Wanting to create restaurant style dishes in the comfort of your home or keen to expand your cooking repertoire? This delicious recipe has been created by our executive chef, Douglas McMaster and is part of our 'Perfection Series', which we hope will inform and inspire you.
Serves 4-6
500g baby potatoes (select the smallest of the waxy variety such as Fingerling, Jersey royals etc. They should be the size of a grape or smaller)
For the whey sauce
2L of non sweetened or acidic whey. This can be sourced from any good dairy or delicatessen
150g butter
Fragrant floral vinegar, ideally elderflower, however lavender is another great flowery option
For the Gooseberries
200g ripe/sweet gooseberries. Blackberries and blackcurrants work just as well
A handful of fresh elderflower to finish the dish
For the Whey Sauce
- Reduce the two litres of whey on the hob until you have just 200g. This should become slightly golden and thicken as the proteins caramelise. Store in the fridge.
For the Potatoes
- Simply boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Depending on size, this shouldn’t take long at all, 5-10 minutes. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.
For the Gooseberries and Flowers
- Select the sweetest/ripest berries and prettiest flowers ready for garnishing. The berries should be room temperature.
To Serve
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Add the butter to the whey in a small saucepan – it should be about half full. Boil this mixture until it starts to caramelise into a light golden colour and the texture becomes slightly thick and glossy.
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Finish with a generous amount of the floral vinegar. It needs to be very tart. This is important as the potatoes and fruit are rich, earthy and sweet.
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Assemble a small heap of the potatoes onto a warm plate.
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Spoon two tablespoons of the whey sauce over the potatoes.
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Add the berries to the dish, rationing three parts potatoes to one part berry.
- Finish with a sprinkling of the elderflower or other fragrant flowers.
Cooking Tips
Reduce the whey ahead of time. Once reduced, it will last for weeks in the fridge.
If the potatoes are the perfect small size, then they take minutes to cook. If they are too big, you could cut into balls with a Parisienne scoop.
About the Author
Head chef and owner of SILO in Brighton and CUB in London, Douglas McMaster is passionate about reducing food waste and has developed a specialised approach to food that results in innovative, full of flavour dishes that produce no waste, are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
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