Match of the week

Toasted hay tart with coffee and walnuts with 1981 madeira

Toasted hay tart might not sound particularly appealing but you’ll have to trust me, it was delicious! It was the spectacular finale to a meal to celebrate 36 years of the iconic Bristol restaurant Bell’s Diner at the Eat, Drink Bristol Fashion festival in Bristol last week. The current chef Chris Wicks who cooked the meal has been in place for the last 12 or so.

The tart which was delicately, creamily sweet had, I think, been made with toasted hay infused milk and was accompanied (I think - end of a long evening!) with a coffee granita, a rubble of walnuts and some slightly malty ice cream which is probably where the beer came in. Or maybe it was the other way round - beer granita and milky coffee ice cream. Whatever . . .

And it was perfectly set off with a glass of very old rare madeira - a 1981 Pereira d'Olivera Colheita Verdelho from one of Chris’s regular suppliers R S Wines which provided another layer of dark, treacle toffee and grilled nut flavours. Madeira is such an underrated drink.

You can actually buy the wine from R S Wines for £61 a bottle. Making the dessert might be slightly less straightforward, I suspect . . .

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