Well actually the title is not quite true! Foodie group members and guests attended a foraging menu evening at L20 restaurant, the hotel school of Hugh Baird College, last night. The restaurant is a firm favourite of the group, and as usual we dined in style. Using the definition of foraging, the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing or gathering of plant material, the students developed a menu using foods which they had indeed foraged this week.Students were shown how to carefully harvest the tender tips of nettle plants in order to use their gatherings in nettle soup, garnished with minted crème fraiche. For the fish course of pan fried cod, tartar espuma, sea vegetables and lemon oil, the marshy banks of the Dee estuary provided an abundance of sea vegetables, including samphire, sea purslane sea aster, sea beets, sea lettuce and red seaweed. We could never imagine such a delicious course made up of food gathered without cost from the local coast.
The meat course of duck breast, duck croquette, wild garlic and duck jus, was made of, and garnished with delicious wild garlic and garlic flowers, which sadly have now completed their growing season for the year.
And so to dessert. Chamomile panna cotta, honey ice cream and fresh honeycomb. The students had been given access to the hives of Eshe honey in Blundellsands and wearing the appropriate protective clothing, harvested the fresh honeycomb from the hives, along with the honey used in the recipe.
So once more the foodie group dined out in style on local produce, in an establishment that is leading the way in training the chefs and front of house staff of the future. Regrettably the restaurant will be closed from June until September whilst a new state of the art kitchen to be installed, but we are looking forward to the programme of special catering events in the new academic year.