Trvalý odkaz Pridané používateľom Anonymný (bez overenia) dňa So, 12/14/2024 - 18:54
There is something reassuringly robust about The Punch Bowl Inn.<br>
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Not just in the old-fashioned bar, where the Wainwright Gold is well kept and a <br>
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huge leather sofa sits before a blazing wood burner;<br>
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or in the dining room, solid and comfortable, with its <br>
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old beams, well-trodden wooden floors and tables unadorned with <br>
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cloths; it's in the menu, too, mainly British with a Gallic <br>
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burr, that makes full use of the magnificent local Lake District larder.<br>
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Stornoway black pudding with crispy egg and bubble and squeak: ‘pure Cumbrian comfort by <br>
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way of Lewis', is Tom's verdict<br>
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We're here with Peter Gott, that great Cumbrian hero, and the man behind Sillfield Farm, who has invited me up <br>
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to cook at the Westmorland County Show; also chef Phil Vickery, <br>
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who certainty knows his alliums; and the force <br>
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of nature that is Lorraine Stanton, something of a legend around these parts.<br>
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But first dinner, and a sublime twice-baked Mrs Kirkham's cheese soufflé, the texture as light as a sigh, the flavour profoundly, lasciviously rich.<br>
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Mrs Kirkham's, now made by her son Graham, is one of <br>
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the world's great cheeses, and this is a soufflé of quiet majesty.<br>
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A mushroom soup is equally splendid, managing to be both light <br>
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and gutsy, while Stornoway black pudding with bubble and squeak and a deep-fried egg is pure Cumbrian comfort by way of Lewis.<br>
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There's a fundamental generosity here, matched by assured technical precision. Duck à l'orange <br>
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sees a plump breast cooked rare, the skin crisp, the sauce just the right side of bitter.<br>
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It comes with a fat potato fondant and cabbage spiked with shards of smoked bacon. I eat rump of lamb, four vast just-pink slices, drenched in the stickiest, most <br>
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gloriously intense of gravies; by its side, a tiny shepherd's pie, <br>
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one bite of pure ovine brilliance.<br>
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Puddings are every bit as fine: a lemon tart, beautifully <br>
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sharp, with damson sorbet (this part of the Lake District is famed for its damsons); along with a banana <br>
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soufflé, this time the classic version but ethereal, served with vanilla <br>
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ice cream and a pot of sticky-toffee sauce to pour deep into its molten centre.<br>
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This is good old-fashioned food, immaculately done, in the sort of pub designed for lingering.<br>
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It's getting late now, and we've an early start. But first, another bottle of wine.<br>
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Dinners like this are too rare to be rushed.<br>
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<b>About £45 per head. The Punch Bowl Inn, Crosthwaite, Cumbria; the-punchbowl.co.uk</b><br>
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★★★★✩ <br>
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