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Irish Examiner
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Seafood Made Simple: My Welsh Rarebit blends fish with cheese for an oceanic oomph
The Welsh Rarebit, in my book, is the ultimate of all open-faced sandwiches. Packed with the umami layered ingredients of ale, cheese, and Worcestershire sauce. It's a deeply moreish number. I had my first rarebit in one of my all-time favourite restaurants, the renowned St John in London. Founded by the great chef Fergus Henderson, he's a master of simplicity and the king of nose-to-tail cookery. His version includes English mustard powder and Guinness. Mine, as you'd expect, includes a little seafood. I'm not typically the biggest advocate of serving fish with cheese but it works so brilliantly in this recipe, using some smoked haddock to add an oceanic oomph. I've used a little fillet of Woodcock Smokery's smoked haddock in this recipe, but you could also use some smoked pollock. Or you could fold through some crab through the mix instead. A fundamental ingredient to a rarebit is beer. Some recipes call for red ales, others for porters, lots for stout. Here, I've opted for a more subtle addition, using Elbow Lane's lager to flavour the sauce. Elbow Lane Brewery and Smoke House produces five award-winning beers. Expertly brewed by Russel Grant and his team, they adhere to the principles of the German purity laws, using only water, hops, barley and yeast. For cheese, I've used Coolattin Cheddar from west Wicklow. Tom Burgess is producing my favourite cheddar in the whole of Ireland. Crowned the World's Best Cheddar last year in the World Cheese Awards, I implore you to try this. A mature raw milk cheese made only in the summer months, when the herd is grazing on clover-rich pastures, it's both fruity and nutty. You'll find it in most cheesemongers, but you can also buy direct from Smoked Haddock Rarebit with Fennel and Apple Salad recipe by:Aishling Moore I'm not typically the biggest advocate of serving fish with cheese but it works so brilliantly in this recipe Servings 4 Preparation Time 10 mins Cooking Time 30 mins Total Time 40 mins Course Main Ingredients For the rarebit 100g smoked haddock 300ml milk 50g butter (plus 30g for toasting bread) 50g plain flour 150ml beer 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1tb Worcestershire sauce 20g mature cheddar grated (plus extra for finishing) ¼ tsp white pepper Sea salt 4 x slices thick-cut bread For the salad 1 small bulb of fennel 1 small apple, sliced Juice of 1 lemon 2 tbsp golden rapeseed oil 2 sprigs of dill chopped Sea salt Method In a small, heavy-based saucepan on medium-low heat, gently poach the smoked haddock in the milk until the fish flakes when pressed. Using a slotted spoon lift the fish from the pot and place on a plate to cool slightly before flaking. Pass the milk through a sieve and reserve. Add 50g butter to a separate medium saucepan on medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted add the flour and stir well using a wooden spoon. Cook for one minute before slowly adding the warmed milk to prevent lumps from forming in the sauce. Once all the milk is incorporated, add the beer. Reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 4 minutes to ensure the flour is cooked out. Finish the sauce with mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cheese and white pepper. Taste and season with salt. Add the flaked smoked haddock and transfer to a small bowl with some greaseproof paper over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool. Preheat oven to 200°C. Melt 30g butter in a large frying pan on medium heat and toast the slices of bread until golden brown. Place on a baking sheet. Divide the rarebit mixture in four and smear across one side of each slice of toast. Cover with more grated cheese and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until bubbling and gratinated. To make the salad, combine the shaved fennel and sliced apple in a medium mixing bowl. Add the chopped dill, season with salt and dress with the lemon juice and golden rapeseed oil. Fish tales Watch out for bones when flaking the smoked haddock. I like to keep the skin attached when poaching and discard when flaking. Season cautiously when making the rarebit mixture as the smoked haddock, Worcestershire sauce, and cheddar are all high in salt. It's very important to add the milk to the rarebit mixture when it's still warm to prevent any lumps from forming in the sauce. I prefer toasting the bread in butter in the pan, but you can use a toaster to save time and washing up. It's vital the bread is toasted before adding the rarebit mix. Use a mandolin for shaving the fennel and slicing the apples if you have one handy. Alternatively, you could use a speed peeler. Prepare the salad just before serving to prevent the apple from discolouring. Read More Seafood Made Simple: Why this vegetable should be the focal point of your dish
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
St John's blackberry pavlova recipe by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver
We like a pavlova in place of a wedding cake, but such an impressive centrepiece is worthy of any celebration. Use peaches, poached quinces, raspberries, or anything else that is in season. Makes a 3-tier pavlova, which will feed 20For the meringuefree-range egg whites 10 large white-wine vinegar 20ml vanilla extract 20ml caster sugar 900g cornflour 70g For the fillingblackberries 1kg, about 6 punnetslemon juice of ½ double cream 1 litre caster sugar a little, to tastevanilla extract 1 tsp Place the egg whites, vinegar and vanilla into a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk on a medium speed until soft peaks form. At this point start to add the caster sugar little by little, whisking as you go, until all the sugar is incorporated. Once stiff peaks have formed, add the cornflour and whisk again quickly, on a high speed. You will have a smooth, glossy, malleable mass. Line 3 large flat baking trays with parchment and make a mound of egg white on each: the first mound should be double the size of the second, the second should be double the size of the third. Flatten the mounds into discs and bake in a low oven for up to 3 hours, until the first signs of gold appear, then turn the oven off and wait for it to cool – the result will be crisp without and fluffy within. Take 1 punnet of blackberries (about 150g) and sprinkle with lemon juice (like salt on meat, lemon juice makes fruit taste more of itself), then blitz them to make a sauce. In a new bowl add a little sugar to the cream according to taste, remembering that the meringue is very sweet, then add the vanilla extract and whisk to just beyond the ribbon stage. There should be enough structure to make a heap, but a gooeyness is highly desirable. Now, the glorious assembly! Take the largest disc of meringue, spread it generously with cream and throw a handful of blackberries into the centre. Top with the next disc, more cream, a few more berries in the centre, then finally the last piece of meringue, a proud heap of cream and all the rest of the berries, heaped and tumbling down the sides. To serve, pour the blackberry sauce over the top and sides of your beautiful mountain, running down in rivulets. From The Book of St John by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver (Ebury, £35)
South China Morning Post
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
It became Anthony Bourdain's favourite restaurant. It's coming to Hong Kong
Published: 12:45pm, 18 Feb 2025 When restaurateur and wine lover Trevor Gulliver and chef Fergus Henderson opened St John in 1994, London's dining scene was a world away from what it is today. Haute cuisine was still in the throes of foam and frippery, edible gold leaf was the height of glamour and the bill at the end of the meal was gilded to match. Meanwhile, London's more affordable restaurants were not known for the quality of their food. The wines that accompanied dinner were also unlikely to inspire raptures. 'In the 1980s and 90s, Chardonnay was either a grape or a Chelsea footballer's daughter's name,' says Gulliver with a chuckle, as we meet at St John in London's Smithfield ahead of the restaurant's two-day residency at 181 at Fortnum & Mason Hong Kong from March 11 to 12. 'There was a restaurateur here in London, he's dead now but who I used to be good friends with, let's call him Mr Corret – I won't use his real name. He had an Italian restaurant, which he called Corretti; an Italian-Portuguese restaurant called Correto; and a French restaurant called Corette. The wine he served at these restaurants all came from the same tanker. 'He used to bottle it round the back of London Bridge. It was not so much a wild West in those days as wine being a largely unknown thing.'
