AUTUMN seems just the right mellow season to get in a ferment about true, natural cider. The recent Manchester Cider Week showed the depth of enthusiasm around. Now hot on it heels comes a glorious-sounding Cider Dinner at the Marble Arch pub.
The city’s most iconic pub, launchpad for the seminal Marble Brewery, seems an appropriate spot for a five course food menu matched with ciders from Little Pomona and Ross on Wye Cider & Perry Co – plus Marble’s own Earl Grey IPA completes the line-up, accompanying one of the pub’ signature cheese platters (above).
The rest of chef Kerry Rickett’s menu pairs Little Pomona Brut Cremant NV with white onion and cider soup; then there’s a trio of Ross ciders and perries paired with home-cured salmon with cucumber three ways; fillet of beef with pomme anna, mushroom puree and roasted girolle; finally a wonderfully appropriate orchard apples tarte tatin, sorbet and parfait, sweet gingerbread crumb, dehydrated apple crisp. Each cider will be explained on the night by the cider maker.
The idea for the meal came out of a trip to Herefordshire by the Marble Arch kitchen crew. Staying on the farm at Ross on Wye Cider and Perry Company, they were given a tasting masterclass by Albert Johnson from Ross Cider and James Forbes from Little Pomona.
The Marble team are not alone in their recognition of fermented apple juice’s place at the table. Manchester’s first Cider Pommelier Cath Potter tells us: “Cider and food has been boosted by Tom Kerridge who has been a long-time supporter of cider and Perry in his restaurants, and other restaurants such as London’s Lyle’s and The Clove Club along with L’Enclume and The Fat Duck stocking ciders from the Fine Cider Co.”
Cider Dinner at The Marble Arch, 73 Rochdale Road, Manchester M4 4HY. 0161 832 5914. Tuesday, October 1, 7.30pm-10pm. Tickets £50 a head, book here. For valuable cider background visit Cider Buzz Manchester.