Beer and Food - Butty pie with pulling power
A burnished gold beer that glories in the name of Butty Bach flavours a mixed meat pie that packs 'em in at a destination food pub close to the Welsh border.
The chef at the Bull's Head in Craswall, Herefordshire, known simply as Mork, says the famous Craswall Pie has been served at the pub since long before his time, and he took over the recipe when he joined the kitchen a year ago. "It's just made from chuck steak, gammon and lots of beer," says Mork, in the middle of creating the latest batch of 35 pies. The pub sells more than 100 a week, either with fresh vegetables at £8.95 or on their own for £5.
Mork simply simmers the meat in lots of the beer until it is tender, then thickens the gravy slightly to provide a filling for the hand-made, shortcrust pastry. "I try one out of every batch I make to make sure the meat is really tender and the gravy succulent," he says. It is just the thing to satisfy the hearty appetites of the many walkers along Offa's Dyke Path who use the unspoilt, 300-year-old drovers' inn. Butty Bach, brewed by Wye Valley Brewery, is the pub's regular cask ale, and is hugely popular. Wye Valley, of course, produces the popular Dorothy Goodbody range (Dorothy's Wholesome Stout is another fine cooking beer), but the Bach was first brewed, with the Welsh in mind, for the Cardiff Beer Festival of 1998.
It won the festival three times in a row and is now the brewery's biggest-selling beer. At 4.5% abv, it is a full-bodied, premium ale, but has a sweeter side that makes it ideal with gammon. Golden beers with a touch of malt are lovely for summer cooking, perhaps mixed with mustard or honey as a marinade/baste for gammon steaks and pork chops on the barbecue. Or use it, like the Bull's Head, with two different meats - this style of beer would make a full-flavoured aspic in a cold, layered terrine of ham, chicken and asparagus, or even two different fish, such as salmon layered with smoked trout and prawns.
