Product Trial: Tradition with a twist

Although the term "gastropub" is sometimes hard to define, gastro- style food has rocketed in popularity, creating a profit opportunity for pubs as consumers increasingly look for traditional home-cooked style dishes.

To meet this demand, the Authentic Food Company launched a new range of gastro-style, hearty meat products earlier this year, combining traditional foods with international, contemporary ingredients.

For a week, the Queen Anne pub at Great Hucklow in Derbyshire trialled three products from this new range - Moroccan Lamb Shank with Chick Peas and Apricots, Cornfed Chicken Supreme in Wild Mushroom Sauce and Caramelised Pork Hock in Spicy Peking Glaze. The Authentic Food Company created and supplied menus, which were displayed in the pub alongside the usual food offering.

Situated in the very heart of the English countryside, the pub usually attracts tourists, ramblers and campers looking to get away from city life to the quaint village of Great Hucklow. With a rustic feel to the interior, the pub has a large beer garden, overlooking the stunning Derbyshire peaks.

Run by licensees Malcolm and Stella Hutton since 2001, the freehouse was keen to try out the new products on the locals, to encourage them to consider the venue for food as well as drinks. Malcolm manages the bar while Stella attends to the food orders in the kitchen.

Food, usually prepared and cooked to order, is served at lunch and dinner-time and consists of filling pub favourites, such as haddock and chips, and steak & ale pie.

On the tourist trail​

The number of covers varies but goes up during the summer months as more tourists flock to the Peaks. With an average of 25 covers per day, Stella has her work cut out. Takings from food account for 25 per cent of total turnover.

Stella prepares some meals from scratch and for more complex dishes buys in partly prepared quality main courses. She was willing to try out these dishes as they would be practical over the busy summer period.

The menu ran for a week during the summer and Stella served the main courses with a choice of rice or potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Each dish was offered at £9.95 with accompaniments. Guests were impressed with all three dishes but the Lamb Shank was the favourite - a tender fore shank of lamb with a chunky Moroccan-style sauce.

Stella says: "It was good to be able to experiment with these new dishes. They were quite easy to store and prepare, the cooking instructions were clear, and the portion-sized pouches made them really easy to work with. It was relatively quick to cook the food and serve it up, without customers having to wait too long. They're also cost-effective for us as the accompaniments are quite simple and when customers come to us for a full meal, they usually have a couple of bottles of wine to go with it - so it's money in the bar till too.

"All the products were suitable for lunch and dinner-time menus so were quite versatile for our customers. They went down well with the locals, and tourists were glad to get a bit of home-style cooking after a long day of walking."

Kris Woods, a chef from the Authentic Food Company, was present at the pub for a lunchtime session to help Stella in the kitchen and to speak to customers. They were keen to ask him questions on how the meals were prepared and what they were made of. Kris was pleased to tell them that the company only uses the highest quality ingredients and that chefs travel round the world to source authentic ingredients to use in each dish.

"Just right consistency"​

Local resident Sheila Taylor commented: "I really enjoyed the lamb, it was a good portion of meat and the sauce was just the right consistency. Rice was a good accompaniment, but cous cous would go well too, as it's a Moroccan dish. The quality of the meat was really good and the taste matched the description on the menu."

Irene Alcock, another regular at the Queen Anne, added: 'The sauces were very important with these dishes, they had quite a rich favour but weren't too overpowering, and tasted really home-made. It was nice to have familiar meat dishes with a bit of a twist, and the spices gave the meat a nice aftertaste."

Malcolm commented: "All three dishes went down a treat all week. Both tourists and regulars liked the variety, and the quality of the products was really good. From the feedback we got, the food offered value for money and most of them have been back with friends to try the dishes again. I think they'd work well over winter too, as they are quite filling, hearty dishes."

Authentic Food Company: 0161 4954000, www.theauthenticfoodcompany.com/​