Won my star. But it is isn’t with us to see it
Chef reveals her sadness that mentor isn’t around to share Michelin success
why Lorna was chopping rhubarb for hours for hundreds of trifles.
Michelin chefs are not used to cooking on this scale. For the dessert, she also made 38 litres of jelly, using 178 leaves of gelatine. She said: “Normally I use two leaves and worry that it’s too much.”
Preparing a complete meal for customers to heat and eat at home is very different to running a kitchen where 32 customers are all at different stages throughout the evening.
For Lorna, it’s a mental puzzle – designing dishes that have a bit of Michelin magic that an amateur can dish up at home.
She said: “It has to be available for people who can’t cook. We have to think really hard about how to make something delicious but that’s easy for the home cook who might not understand the terminology. What’s common sense to us might not be the same for people at home.”
Even when it’s a simple meal, f lawless ingredients and kitchen skill elevate a Cail Bruich takeaway into something special. Lorna said: “People who have eaten in the restaurant have commented on how good the sauces are. So we’re still trying to make great sauces. Even if it’s a simple roast chicken, we still make veal stock so it tastes as good as something we serve in the restaurant.
“We put these in the box, we don’t cut back. We try to make sure there’s some form of technique, to make sure it stays as good as it has been.”
Instead of offering a different meal every week, Cail Bruich is only doing boxes for special occasions. So far they have covered Christmas, Hogmanay, Burns Night and are now preparing for Valentine’s Day.
Lovers wanting a special romantic meal can look forward to oysters with a spicy relish, rosemary focaccia with tomato dip, ham hock terrine with celeriac remoulade, butter-poached lobster and venison Wellington with braised red cabbage and potato fondant. For afters, there is cheese, Lorna’s take on black forest gateau and macarons. The boxes are £120 for two and include a half bottle of champagne.
Until restaurants reopen, it’s the nearest thing to a Michelin-star dinner there is.
For the chef, filling boxes is not the same as daily lunch and dinner but it’s crucial to keep the kitchen squad together.
Lorna said: “We want to come in and feel a bit of excitement with the guys. We are still cooking, keeping our skills up.
“It’s good for everyone’s mental health. Chefs are always busy, we’re always at work. Doing nothing for long periods of time is unusual for us.”
When lockdown lifts, Lorna has two priorities. She wants to open as soon as possible and start cooking her favourite spring ingredients. Then she wants to take her squad out for a special lunch to celebrate winning a star. And she knows the perfect place: Restaurant Andrew Fairlie.
She added: “But I’m not sure that I can afford it.”
Andrew would have sent me a big bottle of Krug – and chocolate