How to be AN ETHICUREAN
The Ethicurean restaurant operates from an original glasshouse built in 1901 as part of the Somerset estate in the Mendip Hills belonging to Henry Herbert Mills of the Imperial Tobacco company. The ancient walled kitchen garden supplies the restaurant with pretty much all its needs: grapes, cabbages, greengages, apricots, beans, herbs and lavender. It sounds idyllic – and it is.
It is run by a group of four friends – Jack, Paula, Matthew and Iain – who between them have enough expertise to organise a business, cook and forage for the wild food that also forms part of the daily menu.
The cookbook is the physical expression of their culinary philosophy: sustainable, seasonal, simply-cooked food, all avours intact. It’s also a beautiful book, showing not only shots of the dishes, but also of the garden itself, with the lush green Somerset hills beyond.
Treats within the book include caramelised chicory, labneh and strawberry salad, roasted courgette and cobnut soup, and scallops in puff pastry with vermouth and fennel cream. A double sloe gin and tonic is served in a china cup, legacy of the Victorians who were adept at consuming alcohol disguised as afternoon tea.
The Ethicurean Cookbook (Ebury Press, £25).
Prepare the labneh and strawberries a day in advance. Line a sieve with a piece of muslin or a cloth, allowing the ends to overhang the sieve. Put the yoghurt in and mix in the salt. Cover the yoghurt with the ends of the muslin and then place the sieve over a bowl. Leave in the fridge overnight. The following day, liquid will have collected in the bowl and the yoghurt will be thicker and creamier. Discard the liquid and spoon the yoghurt into an airtight container. Keep in the fridge until needed.
Put the sliced strawberries in a plastic box and pour in enough cider vinegar just to cover them. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight. The next day, strain off the vinegar into a bowl. Add the caster sugar and stir thoroughly until dissolved. Pour the vinegar over the strawberries and refrigerate until needed.
Place a griddle pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Lightly dust the chicory with icing sugar and then place fl at-side down on the griddle. Cook without moving it until it begins to caramelise underneath and charred lines develop. Turn the pieces on to their other flat side and repeat, then flip them on to their rounded side and cook until tender. Remove the chicory from the griddle pan and set aside to cool a little.
Divide the chicory between 4 plates, spreading out some of the leaves. Dot the strawberries throughout, then add several teaspoons of the labneh. Sprinkle cinnamon over the labneh.
Dress with cobnut oil, some of the macerating liquid from the strawberries, and borage flowers, if using. Coarsely grind some black pepper over the strawberries and serve the salad straight away.
Serves 4
For the mushroom jelly
For the apple jelly
For the mushroom jelly, remove stalks from mushrooms and set caps aside. Clean the stalks thoroughly, then chop finely. Put them in a pan, cover with 250g water and simmer for 15 mins. Strain cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a clean pan, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract it all. Discard the stalks. Measure cooking liquor and add a dash more water if necessary to take it back up to 250g. Season with salt, remembering that a little goes a long way. Return the pan to the heat and stir in agar agar until dissolved. The liquor needs to boil briefly to hydrate the agar and activate its gelling properties. Pour into a small plastic box, with a fi nal depth of about 1cm, so you can cut the jelly into cubes. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge until set. It will keep for 4 days.
For the apple jelly, heat juice in a pan, stir in the agar agar and bring to the boil until dissolved. Leave to cool and then set in a plastic box as described above.
Trim the asparagus by finding the natural point where the stalk snaps close to the base and breaking it off. Have a pan of fast-boiling salted water ready and a bowl of iced water. Cook asparagus in the rapidly boiling water for up to 2 mins, but no more. Remove the spears and chill them in the iced water; they will retain their bright green colour.
Finely slice the reserved mushroom caps and lay them on 4 plates. Dust with fine sea salt. Lay the asparagus spears on top of the mushrooms. Cut the jelly into small cubes and add a teaspoon of each fl avour to each plate, along with the ribwort fl owers, mint leaves and purslane.
It is run by a group of four friends – Jack, Paula, Matthew and Iain – who between them have enough expertise to organise a business, cook and forage for the wild food that also forms part of the daily menu.
The cookbook is the physical expression of their culinary philosophy: sustainable, seasonal, simply-cooked food, all avours intact. It’s also a beautiful book, showing not only shots of the dishes, but also of the garden itself, with the lush green Somerset hills beyond.
