Last night I ate deadly food at Cafe de Mort, a restaurant that had a short life of just two evenings. We were served a variety of foods and drinks known for their poisons, toxins and deadly effects on humans if consumed in uncontrolled portions.
I was greeted at the door with with a cocktail of champagne and absinthe that contains the deadly botanical wormwood.
We were then seated for a 5 course meal. I ate fugu sashimi, pufferfish, and famous in Japan for the deaths resulting from incorrect preparation. If done right it makes your tongue tingle. If done wrong ... death by delicacy.
With the deadly false morels I drank by now the very pedestrian snake wine. Well actually I passed on this tipple and opted for a nice glass of London water.
The final dish a sweetmeat that included peanuts, cacao and nutmeg, all of which contain toxins was accompanied by sunset rum 84.5% ABV!!.
I have survived to tell the tale and also to tell you why I agreed to partake in such a deadly meal.
The foundation of charities "remember a charity" in collaboration with chef Gregg Wallace are raising awareness of the importance of leaving something to charity in your will.
Over dinner I chatted with representatives from charities who really are struggling with lack of funds. We are more likely to donate to the pandas than we are to an organisation that will look after our Granma and Grandpa when they have dementia. We will all get old, we can't escape it, unless we over do anything on the menu of course ...
11 comments:
Well that was quite a night Chrissy, a bit of danger, interesting chat and a whole heap of goodwill..nice!
if it was poison you wish I could send some of my soup.....?
i like the first pic!
I am very jealous of you, that sounds like the perfect meal!
So sorry Mo, I must have been not thinking straight this afternoon when I wrote Chrissy, I think I'm going (?) nuts haha!
Well, I've had and made some bad meals, but none that boast their poisons. This is unique, and a very creative way to raise charity awareness. In the U.S. you'd have had to sign all manner of waivers before anything passed your lips, and they'd probably have paramedics and poison control experts standing by.
I was surprised to read just yesterday that common white and cremini mushrooms aren't to be eaten raw because of their toxins. And my husband often puts them raw into salads. Cooked only from now on!
What a great cause but there is no way on this earth I'd eat those foods. Maybe I'm over my death wish after all (I did jump off a 100m tower in SA!)?
You are absolutely right of course. Leaving money for charity for people is important.
A slightly circuitous way to make a point. Almost performance art.
I went on the Tuesday, it was a really fun night. The fugu was delicious. Who knew poison was so yummy?
great event , good cause ;)
The idea of leaving something to charity is excellent, but I don't think I would have been sitting there beside you for this event.
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