The guests arrive, take off their coats, mill and chat in the foyer of the space. On a low table there is a glass bowl of water scented with mixed herbs and flowers for people to wash their hands. They kneel at the table while one of the chefs washes their hands, then dries them under a long tablecloth. Drinks are served by a jovial barman. There is a choice of alcoholic and non-alcoholic, smoked and gaseous beverages. Bite-sized finger food arrives on sonic trays served by the gracious waiters and the two chefs. Soft sounds of crunching, popping and bubbling emerge from small speakers placed in the middle of the trays. Sounds of eating in and around the mouth mixing with chatter and whispers. Smoked potato skins and quail eggs, steamed syrup on a crunchy cracker, popping peppers, smoky water, bubbly wine and tea.

• 2 white potatoes
• salt
• sunflower oil for frying
• paper kitchen towel
• smoking chips (oak and maple)

Peel potatoes into long strips with a potato peeler, then let them lie on a paper towel for a few minutes to absorb moisture. Smoke the strips in the stove smoker for a maximum of 10 minutes. Alternatively, use the smoking gun for 3 minutes. Lay them on the paper towel again. Heat frying oil in a deep fryer or frying pan. Fry the strips a few at a time till crisp and golden brown. Place them back onto the paper towel and sprinkle with salt. If you don't want to serve them right a way, wait till the peel cools and set aside in an airtight container until needed, but no longer than a few days.

• 18 quail eggs
• teaspoon of black tea leaves
• apple wood chips for smoking

Smoke the tea leaves with the smoking gun for 3 minutes then leave under the smoking bell for another 10. Bring water to the boil (enough to cover the eggs) in a small pot. Add the quail eggs and boil over a small flame for 2 minutes. Add the smoked tea to the saucepan with the eggs. Simmer for 2 minutes longer then let it stand for another 10 minutes. Strain off the tea-infused water and wipe the eggs dry. Place them under the smoking bell and smoke for an extra 3 minutes with the smoking gun. Serve in the shell, cut in half, sprinkled with smoked salt and the herbal mayonnaise.

NOTE: Do not peel the eggs, the shell is edible and has absorbed the taste of the smoke and tea.

Mayonnaise

• 2 chicken egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 spoon lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• ~ 250 ml peanut oil
• handful of fresh parsley and fennel steamed for a few minutes

Place the two egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a blender or mixer. While blending, pour the oil slowly and continuously in a thin stream till the mayonnaise becomes thick and fluffy. Then add the steamed herbs and blend for another minute. Reserve in the fridge in an airtight container.

Dukkah dust

• handful of hazelnuts
• handful of almonds
• 1/2 handful pistachios
• 1/2 handful sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon hemp seeds
• 1 teaspoon blue thyme
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• pinch of salt
• pinch of smoked paprika powder (spicy)
• apple wood chips

Dukkah can be made several days in advance. Mix all ingredients and toast in the oven (under the grill) at 160ºC for 15-20 minutes. Blend with a grinder into a coarse powder. Smoke with the smoking gun using apple wood chips, then leave under the bell for about 10 minutes. If you don't want the dukkah to be very smoky, smoke only 1/2 or 1/3 of the mixture, then mix with the non-smoked portion.

Smoked glue

• Dijon mustard with grilled spices
• smoked sun-dried tomatoes
• cherry wood chips

Chop or grind the sun-dried tomatoes into tiny pieces. Smoke with the smoking gun using apple wood chips, leave under the bell for about 15 minutes. Before serving, combine the mustard with the smoked tomatoes. The glue should be easily 'smearable', so go easy on the tomatoes – they're also very salty, best to taste after adding a pinch, then decide how much more is needed.

Peppers

• 6 small sweet peppers
• apple wood chips
• popping sugar

Cut the peppers in half (if they are as small as the ones we used; otherwise into thin strips). Smoke the peppers with the smoking gun and apple wood for 2–3 minutes. Char the peppers on the 'skin' side using the kitchen 'flame thrower', or directly on the gas of the stove or wood fire, until the skin starts popping and charring. Briefly warm the inside of the peppers using the same technique. The inside of the pepper should still be rather crispy. Spread the smoked glue on the inside of the peppers and sprinkle generously with the dukkah. Just before serving, sprinkle a pinch of popping sugar on each pepper.