Treats within the book include caramelised chicory, labneh and strawberry salad, roasted courgette and cobnut soup, and scallops in puff pastry with vermouth and fennel cream. A double sloe gin and tonic is served in a china cup, legacy of the Victorians who were adept at consuming alcohol disguised as afternoon tea.
The Ethicurean Cookbook (Ebury Press, £25).
CARAMELISED CHICORY, LABNEH AND MACERATED STRAWBERRY SALAD
Serves 4- 500g ewe’s milk yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 120g medium-sized strawberries, hulled and sliced vertically into 3
- about 200ml cider vinegar
- 300g caster sugar
- 6 large heads of chicory, cut into quarters through the root
- icing sugar, for dusting
- a little ground cinnamon
- a little cobnut oil (or hazelnut oil)
- a few borage fl owers (optional)
- black pepper
Prepare the labneh and strawberries a day in advance. Line a sieve with a piece of muslin or a cloth, allowing the ends to overhang the sieve. Put the yoghurt in and mix in the salt. Cover the yoghurt with the ends of the muslin and then place the sieve over a bowl. Leave in the fridge overnight. The following day, liquid will have collected in the bowl and the yoghurt will be thicker and creamier. Discard the liquid and spoon the yoghurt into an airtight container. Keep in the fridge until needed.
Put the sliced strawberries in a plastic box and pour in enough cider vinegar just to cover them. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight. The next day, strain off the vinegar into a bowl. Add the caster sugar and stir thoroughly until dissolved. Pour the vinegar over the strawberries and refrigerate until needed.
Place a griddle pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Lightly dust the chicory with icing sugar and then place fl at-side down on the griddle. Cook without moving it until it begins to caramelise underneath and charred lines develop. Turn the pieces on to their other flat side and repeat, then flip them on to their rounded side and cook until tender. Remove the chicory from the griddle pan and set aside to cool a little.
Divide the chicory between 4 plates, spreading out some of the leaves. Dot the strawberries throughout, then add several teaspoons of the labneh. Sprinkle cinnamon over the labneh.
Dress with cobnut oil, some of the macerating liquid from the strawberries, and borage flowers, if using. Coarsely grind some black pepper over the strawberries and serve the salad straight away.
ST GEORGE’S MUSHROOMS WITH ASPARAGUS, RIBWORT PLANTAIN, MUSHROOM JELLY AND APPLE JELLY
Serves 4 - a bunch of asparagus
- 20 small ribwort plantain flower heads
- 1 tsp mint leaves, preferably spearmint
- 12-16 summer purslane leaves or other salad leaves
- fine sea salt
For the mushroom jelly
- 250g St George’s mushrooms
- pinch of salt
- tsp agar agar powder
For the apple jelly
- 250g apple juice
- tsp agar agar powder
For the mushroom jelly, remove stalks from mushrooms and set caps aside. Clean the stalks thoroughly, then chop finely. Put them in a pan, cover with 250g water and simmer for 15 mins. Strain cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a clean pan, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract it all. Discard the stalks. Measure cooking liquor and add a dash more water if necessary to take it back up to 250g. Season with salt, remembering that a little goes a long way. Return the pan to the heat and stir in agar agar until dissolved. The liquor needs to boil briefly to hydrate the agar and activate its gelling properties. Pour into a small plastic box, with a fi nal depth of about 1cm, so you can cut the jelly into cubes. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge until set. It will keep for 4 days.
For the apple jelly, heat juice in a pan, stir in the agar agar and bring to the boil until dissolved. Leave to cool and then set in a plastic box as described above.
Trim the asparagus by finding the natural point where the stalk snaps close to the base and breaking it off. Have a pan of fast-boiling salted water ready and a bowl of iced water. Cook asparagus in the rapidly boiling water for up to 2 mins, but no more. Remove the spears and chill them in the iced water; they will retain their bright green colour.
Finely slice the reserved mushroom caps and lay them on 4 plates. Dust with fine sea salt. Lay the asparagus spears on top of the mushrooms. Cut the jelly into small cubes and add a teaspoon of each fl avour to each plate, along with the ribwort fl owers, mint leaves and purslane.