Holborn Dining Room lunch box: Scotch egg with turmeric pickled cauliflower

This week’s lunch box is inspired by the beauty of classical cooking. A while ago I flicked through popular photos on Instagram and image after image of new trends appeared. There were rainbow bagels. There were freakshakes. There were burgers with doughnuts for a bun. There was (far too much) courgetti. Then in between a photo of chips piled into a shopping trolley and a bowl of gourmet cereal - eaten while holding a cat - I spied it. A glossy rabbit and bacon-en-croute with perfectly scalloped edges and a side of pickled vegetables. The photo was by Calum Franklin, Executive Chef at Holborn Dining Room in the Rosewood London Hotel.

I meet with Calum to talk about his cooking just before dinner service in the middle of the heatwave. There is no quiet time in the Holborn Dining Room as they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh and brunch and early supper. And a deli to look after.

Calum comes straight from the kitchen and while by name he is an executive chef he spends his time cooking and developing new dishes. Born in Scotland and raised in London he started off as a kitchen porter when he was 17 and from the first day realised that this was the environment for him. Having worked at Chapter One and Roast he now heads the team at Holborn Dining Room. While his background is in fine dining, he started putting dishes on the menu that used classical cooking techniques, like terrines, and his chefs as well as the customers responded. His approach is seen in everything on the menu. When they decided to put sausages on they spent weeks creating a recipe and testing it before creating the finished product on the menu. He describes his cooking as honest, crafted and simple food. Crafted yes, simple it is not. The beef wellington dish, for example, is a three day process. He loves dishes like this which champion British cooking for what it can be. Behind seemingly simple dishes like the recent chicken and girolle pie are techniques that must be practised and mastered for the standard of food Calum and his team creates.

They do a few hundred covers everyday and yet for a large brasserie he refuses to cut corners. He tells me of his joy of coming into the kitchen the other morning and seeing a veal stock on in one corner, chicken stock simmering away and a lamb one in the other corner. He says he never thought he’d be serving chicken pie but is proud of the time and skill his chefs put into it – and how his chefs’ faces light up when they take it out of the oven. With this type of food there is nothing to hide behind. And therein lies the difficulty and skill.

After we chat he takes me on a kitchen tour to meet the team. Everyone is busy getting set up for dinner service and a large canape function but still has time to say hello. I spy that rabbit and bacon en croute in its mould ready for tomorrow and wonder how I could manage to leave with the whole beautiful thing. As it's six o’clock, Calum has to go back to work. Back on the hot street it’s roasting but I’m craving pie and mash and quickly head home to prepare it.

For our lunch box recipe this week Calum suggests the scotch egg on the Holborn Dining Room menu. Last year he won the annual scotch egg competition at The Canonbury with his white pudding (flavoured with rosemary and white pepper) scotch egg. I’m initially reluctant, perhaps scarred by memories of making hundreds of scotch eggs when I worked at The Ship. Also perhaps it will take too long to make for lunch. But there is something immensely satisfying about making your own scotch eggs. Try this at home and you’ll never want to pick one up at a petrol station again. I’ve shallow-fried this one for a lighter version. But if you want to deep fry it go on. I won’t tell anyone. We’re having it with one of Calum’s favourite pickled vegetables – cauliflower. I’ve added turmeric and mustard seeds to a cider vinegar pickle.

For the scotch egg

2 medium eggs

1 tbsp. milk

90g sausage meat (or 40g sausage meat and 50g white pudding)

1 small sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped

Sea salt, pepper to season

1 tsp. white flour

1 tbsp. Panko breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the turmeric pickled cauliflower

This recipe is to pickle one whole small cauliflower so that you have extra leftover after your lunch. Use up the leftovers stuffed in pitta bread with feta and rocket. It also works great as a side for curries.

One small cauliflower

400ml water

150ml cider vinegar

1 tsp. caster sugar

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. black mustard seeds

Pinch chilli flakes

Cost: £3.60

Scotch egg

Preheat oven to 190C. Place one of the eggs in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. When the water starts to boil lower the temperature and simmer for 5 minutes. If you want a softer yolk cook for 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and leave to cool in iced water for 10 minutes. Whisk the other egg with the milk. Mix the sausage meat (and pudding if using) with the chopped rosemary and season. Roll out the sausage mix between two sheets of cling film until it is big enough to wrap around the egg. It helps if you wet your hands slightly for the next bit. Shape the sausage mix around the egg and pat smooth so there are no gaps. Set up three bowls: one with the flour, one with the whisked egg and one with the breadcrumbs. Roll the egg gently in the flour. Then dip in and out of the whisked egg. Finally roll in the panko breadcrumbs. If you have time refrigerate for 20 minutes before cooking (this gives you a better shape). Heat the vegetable oil in a small frying pan. When hot add the egg and quickly fry, rotating every 30 seconds so that it becomes golden brown all over. Finish cooking in the oven on a baking tray for 10 minutes. Slice open and serve or eat the whole thing in one bite. It’s up to you.

Turmeric pickled cauliflower

If I want to eat this pickle on the same day I will gently heat the vinegar and water (if you heat it too much it will cook the cauliflower and it will become soggy). If you can wait a few days there is no need to heat it. Chop a small cauliflower into small florets. Gently warm the vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan (do not boil). Whisk in the turmeric, mustard seeds and chilli flakes and pour over the cauliflower. Store in an airtight jar. It’s best after a couple of days and eaten within two weeks.

Laoise Casey is a chef de partie at Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green and the author of cuisinegenie.ie. Follow her on Twitter @cuisine_genie and Instagram @laoisecooks. Laoise uses Box Appetit lunch boxes.