After years of gourmet gastro-pubs serving up tiny portions of exotic foods, there has recently been a change on pub menus back to good old fashioned British food, with the emphasis on locally-produced ingredients.

Traditional cuts of meat, such as belly pork, are making a comeback and chefs are buying seasonal, local vegetables to create fresh, filling and tasty dishes.

As well as hearty main meals, British puddings such as fruit crumble or jam roly poly and custard are all back in vogue, which is good news for the nation's tastebuds.

With so many recent high-profile campaigns for healthy eating and knowing the origin of your food, consumers want to know about where the meat, fish and vegetables have come from.

When pubs and restaurants use local produce, they can tell their customers exactly where the ingredients have originated from.

As well as tasting fresher and more flavoursome, another advantage of chefs using local produce is that it cuts down on food miles and carbon emissions as the food has not had far to travel from table to plate.

Even though the traditional food making a menu appearance is British, it might be unfamiliar to most of us.

So here is a quick guide to deciphering the menu.

Belly pork was previously seen as a cheap cut of meat, overlooked in favour of chops and cutlets.

However it is now a staple on most menus, thanks to the layering of sweet meat and fat, which bastes the meat as it cooks.

Game is becoming more popular and pheasant, pigeon and venison are becoming seasonal fixtures.

Celeriac is another new menu favourite, either mashed or pureed. Part of the parsley family, it looks more like a turnip and has a slightly nutty flavour.

Another meat making a return to British menus is veal. Recently veal has shaken off its cruel' image as supermarkets are starting to stock British bred meat, which have been humanely treated.

With good old British dishes such as fish and chips, bangers and mash and steak pie, local food is deservedly popular.

3:11pm Tuesday 29th January 2008

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