Last night, we headed into Philadelphia for the Wilds of New England dinner hosted at the Elwood Restaurant. As huge fans of the strange spirits of Tamworth Distilling, we couldn't resist a menu that boasted oddities like venison scrapple, smoked trout brandy, beaver stew, and green crab whiskey.
The presentation was phenomenal. The spirits were brilliant and paired perfectly with each of the five courses. The atmosphere was fun and light, as we all knew we were partaking in some kind of bizarre and peculiar taste-testing. It felt like the sophisticated Halloween dinner outing I've been craving my entire life (that's a sad sentence).
The neatest part of the evening was talking to the chief distiller from Tamworth. Hearing about the complex process involved with creating each spirit made each sip something really special. We also talked with him about his new and yet-to-be-released The Devil's Footprints. Can't wait to try that one.
The menu:
Venison Scrapple (on antlers), served with The Deerslayer Venison Whiskey.
Green Crab Soup (with a small potato crab cage in each bowl) made with invasive green crabs, served with Crab Trapper Whiskey (also made with the invasive jerk crab).
Trout with brown butter and pumpkin - served with the brand-new smoked trout brandy (with tiny briny roe in the bottom of each bottle).
Beaver Stew, served with Eau De Musc castoreum-flavored whiskey.
Apple tart with caramel ice cream, served with Tamworth Garden VSOP Apple Brandy.
It was a perfect menu and an amazing evening out.
7 comments:
Ok the trout with brown butter and pumpkin got me. What an amazing place! Thanks for sharing!
It was SO much fun. The distiller was so cool, and sounded like a blend between an artist and a scientist.
It looks even more amazing than anticipated, AND you got to chat with the Mad Scientist himself! (I feel like that opportunity would pretty much be worth a trip by itself)
So, many questions! Was there a favorite spirit? Was the apple tart / caramel ice cream / apple brandy as perfect a pairing as it seems?
BTW- I think 'sophisticated Halloween dinner outing' is the foundation of an AMAZING sentence :)
The favorite spirit was one that I wasn't expecting to love so much - DeerSlayer. It was such an autumn flavor. I just looked it up again and this is the description from their site:
We sourced our red deer venison from a local New Hampshire farm, then hand-chopped the meat and tossed it with cranberries, porcini mushrooms, juniper berries, and green peppercorns. After fermenting overnight to accentuate the meat’s delectable gaminess, it is then slow-smoked over a mix of seasoned branches from New Hampshire’s boreal forests.
I swear to you right here and now - you can taste ALL of that (haha). Where the crab whiskey was something I feel would only be sought after in the hot summer months (that's when I finished off most of our bottle), I can see drinking Deerslayer all year long, especially in the Fall and Winter.
The smoked trout brandy was superb and the fish flavor was subtle. The dessert was the absolute best pairing. That apple brandy is magic on the tongue.
If the taste is half as good as the presentation,it has to be killer!!
So perfect :) Feeling the need for a Hannibal re-watch soon...
Same!
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