Colefax and Fowler shoot lunches

I was delighted recently to be asked to cater a week-long Colefax and Fowler photo shoot on location in Beckenham.  I have done a number of photo shoots and always enjoy them because they are so different from what I normally do and it’s always fascinating to see what goes on behind the camera.  An extra pleasure with the Colefax shoot was that the person who arranged it was my step-niece, daughter of my dear stepsister who sadly died 10 years ago, so it was lovely to have a reason to be in contact with her.  And as if that wasn’t enough pleasure for one job, the location, Beckenham, has numerous family ties: my husband and I lived there for a while, my granny lived there for many years and married my grandpa in the church there and my stepsister lived there with her partner too.  It was lovely to revisit it and the photo shoot venue was an absolutely stunning house in one of Beckenham’s typical wide tree-lined avenues.

So it was already quite different before we even got onto the food side of things, but this job presented a challenge that I haven’t had before.  Because of the distance from my home (about 100 mile round trip) it wasn’t practical to deliver lunch every day for 5 days, so my step-niece and I had to think around the problem.  We eventually decided on 2 deliveries, 1 on the Monday and 1 on the Wednesday, but that wasn’t the end of the logistic issues because I then had to choose things that would keep well and also think how to achieve that.  I always relish a challenge, so I gave the matter considerable thought and came up with a menu for the week.

MONDAY

11 people – Mexican theme

7 x Mexican black bean rice salad, guacamole, salsa, fajita-spiced sliced steak and home-cooked nachos

4 x Mexican black bean rice salad, guacamole, salsa and home-cooked nachos

TUESDAY

11 people – French theme

6 x quiche Lorraine, mixed salad and vinaigrette dressing

5 x leek, Comté and thyme quiche, mixed salad and vinaigrette dressing

WEDNESDAY

10 people – Moroccan theme

6 x harissa-roasted chicken thigh fillets, zesty couscous salad, Moroccan-spiced carrot dip and flatbreads

4 x harissa-roasted aubergine slices, zesty couscous salad, Moroccan-spiced carrot dip and flatbreads

THURSDAY

10 people – English theme

6 x honey- and mustard-glazed ham, mixed salad, vinaigrette dressing, pickled cucumbers, pear and walnut chutney and a wholemeal bread roll

4 x mature cheddar, mixed salad, vinaigrette dressing, pickled cucumbers, pear and walnut chutney and a wholemeal bread roll

FRIDAY

9 people – Indian theme

6 x sliced curried chicken breast, curried rice salad, cucumber raita, naan bread and mango chutney

3 x curried sweet potato wedges, curried rice salad, cucumber raita, naan bread and mango chutney

The days have numbers because for the days I wasn’t there, I had to leave them a bit of assembling to do (for example, I couldn’t dress the salad in advance) so I numbered all the components so they knew what was supposed to go with what.  It was quite unusual, but by and large it worked pretty well.  They also had a cake/bake of the day all of which I delivered on the Monday: chocolate brownies, gluten- and dairy-free apple and almond cake, millionaire’s shortbread, vegan lime and coconut cake and carrot cake traybake.

Thank you Colefax and Fowler and I hope we can do it again sometime.