Paul Foster's elegant vegetarian starter is a celebration of seasonal British ingredients, with charred tenderstem broccoli and purée, quince terrine and Cerney Ash goat's cheese coming together to form a striking and delicious dish.
For the quince terrine, add the sugar and butter to a pan and heat to a light caramel colour. Pour into a baking tray roughly 30cm long, 15cm wide and 2cm deep and allow to set. Peel and thinly slice the quince and build into layers on top of the caramel
Build the quince layers to just above the rim of the tray, cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes until soft in the centre. Remove from the oven, leave to cool slightly then place a tray on top. Press in the fridge for 6 hours
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Grind the hazelnuts into a powder in a food processor and gently caramelise in a pan with the sugar. Pour onto a tray, allow to cool then chop to a crumb
Trim 2 large spears of broccoli per person and cut in half lengthways to expose a flat side. Reserve until needed. Finely chop the rest of the broccoli, cook in boiling water for 1 minute and refresh in ice water. Blitz in a blender until smooth and season to taste with salt
Char the flat side of the broccoli in a hot pan with a dash of sunflower oil to develop a dark colour, so it is cooked with a little bit of bite. Warm the purée, slice the pear thinly and season with salt, then arrange the rest of the ingredients on the plate
Focused, skilled and intelligent, Paul Foster works with the materials he has around him to create extraordinary dishes which sing with a vibrancy perfectly in tune with their surroundings.
