The Curlew – Menuwatch

01 June 2010
The Curlew – Menuwatch

Neil McCue cooked in Canada before returning to the UK to work at the Curlew restaurant in East Sussex, under the mentorship of Michelin-starred chef Graham Garrett. Rosie Birkett reports.

"The only thing which is still the same is the weatherboarding," says Mark Colley, owner of the Curlew restaurant in Bodiam, East Sussex. Having previously given up a nice salary in the City to open and run the George hotel at Cranbrook, Kent, with his wife, Sara, he's not unacquainted with the challenges of hospitality businesses. But when he took over the Curlew in July 2009 he was faced with a complete overhaul. "There were snail trails across the restaurant floor." Not so any more. Get past the characterful white weatherboarding, and a chic, sleek interior beckons - all polished wood, sparkling wine glasses and quirky wallpaper.

Behind the stove is Barnsley-born Neil McCue, who, before he joined the Curlew, worked for six years in restaurants in Canada. However, it's hard to believe he has missed out on the past six years of culinary development in the UK, as his menu is entirely in tune with the recent philosophy of modern British cuisine, ticking all the boxes: local, seasonal, with nods to classics, and innovative touches alike.

Dishes such as asparagus with broad bean flowers and hand-cured goose ham (£6.50); Old Spot pork belly with black pudding, baby turnips and sage rarebit (14.50); and Stilton cheesecake ice-cream with salad of celery, walnuts and Granny Smith jelly (£5.50) show a creative, ingredient-led approach to modern British cooking.

McCue attributes his fierce loyalty to the seasons to his time in North America. "It's unfair that you don't hear much about Canada's food scene, because there's a massive emphasis on seasonality there. Because there's such a huge change in climate from east to west, you get completely different vegetables all year round - it's fantastic."

He's also had a helping hand from Graham Garrett, the Michelin-starred chef from the West House in Biddenden, Kent, who, as the Curlew's non-resident executive chef, has mentored McCue, sharing ideas and, importantly, introducing him to local suppliers. McCue describes the resulting food as "comforting, recognisable, yet a bit more technical - as local as possible according to quality and as seasonal as you can get".

The spring dish of new-season Romney Marsh lamb shoulder with peas, lamb bacon, Pink Fir Apple potatoes and mint dripping (£14.50) encapsulates his style: he's taken a familiar British flavour combination but executes it with technical flair, sous-vide cooking the lamb shoulder at 63°C for 36 hours before sealing it and adding the mint dripping. The dish shows off his desire to excel with flavours.

"Before I worked with Graham I'd never touched a water bath in my life, and I'm wary that while you get great consistency with sous-vide you can sometimes lose a bit of those lovely cooking, roasting flavours. So I automatically think about how I can get those back."

He takes the lamb fat, renders it down, makes a dripping out of it and infuses it with mint, dressing the plate with it at the last minute. The result is that the entire dish is permeated with the familiar, comforting taste of mint and lamb fat. Lardons of "lamb bacon", made using the lamb breast, add another melting element to the dish, while salted lemon picks up on the cumin salt that seasons the meat. Rather than Jersey Royals, he serves Pink Fir Apple potatoes, which are sprinkled with foraged wild garlic flowers. "I get them from a local potato shop about two miles away. They're just as good, if not better, than Jerseys, which tend to get pushed out a bit early these days," says McCue. "Obviously, people recognise lamb and new potatoes, but this is a bit different. We do endless sourcing, and Graham has been a great help with his suppliers. We are big on looking for something a bit different."

The Curlew, Junction Road, Bodiam, East Sussex TN32 5UY.
Tel: 01580 861394


WHAT'S ON THE MENU

â- Double-baked cheese soufflé, £6.50

â- Octopus, Pink Fir Apple potato salad, Yorkshire black pudding, £7.50

â- Dayboat-landed plaice, brown butter, shrimps, salted lemon, £14

â- Barbary duck breast, outdoor rhubarb, fennel, goats' cheese, £14.50

â- Poached salmon fillet, hand-picked wild garlic, marrowbone broth, £14.50

â- Hot bitter chocolate pot, honeycomb ice-cream, £6

â- Spiced condensed milk pudding, treacle tart, £5.50

â- Soaked amaretto cake, wild cherry blossom, £5.50

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking