Jelly with Bompas & Parr

Jelly: Without a doubt the most fun food around.

Think of jelly and you immediately think nostalgically of children’s parties, where the brightly-coloured wobbly stuff was moulded into the shape of teddy bears and served with ice cream, much to the delight of the excitable children who left most of it smeared over their clothes.

You might have deserted your love of jelly down memory lane,but SAM BOMPAS and HaARRY PARR didn’t. Abandoning their upcoming careers in politics and architecture, BOMPAS & PARR set off down the jelly-brick road and decided to reinvent the way the world saw the sticky substance.

Creating marvellous mini-structures of well-known buildings that most likely taste as amazing as they look, Bompas & Parr experiment with Victorian jelly-making techniques and combine them with cutting-edge culinary skills to produce jellies in a variety of weird and wonderful flavours, colours and shapes. Pushing their remarkable craft one step further, they even find ways to invent ‘flaming’ and ‘glow in the dark’ jelly -  a far cry from the readymade strawberry jelly that my experiences are limited to.

In their book, which they kindly gave a copy of to our editor,  ‘Jelly with Bompas & Parr’, Bompas & Parr tell us a brief overview of jelly’s extensive and illustrious history and how they set about redefining the standards of crafting jelly. The book also provides in-depth recipes for some of their favourite and best-known jellies, in a range of exciting and strange flavours with step-by-step guides on how to create your very own jelly masterpiece. With recipes ranging from simple fruit jellies, to alcoholic and ‘aphrodisiac’ jellies, this book provides a welcome look into the bizarre world of Bompas & Parr.

It looks like these two self-described ‘jellymongers’ really are shaping the future of the jelly industry, one wibbly, wobbly, delicious block at a time. We’d also like to thank Bompas & Parr on behalf of the Sketchbook team, for all their hard work.

Words: NAVNEET GILL

Photos: JELLY WITH BOMPAS & PARR

Molly Bakes Cupcakes

Last Sunday at the Pop Up Shop, to celebrate the launch of ANNIE DRISCOLL’s Exhibition, Sketchbook found the perfect accessory to cater the event. Complimentary cupcakes we’re provided this Sunday by MOLLY BAKES, the melt-in-your mouth masterpieces had been freshly baked and frosted by hand.

MOLLY BAKES was created in early 2009, after finding herself out of a job MOLLY BAKES decided to try her hand at baking, remembering an old cupcake recipe in her mother’s cake book. Due to the response from her very first trial at baking, Molly Bakes Cupcakes are now in high demand from everyone. Catering for events, parties, weddings or christenings, MOLLY BAKES handmade tasty treats are a massive mouthwatering success.

Created in her Kitchen, her creations include bespoke cupcakes, cake pops, and giant cupcakes, cupcake bouquets, whoopie pies and other baked treats. Molly Bakes Cupcakes are guaranteed to be unique and tailored to your event.

The cupcakes had a fantastic response on Sunday and with a big thanks to MOLLY BAKES, they we’re not only visually stunning but beyond tasty too!

www.mollybakes.co.uk

Text by MEGAN TAYLOR

Images courtesy of MOLLY BAKES

The Parliamentary Waffle House

Yesterday Sketchbook took a trip to The Parliamentary Waffle House to speak to Bompas and Parr, the curators of bespoke jelly moulds and spectacular culinary events.  The work of Bompas and Parr operates in the space between food and architecture.

Now opening near Carnaby Street is the election-based bar and eatery, each item on the menu can be ordered in a variation corresponding to one of the three major political parties. Orders fed directly into a live action swing ‘o’ meter that gauges the mood of the country as people vote with their mouths.

When visiting the Waffle House we spoke to one man who worked there and asked him why they was doing this…‘We are very passionate about waffles; there is also a historical relevance as to why we chose waffles as they were made in medieval times and made into religious symbols and crests. The election seemed like the perfect time to do this, and we could incorporate the parliamentary logo into these waffles like how it use to be done.’

There will be political coverage non-stop, plus a museum where you can see Tony Blair’s face on a melted cheese sandwich. The venue will host politics and food-themed entertainment, including screenings of political films, and on election night there will be alcohol for the winners and tea for the others.

All in all we are completely excited about The Parliamentary Waffle House and most importantly its amazing tasting waffles. We recommend you try the Prescott Punch too!

