A toast to the Games

“This is a very special time for us,” she said. “I’d advise everyone to try our wonderful British cheese and our seafood. And toast the teams with some of our award-winning British sparkling wine.”

So, you might be asking, how can we reproduce the London food experience at home?

British native Christopher Hope, owner and executive chef of Sperata in Buford, is here to help.

An estimated 4 billion people will watch some part of the Games, and the organizing committee in London estimates visitors will consume 14 million meals.

This Olympics even has a “food vision” in which the organizers have laid out standards for food safety and sourcing. For example, milk, cream and butter must be from British farmers and traceable to their farm of origin. Foods like coffee, tea, sugar and bananas that aren’t produced in Britain must be fair-trade products.

A menu posted by the organizers lists foods every sports fan will find familiar: burritos, chicken wings and pepperoni pizza.

You can find out more at www.london2012.com.

The menu also offers very British choices such as toasted tea cakes, cod and chips, beef and Stilton pie and lamb curry.

Malins’ personal favorites? For a sweet treat, it’s summer pudding.

“It’s terribly simple to make, a mix of berries cooked down with just a touch of sugar and then encased in slightly stale white bread. The bread soaks up all the beautiful juices from the fruit, and it’s something like a cross between a cake and a tart. It has all the flavors and aromas of summer fruit, and it’s great for making at home,” Malins said.

The quintessential cocktail? For Malins, that’s a Pimm’s Cup.

“One part Pimm’s No. 1, which is a gin-based aperitif, and three parts ginger ale or lemonade, poured over ice and mixed with lots of fruit, cucumber and mint. It’s a lovely long drink to sip through a summer afternoon,” she said.

Visiting a pub is a time-honored tradition for visitors to England.

If there’s a ploughman’s lunch on the menu, that’s an opportunity to sample those British cheeses Malins recommends as well as an assortment of pickles and chutneys. Scotch eggs are often part of a ploughman’s lunch, and Welsh rarebit is another pub standard.

Chef Hope worked in hotels in London; Hamburg, Germany; Zurich and Interlaken, Switzerland; and Hong Kong before moving to the Atlanta area 12 years ago.

The standard menu at Sperata offers few clues to the chef’s British heritage, but ask for the Taste of Britain catering menu and you’ll be offered choices of English favorites such as prawn cocktails, Sunday roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and custard tarts.

Malins hopes everyone will enjoy a little taste of Britain during the Games. If she were at home cooking, she might be whipping up a favorite, a vegetable curry. “Don’t forget that you can tour the world in London when it comes to the cuisine. We hope that everyone, whether in London or at home, will have a ball going right through all the diversity that exists,” she said.

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Haddock With Welsh Rarebit

Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Serves: 2

Serve the Welsh rarebit by itself over toasted English muffins or enjoy it as a glaze for baked fish as in this recipe. Chef Christopher Hope says the name “Welsh Rarebit” comes from Welsh women who made up this substitute for rabbit when their men came home empty-handed from hunting. “They probably never made it out of the pub,” Hope says with a smile. Cod, sea bass, halibut or turbot can be used in this dish, although haddock is traditional.

1/4 pound mild cheddar, roughly cut

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard or pinch English mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon milk

1 egg yolk

2 tomatoes

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 (8-ounce) haddock fillet

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

4 ounces baby spinach

Sautéed red onion, fresh dill or chives, for garnish

To make the Welsh rarebit: In a small saucepan, combine cheddar and cream. Warm over low heat until cheddar just begins to melt. Raise heat. When mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat. Add mustard and Worcestershire. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and milk. Stir to dissolve cornstarch, then add to cheese mixture. Beat yolk into cheese mixture and allow to cool. May be made up to 3 days ahead.

To prepare the fish: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water ready. When water comes to a boil, drop in tomatoes, leave for 5 seconds, remove from water and place in ice water. When tomatoes have cooled, remove cores, peel and slice. Arrange tomato slices on 2 serving plates.

Spread oil over fish and place fillet on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and spread with Welsh rarebit. Bake 10 minutes or just until fish has cooked through. Time will depend on the thickness of the fish.

While fish is cooking, in a small skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until just translucent, add spinach and toss until wilted. Arrange spinach on top of tomato slices.

When fish is cooked through, you may brown the Welsh rarebit if you wish. Turn oven to broil and place baking sheet 4 inches from broiler. Watch carefully and remove when Welsh rarebit just begins to bubble and brown. Alternatively, use a crème brûlée torch to brown the Welsh rarebit.

When fish is ready, divide into 2 portions and slide fillet on top of spinach. Serve immediately garnished with red onion and herbs, if desired.

Per serving: 663 calories (percent of calories from fat, 67), 42 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 50 grams fat (27 grams saturated), 313 milligrams cholesterol, 553 milligrams sodium.

