International Chef Exchange, Brighton - The Hague

On february 24th I was one of the lucky few who got invited to an "International Chef Exchange", organized by the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival and the municipality of The Hague. Michael Bremner, the English chef of restaurant 64 degrees came to The Hague, to prepare a mouthwatering dinner together with Dutch chef Bas Oonk of restaurant Basaal.

Basaal was the perfect location for an intimate evening with lots (and I do mean LOTS) of food and drinks! I don't think I've had this much to eat on one night in a long time... And boy oh boy.... the food was absolutely fabulous!

The evening started with a gin tonic, prepared with Blackdown gin and Fever-tree tonic. I have to admit, I'm usually not a big fan of G and T, but this one blew my mind! And that was only the start of it... Later, we had two sparkling wines, a white wine, a dessert wine, a glass of port and a variety of liquors...

All the dishes were prepared with love and an eye for detail, as you can see in the pictures. Watching the other guests (including several food bloggers), convinced me I wasn't the only one enjoying myself and "cleaning my plate" every single time.

I could of course describe all the dishes and the matching drinks, but it's probably easier to give you the whole menu. (Please scroll down.) Pictured here is also one of the vegetarian plates.

My favourite dish was the Sussex goat cheese, paired with an Italian Sauvignon (you guys know I love Italy!). But the chocolate dessert served with a Spanish Moscatel was also "to die for"..! The surprise of the evening however were the sparkling wines from Sussex.

Thank you very much Brighton, The Hague, 64 degrees and Basaal!!!

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Sussex Gin & Tonic
Blackdown Gin (37.5% abv)

Herring, pickles, lardo
Served with Ridgeview Wine Estate, Grosvenor (Blanc de Blanc), 2010 Sussex Sparkling wine
– 100% Chardonnay Single Estate

Trumpet Royale, mint, Sussex goats cheese
Served with Sauvignon ‘di Jacopo’, Ronco del Gnemiz, Friuli Colli Orientali DOC, Italy 2012

Ox tongue & cheek, celeriac, tarragon
Served with Ridgeview Wine Estate, Knightsbridge, 2010 Sussex sparkling wine
– a blend of Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier

Chocolate, coffee salted caramel, burnt cinnamon
Served with Moscatel Dolc ‘Equinox’, Cellars Batea, Catalunya, Spain

Selection of Sussex Cheeses
Served with Blackdown Elderberry Port (19% abv)

Coffee & liquor
Coffee created by latte art ‘queen’ Esther Maasdam and liquor from Van Kleef

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For more information, please visit:
www.brightonfoodfestival.com  
http://www.denhaag.com
http://www.restaurant-denhaag-basaal.nl/en/
http://64degrees.co.uk/