Having been in lockdown for essentially a year I have fallen back into love with many things from my past, but mostly my love for cooking. As a teenager and into my early 20s I was a budding chef having studied at Thames Valley university, the art of cooking and serving. Unfortunately being consumed by the industry just wasn’t for me.

Now with so much time to fill while either furloughed from my full time work or working only a few hours I started to re ignite my love for the art.

Charlie and I spent a long time crafting the flavour of our Big Seven so we felt it deserved the right attention when combining food my old love with Gin, my new love.

It was only right to produce a fantastic fish dish using our gin, as the botanicals compliment and enhance the flavour. Big Seven with its Chamomile touch and its Juniper front helps draw out the beautifully citrus taste to my Big Seven Cured Salmon. Gin is such a versatile liquid and its combination with food can be endless. I hope to make many more dishes over the next few months featuring our products.

If you would like to try the recipe you can find it here:

300g Salmon fillet

60g Salt

60g Sugar

20g Juniper Berries

8g Fennel seeds

150ml Lemon Juice

250ml Big Seven Gin (Others can be used but wont be as tasty :))

Its really a simple recipe, firstly crush your Juniper berries and fennel seeds and mix them together. Take your crushed mix and rub it into the salmon then rub in salt and sugar and rest for 30 mins. Add your lemon juice and Gin to a tub ready for the fridge, after 30 mins turn your salmon skin side up into the tub. Ensure your salmon is covered to the skin. Add a lid or cling film to your tub and place in the fridge for 9 hours.

I served mine with a horseradish cream, a mix of double cream (Whisked) and horseradish sauce. This one was more about personal taste and how hot you like it!

Garnished with Radish and ruby chard leaves.

Food has been my joy in lockdown, Gin has been my heart!