“Grass-fed organic Scotch Beef contains significantly more vitamins and minerals than non-organic, grain-fed beef; and its fat has a higher content of Omegas which are crucial for our health. Hung correctly and matured for further flavour and tenderness, it is almost effortless to prepare and cook with beef of this standard. This dish is named after a Venetian painter and is usually served with a little olive oil, lemon and white truffle or Parmesan. It’s totally raw, truly delicious and perfectly safe to eat. Serving raw beef is a real test of the quality of the meat and the provenance of the cattle. I’ve made this dish using many different cuts of beef for this in the past, but here I’m using fillet. It is expensive, but consider this a special dish to be savoured.”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

250g piece of fillet of Scotch Beef, trimmed and silver skin removed

1 tablespoon cold-pressed rapeseed oil

1 large tablespoon Arran mustard

Good salt and pepper

250mls cider vinegar

250mls water

250g unrefined caster sugar

400g mixed veg for picking e.g. cauliflower, carrot, onion, courgette, red pepper

A few aromas like star anise, cinnamon or thyme for flavouring your pickles

A few salad leaves

A few shards of Corra Linn or Bonnet cheese

METHOD

Firstly bring the vinegar, water and sugar to the boil on the hob with your chosen aromas and simmer for 3 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.

Blanch the pickling veg in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes until just starting to soften, then refresh under cold, running water. Then place them into the hot pickle liquor. Once done these can be stored for weeks in a sterilised jar.

Season the beef all over with salt and pepper then get a heavy frying pan very hot and add half the rapeseed oil. Then very quickly sear the beef all over for a couple of minutes maximum. This is just to remove the raw outer layer of the beef.

Make a paste with the mustard and the remaining oil, then season with salt and pepper. Rub this paste all over the just-seared beef and wrap it very tightly in cling film until it resembles a sausage. Make sure it’s firmly secured and tie the ends so it won’t unravel. Then place the beef in your freezer for about an hour. You don’t want it to be frozen solid, just to be firm.

To serve, simply remove the beef from the cling film and slice very thinly with a very sharp knife and arrange on a plate. Season with salt and pepper, then some salad leaves and some pickled veg. Lastly, add the shards of cheese and a final seasoning.