Viva Lewes Issue #152 May 2019

RECIPE
Tuna Belly, Gordal Olives,
Pickled Chilli, Heritage Tomato
Marc Bolger, Circa Events
Circa launched in the year 2000, bringing to
Lewes the concept of Asian Fusion Dining. We
were soon listed in the Michelin Guide, were
reviewed in The Times and The Observer. After
four years, we opened Circa Fish a few doors
down, and then a year after that we took over the
restaurant at Pelham House.
In 2008, we decided to expand the events side of
the business. We opened here, in a former milking
parlour on Bevendean Farm with a small office,
then we built a kitchen and slowly progressed,
taking on venues like Northease Manor School,
Gote Farm and Laughton Showground where we
started offering Weddings.
Now, we’re associated with nine venues across
Sussex and we solely run the catering at three.
Our portfolio includes Circa Deli, Brighton Golf
Course, and a number of street food concepts
including a pizza van, mobile tandoor and Gelato
Bikes. We can turn our vehicles into anything –
every day is different.
At the time I didn’t evisage that Circa would
grow into the multi-faceted business it is today.
My love of cooking was the foundation of the
business and this enabled us to grow; I didn’t rush
it and I feel the organic growth of the business is
part of our success story. People like us as we are
approachable, flexible and move with the times.
Our menus have evolved since the restaurant
days, but the standard of what we do is the same.
The early Circa days are always present through
the Asian influence from my travels around
Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia.
I grew up in the food and hospitality industry
with my parents having restaurants, pubs and
nightclubs. Over the years, my tastes have
become a lot simpler, currently I enjoy elements
of Morrocan style food – lots of marinades, grills,
roasts and salads.
These days, between the corporate events and
private parties, we cater for over 100 weddings
a year, and for those, people tend to choose
food that reflects them personally. We get lots
of requests that touch on family traditions and
recipes, sometimes with many generations of
cultural influence. We’ve done a few Filipino
styles, Indian, Portuguese… we always trial the
recipes on our farm kitchen and then our clients
enjoy a tasting with us.
My own wedding was at Circa; the chefs were
friends of mine. We had Blue Swimmer Crab
with Beetroot for starter and Free Range
Chicken and Ceps for main; dessert was
Chocolate Parfait.
I was in Valencia last year, and this salad was
something I had there that really grabbed me –
the lightness and freshness of it. Obviously there
was also the beautiful sunshine, and a nice glass
of wine to go with it.
It’s something that can be replicated at home
quite easily. I use canned Tuna Belly, the Spanish
brand Ortiz is line-caught and completely
different from your standard tinned Tuna in
brine. There’s more oil content in the belly of
the fish, which makes the meat richer. The tuna
goes with Spanish Queen Olives, I like Gordal;
local Heritage tomatoes in red, green and yellow,
pickled chillies and baby greens – today I’ve used
Amaranth, Peashoots and Shiso leaves. A slug of
good olive oil, Sherry Vinegar, salt, pepper – and
that’s it! As told to Chloë King
circacirca.com
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