Good afternoon one and all,
A quiet Thursday this week was enlivened by a visit from archaeo-botanist, farmer and advocate of heritage grain, John Letts. John is possessed of irrepressible enthusiasm and a restless energy. Conversations can take wild turns and there is never a dull moment. This time around, as well as dropping off a dizzying array of pumpkins and squash from his kitchen garden in Buckinghamshire, he also brought a case of beer, the result of one of his many grain-related ventures. Did we know that before beer contained hops it was called gruit? That gruit referred to a mixture of botanical aromatics to flavour the beer and that often these would include psychoactive plants? Did we realise that some suspected that the soporific effects of hops resulted in it being promoted by religious and political ruling classes who felt this made the masses more, shall we say, malleable, than psychedelic brews with their potential for incitement and dangerous thoughts? We didn't, but the beer is light and herbaceous, doesn't contain any hallucinogenic ingredients, and will be on the shelves from next week.
This year's wheat harvest was also discussed. The word is that yields were low but quality looks good. We shall see. Whilst the summer just gone presented severe challenges to many growers, with prolonged drought and extremely high temperatures, in the words of prolific allotmenteer Roy, "things with deep roots did well". Consequently we've taken delivery of some immaculate redcurrants, raspberries and tayberries, destined initially for the freezer but soon to turned into jams and compotes, for future pastry counters. As well as berries and currants, it's been a bumper year for orchard fruits. The plum season has been generous and the Styan Hegantas this week adorn a puff pastry galette. And thanks to some bartering with neighbours there's an apple crumble bun in the works. Hugo does have a tendency to declare every other financier the best yet, but do give the roasted hazelnut and poached pear number a go. It's the best yet.
On the cold plate this week, top trumps are a "toothsome and brothy" Lincolnshire Poacher, and some St Cera that show "gorgeous sweetness with Worcestershire sauce notes". So there.
That's all for now. Some of the front of house team are off to a wine tasting on Monday so we'll hopefully have some exciting new bottles for next week.
Thanks as always and enjoy the rest of your Sunday,
Kate and Hugo