Restaurant prepares a 21-course extravaganza

A Lake District chef is preparing to serve up a massive 21-course meal to launch a new food festival. The Ultimate Cumbrian Taster Menu, thought to be the most courses ever served up in a North West restaurant, has been created to show the diversity and quality of Cumbrian produce.

Michael Weston-Cole, the head chef at the Waterhead Hotel on the shores of Lake Windermere, has created the special taster menu to open the hotel’s first food festival from the 18th to the 22nd of November.

He says: “We wanted to do something that really demonstrates the strength of Cumbrian produce. Most taster menus don’t get beyond ten or maybe twelve dishes but we decided that we couldn’t do our local produce justice with less than 21 dishes.

“The taster menu will also give people the opportunity to try out some of the food we’ve created for the rest of the festival. There are new takes on traditional Cumbrian recipes as well as some completely new dishes but all made using the very best local produce.”

The Ultimate Cumbrian Taster Menu will be served at lunch on the 18th of November and includes dishes like Cumberland sausage loaf with Lyth Valley damson cheese, crispy wantons with Morecambe Bay shrimps, Thornby Moor goats cheese beignet, Mansergh Hall Herdwick tattie pot with warm Cumberland sauce, John Peel Tart and a Westmorland three-decker with sauce Granny Smith. The meal has been priced at just £21 a head.

Michael says: “A 21-course meal is going to be an interesting challenge both for the team in the kitchen and for those waiting on the tables. We’re planning the whole thing out with military precision to make sure everything goes smoothly on the day.

“Hopefully it will be a real gastronomic treat for our diners and help to give people a stronger appreciation of what Cumbria has to offer.”

The festival continues on the following four evenings with a different theme every day from traditional Cumbrian and modern British to classic French and Eastern cuisine.

Michael Weston-Cole says: “We’ve dusted off some old cookery books to revive a few classic dishes for our traditional Cumbrian night. We also want to show that you can take this fantastic local produce and use it in ways that people may not previously have thought of.”

Throughout the festival diners will be able to watch the chefs in action in the kitchen on screens set up in the Bay Restaurant. There will also be opportunities to meet local producers.

Dinner during the festival will be £30 per person for a three course meal.

The Waterhead Hotel is also offering a special dinner, bed and breakfast package for the food festival. Prices start from £83 per person per night.

More information on the festival, including a blog by Michael Weston Cole, is available at elh.co.uk/restaurants.