Steamed carrot and orange syrup

• 3 carrots
• 3 oranges
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• salt and pepper
• fresh coriander

Steam three peeled uncut carrots over water infused with orange peel for about 20 minutes. Blend the carrots and the juice of the three oranges with an electric mixer. Strain, then simmer for about 30 minutes over a low flame to condense until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy. Season with salt, pepper and freshly chopped coriander.

Crackers with smoked pistachios

(from an old Australian Women's Weekly magazine)

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup plain flour
• 250 g peeled pistachios smoked with apple wood with smoking gun

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add sugar and continue gently beating until dissolved. Add pistachios. Spread the mixture in a greased baking tray. Bake in the oven at moderate heat for about 30 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. When cold place the bread in an airtight container and let stand for one or two days. Before serving, cut the bread into slices with a sharp knife. Place the slices in the oven for about 5 minutes till crisp and golden brown. Serve with orange and carrot syrup.

• 1 litre sparkling water (or use a soda maker to carbonate plain water)
• 1 litre still water
• cherry wood chips

Pour the sparkling or filtered tap water into a bottle. Insert the tube of the smoking gun into the bottle (try to seal it completely so not much smoke goes out). Smoke the water with cherry wood chips for about a minute. Close the water bottle with an airtight lid. Shake well, several times over the next 30 minutes. Pour the water into ice cube moulds and freeze overnight. The smoky taste is quite light and only becomes apparent as the ice cubes start melting.

• 1/2 litre boiling water
• 2 teaspoons yerba mate (cold, smoke-dried)
• splash of lemon (to taste)
• a few slices of ginger (to taste)
• agave syrup (we used some that was smoked over volcanic rocks in Oaxaca)
• mesquite wood chips

Wet the mate with cold water, strain. Add ginger and pour boiling water over the herbs. Infuse for 5–6 minutes. When it cools to about 50°C add agave syrup and lemon to taste. Smoke the tea with mesquite chips using the smoking gun and reserve in the fridge. You can sparkle the tea if so desired (Talk to Kate Rich about their DIY sparkler next time!)

After half an hour of chatting and tasting, the head chef welcomes the guests and invites them to savour the evening and allow the hosts to guide them through the four 'movements'. One by one the guests are led by the waiters into the solitary space. When seated, they receive a herbal water palate cleanser and are left to enjoy the dim lighting and incense smoke. Once everyone has taken their places, the lights go out; the solitary space is dimly illuminated with twelve candles. The guests receive a small warm round pebble in their hands and are encouraged to close their eyes. After a few minutes, three large cobblestones are brought into the room in rugged metal containers. Boiling water infused with essential oils is poured over the hot stones, filling the air with fragrant vapour and the gentle sound of bubbling and hissing. The guests are left alone to sink deeper into the meditative atmosphere. After a few minutes, the first dish is served. Three rice cubes spiced with plant matter from the forest and the sea, Soft textures and tastes are punctuated with a salty zest of lemony raw samphire, all washed down with the fresh shadow grown gyokuro tea stalks. Next a warm broth is placed into the guests' hands. The hint of smoked mussels and beer lingers in clear warm water served in freshly baked bowls. All the while the sounds of water turning into steam emanate from tiny speakers spread on the ground and from a hurdy-gurdy plucked live somewhere far away…

• 2 japanese-style incense sticks “Atlas Cedar”

Light the incense ~10 minutes before guests arrive in the Solitary space

• 1 dl boiled, cooled and filtered tap water
• 5 drops of sage flower water
• 2-3 drops of mint water
• 2-3 drops of lemon juice

Boil tap water. Cool it down and filter to remove impurities. Add the other ingredients. Serve a mouthful in a small lab pipette.

