Homage to the Pig at The Crab Apple Tree

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I don't know about you, dear readers, but I bloody hate snow! I'm not the most sure-footed of people and every time it's snowy or icy I fear for my ability to stay upright, so I tend to stay home, eat soup and curse the weather.

So it was testament to how good the Crab Apple Tree supper club is, that I ventured out on Sunday night (albeit not far- it's held 300 yards from my flat) to return to this amazing culinary experience.

The Crab Apple Tree supper club is held around monthly in North Leeds and is run by Dave and Louise out of their bijoux apartment. Dave is a chef/baker at The Sunshine Bakery who make award winning cupcakes and brownies, and a delicious range of breads, pasties, sausage rolls and gourmet sandwiches. Dave also cooks for The Sunshine Bakery's supper club, which is delicious and very reasonably priced. Louise is an extremely talented food photographer (see her work here) and occasional waitress who runs front of house.

Having had such a great time when I went in October (pre-blog so no write-up I'm afraid) I decided to treat one of my best friends for his birthday to the Crab Apple Tree's 'Homage to the Pig' event and in doing so, have definitely created a new supper club fan!

We were greeted by Louise who welcomed us with freshly-made apple juice and an offer to chill our wine (although there was so much snow, we ended up just leaving it outside!). Pretty soon our table filled up with lovely people, some of whom had been to supper clubs before, some who were first-timers like my friend. The table was beautifully set- the decoration of the room having a fresh, natural, simple and homely feel to it. I particularly loved the small jars of bay leaves used as decoration (at least I think they were bay leaves!).

We were provided with these beautiful menus, each hand-made by Louise.

Louise and Dave brought round some canapes to start us off- beautiful sweet-and-salty Jamon Serrano, and Bury black pudding croquettes. The croquettes were wonderful- crispy on the outside but smooth and unctuous on the inside, meaty but not over-powering. They were served with a sort of hollandaise sauce but made with half butter, half chorizo fat instead of just butter. The strength of the flavour of the sauce meant that you only needed a tiny bit, but it was a great complement to the hot croquettes.

(Sorry that's a terrible photo of the croquettes, but the only one I came away with!)

After the delicious canapes came a starter of seabass fillet on green beans, served with a Brittany butter sauce and a king scallop (although mine was sans scallop as they make me hideously unwell). Here was my friend's plate (avec scallop).

Doesn't it look pretty? It tasted even better. The fish was so light, it almost melted in my mouth, and the sauce was beautifully rich and creamy, but offset by diced tomato within it. The beans made for a great texture contrast.

After the fish, our seafood interlude continued with a bit of a challenge. Oysters. It was quickly established that virtually the whole table were 'oyster virgins.' I'm a relatively recent convert to the delights of fish and seafood, and the thought of eating raw oyster hadn't particularly appealed. However one of the great things about supper clubs is trying new things, and after some hesitation, one by one, we tried it.

With a hefty squeeze of lemon, down it went, and actually it wasn't unpleasant. I tried not to chew it, to let it slip down my throat, but ended up having to nosh at it a couple of times. It was salty and slimy, and sea-foody for want of a better phrase. I can see their appeal, and although I won't be rushing out to buy plates of them, if I was in a position where I had to eat them, I now know they're nowt to be afraid of!

Evidence of me trying them- my empty shell!

After the oysters, we returned to porky goodness with Dave's piece de resistance- The Homage to the Pig plate.

And, oh wow, what a plate. There was pulled ham hock with mustard and shallot onion rings, braised pigs' cheeks in crumb with crackling, pork belly on celeriac puree with even more crackling, and  a mini chorizo sausage, served with potato rosti, apples, tenderstem broccoli (not shown) and a cider sauce. I got a bit full just looking at it, although that didn't stop me from nearly licking the plate at the end. I don't think I could pick a favourite bit of the dish- it was all so good!

Eating four different types of piggy really makes one feel like, well, a piggy! Still, when the food's that delectable, we weren't about to say no to more, however full we were feeling, especially when we knew this was coming...

Dessert was an orange and amaretto tartlet with coffee granita. The pastry was paper-thin, the custard of the tart was tangy with a silken texture. It wasn't too sweet, so the amaretti biscuit crumbs on top balanced it out. The coffee granita was also amazing- I could have quite happily had a bowl of that on its own!

Finally there was just a tiny bit of room in our tummies for some tea and Dave's fabulous homemade chocolates with brandy filling.

These too were super-smooth but after five courses of utter deliciousness I couldn't manage any more than two, and felt bad that there were loads left!

Dave and Louise are both incredibly talented people, and so warm and affable. They clearly understand how to marry flavours, textures and colours into stunning menus. The attention to detail is particularly impressive. The Crab Apple Tree is such a well presented and relaxed supper club- I would not be surprised if one day
in the future, Dave and Louise end up running a similarly-presented restaurant.

Sadly for us, but not for them, Dave and Louise are wrapping up their time in Leeds to go on a year-long Australian adventure. I'm sure the rest of the local supper club fans will be crossing their fingers, hoping that when they return to the UK, they come back to Leeds! I feel very lucky that I've been able to experience their skills and hospitality!

Good Luck Dave and Louise!

The Crab Apple Tree