Text MEGAN TAYLOR
Photography MEGAN TAYLOR

www.jellymongers.co.uk

Kristie and Coralie’s Christmas Cooler

A few weeks ago I was investigating an event down at the TRUMAN BREWERY where a pop up Christmas Emporium was taking place. I was lucky enough to meet the lovely Coralie there who introduced me to a table full of fun festive activities to join in with such as card making and bauble painting. I was very happy to hear whilst indulging in a conversation about things to do around London this Christmas that Coralie and her friend Kristie were soon to be opening a Christmas Cooler.

Taking it’s home at number 9 Caledonian Rd, Kristie and Coralie were going to be launching there 3 week festive store, a place to enjoy mulled wine and arts and crafts. I decided to take the invite to check out the store and ventured down on the following friday (the 13th) which in this case happened to be quite the opposite to unlucky for the two ladies, The event was hosted by Make Do and Mend, and amongst tables of ginger bread and mulled wine, festive fun seemed to be well under way. the shop not only serves as a great place to socialize  with friends but had a great collection of hand-made products by local artists and designers.

All in all it was a great experience in the build up to Christmas and the Sketchbook Team wishes the ladies luck with their next creative endeavors!

You can check out the Website for the girls here and keep your eyes peeled for the next events! www.kristieandcoralie.com

Text EMETE YARICI

Photography CHUN.P.LIN

Architectural Punch Bowl for 25,000

Tonight will mark the opening of the Architectural Punch Bowl, basically a huge punch bowl of a specially concocted Courvoisier punch recipe enough to serve over 25,000 people (Now that’s a party!). This architectural structure has been created by the famous architectural jelly mongers SAM BOMPAS and HARRY PARR, and Blur’s ALEX JAMES will be toasting the first glass of this special brew. Sketchbook Magazine and the Sketchbook TV crew are heading down to cover this event.

The Architectural Punch Bowl will be open on the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th December at 33 Portland Place, London, W1B 1QE. Tickets are priced at £6.50 and you can book them by following this link:

http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/news/punchbowl.html.

Unfortunately no swimming is allowed but we look forward to seeing you there!

Illustration: HAMZA ISA

The Tea Box

It’s a surreal moment. I’m standing in a wooden pulpit holding a microphone, in the rather lovely Tea Box, a tea house in Richmond. I’m about to deliver fifteen minutes of stand-up to a group of people who haven’t been drinking beer, and I wonder if beer is a prerequisite for appreciating my set. But the room is warm and the people friendly; I sense I won’t be needing to make any hasty exits this evening. Trouble seldom finds you in a tea house, no matter how bad your jokes are. The audience is game and when I’m finished, I get to sit down, watch the remaining acts and sample the tea. Before the set I ordered coffee; I didn’t want any surprises before I went on. It was a good cup of coffee, the best I’d had that day in fact, but I couldn’t help but be envious of the little glass tea set my girlfriend got to play with. It comes with a colourful egg timer set so you could brew your tea for exactly the right amount of time. The tea pot contained a plump green and pink flower bud the size of an apricot. It’s slowly unfurling as it steeps in the hot water, which gradually turns an amazing pale amber hue. The sand in the timer runs out for my girlfriend’s tea, which she then pours into a glass cup. It looks more liquid than anything that I’ve ever poured into a cup. After my stage time, I order the same thing from the obliging staff. When it arrives, after anxiously waiting for my flower to expand, I get to drink my tea. It’s delicious, refreshing and makes me wish I lived closer to Richmond. My girlfriend has ordered cake: it arrives all fresh with coffee icing and crisp walnuts, as she looks onto it like a house cat that’s found unattended butter. Later that evening we speak to an engaging chatty woman at the till who turns out to be the venue’s proprietor, who says she used to work in publishing before setting up the Tea Box. We thank her and James, the gig organiser, for a lovely evening and head home. If you’re ever in Richmond, you can do much worse than visit the Tea Box.

The Tea Box
7 Paradise Road
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1RX

Welcome to the Tea Box!

Very nice atmosphere. Quiet moment before the live comedy starts.

I love the way things are  arranged in the Tea Box.

My Tea has arrived! I upended the hourglass to time my brew.



I ordered this tea because of its name. Jasmine snow lotus, sounds nice, looks nice.



Tastes nice to!

Text STEPHEN CODA
Photography NORIKO MATSUBARA