Remember, Remember, It is Strawberry November!

A letter from Chef James Noble

Well, that’s October and half of November done, and as you may or may not know, it was a terrible time for my home town Chiang Mai with the biblical floods that were thrust upon us. Hence, we’re a little late on this newsletter. Sorry, folks!

The horrendous damage threw us all into turmoil. Friends were desituated through water displacement and some of our work family were unable to get in and some couldn’t even get home when they did and camped Chez Noble.

Johnny cash rang through my ears for the whole month and still does. Email your answers on what song you think I’m humming, and you may get a prize. Sorry, I’ve digressed—squirrel!

So, we, the Ikigai family, rallied, and we gave up our beds, offered up our Air BnB and opened our own doors to stranded friends, customers and family.

This showed me what great team spirit and endurance we have on Moo 6 and the most stoic behavior within our walls with an endless endurance from a team which I admire, and I am thankful for.

The knock-on effects are still with us a I write, with garbage mounted up on street corners drains blocked through mud and debris and a little sadness through the loss of material things lingering.

This and more, still humbly reminds me why I live here and work among Thai people and that’s a trait I admire as I have it myself and that’s resilience.

An open-hearted moment and totally on subject, so go with me.

Failure.

I struggle with the fear of failure. Having failed before, I fear its return and the stigma it carries.

Fear of failing professionally and being judged by my peers, fear of failing as a partner—father, son and friend.

Fear of letting people down that rely on me, fear of looking old with a young daughter, fear of dying before my Mum now and leaving her and Nancy alone.

Fear and worry are my constant black dog and currently fear of not being where I should be at my age is a bloody dark corner. But, coping mechanisms and knowing, help me a lot to deal with it.

I rally!

Resilience, I believe in what we do, so I push forward and tell myself it will be ok, and we will survive. I remind myself there’s a lot worse people in a lot worse situations and to try and reach out to them for the karma saving points and to regroup every day and make a mark on it.

So back on piste. We cook when people come (if they come) and we offer the hand of friendship and kindness to anyone who needs or asks for it.

We embrace and enjoy the ingredients and the seasons. We deliver on our Ikigai promises daily through kindness and thoughtfulness, but it has been a very humbling experience, one I hope I will never see again for a very long time. If there ever is anyone still questioning climate change, again email me your defense and let’s debate with some of my Spanish and French friends too.

The restaurant, however, remained dry and we didn’t take any damage of which we are thankful for, if not feeling a little guilty. The best thing of all after all this is that November has arrived and strawberries are on their way in Chiang Mai. They grow up in the hills on slopes and the cooler depression has brought them on early!

Remember, remember, it is strawberry November!

Hurrah, he finally gets to a food topic, I hear you cry!

Not all storms are here to cause disruption, they are also here to clear the way for better times and of course strawberries and the chillier climes and a very happy daughter as they are her fave.

Fast forward to the end to see what we are doing with them and a recipe or 2 or continue reading randomness.

So, how did we help in October, well we donated a portion of each bill to help the flood relief and Nancy Noble sold her Barbie house to help raise money for less fortunate children. This was her transition and her right of passage from a kid to a kind young little lady and again one that brought a lump to my thought with pride.

She also had a sort out of her wardrobe, and thankfully I checked as she only allowed herself 2 T shirts and a couple of shorts as she wanted to donate the rest. I explained how kind she was but also how the Emperor’s New Clothes was just a book and she needs to cover up!

On the note of books, Mum brought the Dad’s guide to pubescent female teenagers to help me and my good friend LB also gave me a great book on the perspective of how to handle it all from a Dad’s point of view. Very interesting, and dare I say I even learnt something. Thanks ladies.

So, what are we doing as a food and beverage hub @ Moo 6?

Well, my guru guy, the IT wizard, the savior to the digital dinosaur that is me is working hard on a few new projects for us and you will see them on our web page and our socials soon.

Our umbrella is getting bigger. Diversify or die they tell me…

Rocket coffee is orbiting its final stage, and we had two rocketeer coffee brainstorming meetings in October. The logo is done, backpack is ready, brew recipe complete. Countdown to launch 3 weeks! Franchise info is ready to go and hopefully you will see “rocket coffee” at a red light near you soon!

The artisanal classes are scheduled in November and  December and can be gifted or attended, from knife sharpening to chef plating, from kintsugi to pickling and koji there’s a class for everyone and it certainly beats a boring green curry.

We are booked into the City Life Fair in November, having a small stall selling the Past Knife and aprons so that should be fun too. Hope to see you there—have a glass of mulled wine with us to welcome in the festive season maybe.

We had, as it seems the rest of the world did, a cabinet reshuffle. So, I’m back on the pans daily and loving it. However, not so much free time for projects and family and feeling the burn in the calves.

There’s a new show in town—we welcome Khun King Kenny into the Ikigai fold as he helps us to finish projects and launch new ones.

Ghost kitchens, pop-ups, four-handed dinners and a cool project of plating food for a plate-making company photoshoot! So, although there’s a lot of outgoings currently, hopefully we turn a corner and see the benefits soon. If not, we can say we tried.

What’s the menu looking like now I’m rattling the pans with the mighty K Yo? Who is a total legend BTW. Well, we tweaked a few seafood dishes and brought on an amazing, chilled duck dish.

Our pickling and fermenting cupboard is growing as we utilize the season. Koji, jams, and vinegars are all bubbling away with our black limes-loomi just finishing on the roof. The marigold & watercress barley risotto is proving popular along with the ever popular fermented spicy fennel & pork capellini.

Currently my personal fave is the poached rare sea trout with gravlax mussels—braised cos and peas and a good use of wild dill and local 99 hives honey.

Below is our recipe for gravlax sauce that goes with everything and more.

Northern Thailand is heading into the chilly period once we let of our lanterns this week for loy laying it’s all downhill to chrimbo with Jimbo and perishing temps of 14 degrees , how does that affect our menus with ingredients available. Well, let’s just say potatoes are in and mangoes are out. Turnips are in as well as kolarabi and leafy greens less.

I’m already thinking of a warming Massaman Lamb Shepard’s Pie. Sausages and warm saffron confit octopus, or maybe a gnudi or two or a nabe—nabe gnudi, gnudi nabe… who knows! The juries out but the ingredients are coming in!

One more newsletter before Santa comes and we settle in as the new swollen noble family and mum’s threatening to make a Christmas cake, this will be the settling moment make or cake.

Stay cool guys, don’t be afraid to look into the shadows and do what brings you happiness!

Gravlax

Start it as if you’re making a salad dressing
3 salad oil 
1 white  wine vinegar

Whisk and add honey and chopped dill until thick
Add a little honey mustard  
And  a little xanthum to hold 
Season and serve.

Strawberry Dafuko

For the skin 
140 g milk 
80 g strawberry jam 
100 g glutinous rice flour 
30 g cornstarch 
20 g unsalted butter 

For filling 
225 g cream cheese 
40 g granulated sugar  
150 g heavy whipping cream 
4 g vanilla extract 
6 strawberries
2 tbsp strawberry jam 

Tell me how you would use this ingredient to make a Dafuko, send me mail and I’ll send you the method.

XX
Chef James Noble