Yes it is another Hiraeth post, but it is in respect of a special menu running until the 4th February.

Food, drink and rugby union (watching, I was pretty, ok totally, useless as a player) are particular passions of mine and, with Hiraeth doing their (now customary) January Six menu (with a Six Nations theme this year), I thought it would be fun to do a prediction of the results of this year’s Six Nations based on how each dish on Hiraeth’s Six menu faired. I will also give you my twopeneth worth as to the likely end table based in the actual rugby too (which will, based on passed performances, undoubtedly be wildly incorrect).

At first blush the menu suggested a clean sweep for the French (which is probably in line with what I expect with the rugby) 

but you never know (see the surprise Welsh Grand Slams in 2005 and 2019 and they certainly have nothing to lose after consecutive Wooden Spoons) and a Wooden Spoon for Ireland (much less likely, although I do see them as a diminishing force as the team ages and  not that much coming through behind the golden generation).

Course 1 – Ireland

We kicked off proceeding with a seeming Celtic bruiser in the form of a variation on Hiraeth’s signature shokupan and chicken skin butter. Crisp outer skinned soda bread replaced the softly, softly shokupan and a Guinness butter took over from the usual chicken skin one.

Didn’t look the prettiest, to be honest, but for a bit of bread and butter, this was very nice. Ultimately, however, it was rather handicapped by it being just bread and  butter.

I also immediately marked down Ireland as there was no wine pairing with this dish (I ordered a glass of wine to wet the whistle, probably should have had a stout in keeping with the dishes roots).

I did enjoy this dish, with the soda bread heavily studded with seeds and the interior being much lighter than I was expecting. The Guinness butter had nice hit of malty bitterness tempered by salt and sweetness. Sounds weird, but actually worked well.

As a basic bitch bread and butter it worked well, but it was bit lacking in deftness. Did I prefer it to the shokupan and chicken skin butter? No and, with Ireland’s strong link to the potato, I rather think this was a slightly missed opportunity to bring their  delightful chip butty back into play 

The Irish offering was slightly hamtrung by it kicking off proceedings and suffered accordingly. Same may be the case with their Thursday night tussle with the French, in France, which kicks off the Six Nations.

Course 2 – Wales

You can’t get more Welsh than a rugby themed dish containing laverbread and leeks in the form of a rarebit (unless perhaps you stick a daffodil in it, get Alun Wyn Jones to cook it and have it delivered by Max Boyce reciting poems by Dylan Thomas).

In line with Wales lightweight/powderpuff pack and defence (especially san Jac Morgan) but quite racy backs (if they ever see the ball), this was a surprisingly delicate dish for a rarebit. What really made it was the zippy tanginess from the fermented leeks which gave it more than a touch of the kimchi. Assorted seeds added a welcome textural contrast and the laverbread a nice bit of salinity.

Really perked up the taste buds this, with a lovely lightness of touch, and it was the surprise dish of the meal. Was it a rarebit? Not as I know it, but lovely none the less.

I went for the wine pairing with the meal (a very reasonable £30) and the choice for the Welsh dish was a Welsh wine in the form of a solaris from Llanerch vineyard in Hensol.

Decent drop this, with a floral nose with zesty citrus notes. On the palate, it was quite sauv blanc like with gooseberries to the fore. Little short on length, with (in rugby terms) it falling away in the final quarter (an all too often occurrence for the current Welsh rugby team).

Could Wales be the surprise package of the Six Nations? I very much doubt it to be honest, but the bottom of the barrel must surely have been well and truly scraped  with the Saffer game in the Autumn and thus they don’t have the burden of any expectations and little to lose. I do think they will test England, away in their first game, more than most people expect.

Regardless, this was an excellent  dish.

Course 3 – England

English food is much maligned and the rugby team has all to often under performed when you take into account the resources they have. As an English man in Wales (for over 40 years now) I all to often dreaded the Monday in work after another defeat to the Welsh, but last year the tables were very much turned and I rather missed having an office to go into on the Monday (to quietly gloat) after that demolition job.

A slightly stereotypical dish of fish and chips was the English offering, but this was far from the boring style that England have often (somewhat unfairly in many cases) been accused of in rugby.

Here the seemingly simple was a rather deft dish.

