Marcus Webb · 6 min read
The Sunday roast is theatre as much as dinner — the carving, the steam, the crowded table. Take away the joint and too many meat-free versions feel like a supporting act with no star. After a winter of testing, here is what actually holds the centre of the table.
Presence comes from browning
What makes roast meat compelling is the Maillard crust, and vegetables can do the same job. A whole roasted celeriac basted in miso butter, a cauliflower rubbed with harissa and roasted until the edges char, mushroom wellington with duxelles dark as treacle — all of them bring the deep savoury colour the eye reads as “roast.”
Never skip the trimmings
Half the joy of Sunday is the scaffolding: potatoes crisped in hot fat with semolina edges, honey-glazed roots, buttered greens, Yorkshire puddings that work just as well beside a nut roast. Cook the full spread and nobody audits the centrepiece.
Gravy is non-negotiable. A deep onion-and-mushroom gravy makes any roast taste like Sunday.
Three centrepieces to start with
One: miso-glazed whole celeriac with hazelnut gremolata. Two: a lentil, mushroom and chestnut roast wrapped in crisp pastry. Three: harissa cauliflower with whipped feta and pomegranate. Each serves six, each reheats well, and each has converted at least one sceptic at our table.
Marcus Webb
Fire and grill cook at Fennel & Ember. Marcus writes about roasts, smoke and slow weekends.
