Our new, expanded wine list has something for everyone

Ruth Carter and Steve Bellman.

Good food needs good wine to accompany it – so we stock and sell a lot of wine! To ensure we have a really good range of wines to suit everyone, we have been busy expanding our wine list. Steve Bellman, who runs the Pandora with John Milan, is really passionate about wine and has been working closely with Ruth Carter, wine development manager with wine merchant Walter Hicks, to bring you a really stunning wine list.

“We stock a wide range of red, white and rosé wines, plus sparkling and dessert and we aim to have something to suit every pocket and every palate,” says Steve. “We have also spent time identifying organic and vegetarian wines, plus those that are sustainable practices accredited and produced with environmental considerations.”

Our green wines.

English wine production has come on leaps and bounds over recent years and the quality keeps getting better and better. We now boast over 400 producers with an annual production of two million bottles. As we are committed to supporting local producers at the Pandora, it will come as no surprise that we have a whole section devoted to wines from our region. “The South West is becoming an established wine growing area and local sparkling wines are proving especially successful and winning international awards,” says Ruth. “Cornish producers Knightor Winery and Camel Valley are extremely popular and produce first-class white wines.”

To help ensure you find the right wine to accompany your meal, our waiting staff all receive wine training. Ruth was at the Pandora earlier this month and we had a great morning in the Upper Deck dining room tasting and discussing the new wine list and yes, the staff got to taste every wine! “The staff at the Pandora are always so enthusiastic, it’s great to see and makes my job more rewarding,” said Ruth. “We discuss the different grape types and they get to smell and taste the wines and it’s interesting to see their reactions and which wines they do and don’t like.”

Ruth Carter taking staff through the entire Pandora wine list!

Wines, or grapes, go in and out if fashion. On trend at the moment, Ruth says, is Viognier for white wine and Malbec for red. We have laid out our wine list so that the grape type is listed first, so if you know you like Chardonnay, or Shiraz, it is easy for you to spot them on the list. But why not try something different next time? We include extensive descriptions on the wine list, or you could always ask one of our staff for some suggestions.

You will find our full wine list on the website and we also have large print and Braille versions at the pub should you need them, please just ask our staff.

            

Fabulous, fresh Cornish fish!

Head chef, Tom Milby, meets one of our key local suppliers – Stevenson & Son of Newlyn

Fresh, locally caught fish is one of the many things that makes the Pandora Inn so special and you won’t be surprised to hear that it always sells incredibly well! In addition to the classic pub dishes always on offer, like our beer-battered fish and chips, we always have plenty of fresh fish dishes on the specials board changing daily to suit whatever is available at the time.

Left to right – Craig Crosbie, Tom Milby
and Ian Oliver.

Almost all our fish comes from W. Stevenson & Son of Newlyn. I’ve dealt with the company for years, but had never visited them, so last month, I decided to head off west and go and see their set up at first hand. And I was not disappointed!

Stevenson & Sons have been in the fishing business for over 100 years and have the largest privately owned fleet in Britain, operating out of Newlyn harbour in the far south west of Cornwall. As they have their own fleet of boats they have control over the entire process, from catching the fish, washing, icing and storage to final sale.

Today, their core fleet consists of 13 beam trawlers fishing out of Newlyn every day. Stevensons are the biggest provider of jobs in the local community and their commitment to Newlyn and their pride in their heritage was great to see.

Craig Crosbie, General Sales Manager, showed me around some of their boats in the harbour, which was really interesting, and I chatted to some of the fishermen. I’d rather be in my kitchen than out on a trawler any day of the week – it’s a tough life.

Stevensons take the whole business of accreditation very seriously, which is something we spend a lot of time on at the Pandora too. Their fleet is ‘Responsible Fishing Scheme’ (RFS) accredited which ensures high standards of fish catching, landing, quality and vessels are maintained.

At any one time their boats can have as many as 25 to 30 different species aboard ready to be landed and sold on the market. As well as catching and landing the fish, Stevensons also run the Newlyn fish auction that runs Monday to Friday from 6.30am – not a time of day that I’d want to start work!

My hours tend to be at the opposite end of day, so I didn’t get to Newlyn in time to see the auction, but I had a good look round their packing plant and that was fascinating, the skills of the guys doing the filleting with thin, razor sharp knives was incredible to watch. There was a fantastic array of fresh fish there – from beautiful, bright, fresh sea bass to scallops, hake (one of my favourites), haddock and red mullet – and lots of other varieties too.

Sales Executive, Ian Oliver, laid out an amazing display for us to photograph and his and Craig’s enthusiasm for the fish was great to see. Ian also runs their Twitter and Facebook channels and does a great job of letting everyone know what’s just been landed – it's all so instant and totally fresh. Ian picked out a just–caught sea bass and showed me its tag recording where it was caught, at what time and by which boat - full traceability - impressive. I also finally got to meet Julia Fox, their immensely knowledgeable Sales Manager, who I talk to almost every day to order our fish, but had never met.

Stevenson & Sons are a great team, very friendly and professional and happy to give up their time to show me round and answer my questions. I’ve always admired their fish, but I’ll see it in an even more positive light now I know all the hard work that goes on down in Newlyn.

Delicious locally caught hake

Bacon wrapped hake loin with Cornish cider and a summer vegetable broth

Head Chef, Tom Milby, shares one of his favourite fish recipes...

Serves 4 people

This time of year, our specials board is crammed with local fresh fish. Hake it great to cook with as it’s so firm, with big fresh flakes, and it’s extremely popular. This dish takes a bit of work, but it is really worth it, so have a go. Do try and buy your hake from a reputable fishmonger rather than a supermarket, it will be much fresher and tastier. Our hake comes from Stevenson’s at Newlyn. I visited their operation a month or so ago and was really impressed with what they produce - more on that in a later blog! Most of the veg used in this recipe came from Pete at Lizard Leaves, who grows fabulous organic greens just up the road from the Pandora.

Tom’s Tip:

I think it’s always best to prepare things in advance then you’re less likely to get in a panic or miss out something from the recipe. Timing on this dish is also quite important, so planning ahead is a good idea! I also always say ‘taste as you go’ - check your seasoning as you add ingredients.

Ingredients

• 4 x 180/200gm hake loin portions
• 200g smoked streaky bacon
• 2-3 large potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 large leek (white part only) finely chopped
• 1 large banana shallot finely chopped
• 150gm Cornish asparagus roughly chopped
• 2cm chunk of fresh root ginger
• Zest and juice of one lime
• 1 pint good quality orchard cider - preferably Cornish!
• 300ml good fish stock
• ½ kilo fresh Cornish mussels
• 1 tbsp honey 

Method

1. Wrap each piece of hake in bacon and refrigerate.  Ideally, you want to do this a couple of hours in advance
2. In a large saucepan, bring the cider to the boil and add the fish stock
3. Infuse with the ginger, lime and honey
4. Take a non-stick frying pan and get it nice and hot. Put the pieces of fish in, one at a time, skin side down. Hold each one down gently with your fingers until you feel it ‘rest’ a little, and then turn the heat down to medium
5. Check the stock, add the potatoes and leave them to simmer for 8 minutes, while the hake cooks
6. Add the mussels to the stock and boil for 3 minutes making sure all the mussel shells open, discard any that don’t
7. At this point, flip the hake loins over (I reckon the skin side of the fish should always get 70% of the cooking time)
8. Add the asparagus, leek and shallots to the stock and turn down the heat, simmer for a further 3 minutes
9. The hake should now be perfect, so check the seasoning and serve in a deep bowl, with the hake sitting on top of the vegetable broth, with the crispy skin uppermost