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The Riverside Restaurant in Helford |
Treats in memory of my ‘Cornish mum’
Clare Latimer recalls visits to an idyllic riverside restaurant and the culinary secrets of the woman who helped makes it such a success
Tragically, my “Cornish mum” Patricia Munro died suddenly last week and, as she was the one who started me on the cooking trail, I have decided that this week I will share her two flagship recipes.
They were so well known to her that her son, Jeremy, chose to serve them at her funeral.
Patricia and Johnnie Munro turned their little cottage in Helford, on the banks of the Helford River in Cornwall, into one of the most successful restaurants of its time in the early 1970s.
It was decked out with Patricia’s own paintings and my father’s model steam engines.
Eventually, it was sold to Heather and George Perry-Smith, and it went on with flying colours. Visit www.theriverside-helford.co.uk
Kinky pie
This pudding has been a firm favourite on our own menus. The name came about when someone remarked that it was a bit “kinky”. It is, in fact, a tart – but that was going too far!
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
5 large cooking apples
175g dark-brown sugar
1 flat desp ground nutmeg
1 flat desp ground ginger
2 flat desp ground cinnamon
3 good desp caster sugar
225g shortcrust pastry
150ml double cream, whipped
3-4 glace cherries, halved.
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Using a potato peeler, peel the apples. Then, using a slicer or a steady hand, slice up the apples at three angles round the core. Cover the base of a 22.5cm baking tin with the brown sugar, pressing down well. Arrange the apple slices over the sugar as this is the top, then layer until half the apple is used. Mix the nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and caster sugar in a bowl and sieve over evenly. Carry on layering until all the apples are used. Roll out the pastry to the size of the tin, wet the edges of the tin, then cover with the pastry.
Trim and press the edges down well. Don’t worry if the pastry is cracked or untidy, as this is the bottom. Place the tin on a baking tray and bake for about 45 minutes or until it bubbles on the outer edges.
When cold, turn out into a flat serving dish. Cut into six or eight slices, pipe a rosette of whipped cream onto each slice and decorate with a glacé cherry.
Patricia’s crème brulée
Patricia taught me this fabulous way to make crème brulée. The secret is not to finish it off in the oven.
Ingredients
Serves 4
6 egg yolks
450ml double cream
3 desp caster sugar
A few drops vanilla essence
2 desp soft brown sugar.
Method
Beat the egg yolks in a large, heat-proof (metal if possible) bowl. Put the cream, one flat dessert spoon of caster sugar and vanilla essence in a heavy-based saucepan. Heat, stirring gently with a whisk, to boiling point. When at boiling point, pour the cream mixture over the egg yolks, whisking continuously as you pour.
Pour the mixture into individual ramekin dishes. The custard should set without further cooking; test by coating the back of a spoon. If this has not worked you can rescue the problem by placing the ramekins in an ovenproof tin, half-filled with warm water, and place in an oven heated to 180C 350F or gas for about 30 minutes or until just set.
Cool, and then refrigerate.
Preheat the grill to very hot. Cover the top of each custard with a mixture of soft brown sugar and remaining caster sugar, smooth over and place under the grill for about three minutes. Watch all the time and remove as soon as the sugar caramelises and bubbles. Use good oven gloves as the ramekins are very hot.
Leave to cool, then refrigerate and serve cold.
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