Match of the week

Gosnells mead and honey-smoked chicken

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on June 22 2015 at 08:50

Every so often someone trumpets a mead revival but it never quite seems to happen, probably because there’s not enough of it about yet.

But at The Manor in Clapham you can drink it and I suggest you do.

It sailed right through a brilliant fixed price lunch but I’m highlighting two dishes - the honey-smoked chicken with lettuce and borlotti beans (makes sense given mead is brewed from honey but the honey in the dish didn’t overwhelm it) and a spectacular dish of cauliflower with grue de cacao, medjool dates and kefir. Which was basically different textures of cauliflower - raw, roast and whipped into an light-as-air mousse. (No, I didn’t know what grue de cacao was either. It’s cocoa nibs and there’s an excellent explanation on this US site.) I'm going for the chicken as it's easier to replicate at home.

The mead is brewed by Gosnells in Peckham (‘course it is!) and is much drier than mead traditionally was. Think of it like a dry, slightly honeyed perry. Hugely refreshing. You can find a list of other places that stock it on their website.

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