Match of the week

Chicken pot pie and perry

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 20 2007 at 07:57

In the wake of the great cider boom that has gripped the UK over the past year or so perry - which is cider made from pears - is also undergoing a renaissance. Typically drier than cider it goes well with the sort of dishes with which you’d drink a light dry white wine like a Chenin Blanc or a Chardonnay.

The other night I enjoyed a half pint of draught Weston’s Herefordshire Country Perry with an absolutely exemplary organic chicken, leek and mushroom pot pie at my new local The Kensington Arms in Bristol which turns out to be a real gem. The sauce was creamy with just a hint of mustard, a bitter note which stopped the dish being over-rich and brought out all the flavour in the perry. It also took a side dish of strong, irony fresh spinach in its stride.

Other dishes - a chunky terrine of chicken and veal with pistachios and onion chutney, a very crabby crab linguine, some rich, gamey faggots (meatballs made with offal) served with cauliflower cheese and Guinness gravy, and an intensely blackcurranty summer pudding were first rate. And we’ll certainly be back for the fish and hand-cut chips which we eyed covetously on the next door table.

Image © Springfield Gallery - Fotolia.com

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