A Further Five Favourite (Edible) Things for Spring

Spring seems to have sprung here in Bournemouth, although the weather was disappointingly cloudy for the solar eclipse. But we do still have something to get excited about here at the Green House, Bournemouth’s eco-friendly luxury boutique hotel – our new spring menu!

Arbor, Bournemouth’s award-winning, two-AA-rosette restaurant and three-star champion for the Sustainable Restaurant Association, is all about fresh, local, seasonal ingredients, sustainably and ethically sourced. And when we’ve got this much wonderful produce going into Head Chef Andy Hilton’s delicious dishes, it’s just criminal not to shout about it.

In fact, we were so disappointed at having to limit ourselves to five favourite things from our new menu in our blog post last week, we’ve decided to pick another five. So here, as we put the final touches to our new menu, is a list of some (more!) of our Favourite Things for Spring.

Creedy Carver Duck

And here’s another example of a happy, healthy, bird making a quality product. Hand reared in small flocks at Merrifield Farm in the Devonshire Hills (we feel a children’s book coming on, seriously), these ducks wander grassy paddocks by day, complete with purpose built “pond”, and gather in arks by night. And they eat a low-density GM free diet completely free of antibiotics or growth promoters. It all makes for duck meat to die for – rich, juicy and indulgent.

Fluffett’s Farm Eggs

Based on the edge of the New Forest, Fluffetts, a family business run by Ben and Vey Jackson, have established a reputation around these parts for producing eggs of the finest quality. They are committed exclusively to free range, subscribing to the Laid in Britain quality assurance scheme, which audits farms to ensure they offer the highest standards of food safety and bird welfare. And the eggs truly are delicious – which is why they are stars in their own right on our menus. This Spring they are the crowning glory on our Home-Cured Salt Beef starter, oozing perfectly atop a Red Cabbage coleslaw and a caraway and dill crouton.

New Forest Wild Mushrooms

We really do thank our Gods every day for the New Forest – the abundant provider of so many of the world-class ingredients that find their way on to Arbor’s plates. Fun(gi) fact: around 2,700 species of fungi can be found within the Forest (not all of them edible, mind you). The New Forest marque means our wild mushrooms are super-fresh and sustainably gathered.  Ceps, porcini, morels, chanterelles, and the prized wild truffle can all be found here. We simply fry ours off for a few minutes, add cream and a splash of Truffle Oil, toss into homemade pasta, and sprinkle with crumbly Ewe’s cheese. Decadent and delicious!

Tregida Smoked butter

Tregida, a traditional artisan Cornish smokehouse in Launceston run by Coralie and Jon Short, has increased its green credentials in the past year by using wind power to meet its energy needs, which, quite apart from its amazing products, makes it a smokehouse after our own hearts. Its lovely, subtly-flavoured cold-smoked butter is gaining quite a reputation among foodies for adding extra oomph to all kinds of dishes from mashed veg to risotto. On this season’s menu it has a small but vital role adding je ne sais quoi to our creamy Mashed Potato, which accompanies a delicious, crispy-skinned Creedy Carver Duck Breast and homemade Sauerkraut. The devil is in the detail!

Stokes Marsh Sirloin

Our master butchers Walter Rose & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, supply us with this amazing, succulent, flavoursome sirloin from Tim Johnson’s herd of outstanding Aberdeen Angus and Hereford-cross heifers. It’s all about ensuring the optimum amount of fat between the muscles, and marbling within, to guarantee the superb taste and juiciness. Each piece is hung by butcher Steve Cook and his family team to its optimum level of maturity, treated individually, and checked daily. What that all means is that you won’t find a better plate of meat anywhere, we promise!

The new Arbor Spring menu launches this week. Why not come and try some of our new dishes – to book a table  call 01202 498900 or email enquiries@arbor-restaurant.com.