• 3 cobblestones (or other large stones)
• 5-10 drops of cedar essential oil
• 5-10 drops of rosemary essential oil
• ~1/2l of boiling water

Heat the stones in the oven for about 1/2 hour at 200ºC. Boil the water and add the essential oil (divide in 3 flasks: 1 cedar, 1 rosemary, 1 cedar and rosemary, 5-7 drops per flask) just before serving. Place the stones in the space, pour boiling scented water over them 2-3 times.

Heat small round stones (from different parts of the world) for ~5 minutes in the oven with the cobblestones. Try them out for temperature before serving. Give one to each guest to warm their hands.

• 1 cup of sushi rice

cube 1

• pinch of dried Dulse seaweed flakes

cube 2

• pinch of Icelandic moss
• a few drops of truffle oil
• pinch of arctic salt (with arctic thyme and moss)

cube 3

• pinch of Australian bush tomato powder
• pinch of Slovenian fleur-de-sel
• a few twigs of (pickled) samphire

(the fourth rice cube that we didn't serve, but it tastes quite interesting)

• edible thyme essential oil
• wasabi (freshly ground or in paste)

to serve

• dash of lemon juice
• raw samphire (1 twig per person)

Steam rice for about 15 minutes on 100ºC. Leave to cool until luke warm. Divide the rice in 4 parts. Mix one part with dulse flakes, another part with icelandic moss, arctic salt and truffle oil, the third part with bush tomato and fleur de sel (place pickled samphire on top). Mix the fourth part with a few drops of thyme oil (watch out it's very intense!) and add wasabi to taste. Make small cubes of each mixture. Serve in a row with raw samphire brushed with lemon juice.

• gyokuro or matcha tea (steamed Japanese teas)
• water at 70C

Gyokuro: Infuse the tea for 2-3 minutes. Matcha: Mix about 1 teaspoon for 3dl of water. Froth it up with a tea whisk.

• 2 kg mussels
• 1 leek chopped
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 2 red onions sliced
• 2 large carrots chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic peeled
• 1 large bottle (750ml) of La Chouffe beer
• 5 tomatoes peeled and chopped
• handful of fresh samphire (optional)
• salt and pepper
• oak and maple wood chips

Place all ingredients except tomatoes into a metal dish and pour La Chouffe over them. Place in a home smoker and smoke for 25 minutes. Transfer to a large pot, add tomatoes, and cook for about 1 hour without stirring too much. Let the soup cool down then strain. Put in the freezer overnight or until frozen solid. Line a sieve with cheesecloth, then place the frozen soup into the sieve. Let it slowly strain through the cheesecloth as it defrosts. Warm before serving and add salt and pepper to taste.

The soup bowls remain warm for a while in the guests' hands, while the soup warms their bodies. One by one the candles are moved from the solitary space to the three tables of the silent convivium. The sound migrates from the tiny speakers to a volume of sound raining down from the roof. At the same time, a sweet, zingy scent emerges from the far corner of the room. Finally a warm yellow light illuminates the convivium and the guests are invited to find their place at the tables. A cool lemony sorbet is served to cleanse their palate. The sounds of smoking and steaming envelop the room. Glowing embers and bursting liquids, mingling with the voices from the kitchen. A beetroot wine is served. Thick and earthy, sweet and bitter. In the middle of the table the waiters place a steamed garden, complete with soil and colourful 'compost' made of steamed root vegetables, served with small shovels. The sounds weave in and out, adding timbre to the silence and short soft conversations. The garden is followed by a fluffy steamed dumpling and its two smoked sauces, piquant tomato and smooth cream. The flow continues with sweet basil seed water and a robust red wine, paired with wood wrapped mushrooms and tea steamed spinach, that come with potatoes wrapped in smoke. By now the silence is slowly becoming less silent, as the sharing of meals cooked on fire cannot but incite conversations. Conversations about the food, the taste, the sound, the experience. To awaken the palate a fresh green juice is offered just before the doors to the dessert room open.

Light one stick of Citronelle Incense a few minutes before guests arrive.

