FOOD + DRINK
THE BEST SUNDAY ROASTS IN SUSSEX
The traditional Sunday roast is the staple of weekends in many British households. It is memories of childhood, waking up after a long sleep to the smell of roasting meat; it is wandering down to the kitchen to find mum and dad peeling vegetables and parboiling potatoes; it is sitting down together and making sure that all the trimmings are included on an overflowing plate. A proper roast dinner is one of the nation’ s very favourite foods, never so more than when days are defined by a crisp chill in the air, nights start drawing in, and the colder months give way to a landscape bathed in red and gold glory.
The tradition of eating roast meat and vegetables on a Sunday – in particular roast beef, which the British have always been famous for enjoying( the Yeoman of the Guard are nicknamed‘ Beefeaters’ because of it)- actually doesn’ t date back as far as you might expect. A man named William Kitchener wrote a book called The Cook’ s Oracle( Apicius Redivivus) in 1871, that described the practice of cooking meat( beef sirloin, to be exact) for at least four hours over a spit. There was only one day of the week during which anyone had four hours to spare to roast a beef joint, and that was Sunday, and the idea was that a huge lump of meat( around three kilograms plus) would feed the family on Sunday, and then be used in stews, pies and as cold cuts for the rest of the week.
Those who couldn’ t afford a large fire, or those who didn’ t have a fireplace big enough to roast their meat, had to find alternatives. It was soon discovered that en route to church, empty baker’ s shops were passed, and since bread was not baked on Sundays, those ovens were put to use by the poor who dropped off their meat on the way to church and collected it, perfectly cooked, on the way back.
Now that you’ re salivating over the thought of melt-in-the-mouth beef, juicy pork( with crackling), chicken and gravy, or any of the other delicious options available to us today, here are some of the best places to go in Sussex for a proper Sunday roast.
THE FOUNTAIN INN, ASHURST www. fountainashurst. pub 01403 710219
The Fountain Inn is a traditional and charming country pub- exactly the sort to relax in over a newspaper, a pint or glass of wine, and a really good meal; just what Sundays were made for. You can relish an exceptional Sunday roast here in front of the atmospheric inglenook fireplace and you won’ t go hungry; the roasts served are piled high with succulent meat, fresh veg and some impressive Yorkshire puddings. A great choice of starters and desserts makes this more than a meal – it’ s an event!
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