Happy New Year 2011

Thank you for giving us such a great 2010, coming to our supper club, enjoying yourselves, spreading the word, blogging, writing, pressing. Its been so great! We want to wish all our guests, readers, followers a Happy New Year! May 2011 bring you so much love and happiness, good health and much success!

All our love, Uyen & Simon xxx

Merry Christmas

Simon & I would like to wish all our followers, readers, guests and friends a wonderful Christmas and all our best wishes for the New Year. Thank you so much for coming to eat with us and for all your support, kindness and loyalty.

We have had a great year doing the supper club, and many things in between, such as our night with Jim Haynes, our charity dinner with Unearthed & Action Against Hunger; our free holiday that I won to Croatia thanks to Qype; our adventure at The BBC with The Hairy Bikers; our evening with all at Fresh One. It has all been so awesome - 2010 was a year for us to blossom Fernandez & Leluu and we hope that we will have many more things to do and talk about in 2011.

Simon is currently working as a chef in Switzerland in a chalet thanks to Luke MacKay for the winter. As for me, I will be continue with Vietnamese cookery classes, some supper clubs, creative writing classes events, a singles event in February and whatever comes my way - really looking forward to the New Year.

Merry Christmas and All The Best For A Great New Year, Love Uyen & Simon xxxx

We had to postpone a supper club night because of the snow - Next one is TUESDAY 21st DEC 2010 - A full Vietnamese feast - email bookings@fernandezandleluu.co.uk

All The Single People

By Leluu

Can I just say that single ladies are some of the coolest people I get to meet at the supper cub. They do such fun things like organizing a night out with the girls to our supper club, dinner in town, concerts and theatre tickets, singles events, trips abroad, book clubs, you name it!

I am so lucky, I have made many good friends ‘all the single ladies’ and I get to join in the Ah oh oh- oh oh oh Beyonce style!

The atmosphere has been amazing at the supper club and most people say that the bit at the beginning where everyone talks to each other and sharing a table with complete strangers is just the best bit! We all talked about how it would be a perfect thing to do for a singles party.

Therefore, I have been promising singles events at my house, a party for the girls and boys who may love to meet each other, but I have been afraid, one, that no boys would turn up and two, the dynamics of the atmosphere once I do get the boys to come. How would women behave towards each other if everyone fancied one bloke? Would I have a hair tearing party in the end? Fight-Fight-Fight, whilst Jerry Springer is commentating and I end up throwing an armchair across the room (just for theatrics) Three, playing cupid is dangerous! Heh – I think I worry too much!

There are certainly more women attending the supper club than men. Most men come with their wives or girlfriends. And the handful of men who come here – as a single guy – we salute you – well done! It is really rare to have some men get together once a month, over dinner, instead of over the pub counter. So I just want to say, guys, the women are here, come and meet them. At the very least, everyone gets to make friends with each other, have a good time and perhaps just network! No one expects love to actually happen, but if it happens – then wow! What a bonus.

I have finally decided to give it a go and starting to plan for (many) that dreaded month of February. I will try for 12 wonderful women and 12 handsome, kind, good looking, loveable men. All professional and artistic in their late twenties - thirties (ish - not going to be too strict at first).

Please email me uyen@fernandezandleluu.co.uk if you are interested, a bit about yourself so that I can learn it and introduce you to others, a photo – if you are a man and you want to convince me that the ladies will love you. : )

Its going to be on Friday 11th February and if by some strokes of genius, I manage to get another 12 wonderful women and 12 wonderful men then we can do Saturday 12th February too. Lets see… if you like it, you should put a ring on it! Wise words of Mrs Jay Z! (ah... did I just scare some boys away ... hehe...)

Fear not, you can come with a friend, as long as they are single too. There will be no dinner tables – it’ll be a hand held, standing around affair. If anything, we can all do a Lady Gaga Bad Romance dance.

Beeker & Jack #reverb10

December 9 – Party

Every day in December, a new prompt to remember who you are in 2010.

Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.
(Author: Shauna Reid)

Parties? I have three every fortnight. There has been some wonderful parties. From last New Year’s Eve, to the one where everyone slept over on sofas and floors and chairs; the one where Jim Haynes came by for After Eights; the one with the Brazilian film crew; the one with all the singing; the one with all the drag queens and the MC Hammer dancing; the one where we went to The Dolphin… the list is long and I am so proud to host so many parties, become a part of so many memories and actually live them with so many people. Smiles, laughter, jokes, banter, dancing and noise. Lots of noise…

It is hard to chose just one event that rocked my socks off but I do remember a lovely night at the supper club where as usual, we all gathered and sat chatting, mulling over wine and competing over who has the funniest story.

