The key to a good day is clear communication, at least that’s half the battle anyway! I arrived in Devon late on Saturday night to be greeted by the words "apple pie, what you talking about? It was a pear frangipane!", to which I replied “what do you mean WAS”, no pudding for me then! Dartmoor on a sunny autumnal afternoon really is perfect, where better place to spend a Sunday off than sat up on the top of Hound tor, ace.
Monday took us to Cornwall, our destination: Nathan Outlaw's 'Seafood Bar and Grill' in Rock. What a superb lunch. Beautiful local oysters and a lovely fillet of mackerel on charred toast for our starters, then Thornback ray wing with dumplings and caper sauce and Haddock with squash and parsley sauce as our mains. For pudding, one crumble and one cheesecake. Really tasty and all cooked and seasoned perfectly. Wash it all down with a pint or two of Doom Bar ale, which is brewed just down the road - perfect!
After lunch we headed across the river to Padstow to have a look at the lobster hatchery. Although it is only small, it’s really worth a visit. The idea is that Padstow’s fleet of lobster fishermen hand any egg carrying females they have caught over to the hatchery. The lobsters are then kept in controlled tanks until their eggs hatch. The near microscopic baby lobster are then kept while the females are returned to, hopefully, carry on breeding. The babies are released once they have reached a less vulnerable size. Seems to me like a proactive and vital means towards achieving the 'near impossible' that is sustainable fishing. What lovely days off!
I'm back in the kitchen early Tuesday morning and as ever its all go! First it was the MEP for the cheese lunch on Thursday and then on to having a think about our new lunch menus. For the cheese lunch MC has asked for beef with blue cheese, so we seamed out a rump of lovely, four-week-hung Hinton beef, which is rolled and cooked really slowly in the water bath. We then have a lovely piece of braised cheek to serve on the side, together with highland blue mashed potatoes. The amuse bouche will be a rather lovely game consommé with welsh rarebit on the side, then Goats cheese mousse with pickled beetroots & walnuts (a Gidleigh Park classic) as the starter.
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As for lunch menu, I think it’s just about cold enough for the salt beef raviolo with parsnips to reappear as a starter. Then, how about some lovely woodland belly pork which has been rolled and braised in cider all day? Day-boat Cornish cod with bacon is staying on again this week, it’s just too good to take off, and one of my pastry chefs, Emma, has been busy all day making some rather clever little chocolate puddings; dark and white chocolate mousse on a pistachio biscuit - tasty stuff.
Hopefully I’ll have our new vegetarian menu written up and on tomorrow evening, then I’m onto writing two Tasting menus for the Martin family, who are my perfect guests, as they truly enjoy eating. “Something with john dory and some game please, the rest's up to you” - that I can take care of!
Oh and before I forget, the quince jelly set and is fantastic! And what timing, ready for the cheese lunch tomorrow! Onwards.
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