The McCashin's Story

 Back in 1981  Terry McCashin and his wife Bev cobbled together a ‘number eight wire brewery’ and Mac’s Brewery was born. The phenomenon we now know as the ‘craft brewing movement’ had begun. After two decades of hard work the McCashins sold the very successful Mac’s brand to one of their competitors, and the story could have ended there. But Bev and Terry’s children recently launched the latest incarnation of the McCashin family business, Stoke Beer.

This, then, is the story of the New Zealand brewing revolution sparked by Terry McCashin. Along the way, New Zealand — politics, society, the way New Zealanders do business, the place of former icons such as rugby and beer — everything changed profoundly over this period.

The story of the McCashin family’s business is also the story of so many of the small business owners that make up this country, and it’s the story of the great Kiwi entrepreneurial spirit.

This is a fascinating business story. A portrait of a small family business.

Title: The McCashin’s Story

RRP: $45.00

 Random House NZ

And surprise surprise near the end of the book is a recipe selection. Here is an excerpt for you reproduced with kind permission of the publishers:

While in the past beer and food matching has taken a back seat to wine, it now seems to be finally coming of age. The beauty of it is that you'll find it hard to go wrong when matching beer and food. Every style of food conceivably has an appropriate beer to accompany it, because beer is so versatile.

Beer simply has a much wider variety of flavours than wine. This is because it has four main ingredients (a malted grain such as barley, wheat or rye; plus water, yeast and hops) and you can also add almost any other ingredient: from chocolate to bacon to fruit, flowers, honey, coffee, herbs, chilli, and even jet plane lollies or Jaffas. Wine is made from just two ingredients - grapes and yeast. Wine also tends to contrast with the flavours in food, whereas beer's broader palate is versatile enough to both complement and contrast.

The Easy Chilli Mussels, Fish Crumble and Goat Cheese Salad recipes are good examples of easy-to-make recipes which are great matches for a number of Stoke beer varieties. Experiment with pairing them with different styles of beer and see how it affects the taste.

Beer and cider are also experiencing a come-back as ingredients in cooking.

We all love those recipes which don't require a full bottle and leave you with the guilt-free pleasure of finishing it as you cook.

Our on-site café is always experimenting with recipes that use beer or cider in them - or some of the by-products of making beer or cider. We make a lot of our own bread using spent grain, which is a by-product of the brewing process. We are also finding soap made with beer or cider and spent grain is selling well in the café. (What better gift for that difficult-to-buy-for man in your life than beer soap?) The Beef and Black Beer Pie recipe and Chocolate Cake with Ginger Lime Cider are two staple items we make in the café.

Riccardo, a friend of ours, made Dean the Chocolate, Bacon and Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout Cheesecake for his birthday. We were a bit unsure of the bacon and cheesecake combination, but it was amazing - especially served with a glass of Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale.

The Ginger Lime Pork Belly is from local chef Miles Drewery; we borrowed this recipe for our last staff Christmas function.

- Emma McCashin

Beef and Stoke Black Beer Pies

Beer match: Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout

or Stoke Dark

Serves 4

2 kg rump steak

1 cup flour

2 large onions, chopped

3 Tbsp beef booster

300 ml water (approximately)

3 Tbsp pizza sauce or tomato sauce

3 Tbsp dried Italian herbs or fresh herbs (e.g. rosemary, parsley) salt and pepper

300-400 ml Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout or Stoke Dark

3-4 kg ready-rolled savoury pastry

1 beaten egg

Chop rump steak into small cubes, dip in flour and fry lightly to sear.

Place in a large stockpot or slow cooker.

Fry off onions and add to pot. Mix beef booster with water and sauce, add herbs, and pour over meat mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour over beer and simmer gently on the stove for 15-20 minutes, or 3-4 hours in a slow cooker. Let cool, preferably overnight.

Roll out pastry and cut into rounds for pie bottoms and tops.

Place pastry bottoms into pie moulds. Place 3-4 tablespoons of mixture into each pie, place lid on top and wash tops with beaten egg. Bake in oven for

40 minutes.

Variations: Place a slice of cheese on top of the meat mixture before placing the lid on and sprinkling with extra grated cheese. Add any other vegetables you like, or try bacon and mushroom.