A Food Safari for 150 at Churchill college

Our corporate Food Safaris have gained a reputation for delivering high octane, slick cookery experiences on a large scale. When we host them in our own kitchen our upper limit tends to be around 55/60 guests so when we were asked by McKinsey to organise a safari for 150, we knew the venue had to be much larger than our own.

Yesterday saw us move 15 team members and as many crates of equipment and food to the Churchill college dining hall to set up 12 large tables for teams of 13. The Safari destination was Italy and our tables included wine tastings, canapé making and the creation of 200 mini Tiramisú!

We had the delightful Italian chef and cookery book writer Ursula Ferrigno with us and who better to inspire teams of management consultants to be creative with their cream and liqueuer? This is how we like ours:

 

50ml strong espresso

40ml Rum or Kahlua

1 pack sponge fingers

2 free-range egg whites

250g mascarpone

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp Marsala

1 tsp cocoa powder
Make espresso, add the coffee liqueur, then leave it to cool
Break each Savoiardi sponge finger into about four and drop the pieces into small glasses, then pour the cooled espresso mixture over them. Press down gently, making sure the biscuits are soaked all over.
Using a ballon whisk beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks when the whisk is removed, and set aside for a moment.
Scrape the mascarpone into another bowl, adding the honey and, when smooth, slowly beat in the Marsala.
Fold in the egg whites, a third at a time, then dollop this mixture over the Savoiardi in each glass, using a spoon to whirl it into an elegant peak at the top.
Sift over Cocoa