A LEADING craft brewer is teaming up with a major Cumbrian attraction to prove the virtues of beer as an accompaniment to fine food
Muncaster Castle and Hardknott Brewery will hold a food matching event next month, serving the most delicious Cumbrian cuisine complemented by specially picked beers.
The menu will be cooked by Muncaster’s head chef Jon-Robert Fell and the beers have been selected by brewer Dave Bailey who runs the Millom brewery with his partner Ann Wedgwood.
Chef Fell is also head chef at the 4-star Sella Park Country House Hotel, in Calderwood, where its restaurant has one AA rosette.
The event will take place in the Drawing Room of Muncaster Castle on December 7 with a menu consisting of:
Mild Spiced Carrot and Cool Fusion soup served with beer and hop bread: Matched with Cool Fusion (4.4%)
Jon’s treacle cured salmon and horseradish cream cheese dressed with balsamic pearls: Matched with Queboid (8%)
Infra Red braised chorizo stuffed Muncaster-reared belly pork served with apple sauce, pan reduction, potato croquette and buttered kale: Matched with Infra Red (6.2%) with Azimuth (5.8%) also available
Thornby Moor cheese board: Matched with a selection of vintages of Granite including some rare and the brand new 12.7% 2013 edition (Hardknott’s strongest beer yet)
Vitesse Noir cake served with Orange Cream Cheese and Confit orange zest: Matched with Vitesse Noir (11%)
Mr Bailey, whose Azimuth beer picked up a bronze medal in the strong beer category at last month’s Society of Independent Brewers Festival, said he was on a mission to awaken people’s taste buds to beer’s potential as an accompaniment to food.
Mr Bailey said: “Obviously wine and beer are very different drinks, but that doesn’t mean beer doesn’t have just as much variety and subtlety of flavour and it can complement food just as well. When you begin matching particular beers to different types of food there really is an infinite spectrum of taste.
“I want people to see that the natural partner for beer isn’t just a packet of crisps, but to realise that fine food and beer can work together for a real taste sensation.
“Jon is a great chef and the menu looks really exciting. We have thought long and hard about which of our beers will provide the best match for the delicious food on offer and I think people will be knocked out by the new places their taste buds are taken.”
Food will be served from 7pm on Saturday December 7 in the drawing room of Muncaster Castle. Tickets cost £45, which includes all beers.
Tickets can be obtained via:
Hardknott Brewery (01229 779309)
Muncaster Castle (01229 717614)
Sella Park (01946 841601)