Scotch Egg Challenge winner sees surge in demand

Michael Harrison of the Cornwall Project, which is currently in residence at the Adam & Eve pub in Homerton, east London, told Pub Food​ that sales of his winning hogs pudding Cornish Scotch egg had tripled in the days following the event, which took place at Young’s pub the Ship, in Wandsworth, on 16 September.

The chef also appeared with his winning egg on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch​ on the weekend following the win.

He said: “We’ve had a massive amount of people enter the pub since winning, and it’s been difficult to keep up with demand.

“Our egg is based on a very traditional and simple recipe, which I think the judges usually go for.

“We use a very rare breed of pig that is closely related to wild boar – it’s got a high fat content and works really well with offal, which is the other main ingredient.”

“It’s a recipe I’ve been using for about two years now, so it’s great to get recognition.”

Pop-up venture​

Harrison also hopes to start up a new Scotch egg-themed pop-up venture with fellow pop-up finalist Yolk, which is in residence at the Hatch, also in Homerton.

Yolk took third-place with its haggis, pork shoulder and panko breadcrumb egg.

“Their egg was lovely, and they are close by – so it would be great to work together sometime in the future.”

In the meantime, Harrison said the Cornwall Project felt very much at home at the Adam & Eve, and there was no timeframe for departure.

“We recently put up a charcuterie shed out the back, and we’re in the process of creating a garden and building somewhere where we can hang and age meat. So we’re planning on being here quite a while.”

Cornwall Project​

Set up to promote the best suppliers from the county, the Cornwall Project supplies a number of leading London restaurants and has appeared as a pop-up concept at a variety of venues.

Harrison said: “We try to source products exclusively from Cornwall. All of our fish, meat and about 80% of our vegetables all come from specific farms that are part of the Cornwall Project.

“We pride ourselves on our Sunday roasts here at the pub, and our burgers are made from meat supplied by Launceston-based Philip Warren – which also supplied the meat for this year’s London Burger Bash champion.”