Match of the week

Roast chicken and ‘Saison’ cider

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 16 2021 at 15:41

Even though we might enjoy a glass of cider down the pub it’s not often, I suspect, we open a bottle for friends but given the number of interesting ciders around and the fact they’re bottled in full-size sharing bottles we really should.

I took along this bottle of Find & Foster’s Saison Pomme which is made in the rich saison beer style out of Devon apples when I heard my mate Kate was cooking roast chicken and it went perfectly.

Find & Foster specialise in making ciders from ‘forgotten’ orchards and in a natural wine style. The name Saison, they explain, “refers to the seasonal farmhouse ale brewed by farmers to quench the thirst of their workers during the harvest. Historically iit underwent a long slow fermentation fuelled by yeasts that were native to the farm.”

This version too is made with wild yeasts and unfiltered which gave it a slightly cloudy appearance and preserves its deep apple flavour.

It would be great with roast or grilled pork or a good cheddar too.

You can buy it for £9.40 from Native Vine, £9.95 from wineandgreene.com and £12.95 from Hop, Burns & Black though at some of these it appears to be temporarily out of stock.

The photo above isn't of Kate’s chicken as we were eating outside by candlelight and it was too dark to get a shot!

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