Pubs increasingly find that consumers expect meals to have that 'cooked-from-scratch' feel. More licensees are looking at ways to introduce fresh ingredients while balancing the need to prepare dishes quickly and efficiently using the skills available in the kitchen.
Pies and pastries are especially popular on pub menus. The survey carried out for The Publican Food Report found that 67 per cent of pubs have steak pie on the menu, while fruit pie or crumble is the best selling dessert.
The Red Lion pub in Corley Moor nestles in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside and attracts a wide variety of customers, from businesspeople to families. The pub is well respected within the area for the quality of the dishes it serves, and trade benefits from tourists travelling through the village who drop in to sample the menu.
There is a traditional, rustic feel to the interior, making it a great place to enjoy a hearty winter meal or a quiet drink. There is also a pub garden that can accommodate up to 300 customers during the summer months.
Bruce and Donna McLernon have been managing the pub for six years and agreed to try out Jus-Rol's new All Butter Pastry to assess whether it could add value to their menu. The trial also enabled them to experiment with some new dishes.
The Red Lion serves around 1,000 covers per week, ensuring Bruce and Donna have their work cut out. As part of the trial, Bruce prepared a game pie, a salmon and spinach pie and a smoked salmon and cream cheese mille-feuille. He received several compliments from customers about the authentic home-baked taste of the dishes.
Bruce says: "The products are so flavoursome, and because they are made using real butter, they bake to a lovely golden colour. We pride ourselves on producing honest home-cooked food, so Jus-Rol All Butter Pastry is a perfect product for us to include on our menu."
The Red Lion added Jus-Rol products to its kitchen armoury permanently when the new products were launched in January. Jus-Rol All Butter Pastry is the latest innovation from the leading pastry supplier to the foodservice market. It is available in puff and shortcrust form in 1.5kg frozen blocks from 3663.
With minimum preparation required, the All Butter pastry is malleable and easy to roll out to any size or thickness, and can be chilled or stored in the freezer. As with all the Jus-Rol range, the products are preservative-free and contain no hydrogenated fats. The recipe is also no higher in fat than normal pastry.
Contact Jus-Rol on 0800 125 577
Reader offer
Want to make your pastry perfect? We have samples of Jus-Rol All Butter Pastry for five readers. To enter, answer this question:
Which if these is a type of pastry?
- A: Long crust
- B: Short crust
- C: Long crunch
Send your answer on a postcard with your name, pub name and address to Jus-Rol competition, The Publican, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UY, or email pubfood@thepublican.com by Monday, February 26.