Beef & Veal

When I think of our isles, I think of a Sunday joint with a carving fork sticking out of it. I think of ruddy faces and 18th-century prints of fat pastors with no table manners, of blue barbecue smoke and fine dark stews, sizzling steaks and a big 'hrumph’ from the nostrils of a ring-nosed bull. Fine cattle have long fed us well and they heighten feelings of family and bonhomie as we all tuck into a splendid rib.

Summer sees less of the slow-cooked joints, bolstered with booze and roots, as now is the time for fabulous sirloins and marinated cuts to be laid over pulsing charcoal embers. Cold pink beef is strangely refreshing in summer - I love it with horseradish and salad - and juicy steaks (bloody, please) head for the mouth piled with French fries and Dijon mustard.