A light crisp batter encased pearly white cod, with a caper heavy tartare inside the batter

The triple cooked chips were bob on, with a uber crisp exterior and a light fluffy interior.  The mushy peas had a pleasing sweet earthiness and a spike of vinegary acidity.

The wine pairing with this was an easy drinking vinho verde.

Light and zippy, it had a slight spritz to it with citrus notes to the fore. They had an English chardonnay on the list (an unoaked number, I believe, from Simpsons) and I do think they rather missed a trick by not pairing that with this dish.

Course 4 – France

On seeing the menu, I would have bet the farm this would have been the top dish on the night. This dish is a French classic for good reason.

Spoon tender beef, with a good crust and meltingly soft interior topped with beef fat (and marrow) enriched breadcrumbs was sat beside a very rich bourguignon (bacon, onion, mushroom and red wine) sauce. Not sure what wine was used in this sauce but I thought it was all just a little too rich for a tasting menu.

To me if Hiraeth has any faults it is their generosity (not bad as faults go to be honest) and here I think it was just a bit too big (Saffer bomb squad in rugby parlances) and rich for a taster menu dish. I think it needed a touch more acidity to tone things down a bit and on that front the roscoff onion helped a bit but just not quite enough.

As a dish on a shorter menu, this would have been great though.

On the wine front, we were naturally in France with a Languadoc ( predominately  syrah blend) wine.

Quite a big bold wine, but not without some finesse. Lots of rich black fruit, as well as peppery spice and a long (Louis Bielle-Biarrey style) finish.

Little bit lower down the table, food wise, than I expected.

Course 5 – Scotland

I think being a Scottish Rugby fan must be a mightily frustrating experience, with each year being potentially the breakthrough one and with it then never quite transpiring (they are, along with Italy, one of only two teams not to have won a Six nations title)

I have to say the Scottish offering here did not give me particularly high hopes of a (near) top of the table finish  but what we got was actually really rather good.

Crunchy oats and nuts with a really zesty  whisky infused burnt honey and orange sauce and  orange segments tempering the richness of a quinelle of cream,

this was a cracking palate cleanser after the richness of the French offering.

The pairing with this was a mead from Highland Wineries, which was also a bit of a surprise package

I was expecting it to be cloyingly sweet, but actually the level of sweetness was much more restrained and subtle, with floral notes and caramel.  Much better than I expected and I scored this dish a mere injury time drop goal behind the French.

Course 6 – Italy

Italy made up the final course and it is fair to say (before Wales’ current trials) that they usually brought up the rear in the Six Nations.

On the cuisine front Italy is one of the greats and here, with the perennial crowd pleaser in the form of tirimisu, I expect it to rank close to the top of the food table.

A sort of deconstructed affair

this was very pleasant with that trademark boozy creaminess and a good hit of coffee. Bit more booze maybe and I was not 100% sold on the deconstruction.

The wine pairing with this was a Marsala,

which was nicely raisony with vanilla spice.

Good, but I thought the Scottish number bested it.

Verdict

I love the Six by Hiraeth concept. Great value and something that lightens up an otherwise grim start to the year. Linking it to my other great love in the form of rugby union is rather inspired and allowed me a bit of fun with a Six Nations prediction.

I suspect that my food based table will not bear much relation to the actual rugby table come March, but I would be very happy if it did.

Six Nations table based on the food at Six

1st – England

2nd –  Wales

3rd –  France

4th – Scotland

5th – Italy

6th – Ireland

My actual Six Nations prediction based on my limited rugby knowledge

1st –  France (with a Grand Slam)

2nd – England (with a Triple Crown –  optimistic I fear, could easily come 4th with France away and bogey team Scotland also away,  but here’s hoping).

3rd – Ireland (ageing squad, but still just enough in tank to hold off the Scots)

4th – Scotland (underperforming again, suspect a Russell intercept at a crucial juncture will derail their hopes)

5th – Italy (improving all the time, but not enough to shift them from 5th).

6th – Wales (Sorry, but without Jac Morgan can’t see any other result- does three wooden spoons on the bounce get you a plastic Temu spatula?)

Details

Six by Hiraeth runs until the 4th Feb, so still plenty of time to book a table, and the Six Nations starts on the 5th Feb

Address:  587 Cowbridge Rd E, Cardiff CF5 1BE

Website: https://www.hiraethkitchen.com/