It’s official: our wedding is over, the honeymoon is finished and my bridal pedicure looks decidedly ropey now. The final marriage-related treat to keep our marital spirits high was a present from our besties, Andy and Holly. They bought us tickets for something to look forward to, and that thing happened on Friday. It was the Who Let The Pigs Out event at Friends of Ham.
5 courses and 5 paired beers. That’s ten delicious things in one setting… you’ll notice that doesn’t include any cocktails but hey, I can’t be next-level fancy all the damn time. I was the last to arrive at the venue to a beautiful Delirium Red cherry beer before the event began.
The event was part of Leeds Indie Food festival, which occupied the small part of the venue to the right of the bar upstairs. Every time food was put on the table, a decent measure of beer followed and it they were really paired beautifully. Unlike similar events I’ve been to, the beer menu was treated like a wine flight so each drink felt very different. Each beer had a really distinct flavour and we were told in detail about the unique processes and points of difference.
The absolute stars of the show were the chorizo dish (simply some incredible chorizo and thick-cut bread) and a plate of asparagus wrapped in lardo with a beautifully chunky pesto. Everybody knows FOH is where it’s at, but they don’t offer any cocktails (it would be weird if they did!) Despite this, I think I can still score the event using my usual score sheet…
Deliciousness: 7/10 – unfortunately the dessert let it down, which is a big deal for me! A slice of cheese and some rhubarb does not a dessert make. Also the gin and tonic sorbet crossover was way too sweet.
Pissediness: 7/10 – you’re only going to go so far on five small beers, but quite a few of them were pretty strong!
Price: 10/10 – because I didn’t pay for anything… having said that, the Leeds Indie Food events are typically expensive so I’m sure I wasn’t a cheap date after all.
Story: 10/10 – fantastically presented food and beer, always explained really well and in a venue we love!
= 34 points!
Fuelled by the six different beers and the cheeky gin & tonic sorbet crossover (too sweet and sticky for me, but a nice break from the beeriness) we headed home to for a puppy-friendly Friday night. I made Breakfast Martinis which I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks, as they were on our wedding cocktail menu but I didn’t get the chance to try one on the big day. Using the recipe from my classic book, I made the short, sharp drink shaken over ice and enjoyed from a martini glass.
- 1 3/4 measures gin
- 1/2 measure Cointreau
- 3/4 measure lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon orange marmalade
- Garnished with orange peel
Unfortunately the marmalade I used was very thick… I thought that would be a good thing for flavour but actually it just got stuck in the shaker no matter what I tried. Because of this, the final drink was lacking sweetness to balance out all of the booze. The result? Four boozy nutters playing with a puppy, then swiftly heading to the local for a decent drink. You win some, you lose some!
