Jirka Horak is sous chef at Eska in Prague and has experience working at The Fat Duck and The Hurstwood in his career. He was recently guest chef serving a special 6 course menu with matching wines at The Hustwood in High Hurstwood, East Sussex and we were lucky enough to be guests of the hosts, Lenka and Martin for this amazing evening in their gastropub.
The food was amazing! Imaginative, creative and delicious, this menu was full of things I'd never choose to order and pushed me outside of my comfort zone and it was good. I enjoyed everything we were served including the wines from around the world including Czechoslovakia, Italy, Slovakia and Austria. I can't even pick a favourite but of course, I took photos of everything! Below are a few favourites and here's what we ate:
Charred cabbage & fermented cabbage, green apples, caraway seed oil
Cured wild halibut, nasturtiums, sunflower seeds & lovage
Smoked eel, Jerusalem artichoke, dill, chives, kefir
Venison liver, heart & tongue, English mustard, Brussel sprouts
Goat rack cider, wild mushrooms, juniper, potatoes, bone marrow (my favourite course)
Plums, burnt caramel, celeriac cream
I felt like I was in an episode of Masterchef, getting to be backstage in the kitchen, seeing all the prep and tasting, discussions about how to change flavours to enhance the ingredients it was so much fun!
It was such a great evening! Thank you to Lenka and Martin for inviting us and to Jirka and his team for such a delicious meal!