mushrooms – it was interesting. I’d always assumed that English
baked beans would be some wonderful brown sugar breakfast-type
dish, but at nearly every restaurant they were proud to serve Heinz
brand baked beans. The same stuff we get in cans. I don’t get it. The
black pudding was quite enjoyable. It was greasy and mineral rich,
but paired with the rest of the breakfast, it worked.
After a few days in Bath, we headed toward London. About
40 minutes (by train) outside London is Windsor, home to the
Windsor Castle, where the Royal Family still resides (one of three
castles used by the Royals, I was told) and about 20 minutes out
from Windsor is a small town called Bray, home to the worldfamous Fat Duck. In one of the larger let-downs of my life, I
was unable to secure a table within our travel dates. Tempering
my disappointment was my discovery of the “Hinds Head Pub”.
Immediately adjacent to “The Fat Duck”, the building was
purchased by Heston Blumenthal and renovated into a pub with a
Michelin Star. We headed in for lunch. It’s a cozy space with narrow
doorways and the occasional low ceiling that showed off the age of
this former hotel, bar and restaurant. Seated by a window with an
occasional glance into the kitchen, I was ready.
Being on vacation, why not start out lunch with a cocktail? I
ordered a classic English gin martini. It was simple and perfect.
Perusing the menu, I was drawn toward a daily special three-course
tasting menu. I always like to order specials, as daily dishes afford
chefs an opportunity to be more expressive and daring than normal
menu items, and damn, I was not disappointed.
My first course was a terrine of foie gras and ham hock. A terrine
is a loaf, similar to pâté but with traditionally, more coarsely
chopped ingredients. I was served a single slice – foie gras layered
with large tender chunks of meat from the ham hock, layered with
wonderfully refreshing whole-leaf herbs. I don’t know what they
were, but the creamy liver, the flavorful, über tender ham pieces and
the herbs combined to make one of the very best dishes I’ve ever
eaten. The terrine, combined with a mustard-pickle relish hit every
note, from fresh, to savory, to lightly sweet. Umami-overload!
Course number two was a Shepard’s Pie. This is about as
traditional an English dish as you’ll find. This dish was presented
in a small cast-iron pot. Venison, pork and maybe beef (I’m not
certain) was blended with peas and a delicately herbed tomato
sauce. It was then topped with creamy mashed potatoes and
crumbly crunchy bits with a handful of green onions. The simply
fsmomaha.com
“I was unable to secure a table
at The Fat Duck. Tempering my
dissapointment was my discovery
of the Hinds Head Pub.”
flavored potatoes and the unfathomably tender meat blended
together superbly. It really was an exercise in simplicity. Too many
chefs would be afraid to serve such a simple dish – they’d complicate
it with truffles or blue cheese or smoky bacon. This dish was a
stellar example of a supremely talented chef serving simple foods,
combined with no more than needed.
My final course at Hinds Head was a lemon crème brûlée with
homemade shortbread. It was good, but nothing to get too worked
up over. Then came time for the final cocktail course. Knowing
I was to spend the next several hours walking through Windsor
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