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Ajesh Patalay

@ajesh34

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👈🏾Associate Fellow, Central St Martins
👇🏾Food columnist, FT htsi
👇🏾Food Writer of the Year, F&M Awards 🏆
👇🏾Columnist of the Year, BSME (Shortlisted)

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I came, I saw, I judged. This summer I had the honour of being a judge at @wingfestuk - the world’s largest chicken wing festival which takes place at cities across the UK. I attended the Sheffield event and was blown away by the standard and variety. As wingfest founder @thackwar says, the UK wing scene has long since outpaced the US scene to become the most exciting and innovative in the world with a gourmet offering that would surprise anyone used to greasy takeout chicken from that hole-in-the-wall on the high street. Read all about it In this week’s @fthtsi

Pics from the Sheffield and London events by @ajesh34

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7 days ago

Where do the film, theatre and TV crowd go to dine? Having spoken to a lot of people in the know - from agents to studio heads to show queens - I’ll tell you.
In this weekend’s arts themed @fthtsi by @ajesh34

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14 days ago

Recently I got invited by the Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, to dine at their formal hall. Lord David Isaac had approached me at last year’s FT Weekend Festival and we’d got talking about how excellent he felt the food offering at his college’s formal hall was. And so I went to found out for myself. The food was indeed excellent; restaurant quality in fact, but that wasn’t the whole story. A few years ago the college’s governing body had tried to reform some of the more antiquated customs associated with formal hall including Latin Grace. Worcester college has one of the highest proportion of state school educated students and is one of the most progressive colleges in Oxford. And yet the student body voted to retain all these customs, prompting one college don to remark that the governing body was more woke than the students. It raised the question: what is the appeal and value of formal halls at which attendees dress up and are served three course meals? And should possibly elitist formal halls be repealed? I got into black tie and joined high table for this week’s ‘Old School, New Rules’ menswear issue of @fthtsi

Big thank you David Isaac and all the current students and alumni who spoke to me. by @ajesh34

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21 days ago

Neatness and restraint are all very well, but messy is so much better. As a messy eater myself, I look at the joys and benefits of messiness in the way we eat, cook and enjoy our food. In this week’s @fthtsi by @ajesh34

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a month ago

I love (LOVE) black pudding. Especially as part of a fryup in the morning. This, of course, puts me at odds with anyone who’s squeamish about food that contains blood.

What I didn’t fully realise, before writing my latest piece @fthtsi on black pudding and other foods with blood (there are many!), is how much black pudding in the UK is now made from dried (imported) blood rather than fresh. Dried blood is fine. Fresh blood is better, according to connoisseurs. And in Ireland, the domestic traditions of making fresh black pudding are dying out. This is the tale told by a new book by Irish food writer Kate Ryan (@flavour.ie) called Blood, Guts & Black Pudding. It makes for fascinating reading.

One for the vampirically inclined? by @ajesh34

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a month ago

The mother of all end-of-summer snacks. I give you French pizza. Otherwise known as pissaladiere in this weekend’s @fthtsi

Thanks to @adambyatt @sudifoodie @matthewryle for weighing in by @ajesh34

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a month ago

The magic touch of chef @florence.knight earned her a considerable following at Polpo and Sessions Art Club. Now she’s launching her own solo restaurant at the top of Nick Jones’s Hotel Clement off the Strand. It’s called @lunette.london. The food is the most elevated we’ve seen from her; a culmination of her years of gastronomic precision and simplicity. I got a tasty first taste in today’s @ft_htsi by @ajesh34

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2 months ago

Not just a garnish : the flavour-enhancing qualities of edible flowers in today’s flower themed @fthtsi

@noreenwasti @enricocrippa91._chef @chef_chantelle @lukiefarrell @monicacarmella by @ajesh34

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3 months ago

The hottest day of the year. The coolest spot in town. My second visit to Jackson Boxer’s new restaurant @vesper.restaurant in Exmouth Market. The best plates of food I’ve had all year. Particularly loved the veal chop with spinach (hearty but refined, deeply flavourful) and the chicken liver agnolotti (sharp little parcels of chicken liver in a mahogany-clear broth). Loved the crisps and french onion, smoked cream and trout roe snacks. Loved the green beans and robiola and grilled Atlantic Prawns starters (their smoky garlic scent still on my hands when I got home). Loved the Canele, rum and goats milk and strawberries with baked cream desserts. Loved the design of the place by @jermainegallacher. Loved it all.

@jackson_boxer with @thecharlieporter by @ajesh34

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3 months ago

Oysters. Everything you need to know about enjoying them now. In today’s @fthtsi. Still the epitome of celebratory eating by @ajesh34

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4 months ago

Black tie @worcestercollegeoxford by @ajesh34

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4 months ago

Time for some important public service journalism:
A look at the phenomenon of the “dessert stomach” (you’re full but somehow make room for pudding) and the changing landscape of dessert. Yes, people are drinking their sweet course now! by @ajesh34

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4 months ago