I remember Beeker & Jack, our regular supper club go-ers. Beeker tall, blonde, lean and angular is a designer. She has a lovely face and warm affectionate eyes and a beautiful smile. Her boyfriend, Jack is aswell, tall, lanky and typically English looking, we stopped them at their tracks when they started to feel like they were one of the last ones and should go. Please stay, we said. We’ve been working in the kitchen all day long, we would love to sit and chat with you. And so they did, wine glasses, after wine glasses we got excited over stories and each other’s work and how Jack had been at St Martins with me in the same building, at Long Acre (now H&M) at the same time, just one floor up. And at secondary school, he went to the boys school next door to mine.

It was lovely. At the same time, there was one of the teachers who used to teach at the college where we went. Now she is doing Joginder’s Supper Club.

The world is small and it feels so nice to be able to embrace the smallness of it – that everyone and everything around us isn’t so far apart, and no matter what they do, how successful they are or they are not, that everyone is longing to be loved.

I felt really good that night to have met similar souls to mine. Such a wonderful couple. I hope they are in love like they appear. Love is, such a fleeting, transient, commotion. O how we adore to be loved... it feels the greatest and no one can stop you.

Beautifully Different

 

Today, a lovely guest at Fernandez & Leluu, Leah Bevington has introduced me to this project: #reverb10 because she read about how much I enjoyed the Creative Writing Courses. This website prompts you to write and reflect on the year and every day it will give prompts of what to write. Here is today’s:

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

I am a week late. Will I complete this task by 31st Dec? I wonder…
Today, I can’t see what is beautiful about me never mind “beautifully different”. I feel like I am the same as every other “normal” sucker for love whose just striving to be loved. But here goes:

I like to make people happy. I love to create a nice environment and engineer a gathering where people can feel really wonderful in.  I suppose that’s why I have created the supper club and made it what it is because I am not afraid of people, I like having people in my house. I love meeting new people and see what they have to bring to the table. Does this make people light up? I hope so.

I just remember those dreadful Russian girls who came by a few weeks ago, they weren’t lit up at all but bought a dark cloud over. Their energies clashed with mine as soon as they sat down and expected something astounding from me that I could not offer. At least, not to them. Sad thing was, they wouldn’t leave when I asked them to because they didn’t feel that my house was my home – that it was some random restaurant.

I love the people I have made friends with and gelled with so well, and some have since become such good friends to me. I might want to carry them along with me all my life. I think that’s what makes me different…because I allow people to be themselves with me because I offer them – me and all I would hope is that they like me too and all my flaws.

I like to do things that make me happy, I love to make things happen and live a life that I would like to take part in. Its almost aristocratic in a sense, I have a certain snobbery to “the norm” as much as I would sometimes like to be normal. Once I feel normal, I get upset about it and once I am not at all normal, I am upset too. Always trying to strive for the right balance and never finding it.

Most of the times, I am such a positive person whose thirsty for life and all that it offers – but what makes me the most “beautifully different” is that I love helping people. If you ask me for help, it’s the most honourable thing and I would gladly help because you asking me to help makes me so happy.

I remember meeting Jayne at the Creative Writing class, and she made me feel really nice when she smiled at me and she was so shocked when I asked her over to my house for dinner. She just didn’t expect that a stranger can be so friendly. I think she was so overwhelmed, she had to decline, because she just didn't know where to place it. But I am not going to give up, I hope to have lunch with her in the New Year.

Sweet Sour Salt By Leluu

I've gathered some recipes together and made a little book.
It accompanies my Vietnamese Cookery Classes.
You can order them on the link below and it will be delivered to your door.
You can also email me uyen@fernandezandeluu.co.uk if you want to come to my cookery classes in January 2011.

The first one went incredibly well and we all had so much fun: Read here

sweet sour salt by leluu | Make Your Own Book

My First Book - Sweet Sour Salt By Leluu To Accompany My Vietnamese Cookery Classes

sweet sour salt by leluu | Make Your Own Book

Vietnamese Cookery Class & Feast

By Leluu

A few weeks ago, we did something absolutely amazing with a very famous and much loved chef. It inspired my lovely friend Matt from Pistachio & Pickle Supper Club to come up with the idea of hosting Vietnamese Cookery Classes.

And so last Saturday, I got my mum around and we did one with eight people in my kitchen. Six of them have already been to the supper club and so it was lovely to meet them again as if we were a bunch of girls getting together for a fun Saturday afternoon.

We had hot sake, cava, tea and a Pandan and Yellow Bean sweet snack ready for everyone who braved the cold to come all the way to my place in London Fields from all sides of London. I was so nervous. The first time I did something similar with the chef, (I was really thrown into the deep end then), but this was the first time I had people booking in for classes.

I couldn’t sleep the entire night, worrying… and making sure things were in order.
But it all went really well, and I didn’t really have much to worry about because my mum was there and she is the master of the Vietnamese food. My mum is a real foodie, she is a real cook who pours all her love into everything she prepares because she always cooks for people she loves.

When everybody arrived at 1pm ish, we started with the basic ingredients you should have in your Vietnamese section of your larder, like the right fish sauce to buy, and essential items so that you can always throw something together.

