Gloucestershire food with Rob Rees February 2011

Love is in the air, this February, when The Cotswold Chef Rob Rees shares his romantic tips for pulling off the ultimate Valentine’s Day feast.

This February, Valentine’s Day will be on most people’s minds – particularly as each year the annual celebration of romance and love seems to extend from just one day to almost a whole week.

If you’ve booked a table for two, you’ll find it’s a time when many of the county’s chefs like to show off in the kitchen. Drizzles appear on many a dish and retro spun sugar and sugar cages will turn up on posh plates in Gloucestershire’s range of restaurants.

So where to start if you are bold – and romantic – enough to dim the lights, chuck an extra log on the fire, get out the crisp white linen (for the table, that is) and polish up the cutlery for the one you love in your life?

In my house, I always do the classic starter for Valentine’s – oysters. At The Cotswold Chef Food Centre we get our fish delivered daily from New Wave Seafoods or Channel Fisheries, but I still love to pop into the Fish Shop in Cirencester to see what’s in season and what’s special.

Rock oysters are the ones you want, but be warned some of the prices for these fishy luxuries do peak around this romantic time of year. I love an oyster opened fresh and just eaten simply on its own. To extend the experience, serve on crushed ice with little dishes of chopped sushi ginger, soy sauce and finely diced cucumber. The combination of these against the oysters is just electric!

For the main course, head to one of the local farmers markets or farm shops in Gloucestershire. Just browsing around at Primrose Vale, Chesterton or Over Farm will inspire you with late winter vegetables, all home grown and super fresh. With love and care and a few basic cupboard spices, the fresh produce will be transformed into something sensational in no time at all.

Passion fruit is one of the dessert ingredients that everyone raves about at this time of year, and I don’t blame them. It’s just an amazing and unique flavour and while not a particularly local product, I have heard that there are some allotments growing Gloucestershire passion fruit and even Chinese gooseberries for the summer! Passion fruit is amazingly good for us with potassium, vitamin C and plenty of fibre, and it can actually reduce your blood pressure – perfect on a night when you hope temperatures might rise.

I love using love passion fruit in my twist on a classic lemon tart. To make this at home, you will need six Cotswold Legbar or Burford Brown eggs, 175g sugar, the juice from eight passion fruits and 13oz of whipping cream. Combine them all with a whisk and pour into a blind baked sweet pastry case. Bake in a gentle oven at about 150 degrees until a little bit wobbly in the middle, before dusting lightly with icing sugar and serving with some clotted cream.

But, if you want to spend a bit of time with your partner, and not in the kitchen, grabbing a Cotswold Meringue is a simple and convenient way to add a sweet touch to your evening. Combine this pre-baked meringue with some scoops of The Cotswold Ice Cream Company’s naughty chocolate variety, or some early poached forced rhubarb and a drizzle of Cotswold honey and lemon thyme leaves should do the trick.

See you again in March for a look at what tasty Gloucestershire grub the start of spring has in store.

Rob Rees
9 February 2011