OOOH you are cheeky - but I like it, was the verdict from diners when pork cheek meat was put on a restaurant menu.

As part of a development programme British Pig Executive (BPEX) Foodservice Development Manager Richard Fagan tested it in a local restaurant.

Cheek meat is tender, succulent and full of flavour but is little used in this country, though it is apparently very popular in France.

Richard said: "It is lovely relatively inexpensive meat which is perfect for steaming, braising or stewing and turns out beautifully.

"This should encourage both farmers and those in the meat trade to persuade restaurants to put more emphasis on pork and particularly innovative pork recipes. It would help them all be selling more and getting greater value from the whole carcase."

Restaurateur Tony O'Reilly said: "I put it on the menu as pork mignons and that night I had 36 diners. A third of them chose the pork.

"Some people saw it being served to others in the restaurant and were tempted into ordering it themselves. It was a very successful, though limited trial. It proved to me it has real potential."

More information together with a recipe, is available on the Foodservice section of the BPEX website, www.bpex.org.uk