Langho: The gourmet food served at Northcote’s food festival

The annual Obsession festival sees world-class chefs from all four corners of the country travel to the Langho restaurant to cook up a fine-dining feast.

James Martin, Tom Kerridge, Matt Abe and Monica Galetti were some of the renowned chefs who turned up to the event, which ran from Friday 21st January right the way through to Sunday 6th February.

• READ MORE: Langho: James Martin visits Northcote restaurant for festival

Far from your standard 'pub grub', caviar, mussels and roe deer were just some of the items included in the 77 different dishes served throughout the festival.

Although each menu and night were completely unique, there were some themes that ran throughout.

In a show of support for the world’s oceans and seas, sustainably caught seafood from Cornwall, Orkney and the Isle of Skye proved popular.

Belted Galloway from Obsession food festival at Northcote

Hand-dived scallops were a particularly prevalent ingredient this year with 10 out of the 18 chefs including this creamy, buttery ingredient on their menus.

Seasonal and local ingredients were in abundance too, with things like Cornish crab, Cartmel roe deer, Belted Galloway from Lindal and Brancaster mussels making an appearance.

The familiar Bramley apple pie also made an appearance on one menu – but not as you know it; instead of a slab of pie on a plate smothered in custard, Northcote’s interpretation appeared as a perfect bite-size piece.

Bramley apple pie from Northcote's Obsession festival

Some of the dishes that stood out include Simon Rogan and Tom Barnes' raw Belted Galloway from Lindal in coal oil, Sturia Caviar, pumpkin seed, fermented cucumber and Galton Blackiston wild sea bass, Brancaster mussels, Sturia Oscietra Caviar, Champagne sauce and sea herbs. 

Show-stopping puddings also made the list, including Hrishikesh Desai’s 70% dark chocolate delice, banana bread, spiced pumpkin panna cotta, milk sorbet, as well as Tom Kerridge’s chocolate ale cake served with salted caramel and vanilla ice-cream. 

Lisa Goodwin-Allen, executive chef at Northcote said: “Obsession 22 was something special. The hospitality industry took such a hit during the pandemic so we were all ready to put on a show of culinary brilliance, and that we did. The vibe, teamwork and overall energy from everyone involved was outstanding.  

“Over the last two weeks, we also saw more than 1,660 guests travel to Northcote from all over the country, our biggest numbers yet since the inception of Obsession. It was amazing to see people out again, enjoying themselves and the feedback we’ve had from everyone who attended has been phenomenal; I have my amazing team and the incredible line up of chefs to thank for that, as well as our incredible sponsors, without their support we wouldn’t have been able to create a festival of this magnitude.  

“We were also able to raise more than £68,000 for Hospitality Action, a charity which is close to my heart and one which helps supports people who work in hospitality.” 

James Martin, Lisa Allen-Goodwin and Tom Kerridge

James Martin, celebrity chef and TV presenter, appeared at the restaurant last week.  

His menu featured plenty of seafood dishes including “fragrant Asian-inspired scallops”, crab risotto, as well as lobster and seabass roll.

Ceviche of monkfish’, served with elderflower sour cream, cucumber and pumpkin & Verjus sauvignon Blanc was also on the menu.

He said: “When Lisa asked me to do Obsession this year, my first thought was…s**t! 

“It’s no mean feat, but the comradery between the chefs and experience they gain from it, not to mention the guest experience is outstanding.

“My menu this year was seafood based, with the core ingredients sourced from within the British Isles, but we incorporated flavours from all over world to provide guests with well-rounded dishes.”