Ben Challum Beef Available in Edinburgh
24/11/2006 ( Beef, )Available seasonally and in limited quantities, we are very excited to be supplying beef from our own grass fed suckler cow herd directly to two city centre pubs in Edinburgh operated by our sister company D M Stewart Ltd.
The Guildford Arms in West Register Street and The Abbotsford Bar in Rose Street have been using a variety of cuts for the last year as Specials alongside their usual menus. Using both heifer and bull beef, the pubs have taken delivery of all the beef from one or two animals every few months.
At the moment, the farming operation is not geared to supply beef all the year round, so instead we have had to accept that for now, it will be available on a seasonal basis. But this has given us time to experiment with different cuts and how we can best use them in the restaurant and bar situation.
At first the difference in quality was the most striking thing noticed. Better taste, texture and flavour are immediately apparent. But also the chefs have remarked how much quicker it cooks and how little it reduces in size through cooking. That has allowed adjustment in portioning and also recipies to take account of the better flavour.
One of the trickiest parts of the exercise has been the cost comparison to the beef usually purchased by the pubs. This has confirmed what our taste buds were telling us. Whilst the beef on the standard menus is good, the Ben Challum Beef really is some of the best you can buy.
However, selling such beef in a Bar/Restaurant presents a challenge when costing the dishes – no problem in a top flight restaurant, but harder in a more casual bar situation where customers expect lower prices. For this reason and the unavailability all year round, the cuts are being sold as Specials. Hopefully having tasted the quality of the beef, any small extra charge will be acceptable.
The Guildford Arms has been owned by the Stewart family for 110 years. Recently The Abbotsford was added to the pubs operated by Ben Challum Ltd’s sister company D M Stewart Ltd. Both bars are architectural gems, built at the turn of the century when a few such buildings were constructed as “Peoples Palaces”. Designed to combat the Temperance Movement, they were built to prove that public houses did not have to be spit and sawdust ‘dens of iniquity’.
D M Stewart Ltd has built one of the strongest reputations for Real Ale in Edinburgh and sees the use of our own, completely traceable, excellent beef as a natural progression in providing it’s customers with the best possible choice from an entirely independent family company.
