Beer and Food Matching: Mark Sergeant's menu
Mark Sargeant - 'Sarge' to his friends - has worked with Gordon Ramsay at restaurants including Aubergine and Claridges, as well as being seen regularly alongside his mentor on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and The F-Word.
Having overseen the opening of Ramsay's London pubs the Narrow, the Devonshire and the Warrington, Sarge has now co-authored a book with Gordon on Great British Pub Food.
The Publican persuaded Sarge to talk us through his ideal menu, and the beers he'd chose to match each course.
Starter: Potted Shrimps
This is one of my favourite starters of all time. It's so simple, yet totally tasty. The key here is to use good, fresh shrimps and get plenty of flavour into the butter. It is also a dish which keeps for a long time in the fridge and just gets better with age.
To match: Meantime Wheat Beer (5%ABV). The zest of good wheat beer makes it an excellent choice at the start of a meal. This one from the Meantime Brewery in London has a refreshing acidity to cut through the butter and lively but dry, subtle fruit to go with shellfish.
Main: Steak and kidney pudding.
Something which we were all put off when we had it at school, but a reworked version of this classic is just delicious. The flavour of the kidney's and the soft melting texture of the beef is a match made in heaven, and the suet crust should be nice and light, not a stodgy mess.
To match: Wells & Young's Special London Ale (6.4%ABV) or Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer (6.6% ABV). Both these ales have the depth and complexity to handle all the flavours and textures of the pudding, and the relatively high alcohol helps them compete with any hearty sauce.
Pudding: Gypsy tart
This dish has a lot of memories for me. It is a regional Kentish dish, conceived by Romany travellers - hence the name. My mum showed me the way to whisk the sugar and milk for ages to get the mixture light and creamy, and in my opinion this is good enough to rival the French classic tarte au citron.
To match: Aspall Perronelle's Blush (5.4% ABV). The acidity and sweetness of this heady mix of cider and blackberry liqueur make it an intriguing partner for many desserts.
Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food by Gordon Ramsay and Mark Sargeant is published by HarperCollins. For more information visit Great British Pub Food
