The Green Man Festival does not
invite commercial sponsorship. From this decision, much that is good follows. There
is little in-your-face commercial branding, for instance, and the bars are not
obliged to sell just sponsor’s beers – as happens at festivals sometimes (wrongly)
considered to be equivalent to Green Man. Instead, Green Man organises a Beer and
Cider Festival, in The Courtyard Bar, with 99 real ales, ciders and perries
from independent Welsh producers (and a few from just across the border).
Here you will find beers from a
dozen innovative breweries, with distinctive brews like Artisan Brewing Co’s
Baltic Porter Espresso and Smoked Lager, Great Orme Brewery’s Welsh Black and
Heavy Industry’s Pigeon Toed Orange Peel, alongside traditional ales of all
types.
The house beer at Green Man is Growler,
available in nearly all the bars for several years now; brewed by the Wye Valley
Brewery, whose Butty Bach is also popular in these parts.
The Babbling Tongues programme
got underway on Friday lunchtime with Pete Brown, who has been voted Beer
Writer of the Year on more than one occasion by the British Guild of Beer
Writers. In his talk, he light-heartedly matched some of the 99 beers and
ciders with bands playing at the festival, while introducing some scientific
thinking about how music might alter our perception of flavour. He did a version
of this talk at last year’s festival, but on Sunday afternoon when most of the
beers he wanted to mention had run out. This early slot ensured most of the
audience got to sample the six drinks, while listening to selected tracks from
festival bands.
Pete started by noting the long
relationship between beer and music, with pubs from the 1840s incorporating
stages. Some of these venues became so popular that the stages were expanded
and music hall was born. Through to the present day, countless singer-songwriters and bands have
started out playing pubs.
Artisan Brewery Co’s Bavarian
Wheat beer was matched with (Fisherman’s Blues era) The Waterboys (folky);
Great Orme Brewery’s Celtica was teamed with First Aid Kit (summery); Williams
Brother’s Splanky cider was tasted while we listed to some early Mercury Rev (acidic
sharpness); and Waen Brewery’s Chilli Plum Porter (“dark fruit, rich toasty
flavours with green chilli tingle”) was matched with Anna Calvi.
A key point was the difference
between taste and flavour. Taste is fairly basic, with the interplay of sweet,
salty, bitter and sour, to which umami can be added. However, flavour is far
more complex and subjective, with aroma playing a major part. In fact, the smell before
ingesting and retronasal olfaction (odour
molecules using a back entrance from the mouth to the nose) are crucial
for the perception of flavour. It is flavour that can be influenced by
environmental factors, including music.
Cognitive priming is a non-conscious form of human memory concerned
with perception. Particular sounds, for example, can prime us to perceive flavour
slightly differently. Pete Brown quoted research that demonstrated people
giving a higher rating to wine if classical music was playing. The differences in
perception can be surprisingly large in these experiments. Furthermore, the
same vocabulary can be used to describe flavour and music (e.g. sharp, rough,
smooth, jazzy etc). The type of music we are listening to therefore may alter our
perception of the beer we are drinking.
Other scientific findings may also
have a bearing on our perception of beer in different environments. Cross-modal perception involves
interactions between two or more different sensory modalities. The shape and colour
we see matter, for instance; people find food sweeter on round plates and fizzy soft drinks
sweeter if more red colouring is added. In terms of beer, this has relevance to
the straight glass vs tankard debate, for example, and to beers with distinctive
hues.
Ambitiously, Pete tried to "blind
test" us with two beers and two styles of music. Two tracks by Toy, one angular
electronica and the other much more melodious, were tasted with what we later learned
were Heavy Industry’s Nos Smoked Porter and a contrasting brew from Great Orme
Brewery. The test was inconclusive, but thought-provoking.
Pete Brown even suggested the
prospect of ‘beer and music terroire’, comparing the brews (e.g. Old Tom) and
music (e.g. Joy Division) of Barnsley, for example, as indicative of the
character of the town at a particular time.
