Pots of fun
The club sandwich is a classic favourite, a comfort dish to be enjoyed when you are looking for a casual eating experience. The combination of chicken, bacon, tomato and mayonnaise between two thick slices of bread or toast is inspired, and is an idea which Nick Fisher, head chef at Brazz in Exeter, jumped on when putting together the menu for the opening of the 150-seat restaurant earlier this year.
He took the basic ingredients of the sandwich to make a club sandwich terrine, a dish that became an instant hit and has remained on the menu, becoming one of Brazz's best-selling items. On a busy Saturday night, when around 180 covers are served, an average of 20 portions will be ordered.
"I'd had the idea to make the terrine for many years," he explains, "ever since I worked at the Dorchester hotel in London, where round after round of club sandwiches were made for room service. After the crusts were cut off, bits of chicken and tomato would fall out of the sandwiches and I thought it would be a good idea to pack all those ingredients into a terrine."
However, it was not until Fisher started working on the menu for Brazz in the month prior to the restaurant's opening that he got round to making the terrine, which is served between two thin slices of melba toast and accompanied by a tomato dressing drizzled around the edge.
The instant success of the club sandwich terrine got Fisher thinking about other terrines. As a menu item for a busy operation like Brazz, where an average of 1,250 covers per week are served, they are ideal. As well as being made in advance and requiring minimal effort to be plated at the point of service, they also provide an opportunity to use offcuts of vegetables and so help keep food costs down.
"Terrine" is a French word dating back to medieval times, but has been in use in English since the 18th century. The word derives from the Latin "terra", meaning earth, referring to an earthenware dish. Today, a variety of different materials are used to make terrine dishes, which are invariably long, deep and straight-sided. Fisher uses a traditional Le Creuset terrine dish for cooked terrines and a similarly shaped, but slightly deeper, plastic mould for pressed terrines. Each terrine, measuring 25cm x 10cm x 6cm, provides 10 servings.
While the club sandwich terrine remains on the menu continuously, two or three others may be available at any one time, with a new option appearing daily, as and when ingredients become available. They relate to the seasons as much as possible, hence the appearance of more fish terrines in summer and game-based ones in the autumn and winter.
Simplicity
One of the menu regulars is a chicken liver parfait. Fisher puts its popularity down to its simplicity - a straightforward liver parfait mix made from puréed chicken livers, eggs, port and red wine reduction, redcurrant jelly, rosemary, thyme, garlic, clarified butter and double cream. It is baked in a bain-marie for 56 minutes at 180ºC. "The exact timing is important," says Fisher. "It is easy to overcook or undercook a delicate terrine like this one."
Other baked terrines include a salmon version (made with chunks of salmon, king prawns, lemon juice and garlic folded through a salmon mousse), which Fisher served during the summer. Non-baked versions are also in evidence, made by pressing cooked ingredients together with a minimal amount of jelly, itself formed by soaking leaf gelatine in the cooking liquor or stock in which the main ingredient has been cooked. "The jelly acts as a glue but I try to avoid any lumps of jelly if possible," Fisher says.
Leeks and celeriac form the basis of one such terrine. Whole leeks are trimmed and blanched and laid along the length of the terrine mould, together with cooked fine green beans and celeriac. A jelly made from a vegetable stock is poured through the terrine, which is then weighted and left overnight. It is plated, sliced and accompanied by a balsamic dressing. The cut side of the terrine, as with all Fisher's terrines, is brushed with a mild olive oil and sprinkled with a little sea salt just before service.
A rabbit's love of carrots provided the inspiration for another terrine made from rabbit loins and kidneys, marinated with batons of carrots in white wine and tarragon. After being sautéd, the meat and offal are layered with the cooked carrots and set with a clear rabbit stock before being served with a carrot marmalade.
Often, however, it is tried-and-tested ingredient partnerings, such as pheasant and root vegetables, that spark Fisher's imagination. He offered his terrine version of this winter combination over the Christmas season, creating it by using both the bird's legs and its breast. Prior to layering in the terrine, the legs are tenderised in confit-form, while the breasts are roasted on the carcass to keep them as moist as possible. The breasts are cooked just enough to ensure that there is no leakage of blood throughout the terrine. The terrine is constructed by layering the meat with cooked celeriac, swede, turnip and carrot, together with sweated shallots and garlic. A game jelly gives further firmness, and the dish is served with apple-and-cranberry chutney.
In contrast, a classic summer matching of outdoor chargrill flavours provides the impetus for a barbecue terrine, made of pork sausages, lamb, mushrooms, tomatoes, sweetcorn and red peppers, all barbecued before layering. A lightly smoked barbecue jelly, made from a tomato consommé using chargrilled tomatoes, provides the ideal setting agent.
And Fisher is already mulling over a breakfast terrine (using black pudding, sausage, bacon, kidneys, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes), a goose and wild mushroom terrine, and a salt beef and horseradish terrine served with a mustard cream dressing.
But one dish which will not be returning to the menu is Fisher's margarita terrine, comprising red mullet bound in a jelly made from the classic cocktail combination of tequila, Cointreau and lime juice, served with a little pile of rock salt and sliced limes. Kit Chapman, managing director of the English Brasserie Company, which owns Brazz, thought it too extreme. "It was a great combination of flavours," says Fisher, "but the boss didn't like it and I respect his judgement."
