Jolly Sportsman
Owner/licensees: Bruce Wass
Tenure: Freehold
Head chef: Bruce Wass
Turnover: £650,000
Covers: 80
Covers per week: 350-500
Wet:dry split: 30:70
Best-selling dishes: Dry-aged Aberdeen Angus rib-eye, horseradish crème fraîche; slow-braised shoulder of Blackface mutton; Mediterranean-style fish stew.
On the menu: Venison confit and tea-
smoked loin; smoked eel, pancetta and watercress salad; roast Gloucester Old
Spot pork, crackling, quince aoli; roast
red leg of partridge, pancetta bread sauce; Mediterranean-style fish stew; apricot, walnut and ginger toffee pudding.
Three things that make your pub stand out from the crowd: Fresh local produce; whisky list with more than 60 whiskies; wine list with more than 200 wines.
Best-selling beer and wine: Hophead £2.60 pint; Verdict £27.50
Extras: Best Sunday Lunch runner-up in The Observer.
Jolly Sportsman Chapel Lane, East Chiltington, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 3BA % 01273 890400 * www.thejollysportsman.com
Recipe...
Apricot, walnut & ginger pudding,
toffee sauce
The pudding can be made up to two days in advance and kept wrapped in cling film in fridge.
Ingredients:
125g/4oz caster sugar
150g/5oz dried apricots - quartered and lightly floured
125g/4 oz butter
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
280g/10 oz self-raising flour
210ml/7fl oz boiling water
80g/3oz chopped walnuts
25g/1oz ground ginger
For toffee sauce:
300ml/1/2pt whipping cream
225g/1/2lb butter
225g/1/2lb soft dark brown sugar
Method:
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, continue beating and add eggs; fold in flour. Put floured apricots, bicarbonate and vanilla in bowl and pour boiling water over them. Add apricots etc to the first mix and stir, adding walnuts and ginger. Bake in a tin lined with greaseproof paper at 200°C/
400°F/gas mark 6 for 20 minutes, then reduce to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for about 20 minutes. Test with sharp knife or needle, which should come out clean when pudding is ready. To make the toffee sauce melt butter, add sugar and cook on moderate heat for two minutes; pour on cream. Bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Slice pudding to desired size. Pour a little sauce onto a heatproof tray approx. two inches high, lay slices of cake on sauce and pour over the rest of the sauce. Put into medium oven until hot and bubbling (approx 15 mins). Serve with whipped cream.
