Two knockout summer recipes to impress with minimal effort

You can tell a lot about a chef from the way they talk about ingredients.

For George Colebrook and Neil Paterson – the duo behind private dining outfit Arete – it’s all about restraint, reverence and a quiet confidence in classical technique.

Having met at Restaurant Barra in Berlin, the pair now split their time between Edinburgh and London, curating tailor-made dining experiences across the UK that showcase the best of seasonal British produce, presented with precision and a sense of ease.

This summer, Colebrook (ex-Bright, Koya, Barra) and Paterson (Barra, The Boath House) are sharing a few dishes from their current repertoire – elegant plates designed for warm-weather eating that still have substance.

Think: hand-dived scallops dressed with housemade bergamot kosho and tempura purple sprouting broccoli with elderflower mayonnaise.

Like Arete’s approach as a whole, the cooking is grounded in flavour, rooted in seasonality and always just a little bit celebratory.

Tempura purple sprouting broccoli and elderflower mayonnaise

A quintessential early summer snack, this tempura broccoli dish makes the most of the short but glorious purple sprouting season. Crisp, airy batter contrasts with the earthy sweetness of the broccoli, while a fragrant elderflower mayonnaise – made with homemade vinegar – adds brightness and a touch of nostalgia. It’s simple, seasonal cooking elevated with a little care and precision.

Serves: 4 as a snack or starter

Prep time: 45 minutes (plus overnight for vinegar) | Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bunch of purple sprouting broccoli

1½L cold-pressed rapeseed oil for frying

For the elderflower vinegar:

500ml white wine vinegar

500ml apple cider vinegar

200g of freshly picked elderflowers

For the batter:

200g of rice flour (plus extra for coating the broccoli)

105g of self-raising flour

5g baking powder

170g of vodka

275g of cold sparkling water

10g salt

For the elderflower mayonnaise:

2 large free-range egg yolks

30g Dijon mustard

250ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil

30g elderflower vinegar

10g lemon juice

Salt to taste

Method:

To make the elderflower vinegar:

1. Start making the elderflower vinegar the day before serving.

2. To do this, take 500g of white wine vinegar and 500g of apple cider vinegar, heat to 80C (or thereabouts) and leave to steep with the flowers (stalks removed). Leave this in the fridge overnight and strain the following day.

To make the batter:

3. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, making sure to sift the flour so as to avoid any lumps.

4. Pour in the sparkling water and vodka and combine using a whisk. Place in the fridge for at least half an hour(you want the batter to be super cold when you fry it as this shocks the batter and helps to achieve maximum crisp).

To make the mayonnaise:

5. Meanwhile, make the mayonnaise. Using a blender or food processor, place the egg yolks, mustard and 20ml of the elderflower vinegar in the blender and start to blitz on a medium speed.

6. Slowly start to add the oil so that it is trickling in at a steady pace. You will start to notice the mayonnaise thicken. When you have added all of the rapeseed oil it should be quite thick. Taste it – does it need more elderflower? If so, add the remaining 10ml of vinegar with lemon juice and salt to taste in the same fashion you added the oil. If the mayonnaise is still a little too thick you can add a splash of cold water to let it down a bit.

To make the broccoli:

7. Now heat the fryer (or heavy-based pot half filled with oil) up to 180C.

8. In a container containing the extra rice flour, give each piece of broccoli a good dusting of flour and then completely submerge in the cold batter.

9. Making sure you have a good covering of batter, carefully place the broccoli in the fryer for around 2 minutes and then strain onto a tray with some kitchen paper and season with salt.

10. When it is cool enough to eat, place on a plate with a generous spoon of the elderflower mayonnaise and enjoy.

Scallop crudo with bergamot kosho

It is important to buy hand-dived scallops as scallop trawling is one of the most detrimental forms of fishing going on in British waters. You will not require the scallop roe for this dish but please do not throw these away. They can be used to make a stock, or, if you have a dehydrator, place them in this overnight and then use the dehydrated roes to add an extra component to any fish dish as you would bottarga, just by finely grating it on a microplane.

Serves: 2 as a starter

Prep time: 25 minutes (plus 4-5 days to ferment the kosho) | Cook time: none!

Ingredients:

6 hand-dived scallops

10 bergamot

60g jalapeños deseeded

8g Maldon sea salt

Fine olive oil such as Capezzana

For the brine:

1L water

150g salt

Method:

To make the kosho:

1. You will need to make your kosho 5 days in advance of preparing and eating the scallops.

2. To do this, start by zesting all of your bergamot with a microplane, being careful not to take too much of the pith off with the zest. Weigh out 100g of the zest, add 60g of chopped jalapeño and grind together in a mortar and pestle, using just enough bergamot juice to bring it together.

3. Now add 8 grams of flaky Maldon sea salt, mix well and place in a sterile container or zip-lock bag and leave for 4-5 days in the fridge.

To make the scallops:

4. Once your kosho is ready, it is time to prepare the scallops. To make the brine, add 150g of fine salt to 1 litre of cold water and stir until combined.

5. Take the muscle (white meat) from the scallop and place in the brine inside the fridge for 20 minutes and then remove from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Thinly slice the scallop and place on the plate, using a teaspoon, add a little of the bergamot kosho to each slice of scallop, finish with a drizzle of fine olive oil and then enjoy.

Recipes by Neil Paterson and George Colebrook, co-founders of Arete

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