Nestled in a quiet Derby back street; you might miss it if you didn’t know it was there, is the beautiful Masa Restaurant. Steeped in history, the restaurant sits within the walls of a 200 year old chapel, sympathetically and beautifully converted into what has now gained the reputation as being one of Derby’s best restaurants. What better location for a Harry Potter themed tasting menu. Yes; you read correctly, fine dining has come to Hogwarts.
The theming is understated, in keeping with the sophisticated experience Masa is renowned for; the exception being the ladies toilet which sported its very own moaning Myrtle. Fortunately for the diners she remained shy throughout the evening, confining herself to her favourite cubicle. We were greeted by cheerful staff sporting Gryffindor school uniforms and seated for our welcome drinks. In addition to the usual fare were a selection of themed cocktails including the Felix Felicis and the Gillyweed.
Masa, which has become renowned for its light hearted themed nights, offered a seven course tasting menu for the very reasonable price of £30. Fortunately the chefs in the Masa kitchen are much more skilled than your average house elf, without a single pumpkin pasty or cauldron cake in sight.
So what did we eat? To start, straight from the menu of the Triwizard ball came Fleru Delacours Bouillabaisse, a wonderfully creamy tomato velouté, paprika foam topped with a succulent piece of cured rainbow trout.
Our next dish was Mrs Weasley’s corned beef sandwiches. As someone who has avoided beef for most of her adult life I was rather dreading this course. Thankfully, I was presented with a wonderfully light and succulent piece of ox cheek, breaded and lightly fried. This was served alongside artichoke, pickled walnuts and an unctuous demi-glaze, rich with umami flavour. Maybe writing this blog will make a beef eater out of me yet.
Third on tonight’s menu was the cryptically named mermaid eggs, which revealed itself to be the most interesting of dishes. A soft boiled egg like no other, its outer skin glowing vibrant red, encasing an iron rich, beautifully runny yolk. Just a hint of smoked salmon provides some welcome seasoning, alongside a creamy asparagus mayonnaise and wonderfully sharp pickled mushrooms.
No Harry Potter themed night would be complete without an appearance from he who must not be named. Voldemorts Horcrux, an equally cryptically named dish comprised of a seared scallop, presented in the shell on a bed of buttered leeks, served with moist smoked chicken breast, butternut squash, and a rich miso jus.
The fifth dish is a pallet cleansing concoction of strawberries, mint and prosecco, leading swiftly into the main dessert of treacle tart with butterbeer ice-cream. Butterbeer is of course entirely fictional, unless you count the rather sickly sweet concoction invented by the Americans and served in their Orlando theme park. The tart was encased in rich sweet pastry; and here in sits my only criticism of the food; and most probably a reflection of my own personal preference. The pastry, whilst beautifully formed and wonderfully sweet, wasn’t as short as I would like (maybe that is why my own pastry is rarely beautifully formed) and the overall tart rather crisp. The accompanying butterscotch ice-cream was however delectable and I could have happily eaten it by the cauldron.
We finish our evening with the gillyweed wrapped cheeseboard, which was in fact a mature Cornish yarg, wrapped in nettles and served with pesto and a spiced tomato bread. A wonderful way to finish off the meal.
Inspired by my evening at Masa I wanted to share my own Harry Potter themed recipe for Professor Sprout’s green fingers. I hope you enjoy.

Professor Sprout’s green fingers:
Griddled asparagus spears with an asparagus mousse, poached egg, bacon crumb and hollandaise sauce.
Serves 4 as a starter
Ingredients:

For the asparagus mousse:
150g asparagus
1 sheet of gelatin soaked in cold water
Pinch of caster sugar
50ml double cream
Salt and pepper to season

For the bacon crumb:
4 rashers of streaky bacon

For the hollandaise sauce:
3 egg yolks
200g butter
50mls white wine vinegar
½ shallot, thinly sliced
½ tsp black peppercorns

For the asparagus:
12 asparagus spears
Olive oil
A knob of butter
Salt and pepper to season

For the poached eggs:
4 large free range chicken eggs
A splash of vinegar
Salt and pepper to season

Method:
Start with the asparagus mousse, which can be made a day or two in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an air tight container. Bring 100mls of salted water to the boil. Trim the asparagus, removing the woody stems. Cook for a couple of minutes until tender and then drain, reserving the cooking water. Meanwhile whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Squeeze the water from the gelatin and put this, along with the asparagus into a food processor, gradually adding the cooking liquid until you have a smooth puree. You may not need all of the cooking liquid, so add this very slowly – you can always add more if necessary. Pass the puree through a fine sieve or muslin cloth, before folding into the cream. Season accordingly, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to plate.
Prepare the bacon crumb by either grilling or dry frying the bacon until it is brittle and crispy. Transfer to a pestle and mortar (if you don’t have one you could use a sandwich bag and a rolling pin) and grind until you have a fine crumb. Reserve the bacon until you are ready to plate.
The remainder of the dish will come together very quickly, and you may need to multi task. Trim the asparagus, removing the woody stalks and cook in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain before plunging the spears into ice cold water, which will help to preserve the colour. Oil a griddle pan and cook the asparagus for 3-4 minutes, adding the butter and seasoning at the very end and removing the pan from the heat.
To make the hollandaise start by clarifying the butter. Place the butter in a pan over a very low heat. Skim away any solids that rise to the top without heating the butter too much. You should be left with a golden clarified butter. Place the shallot, peppercorns and vinegar in a small pan and reduce by ¾. Pass through a sieve and set aside. Place the egg yolks, vinegar reduction and salt in a glass or metal bowl over a large pan of simmering water and whisk until doubled in volume. Remove from the heat and slowly start to add the clarified butter a little at a time until fully incorporated and emulsified. If it is getting a little thick or looking like it is starting to split, just add a little warm water. Transfer the hollandaise sauce to a jug or squeezy bottle ready for plating.
Finally you need to poach the eggs. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, adding a few drops of vinegar. Do not add salt to the water and this will prevent the egg white from coagulating. Drop the eggs into the boiling water and poach for three minutes. I find that the eggs float to the surface when they are cooked. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain the eggs on kitchen paper.
You are now ready for plating. Start by placing three asparagus spears adjacent to each other across the plate. Top with the poached egg and the bacon crumb. Add quenelles of the asparagus mousse to the side – a quenelle is an elegant, football-shaped scoop of ice cream, sorbet, whipped cream, crème fraiche or mousse. There are plenty of videos on-line if you are uncertain of the technique. But don’t worry too much, a simple spoon of the mousse will taste just a nice. Finally, place artistic dots of the hollandaise sauce on the plate. With a final flourish of your magic wand you are ready to serve. Hopefully the house elves will do the dishes.