Big British Food Map The veal deal

Date Published:

08/05/2008

Talk to anyone in East Cornwall about high quality food and they'll inevitably end up mentioning Nathan Outlaw. When veal producer Jonathan told me that he also supplied Nathan with his top-notch quality veal I decided enough was enough, Nathan Outlaw was a wanted man.

Nathan first fired up his stoves in the revamped Marina Hotel some 18 months ago. "When we took it over it wasn't so much a shell as a shambles," he says. Since then he's built a well-deserved reputation, including a Michelin star, for his food. He's also one of the nicest, well-mannered blokes you could hope to meet. Born in Kent but in love with Cornwall from childhood and now married to a Cornish girl, he's definitely gone native.

Nathan's band of outlaws

A winning formula

And the secret to his success? "Good staff," he says magnanimously. “We're trying to achieve something unpretentious but of a high standard here. Eighty-five per cent of diners are on holiday and want to relax so we aim to keep it informal."

Keeping it local

I quiz him about his other suppliers aside from Jonathan. He tells me that the fruit and veg is from Parr's, the cheese from Charlie Hicks in Bristol, his fish from Tim Alsop at Looe and his meat from Kittow's butchers around the corner. He also calls on the services of local forager Ann Mistlebrook who brings in such things as wild garlic, gorse flowers, scurvy grass, wood sorrel and seaweed.

When talking me through his menu he speaks of the food memories of his childhood. The beef and corned beef main course was inspired by his dislike of the latter ingredient as a kid, the pork starter features such classic picnic sandwich favourites as egg and cress and pork and apple.

Veal carpaccio and deep-fried tongue

Veal cuisine

Then by way of a contrast there's Jonathan's veal. Nathan serves the loin as a carpaccio. First rolling it in crushed fennel seeds and sealing quickly before blast freezing it until it's rock solid. He then slices very thinly while frozen on a bacon slicer, the friction of which practically thaws it out. Also on the plate is Jonathan's veal tongue, which is rolled in breadcrumbs and fried.

The whole treatment is a contrast between the light freshness of the carpaccio and the heavy, earthy tongue. And it's nice to see him using the stranger cuts of Jonathan's animals. The apple and watercress bring up the rear with citrus notes and plenty of peppery punch.

From doodle to dish

After sampling some of his menu I go 'backstage'. Here I not only get to meet his loyal brigade but also see his ideas folder. This is where he doodles the ideas for dishes – we're getting to peek inside the mind of a chef.

Inside a chef's brain

There's a narrative and confidence to Nathan's cooking. It's the sort of cooking you can recognise, the sort we all believe we could maybe attempt at home, even though we probably can't. It takes a huge amount of skill to make it look this easy.

There's no jus and foam and showy chef stuff - the only nod towards the current trend for leaves on the menu is cress, why? "Because I like the taste," says Nathan. In short it's interesting cooking expertly done using great local ingredients. No wonder everyone I spoke to in Cornwall recommended him.

And it's not just Andrew having a cow, Janet Street Porter is on a crusade to get us eating veal again and is rearing her own calves for the mission. Follow her campaign on the F Word.