On The Menu: The Greyhound on the Test; Herradura tequila; GH Mumm champagne; San Pellegrino water
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Your support makes all the difference.This week I've been eating... poussin
It was the phrase "whole mini bird" on the menu that drew me in first. I knew that I wanted it, even though I didn't know what said bird was: so it was a mixture of pleasure and relief when I heard it was poussin. In the unlikely event the waiter had told me the mini bird was a lark or a chaffinch, I might have thought twice, but it's nice to make a decision and stick to it.
The poussin – a young chicken, sometimes called coquelet – in question, was at The Greyhound on the Test, an ancient Hampshire pub, newly renovated. The Test in question, is the river that runs through those parts.
Succulent and perfectly proportioned, the dish was elevated by the apricot and prune stuffing (just the whole fruits).
Like a poussin, The Greyhound (we're back on the pub here) is compact, but judging by the clamour for tables, already seems to have quite a following. thegreyhoundonthetest.co.uk
Softer spirit
Indulge in a decent premium tequila on a night out and your body will thank you for it in the morning (well, not exactly thank you, but be a lot less mad than if you had drunk the bad-quality stuff). And Herradura is one of the best. This award-winning tequila range, which includes four super-premium types, has been going since 1870. The 100 per cent blue agave tequila is crafted using traditional methods and boasts being one of the only hand-harvested tequilas in the world. Which probably explains why an evening spent downing the stuff left me without so much as a fuzzy head. From £29.49, herradura.com
Choc tactics
I've always been of the opinion that "fun-size" chocolate bars are anything but. Then three dinky treats arrived to change my mind: teensy chocolate versions of Magnums, Cornettos and Mini Milks. Twenty-five years after Mars went the other way (from bar to ice cream), these lollies have gone over to the other, non-frozen side. The Cornetto and Magnum versions taste eerily like their icy antecedents – sweet and tasty – although the Mini Milk didn't make the transition quite so smoothly. All good fun, though. From £0.45 for one/£1.50 for four, available nationwide
Feel the fizz
Venerable champagne house GH Mumm has a plan to educate the tech-savvy but champers-ignorant by releasing its "100 Champagne Protocols" as an app to be downloaded onto smart phones. "Download the iPhone app," the promotional video urges, "to become a gentleman of champagne." (We hope that females can learn the "rituals" and "codes of elegance" and become "ladies of champagne" too).
Water music
What better way to honour the life of legendary tenor and pasta-fan Luciano Pavarotti than by, err, putting his smiling visage on a bottle of water? The singer is to grace all the special-edition bottles of San Pellegrino water as part of its "Italian talent" series. Though to me, the imposing tenor seems better suited to a bottle of chianti.
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