• handful fresh or dried lemon balm (melissa officinalis) leaves
• handful fresh or dried verbena leaves
• 300ml water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 table spoon of honey

Boil the water and infuse it with the lemon balm and verbena leaves for 15 minutes till the colour becomes light brown. Strain the leaves. Let the herbal tea cool down, add honey (not above 50C) and lemon juice. When completely cooled pour the liquid into an ice-cream maker. Leave it turning in the until the mixture thickens. Transfer to a container and place the sorbet in the freezer until needed. Serve one small scoop per person.

(inspired by the “Vegetables Under the Garden” of the Tippling Club and the “Vegetable Field” of Noma, “Yellow Beet in Salt Crust” of In de Wulf and “Mushroom Dirt” of Martha Stewart)

Garden vegetables ('compost')

• 1 purple carrot
• 1 orange carrot
• 1 yellow carrot
• 1 beetroot
• 1 black radish
• 1 yellow radish
• 1 parsnip
• 1 leek
• 1 jerusalem artichoke
• 12 florets of purple cauliflower
• 12 florets of romanesco cauliflower
• splash of red wine
• splash of milk
• pinch of milky oolong
• pinch of vanilla
• a twig of rosemary
• a handful of leek sprouts
• a few sprouts of cress

Chop all root vegetables in thick slices. divide 1/2 cauliflower in small florets. Chop one orange carrot and 1/2 beetroot in the thinnest slices on the mandoline. Steam until done (soft, but not falling apart - it will take between 15 and 30 minutes). Steam carrots and beetroot (both thick and thin slices) on red wine in a bamboo steamer. Steam leak, radishes and parsnip with rosemary oil and vanilla. Steam Jerusalem artichoke and cauliflower on milky oolong tea. Shock under icy water to prevent from overcooking. Chop or blend each vegetable in tiny chunks (1/2 cm or less). Keep in separate containers in the bain-marie.

The 'sediment'

• 1 whole celeriac root
• 500g salt
• 500g flour
• 300g water

Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Mix the salt, flour and water into a dough, roll it out and use it to cover the celeriac (unpeeled). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160ºC and cook for another 35-45min, depending on the size. Leave to cool down, then store in the fridge overnight. The next day, break the crust (from the bottom is the easiest), peel the celeriac and slice it thinly on the mandoline. Reserve the slices in an airtight container.

The grit

• 1 cup black quinoa
• 1 cup black (beluga) lentils
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• salt and pepper

For the quinoa: add one cup of water and steam (~5 minutes, 10 minutes resting) For the lentils: add 3 cups of water and boil it down until all water is absorbed (~20 minutes). Mix quinoa and lentils and add coconut oil, salt and pepper. Reserve in an airtight container and warm up in the bain-marie just before serving.

The soil

• 4 tablespoons of hazelnut and almond powder (a handful of hazelnuts and almonds, roasted on 160ºC for 20 mins blended into powder while still warm)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of ume-shizo (to taste, it's very salty)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon porcini powder
• 1 teaspoon hemp powder
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon truffle oil

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat. Mix all powdered ingredients. In a small saucepan, melt butter with truffle oil over medium heat, whisk to combine. Whisk the butter mixture into the powder; spread on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake for 5 minutes; rotate baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Break into a wet powder with a soil-like consistency. Reserve in an airtight container.

The fertiliser

• 8g applewood chips
• 200g water
• 125g butter
• pinch of salt

Toast applewood chips in a pan to release the aromas and pour water over them. Let the mixture infuse for 7-8 minutes (longer is ok too, it makes the taste stronger), then strain discarding the wood. Heat the liquid and whisk in the butter to emulsify it. Keep warm in the bain-marie.

Place a layer of celeriac slices on the bottom of a glass container. Layer each steamed root vegetable with some grit and soil, every few layers place a celeriac sediment in between. On top cover with a thicker layer of soil and decorate with cauliflower florets, sprouts and cress.

Served with:

(inspired by the Bax Beet Pinot of the Tippling Club)

• 1 part beetroot
• 1 part Punt e Mes
• 4/5 Fernet Branca / Averna
• dash of lime
• dash of Angosutra bitters
• sliver of grated ginger

Non alcoholic

• 1 part beetroot
• 1 part apple
• a hint of ginger

Juice, mix and shake.