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Ploughman’s Lunch With Scotch Egg

Hands on: 45 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Serves: 4

A ploughman’s lunch is an assortment of cheeses and pickles served with rolls or French bread. A pâté, pork pie or a Scotch egg may be part of the assortment as well. For our photo, chef Christopher Hope served a Scotch egg with piccalilli, Branston pickle and Haywards traditional onion pickle. These condiments are widely available in Atlanta-area groceries. Consul General Annabelle Malins suggests an accompaniment of British cheeses such as a good cheddar and Stilton.

Scotch Eggs

Scotch eggs are good for breakfast, lunch, tea or supper. If you don’t want to deep-fry the eggs, you can bake them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through. If you don’t have fresh sage available, Hope suggests substituting 1/4 teaspoon of a dried Italian herb blend.

4 small or medium eggs

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small onion or 2 shallots, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 pound bulk sausage

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

Oil for frying

In a medium saucepan, carefully place eggs and add water to cover. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Bring water to a boil, cook eggs for 5 minutes and then remove eggs to ice water. When eggs are cool, peel and set aside.

In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it turns translucent but does not turn brown, about 4 minutes. Add sage and garlic powder. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, combine onion mixture with sausage and divide into 4 portions. Cut a 12-inch piece of plastic wrap and spray lightly with cooking spray. Add 1 portion of sausage and top with a second piece of lightly sprayed plastic wrap. Lightly roll out sausage to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap and place a peeled egg in the middle of the sausage. Lift the bottom plastic to wrap sausage around egg. Remove plastic and pat sausage to ensure even coating around egg. Refrigerate sausage-wrapped egg and continue with remaining eggs and sausage.

Put flour in a pie plate. In another pie plate, beat eggs and milk. Put bread crumbs in a third pie plate. Dip each sausage-covered egg into flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs. Arrange eggs on a dish. May be made ahead up to this point, covered and refrigerated for 1 day.

When ready to serve, in a Dutch oven, heat 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees. Carefully add 2 eggs to hot oil and cook 7 minutes or until sausage is cooked through. Remove eggs from oil and drain. Keep warm and repeat with remaining sausage-covered eggs. Cut eggs in half and serve warm. May also be served cold.

Per egg: 365 calories (percent of calories from fat, 55), 15 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 22 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 308 milligrams cholesterol, 392 milligrams sodium.

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Summer Pudding

Hands on: 25 minutes Total time: 25 minutes plus chilling time Serves: 6

Summer Pudding is a flexible dessert. Chef Christopher Hope suggests using any combination of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or blueberries that you prefer. This recipe makes one large bowl of pudding, but you may use ramekins or small bowls to make individual servings. Serve the pudding with whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream, if desired. If you can find it, clotted cream would be the most traditional accompaniment. Hope garnished his pudding with a mixture of berries, lightly sweetened and just warmed through.

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

11/2 pounds berries (reserve a few berries for garnish, if desired)

2 tablespoons liqueur (crème de cassis or framboise)

1 (16-ounce) loaf thin-sliced white bread, crusts removed

Mint sprigs, whipped cream, ice cream, berries for garnish

In a large saucepan, bring sugar and water just to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add half the berries and 2 tablespoons liqueur and reduce mixture to a simmer. Cook until fruit softens but still retains its shape, about 5 minutes. Add remaining berries and remove saucepan from heat. Strain the berries from the liquid, reserving both berries and liquid.

Line a 11/2-quart bowl with plastic wrap. Line the bottom and sides of the bowl with slightly overlapping slices of bread. Spoon 1 cup of fruit cooking liquid onto the bread. Add a layer of berries. Layer in bread, add juice and then a layer of berries. Continue filling bowl with layers of bread, juice and berries until bowl is filled. Your last layer should be bread. Pour on any remaining juice and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Put a plate on top and press down lightly. Refrigerate bowl and plate at least 3 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, invert the pudding onto a platter with a rim to catch the juices. Cut into wedges to serve. Garnish with whipped cream, ice cream, mint or berries, if desired.

Per serving: 313 calories (percent of calories from fat, 9), 7 grams protein, 64 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 3 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 1 milligram cholesterol, 408 milligrams sodium.

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Pimm’s Cup

Hands on: 5 minutes

Total time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

Any mixture of fruit is fine, but the cucumber is traditional.

1/4 cucumber, chopped

2 strawberries

3 blueberries

2 sprigs mint

1 slice orange

2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1

Ice

Ginger ale or Sprite

In a tall glass, mix cucumber, strawberries, blueberries, mint and orange. Pour Pimm’s over fruit and add ice. Top off with ginger ale or Sprite and serve immediately.

Per serving: 185 calories (percent of calories from fat, 4), 1 gram protein, 13 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, trace fat (no saturated), no cholesterol, 10 milligrams sodium.