SO THIS BLOKE is wandering around Glasgow Green one Sunday afternoon. There are about a dozen impromptu football matches going on, but no one is paying much attention — except at one match, where a crowd is standing ten-deep at the touchline. Curious, our man elbows his way to the front and engages a spectator in conversation, which proceeds as follows:
— Afternoon.
— Afternoon.
— Who’s playing?
— The Freemasons v the Knights of St Columba.
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— Really? What’s the score?
— It’s a secret.
Cracks me up every time, that one. But what, I hear you ask, does it have to do with a recipe to conclude Tapas Week? Well, hold hard, I shall tell you.
I spent a diverting evening last month at the Circulo Ecuestre, a private club in Barcelona, where the British Beer and Pub Association was trying to persuade Spaniards to drink British beer with their food. To this end, they assembled a variety of ales and a selection of tapas dishes to accompany them. It was all very pleasant, but with the St Peter’s Lemon & Ginger Spiced Ale, the chef José Gabriel Ruiz had been presented with a bit of a poser. What the hell, you could see him thinking, am I going to make to go with this?
Then, brainwave. Rather than prepare a dish to accompany the ale, he prepared one from the ale. And the result was sensational — a tangy, spicy, citrussy tongue explosion.
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My mission, naturally, was to bring it to the attention of Times readers with all dispatch. A doddle, you might think. Just get José to scribble the recipe down on the back of a fag packet and bung it in the paper. Except, could we find José? No way. I had everyone on the case — the club, St Peter’s brewery in Suffolk, the British Embassy in Madrid. Zilch. Nada. It seemed that José’s granita was destined, like the score in that Glasgow Green football match, to remain a secret.
Then, two minutes before I sat down to write something completely different in this space, ping! I have e-mail! From the British consulate in Barcelona! Via St Peter’s brewery! With the recipe! For 20 people, but who’s getting picky at this stage! So here it is, with a brief word of caution. Given that the chief ingredient is beer, if you consume all two litres, you will technically be drunk, so you should not attempt to operate heavy machinery, drive a motor car or complete the Times crossword.
On the other hand, after two litres of frozen dessert you would probably be in a cryogenic coma, so the issue is unlikely to arise.
ST PETER’S LEMON & GINGER SPICED ALE GRANITA
Prep: 20 min
Chill: 3 hours
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Makes 2 litres (OK, that seems a lot, but it’s hardly going to go off, is it?)
1 litre St Peter’s Lemon & Ginger Spiced Ale
400ml fresh lemon juice
600ml water
250g granulated sugar
METHOD
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Heat the sugar and water in a pan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool, then add the beer and lemon juice. Divide between two one-litre plastic containers and freeze for around three hours, breaking up the mixture with a fork every 30 minutes or so. It’ll never freeze completely because of the alcohol content, and you want a granular texture. Serve in chilled cocktail glasses.