parr have created the final sensory extravagance with The Sugar Room. This dream room is filled with elaborate sugar sculptures for a modern twist on an excessive Renaissance banquet. Candied orange, iris jellies and what we're led to believe is whale vomit, provide the perfect end to an incredible dinner.
Courvoisier's Complete History of Food experience is by no means a full, comprehensive lesson in historical cuisine, it simply couldn't fit into just the one sitting. But it's an incredibly fun and unusual adventure through the ages with a theatrical approach to serving delicious food. Curated by Michelin star chefs and accomplished mixologists from Courvoisiers innovative, cherry picked members of The Future 500, this is an event not to be missed!
On Tuesday we thought we'd seen it all when we sampled Europe's finest nitro ice cream. Now, Courvoisier's The Complete History of Food with jelly giants Bompas & Parr has enlightened our taste buds further with a magnificent walk through, multi-course dining and sensory experience, complete with historical installations and more. What a mouthful!
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