Shrove Tuesday Travel Inspired Menu

This Shrove Tuesday (1st March), Nipa Thai will be serving a special pancake day menu, culminating in a delicious selection of authentic Thai pancakes, called ‘Kanom Krok’ aka The Dessert of Love. 

Nipa Thai is renowned for serving the most authentic Thai cuisine outside of Bangkok, tucked away inside Royal Lancaster London - an independent hotel overlooking Hyde Park, privately owned by Thai hoteliers, the Sihanatkathakul family, who bought it in 1994. 

Nipa means ‘shining light’ in Thai, and was originally a wedding anniversary present from Khun Jatuporn Sihanatkathakul to his beloved wife Khun Nipapat, after whom the restaurant is lovingly named. Nipa Thai proudly holds the Thai Select Award from the Thai Government for its authenticity. 

The all-female, all-Thai kitchen team has been led by Head Chef Sanguan Parr for the last two decades. Chef Sanguan’s menus reflect authentic Thai cuisine, renowned for its finesse and delicacy in balancing the five key flavours: sweet, sour, spicy, bitter and salty.

Sanguan and her team have created an authentic Thai menu, culminating with a selection of‘Kanom Krok’, which are a common Thai street food snack made from rice flour, sugar and coconut milk and are served hot, with a crisp outside and creamy/custardy middle. These will be served plain with a selection of toppings including sugar to sprinkle on and chocolate sauce. 

There is even a tragic love story associated. A long time ago in a remote Thai village, there was a man named Gati (in Thai means ‘coconut cream’), he fell in love with the most beautiful girl of the village named Pang (in Thai means ‘flour’) who was the only daughter of the village headman. They met on Loy Kratong Day, and made a promise in front of the moon that they will love each other forever despite any barrier.

 Gati was working hard to save money for getting married to his girl, but the father rejected him because of his poverty. One day he was hurt by a group of men sent by the village headman, but it didn’t make him give up for his love. He was willing to go back to negotiate with the father until he approved.

 Unfortunately, the village headman made his daughter marry a deputy from Bangkok. Gati heard about this bad news and he was going to stop the wedding. The night before the wedding day, Pang found out about his father’s evil plan that he made a trapping pit on the way from Gati’s home to Pang’s premises to hurt him, so she sneaked out of her house to let him know. It was a dark night and Gati was on his way to see Pang as well. They saw each other from far away, with so much joy, Pang ran to Gati and fell into the pit. Gati jumped in there trying to help her. The village headman’s men saw only Gati falling in the pit, and they buried him right away.

 The next morning, the village headman dug up the ground wanting to see that his plan was successful, but what he saw was that Gati and Pang had died in each other's arms.

 The villagers were extremely saddened by the news and to commemorate Pang and Gati’s love, they made this Thai dessert, made of coconut cream and flour and cooked in a cast iron pan with small round indents. They then put one on top of the other, making a whole as a symbol of two of them will be together forever.

Petrossian launched their UK online store in 2020, and this French luxury food retailer offers nationwide access to an acclaimed range of specialities, from expertly matured caviars and beautifully smoked salmons to truffles, creative dips, condiments, sweet treats and spreads.

For Pancake Day, Petrossian presents its crepes with smoked salmon, salmon roe, fresh cream, lemon and aromatic herbs recipe.

Crepes with smoked salmon and salmon roe

Preparation time: 15 minutes • Cooking time: 20 minutes • Resting time: 2 hours

Serves 4

Ingredients: 

• 4 slices of smoked salmon
• 125g salmon roe
• 40cl of crème fraîche
• ½ bunch of dill and/or chives
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper

 To make the crepes (a dozen)    

• 50cl whole milk
• 200g flour
• 4 eggs
• 20g melted butter
• 3 pinches of salt

 Method:

• Whisk the eggs with the salt.
• Add the flour and whisk again.
• Gradually add the milk while whisking.
• Finally add the melted butter and mix until it becomes smooth.
• Leave the dough to rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Heat a frying pan over high heat.
• Spread the pastry finely in the pan.
• When the edges of the crepe come loose, turn it over.
• If you wish to prepare the crepes in advance, fill a pan with water, cover with a plate, heat over medium heat and place your crepes as you go along to keep them hot.

 Dressing

• Grate a zest of lemon, chop some fresh herbs and mix them together with the crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add a slice of smoked salmon, a spoonful of salmon roe and a spoonful of the cream, lemon and herbs mixture on your hot crepe.
• Serve immediately.

Sweet version

Start your recipe by whisking the eggs with 60g of sugar, 30g of rum and a vanilla pod, then follow the same method as above. Add some honey or jam