(inspired by different home cooks from ex-Yugoslavia)

• 500 g Russian fresh cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 6 Tbsp semolina
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Ts salt
• 1 Ts baking powder (not needed if using self-raising flour)

Mix all ingredients. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a bit of remaining egg-whites (slowly, 3 might make the mixture too liquid). Leave the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes. Steam for 10 minutes at 100C.

Bread crumbs

• 2/3 pumpernickel bread
• 1/3 wheat crackers
• pinch of salt
• 50g of butter

Dry pumpernickel bread for a couple of days, or a few hours in the oven. Break into small pieces and toast in a pan. Allow to cool. Blend the pumpernickel crumbs in the kitchen blender together with the crackers. Sieve to separate smooth from rough crumbs. Reserve separately. Just before serving, melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the bread crumbs until they become crispy.

Serve with rough bread crumbs on the bottom and fine ones on top of the dumpling. On the side serve cold smoked Creme D'Issigny and warm smoked tomato jam.

Smoked tomato jam

• 200 g cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 small chili pepper chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder or 1 stalk of cinnamon
• 1 spoon orange blossom water
• a pinch of saffron
• cherry wood smoking chips
• salt and pepper to taste

Smoke tomatoes, garlic and onion with smoking gun for 3 minutes or stove smoker for 20 minutes. Place in a baking tray and combine with chili, cinnamon, orange water, and saffron. Bake in the oven at 180° for 20-30 minutes till the skin of the tomatoes begins to peel off. Peel the tomatoes, blend with the rest of the ingredients with electric mixer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Smoked cream

• 200g Creme D'Issigny or sour cream
• maple wood chips

Smoke the cream in sauce containers with the smoking gun for 1-2 minutes. Keep under the bell jar for another 10 minutes. Serve cold.

At Smoke & Vapour we used the recipe below, but it wasn't satisfactory. The balls collapsed in the steamer to a relatively flat cake. This needs further experimentation (recipe above, use only egg yolks, use self raising flour instead of baking powder, get 'ostro brasno' from Croatia… NOTE: I tried making the dumplings using the same ingredients from S&V a few days later with the recipe above and they worked MUCH better.

* 250g eastern European quark/cottage cheese * 2 egg yolks * 2 teaspoons of salt * 2 tablespoons sour cream * 3 tablespoons semolina * 5 tablespoons spelt flour * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder * 2 beaten egg-whites Mix all ingredients, add beaten egg-whites at the end. Form balls and steam in the bamboo steamer for about 7-10 minutes. In the mean time melt the butter and add bread-crumbs. Stir until golden brown and crunchy. Take the dumplings out of the steamer and cover in a dusting of breadcrumbs.

Strong smoke: Smoked mushroom wraps

• 250g mixed forest mushrooms
• handful of fresh thyme, sage and parsley
• teaspoon of mild olive oil (able to withstand heat)
• 1 clove of smoked garlic
• handful of seitan (we used Seitan Gourmet Grill)
• cedar grill wraps
• butcher's twine
• a splash of red wine
• water to cover the wraps
• salt & pepper to taste

Chop the herbs finely, add salt and pepper. Brush the mushrooms to remove sand and grit, marinate in the 2/3rds of herb mixture. Add olive oil to the remaining herb mixture. Chop seitan in 1/2cm small cubes and mix with the herb marinade. Marinate for a couple of hours. Soak the grill wraps and butcher's twine in a mixture of water and red wine for at least 10 minutes. Combine mushrooms and seitan. Divide them on 8 wraps. Wrap and tie with butcher's twine. Smoke in the Green Egg for 10 minutes.

Mixed smoke: Smoked potatoes

• 12 small purple potatoes
• 12 small white potatoes
• 1 rosemary twig
• salt & pepper
• coconut oil
• truffle oil
• 1 alder smoking bag
• hickory wood chips

Place purple potatoes in a red clay baking tray, mix with coconut oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and bake/smoke in the Green Egg on low heat (160-180) for 2 hours. Marinate white potatoes in truffle oil with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper for an hour. Place in alder bag and smoke in the oven for 1 hour. At the end combine both potatoes on a black plate and smoke for 1 minute with the smoking gun. Serve under the smoking bell, with smoke still present.

