Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
In this video, I’m sharing a quietly complex dish from my tasting menu—one that celebrates meadowy flavours and ingredients you won’t find used in most kitchens.
At its heart, this dish pairs a rich, vegan hay-infused potato mousse with semi-dried beetroot marinated in birch sap syrup and blackcurrant reduction. It’s simple to serve but deeply layered in technique and taste, bringing together nostalgic toasted, earthy hay flavours with bright berry notes in a way that evokes the English countryside.
DOWNLOAD MY COOKBOOK HERE - veggiechef.co.uk/store/p/eddie-shepherd-the-walled-gardens-a-plant-based-chefs-cookbook
More from me -
INSTAGRAM- instagram.com/eddiesheps
WEBSITE - veggiechef.co.uk
PATREON - patreon.com/eddieshepherd
TWITTER - twitter.com/vegetarianchef
INGREDIENTS I USE - specialingredients.co.uk/?ref=e-s
TASTING MENU RESERVATIONS - exploretock.com/thewalledgardens
MY COOKBOOK (Print version) - carelpress.uk/walled_gardens
📌 What’s inside this video :
How freezing and semi-drying transforms the texture of beetroot
Cold-reducing blackcurrant juice using a rotavap
Making birch sap syrup (plus a link to my full birch tapping video)
Creating a stable, vegan potato mousse infused with hay
Related videos -
Tapping Birch Sap - youtu.be/IV5S3guMZE4
Rotavap Techniques - youtu.be/U-N23h2tcnA
Cream Whipper Techniques - youtu.be/LMb5ahQtVkY
Recipe -
Birch Sap Marinated Beetroot -
Freeze un-peeled whole beets
Defrost and peel.
Cook the beetroot gently - sous vide at 85C until just cooked.
Cut the beetroot into small pieces.
Dehydrate these to 1/3rd of their original weight.
Cover the dried beetroot in the birch sap marinade and leave for at least 24 hours.
Birch sap marinade -
120g Birch Sap Syrup (see the birch sap video)
120g Blackcurrant reduction (blackcurrant juice reduced by half)
40g Sauerkraut liquid
Hay Infused Oil -
40g Organic Hay
400g Mild Olive Oil or Oil of your choice.
Combine and infuse in a waterbath at 60C for 12 hours
Optionally lightly smoke the oil with a little burnt hay.
Hay Potato Mousse -
2kg Maris Piper
440g Hay Infused Oil
24g Salt
Boil the potatoes, then combine with the oil and salt
Place in a cream whipper and charge with N02
Keep ward at 85C in a waterbath until ready to serve.
💬 Let me know in the comments if you’ve worked with hay or birch sap before—or if you’re tempted to now.
Thanks for watching!
Chapters -
00:00 - Intro: Why I’m sharing this dish
00:44 - Starting with the Beetroot
01:32 - Semi-Drying for Texture
01:49 - Blackcurrant Reduction in the Rotavap
02:36 - Birch Sap Syrup: A Wild Spring Ingredient
03:37 - Marinating the Beetroot
04:10 - Making the Hay-Infused Potato Mousse
05:25 - Smoking the Oil for Extra Depth
05:57 - Blending the Mousse (Vegan Technique)
06:23 - Serving & Assembly
06:58 - Final Thoughts & Outro
In this video, I’m sharing a quietly complex dish from my tasting menu—one that celebrates meadowy flavours and ingredients you won’t find used in most kitchens.
At its heart, this dish pairs a rich, vegan hay-infused potato mousse with semi-dried beetroot marinated in birch sap syrup and blackcurrant reduction. It’s simple to serve but deeply layered in technique and taste, bringing together nostalgic toasted, earthy hay flavours with bright berry notes in a way that evokes the English countryside.
DOWNLOAD MY COOKBOOK HERE - veggiechef.co.uk/store/p/eddie-shepherd-the-walled-gardens-a-plant-based-chefs-cookbook
More from me -
INSTAGRAM- instagram.com/eddiesheps
WEBSITE - veggiechef.co.uk
PATREON - patreon.com/eddieshepherd
TWITTER - twitter.com/vegetarianchef
INGREDIENTS I USE - specialingredients.co.uk/?ref=e-s
TASTING MENU RESERVATIONS - exploretock.com/thewalledgardens
MY COOKBOOK (Print version) - carelpress.uk/walled_gardens
📌 What’s inside this video :
How freezing and semi-drying transforms the texture of beetroot
Cold-reducing blackcurrant juice using a rotavap
Making birch sap syrup (plus a link to my full birch tapping video)
Creating a stable, vegan potato mousse infused with hay
Related videos -
Tapping Birch Sap - youtu.be/IV5S3guMZE4
Rotavap Techniques - youtu.be/U-N23h2tcnA
Cream Whipper Techniques - youtu.be/LMb5ahQtVkY
Recipe -
Birch Sap Marinated Beetroot -
Freeze un-peeled whole beets
Defrost and peel.
Cook the beetroot gently - sous vide at 85C until just cooked.
Cut the beetroot into small pieces.
Dehydrate these to 1/3rd of their original weight.
Cover the dried beetroot in the birch sap marinade and leave for at least 24 hours.
Birch sap marinade -
120g Birch Sap Syrup (see the birch sap video)
120g Blackcurrant reduction (blackcurrant juice reduced by half)
40g Sauerkraut liquid
Hay Infused Oil -
40g Organic Hay
400g Mild Olive Oil or Oil of your choice.
Combine and infuse in a waterbath at 60C for 12 hours
Optionally lightly smoke the oil with a little burnt hay.
Hay Potato Mousse -
2kg Maris Piper
440g Hay Infused Oil
24g Salt
Boil the potatoes, then combine with the oil and salt
Place in a cream whipper and charge with N02
Keep ward at 85C in a waterbath until ready to serve.
💬 Let me know in the comments if you’ve worked with hay or birch sap before—or if you’re tempted to now.
Thanks for watching!
Chapters -
00:00 - Intro: Why I’m sharing this dish
00:44 - Starting with the Beetroot
01:32 - Semi-Drying for Texture
01:49 - Blackcurrant Reduction in the Rotavap
02:36 - Birch Sap Syrup: A Wild Spring Ingredient
03:37 - Marinating the Beetroot
04:10 - Making the Hay-Infused Potato Mousse
05:25 - Smoking the Oil for Extra Depth
05:57 - Blending the Mousse (Vegan Technique)
06:23 - Serving & Assembly
06:58 - Final Thoughts & Outro
