Our own Torridon beef is renowned for its quality. Here Bruno Birkbeck, executive chef, presents his recipe for Torridon Beef Salad. Then Robert Ince, the general manager, suggests a perfect wine match from the cellar.

Torridon beef salad – serves 4

• 12 new potatoes
• 4 thin slices of baguettes
• 4 rump steaks about 110g each
• 100 ml red wine sauce
• 100 ml celeriac puree
• 7 locally foraged girolles
• Salt and pepper
• Salad to garnish

Lay the slices of bread on a baking tray and dry them in a preheated oven at 115 C for about 30
minutes. Break up the bread into small pieces and set aside.

Cut the potatoes into 2 to 3 cm thick pieces, you need about 5 per portion. Cook in salted water and
put aside for later.

Season the steak generously with salt and cracked black pepper. Fry in a hot frying pan and cook for
2 to 3 minutes on each side. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Season and place the potatoes on the slate, dot celeriac puree around, then slice beef and arrange
them around the slate. Place croutons around and drizzle with red wine sauce.

Finish with salad, potato crisps and girolles

Wine match for Torridon Beef Salad

Matching wines with salad ingredients can be intriguing. Bruno has been kind here and not used tomatoes – the bane of every wine lover as natural acidity levels in tomatoes fight with most wines. So without these worries, I set about matching delicious Torridon beef, girolle mushrooms and leaves.

A natural inclination is to go with hefty, weighty reds as soon as beef is mentioned. I feel that delicate girolles and salad leaves need something with a little less weight. My first thought was for a new world pinot noir – earthy flavours with nice fruit levels but then after some consideration I reached the conclusion that in fact a nice new world cabernet merlot blend would fit the bill with enough tannin to balance the richness of our own beef yet enough deep cherry fruit to compliment the mushrooms and also not clash with the celeriac purée.

So my final verdict is the Cape Mentelle Cabernet Merlot from the Margaret River area of Western Australia. A mix of new and old world styles, this beautiful wine will, I think, work well with Bruno’s dish.

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