Boiled beef and carrots

Melt-in-the-mouth meat to savour

were to be spikes that required treatment in hospital, we now have more effective treatments. Meanwhile, more people are dying because of postponed treatment for critical illnesses like cancer and heart disease, and the number of people living with daily pain as they wait for surgery, or anxiety as they hope for news of follow-up treatment for frightening diagnoses, mounts daily.

Yet cranked-up fear of exponential “second waves” is used as a justification for further authoritarian restrictions on normal human behaviour.

Covid apart, I know and sympathise with those, generally but not exclusively the elderly, who can’t stand noisy restaurants. This music ban suits them fine.

Personally, I’m ambivalent about music, probably on the “I’d prefer it quieter” side of the aural argument, but I accept that it can form part of the package that makes enterprises viable and appealing to certain demographics. If I find a restaurant too loud, then I’ll give my business to one that isn’t.

How hard is that? I also recognise that if you want a hushed restaurant, that requires an investment in thick carpets, soft furnishings, which, with wear and tear, will need to be renewed at regular intervals. Such peacefulness comes with a Michelin Star-level price tag.

Most modern cafés, restaurants and pubs couldn’t afford this cosseted granddaddy look if they wanted it. For better or worse, modernism is about stripped floors and echoing hard surfaces.

Remember the cheap, quiet version? Those plushly upholstered but stinking pubs with beer-sticky carpets and age-discoloured, embossed wallpaper?

Perhaps I’d be more accepting of the music ban if ever I heard the Scottish

THIS pork belly is a great alternative to a traditional roast dinner! Pork belly is full of flavour and one of my favourite cuts of meat and works well with anything!

ROLLED PORK BELLY WITH APPLES & RAISINS

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 pork belly (2kg, deboned)

500g pork sausage meat

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

100g raisins

10 sage leaves, finely chopped Flaked sea salt

Black pepper Olive oil Kitchen string

Method

Pre-heat oven at 190˚C/Gas mark 5

First make your stuffing by mixing the sausage meat, apples, raisins and sage leaves together in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.

Lay out the pork belly onto a board, season with a small amount of the salt then place your stuffing mix along the middle. Bring the two sides together and tie securely with kitchen string.

Place the belly into a roasting tray onto a wire rack or on a bed of root vegetables. Rub a small amount of oil over the pork and a generous helping of sea salt then place in the oven. Cook for about two hours, turning the heat down to 175˚C for the last 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30-40 minutes before removing the string and carving.

Coronavirus restrictions are evident in Scotland’s restaurants and cafes with staff adhering to face-mask rules and silence has fallen with TVs muted and music banned