TABLE TALK #65
Thinking back to the origins of Table Talk is to remind ourselves that it exists to celebrate the joys of sitting down with family and friends, to gathering around a table and to luxuriate in the simultaneous silliness and seriousness that often ensues. And thatās only the people, we havenāt even thought about the food or the drink yet, so today, weāll be ruminating on what it is that makes a home-cooked roast quite so special.
š” AMUSE-BOUCHESĀ š”
Eat:Ā Londonās bestĀ mealsĀ for under Ā£10.
Listen:Ā nothing but good energy rightĀ here.
See:Ā bookĀ ticketsĀ to David HockneyāsĀ Bigger & CloserĀ before theyāre all gone.
š MAIN COURSE š
Ā No Introduction Required
Weird as it is to think, weāre almost halfway through āroast seasonā. Perhaps not its official name, thatās more likely Autumn or Winter, but nonetheless a moniker that reflects the fact that these colder, darker months are absolutely perfect for hunkering down, bedding in and getting to know your oven.
Quite what makes a home-cooked roast so special is up for debate. Whilst it sure is lovely to go to a pub or a restaurant for Sunday lunch, most would agree that nothing beats one prepared in the confines of your own or someone elseās home. Maybe itās the fact that thereās never enough gravy (at least initially) when having a roast out or the fact that itās significantly harder to lay low in the other room reading the Sunday papers or watching sport when in a pub, but I suspect for most people itās down to nostalgia.
Whether real or imagined, a Sunday roast conjures images of a bygone era or at least days gone by. Thereās an unmistakable comfort to it, a reassuring sense that youāre insulated from the outside world and all the complications that come with it.
Thatās not to say that a roast isnāt without its complications. First of all, you have your centrepiece - whether meat or otherwise, people will debate their favourite roast until their dying days, often with very little consensus ever emerging. Next, what are you serving with it and once youāve decided that, how are you cooking them? Are carrots boiled or roasted, covered sparingly in butter or caked in honey and mustard? These are all questions that both divide and unite households in equal measure, and to think that we havenāt even discussed whoās in charge of making the gravy yetā¦
To be able to make a good gravy is to possess one of those most underrated of skills. Good gravy may win the odd plaudit but bad gravy is inescapable, its presence robbing those around the table of a final flourish that can take a roast from merely very good to world-beating.
And if all this sounds a little tiring, thatās because it is. Roasts arenāt straight forward - they take hours, involve almost every pan you own and are gone within minutes - but thatās part of the joy. Itās rare that a roast is the product of one personās work - itās often a team effort. Whether thatās peeling potatoes (skin on for us, please), washing pans or topping up peopleās glasses, itās the ultimate act of pulling together and quietly celebrating the ties that bind us. Long live the roast.
š® SWEET ENDINGSĀ š®Ā
Place Donna Summerās inimitableĀ I Feel LoveĀ on repeat and dive into the fascinating story behind her and Giorgio Moroderās disco classic rightĀ here.
š·Ā WHAT'SĀ NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE?Ā š·
If we could distil our focus for the coming year into one phrase it would essentially be - get our wines into peopleās hands. This takes various forms, but this week our wines will be making their first appearances atĀ Sessions Arts Club,Ā Drop,Ā dry.Ā andĀ wild + lees, as well as being served all night long atĀ Bre GrahamāsĀ book launch this Thursday.We'll see you again next week,Ā
The Wednesday's Domaine Team x
