Chef’s table
Modern European food gets a South African twist at Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams’ new Peckham restaurant, Kudu
Modern European food gets a South African twist at Peckham restaurant Kudu
In the past few years Peckham has become one of south London’s culinary hot spots – from the seasonally led, Mediterranean-inspired Artusi, to the Coal Rooms, which serves up smoky chargrilled meat and fish in what was once Peckham Rye station ticket office. The latest addition to this fertile restaurant scene is Kudu, a stylish neighbourhood outfit that has crafted a small but expertly curated menu of modern European dishes that also draws inspiration from head chef Patrick Williams’ South African roots. He opened the place with partner Amy Corbin, for whom restaurants run in the family – father Chris Corbin launched the likes of The Wolseley and Brasserie Zédel.
Inside, pale-pink walls, marble tabletops, stylish brown Scandi-style chairs and tealcoloured banquettes warm up the strippedback space.
Start with one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, the kudu bread, which you dip into melted, salty and seriously moreish lardon butter. Accompany this with meaty, crispy-fried artichokes with a super-creamy miso mayonnaise.
The mains on the menu are enticing, with lots of tapas-style small and medium sharing plates. Opt for a sweet, caramelised onion and beer tarte tatin with a fresh and light goat’s curd, and a carefully crafted pig’s head tortellini in a salty hay broth. Another must order on the menu at Kudu is the roasted skate wing with calçot spring onions, which is beautifully soft yet meaty. Kudu fulfils all expectations of what a good neighbourhood restaurant should be, with a rustic menu with plenty of modern twists. kudu-restaurant.com
Roasted skate wing with charred leeks and samphire 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES | SERVES 4 | EASY
baby leeks 4 large, halved lengthways caster sugar 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp skate wings 4 x 200g portions unsalted butter 50g samphire 100g CHUTNEY vegetable oil 1 tbsp leeks 2, finely sliced onion Ω, finely sliced caster sugar 40g bay leaf 1
balsamic vinegar 75ml SAUCE butter 50g star anise 1 fennel bulb Ω, finely sliced shallot 1, finely sliced garlic Ω a clove, sliced white wine 100ml vegetable stock 250ml single cream 120ml KOMBU OIL kombu sheet 1, broken into pieces grapeseed oil 200ml
• For the chutney, heat the vegetable oil in a large pan, add the leeks and onion, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring regularly until really golden. Tip in the sugar and bay leaf, and stir until dissolved. Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce until sticky. Cool.
• For the sauce, melt the butter in a large pan and add the star anise, fennel, shallot and garlic with some seasoning, and cook until soft. Add the wine and reduce by 1/2. Add the vegetable stock and again reduce by 1/2. Pour in the cream, simmer for 5 minutes, then season and strain.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9. Blanch the baby leeks in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then drain well. Arrange the leeks on a tray, cut-side up, and sprinkle with the sugar and some seasoning. Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until caramelised.
• Turn the oven down to 200C/fan 180C/ gas 6 and toast the kombu sheet for 3 minutes. Put in a blender along with the grapeseed oil and blend until well combined. Set aside for a few minutes then strain through muslin or a fine sieve.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large ovenproof frying pan, season the skate wings well and cook on their thickest sides for 5 minutes or until golden. Put into the oven for 8 minutes, flip the wings, add the butter and cook in the oven for a further 2 minutes or until the flesh starts to flake. Rest the wings on a plate for several minutes. Meanwhile, add the samphire to the pan and stir for 4 minutes or until tender.
• Plate each fish wing with the sauce, chutney, leeks and samphire, and use the kombu oil to speckle the sauce.
PER SERVING 591 KCALS | FAT 34.2G SATURATES 17.3G | CARBS 21.2G | SUGARS 18.7G FIBRE 4.6G | PROTEIN 43.4G | SALT 1.5G