It was back to Fishmore Hall near Ludlow for Christmas again this year. It is a happy, quiet, elegant, friendly place to stay and with its ‘bistro’ area (in the cosy old sitting room) and the lovely Michelin-listed Forelles restaurant in the delightful conservatory with its view of Clee Hill in the distance there is much opportunity to eat some very good food, not least at Christmas when the programme offers generous amounts of fine food almost ceaselessly.
Christmas lunch was everything I want it to be - there were four main course options but I was determined to stick to the tradition of turkey and found that served in Forelles to be a great pleasure accompanied as it was by all the trimmings except bread sauce. Sprouts I love but I’m a man who doesn’t like too much bite to them and these were a little underdone for my taste but the meal was a great pleasure, the gravy rich and unctious and sticky, the roast potatoes successful and of course the pigs in blankets and apricot and chestnut stuffing turned a fine Sunday lunch into a Christmas feast.
As starter I had had a nice piece of gin-cured confit salmon served with a beetroot, caper and dill mayonnaise and for dessert I felt unable to deal with Christmas pudding but instead enjoyed a well-chosen selection of British and French cheeses. Christmas cheer indeed.
I had a couple of meals in the bistro section of the hotel. This is very relaxed and diners can be accompanied there by their canine companions if they so wish. The dogs look perfectly placed lounging in front of the hearth of the fire that burns there and there are a number of pleasurable dishes served up there when one does not wish to undergo the process of dining in the more formal environment of Forelles itself.
As a light meal I opted for the soup of the day on one occasion only to find that it was mushroom soup which normally is not to my taste. However the soup on this occasion was delicious as the mushroom had been combined with tarragon which made all the difference. The soup was served pleasingly with croutons and a little loaf.
Another little pleasure to gobble down in the bistro are the ferociously delicious, hot and sticky gochujang chicken wings. I chose them as starters on each evening I ate in the ‘bistro’. They are a pleasure to live in the memory.
Apart from my Christmas Day lunch I dined in Forelles a couple of times. On the first occasion I chose a smoked burrata starter which was prettily presented and included elements made up of peppers, courgette, tomato and aubergine which were all appropriate and livened the dish up nicely. The main course was again presented beautifully and was centred on some lovely partridge which was a little dry but very pleasingly accompanied by pear, kale and pearl barley.
Undoubtedly the highlight meal of my Christmas at Fishmore was the Boxing Day dinner in Forelles. This was an immaculate meal. It kicked off with an amuse gueule in the form of an outstanding blue cheese tart, very tasty and the pastry perfectly thin and crispy. Then an utterly impressive starter in the form of another pastry triumph - a gorgeous mini-beetroot tarte tatin with Yorkshire Fettle (a soft creamy cheese made from sheep’s milk), pumpkin seed and blackberry - unctiousness lay all around like the snow in the Good King Wenceslas carol. But this was only the forerunner, John the Baptist preparing the diner for what was next to come.
The gift of Christmas was the fabulous main course of exquisitely cooked venison with salsify and a wondrous little offal tartlet of astonishing, full on flavour. This had proved to be a very happy Christmas coming to an end with the dessert - Forelles’ signature Baked Alaska reworked with sloe gin and served with slices of plum.
Apart from eating, Lucy The Labrador and I had been out to see the Ludlow Hunt heading out of town and passing Fishmore on its route towards Downton Hall. She was a little taken aback as the well-ordered pack came racing by her. I had taken a couple of hours ambling around Ludlow itself on Christmas Eve and together we had some gentle walks on the pathways around Fishmore Hall when the weather allowed. Christmas in the Marches - again.
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