I met Max and Molly two weeks ago at their Italian restaurant in Tunbridge Wells about an hour south of London. It didn’t take us long to get talking about their favourite brewery, La Cotta, set on a farm-hotel south west of Rimini near Sassocorvaro. Talking quickly lead to eating and drinking…
We started with the brewery’s ‘Cottina’ lager which washed down a sausage and lentil dish for me and a piadina for Zena. The Cottina is a refreshing summer brew with a light bitterness. Piadina is a type of salty flatbread sandwich: Zena’s was stuffed with parma ham. It’s a snack invented to be eaten with a cold lager – the Cottina fits the bill perfectly..
Next up was smoked salmon tagliatelle. We’d already opened up the blanche with the antipasti (did I mention we also ordered antipasti? We’re missing real Italian food…). You get a bold hit of coriander seed and orange peel with this brew: truth be told it went better with the antipasti artichokes and olives than with the salmon, but the citrus notes could make it lovely with a slightly less punchy fish dish.
We ended up with a delicious cannoncino – a lemon cream filled pastry. With all that lemoney sugarry goondess I thought the rossa amber beer might be best, but in the end it was a touch heavy and sweet for me, especially with the pairing.
As we settled up Max’s wife Molly gave us a bottle of the Nera porter to take home. For dinner Zena expertly whipped up a ragu alla Bolognese. I’m pleased to report the Nera didn’t disappoint. It was a classic modern porter: smooth, very easy drinking and, as I’ve come to expect from Italian dark beers, extremely well balanced. Paired it with the deliciously rich ragu it went down extremely well – my only regret is we didn’t pour a couple glugs of it into the sauce.
That said these brews will set you back around a fiver per pint – a luxury that I’d rather experience in the pure form while pouring the Sangiovese into the ragu. Many people would say this makes me a little mad: that causes Max and Molly a few headaches. Italian craft beer just costs more and there are a fair few great British breweries competing on home turf. In Max’s words “selling Italian beer in England is like selling ice to the eskimos”. A fair point, but while they can’t beat British ales for session-worthiness or American brews for sheer adventure, Italian brews have the upper hand with food. Which is why I’ll be returning to the Max’s for a Nera next time Zena whips up a ragu…
