A local take on the ‘killer vanilla’ treat
Headland landmark St Hilda's Church
I WAS chatting to a friend in a Hartlepool restaurant the other day (well, Greggs the pasty shop) and, not for the first time, we were pondering our town’s Scottish links.
I had so much Scots contact in January that I’m turning tartan.
It started with speaking at a Christmas lunch in Edinburgh – in January.
There’s a story behind why their festive get together happens a bit late every year, but I lost track after the first few hours of the explanation.
I established my credentials with a very friendly audience by pointing out that my home town was once part of Scotland, and therefore we Hartlepudlians count as honorary Scots really.
As I pointed out to them, local legend has it that the body of Scottish hero Robert de Brus is in the large tomb in St Hilda’s Church and perhaps he lost his life after a particularly fierce fight in a local pub.
The venue for the lunch was at a superb spot, the New Club, on Princes Street, with a knockout view across the road to the glorious Edinburgh Castle.
It’s one of those places a bit like the Tardis with a standard front door wedged between some shops.
Once you get inside, it’s huge and quite magnificent.
Much of the talk around the table was of the upcoming celebration of Robert Burns at the traditional night on January 25th.
As it fell on a midweek night this year, many people wisely hold off the celebration of the iconic Scottish poet until the weekend following. We did that, and enjoyed a fine celebration in good company in Hartlepool with friend Dave conducting an advanced tutorial in malt whisky – I remember bits of what he said.
Just to prove that new man is alive and well in Hartlepool, I made the dessert and can pass on the recipe to you for free, although I might include it in my cookery book once I’m recognized as a Michelin-starred chef.
The idea came from my recent trip to Dusseldorf where the restaurants serve a splendid sweet dish simply composed of ice cream, crushed biscuits and a fine local liqueur called Killerpitsch – killer vanilla as I named it.
The drink has an aroma not unlike the whisky liqueur Drambuie, and hence my idea for top class cuisine was born.
You simply put some vanilla ice cream into a large bowl and drizzle it with the Drambuie, followed by crushed biscuits, more drizzling, then more biccies, ice cream and drizzling – you get the idea.
The result is a very tasty dish which leaves those who consume it well and truly drizzled.
Of course, it’s traditional for such a fine dessert to be preceded by the usual Scottish fare like haggis, tatties and neeps and this set us thinking on what a Hartlepool equivalent to a Burns Night menu might be.
We decided that you could start with an ode to the black pudding, followed by pasties, chips, mushy peas and peas pudding.
We have some fine chefs around Hartlepool’s restaurants these days, and perhaps they could come up with something to fit the bill – as long as whisky vanilla a la Wright completes the meal.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Hartlepool
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
