Playing gooseberry
Gooseberries are one of our favourite fruits here at the Pipe and Glass. Mouth-puckeringly sharp in their raw state, luscious and melting when cooked (with a generous hand on the sugar!), they share some of those qualities with rhubarb – is it a coincidence that that’s another Yorkshire favourite? 
That delicious sharpness – which never really goes away, no matter how much sugar you lavish on it – means the gooseberry is the ideal partner for rich flavours like mackerel or lamb. In my book, On the Menu, I partner gooseberries with lamb in barbecued leg of lamb with Yorkshire salad and gooseberry and green peppercorn relish, and with smoked bacon in smoked bacon hash cake with fried duck egg and gooseberry ketchup. 
But here’s a variation on that theme – the salt beef cake with fried egg, gooseberry ketchup and pickled onion rings that I cooked on Saturday Kitchen.
That week’s guest, the actor Kris Marshall, loved it, declaring: “I could eat that all day!” 
Prepare these tasty salt beef and potato cakes in advance and keep them uncooked in the fridge, along with the fancy ketchup. Then the meal comes together in the time it takes you to deep-fry the pickled onion rings.

Salt beef with a fried egg, gooseberry ketchup and pickled onion rings
Ingredients
For the salt beef1 large white onion, finely choppedRapeseed oil, for frying2 sprigs fresh thymeSalt and freshly ground black pepper4 spring onions, sliced400g/14oz dry, cooked mashed potato½ bunch fresh chives, choppedHandful fresh flatleaf parsley, choppedFresh lovage (optional)1 tbsp wholegrain mustard200g/7oz cooked salt beef, cut into 2cm/1in pieces

For the ketchup
250g/9oz fresh gooseberries, stalks removed1 large white onion, finely chopped150g/5½oz unrefined sugar100g/3½oz dark brown suga200ml/7fl oz cider vinegar ½ tsp ground mixed spice1 star aniseDash of Worcestershire sauce1 garlic clove, chopped

For the pickled onion rings
Rapeseed oil, for deep frying2 large pickled onions, thinly sliced into rings200ml/7fl oz milk200g/7oz plain flour To serveRapeseed oil, for fryingButter, for frying4 free range eggsWatercress, for garnish (optional)

Method1. For the salt beef, place the onion in a frying pan with a little rapeseed oil, a few leaves of picked thyme leaves and a little salt and pepper.2. Fry the onion until it is soft and translucent, remove from the heat and allow to cool.3. Place the mashed potato in a mixing bowl. Drain away any liquid from the onion and add the onion to the mash with the herbs, spring onion and mustard. 4. Add the salt beef to the mash and mix it all together. Season with some black pepper and a little salt if needed.5. Divide the mixture into four and shape into cakes using a large round cutter with a dusting of flour if needed. They should be big enough to sit a fried egg on top when served.6. Place the salt beef cakes on a tray and put in the fridge until required. They can be made well in advance.
7. Preheat the oven to 220C/450F.8. To make the gooseberry ketchup, place all the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer until the gooseberries break down to a shiny chutney consistency.9. Blend in a food processor and then pass the cooked gooseberries through a sieve. Cook in a clean pan to reduce down the volume of liquid a little more if required. Pour the ketchup into a squeezy bottle and refrigerate until cold.11. For the pickled onion rings, heat the oil in a pan for deep-fat frying. Heat until a breadcrumb drop in sizzles and goes brown.
12. Put the milk and flour into separate bowls. Dip the largest onion rings in milk, then coat them in flour. Dust off the excess flour and repeat the process again. 13. Deep-fry the pickled onion rings until golden-brown and crisp. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little salt. 14. To finish the salt beef hash cakes, shallow fry the hash cakes in some rapeseed oil and a good knob of butter, cook for about four minutes on each side until golden-brown. Finish in the hot oven for a few minutes.15. Fry the eggs in a little rapeseed oil and a knob of butter.16. To serve, place the egg on top of each of the cakes in the centre of four plates, garnish with blobs of the gooseberry ketchup, the deep-fried pickled onion rings and a sprig of watercress.

Some goosegog facts
We’re indebted to the wonderful Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society website for the fascinating facts on this page. Each year, on the first Tuesday in August, the Society, based in Egton Bridge near Whitby, holds its famous Gooseberry Show, the oldest in the UK – it’s been running since 1800. The 2014 show will be on 5 August, and will be open to the public from 2pm. Prize giving is from 6.30pm. For more information:www.egtongooseberryshow.org.uk

Gooseberries
• The Latin name for the gooseberry is Ribes uva-crispa• Bushes can fruit for at least 20 years and produce fruits that are classed as being red, yellow, green or white• The gooseberry has been crossed with the blackcurrant to produce the jostaberry• The gooseberry should not be confused with the Chinese gooseberry, better known as the kiwi fruit, the Barbados gooseberry, which is a cactus, or the Indian gooseberry, which is a tree that produces an edible fruit• An average portion of gooseberries contains about a quarter of the daily Vitamin C requirement.  One 100g serving of raw gooseberries contains 40 calories• The bushes can cope with cold weather down to -35°C/-31°F.
The Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Show
Gooseberry shows were once popular all over the North of England, but declined after the First World War, dwindling from about 170 to only 20. Now there are only two of these original societies left, one in Cheshire, and the Egton Bridge Show, where official records go back to 1800
There's real ritual involved in setting up the scales for the Egton Bridge Show. They were bought in 1937 and are accurate enough to weigh a feather. The Society uses the avoirdupois system of grains and drams (27.34 grains to one dram, 16 drams to an ounce and 16 ounces to the pound)
If a husband and wife compete, they need to keep their plants in separate pensIf an exhibitor moves house and wants to take their bushes with them – some have passed through many generations – a member of the show committee has to be present.


PUBLISHED :April 2014
TAGS : AUTUMNFOODGARDEN
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