Back to basics

An award-winning pub in the UK is urging more pub chefs to go back to traditional British pub grub and put mutton on their menu instead of Green Thai Chicken Curry. Licensee of England’s oldest freehouse, Royal Standard of England, Matthew O’Keefe, has advised chefs that the winning formula for pub food is to keep it simple.
Mr O’Keefe heralded mutton as a “simple tasty and inexpensive” alternative to the exotic foods many other pubs dish up. Mr O’Keefe’s comments follow the launch of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign in 2004, supported by the Prince of Wales.
“There are 12,000 independent pubs in the UK and they should all be selling mutton – they are lucky in that they can bypass the big supply chains and deal with the farmers directly.
“Mutton really gives independent pubs a point of difference – the big chains won’t have it and neither do the supermarkets. You will be selling something straight from the farm and customers will be eating a bit of history.
He added: “This is not an altruistic vision, but one of good business sense. I want simple and ordinary food to taste good.”