Core elements

Home-grown organic apples and pears are the key ingredients for success at Dunkertons, a cider operation that also runs a restaurant.

Susan Nowak visits the Herefordshire site

Like Cockneys, publicans should take a gander at their apples and pears. Hops and grapes are not the only ingredients for a fine tipple to enjoy with ­ or in ­ a meal.

Just like beer, cider has a natural affinity with the pub; it's a craft drink we've been fermenting here for centuries. And we now see a resurgence of artisanal producers using varieties with irresistible names like Brown Snout and Foxwhelp or even Bastard St Bride pears to create drinks of astonishing complexity and intensity.

Take Ivor and Susie Dunkerton, who produce organic cider and perry and serve them in their Ciderhouse restaurant at Dunkertons near Leominster in deepest Herefordshire.

"Sniff this," says Ivor, passing me a small, rosy apple with a big aroma. "We planted Foxwhelp three years ago; it's an early apple, very high in acidity." The Dunkertons have some 3,000 apple and pear trees, but can't grow nearly enough for their needs, so they also buy from organic orchards in an eight-mile radius.

Gifted blenders, the couple produce four standard ciders ­ dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet. They also make three sparkling ciders, Premium Organic, Extra Dry Organic and Black Fox, which are sold, bottled in Waitrose.

Their cider can be found in Fortnum and Mason, the Tate Gallery, delicatessens and in pubs, such as the Michelin-starred the Stagg at Titley, and on draught at the Rhydspence Inn.

In the Ciderhouse, a breathtaking timber-beamed barn with outside terrace, most diners choose cider or perry with their meals, rather than wine. "I like the sweeter ciders with curry ­ cider cuts through the hot spices where wine does not," says Ivor.

His wife is head chef in the Cider House where the menu features a daily changing selection of different cider dishes, such as Hereford beef, beetroot and cider cottage pie ­ with the beef from their own herd.

Beetroot and cider make a brilliant combination, producing a fragrant ruby stock with a hint of sweetness.

"We put cider in quite a lot of things ­ I often add a little bit to the stock then taste and add a drop more at the end of cooking. You don't want too much, because it can be overwhelming," says Susie.

Cider certainly has the strength and acidity to make it every bit as successful as wine ­ and more versatile ­ in cooking. Susie uses it with game ­ pheasant or pigeon breasts marinated in medium cider then pan-fried, the marinade reduced to a jus which is flavoured with juniper berries.

She likes to steam organic salmon or trout fillets in their perry, uses medium sweet cider in a pea soup with crispy bacon, bakes peaches in sweet cider then glazes them with the reduced syrup, and whips up perry or cider sorbets.

Home-made courgette and cider chutney accompanies ploughmans and is sold in their shop along with cider fudge and a sinfully-sticky apple, cider and fruit cake.

sampling fruits of a welsh cider banquet

Just over the Welsh border, I was recently a guest speaker when the Clytha Arms near Abergavenny hosted the Welsh Cider Society's first cider banquet this year.

Launched in 2001 by cider devotees Dave Mathews and Alan Golding, the association promotes traditional cider and perry in Wales, preserving rare and unusual apple and pear varieties. Dave and his wife, Fiona, owners of Seidr Dai (Dave's Cider), are listed in Rick Stein's Food Heroes.

The cider menu was created by Clytha Arms chef/landlord Andrew Canning. He has a cider press and produces his own perry by blending the pears of two trees growing in the pub garden ­ one dry and acidic, one sweet.

Gold Medal Troggi sparkling perry was the "champagne" to accompany not oysters, but fresh Welsh cockles. Then Canning brought out delicate cider and onion soup, and peasant apple and belly pork faggots on Weston's Old Rosie cider gravy.

He put his own perry in the steamed mussels, followed by a hearty rabbit, guinea fowl and Kingston Black Cider casserole.

Apple fritters in a tempura-style batter aerated with sparkling cider were a triumph (especially with Calvados ice cream).

Welsh cheeses were accompanied by a big cider, Gwynt y Ddraig (Dragon's Breath), national winner of this year's Camra (the Campaign for Real Ale) cider championship.

Celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli used the same cider in a parsnip soup to serve at Camra's awards banquet this month ­ who says cider isn't as sexy as wine?

l Dunkertons ­ shop open all year, restaurant Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, Easter to September. Visit www.dunkertons.co.uk. For information on the Welsh Cider Society visit: www.welshcider.co.uk