Soft smoke: Tea and Spinach

(inspired by “Spinach steamed in Tea” of Noma)

Tea emulsion

• 25g butter
• 10g water
• pinch of yuzu powder
• pinch of nutmeg
• teaspoon of smoked black tea (organic English Breakfast or Assam tea)
• 1/2 teaspoon honey

Remove the butter from the fridge and let it warm to room temperature. Boil the water and whisk in the butter, infuse this mixture with the spices and tea for 4 minutes, then strain.

Spinach and herbs

• 200g organic spinach leaves
• handful of parsley leaves
• salt and pepper
• sprinkle of lemon juice

Rinse the spinach and parsley thoroughly to remove all the dirt. Steam the parsley for 1 minute in 4 tablespoons of tea emulsion. Then add the spinach and the remaining emulsion, steam for a further few minutes until just wilted and season to taste. Take the spinach out, cool it down and reduce the emulsion into a syrup, let it cool. Add lemon juice to taste. Mix spinach and emulsion. Keep in an airtight container until serving. Push through a rectangular mold directly onto the plates.

Served with Tim Adams' Tempranillo

(after so much smoke, an antioxidant palate bath is needed!)

• 5 apples
• 12 celery sticks (about 20cm long)
• a splash of lemon juice (to prevent oxydising)
• 1 bunch of curled leaf parsley

Juice apples and celery, add lemon juice and mix. Juice parsley stalks. Mix 2/3 apple & celery with 1/3 parsley juice. Sieve through a coarse tea strainer. Serve in shot glasses.

The doors to the kitchen are opened and it is announced that the dessert is served. The guests walk into the kitchen, where the dishes were prepared and presented. On the presentation table, still covered in notes and instructions the dessert spread is spiced with sound emanating from the table and around the room. Voices of the cooks from the speakers and the kitchen begin blending into an informal composition. The sounds of china and glassware, descriptions of desserts, instructions on how to make green tea… The table is covered with small dishes and bite-sized morsels. Smoked cheeses with glazed quince, milk-steamed oolong tea, smoky caramels and tiramisu, steamed chestnuts, liquid whiskey and cigars. Slowly the volume of the conversation rises, the cooks leave their pots and pans and join the guests for a cup of tea. The silence disappears, but the tastes and the sounds linger in the corners of people's smiles. Finally the digestive Paan leaves are offered, to heat up the crucibles of the guests' stomachs and intestines where the next metabolic phase is about to begin. We share our gifts and say our farewells, leaving only the faintest traces of smoke and steam to linger in the fading light…

• hard cheese - such as Comte
• goat cheese - such as Crottin de Chavignol or Crottin Affine
• cow milk cheese - Folie Bergere herbes
• mozzarella
• Sainte Maure ash cheese (no need to smoke this one)
• hickory and apple smoking chips

Use the smoking gun to smoke the Comte and Folie Bergere with the apple wood chips for 3 minutes. Smoke the goat Cheese and mozzarella with hickory wood chips with the smoking gun for 3 minutes. Leave the cheeses to stand under the glass bell until served.

(inspired by a traditional Balkan recipe)

• 1kg chestnuts
• 500ml full milk
• 2 vanilla sugars
• 20g white sugar
• 18ml dark rum
• 10ml Laphroaig (10yo)
• 4 marron glacé
• sweet cream to taste

Boil chestnuts and peel them. Steam peeled chestnuts over milk, vanilla and rum infusion for about 5 minutes. Warm the milk and sugar, combine with chestnuts and blend into a velvety cream. Chop marron glace. Serve with a splash of sweet cream and tiny cubes of marron glacé.

(inspired by a traditional Italian recipe and flavour pairing techniques from molecular gastronomy)

• 150 ml espresso or very strong coffee, at room temperature
• 60 ml Zacapa Rum & Laphroaig PX 1:1 mix
• 2 teaspoons vanilla powder
• 3 large egg yolks
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 225 g mascarpone cheese
• 3 egg whites
• 26 Savoiardi, Italian ladyfingers
• 30 g raw cocoa powder
• 1 big or two small cloves of smoked garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil
• cherry wood chips

Combine espresso, 2 tablespoons spirits, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a bowl.

