The Ambrette Indian restaurant opposite Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate is hosting special meals to mark the Turner Prize 2019.
Diners can book a ‘meet-and-great’ guide to lead them on a tour of the gallery before they are treated to a six-course tasting menu, taking its inspiration from popular dishes that were available during Turner’s lifetime.
One of the best-known prizes for visual arts in the world, the Turner Prize is named after J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851).
Like Turner, The Ambrette’s chef-owner Dev Biswal is known for an innovative and radical approach to his work. The most recent addition to his impressive array of accolades, was being named Asian Chef of the Year this summer at the Asian Restaurant Awards.
The pre lunch and dinner tours are available at12:30pm on Wednesday, November 6 and 5pm on Thursday, November 21.
After a pre-starter of the day, guests will be served a Snuff box crab and quail scotch eggs. Their invention was claimed in 1738 by London’s Fortnum & Mason department store, as a traveller’s snack for its hampers. An alternative theory suggests that the British first encountered what were to become scotch eggs in the Raj, as a Mughlai dish called nargisi kofta.
Turner was a habitual user of snuff. In 1838, the French King Louis Philippe I, presented him with a gold snuff box.
Isabella Beeton’s Salmon Cured or Salted 1800s roast beef, trimmings and mini Yorkshire pudding, follows.
Although the Whig aristocracy employed French chefs, the swelling ranks of middle England preferred simple, plain fare, of roast and boiled meats, pies and puddings. Roast beef with gravy became part of the British national identity (“les rosbifs”), in contrast to the fancy sauces of France.
Next is a chicken curry, with pilau rice and home-made mango chutney, reflecting the age of empire and sea power, which brought exotic dishes from India and the West Indies.
To finish, there is a mango and Cognac pie with home-made vanilla ice cream. With the advancement of Victorian technology, exotic fruits were grown in hot houses and ice creams were made and stored in ice houses.
Dev said: “When I first came to Margate in 2006, it was a very different place to what it is now – and people said I was crazy to bring my style of cooking to q faded seaside town.
“The arrival of Turner Contemporary has helped boost the local economy and transform the area.”
The six-course Turner tasting menu is £49.99 per person
More information at www.turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/turner-prize-2019