World’s largest punchbowl – filled with Courvoisier

Oh my what a strange / brilliant experience at the VIP / Press night at the launch of the Architectural Punch Bowl from Bompas & Par. I will leave the more ‘serious write ups’ to the mob of press that was there (go go Jellymongers) and leave this post as my unique view point.

The structure of the punch bowl was astonishingly and had the best looking garnish the world, no Universe, is ever likely to see in the form of Alex James. He was floating about in the punch bowl on a float shaped like an orange slice. I think I have fallen in lust – seriously the most beautiful man I have ever seen.

I also particularly enjoyed the ‘cleansing’ you had to go through before you could enjoy the punch – in my mind it really added to the experience – and was of course needed for health and safety. I must admit I enjoyed the total bewilderment of senior wine journalists who were also going through this process as we entered the punch bowl room.

It tasted AMAZING and the whole experience was much like drowning in mulled wine – in a good way. Oh and did I say that Alex James was beautiful???

Funeral Jelly-monger brilliance

My friends the Jellymongers have just got back from their funeral jelly installation at SFMOMA which they described as “absolutely brilliant fun”. Oh they are so clever, and so young (sigh). They were in San Francisco to create an edible glow-in-the-dark-jelly installation at the Museum of Modern Art. Bring it oooooooon! See all their pictures on Flickr.

I am not the only one who thinks they rock – check out this write up on Chow including some slightly petrifying pictures of Harry & Sam.

Architectural Punch Bowl

So I go on a fair bit about how awesome the Jellymomgers are – but here is yet more solid proof! I tell you there are scarily talented

For the Architectural Punch Bowl, Courvoisier and Bompas & Parr are exploding cocktails to the most extraordinary scale – the size of buildings. In December, innovative techniques and technology will be used to create a vast punch bowl at 33 Portland Place, London.

You are invited to design the cocktail that will fill the Architectural Punch Bowl: a punch bowl so large you can row a boat across it. The installation will be then be opened to the public for a grand celebration.

There’s strong historical precedent. In 1694 the admiral Edward Russell created a punch bowl so large that the cocktail contained 2,500 lemons and was served by a small boy in a boat. Courvoisier and Bompas & Parr give you the opportunity to reinvent the punch and determine the drink that fills the Architectural Punch Bowl

How to enter:

i) Submit a recipe for the punch; write the recipe in ‘parts’ rather than in volume. Your recipe must include Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif Cognac, which has been specifically blended for mixing.

ii) Write an explanatory paragraph that brings the recipe to life. Think carefully about the scale of the Architectural Punch Bowl. This will be one of the biggest cocktails to ever exist. The more reasoning that you can give for why your cocktail will be fit to fill the Architectural Punch Bowl, the better. Factors that you may wish to discuss include: the design for the cocktail garnish; the theatre of how it should be served; how the flavour of the cocktail changes over time (it will take a number of days for the Architectural Punchbowl to be consumed); how the cocktail is kept cool (if applicable) and even how the cocktail is mixed in the first place.

iii) Feel free to submit any media that supports your idea, whether it be sketches, inspirational photographs or even a clip from a film.

Entries received by the closing date will be shortlisted and the top ten will be mixed (in miniature) and presented to the judging panel. Any submitted media may be auctioned for Architects for Aid.

The deadline is midnight on the 5th October. Be sure to include your name and company (if applicable).

Entries should be emailed to: competition@jellymongers.co.uk

or by post to: Architectural Punchbowl, Bompas & Parr LLP, 197A Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 0ED

Scratch & Sniff Cinema

If you are going to do something do it well – this stunt being a near perfect execution of a scratch and sniff cinema from the Jelly Mongers AKA Bompas & Par.

The UK’s first Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Cinema showing Peter Greenaway’s classic, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover opened for Valentine’s Day this year. Bompas & Parr created aromas including ‘rotting meat’ and ‘dusty books’ that captured the scent of key moments of Greenaway’s film. These aromas were micro-encapsulated and printed onto special scratch ‘n’ sniff cards for everyone in the audience.