September 2009

• "Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
  Henry David Thoreau (1817 -1862).
• This approach underpins all that we strive for at The Priory Inn and September is one of those months that offers a bountiful harvest of produce - helped this year by just enough August sunshine and not too many downpours. It is also this time of year that evokes strong feelings of a new season awakening and with it, our senses are fired up with Autumnal smells in the air – tinges of wood smoke mixed with an earthy chill. Bales are busily being stored for winter, the views across stubbled fields are again opened up and the hedgerows begin to display their autumnal fruits.
• At The Priory Inn, we believe that businesses such as ours have a responsibility to support our local farms and producers throughout the whole year by ensuring that the produce they grow and livestock they nurture is on your plates. There are, of course other benefits from buying food and drink locally: environmental reasons; additional flavour and nutritional value from eating fresh food which has barely travelled between field and plate; community spirit and insight learned from the relationships established; and an opportunity to convey this to people who want to eat good food and also appreciate learning a little about the produce they are eating.
• Autumn is the real chef’s season – the local produce and opportunities for the menus creates a great buzz in our kitchen. A trip to any local Farmers’ Market proves the rich offerings currently available and our kitchen is turning their minds to heartier, more robust dishes. We will have mouth-watering local organic venison, autumn lamb and the early offerings from our local gamekeeper. Plus a multitude of earthy vegetables – wild mushrooms, crunchy carrots and cauliflowers, perfect potatoes and parsnips, beautiful beetroots and crisp cabbages. Local fruit is at its best with a variety of apples, pears and ripened damsons waiting to be turned into delicious desserts.
• It is by no coincidence that Tetbury’s Food and Drink Festival happens in September and between 23rd-27th Tetbury will again celebrate the delights of local food and drink with many events, special tastings and a farmer’s market in the town on Sunday 27th. You will have the chance to enjoy experiences that money alone cannot buy, including the opportunity to jump the many year’s waiting list to tour the gardens belonging to HRH The Prince of Wales at Highgrove, enjoying cheese and wine or a banquet dinner afterwards. Take a look at the website for more information at tetburyfooddrinkfestival.com.
• Here at The Priory Inn, we are celebrating Real Ale and Local Drinks on Saturday 26th between 1-5pm and will have a number of lip-smacking real ales and traditional (and sparkling) ciders for you to try in our tents. There will be local drinks producers offering tastings and our chefs will provide some outdoor offerings. There will also be 2 bands playing throughout the afternoon. 50 Percent Balls are made up of talented local brewers comprising guitar, banjo, bass and harmonica who enjoy playing unlikely versions of well-known songs. Then in a refreshing contrast, Lament will stir up a wonderful evocative concoction mixing up gypsy and latin rhythms and blending jazz, ethnic groove and flamenco styles - all underscoring memorable and original melodic songs. We hope that you will wrap up and join us to celebrate the wonderful local drinks that we have on offer in this area and soak up the atmosphere. If the weather lets us down, we will go ahead inside!
• At this time of year, our wood oven begins to play an increasingly crucial role, not only for our pizzas and baking bread but also for roasting game and duck to perfection and ensuring a sweet and sticky appeal to our apple and pear tarts. Originating in Italy, wood fired ovens are domed internally which makes them act like a convection oven and they reach temperatures of up to 400° centigrade. The wood that we use at The Priory Inn is well-seasoned ash, sustainably forested within Gloucestershire and we use about 100 pick-up trucks of wood per year. The embers are always burning inside the oven and our chef starts his day by using the heat from the previous night to bake our bread. He then rakes the embers and builds the fire so that it is at maximum temperature for cooking by lunchtime. Once a week the fire dies down to allow for cleaning. We hope that you enjoy the unique flavours generated by this method of cooking.
• Live Sunday music has become an integral part of our product here at The Priory Inn. We start at 7pm to ensure that you can finish early on a Sunday and in the hope that families can enjoy the music together. This month we are pleased to welcome Gren Bartley on the 6th whose music is both contemporary and heavily rooted in old blues and folk songs grenbartley.co.uk. Tinkerscuss join us for the first time on the 13th – a Gloucestershire trio playing powerfully delivered Anglo Celtic music. Sam Holmes is back on 20th with her crafted songs, inspired by Joni Mitchell sam-holmes.co.uk. The 27th welcomes Steven Sproat playing his own songs and covers on the ukulele and acoustic guitar stevensproat.com. Click here for more details - entry is free and we hope you will join us.
• TL Kelly 01/09/09
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