How do you attempt to sample 99
real ales and cider over a weekend? My approach is to focus on one brewery at a time. This
year, apart from the Growler, it was Brecon Brewing offerings, with Jazzy
Beacons (“unofficial beer of the Brecon Jazz Festival”), Welsh Beacons
(golden-hued Welsh Pale Ale), Three Beacons (CAMRA’s Champion Bitter of Wales
2014), Red Beacons (red-hued IPA) and, in
particular, Orange Beacons (a wheat-style beer brewed with fresh oranges that
was awarded People’s Choice at Green Man 2013). Next year, another brewery!
Pete Brown’s lively beer and
cider blog (from where you can also purchase his books):
http://petebrown.blogspot.co.uk/
My review of the music at Green
Man 2014 for newsoundswales:
http://www.newsoundwales.com/live-review/green-man-festival-2014/
Green Man 2014: The Food
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/green-man-2014-food.html
See also:
Green Man 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/green-man-festival-2013_20.html
Green Man 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/festival-food-green-man-2012.html
Green Man 2011
http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/uncategorized/green-man-2011-festival-review/
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/green-man-good-food.html
Most reviews of festivals like
Glastonbury, Latitude or WOMAD focus exclusively on the music. However, the
best British festivals offer far more than just music. The Green Man Festival
this year, for instance, offered cult cinema, comedy, literature talks,
theatre, circus and more. Moreover, the choice of food and drink at festivals
is turning them into something approaching local food festivals. It’s all a
long way from the limited burger-based diet at festivals a couple of decades
ago. This post looks at what food was available to visitors to Green Man 2014.
Approaching the main site near
the main (Mountain) stage, you will encounter the volunteer-run Green Man Trust
Café selling hot drinks, bacon and sausage rolls with profits benefitting local
organizations and projects. The meat is made from animals that roam the Glanusk
Estate – the site of the Green Man Festival. Also in this area, the Ethical Chef
(the Carmarthenshire vegetarian chef Deri Reed) was making his first Green Man
appearance, fresh from winning the People’s Choice and a Sustainable
Green Traders Awards at this year’s Glastonbury Festival; his award-winning
chilli was served here. Also, in this area, you can visit the fresh fruit and
smoothies stall, maple-smoked pulled pork stall (also ribs, frankfurters etc.)
and a Vegan and Vegetarian food outlet by the steps over the wall into the main
arena.
On entering the site near the
Mountain Stage the first food stands you encounter are Soup-a-Juice (say it out
loud), Hall’s Dorset Smokery (see link below) and Pasta Pizza; all fairly
self-explanatory. Next to these is The Mountain Bar. Up the steps, through the
terraces looking down on the main stage, you will some of Green Man’s most
popular regular food outlets.
At La Grande Bouffe (or The Big
Nosh) this year I had the excellent tartiflette (cheese/cream potatoes) topped
by a French sausage with white wine gravy, all cooked in their large pans. We also
purchased some tasty food next door at Pura Vida Mexican Vegetarian Restaurant:
enchilada and burrito, in its second year at Green Man. Also returning for a
second year was Mac’n’Cheese, bringing southern US-style street food to the
Mountain’s Foot area.
Shepherd’s offered its usual wide
range of Welsh ice cream flavours, though the queues were not as long as during
last year’s hotter and drier Green Man weather. Moving along the top terrace, the Chai Shop Organic tent, with its carpets and low tables, again had one of
the best ambiences for sitting down and eating; not for the first time, I had
some of their handmade falafels. Newcomer Harefield’s Bakery and Roast, with
its London street-front façade, offered British carvery baguettes and roast
dinners; it’s owned by Davey Chambers, a previous Great British Bake-off
contestant. Next door, Joho Soho, operated by the Cinnamon Kitchen, was
specialising in slow-roasted lamb and other Indian dishes. The ever-popular
Jamon Jamon again offered Valencian and Seafood paellas, and like many stands
also did a good line in breakfasts (my best meal of last year’s festival was
bought here – see link below).
Across the way, at the top of the
hill by the house, is The Table Top, a pop-up Welsh Coffee Co outlet, making
its first appearance at Green Man. Walking towards The Courtyard, there are
some notable regulars on your left. Poco is a café operated by Bristol-based eco-chef
Tom Hunt; with fish grilled outside the tent. Here you have a choice
from a distinctive menu that includes mackerel wraps, halloumi, kebabs and
salads, with an emphasis on Moroccan cuisine. Next door is the Pieminister van.
