Something of a repeat this week but so many people thought that the Cotswold Lion on last week’s restaurant menu was a mis-spelling – surely it should have been “Loin”, they said – that I thought it worth clarifying…
So a Cotswold Lion is a breed of sheep. Not just any sheep but, perhaps, once, the most famous sheep in the country! Thought to descend from long-haired sheep initially introduced by the Romans, the Golden Fleece of the Lions was so esteemed in Medieval Europe that traders came from as far away as Florence to search it out. Indeed the area as a whole was named for the sheep farming – Cots meaning sheep enclosures and Wold meaning hill. Now a much reduced rare breed, the key to the survival of this iconic local beast is, perhaps counter-intuitively, that we make a market both for the wool and the fast growing and delicately flavoured meat
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We have just taken delivery of more hogget from our customer and champion of the Lions, Will Spray, so the meat will feature 3 ways on this week’s menu: First we have succulent Barnsley Chops grilled and served on a bed of borlotti beans, then we have a spicy Vindaloo (with an accompanying Raita for the timid!) and, finally, we will have the shoulder roasted for 18 hours as the centrepiece of our Sunday menu.
From the sea, we are delighted to be taking a new delivery from Cornwall again on Saturday morning – the fish was so good last week, that we are also repeating the seafood this week with whole Plaice and plump St Austell Mussels.
