Balance July 2018 - 55
H E AT I N G U P
Ask the Chef
Serving up
a rapport
HelloFresh head chef and co-founder
Patrick Drake finds the answers to
all your problems with food
Q
WORDS: PATRICK DRAKE. PHOTOGRAPHY: DEBBIE BRAGG RECIPE PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON INGRAM
'I have a hard time
making connections
with the people I date.
Can you help? Jean, Clapham
A few years ago, I had a very random
adventure that might finally be
useful. I was working as a (really
bored) lawyer and dreamed up a
TV show concept which taught
guys how to create the perfect date.
Fate intervened one day when I got
talking to a producer who lived
in LA and mentioned my idea. A
week later she excitedly called me
back, said her network loved it and
suggested we filmed a pilot with me
as the chef.
Ten weeks of practicing talking out
loud while doing the cooking/washing
up /shaving (my housemate thought
I'd lost the plot) later, there I was in
front of an entire studio: "Action!"
The concept was this: go out for
a first date with your prospective
other half (or at least initiate some
investigative Tinder banter) and find
out all about them: where they grew
up, what foods they love, what they
hate (including food allergies, since
anaphylactic shock isn't sexy), their
favourite movie and so on.
PAT R I C K
S ET S YOUR
MOOD
Aphrodish-iacs
Keep the interrogation
vibe to a minimum,
but make quiet mental
notes of their answers
(because, as we know,
listening to somebody
intently is an attractive
quality in itself).
For date number
two, invite them round
for dinner and, based on
the information gleaned, create
the perfect culinary experience.
Or, to put it another way, rather
than trotting out your 'signature
dish', create every detail from the
food and drinks to the music and
atmosphere. You can also get them
to help you in the kitchen so you
have something else to bond over.
Remember, the devil's always
in the detail!
Win two HelloFresh boxes
Email or tweet your queries for
Patrick to hello@balance.media or
@BalanceLDN. If your conundrum
is chosen, you could win two free
boxes from HelloFresh.
Follow Patrick on Instagram
@patrickdrakechef
MUSIC
DRINKS
SEATING
If your date doesn't
drink, fill a Champagne
bucket with ice
and serve different
flavours of kombucha
Don't have a dining
table? Throw
cushions on the
floor around a
coffee table
If you're not sure
what mood to set,
hand them your
Spotify and let
them choose
July 2018 BA LA N CE
S O U L ( M AT E ) F O O D
PE STO & AS PARAG US TA RT
It's the height of summer, so I've got a light recipe
complete with two (alleged) aphrodisiacs and plenty of
opportunities for cooking collaboration...
Serves 2
Ingredients
* 150g asparagus
spears, trimmed
and halved
widthways
* 50ml crème
fraîche
* 1½ tbsps
basil pesto
* 3 tbsps hard
Italian cheese,
grated
* 1 sheet (320g)
all-butter
puff pastry
* 2 tbsp
pine nuts
* 1 tbsp milk
* 40g rocket
1 Preheat your oven to 200°C and boil
a pan of water. Ask your guest to hold
each asparagus spear at both ends and
bend gently until it snaps (the woody
end can be thrown away). Chop the
remaining pieces in half widthways and
boil for 1 minute. Drain, then run under
cold water for 15 seconds and pat dry
2 Mix the crème fraîche, pesto and
half the grated cheese. Unroll the
pastry onto a greased baking tray and
use a knife to lightly mark a border
around the tart, 1cm from the edge
3 Ask your guest to spread the
crème fraîche mixture inside the
border, before you place the drained
asparagus over the mixture
4 Scatter the pine nuts on top, brush
the border with milk and bake for 1520 minutes until the pastry has risen
and is nice and golden
5 Mix your rocket with 2 tsps of olive
oil, ¼ tsp of salt and a few grinds of
black pepper. Scatter the rocket and
remaining cheese over the cooked
tart (with a matador's flourish for good
measure) and serve straight away
55
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance July 2018
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