My Pieminister pie this year was The Free Ranger. Meat was to the fore at the
Taste of Wales van, with burgers and breakfasts among the offerings.
Turning into The courtyard, first
up is Superstew, with simmering pans of good-looking spicy stews. There also a
Coffee and Donut van, before the bar selling 99 Welsh beers and ciders (later).
The Walled Garden, where you can
find the Green Man Pub and Walled Garden stage, hosted a good mix of food
outlets. First up was the Grilled Cheese Sandwich stall operated by London’s
Morty and Bob. Next door was the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company, specialising
in lobster, crab and freshly-made flatbreads. I had a cockle and bacon
flatbread with laverbread, a pleasingly different and substantial beach food.
The Roaming Patisserie has roamed between different sites at Green Man over the
years, but has found its perfect location here; breaking up a whole roast
chicken between friends is what it’s all about. The Welsh Venison Centre, based
nearby at Beacons Farm (about a mile down the road), does a great job of
selling venison as the burger of choice to festival-going foodies. Beyond the
Green Man Pub: The Hippy Chippy van, selling chunky chips. Also in the Walled
Garden, were vans selling Shepherd’s ice cream and homemade chilled drinks.
Walking towards Babbling Tongues,
you pass two of Green Man’s most popular perennial food stalls. The Goan Seafood
Company ("Goan recipes, Cornish fish") I have written about previously (see
below). Moorish: North African &
Arabic Souk Food supplied the best food I ate at Green Man 2012, namely spicy lamb
in a deep-fried filo-pastry parcel. You expect to see queues at both of these,
festival regulars know what they want.
In the Babbling Tongues area
(book-related talks and comedy), The Tea Stop is a converted red double-decker
bus selling breakfasts, teas and cake. The Speak-Easy Bar in this area specialises in
cocktails and gin.
Walking up the hill to the Far
Out zone you enter the final grouping of food outlets. French &
Grace do flatbreads and salad boxes; we were impressed by vegetarian flatbreads
here last year. New to us was the wonderfully-named Spanish Stew and the Wild
Dogs from Monmouthshire. Chorizo stew with made from local Trealy Farm produce,
but on this occasion I had a wild boar hot dog with the hot
festival pickle. The silver trailer of The Flaming Cactus was parked next door,
serving Mexican dishes. Next up was a vegetarian café. Barnaby Sykes Piemaker
had plenty of pies for sale, from traditional steak and ale, more unusual steak and
stilton, and the vegetarian spicy butter bean and mature cheddar. Manna was
selling Asian street food, with Cambodian chilli pork, Vietnamese lemongrass
chicken and beef Osaka tofu among the tempting dishes. The Casa Portuguesa was
offering Portuguese-style BBQ, including piri piri chicken, and all-day
breakfasts. Turning around the block at The End Up Bar, you will see another Pasta
and Pizza outlet in the Chai Wallahs tent. Down the other side of this block, you’ll find hot grilled wraps at Wrappers' Delight, with the
accompanying Smoothie Delight next door. The Grazing Shed offered “super tidy
burgers”. The Seacow traded in good old-fashioned fish and chips.
I have probably missed a few
stalls (apologies), but you get the picture. You can eat your way around the
world, but there is a focus on local food suppliers. Early risers will have
seen the vans coming in from St Mary Bakery, the dairy, butchers and other
local businesses. This is a festival out to support the local economy. See you
there next year – I already have an idea of what I want to eat!
My review of the music at Green
Man 2014 for newsoundwales:
http://www.newsoundwales.com/live-review/green-man-festival-2014/
See also:
Green Man 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/green-man-festival-2013_20.html
Green Man 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/festival-food-green-man-2012.html
Green Man 2011
http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/uncategorized/green-man-2011-festival-review/
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/green-man-good-food.html
Hall’s Dorset Smokery
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-halls-dorset-smokery.html
Goan Seafood Company
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-goan-seafood-company.html
