GAME FOR CHRISTMAS?

Leather’s Smithy was made for Christmas. Built in the 18th Century alongside Macclesfield Forest Reservoir, this stone built former smithy is as warm and inviting as an Andy Williams album cover, with real fires and a stone flagged bar area. If it snows at the country pub, even better. Named after William Leather who, in 1812, received the first license to sell ale and porter, Leather’s attracts walkers and fishermen, but being only three miles from Macclesfield, also has its regular fans from the busy market town. As Christmas approaches, Leather’s is sounding out its local game suppliers and, to finish off every rich, festive dish perfectly, is on the blower to Essential Cuisine...

Plumping its feathers
Drive up to Leather’s Smithy at Christmas and you might spot the deer that go into creating the pub’s blackboard of home cooked, festive dishes strolling through Macclesfield Forest.

Game lovers who relish the fact food is sourced right on the doorstep will be in yuletide heaven as they pull up a pew to indulge in venison, pheasant, wild boar and ostrich from nearby small holdings such as Patrick Kidd.

For a fortnight from December 24th, Leather’s becomes Christmas personifed, heaving with hungry punters wanting a glorious, quintessentially English, festive supper for around a tenner. Each week, 500 or so covers are dished up alongside hot mulled wine by the fire.

You have to get into the true traditional spirit of Christmas though. There is no jukebox at Leather’s and if you think you can get a set meal with a disco for £20 a head, think again.

“Customers are more than welcome to ask if they want something in particular, but our mainstay at Christmas is a blackboard of specials alongside the traditional set meal, with all sorts of wonderful game dishes from venison to wild boar. We don’t do the stereotypical party package, but I think this will be even more popular this year as people don’t necessarily want to shell out; they want something a bit more individual and cost effective.

“For the first time in a long while, Christmas menus across the pub industry will have to be cost led and pubs will have to grab hold of what they can when it comes to trade. Here, we hope to attract customers with the fact we are still a proper typically English country pub, a bit quirky if you like, offering a true sense of Christmas and an alternative to the traditional turkey dinner when eating out.”

Wild winter warmers
According to Mintel, four in 10 people now regularly enjoy game meat, a low-fat, high-protein alternative to meat traditionally eaten by UK diners. Of the game sold, 47 per cent is venison, while pheasant, partridge and grouse make up 31 per cent. ‘Other’ wild game, including pigeon and hare, account for the remaining 22 per cent.

Paul, who has owned the Scottish & Newcastle franchise with partner Patricia Ambrey for nine years, said game – which is wild, natural and free range with a distinctive flavour, making it a great alternative to beef, pork, lamb and chicken - was key to their Christmas offering. However, a successful dish is only the sum of its parts, according to Paul, and the right finishing touches made for a profitable point of difference.

Served alongside roasties and freshly prepared veg, Leather’s Christmas dishes are accompanied by exquisite sauces, designed to bring out the rich taste and texture of the meat. Until five years ago, they used red wine as a base, which worked, but did not set the meal alight. Problem was a lack of pre-prepared sauce bases on the market that could do such a distinctive choice of game, as well as other meat options, justice.

“For years, everyone’s been trying to make or interpret a stock or a sauce base that tastes kitchen made and it’s nigh on impossible,” said Paul. “If it’s not Marmite-y, it’s cosmetic and synthetic. Making your own, however, is incredibly labour intensive and, if you do not have the skill base or the time, you need something off the shelf that will do dishes proud.”

Leather’s happened upon Essential Cuisine, expert producer of kitchen made tasting stocks, jus, glace and gravy maker for professional chefs, four years ago. After being suitably impressed with its range of superior stocks, Paul tried a sample of its glace, which has a wow taste factor and is versatile in application.

“It is incredibly multi-functional,” said Paul. “At Christmas, we rely on Essential’s Game Glace as a stock reduction for our sauces and as an integral element of our dressings. Before we discovered them, we would use any red wine as a base for sauces and in the likes of our redcurrant sweet oil dressing, but Essential glace is the business, quite unique.”

Essential Cuisine’s Game Glace, available in 600g jars at around £17, is rich and meaty, and can, best of all, be used as a stock reduction for casseroles and hearty stews; and a little goes a long, long way. It also adds the most delicious finishing touch to Christmas game dishes, whether you use it in a sauce or as a glaze.

“It’s as good as if it was kitchen made that day,” added Paul. “When you have 500 covers per week to serve up over the stir crazy Christmas period, you need this consistency. It also allows you to concentrate on the rest of the dish and gives you room to breathe. A lot of our customers not only comment on how good the meat is, but say the sauces are fantastic.”

Leather’s Smithy, located in Clarke Lane, Langley, Macclesfield, Cheshire, is open seven days a week. For more information, visit www.leatherssmithy.co.uk or call 01260 252313.


18/09/2009|