A perfect Cornish companion
Star of TV programme Food Heroes, Chalky the terrier has given his name to Rick Stein's new Belgian-style beer. Fiona McLelland talks to his famous owner.
Not only has chef Rick Stein starred in some of the most highly-acclaimed TV cooking shows, he also runs four restaurants, a delicatessen, a patisserie, a seafood cookery school and a thirty-three bedroom hotel in Cornwall.
And now he has added another string to his bow - master brewer. He has teamed up with Sharp's Brewery in Cornwall to develop a new beer for food.
Anyone who has followed Food Heroes, Rick's TV series in which he travelled the length and breadth of the country to discover the best producers of traditional cheeses, local breads and fine quality fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, will be well- acquainted with his trusty canine com-panion, Chalky.
And yet again Chalky has stolen the limelight as the new beer is named after the little terrier.
Rick talks to PubChef about the development process of Chalky's Bite, Cornish pubs and the best pub food.
Why did you decide to get into this project with Sharp's?
Sharp's has become a meaningful brewery since it started in 1994, but it is still only a boutique brewery. I want to use my name to help local producers - I think this comes from spending time with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and seeing what he has done for local producers.
What was the idea behind the beer?
It's great to have something that you can call a local beer. I wanted a good beer that would go well with food. Rugged food such as fish and chips, tempura and grilled fish goes well with Chalky's - it has a lot of strength and a lovely fruity, spicy taste.
It's going down really well in restaurants and a really good pub, the Cornish Arms in Pendoggett, has taken it on board. Having a local beer is great for them - people like having local food and drink together.
Which food goes well with the beer?
Mussels and chips - it is a marvellous combination. Moules marinière is a great, easy dish to do and it's perfect for beer. Chop some onion and garlic, fry them in salt and butter and add the mussels and some beer in a big saucepan. Bring it to the boil and when the mussels open in the steam it's done. Serve it with some good handmade chips and a dollop of mayonnaise.
What do you think is the key to a good food beer?
It needs to be strong to go with food. And it needs to have a good acidity and fruitiness, yet still be clean. We've made the new beer with wild fennel, which grows everywhere in Cornwall. When we were developing the beer, we quickly found that too much fennel is not good in beer at all.
I'm a big fan of beer with food and I have devised a lot of recipes that pair the two. But people match up beer with food often enough. If you are going to do it, it has to be done with a good premium beer.
Are chefs in Cornwall good at using local produce?
I think everyone is getting better at it. I have always been a big fan of pubs selling simple local food. It's what I look for when I'm trawling around. Even the Cornish pasties are getting better - it's easy to find a good one now. And I'm seeing lots of simple grilled fish, which is great.
What food pubs do you like in Cornwall?
The Plume of Feathers in Mitchell is a good one. For me, a pub is where you should be able to get good local food with traditional dishes from the area. The pub is the local institution and it should serve hot pots, fish and chips, simple grilled fish, and steak and kidney pudding. Thai food seems to becoming popular in pubs and I don't understand this unless a Thai couple is running the pub. We should be proud of our traditional dishes and the pub is the perfect place to have them. Leave the fancy food to the restaurants. Some pub chefs seem to think it's boring but it's not. But then again, maybe it's just me - I'm 59 and becoming a grumpy and boring old man.
Belgian-style beer and rugged food: a perfect match
Rick Stein challenged his local brewer Sharp's to come up with an English beer to match with food. The resulting beer, Chalky's Bite - aptly named after Rick's equally famous and vivacious terrier - has been launched.
The TV chef and restaurateur teamed up with Sharp's Brewery head brewer Stuart Howe for numerous tasting and development sessions to come up with the Belgian-style beer, that Stein says can stand alongside some of the great Belgian beers.
The beer has flavouring from wild Cornish fennel, Cornish malted barley and three different hops, and is ideal as an aperitif or with a main meal, particularly seafood.
Rick said: "There are so many elements of this beer that really impress me. The Belgian style brings the subtle fennel and hop flavours to the fore, yet the beer is also distinctively English and very much a product of Sharp's Brewery."
Chalky's Bite has a long natural brewing and maturation process lasting three months, allowing the beer to develop a high level of carbonation, a strong alcohol base at 6.8% abv, its own distinctive flavour and light golden colour.
And managing director of Sharp's Brewery Nick Baker added: "We are exceptionally proud of Chalky's Bite, which sets new standards and expectations of what the brewery can achieve and how it can develop. Working with Rick Stein has enabled us to produce this very different beer which combines English methods and Cornish ingredients in a Belgian style which will appeal to a wide range of people."
