Fred's newsletter 18.5.21

We had some fabulous Musselburgh leeks last week, grown for us in Musselburgh. Find out more about this Slow Food Ark of Taste product on our Instagram post.

Bonjour everyone,

The menu is up online and I’m afraid I will disappoint you as I’ve just received news that the asparagus won’t get to us on time (as explained below by Jillian at Lunan Bay). It should reach our menu next week…hopefully.

This week marks week 54 of l’escargot bleu at home. I cannot believe it. What began as a trial (as a means of survival) has turned into a full-time business. I would like to thank you all for helping us to keep our heads above water. This difficult time has made us a lot more conscious to take nothing for granted in life. We should all think about what is happening around us, and do our little daily things to make our lives, and the lives of others, a wee bit better.

We are looking forward to the day we can get l’escargot bleu fully open again. Sometime soon I hope, but for the time being we are trying to juggle the restaurant with the take-away and are only open at weekends. Things will be organised so we can focus on both in the weeks to come.

Lots of you have asked about l’escargot blanc and the wine bar and I don’t have a straight answer. We will concentrate on l'escargot bleu and the take-away for now, then we’ll start to put a plan together to get the door open in the West End. Until we are sure where we stand, I feel strongly that we must remain cautious and not go in many directions, therefore blanc will stay on the back-burner until further notice. Rest assured, we will let you know as soon as we make a decision. But I can say that we are developing our at home option, as we definitely want to keep it going.

The menu this week sees the return of the apero-frédo - a great selection of cheeses and charcuterie, along with sardines and some nibbles. It is a lovely platter to be enjoyed under the sun outside, as an evening meal or a nibble with friends.

The veal tail parmentier is an earthy starter that makes a slight change from the usual, and I'm certain it would also make a great side dish or a main meal. The crab bisque is always a winner as a starter and will satisfy your taste buds, or your family’s ones. Artichokes are plentiful right now and they are beautiful as a salad along with beetroot, smoked cheese and fresh cheese, ready for the basil dressing to be poured on.

The paté en croûte is very flavoursome and gives a nice kick in the mouth of different flavours from the various meats. Pickles goes very well with it and the gribiche sauce will enhance the experience.

Our classic beef cheek Bourguignon is there for our regulars; there’s also veal shoulder braised with organic tomato coulis and a diced vegetable ratatouille; while the duck ballotine with orange should turn out quite nicely, finished with a Cointreau and orange sauce with tarragon carrots.

The puff pastry pie of pork neck and chicken with mushrooms and ham is very classic and reminds me of the bouchée à la reine I used to enjoy as a kid in France.

The fish this week will be hake served in a smooth velvet crab bisque with spring spinach from Newton Garden.

For dessert, we are getting the first garden rhubarb that will be served with apples in a crumble, and we are testing a pistachio brioche and butter pudding, I think it will work very well. Our Gyuaquil chocolate mousse, and our frangipane poached pear tart to share is back, as well as our ‘tartelette of the week’ made by maestro Gonzalo with the first apricots of the year. As usual, there are plenty of cherries in Kirsch and prunes in Armagnac waiting for you.

This week we are using cheeses made in Scotland by long-time friend and fellow Frenchman, Pierre from Strathearn Cheese. We are using Wee Comrie, his Reblochon-style cheese for the broccoli tartiflette, and Lady Mary in the apero-frédo and the artichoke salad. I hope you will enjoy them. Pierre and his business partner Drew have put in a lot of effort to make interesting cheese, and this on its own is a fabulous thing. Thank you both. Pierre has written a few words for us here.

Voilà for this week's newsletter mes amis; a bit shorter than usual. There is a lot going on and we are working hard to get back on our feet and put l’escargot back on the map again.

Thank you for your messages, and thank you for your ongoing support.

For a while now I have been meaning to say a few words regarding Brexit and its impact. We hear so much about Covid that we seem to have forgotten Brexit and all that it means. Next time…

À bientôt,

Fred

Asparagus update from our supplier, Lunan Bay Farm in Angus…

Hi Fred,

News from the field…..

Our spears have started to appear and have grown 1cm overnight. Quality looks very good, but still far too slow growing to start cutting this weekend, as planned.

We’ve been studying the forecasted temperatures over in the next fortnight and it does not look good at all.

For harvest to start, we require an average temperature of 8 degrees C, over 24hrs. This has not been the case.

This time last year we were producing up to 500 bunches per day!

Our fellow asparagus growers in the South of England have also confirmed that they are 3 weeks behind due to the cold weather.

At this stage, we do not know when we’ll start cutting. If the current forecast is correct, it may be a couple of weeks yet!

Our asparagus agronomist has confirmed as this year our crop is 4 years old it will be fully mature, so we can cut for an extra week at the end of the season.

Really frustrating for us as the season is short enough as it is, and we know everyone is waiting on our spears. We were so looking forward to appearing on your menu next week.

I trust your customers can appreciate the weather is against us.

I’ll keep in touch hopefully with better news….

Best wishes,

Jillian