St George's Day: eat for England
What should you serve on St George's Day? Dragon would seem to be the obvious choice for April 23 menus, but it's hard to source.
In fact, as reported in The Publican earlier this year, a Welsh sausage maker fell foul of its local trading standards department by failing to make it clear that its 'dragon sausages', made with pork and a pinch of chilli, contained no actual dragon.
Best to steer clear of such a food standards minefield.
In fact, England's saint's day is the ideal occasion to get medieval on your customers.
The roast beef of old England has never been more popular, as pubs up and down the country join in with a high-profile promotional campaign organised by the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX).
The promotion kicked off with a nationwide search for 'St George's Day Heroes', launched recently by cricketing legend Ian Botham - the 'Beefy' of the popular series of EBLEX ads. Anyone can be nominated for a Local Hero award, which aims to honour outstanding courage, selflessness or simply hard work and dedication. Pubs are being encouraged to participate by nominating a customer or someone in the local community.
Twelve winners chosen from those nominated will be rewarded with a 'Beefy Bursary' - a cheque for £2,000. Nominees will also be in with a chance to win a two-night luxury break for two people, including tickets to a medieval banquet.
EBLEX has also developed a special St George's Day promotional kit for members of its Quality Standard scheme, which aims to help pubs boost sales of beef dishes in the week running up to St George's Day.
The kit includes seven inspirational, medieval- banquet-themed St George's Hero recipes,
developed to add interest to menus and specials boards. Also included are specification guides for the various cuts of beef that caterers can use to help explain their exact requirements to their supplier.
To encourage customers to order these beef dishes from the menu, the kits also feature St. George's Day themed coasters, bar runners, interior and exterior banners as well as smocks and tabards for staff to wear.
Foodservice project manager Hugh Judd says: "By having some fun with these St George's Day kits, staff will really help to get customers in the spirit.
"There's a lot that they can do to make the week leading up to St George's Day really special, for example, planning a special menu with dishes that complement the theme, such as special stews and soups, English cheeses and Ye Olde Puddings."
Puddings? And just what would a medieval pudding consist of? Simon Muschamp, head of marketing at dairy products specialist Pritchitts, suggests traditional dishes such as apple pie, bakewell pudding or Eton mess - all of which have an authentically English feel.
Simon adds: "Using locally sourced, regional food has become really important for pubs, and St George's Day gives publicans the perfect opportunity to flag up where they're sourcing their produce from."
To help demonstrate this to customers, pubs could update their menus to include a list or a map of their local area to show where their suppliers are based. This should also have a knock-on effect for ongoing trade. As an alternative to the full-on banquet, main courses could include Lancashire hot-pot, filled Yorkshire puddings, or Cumberland sausages and mash.
"To further celebrate St George's Day and to draw in customers, throw a theme night," suggests Simon "Decorate your pub with St George flags and offer a set price 'meal deal' consisting of a traditional English main course and starter or dessert, with a pint of local beer or a glass of English wine."
Medieval-themed quizzes and games such as apple bobbing are great for families, and drinks clearly play a part in the medieval food experience. For example pubs could put goblets of wine and pints of mead on promotion alongside traditional English ales.
Cider is still seen as the quintessentially English drink - 62 per cent of English people surveyed by Gaymer Cider Co thought that cider was the national drink for the English in the way that the Irish have stout and the Scots have whisky.
Cider is also seen as a summer drink, and St George's Day is a way to welcome in the start of the long English summer days and fine weather - fingers crossed.
While the growing popularity of cider has, somewhat ironically, been spearheaded by Irish cider Magners, makers of traditional English ciders, such as Gaymer, are now reaping the benefits.
The use of English apples has sustained rural traditions and at the same time provided a much need boost to the rural economy.
Using locally grown fruit to produce locally made drinks means fewer 'food miles' and a sense of identity and provenance for many ciders - last year Gaymer launched its Orchard Reserve range of ciders which are each sourced from a single orchard in Somerset.
Most importantly, cider is a great match for many traditional English dishes, from that hearty medieval roast to fish dishes. The Orchard Reserve range has been developed to match with an array of dishes.
Roast beef with crispy bacon, mustard and herbs
Serves: 4-6
Time to prepare: 5 minutes
Time to cook: (rare) 20 mins per 450g/1lb plus 20mins; (medium) 25 mins per 450g/1lb plus 25mins; (well done) 30 mins per 450g/1lb plus 30 min
Ingredients
1 x 1.3kg/3lb lean beef topside, boneless rib or sirloin joint
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
30ml/2tbsp wholegrain mustard
60ml/4tbsp freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
6-8 streaky bacon rashers, stretched
Method
1 Preheat the oven to gas mark 4-5, 180-190°C, 350-375°F.
2 In a small bowl mix together the mustard and parsley.
3 Place the topside joint on a chopping board, make several slits over the surface of the joint and season. Rub with the mustard and herb mixture over the surface of the joint and inside the slits. Wrap the bacon rashers around the joint.
4 Place the joint on a metal rack in a large roasting tin and open roast for the preferred, calculated cooking time, basting occasionally with any rich beefy juices.
5 Leave the joint to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, slice and serve with sauté or roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
Steak sandwich with fiery dragon relish
Serves: 4
Time to prepare: 15 minutes plus chilling time
Time to cook: 1-2 minutes on each side
Ingredients
4 x 100g/4oz lean minute or thin cut sirloin steaks
100g/4oz plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
5ml/1tsp paprika powder
5ml/1tsp English mustard
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
15ml/1tbsp sunflower oil
4 bread rolls
Sliced red onion, baby spinach leaves and sliced cucumber, to garnish
Fiery blood-red relish
150g/5oz tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and finely chopped
10ml/2tsp sweet chilli sauce
5ml/1tsp hot pepper sauce, optional
15ml/1tbsp freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
10ml/2tsp tomato ketchup
30ml/2tbsp gin
Method
1 In a small bowl mix together the yoghurt, garlic, paprika, mustard and seasoning.
2 Place the steaks on a large plate and spoon over the marinade mixture to coat both sides of the steaks.
3 Cover and marinate for two hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
4 Prepare the relish; in a small bowl mix together all the relish ingredients and set aside.
5 Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the steaks according to your preference.
6 Serve the steaks in bread rolls of your choice garnished with salad ingredients and finished with a spoonful of the relish over the steak.
