What's hot

Mark Taylor looks at ingredients currently

tickling the tastebuds of gastropub chefs

Bath chaps

A traditional English delicacy dating back to the 18th century, a Bath chap is a pig's cheek that has been brined, cooked and rolled into a conical shape.

It's a dish that is appearing on an increasing number of menus, including at Bristol gastropub the Albion.

"Bath chaps is a very traditional West Country recipe," says head chef Jake Platt. "It's very cheap to make and very good for your GP. It seems a lot more work than it is because of the three-day brining, but if you plan ahead you can make these a week in advance.

"Once they're cooked, they keep in the fridge for months. We usually use the rest of the head for brawn. We sell Bath chaps as part of a starter called pig's head three ways, and we sell about 12 portions a week."

Razor clams

Razor clams are increasing in popularity all the time. They should be treated in the same way as mussels and other clams, with gentle steaming being the easiest way to cook them.

Paul Adams, of Hammersmith gastropub the Carpenters Arms, steams them with parsley, garlic and cream and serves them as a starter for £7.50.

He says: "Because they look unusual and people don't always know how to eat them, razor clams can be quite a hard sell on the menu, but when people taste them, they love them and order them again.

"Razor clams aren't as forgiving as mussels so they need to be timed accurately. Just 15 or 20 seconds in the wrong direction and they can end up as long tubes of chewy nothingness."

Snails

Once the preserve of French bistros, where they were invariably cooked in garlic butter, the humble snail has made something of a comeback.

The Anchor & Hope in Waterloo has served snail and bacon risotto in the past, and several other gastropubs have found interesting new ways of using the gardener's number-one enemy on the menu.

Charlie Digney has been serving snails as a starter at the Garrick's Head in Bath. He gets the snails from Credenhill Snail Farm in Herefordshire and buys them fresh or frozen, in their shells or out of them.

He says: "They're very good, and apart from serving them traditionally as a starter with garlic butter, we've been serving braised oxtail with snails and mash. We're using snails because they're English and it fits into our whole ethos of traditional dishes."

Pollock

With more and more chefs looking for more sustainable species of fish for their pub menus, pollock is being used in preference to the endangered cod.

John Collin, head chef of Gordon Ramsay's London pub the Narrow, says: "One of the main reasons we've put pollock on the menu is because it's sustainable and native to this country - we get ours from Cornwall. It also eats well and cooks nicely. It's less flaky than cod and it's quite meaty. It's a lot denser and the texture is more like monkfish.

"We pan-fry it, finish it in the oven and serve it with creamed Savoy cabbage and bacon and carrots. We've also used it for fish and chips, but we tend to prefer hake for that.

"Pollock is quite a bit cheaper than cod and is around the same price as hake, so it's good for the GP. It's also just a bit different for the customers."

Wild mallard

Emily Watkins, of the Kingham Plough in Oxfordshire, uses as much wild produce as possible, often buying game from local shoots. She has recently put wild mallard on her menu and thinks it's far superior to duck.

She says: "Wild mallard is completely different to duck and has a much better flavour and texture. It's also a much nicer bird to cook and the flavour is much more distinct.

"It's really beautiful and this year's mallard has been especially good. You have to cook it carefully as it dries out, so you need to cook it rare. I stuff them with herbs and apple and blast them in a hot oven at 215°C for 12 minutes.

I then rest it for an hour. Just before serving I put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes to crisp up the skin. I serve it with parsnip purée and potato game chips and it is delicious."

Sand eels

Freezer-to-fryer whitebait has long been a staple pub dish, but many chefs are starting to use fresh sand eels.

Nathan Muir, of the Robin Hood's Retreat in Bristol, has been using sand eels, which he buys from Chef Direct.

He says: "Whitebait had a bad reputation because so many places did it badly - usually deep-fried in very old oil and served with bought-in mayonnaise. It was all very wrong.

"Done properly, sand eels - which are basically whitebait under a different name - are really delicious.

"I've sold out every time I put them on the menu. I coat them in rice flour, deep fry them and serve them with tartare sauce or harissa mayonnaise. I also think you could fry them in tempura batter. The key is cooking them in really hot, clean vegetable oil.

"Sand eels are also very cheap. I think I bought a kilo for about £6 and I got between 15 and 18 portions out of it, which sold for around £5 a portion as a starter."

Rock oysters

Seafood dishes don't get much simpler than a plate of oysters and more and more pubs are serving them as a starter, often with a drink recommendation to accompany them.

The Carpenters Arms in Hammersmith recently had a starter of a dozen Irish rock oysters with a half bottle of Grand Cru Champagne selling at £31.50.

They also appear on the menu at the Albion Public House & Garden, London N1. Sous chef Darren Stanley says: "We keep things very simple and traditional, and we serve rock oysters on a big plate with a wedge of lemon and shallot vinegar for £9 as a starter.

"We try to up-sell it by recommending to customers that they order a Bloody Mary or a glass of Champagne to go with it. We get our oysters from Maldon in Essex and they're exceptional quality. We get them delivered every day and they come with an individual tag saying when they were picked and how fresh they are. Freshness is key for oysters."

Mutton

Since Prince Charles backed the Mutton Renaissance campaign, more and more chefs are putting this once-neglected meat back on their menus. In the past couple of years,

mutton has really turned a corner and quality has become more consistent.

Alessio Brusadin, executive chef of the Greyhound at Battersea, often puts mutton on the menu at the pub.

He says: "We get our mutton from Cumbria and it's excellent quality. We cook the neck very slowly in a low oven for six to seven hours and by the end it's so tender it's like butter.

"Mutton is richer and gamier than lamb and it has a strong, but not overpowering, flavour.

"The neck is good as it has more fat, which bastes the meat, but we also use shoulder of mutton for our Sunday roasts and occasionally the loin too."

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is on-trend this year and is making appearances on menus in puddings, chutneys and even cheese. Although it's usually prepared as a fruit, rhubarb is a vegetable.

Annette Brassey, chef at the Bay Horse Inn, Kirk Deighton, Wetherby, North Yorkshire, reached the desserts category final of the PubChef Food Excellence Awards with her dish, trio of Wakefield rhubard - chilled rhubarb and Wakefield ruby gold soufflé; rhubarb and toasted almond crumble; sweet rhubarb & vodka smoothie and shortbread fingers.

At the Star Inn, in Harome, North Yorkshire, Andrew Pern uses rhubarb in a dish of baked ginger parkin with rhubarb ripple ice cream and spiced syrup.

The rhubarb season runs from April to September but it can be forced for a winter crop. Carter Farms in Norfolk makes fantastic English rhubarb relish and chutney.

Try Ruby Gold cheese - which contains

rhubarb - from Cryer & Stott Cheesemongers, Wakefield. Visit www.cryerandstott.co.uk.