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Stout Braised Ox Cheek
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Stout Braised Ox Cheek with Crispy Fried Sweetbread, Beer and Onion Puree and Pickled Walnut Ketchup
Gareth's starter draws on the flavour memory of a great British pub meal, elevated to the highest standard. Ox cheeks are slow-braised in stout under pressure until fall-apart tender and deeply glazed. Crispy fried sweetbread brings richness and textural contrast. A beer and onion puree, made by caramelising onions with miso before deglazing with beer and reducing slowly, provides a sweet, dark depth. Pickled walnut ketchup cuts through the richness with sharpness and acidity, and tarragon finishes the plate. The dish was served to 23 of the UK's most respected chefs at The Goring, London.
Marcus: "Gareth is cooking them in a stout so he'll be very careful that they don't get too bitter." Monica: "The cheeks need to be tender, they need to be just falling apart." Marcus [at tasting]: "A delicious braised ox cheek, unctuous. The glaze on it is very moreish. I think the sweetbread's cooked beautifully. Really well seasoned as well. The outside is lovely and crisp, inside, lovely and moist. The beer and onion puree, you could just feel the depth. It was nice and dark, those onions nicely roasted. It was a really enjoyable, hearty, delicious, well-cooked starter which teed this off absolutely perfectly." Monica: "I think you wouldn't want any more than this as a starter. The ox cheek is just cooked nicely. The glaze has got the bitterness of the stout." Marcus: "I love the pickled walnut puree. The sweetbread is crunchy and beautiful and soft in the centre." {Guest}: "That dish was incredible. I think the braised ox cheek was just melt in the mouth, and all I wanted was more of that pickled walnut ketchup. I thought it was delicious." Marcus [to Gareth]: "After eating that dish, we should be following your career. That was absolutely amazing."
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