James Durrant - Great British Menu Winner

James Durrant - Great British Menu Winner

Congratulations to James Durrant chef/proprietor of The Plough at Longparish whose ‘Blitz Spirit’ dish was chosen as the Great British Menu's winning main course, to be served up at the banquet at St Pauls to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

The judges were unanimous in their praise of James’s dish of roasted loin, braised cheeks and sautéed sweetbreads of English Rose veal served with a clever take on ‘beans and mushrooms  on toast’. One of the judges, Matthew Fort, described the dish as an orchestra of flavours without one discordant note.

The Great British Menu has been compelling viewing in the run-up to the D-Day celebration, with James beating off strong opposition to win what we consider here at Hampshire Fare  to be the main event – the main course.

If you want to taste the dish for yourself, the recipe is on the Hampshire Fare website: here's the link to Blitz Spirit. Or you can go and try James's cooking at The Plough. Or see him demonstrating his skills at the Hampshire Food Festival as he will be attending both Sparsholt's Food Festival on 19 July (demonstration at 11.15am and knife skills workshop at 12.45pm) and the New Forest Show on 30 July (demonstration at 3.30pm).