A hearty, homely ‘hotpot’ is the main dish the English county of Lancashire is famous for. Here and across the UK, the simple, slow-baked stew of lamb or mutton with onions and potatoes, traditionally cooked in an earthenware pot, has been eaten for the best part of two centuries. Lancashire hotpot is still found on menus today in the region’s pubs and restaurants. I’m a big fan of unfussy, unpretentious, tasty dishes. But over the last few decades, the food of Lancashire has earned a reputation for being a little more complex and cutting-edge.
The county, in north-west England, sits between Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, with the rolling hills, forests and farmland of the Ribble Valley at the heart of it. The Lancashire village of Aughton made headlines recently when it became the UK’s most remarkable Michelin-starred villages, with five Michelin stars across three restaurants - Moor Hall (three stars), The Barn at Moor Hall (one star) and sō-lō (one star), a remarkable achievement for a location with only 8,000 people. But that only confirmed what many in-the-know foodies already knew: that Lancashire is one of the UK’s best places to visit for outstanding produce, from farmhouse cheeses to craft breweries, and creative chefs working to create outstanding dishes at restaurants and pubs, including The Three Fishes in Mitton, The White Swan at Fence and The Parkers Arms in Newton-in-Bowland.
Widely known for its Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant, Northcote Hotel and Restaurant in the rural village of Langho, just within the Ribble Valley, is one of the trailblazing venues that helped put Lancashire on the UK’s gastronomic map. When acclaimed Lancashire chef Nigel Haworth joined back in 1984, he helped turn around what was a small country house hotel and restaurant into a highly respected and sought out fine-dining destination. Known for working with local, seasonal produce, Northcote won a Michelin star in 1996 and has retained it continuously ever since, the restaurant. Haworth has since left, the current Executive Chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen joining Northcote in 2001 and taking control of the kitchen in 2017, retaining the restaurant’s Michelin star and continuing the celebration of all things local and seasonal.
After a pleasant drive through the English countryside, we arrive at the smart, redbrick, 19th-century manor house, whose oldest parts date from the 1880s. In the lobby, we’re quickly checked in, a welcoming member of staff guiding us across a terrace, where guests are sipping cocktails in the late summer sunshine. Our tucked-away suite is spacious and modern, elegantly decorated with shades of industrial greys, a silver headboard over the king-size bed, and a vivid, scarlet sofa. Set in one of the walls, a fake electric fireplace helps provide a cosy atmosphere. There’s also a make-up table and mirror, two plush silvery armchairs positioned around a coffee table, and a single bed made up for our young son. Large glass doors at the front open onto our quiet, private terrace, which looks out over garden greenery and beyond to a field where a horse and rider occasionally gallop by. Our large bathroom is light and bright, with white tiles, a large white bathtub, twin sinks set in a swirling marble shelf, and a shower room with two rainshowers, kitted out with fragrant Bamford toiletries.
But people don’t come here for the soap and shampoo. In the evening, we head over to the main house’s lounge and bar area, the rooms decorated with classic black and white posters of Sean Connery and Michael Caine. After a quick talk-through of the five-course summer Gourmet Menu, we’re led through to a booth in the main dining room: a grand space with tables covered with crisp white linen, opulent chandeliers, and evocative, abstract sea-and-sky landscape paintings on the walls. Windows along the front have views out over the terrace and surrounding countryside.
Efficient, knowledgeable waiting staff first carefully deliver two snacks: a neat, little, beetroot macaroon and a warming, Lancashire Bomber cheese Soufflé, the latter served inside an egg shell, the top neatly lasered off, mine with crispy onion granules within. Being on the Pescatarian menu, my first course is an elegant plate of pressed heritage carrot with Chardonnay pickle and tangy savora, while my wife’s standard menu, which includes meat, begins with pressed rabbit. We both enjoy the fresh, sharp bowl of Isle of Wight tomatoes with feta and basil. The Native Lobster dish is an obvious standout, a tail of lobster, roasted over coals and served with mango and a chilli and lime sauce, accompanied by a crowd-pleasing rectangle of lobster toast that is, as one nearby diner puts it “like a posh prawn toast from a Chinese takeaway.”
My main is sea bass, with a crispy skin, served with confit potato and mussels, while my wife tucks into a disc of guinea hen with forest mushrooms. Great care has clearly gone into each dish, not just inventive flavour and texture combinations, but the artful presentation, including the English strawberries dessert, which has a light, yoghurt mousse inside a delicate egg of thin white chocolate, and comes with sorrel sorbet, sliced strawberries and strawberry sauce, the waitress sprinkling a final spoonful of frozen colourful flower petals at the table. Children are well-served here too, our son happily demolishing a plate of melon and berries, a plate of Cumberland sausage with peas and a tower of blocky chips, finishing with and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.
Next morning, we wander back over to the same restaurant for breakfast, where a friendly waitress brings tea, coffee and juice by our window-side table, followed by a rack of toast and fluffy English muffins served on folded serviettes. Greek yoghurt and berries come with the restaurant’s own excellent, crunchy granola, while the menu for hot dishes includes a Full English Breakfast, avocado toast, and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs.
We spend the day exploring the Ribble Valley, starting with Downham, one of Lancashire’s most picturesque villages, where we wander past St Leonard’s Church, a Grade II* listed building with a tower dating from 15th century, then along a river and out into some sheep fields, the curved, 557-metre Pendle Hill looming above us. Next, we wander through the town of Clitheroe, a lively market town and the valley’s hub, famous for Clitheroe Castle, which has sat on a limestone mound, looming over the town, for more than 800 years. After checking out bookshops, toyshops and bakeries, we spend the afternoon in the village of Whalley, where Northcote’s team is planning to open a new bakery on the high street, next to an acclaimed wine shop and bar. From the village centre, we walk down the quiet backstreets, out past the atmospheric ruins of Whalley Abbey to Whalley Viaduct, a Grade II-listed railway viaduct, the largest and longest in Lancashire, built between 1846 and 1850 as part of the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway. We walk beneath the towering, red brick arches and stop on a metal bridge across the rushing River Calder, ducks racing over in the hope of food.
Later, we eat again in Northcote’s restaurant, this time ordering à la carte, rather than the set Gourmet Menu. The evening begins with a refreshing serving of gazpacho soup. I order a bowl of Yorkshire Pecorino agnoletti, a neat row of cheese-filled pasta parcels with a comforting tomato consommé, then a main of chalk stream trout with courgette, smoked butter and dill, while my wife goes for a chicken ravioli and sweetcorn started, followed by Lake District lamb with red pepper, whipped feta and black olives. Both of us opt to end with the appealing Valrhona Chocolate, a neatly piped chocolate mousse with salted sheep’s milk and a delicate crispy wafer that give a bit of texture and crunch. As in the night before, each pleasantly surprising dish from start to finish is precise and elegant – and a long way away from the humble hotpot.
Rooms from £265 B&B. Gourmet Menu £155 per person. Northcote Hotel, Northcote Rd, Langho, Blackburn, BB6 8BE. www.northcote.com
