Cream Tea Bear
Just a little hanger-on to the previous post…. I found a
rather cuddly cream tea bear in a wander about Brereton, a small village just
outside of Congleton. Every other year all the residents of Brereton including
farms and the church get creative and display bears in any fashion on their
front lawns, hanging out of windows and even on trees!
Beartown
This madness, or cuteness, stems from Congleton’s famous
nickname ‘Beartown’. The preferred story goes that in the 15th
century we sold our town bible in aid of gaining money to buy a dancing bear (a
lot more fun and tourist friendly for the medieval folk!) I am, however, led to
believe that the truth is that the money which had been saved for a new bible
was spent on the bear instead. Either way, the 21st century
inhabitants are more in favour of the morally ambiguous tale.
To read the amazing bear poem, click on the link!!
The walk was very refreshing. Lots of green fields, cows and
the odd bear. Just your normal ramble around the Cheshire countryside.
The British Pub
And as all country walks should, we ended up at a nice pub
for a spot of lunch and a cold cider in the beer garden. A walk around Brereton
doing the bear trail could only mean one pub, The Bear’s Head. It is a quirky,
black and white building with dark corners, mismatching wooden chairs, afternoon
horse riders nipping in for a swift one and ladies who lunch. I have only ever
been there in the depths of winter, when the Elizabethan character, wood
burning fires and mulled wine on tap do a good job of defrosting your wintry toes. So it was a lovely change to be outdoors with a trusty wooden spoon to
guide the waitress to our table.
Summery Europe has terraces, huge open grass spaces where
BBQ-ing is not prohibited and thereby owns a relaxed and bubbly feel; I think
summer and England are married well in the beer garden. There are different
genres of beer garden though. Perhaps the Bear’s Head represents a country
residency; polite conversation in the sun with Pimms, fruity cider or maybe even
a spritzer. There are trees and flowers in disarray around large parasols
placed suitably in the middle of huge family sized bench, or you could choose
to sit on wicker chairs perched by smaller and more delicate tables.
Another beer garden could be described as the no-garden beer
garden. Essentially a paved area out-back where in the winter smokers gather
under heaters before rushing back in to their pints and in the summer a handful
of chairs and tables appear for those wishing to take advantage of the sun
trap.
There are also the family (and dog) friendly beer gardens,
which usually have a small area for the kids to mess around in, although I
would say these are around less and less these days. The family vibe is
fittingly finished off with pooch, probably after a short walk the family and
dog need to stop off at the watering hole for refreshments and as dogs are not
allowed indoors, the beer garden is the only option.
Whatever the vibe of
beer garden, nothing changes the pub grub menu. I really don’t want to sound
anti-British or anti-cheap food (as sometimes that is really all you want and
need) yet, for me, those are the only things I expect now from a chain British
Pub. The Bear’s Head is one of those. Even after months of craving pub food I
surprised myself when fish and chips, hunters chicken, steak and ale pie etc. really were not taking my fancy. In fact Sophie and I scoured the menu for an
age before deciding on a sharing a Meze platter with a bowl of onion rings. It
was actually lovely for around £10 each including drinks. One thing can be said
about pub food- it is good value for money, you do get what you pay for, and I
don’t mean that in a negative way. When living in Nantes and Amsterdam, I could
not find any equivalents in price, everything was so expensive. However the
quality was much greater and I preferred it. The pub type places weren't selling gourmet food fit for a food critic, yet the menus were smaller, more manageable
and you certainly didn't get the feeling that somebody was just reheating
something they prepared earlier in the microwave. I could be wrong- I never
stepped into the kitchen.
If anything, I think that with British chain pubs, you
should take a bit of care in what you decide to order. If you go for a pub
classic with chips, deep fried stuff or a burger, you can’t go wrong, but if
you attempt the special vegetarian chilli, Jamaican style stew or Boeuf Bourguingon, there is a small chance that it was made on premises (which doesn’t
mean that it can’t taste good!) These chain pubs vary. It is impossible and
wrong to make sweeping generalisations.
On the other hand, if
you go to an independent pub in Britain you are more likely to get a great
eating experience. The pub I worked at in the past, The Plough Inn, had its own
pastry chef, made its own sauces down to the tartare sauce, and cooked
everything on premises. The better quality shows, as does the price.
This was a risky post as I feel like I have critiqued my own
country’s cuisine. But putting it all into perspective, we do have a terrible
reputation for food (amongst other things) and I believe that it is because of
two main reasons: Firstly, we do not take time to shop and cook appropriately,
think about flavours and what is good for our diet, and secondly, tourists on
the whole, eat at the wrong places and do not get to see what we actually have
to offer. I know that Britain has great chefs and fabulous eating places and
closet wannabe cooks creating near masterpieces in the kitchen. But pub grub
will always be right in the centre of our hungry hearts. I, for one, will be
eating in pubs for as long as I live on this Island.
To finish off, bear hunts are a lot of fun, so go and find 'one bearection', 'bear of steel' and the 'bake off bear' in the countryside near us!!
Jo *
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