How do you go about creating a menu?

[tony h]

When constructing a menu is nutritional balance an important consideration.  Do you ever feel constrained by always having to have, say, a beef, a chicken, a lamb and a fish dish.  Is the menu when created ridged or do you vary or rework some dishes depending on mood or availability?

[Shaun Hill]

Nutrition plays a very minor role in menu consideration for I'm in the entertainment business more than the refueling and recuperation business. That said a good menu usually ends up nutritionally balanced in any case as people tend to move from fish or veg onto meat and veg then fruit or dairy product in the natural course of things.

I make my menu after I have done the shopping and fit the flavour combinations around whatever seemed best when buying. I usually have one safe option, a piece of rack of lamb or suchlike for those who dont want too much fish or game and are worried by offal.

The menu also represents the workload and the likelihood of catastrophies during the mealtime service. Most chefs - myself included - sail too close to the wind in the amount of choice or degree of complexity involved but it keeps things exciting in the kitchen and hopefully in the dining room