Tate Cookbook - Tapa dura

The Tate Gallery Restaurant was opened in 1972 in the room decorated by Rex Whistler with the legendary murals "In Pursuit of Rare Meats". For over 20 years visitors to the Gallery have enjoyed the best of English cooking in these surroundings. In the early years the substantial traditions of roast beef, steak and kidney pudding, trifle and roly poly dominated the menu, but as tastes changed the restaurant extended its range to include more fish and vegetarian dishes. The old favourites are still much requested by visitors and several hearty recipes dating back to Elizabethan times are included in this selection. Recipes have been tested and adapted for home cooking by food writer Jenny Lindford. The illustrations cover 500 years of mainly British painting on themes of food and entertaining. Recipes include: prawn mousse with smoked salmon; monkfish and avocado roulade with chilli salsa; steak, kidney and mushroom pie; venison pate en croute with cumberland sauce; poached pear with stilton and walnut stuffing; eight layer chocolate torte; and old English sherry trifle.

Paul King is now Company Secretary of the Tate Gallery Restaurant.