Beremeal – flour made from bere, an ancient type of barley probably brought over by the Vikings – used to be staple fare in Scotland, but is now grown and milled mainly on Orkney. So it’s a food that’s seriously endangered, which is why it’s included in Slow Food’s list of “forgotten foods”, and featured on the menu of our recent Endangered Foods Feast in Long Ashton village hall. Chef Tom van Zeller makes creative use of beremeal in this Carrots and Buttermilk starter which I recently ate in his tiny Harrogate restaurant. The dish includes carrots cooked two ways, buttermilk ice cream, homemade fresh cheese, wheat berries, prune puree – and chunks of beremeal biscuit that Tom bakes himself. They’re all simple ingredients but work fantastically together and the starter is one that guests always ask for. Do eat at Van Zellers if you are ever in Yorkshire. www.vanzellerrestaurants.co.uk
