Scallop season fast approaching- have you checked out the new Winter menu? You may have even noticed a slight Scandinavian influence …... well, I recently got back from a Scandinavian holiday, where we ate out at some Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen and Helsinki. Although different countries, there were similarities in the flavours used and I came away with plenty of inspiration!
When I got home, the first dish I came up with was a venison dish. Common flavours that I found were malt, liquorice, chocolate, rye bread, wild berries and herbs, milk (they drink A LOT of milk!) and reindeer. So this dish has aspects of those except the reindeer (unless you know a supplier) that is replaced with venison.
It consists of braised venison osso bucco with a dark malty beer, wrapped in chocolate pasta, with braised lentils beneath. Around the outside is malted parsnip puree, licorice puree,ground cocoa nibs and crispy chervil. On top are parsnip crisps and the foam is made using milk, the braising liqueur from the venison and licorice root and malt extract. It tastes delicious, even if it does look like a cigar!
Coming soon will be the second of my Scandinavian/girlfriend-inspired recipes. I gave a little preview teaser at the Rural Women demonstration. Based on a common Finnish snack called Karelian pies (obviously that has been translated!) which come from the Karelia region on the Russian border (this is a bit controversial, as the area was Finnish but they lost parts of it to Russia in a war).
My girlfriend made these for me at home saying I would never like them, but I loved them! In Finland I ate plenty and got very well acquainted. Basically, they are savoury rice pudding but using pearl barley (they call it porridge in Finland). This is then semi-wrapped in rye pastry and baked- they look a little like moccasins. Most commonly served with egg butter (boiled eggs mixed with butter).Get the full recipe here!
My girlfriend made these for me at home saying I would never like them, but I loved them! In Finland I ate plenty and got very well acquainted. Basically, they are savoury rice pudding but using pearl barley (they call it porridge in Finland). This is then semi-wrapped in rye pastry and baked- they look a little like moccasins. Most commonly served with egg butter (boiled eggs mixed with butter).Get the full recipe here!
Along with our Pastry Chef, Ben we have developed a dessert version using rye pastry to make a tart and filled it with a sweet creamed pearl barley (like rice pudding), flavoured again with malt and vanilla. Basically a sweet version of Karelian pie! We will be serving this with rye friands, rhubarb and beer ice cream (beer is also popular in Finland).
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