Ingredients

2 red beetroot

1 golden beetroot

1 striped/candy beetroot

1 white beetroot

100g quality cow’s curd

100ml double cream

70ml white balsamic vinegar or good quality cider vinegar

15g sugar

6g agar agar

2g yellow mustard seeds

2g nigella seeds

2g linseeds

2g poppy seeds

4g sunflower seeds

4g pumpkin seeds

Parsley cress or parsley leaves

METHOD

For the beetroots: Trim any tops and wash the beetroots. Put them in a saucepan, cover with water, add a generous pinch of salt and 20ml of white balsamic vinegar, then simmer for 40 minutes, or until a skewer penetrates them easily. Remove from the heat and leave in the water to cool. When cool enough to handle easily, cut the top off with a knife, squeeze the beetroot out from the skin and remove any other bits of skin left. Wedge each beetroot into 8 pieces, 2 pieces of each coloured beetroot for each starter. The extra red beetroot needs to be chopped, blended with a little water and passed through a fine sieve to form a smooth purée.

For the cow’s curd: Add a pinch of salt and the double cream to a bowl and semi whip until the ribbon stage; where ribbons form when you remove the whisk from the cream. Add the cow’s curd to a bowl and beat with a spatula to soften, add half the semi whipped cream and fold in. Add the rest of the cream and fold in gently. Scrape the contents into a small container and refrigerate until needed.

For the balsamic gel: Add 50ml of white balsamic, a pinch of salt, the sugar and agar agar powder to 150ml of water and bring to the boil, whisking all the time. Simmer for 2 minutes, then pour into a container and leave to cool for 10 minutes. When cool and set, blend and pass through a fine sieve to form a purée/fluid gel.

For the toasted seeds: Mix the seeds together, add to a tray and heat in the oven at 160 degrees C for 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

To plate the dish: To each plate add three teaspoonfuls of the cow’s curd, followed by the pieces of beetroot. Pipe dots of the beetroot purée and white balsamic gel into any gaps. Just before serving sprinkle the mixed seeds on (you don’t want them to lose their texture) and add the parsley cress. Delicious!

Serves: 4