Chef and Sommelier Team Mary North and Matthew Whittaker from the Nut Tree Inn in Oxfordshire have come up with a delicious menu which is well thought out and certainly whetted the judges’ appetites.
Their establishment, in the heart of the small village of Murcott close to Banbury, is described as being a traditional English pub where you can enjoy a relaxing pint as well as the very best of modern British cooking.
Their first course marries a Citrus Crab salad with a crispy seaweed garnish served with a light, fresh Mazanilla. The second course is a Gallotine of Guineau Fowl with Pied de Mouton Mushroom and Oloroso Sauce, which the sommelier has matched with a nutty, dry Palo Cortado. The dessert is a deconstructed Sherry Trifle which they will serve with Sandemans Royal Corregidor Rich 20 year old Oloroso.
The dishes as they describe them:
Chefs notes
Crab salad Fresh cooked Cornish crab served immediately. Selection of citrus fruit (segments of orange, grapefruit), crispy sea weed to add saltines and texture to the dish. A simple dish letting the natural flavor of the crab shine through.
Gallotine of Guinea fowl The Gallotine will consist of the fillets (off the breast) made into a mousse with diced leg meat and its offal, which will run through the center of the guinea fowl breast. This will be poached and roasted. served with a potato puree, seasonal vegetables for freshness & Pied de Mouton mushrooms with an oloroso sauce to provide richness and balance to the dish
'Sherry Trifle' A deconstructed and seasonal version of the classic trifle. The elements will consist of a light sponge soaked in 1986 Don PX, a set custard, a light chantilly cream, garden blackberries, and fresh almonds with a PX jelly.
Sommelier notes
Manzanilla: Bodegas Hidalgo-La Gitana Pastrana Manzanilla Pasada has fresh apple peal and sourdough on the nose, with a natural fresh pallet letting the true flavors of the crab shine through, a fuller bodied manzanilla working to balance the citrus and the crab together, with a saline finish to pair with the sea weed.
Palo Cortado: Leonor 12 Años Palo Cortado Sherry by Gonzalez Byass has an intense nutty and autumnal nose, a touch of flor with savory notes. The pallet is dominated with richness to balance with the sauce. A hazelnut and spicy pallet to cut through the game flavors of the guinea fowl Gallotine leading to a lond finish.
Medium Oloroso: Sandemans Royal Corregidor rich old Oloroso 20 year old is soft on the pallet with and intense hit of PX, the oxidative aging of the sherry creates complex layers of walnut & raisin, with distinctive acidity to cut through the creamy elements of the dish combined with the sweetness bringing the dish together in harmony.
To read the other seven short-listed menus for the UK final of Copa Jerez click here.
