Honey gone wild

Honey is one ingredients that needs very little done to it. It can be used on starters, mains and desserts. It is fantastic but when you get it on the comb in a pure state it goes up a level to amazing.

I am lucky enough to work with some great local producers that are interested in what we do with the things they supply me with and also go out of there way to help you source unusual things.

Caroline from Staplefields organics is one of them who helped me with the wild nights that I have done at the restaurant and most recently this honeycomb that she lets go a little wild, it is something special.

The honey itself looks really dark but when it is out of the comb it is light in colour, it gives you the impression of a strong honey but it isn't. It is still sweet but very moreish not like your normal honey that can be too sweet and have an almost fake smell. 

How do you eat the comb? Just put it in your mouth and chew until you are left with the wax, or get involved with the fingers.

This is a dish I have put on the menu last week-

Brookland white duck- roast breast, confit leg, neck cannelloni, pan seared liver, spinach, sauteed potatoes and wild honey

This dish I think is what Due South is all about, we are using the whole beast in the elements of the dish all the way down to the neck and gizzards in the cannelloni, it is rustic but smart at the same time.  With game just around the corner this dish is the stepping stone to what is to come, my favourite season for cooking.

Meat glue

Activa EB is the name of this crazy stuff, basically this glue can bond any meat or fish together but so much cooler than just that!

I have been playing around with this stuff for a while now and it is mad what it does. I believe some big name pre made food producers use it to make things, then chefs started using it in kitchens.


A friend of mine in Scotland introduced it to me one night,  he was doing a pressed pork belly and langoustine dish where he had the tails going through the belly it sounded amazing, I had to get some in.

When I checked it out on the internet there was loads of things out there going on like scallops stuffed with bacon where they made a bacon puree, chopped the scallops then reformed the scallop in a ring with the bacon in the middle and let it set for a few hours and use it the same way you would a scallop.

There is also a restaurant in New York called WD 50 and the chef there purees shrimp with activa and then pipes it into a water bath to make a shrimp noodle, that is pretty cool.


For the same reason as the last blog I wanted to increase the popularity of whiting by stuffing it with lobster, as far as I can gather salt helps the bond so I seasoned the whiting then brushed it with a mix of 10g glue to 100ml filtered water put it all back together with the lobster going through it, leave it for min of 6 hours or overnight came out great, this is a simple way of using the glue just think how far you could go.

If you use too much glue it can change the texture of the meat and you need to keep the powder in a sealed bag airtight in the freezer other than that it is great.