‘Maybeotherpeople
won’t get it [or]
thinkI’mwrong, and
that’sfine.But Ifeel
likethis is agood
ideaand I’mdoing
it becauseIreally
believethat it’sthe
rightthingto do’
ChefDougMcMaster(left)Thepiece on myplate is taken
fromacut thatis noteasyto
love,evenonapremiumbeast.
Themuscles betweenthe ribsare
hard-worked,coarse-textured
andheavily striatedwithcollagen.
McMaster braisesitforages, as he
must to renderitedible,andfinishes
it in asearing hotoven, butwhathe
producesisnot an ordinarypiece of
steak. Rather,itisapiece of meatin
whichyoucan’t escapethe story. It
hasatexture unlikeanything else
andwhatflavour it stillcontainsis
brilliantlyreanimatedwith asharp
glazeand acrustof blackandcubeb
pepper withahint of caraway anda
chiffonadeof three-cornered garlic.
He hasn’t magicallymadeajuicy
piece of fillet outof aknackered
beast;insteadhe useswaste meat
andmakesitdelicious.And that
raises complicatedquestions.Whataremycriteriafor quality?
Whatif theyare baseless?
Thereweretwodesserts for
meto taste.Both were ice creams.
Thefirst –served withasesame
seed tuileand adulcedelechemade
of discardedwhey–was made
fromleftoverpumpkin seeds,
carefullytoasted, andtasted“just
likepistachio”, thedessertchef
explained. Thesecondwasdesigned
to emulatetheflavoursof tropical
fruitsthatmightotherwise require
unsustainabletransport.Therewas
atoppingof fermentedrhubarb
andthe icecream,madefrom
fermentedpumpkinskins,tasted
remarkablylikemango.
McMasteris utterlysureof
hisphilosophyandhiscrew are
drenched in theethos,but these
dishesare wherethe rubber hitsthe
road.There aretwokindsof diners,thosewhotakepleasurefromthe
knowledgetheyare engagingin
something importantandthatthe
pistachio andmango flavoursare
incrediblyaccuratefor something
madefromwaste,andthosewho
willask:“What’s wrongwith a
real mango?”
Whatistrulyimpressive about
McMasterishowlittleofadamnhe
gives. Hedoesn’thaveanactivist’s
desiretochangepeople’s minds.
Hehas,instead,the artist’sdrive
to expresswhathebelieves. If that
troublespeople,it’sfine.If they
changetheirbehaviouras aresult,
that’sabonus.
Restaurantsare aboutmore
thanfood.Theyare aboutthe
environment,the ethos,the
audience. McMasteris aboutmore
thanfoodtoo, he’s aboutabigger
idea. It’s ablessing,then,thathe’s a
an excellentchefwith asuperbcrew
so he canexpressthatbiggeridea
throughasuccessfulrestaurant.
Youleave mostimportant
restaurantswithyour question
answered. If thequestionSilo
is asking is: “Can afine-dining
restaurantbe zero wasteand
succeed?”,thentheanswer is
emphaticallyyes.
That experienceis both more
andless thananormalnightout.
Elsewhere, Ihavepaidfor things
thatare,bydefinition,“rubbish”,
yetIhaveenjoyedthemmore
thanIthought Icould.Here,Iwas
delighted andIlefttroubled. In a
strangeway, Ithinkthat’sexactly
whatDougMcMaster intends.TimHaywardiswinnerofthe
RestaurantWritingAwardatthe
GuildofFoodWritersAwards2019combination.Youjustcan’t miss
howthe by-products andtrimmings
of eachcomponentrecurinother
dishes.These arecleverideas,
executedinthe idiomof finedining
andcreditable,assuch,in every
sense. Butit’sthe finalcoursesthat
trulyprovokethought.
The“main”isapiece of
intercostalmusclefromaseven-
year-oldmilker,onapurée of
parsnipscooked in beeffat.
In Argentina,SpainandItaly, older
workinganimals aretreasured for
theirwell-muscledflesh. In theUK,
we usuallygofor youngeranimals,
bred formeat,carefullybutchered
andaged. At sevenyears old, having
outlived its productive life,aBritish
dairycowcustomarily goes to pet
food or piefilling.And its slaughter
is oneof themostegregious
examplesoffoodwaste.FT.COM/MAGAZINEMARCH 7/82020