EXOTIC fare is making the gnus at a Giggleswick pub.

For the latest addition to the menu at the Hart's Head has captured the imagination of locals and visitors - gnu.

The meat from this African water buffalo-type animal is imported from South Africa and is the latest challenge chef Craig Biggins and landlords Trevor and Barbara Reynolds have set themselves for tantalising the taste buds of customers.

Always on the lookout for something different, gnu is the most unusual dish to have appeared in the Giggleswick pub, following on from ostrich and crocodile.

And the exotic theme has inspired the Reynolds and their locals to come up with an unusual fundraising idea for Red Nose Day - an iron stomach competition which will see participants trying such delights as locusts!

Gnu tastes very similar to sirloin steak, and Craig dishes it up with pepper. He has a book which lists every type of animal it is possible to eat and how to cook it, and he has also had some help from pub regular, John Yapp, who previously worked in Australia.

He has rooted out old recipes he has collected over the years for sauces and accompaniments for the more unusual dishes such as crocodile and gnu and passed them on to the Hart's Head.

Trevor told the Herald: 'A lot of people have tried the gnu and the other exotic specials we have had. All credit to Craig, the menu has grown and grown and grown with him and he is always keen to experiment and try different things.'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.