Gone is the first Bank Holiday weekend of May, along with it, a multitude of Beer (and some food) festivals across the Northwest (covered in a previous blog: [http://electrokemistcuisine.weebly.com/1/post/2014/04/may-bank-holiday-round-up-2014.html]), at least for another year. Whilst the weather held until the Monday evening, the majority of us received some warm, if somewhat grey conditions in which to indulge in some fine ales from up and down the UK. Unfortunately, already making arrangements for the Mad Hatter Brewery Tap opening on Friday evening and for a trip to Bispham Green into West Lancashire, it left little time to head elsewhere such as the Aigburth Cricket Club Beer Festival. There was however, a chance on a Sunday afternoon to wander down to the Old Christchurch in Waterloo to indulge in the embers of the seventh festival held at the remarkable environs. Journeying by train out to Ormskirk from Liverpool and then onward to the Eagle and Child pub in Bispham Green, between Mawdesley and Parbold is now an annual treat for me and a few other regular accomplices. The pub is owned by the Ainscoughs (also of Racquet Club fame) and run as a ‘gastropub’ – the term usually makes me shudder, but it isn’t too ill fitting here as the pub does indeed present some superb, honest and fairly priced meals. The tranquil settings are excellent at the beginning of our session, from 4pm onwards things tend to get noisier, with the live music sound checks and a larger number of locals heading down to the venue. A single large marquee is stationed to the rear of the pub, with the bowling green and other patio areas soon populated with revellers, getting in early with picnic blankets is highly recommended. There are usually around 50-60 ales on offer along a single row of stills, alas keg has yet to catch up here. There are a large number of ciders to compensate, although these have a tendency on warmer occasions to run out by the Saturday afternoon. A £10 door tax returns the festival pint glass, a programme and around £6 worth of festival tokens, with halves being around £1.50 to £1.75 depending on the ABV, meaning this is one of the better value beer festivals around in terms of entry costs. Food is available at a tuck shop and with proper chips and a rather enticingly aromatic hog roast also to the rear of the pub. The Festival at the Eagle and Child is now heading beyond its 19th year and is as popular as ever, but the setting is by far and away the greatest asset; few beer festivals feel as relaxed as this when the weather is dry and warm. The beers were of a usual standard for such beer festivals, alas none of them were listed in the festival programme. Sadly, the first festival where they have left it out, this was a glaring omission from previous festivals, where the presence of the list made planning your beers a much easier and stress-free task. Breweries such as Propsect, Southport, Allgates and Burscough, Frodsham and Phoenix all have a heavy presence at this festival; producing some excellent English pale ales, best bitters, red ales and stouts, although there wasn’t too much of variation beyond this. Coach house Brewery from Cheshire did supply many fruit infused beers such as the very drinkable ‘Pineapple’ and supermarket friendly ‘Blueberry’ – again though, these beers are all pale ale, where the Coconut they brew jarred with the hopped pale ale style when best paired with a darker ale in stout or porter style. An extra two hours was added to the session at Waterloo by the Liverpool Organic Brewery guys, making an 8pm close the order of the day. Luckily the session was not sold out, so being able to pay on the door was a blessing, although many of the first choice beers had gone in the previous sessions. With allegedly some 200 beers on offer (and excellently, some keg for the first time at the Waterloo iteration) alongside the ciders, Liverpool Gin, Peninsula Pies, Liverpool Cake Company and the ever-present Liverpool Cheese Company. As with many other festivals, there is live music alongside the beers, but the main attraction is the well organised and well stocked feel the festival has. As the festival has grown, attracted sponsorship and added a greater variety of beers to the repertoire it has also very gradually increased the cost of the sessions, sadly with overheads spiralling in all industries, this is sadly inevitable, but the festival does remain good value for visitors with the added attractions of great food from the aforementioned contributors. Attendance does feel as though it has slipped ever so slightly in the last two years most likely due to a saturation of the marketplace for Beer Festivals (where demand is thankfully still remarkably high), but the event still sells out on the Friday and Saturday evening sessions in a heartbeat, meaning slightly easier going sessions during Thursday, Friday and Saturday daytime and Sunday can be less crowded to get around. The beers at the Waterloo festival are again, as with the Eagle and Child, all run off stillage, aside from two groups; the Liverpool Organic Beers on cask hand pull and the craft keg beers from the likes of Mad Hatter, Saltaire and Tiny Rebel. Long may these two excellent festivals continue to provide a gateway for new beer enthusiasts, great beers and a convivial atmosphere in which to enjoy them. Pedro. ------------------------------------------------------------ Eagle and Child Malt Kiln Lane, Bispham Green, Mawdesley, Lancashire. L40 3SG Web: http://www.ainscoughs.co.uk/The-Eagle-Child/eagle-and-child-home.html Telephone:01257 462 297 Email: [email protected] Liverpool Cheese Company 29a Woolton Street, Woolton Village, Liverpool. L25 5NH Web: http://www.liverpoolcheesecompany.co.uk/ Telephone: 0151 428 3942 Email: [email protected] Liverpool Cake Company Web: http://liverpoolcakecompany.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liverpoolcakeco Telephone: 0151 734 0761 Mobile: 07864 069 105 Email: [email protected]
3 Comments
Having noticed a recent trend for salted caramel (be it on popcorn or in a multitude of desserts) and experienced some salted caramel chocolates, I drew on the rather pleasant experience to put together a dessert recipe, which is relatively simple and rather satisfying in the presentation and in the flavour combinations on the plate. The salty and sweet tang of the caramel, umami* and saltiness of the Stilton in combination with the poached soft fruit gives a solid combination for an unusual twist on a classic dessert. *(For those not familiar with it, umami is the 5th taste and most recently discovered, there’s loads around the Internet trying to pin down the flavour descriptively – just have a look around!). Ingredients (four pears comfortably): 4 Conference or Dessert Pears Enough water to just immerse the pears in a pan 75ml of Dark Rum 50g Brown Sugar 1 handful of sultanas 50g of Blue Stilton cheese …and for the salted caramel sauce: 50g of Butter (unsalted) 125g of White Sugar 25g of Brown Sugar or Muscovado Sugar 150ml of double cream 1tsp of Salt (table or sea salt is fine) 2tsp Dark Rum What to do:
1. Peel the pears of all their skin, leaving the stem at the top intact. Now slice horizontally across the bottom of the pear to allow it to stand upright on a chopping board or plate. 2. Bring the water to a simmer and pour in the sugar, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Once it has all dissolved, place the pears into the water and let them simmer for 12-15 minutes. 3. For the final 5-3 minutes (so that’s a cooking time in total of 15-20 minutes for the pears), add the rum and sultanas to the mix. At the end, the pears should be soft enough to slide off a knife once pierced, so you’ll have to keep an eye on them and use your judgement! 4. Heat up a small saucepan and then combine the Butter, sugars and rum in the pan, once the sugar is dissolving, add the cream and salt to the mix, continually stirring in the pan until the mix thickens and darkens. 5. Chop the Blue Stilton into small ½ inch cubes where possible, then plate up the pears, sultanas and Stilton cubes, finally placing the pear in the centre and then drizzling with the caramel sauce. 6. EAT. Let me know how you get on if you give this dish a try and feel free to post pictures of the outcome!! Pedro. x |
Archives
April 2022
Archives
April 2022
Click ^ the RSS Feed to follow me
Categories
All
|