George Orwell’s Favourite Pub

I came across this fascinating atricle in The Times yesterday in which George Orwell (of Animal Farm and 1984 fame) describes his perfect pub. Although the article was written over 60 years ago, its amazing to see how much common ground exists between then and now, in terms of what makes a great pub.

Of course, there are a few quirks of history. For example, Orwell describes some of the drinking vessels that were popular at the time.

“They are particular about their drinking vessels at the Moon Under Water, and never, for example, make the mistake of serving a pint of beer in a handle-less glass. Apart from glass and pewter mugs, they have some of those pleasant strawberry-pink china ones which are now seldom seen in London. China mugs went out about 30 years ago, because most people like their drink to be transparent, but in my opinion beer tastes better out of china.”

Now, I would love to see my pint of bitter served in a china mug down at my local. However, the landlord, Sean, would need to stock at least one mug for every student within a five mile radius. I can only imagine how quickly those beauties would make it to the top of the quirky-crap-you-must-steal-from-the-pub-if-you-are-a-proper-student list. It would cost him a fortune!

Orwell also has a few things to say about the food available in his perfect pub, including “those large biscuits with caraway seeds in them which only seem to exist in public-houses”. I have no idea what these biscuits could have been – they certainly aren’t seen behind the bar nowadays. Does anyone know? I would love to get hold of a recipe and recreate a bit of history.

Here is a link to the full article. It is well worth a read.

There will be no Great British Pub Food for me this weekend. I am heading off to spend a few days in Madrid, where people really know how to mix their food and drink. It’s tapas time! Hasta luego, amigos.