I had to give a small introduction to Vietnamese cuisine and its principle philosophy of eating well and healthy but in the kitchen, its all about getting the right balance of sweet, sour and salty and then balancing hot and cold foods.

We had to start on the Beef Pho because that takes the longest time to cook, preparing the meat and the stock and then we also marinaded the crispy pork belly with five spice and char sui powder and baked it in the oven.

Meanwhile, we all got out coats and wellies on and went to the Vietnamese supermarkets around the corner from here where anyone can ask me questions about what things are and what to buy. This was really fun and useful to introduce people to the right brands and make them all feel less intimidated by all the things that the shop has to offer: which coconut milk to buy, what the different herbs are for, what is in the freezer etc.

Then we went back we started to roll up our sleeves and cook.
As we finished one dish, we ate it...

We made and then ate the following:

-Spring Rolls with a Garlic, Chilli Sweet & Sour Sauce
-Papaya & Carrot Salad with Chicken, Hot Mint & Corriander

-Summer Rolls with Vermicelli, Prawns & Pork Belly with Hoisin & Nutella Sauce

-Banh Cuon with Barbequed Pork Belly, Pickled Shallots & Dried Shallots with Sweet Soy Sauce & Spring Onions

-Lemongrass, Peanut, Chilli & Garlic Beef in La Lot Roll with Sweet Peanut Sauce
-Beef Pho

-Banh Xeo With Pork, Prawns & Beanspouts in a Sweet & Sour Chilli Fish Sauce

-Rehydrated Logans, Lotus Seed, Seaweed, Seaweed Jelly in Pandan Infusion
-Banana Fritters

The atmosphere was great, everyone was chatting to each other, everyone was taking notes and pictures and got into it.

At the end, I had eight little pot bellies sat around the table chatting over some wine and Green & Blacks chocolate – (amazingly we could still fit in chocolate! Haha – still got to get through the 12kg box). It was a big foodie feast!

Then everybody got a goodie bag of everything we cooked that was left over to take home for tomorrow’s breakfast or for hungry husbands. I always love how we think of our loved ones when we eat something we really like and where possible, we can take it back to them.

Really looking forward to the next ones in the new year. It was so great to spend time with everyone, eating and cooking and sharing knowledge.

 SWEET SOUR SALT By Leluu

I have been writing a recipe book for the classes, so that everyone can go home and start cooking some typical Vietnamese dishes for people they love. I am printing it myself on Blurb.com. It will be ready before Christmas. If you would like me to order one for gifts or for yourself, please email uyen@fernandezandleluu.co.uk before 10th December 2010. After that, it will arrive in January 2011.

If you would like to attend one of my classes, please also get in touch at the email address above.


My lovely thank you notes:

@giginav29
Had amaze day @loveLELUU cooking class, she's a star! X

@libbielush
@fernandeznleluu Uyen what a fantastic cooking class. Enjoyed everything and thanks to your mum xx

@iloria
Loved my cookery class @loveLELUU yesterday :) Still feeling so full today....
  
Alessandra "Uyen, thank you so much again, I had a fantastic time at your cookery class yesterday, such a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening! You and your mum were great teachers, and the food was just sooo good, I can't believe how much we all ate! Still managed to have some of the leftovers for lunch today thoug...h! Looking forward to other sessions with more recipes! see you soon"

Lynn "Hi Uyen,
I might have to take another class cos I really enjoyed last night!
Warm atmosphere and good company.
Learnt a lot about healthy Vietnamese food.
My husband wolfed down the food I took home after he said he had his dinner already.
Gonna try the recipes out for friends next weekend.
Got to get that fish sauce now.
Thank u so much and your mum too.
See u soon"


Raz "I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful afternoon. I could not have asked for a better set of teachers than you and your mom, and the amazing attention to detail both of you paid us.

From the moment we arrived until the moment we left, you took care of and made this an afternoon of fun and learning. I met some great girls with a similar passion for good food who I would love to keep in touch with them. I am also very grateful to you and your mum for doing a great amount of prep before we arrived and showing us all the 'right' ingredients to get, which made the cooking class a lot easier, much more fun and manageable...and which left us with a good amount of time to do the most important part...sample all of the yummy food that we had just prepared. :)

I would highly recommend this class to anyone looking for a good Vietnamese cooking class in London, and am most certainly returning in January for another one myself, so please do hold my spot for Jan 8. I can't wait to come back! Best wishes to you and your mum"

Meggie "Thanks so much for a LEGENDARY cooking course! It was amazing!!
I ate the leftovers today with a friend for lunch, delish!!
Learnt a lot and had such a blast, thank you"

"Dear Uyen and all the ladies from Saturday's class, Thank you for a gorgeous afternoon of food, fun, wine and wisdom. It's inspiring to meet intelligent, passionate women from all cultures brought together by a love of cooking and eating! Hope to see you all again soon. Daniela x"