Matfen hall

The official launch last month of British Meat's campaign to encourage the industry to label the origins of meat on menus will no doubt be straightforward for some chefs, but a little bit more complicated for others.

Craig McMeeken definitely falls into the former category. He is head chef of the two-AA-rosette Library and Print Room restaurant at Northumberland's Matfen Hall hotel, part of an estate owned by Sir Hugh Blackett that includes 600 acres of working farmland.

Four years ago, Blackett and the foreman of Matfen Hall home farm, Malcolm Oliver, decided to farm all sheep and beef organically - with a view to selling the meat and using it in the 80-seat restaurant across the road. Ultimate traceability.

Well, the first Matfen Hall lamb was served to hotel guests this summer, and 30-year-old McMeeken is pleased with the result. "The quality of the lamb is fantastic," he says. "There is a real lack of fat and sinew, and a superior taste."

The lambs are milk fed for three months before moving on to clover, and at no stage are given artificial feed. Then, from July onwards, about four lambs are hand-picked by Oliver each week, are slaughtered at a local abattoir and the carcasses returned to McMeeken, who hangs them for up to nine days.

This gives him plenty of options. Top billing for the lamb on the seven-strong à la carte list of mains is Matfen Estate-reared lamb Wellington with red wine and rosemary jus (£18.75). The two cannons are taken from the lamb, portioned and then layered with duck confit blended with an onion marmalade. Sautéd spinach and mushrooms are then placed on top of that before it is all wrapped in a puff pastry parcel and baked.

With the rest of the cuts, McMeeken stocks his daily-changing table d'h"te menu (three courses for £23.50), be it lamb shanks with truffle mash or chargrilled lambs' livers. McMeeken, whose grandfather was a master butcher, says the odd foray into butchery is good for the 14-strong brigade (about five working at any one time). In most hotels, such skills have been lost.

But it's not all about the hearty meat dishes that McMeeken says are popular with shooting parties. Shellfish also sells well, such as pan-seared sea scallops and pancetta with bubble and squeak (£7), typical of the upmarket comfort combinations McMeeken is keen on.

Witness mains such as suprême of turbot with creamy smoked haddock brandade and lime vierge (£17.50); or vegetarian options such as the starter of goats' cheese tarte tatin. This is made by baking roasted shallots under pastry, turning it out and melting the cheese over before glazing it with the reduced juices from the roasted shallots (£5.50).

With an approach to flavour like this, it comes as no surprise to learn that before joining Matfen Hall three years ago, McMeeken was head chef at Terry Laybourne's outpost of casual fine food, Bistro 21 in Durham.

Puddings-wise, old favourites are the best sellers: a panna cotta with fresh raspberries, charged with grappa (£5.25) and a chocolate fondant, with coconut ice-cream to melt over the plate (£5.50). Average spend in the evening-only restaurant (except Sunday lunches) is £30-£35 without wine.

Beef will follow the lamb next year. The only disappointment is that the restaurant can't actually sell the lamb as organic - "even though it 100% is", McMeeken says. To be certified as organic, the abattoir would have to gain an organic licence and butcher the meat away from other meat.

"There is a lot of red tape," McMeeken says, "but the guests are happy just knowing the meat has come from here." n

The Library and Print Room restaurant, Matfen Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE20 0RH
Tel: 01661 886500
Web:www.matfenhall.com

Chef's cheat

To make perfectly circular beef carpaccio, McMeeken lays a whole fillet over seven layers of clingfilm, then wraps it up tightly so it becomes a cylinder. The fillet can then be frozen. Before service, slice the frozen fillet on a slicer and the perfectly circular discs will defrost on the plate.

What's on the menu

• Baked cheddar cheese with spring onion soufflé, £6
• Warm mousse of chicken and Roquefort with a tomato sauce, £6.25
• Pan-seared sea bass with mussels proven‡ale, buttered spinach and chargrilled new potatoes, £16.95
• Lemon grass and thyme roasted poussin with chargrilled Mediterranean vegetables, sauce tapenade, £16.50
• Pear tarte tatin with pepper ice-cream, £5.50
• Eton mess, £5.95