Caramelise garlic with a bit of the sugar and pinch of coconut oil on low heat until soft and transparent. Mix in a few teaspoons of coffee and cocoa. Smoke using the smoking gun for a few minutes, leave to marinate for 1/2 hour under the smoking bell.

Beat egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of spirits, and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water until tripled in volume, 5 to 8 minutes. Use a whisk or, to make things easier, a handheld electric mixer at medium speed. (Do not stop beating until removed from the heat). Remove bowl from heat then beat in mascarpone cheese until just combined. Whip egg whites in a bowl until it holds stiff peaks. Once the yolk-mascarpone mixture has cooled a little, gently fold in half of the whipped whites into the yolk-mascarpone mixture, then the remaining half just until fully incorporated.

Blend the Savoiardi in the kitchen blender to coarse powder. Add the coffee with spirits and spices, as well as the smoked garlic mix, blend for a few seconds.

In small bowls spoon 1 part of the Savoiardi mixture on the bottom and 1.5 part of the mascarpone cream on top. Dust with cocoa powder. Cover with a large plate, or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours. Leave out at room temperature about 20 minutes before serving.

(inspired by a traditional dutch recipe for poached pears)

• 2 large quinces
• 1l port wine
• 1 orange (zest and juice)
• a few cloves
• teaspoon of allspice

Slice quinces in small parts. Poach quinces in wine, orange juice, orange peel and spices until soft. Remove the quince from the liquid, then reduce the liquid until becomes a syrup. Sieve out the spices and orange zest, pour over quince parts and reserve in the fridge.

• 150 g dark chocolate broken in pieces
• 100 g marshmallows
• 400 g condensed sweet milk
• 100 g brown sugar
• 125 g butter
• smoked sea salt
• 1 vanilla stalk smoked on maple wood chips

Combine butter, sugar, marshmallows and condensed milk in a heavy-based pan over gentle heat, letting everything melt while stirring. Then boil the mixture for about 8 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate, salt and vanilla seeds. Spread the mixture into a square container. Let it cool, then put in the fridge overnight. Cut into square pieces before serving.

(from Chocolate: 100 Everyday Recipes, by Paragon Books)

Crisp pastry

• 175 g flour
• 125 g butter
• 4 spoons brown sugar

Caramel

• 55 g butter
• 4 spoonfuls brown sugar
• 400 g sweetened condensed milk

• walnuts smoked on the hickory wood chips with the smoking gun

For the pastry, combine the flower and butter in a large bowl. Work it with you fingers till crumbs start to form. Add sugar and a spoonful of cold water and mix well to produce a thick dough. Cover the dough evenly across the bottom of a greased baking tray, pricking here and there with a fork. Bake in the oven at 190° for about 20 minutes, then let cool. In the meantime melt the butter, sugar and milk in a cooking pan while stirring constantly. Cook for another 8-10 minutes till the mixture starts to separate from the sides of the pan. Pour the caramel evenly over the baked pastry base and let cool. Cut into different forms and decorate with the smoked walnuts.

• 1 part Rye Whiskey
• 2/5 part Punt e Mes
• dash of Angostura Bitters
• Branch from a cherry tree
• 1 cigar

Break cherry branch into small 4-5 cm pieces. De-bark the sticks. Smoke with cigar leaves using the Smoking Gun for a few minutes. Pour all other ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake with smoked ice (see recipe above). Serve with smoke cherry 'stalk'.

• milky oolong (milk steamed oolong tea): infuse in water at 85C, leave the leaves in glasses and serve immediately.
• shincha wakama with yuzu peel (steamed green tea): infuse in water at 70C for 2-3 minutes using a tea bag. Massage the tea bag to get all the water out of the leaves. Serve in small glasses.

A traditional Indian digestive made out of dried and smoked betel leaves mixed with fennel and aniseed. A small pinch of the leaves per person is sufficient to refresh the mouth and aid digestion.

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