Using UK produce can create a marvellous meal

WHILE the UK's favourite dish may still be chicken tikka masala and 94 per cent of Britons dine on pasta or rice at least once a week, there are many dishes that have their roots in Blighty and are as relevant and delicious today as they ever were.

For a few years we have seen interest in using local produce grow quite rapidly. Consumers are keen to know where their food has come from and, more importantly, how long it has taken to get from where it was grown, reared or caught to their kitchen.

This is great to see. As we become more and more aware of what we eat this has a beneficial effect on our health and the environment. What has been slower to catch on – but I think programmes such as Marco Pierre White's will definitely help – is a return to cooking and eating classic British dishes with British ingredients.

For too long British cuisine was sneered at and our finest chefs concentrated more on emulating their French heroes than creating British dishes we could be proud of. When former French President Jacques Chirac was quoted as saying of the UK, "After Finland, it is the country with the worst food" a few years ago, I think it gave British chefs real impetus to look at what we were cooking and what we were cooking with.

British food is much more than toad in the hole, bangers and mash and beef stew. How about carpaccio of cured venison? Or seared scallops? Home comfort food and British staples don't have to be stodgy.

For a good few years I have had a passion for eel – it is a meaty, filling fish and slender slices of smoked eel is as tasty as any salmon. Eel has enjoyed spates of popularity over history, but for a few reasons fell from favour as more exotic fish and seafood became readily available. It is a real treat and a firm-textured, rich, buttery, versatile fish.

At the Rutland Hotel we serve smoked Inverawe eel served on a potato pancake with crispy pancetta, beetroot puree and horseradish cream as a starter.

The smokiness of the eel twinned with the salty bacon is a rich, delicious combination which marries beautifully with the clean, almost fruity flavour of the beetroot puree. Traditional horseradish gives the dish a real kick.

Another favourite of mine is Scottish lamb. I am fortunate enough to have a garden sizeable enough to grow some vegetables and herbs. There is nothing more delicious or satisfying than a piece of local lamb served alongside good British veg you grew yourself.

One of our most popular main courses is rump of new season Scottish lamb served with hotpot potatoes, pickled red cabbage and rosemary-infused meat juices. This makes a great Sunday lunch the whole family will enjoy.

David Haetzman, formerly of the Tower Restaurant, is head chef of the newly opened Rutland Hotel, 1 Rutland Street, 0131-229 3402


Recipes

Smoked Inverawe eel (serves four)
Ingredients
75g smoked eel thinly sliced
4 slices pancetta
100g flour
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
50g mashed potato
milk
2 egg whites
75 ml double cream
3 tablespoons horseradish sauce
Beetroot puree ingredients
1 beetroot
30 ml cabernet sauvignon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Method
Whisk flour and soda together and add enough milk to make a batter consistency. Pass through a chinois strainer or sieve. Gently fold in egg whites and mashed potato. Cook in a blini pan for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

Boil the beetroot in its skin for approx 1 hour, until cooked. Allow to cool slightly. Remove the skin. Roughly chop the beetroot and place in a food processor with the cumin and the vinegar and blitz until smooth. Adjust the seasoning.

Place the pancetta on a piece of greaseproof paper and bake in a medium oven 175ºc until golden brown.

Remove from the paper and place on a wire rack and allow to cool.

Whip the cream and fold in the horseradish sauce to taste. Season if necessary.

To assemble, warm the beetroot puree in a pan and place the pancake in the oven to warm through. Put the pancake in the centre of a plate; put a spoonful of the beetroot puree on top of the pancake.

Place the smoked eel on top of the beetroot and then a spoonful of the horseradish cream. Finish with a slice of the crispy pancetta.

Rump of new season Scottish lamb served with hotpot potatoes, pickled red cabbage and rosemary infused meat juices (serves four)

Ingredients
4 x 200g lamb rumps/ chumps
Lamb gravy
Rosemary
1 small red cabbage
Rock salt
A litre of red wine
250 ml red wine vinegar
250 ml cabernet sauvignon red wine vinegar 125g demerara sugar
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
10 peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic

Hotpot potatoes ingredients
3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
300 ml chicken stock
50g butter

Method
Thinly slice the cabbage and toss in sea salt and leave overnight. Rinse well and drain. Mix all the wet ingredients in a pan, add the sugar and bring to the boil. Wrap the aromatics in a piece of muslin and add to the liquor. Add the red cabbage and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Set aside.

Butter an ovenproof dish. Layer the bottom of the dish with potatoes, making sure the whole area is covered. Then a layer of carrots and then a layer of onions. Lightly season. Repeat this process four times. The final layer should be potatoes. Take a little more time with the top layer to ensure presentation.

Cover the potatoes with chicken stock so it is just covering the potatoes and brush with melted butter. Cover with foil. Cook at 180ºc for 1 hour. Remove the foil after 45 minutes and put the oven up to 200ºc for the last 15-20 minutes to allow the top to go golden brown.

To assemble, seal the lamb in a hot pan in oil and roast in a hot oven for 8-9 minutes depending how you like your lamb cooked. Allow the meat to rest in a warm place. Slice the lamb and serve with a spoonful of the potatoes and red cabbage and spoon over some lamb gravy infused with chopped rosemary.